Task 1
What are the key skills you have acquired since being here?
Over the last two years (nearly) I have acquired many different skills and as a musician I have really improved. I personally feel that I have gotten massively better at drumming. I look back now when I started and I genuinely am unsure on why I played how I did. I just didn’t have much skill at all and I would just play simple songs as I knew it was within my depth and I was able to complete and perform it easily. For example, I am much better at using dynamics in performances now to really gain the audiences attention and give the song more levels to it. I have learnt many new practical skills, including confidence on stage and I am now much more comfortable with performing in front of people! At the start of the course, I would want to perform but never had the guts until someone asked me to do a song with them. Whereas now I am more then happy to do any song I’m asked to. My confidence still isn’t great, but it has massively improved thanks to this course! It’s made me challenge myself more with the songs I play and i’m willing to give anything a go.
With the theory and business side of music. I’ve learnt so much about the industry and how it all works, the legal side of things, how contracts work and also how to become successful in the business. I enjoyed the business module so much that i’ve actually decided I want to go into the business side of the industry. This is why i’m going to university in September. I have also learnt the basics in the studio and also know how to set up a whole kit by myself and mic it all up. Before I went to college I knew how to set up my kit; but the way I play now has made me change my set up so it’s quite different. Being at college and learning all this information and has helped me gain a load of knowledge and will help me with most problems I could encounter. For example if I was having a song mixed and the tech guy said he’ll be late so can i set up the Mac and Logic, I would now be able to do it.
Overall I have learnt so many skills from college and I’ve only listed a few above, but there are loads more! The ones I have listed were the main ones.
What makes your project worthy of the diploma?
I think the project i’m doing, showcases exactly what i’ve learnt over the last two years. It shows how i’ve become a better drummer from being on this course, and also the creative part of my knowledge as I have written my own parts to the project, which I’ll talk about in the next paragraph. I show my knowledge of logic and how to compose music, and also how to work with a band writing original material. All of this, including the practice side like setting up a kit in a studio etc, I have only been able to do because of this course. My project is worthy of the diploma, as I am applying all the skills I’ve learned over the course, to show my best self through Unit 13.
What is the concept of your project?
The concept of the project, is to create an EP that will be ready to/ worthy of release. It’ll be a 3/4 track album and will be all original material, written by me and my fellow band mates! I aim to help produce, prepare and record all parts of the project with my colleagues, and will put all my effort in. It’ll be something to show for my two year course at Colchester Institute, that I can show to people and let them see how far I’ve come. It’s also a great idea to do, as it’s something I have always wanted to try and do. Having original material to have people listen to, will gain me much more confidence, knowing that what they’re listening to, I have done with my band! The concept for the project is simple, create an EP. However, I know it’s going to very challenging.
What is the aim of your project?
The aim of the project is as I said above, to create an EP of 3/4 songs that are original. The aim is to get it completed by the deadline I am given by my tutors, and I think that’s quite a big task. I am a bit of a perfectionist and I know my colleagues also involved in the project are too. Which could make this quite difficult, however I know it’ll be worth it in the end as we will all have put one hundred percent in. The aim for me personally, is to be able to create something that I and my band have done ourselves, and are able to show it to close friends and families. Something that showcases exactly what this course has helped me become and also, what it has taught me.
Task 2
For this task, I will explain and show various sources (videos) of what has inspired me to be where I am today as a musician. It’ll also link to how I decided on this project with my band and how these videos have led me to make these choices about what we are going to be doing.
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac have been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember! It’s what introduced me to music and made me enjoy it. Their songs remind me of my childhood and going on long cat journeys to visit my family. This song below in particular, was a favourite of mine when I was 5/6. I would sing it loudly all the time, according to my parents, and I would ask for it to be played all the time. Fleetwood Mac are the reason I really came to like music in more then one way. I didn’t just listen to it, I actually wanted to play with them, and this helped me realised I wanted to be involved in music somehow. Stevie Nicks’ voice is one of my favourites because her voice is so rich and deep! She and Fleetwood Mac have definitely been an influence to me and how I have gotten into music, therefore eventually deciding what kind of music I listen to, and also leading me to play the songs I have at college.
