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Final Reflections on the Rebirth Project

The progression of this project has been relatively hectic and difficult, being impeded, like many others, by the outbreak of Covid-19 among other unforeseen circumstances. Due to the considerable amount of issues encountered and the resulting change in the aims of the Rebirth Project, the initial objectives set were, for the most part, made irrelevant.

The original schedule put in place in order to maintain a steady course towards achievable goals was not adequately followed, leading to a more important sense of stress and frustration in the final weeks of the project, which felt slightly overwhelming and rushed.

This has remained a good collaborative experience however, as I take pride in the resulting product and each collaborative work. I have received very positive feedback from my peers on several aspects of this project, both concerning its concept and realisation, and many have said to be awaiting full release to ‘hear what I ended up with’. In addition, each individual collaborator has taught me skills and specific knowledge in their respective areas of expertise, and worked admirably towards achieving our common goals, making this endeavour truly and greatly more enjoyable than some past collaborative attempts.

Additionally, it is important to state that the initial and primary goal of this project will be attained with the release of the Rebirth LP, regardless of the change in course this project took during development. Through this independent release, the Teilo revamp will be finalised and the brand defined, with its first official release of music.

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25.05.2020 - Finalising The Rebirth Project

This week the final version, mix and master of the Know You collaboration has been completed, meaning that the 7 track Rebirth LP is complete.

In addition to this, Charlotte Coudreux did amazing work on the animation, with regular updates and check-ins, waiting for my ‘okay’ to all her creative decisions before continuing on to the next stage, while remaining flexible and understanding of my vision for the video. Several drafts were made, specifying morphology, poses, clothing, color schemes and detailing (See Below).

A label has accepted to release the LP, but with the condition of abandoning the animation trailer that was developed for this project, and after long consideration the decision has been made to decline them and make this LP an independent release.

Using the information gathered in previous weeks on peak use hours for diverse social media, as well as further understanding gained on the process of working with Distrokid (my chosen distributor), the final decisions in releasing this material have been made.

The teaser video will be released on any relevant social media (including but not limited to: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Instagram) on Friday the 29th of May at 17:00 GMT+1, and the LP submitted to Distrokid at that same deadline. This will allow for the animation to act as a teaser and promotional video throughout the several days to couple of weeks it can take for Distrokid to release the LP to streaming platforms (including Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, YouTube and others).

(Initial Pose Ideas)

(First Drafts)

(First ‘Clean Draft’)

(Color Scheme Trials)

(Formatting Choice)

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22.05.2020 - New Animator Found & Back on Track

In this last week, incredible progress has been made, through a new level of commitment on my behalf and the truly amazing work of my collaborators.

After weeks without news from any collaborators, stress levels reached a new peak, until an acquaintance reached out to a friend to help me. With this, a new animator based in Paris, Charlotte Coudreux, accepted to collaborate on this project and work under significant time constraints for a reasonable tariff. A contract was drafted and after several iterations were made, in order to include elements Charlotte wanted to be specified within it, a final version was signed on the 19th of may. This contract states that it is agreed that the final product will be available for use by 24/05/2020 at 23:00 GMT+2.

In the collaborations with Know you and Duumu, regular bi-weekly updates are taking place, including calls allowing for interactive decision making sessions to be held. At this stage of the project it was essential for me to understand my duties as a project manager. Through research into team roles and project management, further comprehension of my role was gained, and my place within these collaborative works made more clear. It is more apparent that being more authoritative and ‘on top of things’ is a necessary aspect of teamwork. (Belbin, 2019)

Throughout the week, the track with Duumu has been completed and significant progress has been made in the collaboration with Know You.

References:

Belbin. (2019). Belbin Team Roles. Retrieved May 17, 2020, from Belbin.com website: https://www.belbin.com/about/belbin-team-roles/

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15.05.2020 - Further Production Progress & Contacting Labels

During the last two weeks, considerable progress has been made on the music collaboration front. Several iterations of the collaborative contract with Know You have been drafted and a final agreement found, which was signed on May 13th. The track featuring Duumu has a completed first verse and chorus with final vocals, and new input from him on production-specific improvements that can be made. Through a discord call and ample discussion we agreed on several elements of the song, and more progress and advancements were made through this.

