Action Plan

 Upon further reflecting on the Formative Assignment feedback, I have realised I need to get together an action plan to be able to get everything I need to do done. I am also going to create a songwriting inspiration/production ideas playlist to be able to look at all of the songs side by side and compare and contrast to find any similarities/differences. Another thing I am going to do is book some academic 1-1s to help me with the written work. I also want to make it a routine to make sure I practice guitar or piano at least once a day so I can improve as much as I can and keep my creativity going. Every day, I write at least one line of lyrics, which are very useful later on when I feel stuck with a song.

As of now, I have 5 weeks till the submission. I am going to put together a week by week table in order to be able to achieve/keep track of what I am doing. I realise now that I would have benefited from doing this at the start of term, however I spent the first half of the term freaking out and feeling burnt out so I didn't feel as if I could do such thing, as I had no sense of direction to start from.

Week (from today)	Obsolete Commiserations	Whats The Matter With You?
1	Get a solid guitar track down and decide on the structure of the song and start lyrics that are missing.	Write lyrics even if they are just place holders. Determine the role of every instrument in the song.
2	Edit lyrics and solidify melody line for each section to record on my computer at home.	Finish writing the lyrics to prepare to record in class with the band as it will be the last LPW lesson we get!
3	Finish recording vocals/bass and midi program any synths I want.	Further deconstruct my creative ideas/decisions to do with this song and finish up the rest of my diary.
4	Mix/produce (roughly, as I don't have much experience and am being marked on my songwriting) the song and do any final editing it needs.	Choose points for reflective essay and write a rough template for it.
5	Finish and hand in the song with the written work and reflection.	Finish and hand in the song with the written work and reflection.

Week 6 - First Ideas for Song 2 - 'Whats The Matter With You?'

 I've been continuing to work through ideas, and I wrote a song the other day that started off as a guitar riff/chords and a call and response idea I had in mind between the lead vocals and backing vocals. from there, the whole song came together. I pictured the verse being more up beat and the chorus going into half time which creates a shift in the mood of the song which gives the effect of things slowing down. This later fit the theme of my lyrics really well. I will go further into that later on.

I play the song with a Capo on the 2nd fret to make it easier to sing/play for me.

Here are the chords (without capo):

For the middle 8 I decided to drop down to the Bm which creates a really nice downfall to the vibe as it changes mode (Bm is not in the key of B) I wanted to do this to be able to take it away from where it started for a minute as the verse and chorus chords are already similar in themselves.

Here is the first draft of lyrics I wrote:

(Where it says A F Em, etc, I am referring to the shape of the chords with a capo on. The image above has the correct chords for any other instrument).

These lyrics will definitely change but for now they are place holder lyrics.

Reflecting on formative feedback.

 Here is a link to the demo version of my first track I handed in for the formative assessment:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wc6Zeynf5vJbGQVp4JJQcdsDHxUzz8SZ/view?usp=sharing 

This version was super unfinished as I ran out of time before the hand in, however it made a good first draft for my ideas. There is a lot of off harmony in this first draft, this was due to the fact that I couldn't figure out how to delete sections off of a multitrack recording, as this is the first time I have recorded myself in Logic Pro X. I was also running so short on time, so I decided to hand it in anyway. As a singer, I am familiar with how harmonies work and when they are dissonant, and I would not have handed in a composition with such mistakes if I had had more time to fix them. I also couldn't figure out how to set the levels on my microphone properly, so my vocal recording came our really quiet. All of these things are areas where I can develop my skills, and I am going to do so by using Logic Pro X in my free time more in order to become familiar with the software.

In my feedback, it was mentioned that my melody writing mostly moves in unison with the guitar, and that maybe I would benefit from looking into how vocal melodies in other songs interact with the guitars; often, in music, both instruments talk to each other through different melodies. However, after my feedback mentioning that my melodies tend to be in sync with the guitar, I started noticing that most of the music I listen to does the exact same thing, so I have also have been listening out for what other elements they add in to compliment their synchronised movement. I noticed how a lot of the songs I listen to are complimented by a lead guitar part, and/or with a funky bass line to keep you interested. Alternatively, sometimes they just move in sync as this is the intention of the song. It depends what genre/feel you are trying to create.

Here are a few examples I found where this was happening:

• 'The Drum' (Toledo, 2011) by Car seat headrest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bEUUb9XA9w&ab_channel=ClaphamJunction

Notice how during the main hook/chords it starts with the guitar and the vocals move downwards in sync, and this is similar for the rest of the song. This can be particularly heard in the middle 8 (around 2:15mins in) where he sings "this is our lifetime and I am his creator". All other instruments drop out for a few bars until the drums and bass come in again to create a small build up where the vocals then come in directly mirroring the guitar chords with a more complicated rhythm to keep it interesting.

• 'Allergies' (Gould, Miles, 2015) by CREEPER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPx4AVTqVEU

The main guitar riff throughout the whole song echoes the vocal melody and a lot of the time is moving in sync with the vocals. Then, in the chorus a lead guitar part consisting of broken chords comes in to add that extra bit of sparkle a chorus needs to make it sound fuller.

At first, I felt aggravated by the feedback I got, as it only mentioned things I already knew I had to change/were wrong in the track. However, I went to have a chat with my course leader and upon calming down I realised that my tutor had only stated these things as she had to incase I wasn't aware of them. If this situation arose again, I would look at it more positively and/or try to hand in a more finished piece of work in order to get better feedback, however this was only the formative assignment so that is okay.

For the summative assignment, I am going to make sure all of my harmonies are in tune and that all elements in the song can be heard and, most importantly, that it is finished!