Project Plan

Introduction

As a producer the main things I like doing are producing, DJ'ing, composing, recording and a bit of sound engineering. One of my goals is to produce for as many artists as I can whether they are signed or unsigned. Another goal is to be a songwriter because I'm finding it difficult to write lyrics and is something I want to improve on. I like producing many genres of music. I don't like producing one genre because it gets boring after a while and I like to experiment with other genres too. If I were to be in the industry my roles would be mainly producing, DJ'ing, and composing and I would see myself touring and producing for artists that famous already.

Content

My product is going to be a 4 - 7 track E.P and the genres will mostly be RnB, ambient and soul. I have chosen this style of music because this kind of music is relaxing, gentle and subtle. I was thinking about making a house E.P but this idea was better for me. The people in my college that are studying music like this kind of music as well as I do and it will be a great opportunity for me to collaborate with them.

Collaboration/Studio Roles

I plan on working with the students in 1st and 2nd year performance because the performance have great singers and they will provide amazing vocals for my E.P. Before I start talking to the performance students about collaborating I will need to have a demo track for whoever I want to work with. This way it will help the student I am working with get an idea of what the instrumental track sounds like and has a good idea for lyrics. Also I wanted to make a track using 2 - 3 live instruments I can also talk to some of the instrumentalists in the performance class and explain to some of them what my final music product is going to be and how they will help a lot with it.

Production Teams

From wednesday 19th November - 3rd December me, Reggie and Boris have been recording Daniel James' track titled 'Home'. I was recording the last two sessions by myself. In these sessions all three of us have been recording Daniel in comping mode. Comping is audio recording with the cycle on and this technique was great for finding the best take for the track. In the first session all three of us managed to record the verses, in the second session I managed to record one chorus and copy it into the other chorus section and finally in the last session I managed to record the last section of the song which was the bridge. During these sessions it was important for us to keep track of what we were doing. Once a vocal take from a comp track was bounced or selected we needed to name it and give it a colour so that every section of the song is obvious to us. Another important thing was to save the file once a new recording has been taken or otherwise this would have given us problems.  Now that the track has been fully recorded it is time to get the track professionally mixed and mastered.

Equipment List

The equipment I will be using in my final product is:

FL Studio
Logic 9
Logic X
NT1000 Mic
AKG 414 Mic
D.I Box
I/O Box
Mixing Desk
Headphone Mixer
Headphones
XLR, line lead and jack to jack cables
Software synths, mixing and effects plugins

I will need FL Studio to compose and produce the tracks for my E.P because I have installed some great plugins which I can use for chords, melodies drums, bassline and more. Plus, I can structure the track neatly and keep everything tidy. However, I will use Logic 9 to make some of my tracks because Logic 9 has library of sounds, drums and software plugins to choose from. It will also be easier for me to record what I want because I will be using a midi keyboard. I don't have a midi keyboard at my house and this I find it difficult to record using the type pad on my laptop. Plus, I will be using Logic X to import my track stems ready for mixing and mastering because Logic X has great mixing and effects plugins. I will be using the recording studio to mix and master my tracks because the recording studio is a great environment for finalising any type of music. The recording studio allows me to hear every frequency clearly and it will help me it focus more when I am listening carefully to my mix downs.

When I record instruments or vocals for my E.P I will be using the NT1000 & AKG 414 microphones, D.I box, XLR, line lead and jack to jack cables, mixing desk and I/O box. I will use the NT1000 & AKG 414 microphones for vocals because they provide clear vocals, don't require much EQ'ing and give enough brightness to the vocals. I will use the microphone stand to place the microphone I am using, from there I will use one XLR cable to plug the microphone into the I/O box and from there I will use the mixing desk to turn the phantom power on and adjust the level (s). I will also use a line lead cable to plug the headphone mixer into the I/O box. After that I will set the headphones up so that the singer/rapper I am recording can hear the instrumental track and me communicating with him/her. I will then use Logic X to import the finished track ready for recording and I will ensure that the tempo is correct on the logic file. I will also create new audio channels for the vocalist ensure that the channels are going to channels 1 & 2 which is the stereo output.

For recording live instruments like guitar, bass and keyboard I will use the D.I box (s), jack to jack, line lead and XLR cables to link up all the instruments and headphone mixer into the I.O box. I will then open a new logic file on Logic X and I will create new audio channels and make sure all the inputs are the same on the I/O box and I will ensure that they are coming out of channels 1 & 2 which is the stereo output. From here I will use the mixing desk to turn the phantom power on for the D.I box (s) and I will adjust levels for the instruments I am using.

Future Plans

For the future I will send 3 - 4 of my E.P tracks to DJs that are looking for new music from up coming artists. This will help me get recognition from people that work in the A&R department of record labels. Creating an official website is another good way of getting recognised because people that work in the A&R department can look at my biography and listen to music I have produced now and before. Social network sites like facebook and twitter will help me make contacts with other unsigned artists and producers and it will probably help me with getting in touch with people that work for events management and A&R. Getting in touch with events management people will help me showcase music that I have produced and it will attract a lot of people's attention and this will help my fan base grow. Plus, it will hopefully attract an A&R employee that is looking for new artists to sign.