Zoe Prentice Cover Listings

JUNE 2015

Introduction - Final proposal The client for my final project is myself and two other colleagues. As I am not a skilled musician, I asked two of my colleagues to feature on my track to record in the parts I couldnt play. Their names were Jess and Ella and they feature on the tracks performing vocals and guitar.

My target genre was to cover/recreate pop music. I figured this would be the easiest genre to do as it probably the most listened to in the world. I know that the genre happens to attract a vast amount attention from the younger generation, hence why I chose pop as it proved to be a good genre to advertise within. For example, this will attract individuals who use social media sites such as Soundcloud, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. Once my track is published onto these sites it will be easy for me to attract traffic.

My target audience (as mentioned above) is the younger generation ranging from teenagers to late 20s. I felt this would be an obvious target choice as myself being young, I understand what we want to hear and the type of music we listen to. I understand that people have their own opinion and that it varies but the majority of the music listened to today is under the pop genre. Knowing how addicted to social media the young people of today are it would play a major part in my marketing strategy targeting a market so broad as them.

My album/mixtape I have chosen to create is called Cover listings. I felt this was appropriate as it is simply 3 covers which are listed. I have created my own album cover which is shown below.

My overall aim for this project was to produce an album including 3/4 songs which would be either remixs or covers. I successfully produced three covers although, the fourth unfortunately didnt feature due to some technical and timing issues which will be explained when talking about the tracks. This was a big disappointment for me as I did not achieve the overall goal I wanted to.

For marketing purposes I devised a release schedule so that I could release tracks in order to create traffic. Below is how I would undertake the release process to draw in listeners and make not only myself but my music known as well. This however, took a slight change as mentioned above; I had a fault with producing the right number of tracks for the overall album.

Release schedule;

Promo release 1 track 2 weeks in (May 8th) Two track release (May 22nd) Full album release (June 26th)

Other key marketing tools I thought about was to approach producers, radio stations or social networking sites and work with a collected team of people under an umbrella so that my tracks can go viral. This could range from professional people right down to my very own colleagues in order to advertise, publicise and to get my music going viral.

Track 1

Diamonds - https://soundcloud.com/zoeprentice/diamonds-cover/s-dGjho

RECORDING/PRODUCTION PROCESS

When creating Diamonds I used a variety of instruments. The main instruments I used were drums, vocals and piano. The track I was recreating only featured a small variety of instruments so I found that it would be a good song to recreate as the instruments were easily recognised and all played prominent parts to build the song. The drums I used for this song were all inputted through MIDI data. I used the software Logic that provided me with both Midi and live kits so I had a good variation. I inputted the drums myself by using the roadhouse kit. I opted against using a live drum kit as I found it didnt produce the desired sound that I needed. The original didnt feature a live kit so I felt it was necessary to avoid them. The drums play a prominent part within the track as they hold the rhythm so timing was key. I played a simple 4/4 beat mainly using the kick drum and Hi-hats at the chorus.

I used two pianos for this track, as I wanted to create the same effect as how they sound in the original. My first piano was a grand piano with strings, all MIDI inputted, as didnt have either a grand piano or strings to record. Using this piano I played the main melody and various other little parts for either the bridge or the chorus. Playing simultaneously with this piano I recorded in an organ, again, through MIDI to create a layered effect against the grand piano. It gave the piano an unclean feel, as it was a muddy sound, which I was very happy with. I tried to get the sound as close to the original as I could.

When recording the vocals I used a female singer as it suited the song best. Rihanna sang the original so a female vocalist was appropriate. I doubled up on the vocals with ad-libs and backing to make the track sound thicker and so that her voice wasnt lost against the other instruments.

Inspiration track

My inspiration track was Diamonds by Rihanna as I was doing a cover.