In addition to this, further case study analysis of important inspirations to the LP have been conducted, more specifically with EDEN’s debut album Vertigo, through which new production techniques and sound design methods were acquired, and implemented to some extent.

Finally, some labels have been contacted, expressing my interest in releasing the Rebirth LP with them, however given the current state of the project (4 final versions of tracks and two ‘work in progress’ collaborative tracks), expectations are not very high at this point in time. Some labels have declined, while responses are still pending from others.

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01.05.2020 - Setbacks, Shifting Project Aims and New Progress

The current COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent governmental action have affected this project’s progression once again, as my sister Tiphene, a collaborator on this project, has been made redundant, therein losing her privileges as Digital Design and Production Manager at Eurostar, including access to her work computer, and all the files and software on it. This effectively removes the possibility of her collaborating as a visual artist, forcing the Rebirth Project to change its course, giving it new objectives for the remainder of the time before deadlines.

With these new challenges in mind, the Rebirth Project has now shifted from a short EP, with a focus on audio-visual media, to a collaborative and exploratory debut LP, through which Teilo as a brand will obtain a definite style and sound.

In order to not abandon the initial aims of this project entirely, one last attempt at contacting visual artists on as many social media platforms, forums and websites as possible has been made (these include but are not limited to: Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr and Fiverr), the brief having now changed to a simple 20 second teaser video for the LP, accompanied by a sample of the LP’s first track ‘Intro - Drown’.

On a more music oriented front, the first track to feature Teilo as a vocalist has been completed, mixed and mastered, and bounced for release, and a promising new project has been started and shared with Know You, to which he responded that he is interested,and will now be working on it as a collaborative endeavour.

Finally, the contract with Duumu has been finalised and signed as of the 28th of April, making the terms therein - and our collaboration - official.

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17.04.2020 - Ethical Collaboration and Contractual Engagement

An important aspect of collaborative projects, specifically those involving potential revenue and biased fields like music and stylistic choice, is ethical considerations. In order to remain ethical throughout the collaborations in the Rebirth Project, this week was focused on creating written contracts that specified the exact terms of both established collaborations (with Duumu and Know You). Research was conducted regarding what makes an effective contract and the important things to include within them, as well as research into the common repartition of revenue from songs. Coupled with this research, discussions were had with both artists, asking for their honest opinion and view on how to split anything gained through our partnerships. It was found through this research that important factors in a good contract are: 

Clear definitions of the terms, including accurate dating, and ample detail.

Specification of each party.

Detailed payment obligations.

And most importantly:

Confidentiality.

(Nolo, n.d.; Upcounsel, n.d.)

First drafts of each contract have been started, and will be sent shortly to each party for initial review.

In addition to the research and discussions had with collaborators, individual progress was made, through finalising the intro and interlude tracks of the EP, and Tiphene Lechleiter has begun work on a draft animation for the intro song.

Finally, valuable feedback has been obtained through a class ‘Peer Review Session’ on the 27th of March, which there was no opportunity to implement into the relevant tracks until these last two weeks. This now being done, significant progress has been made and specific elements of the tracks rectified, resulting in a noticeable better sonic experience, relative to previous versions of the tracks. Not only were specific issues with the mixing of two of the songs brought up, and now addressed, but creative input gained and new ideas integrated to some.

References:

Nolo. (n.d.). Ten Tips for Making Solid Business Agreements and Contracts. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from www.nolo.com website: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/make-business-contract-agreement-30313.html

Upcounsel. (n.d.). How to Write a Contract: Everything You Need to Know. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from UpCounsel website: https://www.upcounsel.com/how-to-write-a-contract

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03.04.2020 - Setback and Social Marketing

A significant issue arose this week that will be quite detrimental to the overall progression of The Rebirth Project. One of the visual artists I had an oral agreement to collaborate with, Hystrangea, had to cancel for personal reasons concerning the recent pandemic, coupled with her school projects and work becoming a more pressing matter than anticipated.

