Research
The main research for my project was the interview on discrimination and the literature review. The reason why I have chosen the interviews as one of the first main impacts of my product, is because it symbolises How people of different race, colour, religion, culture and ethnicity can be affected traumatically through societies judgement, and the rules and regulations of the system we live in today. It affected me greatly because I realised how talking about issues of this sort can change the negative judgments and views, that people have been indoctrinated from a young age by. And make them understand and face the reality we have to deal with because of their decision makings and hatred crimes that they create. I decided to use these interviews as a way to express how I felt, and how others feel through my music and art.
The literature review helped me analyse five interesting articles as well as videos, that relate with the issues I decided to address within my project, as well as the the issues of the music industry. One of the main videos I analyse in the literature review was, the video called A conversation with black woman about race. This video was Such an interesting topic to talk about especially about black women, because a lot people don’t realise that there is racism within our own race as well as outside of our race. It is a video that talks about the external and internal racism in today society, as well as the traumatic experiences that black women have faced even at a young age. One of the issues that they talk about is how a lot of black women don’t realise they hate themselves, Because society perceives them as a low standard and Less than. I included these factors in one of my songs named Morimi which symbolises the fire element. In one of lyrics is says , Don't be afraid of my power, don’t be afraid of my pain.” this is meant to explain how society perceives the black race as a threat to society, so I am reminding them not to be afraid of us because hate crimes is not meant cure the issues that we are facing today, but unjust laws and inequality is the creation of the chaos we live in today.
The analysis research helped me explain how certain songs, poems and phrases influenced me as a musician and also helped me explain through many situations that I have experience also.
The biography research I did on neo soul artists such as Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, Helped me understand, the background and process of their debut album. As well as the stories behind becoming famous and what was processes they had to go through to become as successful as they are now. It helped me to understand the structure of the music industry and how incredibly hard it is to, enter and survive within it. I have learnt through analysing musicians is that you have to be really aware about the economic and business side of the industry because people might mistreat and exploit your talents.
I believe I had quite a bit of research to help me examine and understand how I ended up with my product and the process I went through with creating my EP. I have talked about various factors within my product and the process through different avenues and techniques as well as creating and finding new resources. I believe that all of my research was written sufficiently and, I believe that all of my research relates to the issues I am trying to address to my generation through my project. All of my research either talks about the process, development, and connections I have been affected by as well as what I have learnt during the process. I don’t believe that none of my research has unnecessary meaning to my product, I analyse in depth and explain how each of my research connects with my product and my end outcome. There were definitely areas that I wasn’t able to complete within my research for example, I wanted to analyse my favourite artist songs such as Erykah Badu and Damian Marley, and explain in depth what the true lyrical meaning of their music as well as how impactful they are to me and many others. But I was unable to complete as my time management was poor. There were other topics I didn’t include in the early stages but also wasn’t able to complete as well. Other research I wanted to write about such as The analysation of books and poems that talk about discrimination. And how their art motivates me to create a product that can do the same. I wanted to talk about how poems, lyrics as well as books have been misinterpreted by the masses and are underrated by a lot of people. The reason why I didn’t include this topic within my project is because I didn’t have enough time to complete them, and also I believed that I had better research that could connect more with the production of my project. it would have been extremely hard for me to include quotes and facts within my artwork as I believe that it would not be as natural and original as I wanted to be. That’s the reason why I decided to do research where I could create my own influence instead of taking someone's work and calling it my own. I didn’t include most of my research with my proposal because I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted in the beginning, and how I wanted my outcome to be but throughout the process and making of my project. I began to do more research when I started to produce a product. I felt it was best to do that because I felt that it help me develop my creativity throughout the process. Within the proposal I had a lot of detail of what I wanted to do, but I didn't know how to make that happen. I had a vague detail of research and how I wanted the outcome to be, but over the time I learnt to go with my gut instinct which was to create something I would truly enjoy doing and inspire others at the same time. I learnt to do more research in detail and explain in depth what motivated me to create something powerful but subtle at the same time. Even the thought most the times