BLOG 6 – GENRE & MEET UP

The methodologies that need to be explored within album production, are dependent on the type of sound I am hoping to achieve. For this EP, I am hoping to go down the root of a creating 4 songs in a range of genres. For example, Pop, Dance and RnB, mainly styles that are related to the current charts. This will also be helpful in finding my own sound in music and gain various ideas when collaborating with Connor and his personal favoured genres.

SECOND MEET UP

For our second session, we came to the conclusion that we will be creating two songs on Ableton and two songs on Logic Pro X. This will allow us both to gain important experience, skills and techniques by creating tracks in different DAW’s, enabling us to be experimental.

In terms of creating each song, we will experiment with:

1. Track 1 and 2 – Inputting, chords, instruments and structure into DAW first
2. Track 3 and 4 – Creating the lyrics and chords first on paper
   
   Below is a table demonstrating these ideas (see fig 6.0.)

Figure 6.0. – Track Plan

By doing this, it will also allow us to gain an insight into which technique is more efficient in the creative process. Normally, when creating my own music, I create the whole track first through chords, instrumentation and structure into the DAW and then create the melodies and lyrics last. When Connor creates music however, he creates the chords and the lyrics first. This is a great opportunity for us to both learn and experience how we create music through each others personal techniques!

Many musicians have questioned the approaches to song writing, and Mids (2016) discusses this in terms of which comes first, music or lyrics. This is further highlighted by The Recording Revolution (2014):

Music First:

• ‘give the listener a clear and memorable hook that sticks with them for a long time to come’
• Harder to write lyrics to fit melody and might not be able to create something catchy or memorable for the listener

Lyrics First:

• ‘gives you a song that has clear direction lyrically, with a concrete theme or idea’
• Difficult to create a melody that fits around the lyrics

During our second meet up, we begun to construct some chord sequences, inputting them into Ableton to put these ideas to the test. Below are some videos demonstrating this.

We discovered that the first set of chords were nicer to work with in terms of creating a melody and forming other instrumentation. We inputted them into Ableton and started to experiment by adding a simple drum beat on top of the chords as a starting point. As this was just a practice, this allowed me to learn the basics of how Ableton works, a software that I have not used before.

COLLABORATIVE CHECK:

From this second session, we have been able to collaborate in a very positive way by sharing both of our techniques and ideas that can be put forward. Connor is also very helpful in terms of guiding me to understand and learn new skills, especially as my experience in album production using Ableton and Logic is still at a beginners stage!

‘Collaboration is an extra pair of ears, hands, and an additional brain to work with. It gives you VIP access into someone else’s workflow. It helps you overcome creative blocks. It even brings out creativity you didn’t know you had’. (Trandafir, 2016).

What Next?

1. Continue to create EP ideas
2. Begin to collaborate with Alex on the EP cover – Create ideas
3. Further research into methodologies and examples

Reference List:

Mids, P. (2016). What Comes First? The Music or The Lyrics?. Available at: https://medium.com/the-song-journal/what-comes-first-the-music-or-the-lyrics-d676f176781b [Accessed 2nd May, 2020].

Trandafir, L. (2016). 8 Ways to Make Your Music Collaboration a Success. Available at: https://blog.landr.com/collaborate-successfully-music/ [Accessed May 2nd, 2020].

The Recording Revolution. (2014). Which Comes First, Lyrics Or Music? Available at: https://www.recordingrevolution.com/which-comes-first-lyrics-or-music/ [Accessed May 2nd, 2020].