The link to the original is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWA2pjMjpBs

Target Sound/MY MIX

When I decided to recreate the song I had to use a variety of effects to get the desired sounds I wanted. For example, I wanted to create the muddy piano sound (previously mentioned above) so combined with both pianos I added reverb and slight delay so that the sound lost its sharpness. Having a piano that is already combined with strings also helped to contribute towards this as it extended the envelope of the sound so that the note is dragged out. Similar to this I added reverb and compressed the vocals so that they mixed well within the overall mix. I also took the time to double up the vocals as I felt that they needed to be stronger when the chorus kicked in. I decided that when listening to the track it sounded stronger when I panned the backing vocals slightly right so that they werent lost against the main vocals. By using the compressor, this enabled her voice to sound louder as it was recorded in on quite a low level due to peaking at certain points in the song. I used a cardiod polar pattern to capture the best possible sound of her voice. I also used the programme of melodyne,

which didnt prove to give me any major problems. I only felt the need to edit certain notes, as the majority of the vocals were correct pitch. When editing the drums I applied compression and reverb the same the vocals just to give them more of a natural feel. I also EQd them so that the kick produced a thicker sound I cut out all the high frequencies using a low pass filter by EQing between 80-100Hrtz and between 5-10db. This provided a strong kick drum and as it was MIDI data it was unnecessary to use a noise gate.

Recording and production techniques

The song follows a simple structure so it wasnt hard for me to organise the instruments. The original has a 4 bar introduction whereas mine features an 8 bar intro. It then has an 8 bar verse leading into the chorus. The chorus lasts for 8 bars then drops into another 8 bar verse and back into the chorus before it reaches the bridge. The bridge is 4 bars long and then finishes with another chorus. I chose to structure mine different to the original as the vocalist I had struggled to hit certain notes so I adapted the track so that she was comfortable singing. As its a pop song it would prove to be very repetitive so there wasnt a great deal of recording needed however it took time to find desired sounds and effects. So this was more of a production song as apposed to live recording.

Overall I felt the track went very well. I encountered a few minor issues with the vocals but this was due to a restructure of the track to overcome it. In comparison to the original track it does sound very similar which I am delighted with as I was aiming for a near enough identical copy. As it is a pop song it wasnt the hardest genre to be recreated, however, it was hard to gain the right sounds during the postproduction process. I noticed that all the vocals were panned left when recorded so this proved to be an issue when it came to melodyning. I had to send all the vocals to a bus on the main mixer and then change the stereo output to mono.

This track was aimed to be a cover, however after having to restructure the song it has now become a remix. I felt it was more appropriate to stick with covers as it stuck to one genre and I wouldnt have that many problems acquiring sounds or instruments. I did consider remixs due to the fact that they could potentially attract more traffic within the market although, by only using the Logic software, the available plug-ins I had to manipulate sounds was very limited.

As there is already a broad market for cover versions of famous songs, I felt that by choosing a worldwide known song by worldwide known artist the market would already feature a vast amount of traffic, so it would be easier for me to attract traffic of my own by using certain marketing techniques. Rihanna is known all over Soundcloud, a social media site used to promote new music. Due to previous uploads of my own tracks I have already created traffic for myself by on a low-key basis. I figured that by promoting my cover/remix on there it would have a knock on effect as

This is after I EQd the drums

This is before I EQd the drums

my viewers would be listening to the track, reposting it or favouriting it so it would spread like word of mouth. I could also use other Social media sites to promote my Soundcloud such as Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and even Itunes. I could simply upload my track or I could post the link as invite people to listen and forward. This could prove very effective for me as I am a student therefore I have a vast number of people connected with these social media sites so it wouldnt take long for me to publicise on them and gain a response. Its also given that everybody listens to music and music features on all of these websites so promoting that way will go in my favour.

A caveat for this marketing tool is that I could easily annoy people, as it would seem as though I was spamming them with my track. This would not go in my favour and potentially could prevent my track from going viral altogether. I considered using the marketing tool of releasing promo tracks so that it got people interested in not only me as an artist but the work I have produced. This would attract attention on my behalf so then the viewers would be waiting for the full release of the track. I think overall I have been fairly successful with my marketing tool although next time I think I would reconsider using a different strategy to see if it proves more successful. It couldve been better however its not a total disappointment.