things didn’t go to plan, I eventually was able to learn through the issues, and come out with a product that I wasn’t expecting. I have learned that if you are truly dedicated to do something and you have the ambition to do it, just do it because you will have regrets. I wanted to create an EP last year for my FMP but I wasn’t too confident to do so, but this year I was dedicated enough to do it and to get the job done.The time management was very poor within this process I would say that was one of the Issues I need to improve, the next time I create a project this big. I also learnt how to be more independent and rely less on unreliable people. The other thing I learnt during this process was to produce my own EP , Learn how to mix down songs, and how to record and set up a studio, and improve my logic skills which can definitely be a benefit for me in the near future. Because I won’t have to rely on producers in the music industry, and be independent with my music
Technical & Practical Skills
The majority of my lyrical meaning as well as the creation of my songs were greatly impacted by my research. Because I wanted to create something which I could relate to and hopefully others could. I created research to help me find any information that could benefit me through the process. For example in my research about artist that inspire me the most, I talk about their background, how the rose to fame, struggles and experiences, what their outcome did they have, and how their techniques and first album impacted me as a musician. This research Mainly helped me on the creation of my chords and also my vocal techniques throughout the process of making my songs. I also learnt many factors of the music industry the process that many artists went through,The sacrifices they had to make, and how they made themselves known. I took those factors and tried to find a way where I could do the same but not to the same extent. I wanted to be an independent artist where I can promote, manage, Produce, and create my own music. The way I did this was to promote my music through different apps and different social medias, adding and creating snippets of what was doing throughout the project, and how I was creating my music. The other factor was how this research helped me create chords for my songs. So I would listen to songs from the artist I have chosen and try either recreate similar or completely different chords, that sound like They are from the same genre and use as my own. Vocally I wanted to create a unique and diverse sound to my voice so I experimented to extreme methods to non extreme methods, to find where I feel most comfortable. I also went to vocal lessons to help improve the strength of my vocals.
The other factor I also talked about was producing my own music and how to rely on less people to become more independent. The reason how I learnt this through this research is because I was able to understand through the artist mistakes. For example Lauryn Hill got sued by one of her producers, because she didn't give him enough credit in the album. From Hills mistake I have learnt that, to stay away from issues of that sort i have decided to teach myself how to be an independent and producer and create my own music. This will benefit me in the future because i'll be able to get more credit for my projects. I have learnt if I rely less on people within the industry I can learn how to do myself and I’ll gain more profit.
The other research that was very impactful within my process of creating my exp project, was the research based on African culture and tribal goddesses. This research helped me find and also align the deeper meaning of the elements I had chosen as well as the tribal names. I learnt that in every African tribe or cultures every name has a meaning, so I wanted to try and combined these elements with names that would best define who they are, and the emotion they represent.I also wanted to represent how people should try to reconnect with oneself and find their true being. facing the reality we have to deal with and how, others have to deal with the reality and consequences that people choose to express, can create a continuous cycle of lost people who don’t know their identity because of the cost colonialism and also not bothering to educate themselves of the truth of who they once were. I wanted to have something that would catch people’s attentions mentally instead creating something for it just to be a trend. That’s why I used goddess names to symbolise power and strength in the black community, because people have truly forgotten the saying that Black is beautiful but knowledge is power.
Within the literature review I was extremely impacted by the relations I had with some of the issues that some other articles were addressing. For examples In One of the analyzations it talks about the book written by W.E.Dubois Called The Soul Of A Black Folk. This article gives analysis of the quotes and the impact of the book. It talks about how this book Include valid point about the colour live that society has put in place to restrict how much a person of colour can experience of success in life. And how racism restriction can create a mental trauma within the black race to have 2 personality, to be accepted in both their own culture as well as the outside system. This analysis taught me how in today society people don’t realise that they have to perceive a persona which is nothing like the true personality, just to be accepted in today society. So I decided to address that within my artwork as well as my music that it’s okay to be yourself instead of following the new trends and not being who you truly are. For example in all of my artwork I created a continuous persona in which represented the female portrait as pencil drawing, to symbolise depression loss of oneself and confusion. The background was represented as vibrant and bright to bring hope and promise future to the black community.
