Looking back at my project I am proud of what I have done, however, I did not fully achieve what I set out to do in the beginning. When I first wrote my proposal, I set out to complete a four-track EP. As time went on this plan had to deviate and change to now creating a three-track EP as the workload was too much and I felt that it was way too ambitious, I chose quality over quantity.
Other than that, I see the project as a success. I managed to create two new original songs, with a third that I had already made, and release them on all major streaming platforms, in order for the tunes to have the widest reach, as an EP. The EP had professional-looking artwork, and on the tracks, I managed to work with all the people that I set out to in my proposal. Financially, I have not made any money from the EP, but what I have gained is exposure in the scene. An example of this is having my tune played out on KISS FM radio by Fred V. This was a great way for people to find out about my music and who I am as an artist, without spending any money on promoting the song. As a career, I want to become a DJ, and without producing my own music it is hard to do so, as creating original material is what makes artists stand out and become popular. As such, I am very grateful for the radio play as it has started to build my artist portfolio. Looking back, I should have researched registering my song on PRS, which is a company that collects royalties for a musician when their songs are played out live so that I could make some money when it gets played on the radio, which at the moment is three times. Moving forward, I am going to look into registering my music on there, so for any of my future songs, I can claim some royalties.
Another thing that was a success during this project was strengthening a connection with fellow DnB producer and DJ, Hush as we worked on our tune "Anyone". This is a good thing as the music industry is all about who you know, and by connecting more with my local DnB scene, I can reach other potential listeners, as well as other promoters. This allows me to grow my fanbase, as well as land DJing gigs, which is what I love to do and an easy way to make some money.
The artwork for the tunes has also been a great success for me. It was formed by using research, as blue was the most voted-for colour from the primary research I conducted, it links in with the name of the EP, as the waterfall is very solitary and alone, and also marries two of my favourite things: music and cold water. Jack has done a great job with it, I am very happy with it. When I make more music and need artwork, I will definitely look at using him again.
The feedback I have gotten from the tunes has been really positive and heartwarming to read. Comments that have been said include "So proud of you mate...is genuinely so sick... sounds professional" from my friend Noah, "Mum and Vince absolutely love it they made me play it twice" from my friend Star and "This is really amazing, I totally love it" from my mum's friend Lyndsey. This last one felt the most memorable because it is someone that I am not friends with who is enjoying the tune, which means I am doing something right. What I have learnt from this is that I need to continue making liquid DnB for future projects. Different types of people seem to be enjoying it, which is great to see as it means that my music is accessible to such a wide audience, and it bridges the gap between people that enjoy pop music and DnB heads.
Also, the quality of my music has drastically changed this year, especially during this project. Below is a clip of my first tune I made this year, it was composed during the first few weeks of term. Listening back to it now and going through the project I found some flaws that I have since been able to change. It uses a generic drum loop from a sample pack (which is not very original) and the piano is too aggressive and harsh, which I now know can be fixed by lowering the velocity and removing some of the high frequencies with an EQ. The mix is not great as the bass is far too loud, and it has not been properly mastered as back then I knew nothing about limiters.
Overall, it is also quite boring. What I have now learnt after this project is that by adding vocals to tunes like this, such as my songs "Alone" and "Without You", it makes them much more exciting and more pleasant to listen to.
Things that did not go so well, other than it only being three songs, were my scheduling and time management. When I first planned out my time, I wanted the songs to all be finished and ready for release by the end of week eight but it was not until the end of week ten that they were. The main reason it took so long was that before the project started, I was not aware that collaborating with other people would take as long as it did, trying to fit my schedule into theirs. I thought getting into the studio with Sam and KC for example would happen much earlier on in my project rather than the final weeks, so I would have enough time to mix and master the tunes. Now this project is completed, I have learnt that I need to plan and book working with other people much earlier on, to allow for any deviations from the schedule that may arise so that it does delay the project as a whole. A major part of my project that wasted the most time was mastering "Anyone". There were multiple different versions, each with their faults. The first was Rosie was not happy with how her voice sounded in the mix, then I sent Hush a version without effects, then I sent him an updated version with the effects which he forgot to change, so finally had to settle on reaching out to somebody completely new to master it. This could have all been avoided if I could master the tunes myself, as I would not have to depend on others. As such, this project has taught me that mastering is a skill I need to learn to not be waiting and relying on others, so I can complete my music at a faster rate.
