Weekly Updates
Week 1 (3rd March - 7th March)
This is the first official week of my final project so I’m just getting a bit of guitar done so I can start writing all my tracks.
Week 2 (10th March - 14th March)
This week I’ve had to write my project proposal, I’m struggling a little to make my words as concise as possible in order to fit the words limit whilst still explaining my project in full. I’ve also found in my first paragraph I’m waffling a bit so I’m going to really cut down and figure out what exactly should be said. I’ve also been getting a bit of research done this week on my inspiration for the EP so I’ve listed five different bands who I wish to create a sound similar to. I also got the chance to go to Swansea arena with my band Glass Star as we were attending the awards ceremony for the Skills Wales competition we took part in. Sadly, we didn't manage to win any awards but I'm still proud as I think that was our best performance yet!
I’ve also created mind maps for each of my songs and what themes I want for each of them. Overall, I’m very happy with how things have been going this week and glad I’ve started my research as I tend to procrastinate that regard. On the other hand, I haven’t managed to write much guitar this week as I haven’t seen the guitarist and forgot to plan for it. In order to not fall behind, I’ll have to make sure I write some guitar next week as well as lyric drafts. Here below is a voice memo of how I want the guitars to sound in one song.
Week 3 (17th March - 21st March)
I started this week off by writing some bass guitar, which I do struggle with. Since I’m singing, the plan is to mostly play root notes but I still struggle to create a simple bassline with no guitar! I’ll pop some tab in at the end of this weeks update to show you how it’s going. Research wise this week I looked into cassettes and how much different ones cost whilst recalling everything I’ve learnt about them in my first year unit four. Ideally, I’m looking for a tape that’s under 30 mins as my EP should fit onto it well. I also finished and turned my project proposal in this week before starting my project proposal. I’m quite nervous for this as I’m prone to getting nervous in presentations so I’ll just have to rehearse a lot and stay calm. I read a bit of The Bell Jar this week and started noting down some lyric ideas so that went well but again I’m rather behind on guitar parts so I really need to get on top of that. I also thought I'd add in a little sketch I did of a design for the t-shirts or stickers.
Week 4 (24th March - 28th March)
So much to do this week! It feels like I’ve just suddenly been flooded with work! I’ve completed some research on where to buy cheap t-shirts and even ordering the first five which is great. I managed to get some studio time this week for drums in college and Morgan and I started figured out some drum parts. I also did some sketches of the t-shirt designs and a couple of sticker ideas although I’m going to ask my sister to do the final sticker designs as she’s much more artistic. I got some lyric drafts done this week so I’m happy with that progress but I need to plan my studio sessions better as I didn’t get what I wanted to done so I’ll plan out exactly what I’m doing next time in advance. to stay completely on track. Down below I've got some first lyrics drafts as well as a mind-map for one of the songs to show my process of making tracks.
Week 5 and Week 6 (31st March - 11th April)
So this week started off all good and I even managed to get a small bit of drums recorded in the studio!
That is until Tuesday evening went wrong suddenly and I had severe tooth pain which meant I kept having to go for emergency dental appointments throughout the next two weeks as I had a very bad infection and was then allergic to the antibiotics (just my luck). So unfortunately I didn't get much done this week as I was just in constant pain and the entire left side of my face is swollen loads and this and next week were booked for my drums. I couldn't sing or get much done musically like recording so I ended up doing research and writing some more lyrics. I decided to research shoegaze and noisepop as well as ordered my t-shirt supplies and some more research. I unfortunately had to cancel the flatcat gig and all the rehearsals we had planned so now I'm rather stressed and behind. I posted asking what t-shirt writing is favoured on social media to do a bit of primary research but I mostly just tried to get better. Overall, despite the circumstances, I'm glad I've had the time to catch up on and complete most research but I'm quite worried that I've fallen behind on recording, specifically drums as it's a vital part I need to complete to help the rest of my project. I know the easter holidays are next so I will spend some of the doing research, rehearsal and merchandise but I'm hoping to conquer drum recording as soon as I'm back in college.
Easter Break Week 7 and 8
Still not feeling my best but know I need to get some work done! I've created my plan for the cassette tapes as well as created cover ideas for them which I'll finalise soon hopefully.
I managed to do one rehearsal with my band towards the end as I'm finally feeling a lot better. I've printed the first flatcat stickers in different sizes which I'll add a photo of.
I've also recorded some bass demos at home for the songs and luckily my guitar came over to record the demo for two of the songs ready for my drummer. My guitarist and friend Maisie let me suggest ideas for the gig poster to her and created it as she's a graphic design student. I wanted the poster to stand out from others and not just look like it was made on Canva and I think she did an amazing job!
The stencils I ordered for shirts finally arrived and they are perfect and clean cut so I've also begun painting some of the t-shirts to get some progress made there. I'm still not quite sure on how to make them the best I can, the brush just isn't cutting it so I'm thinking of using a sponge in the future to get a more even coat applied. I also wanted to make a post to instagram asking for fans opinions on shirts as a form of primary research.
Finally, I made another post to social media announcing that a gig was coming soon.
