Jonny Lee's Music Blog

Project Description

My main music project assignment is the development and creation of a 3 or 4 EP track project. My aim for this project is to be able to add creativity to my image as an artist in the music industry, and to expand my catalogue on music streaming platforms. As of this moment, I have 3 singles on my music streaming platforms, my latest release being a single from May 2021. This May, I aim to release 3 new tracks that will show some versatility within my musical and artistic abilities as a singer songwriter. I aim to achieve creating a project that will demonstrate 3 tracks, those of which are different within moods, themes, and sound. As an artist, I want to thrive on versatility and not be known for ‘one thing’, thus this project aims to be a startup to my first debut album of songs. I target that my first album will be somewhat schizophrenic, in the way that each track is noticeably different from the other, that every song conveys different moods, themes, and sounds sonically. For this EP project, I want to create 3 songs that demonstrate this where each song is noticeably different from the next as a highlight for the theme of my debut album.

Plan

My plan to finish is to finish this body of work within April. This is so that I can have time to promote the EP project to my social media following on my music pages, and it is recommended that on Spotify, artists should schedule releases around 4 weeks prior to the release date. This is so that new releases from artists have a higher chance of having their songs selected to be features on official Spotify playlists. After submission of assignment 001, I will use the feedback given for my tracks to gain an outside perspective and view of my music before it is released. By March, I aim to be close to the final stages of production for my tracks, this will include mastering my songs and getting closer to the final drafts of each.

In regards to the publication of my music, through my account given to my after an accepted application from AWAL, I will be releasing my EP through them. In this process, AWAL will distribute my music through major music streaming platforms ( Spotify, iTunes, Deezer etc.) This way I can keep the listens that follow my music already on these platforms will be notified of my release. AWAL also aid in pushing my music to playlists on these streaming platforms, which is a great opportunity to possibly be added to more playlists and gain a higher volume of streams on my music.

Creative Process & Development

Over the past 3 months, I have been creating new ideas and writing new songs that I am considering to feature on the EP. I have been recording different pieces and demos of songs that I feel that are some of my favourites, therefore I am still deciding to release either 3 or 4 tracks on the project.

How I approach my songwriting and creative does not tend to vary. I always write my lyrics, ideas and melodies within the notes on my phone, this way I can always pick up where I left off when an idea comes to mind. For these songs, I knew I wanted the EP to feature tracks that conveyed different themes and moods amongst them. For each of these songs, I first started with creating the melodies so that I could focus on creating tracks that were different and varied in style. For example, I already had the hook for the pop rock themed song, where I play the same 3 chords and layer an upbeat and catchy riff. Lyrics came to my mind after the music was made, which is slightly an odd approach in terms of my songwriting methods as a lot of the time I tend to write ideas for lyrics / the lyrics themselves first. I wrote under the pop rock track that I want it to sound like a ‘ radio song ‘. By this, in my creative process I knew I wanted to highlight different themes of songs, and in this song particular, I wanted to write a song you could hear on the radio which could be listened to by anyone. I aim for the lyrics and meaning in this song to not be majorly focused on personal details that only I would know and could only maybe relate to. Therefore, I feel an upbeat song like this would be appropriate in helping add a bit more coloraturas to the EP.

Market & Audience Research

I plan to make the project ‘ live ‘ in the public domain by ensuring I use social media following as much as I can to promote and share this EP. On instagram, I have a small fan base that keeps up to date with my posts and are aware of what I am doing as an artist. A tool that I have noticed that is effective in spreading awareness of posts like these, is the Instagram/Facebook advertising tool. In this, you can pay money to Facebook/Instagram and select specific target audiences with your ads and promotions. I have used this in the past spreading my music videos on instagram to advertise my music page, and it has worked on many occasions where I get likes, views and new followers. On various videos I have at least hundreds of likes, and one of my most popular videos on instagram has over 10,000 likes and 1,000 saves. Using this adverting technique with my EP will ensure that I have access to specific target audiences that I want my music to be listened by and shared. I aim to target my release on ads to mainly the younger age group amongst women and men. On my social media pages, my following consists mainly more women than men, therefore it may be a wiser choice to target an age group of women that are young as my music will be more appraise for the demographics that apply to them. I have the ability to choose what countries, what ages and genders to advertise my music too, therefore these statistics convey what demographics to apply to my ads in order to attract more attention to this project.