I think that overall my track could be considered competitive against others within the market. A main strength of my track is defiantly the piano and main melody. I felt this is the most dominant in the track as it holds the structure. I think that I captured this sound the best in comparison to the original. I also think I managed to use the plug-ins and the use of effects to create a very good replica of the original. I think that for marketing purposes I feel I couldve done better. I do have a viable product although I have nothing behind it so I couldve looked into creating more artwork, videos or even more tracks to publicise my music. I think it wouldve been more beneficial for me to approach it differently next time to attract more traffic although it isnt a complete disaster this time. Tying in with the marketing process I think I could promote through Spotify or Itunes next time so that it can be considered as exclusive content rather than open to anyone. Although I think I would have to create more traffic than I already have to achieve this. I could also look into promoting through a different approach, maybe creating remixs and hosting DJ events to produce my tracks. Overall I think it was a success for my first track.

Track 2

Worship - https://soundcloud.com/zoeprentice/worship-cover/s-Gn3GP

Similar to the first track I used piano, drums and vocals but added in some extra instruments such as synths, bass guitar and organs. I found this track quite hard to recreate as it had several different layers, which proved difficult seeing as I dont play an instrument so I had to learn and record in the parts myself. Again, I used all MIDI apart from the vocals, which were live recordings. I MIDI inputted original sound and changed them using the provided samplers within logic to change the sounds so I could create a similar replica to the original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjKDzsD5jVo&list=RDzjKDzsD5jVo

This is the original track, which I based my cover upon. It is called Worship and its by Years and Years.

Target Sound/Recording and production

Similar to diamonds, as it is a pop song it follows a simple structure of intro, verse, bridge, chorus and repeat. As Years and Years a synth based band this track took a lot of attention to detail when creating and mixing down sounds. I had to use several synthesizers to layer the track so that I could get the desired sound I want. I had to process sounds through the EX24 sampler to change them so that they would sound as similar as possible to the original track. In comparison to diamonds this track didnt require a lot of effects such as reverb or delay as the synths already provided it. However it took a lot of different instrument tracks to structure the overall cover track. I had to use an element of Logic loops as I failed to find certain sounds, as I couldnt even manipulate instruments to produce it. For example, when the bridge is played there is a whammy guitar played and as I cant play guitar and was unable to record a musician at the time, I found the loop provided me with the sound I wanted and had a preset to edited effects. This perfectly resembled my chosen genre of pop and was a key feature to the track. I was lucky in the respect that it was the same melody throughout the whole track. So the chorus were the same, so were the verses and the bridge etc. This meant I could spend more time concentrating on perfecting the sounds rather than recording in every eight bars differently.

This track took a lot of time to actually master and mix down. As I had to record the vocals in last I had to ensure that all the instrumentation side of it was done to perfection. I did encounter a few issues when it came to mixing the drums. As mentioned above it was all inputted through MIDI data and they were obviously drums which already had effects on them. Alas, when played against all the other instruments they were very quiet. I then decided to put them through a compressor, which did make them louder, but they started to peak at the level I needed them to be at. This became an issue for my overall mix as my output was constantly peaking so my track was distorting and it wasnt a clean mix. I decided that the best way to solve the issue was to send all the drum tracks to a bus (a new track for grouped instrument tracks) and put a limiter on them so it did not exceed a certain point ensuring it didnt peak. I didnt have much of an issue with any of the other instruments apart from minor tweaking from a compressor or and equaliser.

I again, had to melodyne the vocals as it was a very high pitch song for Ella to sing and it was a struggle for her range. I am pleased with the overall vocal although in comparison to my other tracks I dont think it is the best. I carried out this process in the same process when melodyning diamonds. The same issue occurred for the vocals on both this track and diamonds in the fact that when put through melodyne, it was only playing through the left hand side of the channel. This meant that due to my error, I must have recorded in the tracks on a stereo output meaning that when played all the vocals were panned hard left. To overcome this, I had to group all of the effected tracks together and send them to a bus. This meant that by using the little circle symbol in the bottom left hand corner I could switch them all to mono and it would all be panned centre allowing me to pan (if necessary) the tracks I wanted to. I wanted the double ups to be panned however it didnt sound right when I did it. I used a large amount of reverb for Ella in this song as I felt it was needed to soften the vocals as they were overpowering against the instrumentation. Some vocals that I recorded were quieter than others which therefore affected my mix once normalised. This meant that I had to follow the same procedure as before and put a compressor on and then a limiter as certain notes like the chorus for example, would peak easily.

