Overall, I am pleased with how my project went. I really like the music I created, which I wouldn’t have been able to create if I hadn’t had the time, resources, and creative supervision to work on this project. It really pushed me creatively to widen the boundaries of my music making and create a kind of music I have always wanted to create, but never had the time or reason to push myself into doing it. I am especially proud of how this project went due to the conditions in which it was created; although the effects of lockdown were not ideal, causing me to work remotely and limit my resources (for instance, recording the entire EP on one microphone), I feel even more proud about the fact I managed to still make something I am pleased with.
This project also encouraged me into learning more about music promotion, which is the aspect of being an independent artist I was most reluctant to embrace. I’m pleased that the project has allowed me to learn about video editing, branding and creating a professional EPK. These are skills that will stay with me as I move forward as an artist.
I created a timeline at the start of my project to keep me on track to write and release the songs on time. Considering I made this timeline back in October, I am surprised that I actually managed to stick to it very well.
Timeline of my project I wrote in October
For instance, I originally said I wanted to complete the masters by Easter, which I managed to do. Although I didn’t complete the songwriting in some senses by the end of 2020, the process of the writing and recording had somewhat changed by then. I said I wanted to promote the EP in April and May, and release the EP in May. Although I didn’t start with the promotion quite so early, I still released the EP around the exact time I wanted to, which I am really pleased with.
However, there were some aspects of the project which could have gone better. I feel that some of the songs could be more developed; there are other directions these songs could go in that never came to fruition due to time constraints. Although I am happy with the songs as they are, some of them could have been further developed in different directions.
I also took all song ideas that I had all the way through to completed songs, rather than creating many song ideas and then choosing the best ones. Although I worked each song idea to conclusion, which improved my skills in finishing songs rather than starting them and then abandoning them, the content of the songs and project could have perhaps been more refined.
The songwriting and production process is discussed in greater depth on the podcasts here, but there are a few more technical production specifics that I learned over the course of the project that I didn’t know before. It encouraged me to learn about electronic production to get the sound I wanted, such as using vocoders, synthesizers and arpeggiators. I also learned how to work with other musicians on my own songs, for instance, I had to learn how to communicate the kind of drum beat I wanted on a song to a drummer virtually, and then mix his recordings into my songs successfully.
This project pushed me to be more creative with my songwriting and production, and therefore learn new specific skills along the way. Due to the lockdown I had to be more creative with my production techniques than I might have otherwise, for instance, specifically realise drum patterns before sending them to a drummer, learning to do some project aspects myself where I might have got someone else to do them instead, such as playing bass and mastering.
Project acknowledgements:
Tim Knowles, for his brilliant supervision. Will Shaw for his drumming on Use Me Once and Treesong. Zak Michaud for his bass playing on Treesong. Bekki Clark and Martin Clark for their backing vocals on Life in the Greenhouse. Jack Stott for production feedback and outdoor recording assistance. Michael Palser for production feedback and songwriting advice. My SM57 microphone for recording literally everything.
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