uogjustjosh

[uogjustjosh]

An Evaluation Of Your Professional Development During The Process

During this process, I have developed my skills in learning how to set-up a business correctly, and been introduced to elements and ideas I didn’t even think were possible. i.e. getting funding for my projects, etc…

In addition to this, I have also begun to look at myself through a much more professional, and business based lens. As opposed to just looking at myself as ‘someone who makes music’ I have now been given the opportunity to look at myself as ‘JUST!JOSH - The Music Professional’ and develop a specific element of my practice into something that is ready for this professional world.

Thanks to this process, I have been able to start a business ‘JUST!JOSH - Sports Composer’ as a brand new area of my practice which can hopefully bring me a lot of success over the coming months and years, and now with a solid plan behind me, I am confident in my ability to achieve this.

[uogjustjosh]

Business Model Canvas Sketches

The following plan follows the ‘Business Model Canvas’ with my ideas on how JUST!JOSH - Sports Composer will work within the sector of music & sports.

Key Partners

My key partners will be the as yet unknown sports companies themselves, who will provide me with work, and hopefully frequent collaboration opportunities over the coming years.

An aim for the future would be to partner with a music company for which I could become a brand ambassador for, which would potentially allow me access to discounted equipment & VST’s which would help progress my career further.

Key Activities

These are a list of the key activities my sports music composing would provide:

Music Composition - composing original music

Music Production - producing tracks I create

Sound Design - creating sound design elements to fit into the music i.e. sports whistle, crowd noise etc…

Music Performance - performing tracks I’ve written (most likely piano in a recording studio)

Key Resources

These are a list of the key resources I will use when creating music for these sporting events:

Logic Pro X - for composing music

Google Drive - for uploading & transferring music to sports companies

Home Studio - My home setup for creating music i.e. Electronic Piano, Microphone, Speakers, Mixing Headphones, MacBook etc…

Value Proposition

This is the value of the services I’m looking to provide to set me apart from any competition. 

I will offer services to companies for free (I will try to secure funding from various boards, which will allow me to give smaller sports music for free, which benefits both parties).

Maximum 1 Week Turnaround - the music will be composed within 1 week (unless it is more than 10 minutes of music, which may take longer).

Unlimited revisions - I want the company to be happy with the music they are receiving.

Streaming Platforms - All music will go on my streaming platforms, which will add another layer of ways people can find the sports event through music.

Customer Relationships

These are the different ways I can keep relationships with potential customers

Social Media - post videos to social media showing my work in action

Website - Have a page on my website specifically dedicated to myself as a sports composer

Email Newsletters - Build up a mailing list, and once a week/bi-weekly send an email out letting people know about current projects/work I am doing.

Channels

These are channels where my music can be displayed

Sports Events - Simply my music will be displayed at the events themselves

Adverts - My music may be put on adverts for the events in addition

Social Media/Music Streaming - My own platforms where I can display my music, to help me get more work in the future.

Customer Segments

In what ways can my customers be broken down in segments

Sports Business CEOs - Will often be my point of contact and the most important customer.

Sports Fans - will often be secondary customers, and may stream my music and listen to the music during the various events.

Cost Structure

What costs are there in the business (outside of my own labour time, as the money is coming direct to me for labour time)

New Equipment - upgrading my equipment to newer and improved versions

Rent - As I work from home, the rent of my house/apartment will be my main cost

Marketing - Marketing myself using paid ads on social media may be an option, which will cost money

Website - The website & domain name cost money per month/year to run

Travel - Anytime I need to travel for work/meetings will count as expenses.

Revenue Streams

These are a list of ways I can make money as a Sports Composer

Sports Companies - The money I get from doing jobs from the companies themselves

Funding - Money I receive from government grants to allow me to do more work for free to these companies.

Streaming - I will put the tracks up on streaming sites which can make me some more money.

Sync Placements - Money from where other companies use my track in adverts etc… (if the original company I write music for is okay with me doing that, i.e. if they have a monetary benefit to doing so).

[uogjustjosh]

Enterprise Reference Points & Relation To Your Project, Initial Market Research and My Evolving Ideas

As aforementioned in the ‘Creative Development’ section, I used various different sports & individual events as enterprise reference points to develop my idea. I specifically used events such as: the ICC Test Championships Final 2021 Theme, the FIFA Anthem, the Formula 1 Theme and the Tokyo Olympics Theme as examples of music used in sporting events. This heavily relates to my project, as these are all examples I can use whilst attempting to intrigue clients into working with me, to show how music can impact these events successfully. 