For my song called ODUA I created a portrait to represent the Earth element with the materialistic world The picture created represent a woman with short to symbolise not following the norms and reconnecting with her roots. The bamboo trees and dark battleground is meant to represent a bright and mysterious future head. I was able to include guitar techniques within my produce music such as plucking, strumming, Hamerons and many more. Vocally I was able to find new and improved techniques of enhancing my vocals naturally, and creating my own unique sound. I combined falsetto vocals with my normal voice to create a subtle and smooth sound to my voice. I was able to learn a new way of constructing my words as if it was a short poem symbolizing a message in each of my songs. I learnt this technique through my research of one of my favourite poets Maya Angelou. I analysed One of her poems named phenomenal woman, because it was such an impact with my music. I enjoyed the way she used her poem to uplift and bring confidence to many women, just through I handful of words. The way performs this poem is extremely, how she pronounce every word as if she was singing. I wanted to include that within my music, but in the opposite way to see how it came out. My words were as clear but I did address my lyrics in a slow a subtle way to keep my listener interested.
Production I was able to improve on my basic skills in logic by learning how to record, set a recording studio, how to use certain channels to improve and mix down my songs and learn how to use the microphone for particular reasons. I will so did research on the best microphones, amplifiers and how to use different channels on logic to see how my music what sound like including those factors together.
I believe that my practical skills have definitely improved during this process, because I had to be extremely independent and I work on many factors that I’ve never done before. I have also been able to learn so much through production through my teachers as well as one of the students that offered to help me produce a mixed down some of my songs because I was struggling in the beginning.I believe in all areas I have greatly improved in some way through my guitar techniques,vocally. I’ve also learnt how to find my own voice through different stages and experimentation I have greatly improved in many ways. I experimented with different guitar sounds on the amps and creating new and improved chords. I’ve also learnt how to find my own voice through different stages and experimentation. I went to vocal classes to help me control my vocal range and the shakiness of my voice and I practice every day on the guitar to control my tempo and plucking technique on the guitar. Even though I’ve learnt so much through this process I believe there is much more to learn this is just the early stages of my career and I believe I can never stop learning every day. I still struggle in production but I mostly practiced every day so I can memorise the new techniques and outline the important processes I need. Because it still new to me I believe that if I continue practice every day and memorise the new techniques by the end of this year i'll be able to really strong on Logic, and also be an independent producer produce my own music as well as others. From last year was extremely poor on logic and I wasn’t able to do anything on it. Now I’m able to set up the microphones and amplifiers, control the different channels in logic, knowing the inputs and outputs of the tracks, and being able to use the compressor and EQ channel to enhance the sound.
With my guitar I’ve been playing for three years. I was extremely terrible last year I wasn’t confident Enough to the point where my hands would shake every time I would change the chords. I was able to sing and play at the same time, but only if the song was both easy vocally and instrumentally. I was very embarrassed by my playing and singing skills, so I decided to practice every day until I was able to perform extremely difficult songs as well as sing to the best of my capabilities at the same time. It’s been a whole year now and I’m able to create lyrics and chords, produced them on logic, and promote them online through apps and social media. I’m able to perform my songs on live concerts and small pubs. And also being able to create lyrical content that has extremely powerful and metaphoric meaning Behind each song also was challenging in the beginning, because I didn't know how to express myself musically. But i'm also capable of doing that also. I presented and promoted my work in three different ways which were, creating a business profile on Instagram, performing some of my songs in a concert, and releasing my official EP on soundcloud. The reason why created an Instagram business profile was to help me promote and create A fan base on social media. Through the out process I was able to learn my audience and followers behaviours, what time it is best to promote an update videos, the percentage of male and female audiences, the popular locations and cities of my followers and viewers and how many profile visit to getting a day. Through this process I was able to see what song my viewers and followers enjoy listening to, which one of my artworks they liked more than the other, and their opinions on my music.