Week 9 (28th April - 2nd May)
Finally back to college! I'm aware there's lots to do so I started off my doing some research on my on stage confidence and presence. I then made an evaluation of how things are going so far and recorded some more vocal demos before finalising the lyrics to two songs. As my cassette deck had unfortunately broken just before the project fully began, I had to post on facebook asking if anyone had a cassette recorder I could borrow or buy and thankfully, within hours, my brothers friends gifted me his Sony CFD-S50 Boombox which featured an audio in jack (exactly what I was looking for) so I no longer have to stress about that!
On Thursday I had time in the studio with Morgan to record drums to february's gone and I'm very pleased with how it went! I just need to record vocals for it now and record the proper guitar.
Overall, It's going well, some problems even seem to be solving themselves! I'm so grateful my cassette recorder issue got sorted so quickly and it's no longer an issue within my work. I'm still of course quite worried about recording and getting all my songs finished and mixed before the gig for cassette tapes but I'm just going to keep pushing through. Next week I need to focus on announcing the gig and trying to get some practice in with my band.
Week 10 (5th May - 9th May)
Deadline's getting close now... It's the milestone at the end of this week so I'm just attempting to get everything on my digital portfolio sorted now and fill in the gaps. I announced the gig this thursday and have a band rehearsal booked for this Saturday which I'll post a recording of as well as a photo of the guitar parts for my original, february's gone.
We've now sorted our covers out so it'll be Pancake by Swirlies, Daisy Pusher by julie, Shake It Down by C Turtle and When You Sleep by My Bloody Valentine (since it's a staple). I've recorded all my bass and most guitar now, going to finish it off on the weekend. I have drums booked in for next Monday all day and next Tuesday in the morning for two hours as I still haven't quite caught up to date with that and it's becoming a thorn in my side. I also tried to make some more stickers deisgns based off of the homemade t-shirts but I can't quite get it to look right so I'm going to ask my sister, who's a tattoo artist, for help.
Week 11 (12th May - 16th May)
The week before the gig is here! I've going to list all the posts made on instagram by my band to advertise the gig and just posts made in general.
Additionally my sister was kind enough to use her free time to design stickers for me. She created two amazing designs for me to sell in various designs alongside my own two. Ultimately I've decided to make all the stickers free as I think this is the best week to get my bands name out there and I also want to sell the stickers at inconvenient or too high of a price.
Although it's been stressful, there's been some fun too, I had a last minute rehearsal with my band when they didn't have exams and once the event tickets were released I had to awkwardly keep contacting Bunkhouse to change the title as it was repeatedly wrong which was quite humourous.
I also managed to pop into the studio to record the last of the drums and record parts from finished tracks that had issues such as the chorus on februrary's gone. I also popped into Spider Music before my shift and bought new drum pieces such as a clutch since Ive just bought breakables but I'm missing quite a bit of the important small stuff.
Finally, I went round my college and town and put up some of the posters for the gig. I ended up choosing the yellow version as I felt it was the most eye-catching. All in all, despite being stressed, I'm very very happy with all the progress I've made and I'm starting to feel excited for the gig! I definitely still need to do quite a lot such as the cassettte tapes and the writing on the shirts. Next week I want to get the shirts out of the way so I'm not too stressed!
Week 12 (19th May - 23rd May)
It's the final week and I have so much to do! First off I made the tshirts ready for the gig and I've decided to only sell them for £5 as they are simple homemade merchandise and we're only a small band so I believe any higher and they won't sell but I also wanted to make some money back. Luckily, my band managed to have a short rehearsal the day before the gig even though both my guitarists had exams. I think it was well needed and although we're not perfect, we've definitely made progress.
Onto the gig itself! There was so much to do! I was very nervous beforehand as it felt like I was trying performing from scratch since I was with a completely new band. There were a couple of hurdles throughout the night which I've discussed in my gig evaluation but I'm so proud of my band for accomplished what they have, it's no easy task and I'm also proud of myself for putting in the effort to organise the gig and ensure all the bands felt sure of what they were doing. I think one of the best parts of the night was seeing how many of my friends came along despite being drowned in exams just to support us all. Connections and support really are the main things needed in the music scene. So it's taken quite awhile to get everything done merch wise and I've faced quite a bit of trial and error but I'm extremely thankful I've managed to finish my merchandise before the gig! I ended up deciding not to sell the cassettes as I didn't want to completely rush them before the gig and stress myself out. Therefore, I've decided to still design and create the cassette tapes to present for my project but just keep the media to myself.
After the gig, on Thursday and Friday, I still had loads to do. I had to spend time mixing and mastering as well as writing up my gig and final evaluation. On Friday, once I had uploaded the mixes to soundcloud, I recorded each of the tracks onto my cassettes and drew the cassette stickers to achieve the consistent homemade feel all my merchandise has.
I've finally reached my deadline, after so much work. It hasn't been easy but I've learnt so much, even about things I thought I already knew. On Friday I popped into college to drop off a bag of all my physical work which contained one cassette tape, flatcat stickers and two different flatcat shirts. I then of course spent the rest of my time trying to complete a final evaluation. Overall, there are aspects where I didn't quite achieve my goals perfectly but every task taught me something I could use in the future inside or out of the music scene. I'm most grateful for the relationships I've worked to build over these two years with my band, friends and tutors and truly think my time here at Llwyn Y Bryn has been worthwhile.
.HEIC)