Another thing that did not happen as planned was contacting Long Dark Tunnel Records to release my music. There were a few reasons why this did not occur. The first being that I did not have enough time to finish and send demos to them as the songs took longer to make than first thought. Another reason I did not send the EP to Brian, who owns Long Dark Tunnel, was that I believe my music is not at a high enough standard for releases on record labels. I set myself high standards and do not believe that my music is at a place ready for that just yet. In order to reach that, I need to continue to produce to work on and improve my craft. The final reason I did not send them in was due to the genres. After a previous casual conversation with them, I inferred that they were not looking for liquid music, but heavier grimmer things, like jump-up and neuro. The music I have made is liquid, so do not think it would have fit what they were looking for. As such, in the future, I will continue to make more drum and bass music, in different subgenres, and then send them to LDT for potential release.
A way in which I would change my project if I was to do it again would be creating a jungle or jump-up tune. This is because, in my initial survey, these were my highest-ranking sub-genres, meaning that my audience listen to and enjoy these styles the most. The reason why I did not make them is because I do not know how. I have made lots of liquid in the past, and dancefloor uses very similar ideas so felt comfortable with making them. I thought teaching myself to make a new genre in this small period of time, alongside all the other work that needed doing, would be taking on too much. Another thing I would have done differently, which would have made learning these new genres easier, would be working with more established drum and bass artists. Music is a skill that I find is best learnt by watching other people do it, so by working with more jump-up and jungle producers I would have learnt the necessary skills to do so. Moving forward, I look to find these artists and attempt to connect with them in the hopes of further bettering my production skills.
During this project I collaborated with a handful of individuals, those include Rosie, Sam and Kacey for vocals, Hush for production, Jack Ewart for album artwork, Jack Watts with mixing and mastering and Clayton with mastering. Throughout my blog, I have evaluated the time I had with each artist and how our relationship unfolded, when it was relevant. In summary:
Rosie was very professional and clear with what she wanted on the tunes she sang on, and I knew she knew what she was doing as I had worked with her in the past on "Alone". She was always punctual and came prepared to recording sessions with ideas, but was also flexible and happy to alter them if need be. She had a very clear vision of how her voice sounded on the tunes, which at one point became challenging, as our opinions differentiated slightly on how harsh her vocals sounded on the tune "Anyone". We overcame this with the support of my tutor who gave me some insight into the music industry and told me how to manage the situation professionally I learnt that when working with vocalists, they get the final say on how their voice sounds. I will keep this in mind as I move forward with my career. I would definitely work with her again, especially as I found it exciting hearing her voice on DnB, as she is normally a folk singer.
Sam really completed the song "Without You" with his authentic and meaningful lyrics, which I feel will resonate with lots of people. To speak frankly, working with him was sometimes challenging because he did not deliver what he said he would within the allocated time frame. I gave him a backing track to work on back in Week Four, and finally got in the studio with him in Week Six, thinking that he would have ideas ready. This was not the case. Time was wasted in the studio writing lyrics, rather than performing them, which subsequently resulted in having to go back into the studio again to complete his part of the tune. This time could have been spent in more productive areas. Saying that, the next session I had with him was far more productive, he came prepared with lyrics and delivered them clearly and the vibe he created matched perfectly with the backing track. I would think twice before working with him again, he has a great tone of voice that I think matches well with DnB, although was often quite unreliable, which at times was frustrating.
With KC, it took a while to get into the studio with him, but once we did it ran smoothly. He came prepared with lyrics but was able to think quickly on his feet to alter them to match up with what Sam had rapped. His voice gave great contrast to Sam's for "Without You", and added another dimension to the tune. However, our time management was not the best. I sent him the backing track at the same time as Sam, but it was not until the last week of term that we managed to record anything. This was due to me booking the studio, but people before me overran, which led to us not being able to record. The other time we could not record because he had double-booked himself with another band. This was challenging for me as I rescheduled once again and it gave me work to do closer to the deadline. I would consider working with him again as his voice is full of emotion and vulnerability, which resonates well with me.
Hush was the only producer I worked with and it was great to do so. He had more experience in producing dancefloor drum and bass than myself, which I found very inspiring. He was often very quick to reply with his fresh ideas, and even though there were obvious issues of working in different Digital Audio Workstations, I use Logic Pro, and he uses FL Studio, we seemed to collaborate well together. His knowledge of sound design was much better than mine, which was very useful as I much prefer the music theory side of making songs rather than working in synths. The slight issue I had with him was when it came down to mastering. As I have detailed previously, there was lots of confusion regarding finishing this song, which was partially his fault for mastering the wrong version, after I sent him the updated one. I also take some responsibility for it as I should have noticed the fault beforehand. In the future, I would work with more, as I would benefit from his experience.