The other method I used was releasing my music on soundcloud. The reason why I chose to use this app instead of printing CDs and promoting in the streets is because, it is free and cost less money then creating CDs and the covers also. CDs are no longer in fashion because technology has greatly improved since the early 2000s. And Soundcloud is a really popular app, it’s an easy app to get and promote your music in a fast and easy way. Hopefully I will be able to be recognised with this process. The last method I used was to promote my music in a live concert. I was able to promote 1 interlude and one single, so the audience can have a little taster of my Ep. The audience seemed to enjoy my music. Because I was the last audience I didn’t have enough time promote my soundcloud and Instagram profile. After the profile performance I did gain an extra few followers on Instagram. During this process I also learnt that the majority of the audience was predominantly black young teenagers, which is my main influence. I hoped that my message especially through the African Queen song, was able to connect with the audience, and it worked a couple of audiences was able to memorise the chorus and would sing along. I believe I was definitely different from the rest of the performers that performed on that day, because the majority were using backing tracks and relying heavily on bands to improve the sound of their music. But I was a soloist and only relied on 2 vocalist for harmonies for one song only. From the beginning I didn’t plan to perform in the concert because I believed if I was able to promote my music through social media and different it would be enough. But in the last week I decided to do just do a quick solo performance to help and boost up my fan base as another way of promoting my music. The reason why I chose these methods of promotion and advertise my music, is because I felt that social media and the Internet is now the prominent way of getting more fans and becoming more recognised within the music industry. That other reason why I decided to promote my music old school way and perform in in a concert is because, I wanted to see if I was able to gain more fans if I promote my music in that particular. The other reason why I decided to promote my music old school way and perform in a concert is because, I wanted to see that was able to gain more fans if I promote my music in a old fashion way. It seems I was able to gain only a small amount of following on Instagram by the promotion of my concert, other than that I believe that promoting your music on social media and the Internet is much better, because the majority of my generation use social media on a daily basis and that is the best way to get people's attention in present day society. And the main audience I’m trying to connect mostly with is mostly my generation. The reason why have chosen to promote my music to the young generation presently is because I believe that the next generation is the key to a change of a better world. So if you can change their mindset positively, and make them believe that they are worthy of being independent, original and creative I believe that the world would be much easier to live in the future.
The Music industries has evolved over the past few decades from vinyl to tidal,CDs to now the Internet, We live in era were the majority of the population relies heavily on social media and the Internet for information. The CEO of music promo today CAPs had said, “social media has allowed on musical talents from around the world to become global stars.”
Such as Adele and Justin Bieber. Social media also helps fans connect more with their favourite artists. Social media helps many artist and their managers to create a buzz with their fan base also. Traditional strategies Are not very useful nowadays as the Internet and social media is much faster and easier action. Just decades ago fans had to listen to the radio stations at particular times to listen to their favourite tracks from their favourite artist. Now in present-day it can be accessed at any time online at any point during the day. The internet has changed the structure of the music industry into a more fast past and easily accessible industry.
The way I promote my music is similar to the way the music industry promotes many artists nowadays. Full example the reason last began to promote it on social media and the Internet in general is because the main fan base I am trying to connect with is the next generation between 12 to 24 of age. The Internet is also very accessible and fast paced , So I began to promote my music especially on Instagram to get more followers and gain a much bigger fan base. That's the reason why I chose to use SoundCloud because it’s very popular and also a lot of popular artists use it also. Another reason why I promote my music with performing in concert is because I wanted to see if the traditional old school route was still useful in today society. I didn’t really see any gain from it other than a small increase in my instagram following. I believe that my promotion has been able to target the right audience for my music especially through Instagram because within my business profile insights it says the majority of my views, And followers are 59% female and 41% males. It also includes that my age ranges between 18 to 24, even though I wanted a bit lower between the ages of 12 to 24 I was able to get the tension of people that are around my age. I have received the average of 900 views on my Instagram page every two weeks. So I believe that my promotion through Instagram has been extremely successful in promoting my music in the correct direction that I aimed for from the beginning. Because I haven’t been able to promote my SoundCloud yet I haven’t received any views on my songs I want to make my EP official album like to do Instagram because that is where I’m receiving most of my views from.