With this, new research into potential artists has been conducted, and a few of said artists contacted for potential collaboration.

During this period, a different phase of the project was conducted, production being put aside temporarily until the new set-up is space-optimized and work efficiency is possible. Research into uses of online - specifically social media - marketing was conducted. Arens (2018) provides keen insight into the optimal times of engagement across all social media for different products and services, while Kolowich explains that although it varies across platforms, peak use times for the social media relevant to this project (Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook) are generally in the afternoon between 14:00 and 18:00. 

References:

Arens, E. (2018, June 11). Best Times to Post on Social Media: 2018 Industry Research. Retrieved March 30, 2020, from Sprout Social website: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/

Kolowich, L. (2019). The Best Time to Post on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Pinterest. Retrieved March 30, 2020, from Hubspot.com website: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-times-post-pin-tweet-social-media-infographic

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27.03.2020 - A New Collaboration & the Displacement

This week has been one of significant turmoil, the growing alert surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak has forced me to travel back to France to a family home for the duration of confinement. This means that access to a familiar set-up, including studio monitors, and instruments, has been lost, thereby affecting to some extent my ability to produce music in my particular style.

Some progress has been made however, as after attempting to contact Duumu, a personal inspiration and truly gifted artist, asking him to co-produce and feature as vocalist on a track of the Rebirth EP, a quick response was received in which he accepted to do so.

(see below)

With his accepting to collaborate, a promising track that had been recently started was shared with Duumu, and he promptly showed enthusiasm towards it, after which I began drafting lyrics and potential vocal melodies in order to send him some initial ideas.

(Collaborative Discussion with Duumu)

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20.03.2020 - Stylistic Exploration and First Collaborative Response

The past two weeks have been filled with ventures into new production techniques, specifically regarding recording, mixing and processing vocals. In order to accomplish said ventures, research was undertaken in the benefits of having a vocal on a track, which showed that it allowed the listeners to have something more specific to follow and latch onto. In addition, research into the specific methodologies for mixing modern vocals, as well as case studies of personal inspirations such as Vancouver Sleep Clinic and Novo Amor and their vocal mixing techniques and particularities, was conducted. The main tools gained through these methods of research were how to use the appropriate EQ-ing, understanding the space you want to portray, for example using the right reverb settings on a vocal to them sound smoother, without frowning them too much, and compression techniques, as well as some genre specific uses of these processes. (DJ Pangburn, 2018; Nichols, 2018; White, 2012)

In addition, through analysis and experimentation with first trials at using my own vocals in tracks, it was possible to emulate to some extent the vocal processing techniques of the case study artists, granting new understanding and capabilities in this field that will be applied to the Rebirth EP. 

Finally, the list of artists considered for collaboration was refined and some of them reached out to, several declined, however Know You replied that he was interested and we now have an agreement to collaborate.

(Collaborative Discussion with Know You)

References:

DJ Pangburn. (2018, April 2). 9 Songs that Changed the Way We Produce Vocals. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from iZotope website: https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/9-songs-that-changed-the-way-we-produce-vocals.html

Nichols, P. (2018, April 25). 55 Essential Dos and Don’ts of Vocal Production. Retrieved March 11, 2020, from iZotope website: https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/55-essential-dos-and-donts-of-vocal-production.html

White, P. (2012, February). Vocal Production. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from www.soundonsound.com website: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/vocal-production

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06.03.2020 - Collaboration with Other Producers

This week’s research focus has been primarily surrounding the benefits of collaborative work in the field of music. As this portfolio will be a collaborative project both in terms of visuals and music, it was important to understand more fully why these decisions were the optimal choice in order to make them definite. 

