Proposal

UAL Unit 8 FMP Project Proposal 

Candidate Name:  Lacey Mcguinness 

Candidate Number :  429204

Pathway: UAL Music - Performance Pathway 

Project Title: 2 track EP in R&B style, (Yearning) 

• Skills from over the college year:

Over the course of the year, We looked into different aspects such as production skills (mixing, mastering, different techniques in production etc.). In project 2 Task 2 when creating our own starting points as well as in Project 5 task 6 when mixing our original song we used a DAWs called Logic Pro which i hadn't used before college. Using it during these tasks had helped me learn the basics on Logic and gain more confidence on using it for later projects. This will help in my project as i am creating my own two original songs on Logic which is where I did my starting points so i have a bit of an insight to what i will be working with. We also looked into the research skills, such as what to research (not straying from the main point) and what's relevant to the project, this comes under project 3 (music research) where we looked into different aspects of music through the decades such as key production techniques that came about in each decade. This links to my project under the substantial research section as i will do some research into factors such as artist and genre research and equipment use, mainly looking at what is relevant to my project (microphones, vocal styles etc.). Another skill that i gained more experience in was lyric writing, I did this i term two in a band for my project five, in this project  i wrote lyrics for three of our original songs we did using stimuli's. This will help me inn my project as it has given my ideas on how to approach writing lyrics for my song such as giving myself a stimulus and working of that. It also gave me insight on how long it can take to come up with lyrics sometimes, meaning i should be cautious on how late into my project i start writing my lyrics. 

• Explain why you are doing this project?   

-I am doing this project to help expand my creative skills in song writing, and to further help connect to music on my own level. Such as having an emotional connection to the songs I make. I am also doing this project to get a better understanding of how much time goes into the creative process of making my own 2 track EP  

• How will it benefit you in terms of skills and knowledge development.   

-This will benefit me as it will help expand my knowledge on production skills, such as songwriting techniques (Melody creation, Harmonisation, and Lyric writing), and arrangement (Song structure, Instrumental, and Sound design). It will also expand my knowledge on music theory as I will have to apply my own knowledge as well as learning new theory to apply when creating my own stuff.  

• Will it help you move towards your long term career goal?   

This project will help me move towards a long term career goal as it gives an understanding on the process of making original music and helps time management which will help in future aspects such as working in a studio or having a project that needs to be complete by a deadline.  Furthermore, it also helps expand on different production techniques I haven't yet learnt about or used, which would help in the process of creating music with others or becoming a producer.

Over the course of my FMP, i will try to evaluate my work weekly on my blogs page and then do a final evaluation taking in factors such as what i think went well and why with details to show how/why it did go well, What i could've done better and how. I will also discuss factors such as if my collaborations worked out, The research i did and how it contributed to my FMP, as well as asking some musicians to give feedback on my tracks once it complete to see if i missed any key features in making a R&B track and what i can add to make it better if i was to do this project again. Evaluation is key to FMP work as it helps on reflecting on what i did well when doing my project, as well as letting me see what i could've done better and taking that away with me for future purposes. 

• Evaluate your project proposal. What are its strengths and weaknesses?   

-The strengths of my FMP are factors such as, I am confident in my FMP idea so I know I wont stray from the idea or change my mind halfway through the project and not want to do it anymore. I am also confident in my singing and research ability allowing my to feel more comftable in my FMP idea/work allowing me to do my work easier with minimal stress. Another strength is i am basing my songs of my own emotion and experience so it will be smoothing in the lyric writing process.  

-The weaknesses of my FMP are factors such as how I struggle with creating tracks in the creative mind set and feel i might struggle when making the music for my songs, and I don't feel very confident when it comes to using logic (which I want to work on). Also, I struggle with time management, such as staying on track and getting my work done quickly, for this I will create a timeline to help myself try and stay on track along with weekly evaluations.  

• What are the challenges and how do you plan to overcome them?   

- The challenges in this FMP are factors such as limited logic access, as I don’t have access to logic at home. However, that means I can spend more time focusing on the practical side of my FMP in college (where I can also talk to Kiara in person) and do all my research and blogging at home.   

• What are the opportunities for development?   

- The opportunities I will have are factors such as working with other people which will allow me to develop my communication skills and skills to work with others. And also networking, such as opening doors to new job ideas or ideas of university courses I might enjoy.   

• What external threats could stop / damage your project – plan to mitigate them?   

- External threats that could stop me would be things such as limited access to logic again, and the risk of limited communication with Kiara or if she drops out. However, I can do the mixing myself if that happens with the help from my production teachers while using the knowledge of mixing from project 5 task 6.  

• What feedback did you get in your presentation and how did you change your project after?   

Feedback i got from my presentation was factors to take into account, such as if i cannot get studio access where else would i record vocals to which i said i can use F01 if needs be to record vocals as it shouldn't take too long and the room is often empty during Friday second lesson. Another factor was if my collaboration aspect of my FMP doesn't work out (producer) i said i could always do it myself, as i learnt some mixing last term in project 5 and i also have teachers in production that can help me aswell as teach me how to master my own songs for future reference.