Whilst doing my market research into the various sports and businesses surrounding both industries, I found a number of composers who have previously written music for sporting events, but very limited evidence of any music composers who offer this as a stand alone service. In addition, by delving deeper into composers who have written music for sporting events, I started to recognise patterns in the types of tracks being composed. A list of some of these track types can be found below:

General Sport Theme (2 - 5 minutes)

Whilst most of the music in this list is often employed for a specific event, a ‘general sport theme’ is a piece of music composed for the entire sport as a whole, or the entire sport in one country and helps to give the sport it’s own unique sonic branding, i.e. the new FIFA Theme used for all FIFA Official football events

Main Broadcasting Theme Music (0.5 - 3 minutes)

This is music usually created by specific broadcasters (i.e. BBC - UK, NBC -  USA) as opposed to the events themselves to introduce all their programmes related to the sport/event (It can be the same as ‘Main Event Music’ but is often different). I.e. BBC Titles for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics 

Main Event Music (2 - 5 minutes)

This is the main theme for a sport/event commissioned by the sport itself (which can often be used as the broadcasting music in some countries), and is often the most important & memorable piece of music from the event, i.e. Tokyo 2020 Olympics Main Theme/Main Broadcasting Theme

Medal/Victory Ceremony Music (1 - 5 minutes)

This is the music played whenever an event is won (whether it be a single match at a tournament, or the medal ceremony after the event has finished). This is usually ‘Arena Music’ (music that is heard in the arena/competition area by the competitors themselves), i.e. Tokyo 2020 Olympics Victory Ceremony Music.

Walk Out Music (0.5 - 3 minutes)

This can often be the same as the ‘Main Event Music’ or ‘Main Broadcasting Theme’ music, but it is the music the players/performers walk out to before the event. It is generally uplifting or dramatic, and especially if it is the latter, it is often different to the ‘Main’ music and is almost always ‘Arena Music’ like the ‘Victory Ceremony Music’ is, i.e. ICC Test Championships 2021 Final Intro Music

Underscore/Recap Music (0.5 - 3 minutes)

Again this can be the same or similar to the ‘Main’ music, however it is often different to add diversity to the unique sonic branding of the event. It is the music played during post match replays/recaps or whilst viewing the scores at the end/intervals of the game/match I.e. ICC Test Championships 2021 Final Scorecard Music

One other useful piece of information I discovered whilst doing my research, which has been mentioned previously is the idea of ‘sonic branding’. Put simply it is the idea of using music & audio to give companies another unique element of branding, that fits alongside their visual branding (i.e. Logo, colour scheme etc…), which not only is an increasingly important idea for companies to explore in general, it also makes a great selling point for myself when trying to sell my services to sports events/companies.

By evolving these ideas over the course of the project, I have been able to create a coherent idea, with knowledge of services I can now provide, and thanks to my history of music composition, I have the skill & knowledge to be creative and write music for these sporting events.

[uogjustjosh]

The Sequence of Creative Development

In order to refine my project, and bring it from an initial idea, to a targeted and fully fledged project, I first needed to develop these ideas. Throughout the next few weeks, I researched into different areas of practice I wanted to go into (songwriting, composing, performance etc…), to see which branch of my work I wanted to focus my project on. I originally decided I wanted to focus on my songwriting & composition elements of my practice (soon narrowed down even further to just composition), and began looking at ways I could make a sustainable career in composition. 

Besides music I have always loved sports and have always been interested in both of these industries, however until recently, I had never considered the possibility of combining both of them together. After coming to this realisation, I travelled down a rabbit hole of research, attempting to discover how I could combine both of these in the best way possible that would support my practice into the future.

Due to being a sports ‘nerd’, I looked at a variety of different sports, from incredibly main-stream sports such as: Football, Tennis, Cricket etc… to sports unknown to a majority of the population i.e. Korfball, Powerchair Football, Fistball etc… My main discovery was that these more ‘popular’ sports used a lot of original music in their various events, whereas the more ‘unknown’ sports tended not to, and when they did, it was often stock music that neither inspired, nor excited an interest in the event. After talking to some individuals both within and outside of the sports events industry, I realised that the majority of them had never even considered music as a part of their event/project, let alone used it (but were very intrigued by the idea of having music). And thus a gap in the market was found, and JUST!JOSH - Sports Composer was born.