Having a collaborative song in an album or EP is common practice among high level artists, and as explained by Lizannetsm (2015) has many benefits. The main reasons for undertaking the challenge that is collaboration at a professional level are, firstly, that it allows artists to reach an increased amount of the public by sharing their music with the other artist(s) fanbase(s), and secondly, that you may collaborate with artists that have complimentary skills to your own, meaning that they can help in areas you are less proficient in.

Additionally, the beginnings in research for potential collaborators have been undertaken using the methods described by Trandafir (2016), keeping in mind the important factors in finding artists to work with, such as genre compatibility, while making sure that their style is different enough from my own to be creatively influential on the outcoming music.

Visual artists have been contacted in an attempt to advance the project further at a greater pace. Several artists have been reached out to, some not yet having answered, others offered slightly too expensive services. Hystrangea, an illustrator who is a friend of a friend, accepted to collaborate on this project for a slightly reduced fee, and Tiphene Lechleiter (sister) has accepted to work with me for no expense.

References:

Trandafir, L. (2016, August 18). 8 Ways to Make Your Music Collaboration a Success. Retrieved March 2, 2020, from LANDR website: https://blog.landr.com/collaborate-successfully-music/

Lizannetsm (2015, March 6). The Importance of Collaboration. Retrieved March 2, 2020, from The True School of Music website: https://trueschool.in/the-importance-of-collaboration/

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28.02.2020 - Researching Animators and Illustrators

This week has had two primary points of focus. Research into the value of collaborative work has been done, including working across several media, and research into visual artists that are being considered for collaboration in this module.

Initially, the concept of collaboration was very daunting, given some past experiences wherein my collaborators have done a significantly insufficient amount of work and provided little to no effort in the development of the project. The benefits of cooperative collaborators outweigh any reservations that are held against the idea, as the creative input of other artists, added to the cumulative range of skill sets and an external point of view can all push a project into something more developed and skillfully created.

Due to the nature of the music industry and the projects that are being developed, immersion into situations of group collaboration have been increasingly frequent, often helping to practice managing these situations and achieving a healthier exchange with other artists and collaborative workers. 

The secondary mission of this week was to find visual artists whose style seemed somewhat compatible with the creative decisions of Teilo as a brand, and whose art was intriguing. Additionally, finding not only compatible styles but creative ideas that are unique and interesting to observe. This part of the week’s work needs much less explanation or written development.

Finally, the decision has been made to ask Tiphène Lechleiter to be one of the several visual artists with whom work will be done. This decision to work with my sister isn’t taken lightly however, as it makes ethical considerations both more difficult and more important. This choice was made in an effort to reduce overall costs and benefit from several different styles of visual art.

Some work has also been done on advancing in the production of the EP, a promising new track project was begun this week and is advancing smoothly.

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14.02.2020 - Branding and Design

This week has been focused primarily around researching branding, and modern visual design. First and foremost, Col Gray (graphic designer known as Pixels Ink on YouTube) classes all logos into five main categories, clearly understanding what Teilo needs as a brand and public profile was a quintessential part of re-branding correctly and effectively.

The basic symbol or icon, represents the brand in a simple and bold, confident manner, often stylized or abstract. Often seen in large brands reaching global consumers. (Apple, Shell, Nike)

The Wordmark, the logo is made up of a word. The brand creates their logo in a unique font, making their design singular. (Coca-cola, Facebook, Ebay)

The Lettermark, similar to the Wordmark, but using a letter instead. (often with companies that have long names or difficult names to pronounce; HP, HMV)

The Combination Mark, this uses a word mark and a symbol together, it’s versatile and adaptable but risky, only to be done when you have an established brand, and are recognizable, having done marketing etc. (Pizza Hut, Adidas)

The Emblem, similar to a combination mark, fully encapsulates the company name in the design. (Starbucks, BMW)

This information proved essential, as something along the lines of a combination mark was initially envisioned for Teilo, but it is clear now that as a still beginning artist profile, that was an unnecessary branding decision that could even hinder the development of Teilo’s visual development.

