FMP - Evaluation

Evaluation

In my opinion it isn’t fair for me to compare my work to other artists as it isn’t to a professional level yet. I didn’t have time to mix or master it so I feel like its not right for me to compare it to something that has been worked on by professionals. My main areas of struggle were attempting to record live instruments. I was doing this to get a good sound for what essentially drives the song(the drums), I prefer the sound of a live drum kit much more than the ones logic x gives you. I spent a lot of time in the recording studio and a lot of the time was spent playing the instruments rather than recording it. Next time I should have an idea of what I intend to record before I go into the studio otherwise it can result in 2 hours wasted which will affect my timeline as I end up not getting the songs done as quickly as I planned too meaning the written work that I intend to complete gets pushed back another week because I end up spending too much time in the studio.

I also struggled with the organisation of my written work. I didn’t have time to do 3 case studies as I had initially intended and this was simply because I left finishing a couple of my tracks too late so that set me back quite a bit. Next time I do a project similar to this I intend  to be more organised and have a good sound and chord sequence for a song before I go into the studio. I intend to learn more guitar scales as this will make it easier for me to improvise and make up riffs or chord sequences quickly instead of me spending a whole session in the studio doing those things.

My key ares of research were into MGMT and guitar pedals. I looked at videos, podcasts and blog posts. This was easier for me as I don’t own many books or other accessible pieces of information about production techniques. Unfortunately as I mentioned earlier on I wasn’t able to record much guitar for my tracks(the only one you’ll find it was the hip hop and this was a acoustic guitar with a amp on it and a normal acoustic guitar) and a lot of my research was based around me using guitar effects and live instrument recording. I researched MGMT as they have a very similar sound to what I was attempting to make for this project(synth-driven, reverb heavy, live and some digital drums on logic)  and I researched guitar pedals as they were a means to getting some of that sound in a less extreme way.

I feel like I should’ve completed a lot more research than I had but the research I did complete was definitely relevant to the sort of music I planned to make it just didn’t translate well into the music I actually made. Some of the other topics I wish I’d covered would’ve been into live acoustic performances(Noel Gallagher, itv unplugged, etc) as this would’ve got me to understand how to make a normal song have a nice acoustic feel to it which can really change the atmosphere of the song. Next time I know to get a lot of the research done at the start of the assignment as it is good to get a large amount of research out of the way as this can dictate the direction your music and other pieces of work can go.

The research I have done helped me to understand how the effect pedals I use for my guitar work as well as a basic understanding of making a simple pop song with synths as the spotlight. A lot of my research helped me with understanding drums better which I enjoy spending a lot of time on after this project. 

I have always focused on improving my skills on logic as that is definitely one of my weakness'. I understand sampling a great deal more in my music after this project even if I didn't use many. I also improved my ability to record live instruments such as drums, bass, guitar and synths. All of my practice was done in the recording studio at college and even though I mentioned earlier that sometimes the sessions were unproductive, just being in a studio with guitars and microphones for 2 hours generally means you'll end up experimenting and learning something and even if it's just reminding yourself of how to set up the mixer or getting a D.I box to work that is still beneficial. I felt like my practical skills could easily have been improved much more than they were but even then I wasn't dissatisfied with the amount of knowledge I have picked up as a lot of it has been proven productive for me for the sort of music I make.

The main problems I had during the FMP was the productivity during the recording sessions which I've mentioned before, I also struggled with organisation with some of the written work meaning I left some things too late to do which also interfered with me mixing my FMP tracks. So I should plan to avoid this next time. The main two things I'm not entirely satisfied with is my research and the fact that I only got one case study done. This is due to disorganisation as I mentioned earlier. I feel like I waited too long to finish off certain things which was my main weakness, not so much me giving myself too much work. I used the production rooms and recording studios multiple times a week with Dean, Joseph and Zeff. We'd help each other with each others tracks and just make music generally even if it isn't going to be used on the FMP. Me and Zeff wanted to book the studio during the last two weeks of the music deadline but left it too late as music performances were going on at the time and we were unable to use the rooms. This is something I should've thought about and got done before as I am left with half a cover of a song which wasn't my original plan.

I worked with Dean, Joseph and Zeff on my tracks. I made two of my tracks with Dean, them being the Video Game Soundtrack one and Rockit Powered 6.  These were personally my favourite tracks to be making as I enjoyed the sound and found those pieces of music closest to my original intentions. I also found I worked best in smaller groups rather than large amounts as I feel like I get to express my opinion more. I enjoyed making music with people much more than I do without but sometimes the original intent behind can get distorted when too many people are working on the same song. So I decided to only work with  two or three people at a time and sometimes four when I booked a recording studio. This proved too be much more productive.

Overall I felt like I learnt a lot from this project and have learnt from my mistakes.