[uogjustjosh]

Initial Plans & Ideas

In our first few sessions, we began by looking at the Triple Bottom Line & the Precariat, and analysing both companies and individuals against these to get a feel for where to start with our projects. Initially, I wanted my project to be about me, as JUST!JOSH, and although my final project is about myself, during the Research & Development process I was not only able to narrow it down to a subsection of my practice, but also develop a new strand of my personal practice as a business model.

By using myself as a starting point, I knew that I would be able to create a project that could not only be successful for this module, but also be a successful project to take into a real world scenario, as whatever I created for this, I would easily be able to apply within my career.

[uogjustjosh]

Photos in order top to bottom & left to right:

Picture 1 - My JUST!JOSH Logo created in 2020.

Picture 2 - The Unofficially Eurovision Logo.

Picture 3 - The Unofficially Eurovision Cover Art.

Picture 4 & 5 - Sample Instagram/Twitter/Facebook posts.

Picture 6 - Sample Instagram/Twitter/Facebook stories. Can be turned into an animated audiogram to create TikTok/Instagram Reels/YouTube Shorts posts.

[uogjustjosh]

Week 4 - Creating A Brand

Developing onwards from last week we started looking at creating a brand for ourselves and our projects. I had already created design ideas for this so I focused on the other admin side of things for my podcast. For example, I finalised my Guests Briefing document, and my show format and naming system for my various segments. I also spoke with some of the class about doing test interviews with them to test all of my software, and practice my podcasting technique before having to do it for real. I also decided on a start date for my podcast, Tuesday 8th March. This is the date I am aiming for to release my first 3 episodes. My aim over the next week is to start posting to the various social media’s and build over 200 followers on Instagram over the next 7 days before I begin contacting potential guests.

At the very end of the lecture, we looked at a site called Beacons, a site similar to Linktree, that allows users to create their own mini website. I created my initial version of this within our lecture and have attached the link to it here: beacons.ai/unofficiallyeurovision

In addition, Gary asked us to upload our logo designs and post ideas to our blogs, which I have attached on the next post.

[uogjustjosh]

Week 3 - Aesthetics

In this week’s lecture we looked at performance aesthetics. We looked at what constitutes aesthetics, and how we can use aesthetics, much like branding, to create an artist image and identity for ourselves. We looked at how various artists, in various genres and of varying levels of international recognition have a clear aesthetic, and how important it is to create one that is true to yourself. We also investigated how best to interact with your audience, and how this changes depending on your genre of music. 

After this we went downstairs and created a mood board using Pinterest. I had never used pinterest before or created a mood board, so attempting to learn how to use the software and learn about creating a mood board for myself was challenging enough. In addition I soon learned that in both pinterest and mood boards, colours are important. I am colourblind!

Whilst I did not personally enjoy this task (as I felt I was just creating a series of random images), I felt I still chose images that were relevant to me and my interests. I have attached my mood board below:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/joshjr2309/aesthetics/

Next week we have our first set task performance of Silk Sonic’s ‘Leave The Door Open’, so my main focus is to rehearse that by myself, as I will be unable to rehearse with my group, due to me being away for the remainder of this week.

[uogjustjosh]

Week 3 - What Is A Creator

In this lecture we looked at what a creator is and how creators are recognisable. We analysed certain creatives from a marketing and branding point of view. We then split off into groups, discussing our lists from the previous week, and using that to create some ideas of what we could do for potential projects. Some of the ideas we came up for, for my portfolio included.

Compositions Based Off Trends - Create a piece of music based on a current trend. It could be made by using a trending sound, lyric or instrument.

Working With Other Composers - Collaborate by sending music out to other composers, or by working from scratch on a new piece of music.

Short Form Teaching - Do short videos teaching people a certain skill (probably on piano) in less than a minute. Create something in a fun and engaging way that makes it unique.

Music Theory - Similar to the teaching one, however as well as teaching music theory, I could use different music theory skills and techniques to create something.

Binaural Beats - Create your own binaural beats and ambient music sounds, to combine, and use in a music therapy setting. These could be put on YouTube, Spotify, TikTok and all other social media platforms

Use Music In Different Sporting Settings - Combine my love of music & sport together, by creating music based off sports, or for certain sports. This can be very experimental and approach from a more scientific point of view, as well as a musical one. (Could be a good idea, as either a major project for 3rd year, or as a post uni creative practice, where I try to secure external funding to take it to a higher level).