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is the reason I have such a wide and varied taste in music. If you have heard of her music, you would understand why, as I’d say she is pretty ‘left-field’ and not everyone’s choice. I started to listen to her when I was young, a bit like Fleetwood Mac… One of my favourite songs at Christmas was ‘December Will Be Magic Again’ which you unfortunately can’t get on any platforms except YouTube anymore. My dad had a few of her songs on his playlist when I was a child so I was always pretty aware of who she was. However in Year 10, I began to gain more of an interest towards her and I would actually listen to the whole ‘Kick Inside’ album at least once a week, and I still listen to it quite regularly now. Listening to Kate Bush has and admiring her, has made me easily be able to except other peoples voices that are also unique, which has allowed me to fall in love with so many artists. For example, Jeff Buckley, a lot of people I know think he doesn’t have a good voice (a bit like Kate Bush) however people who are able to have an open mind about artists, are more able to appreciate his voice, if that makes sense. Kate Bush is the reason I have the music taste I do today, and a big reason why I am able to appreciate so many unique types of music. The video I have attached below, is just a little insight to what she was like and how she performed her music. I love this video and I really wish I could’ve seen her perform.
Radiohead
Radiohead has been a reasonably big influence on me recently, as it has helped guide me towards the types of original songs we are going to be writing for Unit 13. Their use of chord progressions and their use of piano and guitar in songs are absolutely amazing and it has the capability to really change my mood. For example, the song below ‘Pyramid Song’ will always make me cry. Which sounds silly because it’s just a song, but I genuinely do get really upset listening to it, because it’s incredible with how it builds, and also it is just an amazing song. They aren’t sad or happy tears, they are more ‘wow what is happening’ tears. I’ve found that a few of Radiohead’s songs are somehow able to speak more then words. Another example is ‘Exit Music (For A Film)’ which is used at the end of a Black Mirror episode called ‘Shut Up and Dance’. I won’t go into detail on why it fits the end of the show so perfectly, but if you were to use any other song, it wouldn’t have anywhere near the same amount of effect as this song does. The reason I am using Radiohead as one of my songs, is because I have always wanted to make people feel something through music. With Lewis and Harvey, we have said we want to create something enjoyable for everyone, but also something musicians will especially be able to appreciate, which we will do through chord progressions. Just like Radiohead have done in my opinion.
Lewis
Lewis Hollidge is the guitarist for my Unit 13. I’ve been in a group with him and Harvey Bullard, basically since the start of college and we have always learnt and performed songs together. Which is why it makes sense to do my Unit 13 project with them as we work well as a team. I am using Lewis as one of my sources as he is a big part as to why I am making my project what it is. He is amazing at writing songs and the ones he has written for us are brilliant! Lewis has managed to create songs that have helped me discover my favourite style to play in (jazz/rock fusion). I’d managed to play pretty much every genre up until this time, and have come to realised that I never really felt comfortable with them. Whereas with these type of songs, I am able to express myself through the drums, the way I want to. I am so glad I worked with him during college and am now able to for my Unit 13, as it has given me a chance to write my own songs with him, and choose how I want to play. We also have reasonably similar music tastes, which is a massive help as we are aiming towards the same goals. He has been a big help in making me realise what music I really enjoy playing, as well as listening to. Without working with him, I don’t think I would’ve realised how much I actually enjoy performing songs, and also being able to feel comfortable yet challenged on the kit. My Unit 13 probably would’ve been completely different.
Jeff Buckley
Moving on from Lewis, I was also introudced to this man below, Jeff Buckley. At first he didn’t really appeal to me, but when I listened to his songs, I actually took great inspiration from him, and ended up becoming quite the fan. His song that I have attached below, ‘Grace’, has been a big influence to my project for college this year. Lewis, Harvey and I, performed it last year as part of our final project and we learned to really love the song and this is what inspired me to play like I do today. In Buckleys songs, he plays in 6/8 most of the time, and he also uses cool tom fills on the drums, as well as using the ride cymbal perfectly in places. Listening to his songs has played a massive part in what these original songs plan to sound like. As i am writing this, we already have demos of the originals. The drum parts I have written are completely my own, however if you were to compare them to a Jeff Buckley song, you can certainly see how I have been influenced by the use of the drums in his songs. For example, the fills are mainly tom based and I use the ride cymbal most of the time. Also, a big part of the songs, is that 2/3 are played in 6/8. Again, if I hadn’t been introduced to him, I think I would’ve played and written these songs from a completely different perspective. I am finally comfortable at the kit with these songs as although they’re difficult, I enjoy playing them and can’t wait to properly record them.
6/8
The time signature 6/8 was something I was only really introduced to in the last year or so, playing wise. And I ended up realising that I am so much more comfortable playing in it, compared to 4/4 as i feel there is so much more freedom with it. I got into the 6/8 feel when I got into my band at college with Lewis and Harvey. This is because for some of my units last year, we played a lot of Jeff Buckley and most of his songs are in 6/8. It then became something I really enjoyed playing, as with 6/8 I started to become naturally good at performing in that time signature. It made me able to improvise on any tracks that were in this time, and also is the reason I am doing these original songs for my EP with the band for unit 13. 6/8 has made me comfortable with performing as I enjoy it a lot, and I can’t wait to be writing my own 6/8 drum music for one or more of these original songs.
