Self Assessment
Context- Good
I worked a lot on context, and really enjoyed the song analysis section that I decided to do myself. However, I could have explored context in different ways, such as by looking at how my project is relevant to the modern music industry.
Research- Excellent
The research was a huge factor in this project and I spent a lot of time expanding my knowledge of different sectors within the music industry, such as recording, mixing, branding and marketing. Without researching these things, I think my final product and project as a whole would have been of lesser quality.
Problem Solving- Excellent
I have had to solve an array of problems during this project, and these have been well documented throughout my evaluations, both weekly and final ones. Some examples of problem-solving would be re-recording the bassline for ‘foilsick’ at home after realising the original one didn’t fit the song, and having issues with backwards compatibility with the Ableton files, which was solved by me buying Ableton Live 11 so I could work on the songs from home, and I knew this would be a great investment for after college.
Planning And Production- Excellent
The initial plan was extremely detailed, the project presentation was well illustrated, and I even included some pre-production work before the project had actually started, showing I was well prepared and was already creating work that would help throughout my final project. I also helped to plan and produce the final showcase, organising ticket sales and promotional content.
Practical Skills- Excellent
My practical skills have really shone through here, in a range of ways. I played guitar and sang backing vocals in the final performance, helped write two original songs with yes., recorded these songs, played drums, guitar, backing vocals, and midi instrumentation on both tracks and bass on one, and mixed these songs after.
Evaluation And Reflection- Excellent
I chose a different route for my evaluations of this project and this has worked very well. The videos I made allowed me to go into more detail about each week’s strengths and improvements, and I even included text, audio files, extra videos and images to give my evaluations as much evidence as possible.
Presentation- Excellent
The presentation of both my final product and portfolio is to a very high standard. I presented the two original songs on Soundcloud as WAV files and embedded them onto my website for ease. I also presented the final performance as Youtube video embeds. I used features such as tabs, headings and separators to make my work look neat, and used different forms of media to present all of my work
Overall Grade- High Merit
I think the only thing that really let me down with this project was the context side, as I feel like I didn’t do enough and could have explored this more. However, I am happy with the rest of my project and think the final product is to a very high standard.
I confirm that the attached assessment is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself and sources have been appropriately referenced.