Eurovision Podcast - Whilst I may combine other ideas into my portfolio, I will definitely be doing a podcast as a main portion of my creative practice for this module. I have already began planning and organising certain ideas for it, and am hoping to release my first episode(s) on March 8th

[uogjustjosh]

Session 2 - Cover Songs & Tiny Desk

In today’s lecture we looked at different performance styles and techniques. We began first by looking through some Sofar and Tiny Desk performances, from the likes of Billie Eilish and Staves, and within this we were asked to answer the following 5 questions. I chose to answer mine about the Billie Eilish performance as I really like her as an artist and a performer.

Discuss How the Music Is Played - Technique (Instrument/Microphone etc...), dynamics, tightness, feel etc...

The music was played softly, with Billie singing and Finneas (her brother) providing backing vocals and playing the keys. Billie was using her signature vocal tone, we have all come to know, and was positioned close to the microphone, allowing the performance to have an intimate feel. The performance had a narrow dynamic range, and was performed fairly piano/mezzo piano to help achieve this intimacy. It was well rehearsed, and both Billie and Finneas worked together well during the track.

Stage Presence: How Are The Performers Commanding Attention? How Is The Performer Expressing Themselves?

The attention is purely focused on the vocals and keys. There is very little physical movement in the performance, which is a positive considering the space they are in, and shows that Billie has considered her performance well to achieve an appropriate stage presence.

Comment On The Presentation Aesthetics - The Stage Set Up, Clothes, Lighting, Stage Design etc...

Due to the intimacy of the Sofar performance, both Billie and Finneas were dressed casually, wearing fairly inconspicuous clothing, that would help them fit in with the aesthetic involved in the show. The stage is set up and design is used with Billie sitting and using a microphone stand, and Finneas standing next to her behind a keyboard (with a microphone as well). There does not appear to be a formal stage set up, however not having one is appropriate for the intimate performance aesthetic. 

Emotional Impact - How Does It Make You Feel? Do You Think It Matches The Artist’s Intention?

Is allows the live audience to feel closely engaged in the performance, and the virtual audience feel like they’re just watching a singer sing, which can feel more natural, as opposed to a large performance we may be used to, which can sometimes feel artificially produced. I do believe it matches the artist’s intentions, as the idea of a Sofar performance is to feel fairly small and intimate.

What Is Your Overall Impression Of The Performance?

Personally, I really enjoyed the performance, I had not heard of either Sofar or Tiny Desk before, so being able to listen to a performance that was more intimate was enjoyable. In addition, I really like Billie’s music and especially her voice, so being able to hear the exposed and raw vocals was nice.

After we had analysed the songs, we began working on a stripped back cover song to perform on February 15th as our first set task. I worked with the BAJR’S, a group of us that had worked together well previously (Brandon, Anya, Josh (Me), Rose and Sacha). Unfortunately, Brandan was unable to come into the lecture as he was ill today. However, the other 4 of us started coming up with ideas. We initially decided on Camilla Cabello’s ‘Don’t Go Yet’, however, we wanted something that would challenge us as performers, and we didn’t feel as though that song would do so. We eventually decided upon Silk Sonic’s ‘Leave The Door Open’. It was a song that Anya, Rose and Sacha really enjoyed, and a song that would definitely challenge us. With 24 chords (including extended 9th and 11th chords) and multiple key changes as well as the opportunity for use and variation of 4 part harmonies throughout the song, we thought it would be great to use. We got the basis completed within the session, and began working though the first half of the song. The next steps are to book in rehearsal session both during and outside of lectures, to help us improve it to a performance standard.

[uogjustjosh]

Session 2 - Our Ideas

In the session this week we continued looking at examples of previous works. We used the list we had created during the previous lecture to begin creating some ideas we wanted to use for our portfolio.

Within this lecture we also began creating ourselves a short introductory bio, of 1 to 2 sentences. I created 2 versions of mine. The first, very long and wordy, that I ended up shortening to the second one, which both looks easier to read, and sounds better.

First One - I am a student studying a BA Honours degree in music specialising in songwriting and composition whilst I play piano, keyboard and saxophone. I am a qualified tennis coach and football referee and to continue my teaching adventure into music I will hopefully teach music peripatetically on piano & keyboard (and am in the process of learning to produce music and learn the ukulele).

Second (Refined) One - I am a 19 year old music teacher, composer and instrumentalist. I am also a seasonal tennis coach and football referee and I am in the process of learning to produce music and play the ukulele.

I condensed it down in the 2nd one, taking out some less important and relevant details, whilst still keeping a short introduction that was accurate to myself.

