| W e e k | Date Week Beginning | Activity / What you are intending to do – including independent study | Resources / What you will need to do it – including access to workshops |
| 1 | 7/3/22 | SONGWRITING PHASE Monday: Work on first song, getting it almost finished, finalise structure and chord progressions. Begin working on instrumentation. Tuesday: Begin working on context and research from home (exploring relevant musical genres, analysing musical inspirations). Wednesday: Finish first song, complete with lyrics and instrumentation. Thursday: Work on second song, complete structure and chord progressions. In Paul’s lesson create a logo and look and artwork inspiration (comes under research). Friday: Evaluate the week’s progress. | Computer, internet, phone, social media, acoustic guitar, microphone, rehearsal room, notebook, bass guitar, electric guitar, drums, phone, Photoshop, letterpress, image scanner. |
| 2 | 14/3/22 | Monday: Finish second song, complete with lyrics and instrumentation. Tuesday: Continue with context and research from home (relevant recording techniques for our intended genres). Wednesday: Continue developing the third song. Thursday: Finish writing the third song. In Paul’s lesson start to develop marketing strategy. Friday: Set up live room drum kit, guitar amp, bass D.I, microphones and control room ready for Monday. Evaluate the week’s progress, meet online with marketer to discuss strategy. | Computer, internet, phone, acoustic guitar, microphone, rehearsal room, notebook, bass guitar, electric guitar, drums. |
| 3 | 21/3/22 | RECORDING PHASE Monday: Recording instrumentals 10:30am until evening. Session guitarist and bassist needed. Me playing drums. Record all three songs using Logic and transfer audio onto laptop to mix on Ableton. Tuesday: Work on context and research (promotion/marketing techniques). Wednesday: Overdub any parts we need to re-do in the small mixing room. | Computer, internet, phone, social media, live room, control room, notebook, bass, guitar, drum kit, microphones, stands, wires, amps, D.I boxes, mixing desk, Ableton, monitors, headphones, audio interface. |
| 4 | 28/3/22 Italy | Begin marketing strategy and make/post content for social media, preferably every other day on Instagram and TikTok. Keep contact with marketer and promoter throughout. Catch up on any written work, such as context, research like the popular music industry, brand and artwork inspiration and complete any missing evaluations if any. Keep contact with Lucy to see how she is getting on recording her vocals over the tracks. | Computer, internet, social media, phone. |
| 5 | 4/4/22 Italy | Carry on with marketing strategy and post on social media pages. Catch up on any written work I have left, explore any unfinished context and research topics. | Computer, internet, social media, phone. |
| 6 | 11/4/22 Easter | Start creating EP artwork, incorporating the logo into the design. Look at playing an open mic night or music event around the local area, playing some originals and a few covers. | Computer, internet, social media, open mic night with availability, guitar, microphone, performing equipment, Photoshop. |
| 7 | 18/4/22 Easter | Perhaps play another open mic at a different venue if we can to really increase exposure around the area. Meet with marketer to discuss strategy and analytics on social media, what we can do to improve our strategy and impressions. Finish the EP artwork on Photoshop. | Computer, internet, social media, open mic night with availability, guitar, microphone, performing equipment, Photoshop. |
| 8 | 25/4/22 | MIXING/MASTERING PHASE Monday: Begin mixing the first song. Should finish the correctional aspect of the mix, clean up the recordings, EQ, volume correction and fix any issues early on. Wednesday: Make creative changes to the mix; effects, automation, creative EQ etc. Finish mix and bounce down. Thursday: Begin mixing second song. Take a similar route to mixing the second song to avoid getting lost and confused. Friday: Evaluate the week’s progress, meet with marketer to discuss marketing and analytics over the break. | Computer, internet, phone, social media, control room, small mixing room, notebook, acoustic guitar, mixing desk, Ableton, monitors, headphones, audio interface, midi keyboard, plugins. |
| 9 | 2/5/22 | Monday: Finish the second song’s mix and bounce down. Ensure to listen to the mix through different speakers and environments. Ask tutors and peers for feedback before bouncing. Wednesday: Begin mixing the third song. Correctional mixing first to make the track as clean as possible. Thursday: Finish mixing the third song, making any creative changes and bounce down. Friday: Evaluate the week’s progress, meet with marketer to discuss marketing and analytics. | Computer, internet, phone, social media, control room, small mixing room, notebook, acoustic guitar, mixing desk, Ableton, monitors, headphones, audio interface, midi keyboard, plugins. |
| 1 0 | 9/5/22 | FINAL PRODUCT PHASE Monday: Master all three songs. Will need assistance with this as I don’t have the mastering plugins necessary. Bounce down songs. Wednesday: Sign up to Distrokid and add/artwork songs ready for release. Begin preparing for the final performance. Thursday: Prepare for the final performance. Practice set: cover songs and our originals in acoustic form, perhaps 5 altogether. Ramp up marketing strategy, contact companies like radios, playlist curators, promoters. Friday: Evaluate the week’s progress, meet with marketer to discuss marketing and analytics. | Computer, internet, phone, social media, acoustic guitar, money, microphone, rehearsal room, control room/mixing room, notebook, phone, mixing desk, Ableton, monitors, headphones, audio interface, plugins. |
| 1 1 | 16/5/22 | Monday: Prepare for the final performance. Rehearse songs we practised last week and look at performance techniques for acoustic sets. Wednesday: Prepare for final performance during the day, making sure we are confident and ready. Evening is the final performance! Thursday: Promote the EP release lots after final performance, snippets of performance etc. Interviews with radio shows, contact other local musicians and promote each other. Friday: Evaluate the week’s progress, meet with marketer to discuss the release and how we will promote this on social media. | Computer, internet, phone, social media, acoustic guitar, microphone, rehearsal room, notebook, phone, performance space, lighting, live sound equipment. |
| 1 2 | 23/5/22 | Monday: Release songs onto all main streaming platforms and social media. Promote the release on social media and gather feedback from listeners and other artists. Wednesday: Evaluate the final product and its reception, taking into account the sound quality, feedback and our own opinions of the EP. Thursday: Evaluate the project as a whole and its success, including written work, evaluations, final performance and marketing. State what was a success and what we could have improved. | Computer, internet, phone, social media, notebook, phone. |