My marketing strategy was the same throughout the whole production process in the respect that I used social media to promote my songs. As mentioned above in track 1, this is another cover version and I used the same market to promote in. All of the above links to social media sites are relevant to the marketing promotion process of this song. The only variation is that I could also tag this genre as electro as the main instruments are synthesizers. So when posting on mediums like Soundcloud it will be beneficial for attracting traffic from not only pop genre but electro too. This would go in my favour as combined genres can produce larger listeners.

My overall evaluation for my marketing strategy is that it was as successful as it could be. I didnt push for anything large scale I simply stuck to social media sites and saw how much traffic I could create. There is room for vast improvement within this strategy as I could budget myself some money to invest in promotion and the release of my tracks so that it couldve been more publicised. There isnt a lot else for me to say that hasnt already been explained in track 1 with regards to marketing.

I felt this track couldve been more successful in a number of ways although it is not a total disappointment. I am pleased with all the elements of my track however I felt conscious that the vocals would let me down as Ella tried her best and she did brilliantly but due to how high pitch the song was she was out quite a lot and the use of melodyne can sometimes cause more of a hindrance than a help. I tried my best to tune her voice into the right pitch alas it was most defiantly easier said than done. I did however feel like this track had pushed my knowledge of recording musicians and the whole production processes and I did expand my knowledge when it came to using samplers and synthesizers. I felt that I was able to mix down the track successfully and produce a decent standard outcome to the best of my ability within the time I had.

Track 3

Girls just want to have fun - https://soundcloud.com/zoeprentice/girls-just-wanna-have-fun-cover/s-mYzHo

This track was different to my other two as it was purely live-based instruments and recordings. I used around 6/7 tracks so this was my multi-track recording. I pre recorded drums and looped them so that when my guitarist was recording she had something to play along to as she couldnt play to the metronome. The guitars are doubled up as I used acoustic so I thought it would sound thicker if I enhance the sound because it was quite faint against the drums. I also doubled the vocals using the same process as in track 1. The only other instruments included were tambourine and bass guitar.

My inspiration track was a Girls Just Wanna Have Fun cover by George Ezra in the BBC Radio 1 live lounge session. I did consider doing the original by Cyndi Lauper but I felt that an acoustic cover would be more efficient for me to use. The link below is the cover that I recreated and the second link is the original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK_mWnX4s64

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A

Target sound/production techniques

When recording this track I had to take into consideration mic placement as I was live recording an acoustic guitar. I positioned the microphone slightly off centre of the guitar about 3-6 inches away from the hole. This allowed me to capture the best possible sound I could using a condenser microphone. I doubled up on the guitars (as mentioned previously) to give them a thicker sound. I did encounter a few clips where the track unfortunately peaked but I easily edited them out when it came to the mix down process.

The chord structure of the track is the same and is repetitive throughout. It is a simple melody repeated by every instrument. To record the drums I used a loop on logic and the bass guitar I recorded in via Direct Injection. This was easier than the whole process of micing up and recording in live.

I didnt really use many other effects than what is already mentioned in the tracks above. Obviously I used melodyne again to correct the pitch of the vocals although they didnt really need it for this song as she pretty much hit the notes bang on. I sorted the obvious notes that sounded ridiculously out during playback. The same issue did occur with the vocals as mentioned in track 1/2 when I put the audio file through melodyne. I used the same process to overcome this by grouping them to a bus. I found it easier to apply reverb, a compressor and a limiter with them grouped to a bus as it would apply to every single track within it. This made it easier and the editing process shorter as it didnt have to keep reapplying the same effect to different channels. I used reverb on the vocals and on the acoustic guitar as I felt it helped them to blend better. This track took a long time to mix down as I had to edit individual parts of both the vocals and the instruments. Being an audio file, once cut you can get a popping noise at the placement of the cut which can ruin your mix. I therefore had to apply cross faders and in some case automation to prevent this.