She’s Always A Woman – Billy Joel
This song, basically sums up all the sources. Billy Joel is an artist I have been listening to since I was a child, and this song always stuck with me in particular as it reminds me of my dads side of the family, because it would always be played when I was with them all. As well as that, it is also an incredible song in general and it does make me a little emotional. Billy Joel has an insane voice and this song proves it! The subtle piano at the beginning with his voice is brilliant. Another thing to add is that the time signature is in 6/8 which as you now know, I really like. This song is sort of an inspiration to what the EP to turn out like. Not like Billy Joel’s songs, but how it affects people and how it can be associated to memories. I hope one day my songs are able to do this, and I hope that the EP for Unit 13 is a start to learning how to create something similar to this.
Task 3
What are the problems that you are going to encounter in your project?
Most of the problems we are going to encounter in this project is with ourselves. Lewis (guitarist on my project) and I are perfectionists to put it simply. And personally, only having three or so months to complete an original EP may seem like a while, however I need to have everything sounding the best it possibly can. This I know will be a challenge for me and Lewis, as it’s hard to get somthing to its best level when you aren’t the greatest musician in the world. But I believe we can get it to the best we can with our skill sets we have developed over the last two years on this course. Hopefully we will be satisfied with what we end up with, otherwise that will of course be an issue. Another problem is just genuinely getting it finished, although I know how much me and my two colleagues do want to get this project completed to show to people what we have completed, so that will be our biggest motivation.
Can you give some examples of both practical and theoretical problems that you have solved through your previous work?
One of the theoretical problems we have already encountered as we have started the project, is being able to get time in the studio. It’s quite difficult as of course, there is twenty other students on the course most likely wanting to use it too. So this could create some problems as we will need as much time in the studio as possible to record our songs and get them to the level of greatness that we want them to be at. Also, one of the songs we plan to do, is a live studio song due to some technical issues we have encoutered already (which will be explained later). This means we will need to be in the studio for a while to get this correct, although we do plan to practice beforehand so it will hopefully not have to be recorded too many times.
A practical probelm would be actually playing on the songs. Lewis and I have some pretty decent ideas for how we want the guitar, bass and drums to sound like for the songs, and Harvey has some great ideas for his bass part. But I know that on one of the songs we are doing, we are going to include a drum roll on the snare, and it’ll change from 4/4 to 6/8 halfway through. Drum rolls in songs is not something I’ve ever particularly done, and I suppose it’s more of a ‘technical’ problem in a way. But, I am going to work on it by myself and with the band, so we can get it right. Instead of just giving up and taking it out of the song. Right now it is a practical problem, but with practice it should be resolved reasonably quickly, if I put the effort in.
What has equipped you to solve the problems that you face in the completion of this project?
The practical problem that I spoke about above, that involves the snare roll in one of the songs, will hopefully be resolved by practice in college and also at home. What has equipped me and will help me solve this, is my new practice pad at home, as well as my kit. I find that practicing something in particular on a practice pad before moving to the kit, really helps. I did this with a big fill I had to do for a song once, and it really helped me improve my sticking. So the practice pad will be used to help mr solve this issue.
What has also helped, is actually just sitting down with my band mates, and just chatting about what we need to do to improve the project and complete it as well as possible. It has really helped us already as when we were set the assignment for Unit 12 and 13, we straight away just went to a room and worked out what we were going to do. Which helped because I was originally assuming I was going to do it by myself and I was worried about what I was going to do on my own. Most of the issues that could be caused will only be down to bad communication which shouldn’t happen, fingers crossed. This can easily be resolved if it does happen though, as my friendship with both Lewis and Harvey is quite tight and we all get along really well.