FMP - Bibliography

Bibliography

Bootle, E. (2017). The Timeless Wonder of MGMT's 'Oracular Spectacular'. [online] Noisey. Available at: https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/59djya/the-timeless-wonder-of-mgmts-oracular-spectacular 

Cannon, J. (2018). Forensics Of A Song: MGMT "Time To Pretend". [online] Musformation. Available at: http://musformation.com/forensics_of_a_song_mgmt_time_to_pretend/

Doctormix. (2018). How To Make Your Kick Drum Sound Better: 7 Great Tricks. [online] Available at: https://www.doctormix.com/blog/how-to-make-my-kick-drum-sound-better 


Freund, K. (2018). A Compositional Analysis of "Kids" by MGMT | FIX YOUR MIX | Official Blog. [online] Blog.fixyourmix.com. Available at: http://blog.fixyourmix.com/2009/a-compositional-analysis-of-kids-by-mgmt

Gil, D. and Gil, D. (2017). What does a Chorus Pedal Do? When/Where/Who needs it?. [online] ShredAddict. Available at: https://shredaddict.com/what-does-a-chorus-pedal-do/

 Hirway, H. (2016). Song Exploder: MGMT. [Online] Soundcloud. Available at: https://soundcloud.com/hrishihirway/song-exploder-mgmt


Hunter, D. (2008). Effects Explained: Modulation—Phasing, Flanging, and Chorus. [online] Gibson.com. Available at: http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/effects-explained-modulation.aspx 

Home Studio Corner. (2018). 3 Tips for Getting a Good Bass Sound. [online] Available at: http://www.homestudiocorner.com/3-tips-for-getting-a-good-bass-sound/ 

Thalia Colettis SAE Studio. (2018). Critical Analysis – Electric Feel by MGMT. [online] Available at: https://thaliacolettis.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/critical-analysis-electric-feel-by-mgmt

 Tiger, S. (2015). MGMT Recording Electric Feel. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1yXR_VhKwE 

YouTube. (2018). Pt.3 Phasers,Flanger,Chorus.Explained and demonstrated.. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8ddfKl8B2U [Accessed 28 May 2018].

FMP - Weekly Updates

Weekly Updates

Week 1:
In my first week of the final major project I focused primarily on doing the proposal, and getting a general idea of the sort of music I wanted to make, researching bands and artists. I researched people like MGMT, The Stone Roses and others. I also have began organising when I'm going to be going to the studio with people like Dean, Zeff and Joseph.

Week 2:
During this week I have been experimenting with different types of effects I can use on logic as well.
Delay is an example of the sort of effects I have been using.

I have decided to make it so the note is repeated every 1/8 of a beat so then one note is being played  as another one is being repeated so it adds a cool layer to your melodies, that makes the music sound more complicated than it actually is. I then added another delay and then made it so instead of the note repeating every 1/8 of a beat it was now every 1/4. This meant I was adding more texture and creating a more filled mix.

Week 3:

During this week I have been in the studio attempting to get a good acoustic guitar track made. I also was attempting to get drums over the track I was working on last week as seen above, but unfortunately the studio session was unorganised and didn't go as well as I wanted it too. There were too many people in the studio so a lot of it was spent talking and playing rather than recording anything. Next time I should plan to only let the people who are actually playing the instruments and helping with the mic set up in.

Week 4:

This week I've been on logic attempting to get the right sound for my MGMT inspired tracks. I've decided it would be a good idea to use both digital and live drums on my tracks to see the difference. When it comes down to the live drums I'll leave Joseph in charge of what he thinks he should do on my tracks, as at this point in time I don't have a good knowledge of druming. I only really understand the standard 4/4 pattern in pop or rock.

Spring Break:

During my spring break I decided to take some time off of doing my FMP but I did end up making a song with  Zeff. Me and him made an old school hip hop beat which I'll like to put in my FMP, even though it might not link in with the overall sound of the Ep. I also got a lot of my written work done.

Week 5:

This week I got Zeff to help me make a cover of a song by Post Malone. I ended up playing guitar and recording it and he sang. We ended up getting half of it done, but I plan to finish the whole thing and add an electric guitar as well as a solo.

Week 6:

This week I finally started working on my primary song that I've wanted to focus on. I decided I was going to collaborate with Dean on it as me and him have a similar taste in genres so I felt like I'd work the most efficiently with him. I made the layout of everything by myself the night before we went into the production room. He then helped me get a more original sound than you're standard alchemy or logic instruments by showing me how to use the synth plugins properly on logic. This for me definitely makes the track feel more original. Unfortunately I don't have a version of it before the vintage synth was added on to the track but you can hear the final version on my FMP playlist.

Week 7:

During this week I booked a studio and asked Joseph on the day if he wanted to record drums for one of my tracks and he agreed to do it. As I've mentioned before I want a live and digital drum sound to compare and see what works best. We used 2 types of microphones to record the drums, a NT5 and a SM57. We attempted to use the Titan on the kick drum but unfortunately the small stands(because its a kick) we used weren't built to hold the heavy mic so it kept on drooping down. We wanted the sE Electronics Titan as we felt like it would pick up the lower frequencies of the kick but better than the other 2.

Week 8:

This week I spent it refining a couple of my tracks messing with the levels and effects of them. Also me and Dean created a short 1 minute long interlude which I personally really like.