Additionally, Wusan explained that modern logos can often be inspired by ancient and pre-existing characters, specifically in the Chinese alphabets, and goes on to note examples of this, and explain how this has been done. This idea brought about the idea of using characters from the modern English alphabet. With this, discussions with a friend, Andy Barnard, an experienced professional graphic designer, took place with aims to get their help in designing Teilo’s new brand.

This led to these drafts, and the final, simple design, inspired by the letters T and L, cut in half (seeing as they’re the two consonants in Teilo and my initials, Teilo Lechleiter, it seemed fitting.

(Draft version of each initial logo idea.)

(Final versions of all logos and Press Kit materials.)

References:

Barnard, A. (2019). Behance Webpage. Retrieved February 11, 2020, from www.behance.net website: https://www.behance.net/andrewbarnard

Gray, C. (2016). Graphic Design Basics - The 5 Basic Types of Logo [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j3S7nbXDkE

Wusan, D. (2014). Ancient Chinese Thought of Character Formation & Modern Logo Design. Leonardo, 47(2), 183–185. Retrieved from http://arteca.mit.edu/author/dai-wusan

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07.02.20 - Progress Report: September - January

Objectives:

The progression of this project can be broken down into a few key objectives, that will act as clearly defined measurement tools to reflect upon, and aid in determining the success and level of the advancements achieved over time, as well as providing clear goals to strive towards and deadlines by which to achieve them, overall structuring the progression of the Rebirth Project.

The main objectives of the Rebirth Project are as follows (they are subdivided to clarify individual aspects/tasks tasks):

Having the first fully produced, mixed and mastered track, its teaser, as well as at least two near-final versions of other tracks of the EP to begin discussing releases with labels. In addition, successfully having an animator create a visual accompaniment for the teaser of the finished song, by mid January.

By February:

A. Having the basic website design finalised.

B. Completing the first trial of the website with the teaser and animation of the first track playing correctly, as proof of concept.

     3. By March 1st:

A. Having all the final versions of the tracks and a final visual design for the website.

B. At least three complete teaser animations.

C. Having contacted labels about releasing the EP with them.

     4. Fully releasing the Rebirth EP by the beginning of April, finalising the revamp of Teilo.

The Rebirth Project’s Aim

Originally, the Rebirth Project would include a website using interactive audio-visuals, developed with the help of a visual artist and web designer, if not several; however after considerable research into the requirements of such an endeavour, including fees and time constraints, and the amount of learning necessary on web-design, coding  and interactive websites to achieve it, this idea seemed unrealistic.

Having to re-evaluate the project’s aims, the idea of simply having a video format visual accompanying each track’s teaser came up. The cost would be reduced due to the amount of work necessary changing, as well as the requirements. Artists have been contacted about commissioning work for this project, and their illustrations and/or animations will accompany each teaser on youtube and the Teilo website (teilomusic.com) in preparation for the EP’s release.

Planning and Organisation

The original planning was difficult to meet, timing-wise, given that the works involved contacting artists originally and trying to bargain a price, and this process alone, including the original research into finding artists whose works and styles were compatible with the project takes a few weeks.

The first track of the EP is fully produced and finalised, but the other three are still unfinished and need considerable work before being “release ready”. The Teilo website is finalised and ready for a video to be uploaded, but no teaser videos have been completed, tested or uploaded. These objectives were set too early, not leaving the appropriate time to the commissioned artists to achieve the required level of work, meaning that the planning needs revisiting. Considering the available time before deadlines, a track will now need to be finalised each week, to allow the artists time to create what they think is appropriate and fitting (they are being given considerable creative freedom, to bring their vision of the songs to life).

Issues Encountered

Most of the problems encountered are personal issues that require travel, impeding the advancement and speed of progression, as well as some delays in interacting with the visual artists contacted. To remedy this, a schedule will be created allocating time on a daily basis to work efficiently and regularly on each of the Rebirth Project’s several aspects.