Task 4
| Week Commencing | What needs to happen? | How are you going to achieve it? |
| 21/02 | Start to chat with people and find out their ideas for Unit 13 to get some inspiration and make a decision on what I’ll do. | Talk to classmates and get a sense of what everyone plans to do. I will also send a message to the bands chat and see if we want to do anything together instead of individually. |
| 28/02 | Rehearse songs the band and I have written, and get them to a decent standard. Also to do some coursework. | Get Lewis to send over his original songs over and listen to them to get an idea of how to write my drum part to it. Then when we get in the practice room, to rehearse and start to put the songs together and get a sense of how we want it to sound. Also to be in room W403 and complete some coursework. |
| 07/03 | Get some rough demos recorded to see how we sound, and then discuss how to improve. Also to do some coursework. | We will plan and book to go into the studio and record everything but not to a high standard, and test that out to see how it sounds. This will also involve needing a tech student so we will message one of them too to see if they are able to. We can then sit down and discuss how we are going to make differences and give eachother our opinions. |
| 14/03 | Rehearse and work on improvements for the song if any are made. Do some coursework. | Continue to go into the practice rooms on a thursday and rehearse the sings so they start to come together more. Maybe work on one specifically so one is well known and to work on the others the next two weeks. |
| 21/03 | Start to work through Unit 12, and keep working on the songs, and discuss any issues that the band might have with the band. | Keep working through the courseworrk in W403 and also to sit and have a chat with the band so we can resolve any issues we may have towards the songs so far. If so, we can work on them and resolve any problems some of us may have. |
| 28/03 | Get my Unit 12 complete and ready for the deadline, mainly focusing on written work this week. | This week I want to dedicate it to mainly coursework as we should be in a good position practical wise. The deadline for Unit 12 will also be at the end of this week so I will want it to be completed of course. I will spend most of my thursday in W403, and if we want to do practical, we will try and do it on the Wednesday instead. |
| 04/04 | Half term this week, so try and meet up with the band to practice as much as possible. | During half term, I hope to go to the practice rooms at Unit One Studios in town, so I will need to get that booked so we are able to. Also if any of us have any issues, to also keep everyone up to date with any problems we may have as individuals with the project. |
| 11/04 | Complete more coursework and get recordings of practices with been doing. Also get feedback from both or one teacher and see what we can work on. | This week I will focus on recording us practice more, so I have evidence of us spending time working on the songs. I will then upload them to my WordPress so that is there for evidence on my blog. On the practical sides of things, we will ask our teachers to come in and have a listen to our songs and give us some constructive criticism to work on. |
| 18/04 | Keep rehearsing and spend this week on mainly working on improvements given from last week. | This week I will once again be rehearsing with the band and work on the improvements our teachers gave us the week before. I will also make sure I get more recordings of the band and any changes we want to make to the songs. Most of the time will be spent on the practical side of things as I think it’ll be the most important for now. |
| 25/04 | Rehearse the songs as best as we can, and try and get it ready so we can record it the next week. Possibly even get some parts of the songs recorded. | This week we may start to record the songs in Studio One, but our main aim is to finish rehearsing the songs to a high standard, as this way we know they will be able to recorded quicker if we all know our parts well enough. However if we are able to book out Studio One then that’d be amazing as we can get in there and get a little bit recorded, even if it’s just a guitar part. |
| 02/05 | Start the proper recording of the three songs and make progress with all instruments. | This week we will have studio one booked out at college so we can spend a few gours pon starting to record our songs! Hopefully we can get a lot done, maybe even one song but just a few parts of songs would be enough so we at least have something. Also, I will spend some time updating my coursework. |
| 09/05 | Continue recording the songs and try to get at least two songs complete. Also keep up to date with coursework. | This week will be our second week of recording and will hopefully get one or maybe two songs complete by the end of the week. To do this, we will once again need the studio booked out and we will all be bringing in our instruments. Another thing we will do, is get someone from the tech course to help us record so we don’t have to do it all ourselves as we don’t know nearly as much as them with Logic. And I will definitley be in W403 to keep my coursework updated. |
| 16/05 | Hopefully complete all three songs to the best we can, and see if we can get them mixed and mastered. | Our aim this week is to get all three songs to the best standard possible, and then ask someone on the tech course to help us mix it, and maybe even get some insight and help on it from their teache Rhett. But the main aim is just to have all the songs completed, recording wise as that is the main part of this project. I will message a few of the members of the tech course and ask them that way. |
| 23/05 | Complete all the mixing and have most coursework done at the least. Have songs also released on Soundcloud. | Hopefully by this week, we will have the songs mixed and mastered as well, and then be ready for release. We will do this by getting a tech person from the course to help, which would be amazing as they can make it even better. Also Lewis will most likely upload them to his Soundcloud and then we will be able to share it to our WordPresses so we can finish our project. I will also have all my courssework finished by this week hopefully. |
| 30/05 | Have all of my coursework completed and ready to hand in. Meet all the deadlines and have the songs all recorded and uploaded. | I will achieve my final week by making sure all of my work is complete, by finishing it either at home or in college. And will also make sure that the songs have been uploaded to Soundcloud so it is able to be played on WordPress for my coursework. I need everything completed this week as it’ll be the deadline so that is how I am going to achieve it. |
Task 5
What are the specific musical techniques and processes that will be used to successfully release the project?