In terms of where this project will be, as mentioned before, AWAL is the source of distribution I shall be using to publish my music on major music streaming platforms. I will also leave the project hyperlinks within the bio’s of my music pages on social media that lead to where you can listen to the the EP on any of the available platforms. This is so that it is easy access for my current followers to find and listen to my music as quick and low effort as they can. It is also important to have the links to my music displayed on my pages so that new followers to my pages can quickly listen to what my music is like and decide on whether they will continue to follow me as an artist in music. Currently, I have my latest single ‘ The Sunshine I Knew ‘ displayed with available links to major music streaming platforms on my social media and it shows a sense of professionalism to have that feature there for new and current viewers to access easier to.

After taking this music to the market upon release in May, I aim that this project attracts more new listeners and followers for my music. Moreover, I want this project to make a mark of my image as an artist in the market so that I can use this to support the future release of more new music such as EP’s and eventually build enough support and attraction for a debut album.

Original song; On Our Own

Song: Love It If We Made It – The 1975

YouTube Video Link: 

Discuss how the music is played – technique (instrument / mic etc), dynamics, tightness, feel etc

The music from this performance is played through electric guitar, bass, drums, vocal mics and an electric keyboard that has live recorded loops put through the sound system. The dynamics of the song feel spaced out and somewhat dream-like at the start of the performance. However, the bass and drums kick within the first 20 seconds, completely transforming the presence and atmosphere of the music and audience.

Stage presence: How are the performers commanding attention? How is the performer expressing themselves?

As soon as the song is driven into a much louder and more present sound, the performers show so much energy, especially the main vocalist. This song specifically does seem to have a protest theme to it, however, the songwriter of the group explained he did not want it to be a protest song and that he wanted to be introspective. Aside from the actual lyrics, the presence of the main vocalist is crucial in this track, it feels like a protest within a musical performance which gives this performance so much energy. The audience is used so much during the performance and it shows just how passionate both the performers and fans are, almost as if the performance wouldn’t work without the audience for this song.

Comment on the presentation aesthetics – the stage set up, clothes, lighting, stage dressing etc

Instantly, there is so much going on in the performance. The stage set up with the mixed colours of flashing lights, the bright and dark clothing of the performers and all-round animated movement of the performance is astounding. Personally, the 1975 provide one of the best stage presences ever in their concerts. This song specifically, there is movement everywhere on the stage with the vocalist singing, the backup dancers, and even the drummer in the middle is easily visible just from how much passion and energy there is in the song.

Emotional impact – how does it make you feel? Do you think it matches the artist’s intention?

This performance has an empowering presence throughout the duration of it, and it connects to me on a personal level, making me feel empowered also. The passion is so pure and raw, it is one of the band’s best assets, you can tell just by the audiences’ responses throughout the whole song just how present and full it feels. I believe the band and the main vocalist especially, captures the emotional impact of the song perfectly.

What is your overall impression of the performance?

I don’t think the performance could have been executed any better. The raw passion and presence of the performance gives a somewhat constant explosive theme. It keeps the attention of the audience and the viewer no matter where you are watching from. In my opinion, it is one of their best performances ever.

• How is the live version different from the recorded version?

Both the recorded and live versions of the song have a theme of empowerment and protest through their durations. I feel that both versions do extremely well on delivering a powerful and passionate essence, however watching the live version shows just how passionate the band are about this song. The main vocalist being the songwriter for the group, shows the raw passion and energy live and everything you are listening to live feels a lot more animated.

• Think: vocal treatment, effects, instrumentation, tempo, dynamics, length etc. 

Listening to both versions of the song sound very much similar in terms of treatment, effects, instrumentation and tempo. I would say the main difference of the recorded and live versions productionally, is the bass and drums on the live version sounds a lot more involved. The drums play a vital role in giving the song the kick it has, and in the live performance, it feels a lot more empowered. I would say this would be to match the theme of the song as the lyrics and song itself sounds like a protest. To have a live audience there, the drums really play such a big role in creating a more animated and responsive crowd to the song.

• Do you prefer the performance or the recording? Why?

I prefer the live performance of the song because with the stage presence and audience response mixed together, this sense of empowerment and adrenaline feels a lot more present. The aesthetics of the performance makes me see what I feel, the energy and passion is what gives the live performance that little more the song needed. In a song that feels like a protest even when listening to the recorded version, the live version brings the song to lfe with the audience.