It's very simple and follows the same chords throughout. I think I like a lot because of its simplicity. Its a bit of a weird key to be fair and the drum pattern isn't very standard which I think is why I like it so much. Its really simple but it definitely has a different feel to it.

Week 9:

Much of week 9 was spent with me and Zeff attempting to record Stay but due to us both not being available when the other is and Grant being busy with the performances we couldn't book studio or record it at one of our houses. We only got half of it done but it would've been nice to see the full thing done. This teaches me I should learn to be more organised and prioritise certain things. But other than that I got everything done.

Week 10:

This week was spent finishing off all of my coursework and refining everything as much as possible,

making sure I haven't made any mistakes, adding extra detail where I can. I have everything uploaded now to make sure I don't forget when the deadline comes as well. Upon reflection I should've used my time better in the studio. I'd have got a lot more instrument tracks done if I'd have been organised with who I was taking into the studio. It wasn't so much the fact that people weren't available, it was more to do with the amount of people and the productivity going on.

FMP - Final Product

The first 3 tracks are original. I done a cover of Post Malones song (Stay) with Zeff.

FMP - Case Study 1 - Oracular Spectacular

Case Study 1

Plan: Influence on music,  Musical techniques, Studio Techniques, Song-writing.


Throughout this case study I will be taking a look into MGMTs album Oracular Spectacular.


"Oracular Spectacular combines an abstract, euphoric sense of nostalgia for things that hadn't necessarily happened with very real thoughts and feelings about being young, being human, and, basically, the existence of spacetime."
https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/59djya/the-timeless-wonder-of-mgmts-oracular-spectacular

This album is very much synth driven and uses a lot of effects in the songs. This is probably for me the most inspiring part of the music. They're instantly recognisable melodies make the music impossible to forget and creates a very youthful feel.


To start with I'll be focusing on probably my favourite track off the album called Electric Feel (out of the 3 main singles they released for the album, I found the least amount of compositional information on this one). This song has a very psychedelic pop feel to it with its high pitched vocals that feature a lot of reverb and maybe a little bit of delay on them, this coupled with the funky bass line and oriental sounding melody that plays throughout the intro creates a very distinct sound that for me separates this track from the others on the album. The drums have a constant flow to them like a pulse which for me drives the atmosphere of the song. So from this I know I need to incorporate a pulsing drum beat in my music to carry the songs.

The melody that I mentioned earlier that plays throughout the intro and outro of the song sounds like a harp or mallet with a lot of reverb on it and what I believe to be some delay as well. One thing I've noticed whilst researching this song and listening to it is the fact that the vocals seem to match the melody to a degree in terms of the effects. Maybe this is something else I'll keep in mind as well if I get around to putting lyrics over my songs.

The following video shows you the 2 members of the band making "Electric Feel". You can see one of them playing the guitar with a lot of effect pedals over it. Before watching this video I had no idea they put a guitar into the mix so it must be fairly low-dow in it as I still struggle to hear it over the bassline. Other than that you can see that they use multiple synth tracks over it.



The next song I will be focusing on is "Time to Pretend". When I mentioned the album being very synth driven earlier, this song is probably a prime example of that. Everything other than the drums and the vocals sounds like a synth. The song features a lot of mono and poly synths on it which give it a computer game vibe. The intro features a bubbly synth intro(probably played on a mono synth) which then fades away and lets the first melody of the song take the listeners attention. This first melody is played on a poly synth which has a fast attack and barely any release meaning the notes are quick which for me adds to the youthful and carefree feel of the song. Its simple and not overly complicated yet the song feels like it has a lot of meaning.

The next melody to come in is the lead hook of the song and this was yet again probably played on a mono synth. This synth has a very chip tune feel to it adding to the computer game vibe that I mentioned earlier. The drums are also very interesting as it is a kick and snare 4/4 pattern but the open hi hat is off beat creating accents.

 This song inspired one of my tracks that I have made for the FMP. I wanted to make something similar to it to see if I could actually do it. As a guitarist I feel like I can be out of my depth when I'm using logic or synths but I feel like I done a good job for what it is.


So overall from researching MGMTs "Oracular Spectacular" I have learned to use simple melodies and synths to create good hooks and to have a strong drum beat that will guide the song.


Bibliography:
 Bootle, E. (2017). The Timeless Wonder of MGMT's 'Oracular Spectacular'. [online] Noisey. Available at: https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/59djya/the-timeless-wonder-of-mgmts-oracular-spectacular 

Cannon, J. (2018). Forensics Of A Song: MGMT "Time To Pretend". [online] Musformation. Available at: http://musformation.com/forensics_of_a_song_mgmt_time_to_pretend/ [Accessed 22 May 2018].

Freund, K. (2018). A Compositional Analysis of "Kids" by MGMT | FIX YOUR MIX | Official Blog. [online] Blog.fixyourmix.com. Available at: http://blog.fixyourmix.com/2009/a-compositional-analysis-of-kids-by-mgmt

 Bootle, E. (2017). The Timeless Wonder of MGMT's 'Oracular Spectacular'. [online] Noisey. Available at: https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/59djya/the-timeless-wonder-of-mgmts-oracular-spectacular