I will be learning more about how to write/create fills on my instrument (drums), as it is essential in my opinion, to make a song sound cooler and more complex. This will involve learning sticking patters and rudiments so I am able to create interesting ones instead of pretty basic ones. I have already been working on this recently and it is going well so far. So yes, sticking patterns and rudiments are going to be needed for musical techniques as I’ll need to incorporate them into our original songs for the project. The reason I want to learn more fills, is because the two of the songs are in 6/8 and I have only recently started playing more songs in that time signature. Specifically because I am also writing the drum part myself so I need to learn ways of doing fills in that time signature. I am also going to need to learn how to get the best sound I possibly can for the drums on the tracks as I want it to sound pretty specific. For example I know I want the toms to be reasonably loud, and also the hihat as they will need to be more bold, if that makes sense in the songs. So, I am going to watch videos on how to get the best sounds through Logic and also what microphones to use in the studio.
What are the wider skills that you will use or hope to use, and develop?
Mainly my logic skills is something I am keen to get better at. I haven’t really used it much at all, except from when I was at secondary school so I know the basics, but that is definitely not enough. I am hoping I’ll be able to shadow whoever helps from the music tech course on our songs. As we will of course need them recorded by someone who knows what they’re doing. Because of this I will watch them, and ask to help when recording. And then if the tech person is for some reason not able to come in, we will have no excuses not to work as I will have knowledge on how to do a few things. Instead of then not being able to be productive that day. Furthermore, this will educate me more on this skill as it will most likely be vital in the future if I am going to work in the music industry. Also, it is just something I can add to my skill set for further use if needed, which will look good on me if someone asks me for help on a song for example.
Task 6
What is your plan regarding the formative (during), and summative (final) evaluation of your project?
I am not too sure on what is meant by this question, but what I can say is that I plan to give a little brief of what will be the aim of the project at the beginning of my Unit 13. So for example, I will be explaining the aim of the project in detail and what my hopes are for how the project should end, and how the completed version should look. For the summative (final) evaluation, I plan to do a detailed evaluation on if we met all the points we had to cover, if the project was completed, and then how we feel about it. This will then sum it all up, and I will link the two together so I am able to write abut specific things that I wrote in the plan at the start, and how they all worked out.
How and where will you document or create firm evidence of changes of decision/new ideas that come to out through the project?
To document evidence, which I have already started doing, I will write down an end of week evaluation. Which some weeks may not definitely have as much detail, but will be enough to show the progress we will be making as we eventually reach the deadline. Also, I plan to get a lot of footage too. For example, I have already started to film us talking about a particular songs that we have made many changes too, since we first wrote it. I recorded a little voice memo of us talking and deciding how we were going to change certain parts, we then played it, and then changed it again… eventually finding the way we liked to play it. I feel this is a great way of documenting it as sometimes writing about it later on, may not be as accurate. Whereas a video or voice note, is right in the moment. I will upload all of my evidence to my Unit 13 blog on WordPress, and will clearly state what the video is going to talk about, and the same goes for the evaluation. I will write what week and day we have made these changes or made progress on the project.
Task 7
What are the most appropriate formats for you communicating the development for your project?
As I mentioned above, I think an evaluation on WordPress at the end of each week would be a great way as if you were to evaluate it all just at the end, you would probably forget all the little details that could be vital. This also creates a way for you to easily look back at your progress, and too see what you have completed and what you still need to do etc, almost like a check list. Also as mentioned above, voice notes and videos will be uploaded to my Unit 13 to show any team or self discussions/changes made with the project. It could also be videos of us playing and rehearsing, just to show evidence of what we have actually completed. Both of these are a strong way of evaluating and are also not too challenging to do, as it’ll just be to simply get your phone out and record, or set a reminder every week to do a quick 20 minute written evaluation.
As spoken about in the last paragraph, I will try and get videos of us in the studio recording, or in band rooms rehearsing, as it will show how our project has come together in real life, and is a bit of a contrast from just writing it. This’ll help show the reader of this, how our project will eventually come together, and is also just more evidence that we can provide and put towards the project.
What final project are you aiming for and why?
To conclude, the final project I am aiming for, is to have an original 3 or 4 song EP be ready for release with my band. I hope that this will be something me and my band (Lewis and Harvey) will be able to complete. However I know it will be really challenging, especially with the high standards we expect of ourselves. I am sure that it will all work out though as I believe that we will be able to do it.
Fran Adams Drums 