Project Management
I believe that I haven’t successfully managed all the different aspects of my exp because, I believe that I’m a perfectionist and I think that there is always something to improve from within each of of the factors of my project. The reason why I say this is because I haven’t been able to complete extra research or, pieces of my artwork because of my bad organisation skills, so that is one thing I hope to improve in the near future. I hope not to put too much on my plate and try and manage my project in the correct way. I Included so many factors within this project, and I also believe that I caused too much stress on myself by over complicating situations and over thinking them. For example I spent too long in producing some of my songs because I thought that they didn’t sound good enough. I also felt that I produced too many songs that I ended up not including with the end product, so I used up useful time that could’ve helped me complete my artwork and some extra research. Even though I was able to complete the main factors of the project, I still believe if I had much more time and had managed my time better for an outcome could’ve been 10 times better. The biggest challenge for me for this project was trying to complete the music on time. The reason why I say this is because it took me 3 to 4 weeks to complete all of the music for my EP, because in the early stages I struggled with organising and planning beforehand what I want to do in the studio. I also setting up all the Equipment took the majority of the time whilst in the studio. The other issue I faced during producing the music was that I lost a lot of my music in the first two weeks because Me and Amina didn't not save the logic files properly on the hard drive, so we had to restart all over again in the third week. Completing the artwork was extremely challenging because I didn’t have the correct material. Neither did I have the basic material such as, pencils and pastels to actually produce anything. That definitely did slowed down the process of making the art work. I was able to complete the main artwork for my songs at the end, but it was definitely a long process.
Nothing extreme has caused me to change my whole plan for my project, I’ve been able to hold on to the main factors and main message I’ve been trying to create through my end product. From the beginning I wanted to create an EP and artwork and that's what I was able to do with my product. The one I would say is that within proposal it did say how I wanted to create an art portfolio with my music, but unfortunately I wasn't able to complete all of my artwork. And also if If I had created an art portfolio I would have struggled to combine all of that work with my Ep, so I decided to just draw at least 10 portraits in which I can choose from for each of my songs.
For my work I did work with one of my classmates during the process of producing my music, as I struggled to produce through logic in the beginning stages. Amina Saassaa Helped me also to mix down some of my songs and also taught me how to produce independently through logic. Midway through the creation of my product I was able to get one of the studios in College for free most of the time, because no one was using it. During this process me and Amina were able to create both our EPs, and produce anything we wanted, whilst helping each other out. Why she helped me with the production techniques of my EP I helped to set up the studio, and help out with creating lyrical meaning and content. Whilst she would record her songs I would organise the tracks and set up the inputs and outputs of the audio, and she would do the same for mine. During this process we also would experiment with different factors different instruments within our music and much more. Every day me and Amina booked rooms and use this time to experiment and improve with our songs and the production of our music. The majority of the time we would actually be recording most of the songs I recorded at least 12 to 13 tracks that included of interludes singles and just experimenting. There was also other facilities I would use for my artwork, I would go to the classes and work there and produce a few of my best artworks there. Even though I wasn’t an art student I asked my tutor if I was able to have access to a few of the rooms, she was able to ask a few of the teachers that agreed to allow me to use some of the equipment and the rooms also. The reason why they allowed me to use art rooms and equipment was because it was part of my exams, and I didn’t have any material at home. I have completed all the work for my project but, there was extra research I wanted to include at the end but I did not have enough time to complete. As well as I had extra artwork I wanted to complete, but that was not necessary. Overall I have completed all my work and all the research. The reason why I wasn’t able to complete the extra work was because, my time management was poor.