Jack was very helpful when it came to mixing and mastering the songs. I chose to work with him because he has had lots of experience when it came to mixing and mastering, as he had done it lots before, especially when working with Sam's vocals. He was able to do it on my computer next to me, which was great as I was easily able to change anything he did that I was not a fan of. He was very approachable and completed the tasks quickly to a high degree of quality. I would work with him again as he has great knowledge and insight in the realm of music, that I do not yet understand.
I did not plan to work with Clayton, but he was my hero when it came to mastering "Anyone", as I was fastly running out of options and the deadline was fastly approaching. He has been listening to and making drum and bass music for thirty years, so I understood that he had a vast array of wisdom when it came to mastering DnB. He was able to turn around a quality master in under twenty-four hours, which really supported me in the final stages of this project. Without his input, my tune "Anyone" would not have sounded as clean and layered as I wanted it to be. I will contact him more with regards to mastering, and maybe even make some tunes with him, so he can share some of his lifelong knowledge with me.
Jack was very professional when creating the EP cover, giving me multiple options to choose from, he understood the vision that I was conveying to him. Unfortunately, his replies to messages were tardy and left deadlines way too late. An example is the "Alone" single artwork. Throughout the entire process, I let him know I had a deadline I needed to meet in order to release "Alone" on time, and it was not until the last day I needed it that he finally responded to messages. Luckily, everything was still on time but gave me some stress cutting it this fine. I would not be able to have such great artwork for my project without him, so I would work with him again, but next time I would make sure he knew my time frame well in advance so this problem will not arise again.
To conclude, collaborations were a major part of making this EP happen. I learnt many different skills from each person, whether that be studio etiquette, production techniques or how to work with creatives from different sectors of the music industry. Communication was mostly done online through Instagram DMs or Emails. This worked well to a degree, but face-to-face communication is always much better. The reason for this is so that I can build rapport and further strengthen professional relationships and I can get an instant response from someone, rather than waiting ages for a DM. For example, if I was with Hush at the time in person when he was mastering the song, I would have found the issues more quickly, rather than at a later date via a message. Although, over messages, I was still able to convey my ideas of how I wanted things to be politely and respectfully. Moving forward, I would like to have more face-to-face contact with my artists as I feel that would improve my collaboration skills. Overall, I have learnt that working with others is one of the best ways for me to make music and enhance my creativity. I look forward to doing this more as my musical journey progresses.
As well as improving my communication skills with artists as detailed above, there has been a few new skills I have gained throughout this project. One of them was after speaking to one of my tutors Matt, who taught me about having different reverb busses. Previously when I made music, I would create one reverb channel, and anytime I needed reverb I would just send the channel there, no matter what the instrument was. Matt explained to me that you should have five different reverb sends in order to have much more control over the sound. Those being a small, medium and large space for musical instruments, as well as two separate channels for vocals. This would be one short, often a room reverb, to add body to the vocal, and one much longer, a plate reverb, to add atmosphere and make the vocals sound much more dreamy. For my next projects, I will implement these techniques so I can create better-sounding music. A technique that I was doing, that I altered during this project was when recording vocals. Previously, for each take, I would create a spare channel to record onto. After talking with other like-minded producers, I found that I can just record all the takes onto one channel, and slice up each take to comp into the best version much more easily. This is a valuable technique that I will use in the future when recording.
Through my project, I have conducted a vast array of different types of research. These include primary, which was the initial survey I did in Week One, which was the foundation for a lot of decisions that I made. This includes the colour scheme of the EP cover, and which style to make. Other primary research included listening skills. I went through a vast array of different music, picking out techniques that I liked and using them in my music. This includes the 4x4 dancefloor drop, which was later scrapped, the mixture of singing and rapping on a liquid DnB tune, and having a break of silence before the drop of "Anyone". In the recording studio, I tried out different microphones to find which sounded best, as well as how to overcome the issue I had with the headphone bleed. I conducted secondary research when I was unsure about a topic. This includes, how all the functions in Serum work, so I knew how to properly use the VST, the core principles of the sub-genres I was making, to make sure they were authentic sounding, and the importance of translating a mix, so my music can sound the best on all outputs. The research was crucial to the EP being to a high standard that I was happy with.
On reflection, the highlights of my project were being able to perform my song "Alone" at Exeter Pheonix, alongside Rosie singing the vocals live. This was an aspiration I mentioned in my proposal and am very grateful that it came through. As we both enjoyed performing it so much, I have managed to secure us doing it again at Altitude Festival in the summer, where I have a DJ booking. Overall, I am really happy with how the project unfolded. There were definitely some difficulties along the way, such as time management. Next time, I will endeavour to fix this by planning further ahead and being more realistic with my goals. However, I stayed composed through it all and came out at the end with a three-track EP that I am proud of.