• Emotional impact – how does the recorded track make you feel? Does it differ from the live version? 

Both the recorded and live versions of the song give me the same feelings, but the emotional impact is just enhanced of the same feelings when watching the live version. I was able to attend one of their concerts and when this song was played, the whole arena was everyone connecting and putting the energy together, just like how a real-life protest is. You have those emotions in yourself, but when with others, those emotions and passions are enhanced to levels that being on your own just can’t level with.

Over what we have covered in class so far, I find that this assignment is going to involve a lot of thought considering what types of ideas I could use to approach this portfolio with. It is important that I create two different portfolios that are eligible to highlight identity and professionalism in order to display and evidence key workings of these themes in my work. 

For my identity project, I am required to create a project that advances my own musical skills or ambitions. In class we discussed what types of projects we could undertake such as a gig/livestream, a release or a creative project. Initially I thought that I would really like to produce a release such as an EP, for I have not released new music since my first single in 2019. However, after discussion with the module tutor, an EP would not be suitable for this assignment. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion of a livestream on one of my social media pages for my music. A livestream is a project I would love to undertake because playing music live for people is what I enjoy most in music over working in recording studios. 

As for my professional project, I am required to use my musical skills and knowledge to enhance the musical skills and/or ambitions in others. The first thing that came to mind was guitar lessons, as several people in my life have asked me to teach them. I feel this project idea would really show the professional side of what my abilities can achieve in teaching, for I taught myself guitar through books and YouTube videos. Therefore, as someone who taught themselves guitar, I know what methods and techniques are easier for a beginner at guitar. 

I believe that this module has introduced me to new skills and experiences that definitely has benefited my musical knowledge and will be of good help for live performances in the future. I enjoyed this module and the interesting discussions and exercises we did over the 12 weeks and I feel that I can say that on everyone else’s behalf too. This module has been very interactive and has taught me various things I did not know that I needed to.

I believe our assessment was a success and overall I was extremely happy with Pickle Patrol’s effort and performance!

Today was the day that Pickle Patrol was to perform in front of the module leaders and the rest of the student on the course. We felt nervous but we were ready to put what we had created in rehearsals into show!

Here is the performance:

Overall,I thought that the start of our performance was good with Tanya and Jo connecting well on keys and vocals. As the song progressed, I feel like the performance was really starting to do well with Chloe on bass, Sandra on backing vocals, our drummer gave a good kick to the song, and with me on vocals too! In my opinion, our stage presence matched well with the mood of the song. At the start, it’s gloomy and slow however, we then kick into a some sort of groovy vibe and rhythm when we are all playing our parts. We received great feedback from the audience with applause and I believe this was our best take on the song!

This weeks session was the week before the live performance that was going to be reviewed and graded. I found that our group did commit well in preparation for the live performance as we connected well within rehearsal sessions!

Personally, it was a very enjoyable experience getting to know my band more both musically and on personal terms too.I felt that this played a crucial role in our rehearsal development as we began to feel more comfortable and confident when practicing.

Our song ‘ Let Me Be ‘ was then created !

Next, we decided to take a recording on one of our rehearsal sessions which is displayed below:

Our Lead Sheet :

Key Change

In this weeks session, we looked at all the things we have done up until now. We looked back on our work and discussions we had been having since the start of the term to refresh our memory in preparation for our assessment.

We then talked about rehearsal development and the progression for our groups/bands. We looked over what equipment we would need for the rehearsals a well as the roles for those sessions in preparation for the live performance. My band required a keyboard, bass amp, guitar amp and 4 microphones as we used help from a course-mate with vocals to give a ‘fuller’ presence on the song as well as another course-mate on drums for the same purpose.

Below is a sketch of our plan :

Today we looked into lyrics and the different aspects of what lyrics bring to a song and their effects. Much of lyrical writing is technical, and we base our writing on these key factors:

Rhyme, Rhythm, Contrast, Balance, Repetition and Repetition.

Being a singer – songwriter myself, it was interesting to see how else I could improve my lyrics for my songs. I found this session helpful as we also did a task at the end where in pairs we were instructed to write lyrics using our 5 senses.

On the spot, these were my lyrics ! :