The early Struggles that I had to say it was, the issues of creating a lyrical meanings As I spent a lot of research trying to find the right things to include within my music. The other issue that I faced was creating the artwork. In the beginning stages struggled to find any material to create my artwork, and I was also trying to find ideas and influences of creating impactful and motivational meanings with my artwork. The Artwork took 3 to 4 weeks to actually make because, I would delay and not use time wisely. But eventually I was able to create 10 copies of our work and to use at least 3 to 4 of them for each of my songs. The other issue I had to deal with was the production side of creating my music on logic. During the first week I struggled with managing time, and organising the set up of microphones and the studio. Within the second week I was able to complete at least 3 to 4 tracks but unfortunately the logic files were unable to save and in week three we had to re-do all the tracks including the interludes that I wanted to include within my EP. This process was extremely stressful because we had issues with logic, As well as the microphones being wrongfully used in the wrong purposes. One of the other issues we struggled with was controlling the tempo of some of my songs, we struggle to find a template for the most of my songs because they were normally off timings That I wasn’t used to you. So when I try to follow the metronome instead of helping me it distracted me. We eventually was able to include the template for some of my songs but no most of it, because it didn’t sound original and r that wasn’t used to. So when I tried to follow the metronome instead of helping me it distracted me. We eventually was able to include the template for some of my songs but not most of it, because it didn’t sound original and real Raw. Eventually we were able to complete the recordings in week 4 to 5, and the only thing we had to include was to mix down the vocals and just overall audio. Mixing process was extremely easy because, we used a handful of microphones to get an extremely good quality of audio. So the only thing we had to do was to use the channel EQ, And the compressor to enhance the sounds of my vocals as well as the instruments. Also included extra affect such as vinyl sound, and reverb on my vocals as Wellers instruments to create an old school affect.Even though I had all these issues I was able to complete all of the products that was needed to make the overall outcome. But the main issue I had throughout the overall project was my organisational skills, which was extremely poor. I have learnt from this project Is to manage my time better and organise what I need to do during certain stages, to help myself follow the structures I have included to help organise my time. The theoretical issues that I had to face with my research was not being able to complete extra research such as the analysis of my favourite lyrical meanings with artist such as Damian Marley, Lauryn Hill. I also wanted include analysis for poems but I wasn’t able to complete this research because of the my poor organisation skills. I wasn’t able to overcome it but I was able to include at least on poem that I was able to analyse. And also explain within my broader contextualisation research my interest with Lauryn Hill's music, especially her debut album miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
The concepts and message I have been able to address within this project, is that no one will understand your emotional, physical,and spiritual trauma of society, until they have fulfilled and understood themselves, and have realised that the world we live in is just a continuous paradoxical cycle of life. Things won’t always go right through life and you journey, but through the bad you learn The good and the true concept of freedom in your own perspective. I have also been able to learn more about African tribal meanings, and how to promote and create poems that are metaphorically and powerfully behind the words. I have improved greatly on my logic techniques on how to produce independently, how to mix down audio track and much more. All the ideas I’ve created have been able to be intertwined with my music and product.
I believe the process that i have experienced with this project was really an emotional,interesting and unique experience that I have never done before. I’m happy with the outcome of the project being able to create so much and combined it into something so simple and beautiful at the same time. The process was extremely hard, But through that hardship came a brilliant outcome. Through this project I have learnt about my own historical social issues that I would have never known beforehand. I have also learnt so much about myself and how capable I am of creating something that can create such an impact through myself and others all of doing something to the extreme that myself realising. This project has greatly influenced me in the sense that it has boosted my confidence, And has allowed me to express myself as a musician and what I represent in today’s society, as well as what the future holds for me. I hope to motivate others not just through music but through many aspects of life as well the arts. This project has taught me many factors of myself that I didn’t realise I had, and I have allowed myself to push to the highest limits and be extremely independent with my music,art and myself at the same time.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Inc.com. (2018). How Digital Marketing Is Changing the Music Industry. [online] Available at: https://www.inc.com/aj-agrawal/how-digital-marketing-is-changing-the-music-industry.html [Accessed 8 Jun. 2018].