I felt for a live recording track that this deliver to a high standard. There is always room for improvement but never the less this was a strong track for me. I felt I got the balances right between effects levels and the overall mix produced. It matched the genre really well and did sound fairly similar to George Ezras version apart from the fact that the guitar was a different strumming pattern to mine. Overall I was very happy with the track I produced.

As mentioned above, there isnt much else for me to say, as it was the same strategy for all of my tracks in the terms of marketing. With this track, it can be considered to be promoted more as it is highly viewed on Youtube which is a worldwide used medium. So by uploading a cover I could create traffic from the existing viewers of that. I did all promotion through social media and I felt that with Soundcloud I could promote more to the live lounge sessions as apposed to pop genre as I know that they generate a lot of traffic. This would also be beneficial promoting on mediums like Twitter or Facebook because If I was to get a retweeet from the BBC live lounge then my track would go viral achieving the best possible result.

Track 4 I need a dollar (failed track)

This track was a huge disappointment for me as I was unable to complete it due to timing issues and the let down of musicians failing to attend studio sessions. I accept on my behalf that I did leave it late to complete although my musicians let me down by failing to attend when I needed them. I believe for the amount of time I left for myself to complete this was over ambitious. I did begin to record in some parts of the song however I was unable to complete the structure or record in vocals therefore not being able to feature on the album.

Evaluation

As a whole I feel that my work could be considered as competitive against others in the industry. Although I havent produced the desired amount of tracks that I wanted to, the quality of the three songs produced compensates for my over ambitious goal of four. When defining my track as a viable product I think its clear it wont be that successful as I havent provided as much variety as I couldve. This is my caveat and it will affect me when going up against competitors producing similar work to mine.

There are many strengths within my tracks but it is equally weighed out with weaknesses. I would consider Diamonds to be my best track as it is a good overall mix and it sounds the best quality wise. Furthermore it features fewer instruments than the other two but yet sounds thicker. It is a very good cover and it does sound like existing covers that I researched on youtube before starting the song. Technical wise it isnt a bad mix at all as it has clean recordings for all tracks and delivered well during post-production. In comparison to the others this track is the best of the album.

The other two tracks do carry strengths but I didnt feel as happy with them as I did with Diamonds. Worship did meet the genre brief in that it was pop and electro but it still lacked the coming together properly when all was being mixed down. I think if I had organised my time better I may have been able to find a more suitable singer whos vocal range could cover the high pitch notes. This wouldve made the track sound better as it wouldve have gelled with the instruments instead of being more prominent. I think if I had have done this it might have had a chance of creating more traffic and competing against others when I upload it to social media sites. If it isnt a well-produced mix then people arent going to make the effort to share it further or repost or even view it.

Similar to this, the live lounge cover, my third track, can be described as a good track overall although it lacks depth. The overall recording is very dense, there arent many layers included just single recorded instruments. Take the guitar for example, without the doubled track it wouldnt sound half as thick as it does. The sound it produces with just one guitar track was so faint it couldnt be heard amongst the rest of the track. Again I think the fault comes down to myself not organising my time or studio sessions properly. It didnt help that I cant play an instrument properly otherwise I wouldve been able to record half the track in myself, so being reliant on others wasnt the best option for me.

In terms of marketing I think I done the best I could when it comes to promotion and publicity. I think as a student I couldnt really advance with any other strategy than social media. This wont be a massive success but then I could progress further from there putting my songs on Itunes or websites in which you have to pay to download. If I can generate enough traffic then it will be easier for me to progress and start devising plans for a second album or gigs or looking at releasing other peoples work. This will get me publicity within the industry and taking a risk might even make me a millionaire.