I also spoke to Gary after the lecture regarding my project ideas, and how I could incorporate many different strands within my portfolio, as it is something I am looking to do anyways. I was told that essentially anything I can create can be used within my portfolio, and began coming up with some ideas: 

These included the podcast idea I had initially, as well as some ideas on creating TikTok videos based around my own music, and covers of other work (these could then be transferred onto different social media sites e.g. Instagram, YouTube Shorts etc...). I could also use these sort of videos as promotion for the podcast. I also will look into the potential of creating tutorial based videos, as a part of my portfolio, relating to teaching and various other areas of my expertise.

[uogjustjosh]

My notes from the reading we did during the week on the MIDiA report on UGC 2.0.

[uogjustjosh]

Week 1 - Music Performance

We began our first lecture by looking at the assessment brief, where we have to perform 8-10 minutes of original music in a (pre-organised) public venue. We also started looking at groups we could perform as a part of, and discussing songs that could be performed as part of those groups. Ben and Teddy also introduced themselves and explained their backgrounds within the music industry.

We then split off onto separate tables and began looking at our artist identities as performers, comparing them to an established artist, either within our genre, or a genre we enjoyed listening to. I chose to compare myself to Ludovico Einaudi, who within my musical niche of Neo-Classical ‘Sad’ Piano, is by far the biggest and most established artist with nearly 7.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. I have added pictures of both mine and Einaudi’s mind-map. 

I struggled with the task slightly, mostly when defining my artist identity, as that is something I have only recently been starting to think about over the previous couple of months.

[uogjustjosh]

Week 1 - The Creator Economy

This lecture was our first one back after the Christmas break, and within it we began to discuss the creator economy. We looked at what forms the creator economy and saw some previous examples of portfolio work that could be used for our assessments. We then listed our strengths and areas we were interested in as part of our ‘Creator Relatability Mapping’ that we could use in future sessions. My list was as follows:

Playing Piano - I play piano, and it is the main instrument I use for my music I release on streaming platforms (as JUST!JOSH).

Music Performance - I enjoy performing music, both as a solo artist, as well as in other settings such as bands, accompanists, musicals and improvisation

Composition - I love composing music, I want part of my career to be based around composition, as both TV/Film & Game’s composition, as well as other original instrumental work.

Music Arrangement - Arrangement is something I also really enjoy. I love creating instrumental sections to songs, and arranging my own versions of popular songs. 

Eurovision - I am looking to become more involved within this area, as I have been a fan of the contest since 2013, and is an area I know a lot about.

Music Competitions - I enjoy music competitions and am looking to get involved with more like this in the near future.

Songwriting - This is an area of music I have only gained an interest in since lockdown, where I had time to develop some basic songwriting skills, but this is an area I am looking to develop further into the future.

Talking - I enjoy talking, mostly because I can’t help but waffle half the time, but I think it is a skill that I can put to good use through areas such as podcasting, radio and interviews

Meditation/ASMR/Binaural Beats - Have gotten into this over the last 2 years (and properly over the last few months) due to my Heart Arrhythmia caused by my Vagus Nerve misfiring (which I use to calm down & stop being as energetic), but the whole mediation and music therapy is something I want to invest more time into.

Football - I am a massive football fan, and I love watching and playing football. I have a long history of playing, including 2 appearances at The World Youth Cup. I would love to re-involve myself within football over the coming years.

Tennis - I both enjoy playing and coaching tennis. I am a Level 2 qualified Tennis Coach (having coached both voluntarily and paid since I was 11), and I currently play for the Uni’s Men’s 2nd Team.

F1/Motorsport, Handball, Cricket, Badminton - These are all sports I enjoy watching. I love watching sports in general, however these are the other main sports I enjoy watching other than Football & Tennis.

Music Teaching - I love teaching music, I have run music workshops in the past whilst at college, and I am looking to start teaching private music lessons on piano (and possibly keyboard) asap.

Video Games - I really enjoy (watching) video games, especially on sites such as YouTube and I was videos on games such as FIFA, Minecraft and other games to relax.

Podcasts - Over the last few months, I have really become interested in podcasts and podcasting, hoping to start my own into the future.

Comedy - I love comedy, I will always watch it when I feel in a bad mood, or when I want to relax with lunch or before bed.

Drinking - I’m a university student, this one is self-explanatory.

There are many other aspects that I enjoy, both in and out of music, however these are most of the main ones. We were also asked to read a document ready for next week’s lecture.

Off the back of this I started looking at ideas for my portfolio. After creating a podcast mini-series in the previous semester, I knew it was something I wanted to do more of. I had previously been researching into the idea of creating a Eurovision themed podcast, as I was interested in Eurovision, however I quickly discovered that I wouldn’t be able to do it as it would be too much effort alongside my studies. But, due to the nature of this module, I am able to go ahead with the idea. I decided I would spend this week conducting further research into the idea of creating a long standing weekly podcast series.

[uogjustjosh]

All Songs Link

Week 1 (Minimal Writing, The Nights) - https://soundcloud.com/just-josh-595763435/week-1-song-unnamed?si=5f700eaf73e34930aaf932ebc6117b4b&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Week 2 (Song Structures Sheet, Live in The Moment, COLORS, Forgive Me Friend) - https://connectglosac-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/s4004433_glos_ac_uk/EU1CgXq-eEdCsBxt5iVt2YAB4CN6fovngYWpg87AYg7HWA?e=hkVafg

Song Brief 1 (Original Song in a Genre of Your Choice, Fade Away) - https://soundcloud.com/anya-smith-458839725/turn-on?si=a500b947350349ebb64a72d8d0ec201f&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Song Brief 2 (Sentric Songwriting Brief, Do It For You) - https://soundcloud.com/just-josh-595763435/advert-song-final?si=f684d276f67b4f528c1698bc1737062f&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Song Brief 3 (Songs for Specialist Markets, It’s Christmas Time) - https://soundcloud.com/just-josh-595763435/christmas-song?si=cc4ca4f80fc446a2b4890bcc33a8317f&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Song Brief 4 (Co-writing a Song For Another Artist, Cold) - https://soundcloud.com/just-josh-595763435/ed-sheeran-demo-with-vox?si=44a23b66ce234c7f89cd4e66be5734c5&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

[uogjustjosh]

Week 11 - (SAFE) Co-Writing Songs

  This week we listened back to our songs, in our final SAFE session of the module. For the first 45 minutes of the session, Phil Reeder came in to discuss our Music Production module for next semester, and then after that we were onto the listening session. The feedback we got for our group was as follows:

Positive

The piano chord voicings worked well, bulking the instrumental section up for the chorus also sounded very much like something Ed Sheeran would do.

The structure of the song was suited to an Ed Sheeran song.

The Intro & Verses were great at instilling the pop element

The vocal line worked with the song, and the harmonies were amazing

The rap part was good, and sounded like it could be a part of one of Ed Sheeran’s Collaborations Albums.

To Be Improved

Vocal runs in the chorus aren’t necessarily needed, simplify it down if possible.

Consider replacing the acoustic guitar melody line part, although people really liked the melody/counter melody it provided, it sounded too harsh sometimes, and could do with being a smoother sounding instrument.

  Overall the feedback for the song was tremendously positive, with most saying they enjoyed it, and a couple of the class remarking it was their favourite song of the year, and had potential to be amazing in a fully produced format.

The link to the Ed Sheeran demo song on SoundCloud is here: https://soundcloud.com/just-josh-595763435/ed-sheeran-demo-with-vox?si=bd5db1c97ec64cd285cd970b10e6c6d5&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

[uogjustjosh]

Week 10 - (SAFE) Songwriting for Speciality Markets

  We used the first hour of this session by continuing on with our ‘co-writing’ songs from the previous week. Felicity was unable to attend this part of the session so Ben and I began creating some melodies that could be used as a part of the song. We also experimented with using some new synthesizers that had just been brought into the studios, to see if they could be incorporated within the song (ultimately we didn’t use them).

  Towards the last 15 minutes of the session, Brandan, Anya and Tyler asked me to come and play the piano part of their song, as Ellie was unable to attend the session due to unforeseen circumstances (and she was originally supposed to be playing the piano). It was a fairly simple block chorded pattern to learn so I was able to pick it up fairly quickly and record the song with them within the time.

  After that we then went back into the listening theatre to listen back to our Songs written for speciality markets. The majority of the group (including us) chose to do some form of a christmas song and our song’s feedback was as follows:

Positive

The ‘raw’ sound of not using individual microphones, and everyone sitting round one mic worked to give the song a homely feel

The piano worked well, having it’s own unique voice within the track without overpowering any of the vocal melodies/harmonies.

To Be Improved

Add some more instruments e.g. Bells, Glockenspiels etc... to make the instrumentation sound more christmassy.

  The link to our completed Christmas song (Me, Anya, Brandan, Rose and Sacha) is here: https://soundcloud.com/just-josh-595763435/christmas-song?si=3852f06e4ab94ba99ad31ae1c1ff5101