Category: Assignments

Chris Smith Final Project – 11 Aspects

Post author By Csmith100
Post date May 1, 2018
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Girl Cat by Runner’s High

Concept: In this song the lyrics contradict the instrumentals. The lyrics are frustrated and sad which provide an overlying theme for the song. However, the instrumentals are upbeat and high-energy. This juxtaposition between the two driving forces in this song result in an underlying concept. The lyrics can be interpreted as your rational thoughts towards the situation you’re in with your past lover. These thoughts suggest you keep your distance from this person and try your best to continue without them. The instrumentals represent the high you feel when you finally give into your ex’s attempts to seduce you.

Melody: Kameron sings the vocal melody for the first half of the song. When he cuts out Jackson is handed the melody which he expands on and solos over.

Rhythm: Driving drums throughout the song.

Harmony: Liam provides harmonies during the verses to add more depth and complexity.

Lyrics: The lyrics describe a scenario where your significant other has left you. You want her back, but you know it’s better if you just move on. He/She/They creep back into your life and stir up those feelings that you had felt to mess with your head.

Density: The rhythm and lead guitar use distortion to fill up space in the song. The synth doubles up the chords to add even more to the song.

Instrumentation: Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Bass, Synth, and Drums.

Song Structure: Intro, Verse 1, Verse 2, Bridge

Performance: Sad, Subdued Vocals with High-energy instrumentals

Mix: The lead guitar is the most prominent in the mix. The vocals are also accented and are the focus during the sections containing vocals.

Quality of the Equipment: Quality recording equipment with intermediate instruments.

Assignments

Chris Smith Final Project – Budget and Schedule

Post author By Csmith100
Post date May 1, 2018
No Comments on Chris Smith Final Project – Budget and Schedule

Personnel:

Co-Producers – Christopher Smith and Jacinto Sims

Assistant Engineers – Derisa Greaves and Daniel Hubert

Mixing Engineer – Daniel Hubert

Mastering Engineer – Paul Jackson

Recording Engineer – Luke Stribling

Studio Time:

Dolphinium Recording Studios

Located in Jacksonville Florida

Amount of Time/Cost – 5 hrs per day/ $75.00 per hr with Recording Engineer and Personnel

Equipment Needed:

Macbook Air with Logic Pro X

Neve Genesys

Motu Interface

Headphones

Headphone Extension Cables

XLR Cables

Mic List:

Drums

Kick – AKG D112

Snare – Shure SM57

Overheads – Neumann TLM49 ×2

Bass: DI

Lead guitar: uses guitar head (Fender tube) but bass cabinet (Ampeg w/ different speaker)

Squier jazz master (modified pickups) – Neumann 147 Tube

Rhythm guitar: Epiphone semi-hollow body w/humbucker pickups (fender amp maybe a hotrod) – Neumann 147 Tube

Synth – DI

Vocals – Neumann 147 Tube

Schedule:

Recording April 8^th

12:00 PM – 3:00 PM– Set-up and preparation

3:00 PM– 8:00 PM – Recording

Sample Budget and Schedule

Taylor Neal – Never Now Hip Hop Production

Post author By Taylor Neal
Post date May 1, 2018
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Sample Production Summary

Never Now

Production of an ambient hip hop track titled “Never Now” by artist Kyle Ruhe

Personnel

Producer: Taylor Neal

(Creating beat, editing tracks and overseeing production)

Assistant Producer: Isabella Martinez

(Coaching artist in studio, providing a comfortable environment for artist and assisting producer)

Recording Engineer: Isabella Martinez

(Over studio setup for artist and tracking vocals)

Assistant Recording Engineer: Kameron

(Providing assistance to any position of the production, being available and attentive at every session)

Mixing Engineer: Aaron Jennings

(Mixing final takes, making sure the track fits together in the mix and conveys the energy captured by the artist.)

Mastering Engineer: Steven J Roe

(Mastering the final product to meet industry standard of loudness and providing a clear and clean master to be presented through the classroom speakers)

Studio Time/Cost

Studio Name: Dolphinium Recording Studios
Location: Jacksonville Florida
Time/Cost Per Hour: 5 hours a day/$75 per hour w/engineer

Travel and Lodging

N/A- Musicians live on campus at Jacksonville University

Equipment Needed

Microphones:

-Neumann Tube M147

Motu Interface

Macbook Air with Logic Pro X

1TB External Hard drive

Schedule

Recording and Process	Duration	Dates
Pre-production	5 days	2/12/2018
Recording	4 days	2/17/2018
Overdubbing	1 day	2/20/2018
Mixing Mastering	3 days 1 day	2/21/2018 2/24/2018

11 Aspects

-Melody

The melody comes in in the chorus, which repeats a total of three times. The saxophone mirrors this melody throughout the song.

-Harmony

The electric piano ostinato has a heavy delay that melts each note together creating a blanket of harmony through the duration of the song. The saxophone adds a different harmonic and tonal color to the song and is used to transition to the key change and back to the original key for the final chorus.

-Rhythm

The 808 is keeping a laid back side chained beat that rests in the mix.

-Lyrics

The lyrics were heavily inspired by recent events in Kyle’s life, such as personal relationships as well as family ties.

-Density

Never Now has multiple layers to it that provides density throughout the track. The rain/noise in the background that is side chain compressed by the kick pulses creates a sense of breathing in the song. The constant electric piano groove provides an underlying harmonic blanket, as the saxophone provides soul and genuine human emotion to compliment the lyrics.

-Song Structure

The song takes on a simple form, much like most pop songs it begins with an intro that presents the idea and different pieces that fade in, followed by the first and second verse. Next the chorus is introduced as the texture thins out for a sense of change, and back into another verse, chorus, than a bridge in a different key. Finally, the chorus is brought back with a tighter, more lofi sound to conclude the track.

-Instrumentation

The lofi ambience in the delayed electric piano, 808, and bass give the song the classic hip hop sound, while the saxophone provides a more human like emotion harmonically to compliment the melody and lyrics.

-Performance

The performance was meant to feel free flowing, almost like a freestyle.

-Equipment/quality of recording

Very high quality gear was used to produce this track.

-Mix

The mix is a blended collection of all the different colors and emotions between the rain, saxophone, and vocals.

Assignments

Derisa’s 11 aspects (Hip Hop)

Post author By Derisa Greaves
Post date April 30, 2018
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11 aspects

Assignments Uncategorized

Aaron’s 11 Aspects for Jazz Project ” Blues For the Knight “

Post author By Aaron Jennings
Post date March 13, 2018
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March 9, 2018

Commercial Production

11 Aspects of the Record: Blues for the Knight by Written by Chris Creswell

Blues for the Knight is one of the many jazz orchestra charts written by Chris Creswell. The Jacksonville University Jazz Orchestra first performed this chart last fall on the Jazz concert featuring tenor saxophonist, Ken Hitchcock. As producer on this project, I was in search of a finding a chart of his that simple and straightforward from an audience perspective but still showcased his amazing writing abilities. We both immediately thought of Blues for the Knight because of those qualities and the band was familiar with the chart.

Concept: Having spoken to Professor Chris Creswell in our production meeting, he states that there is no true conception behind Blues for the Knight. He says that it really a combination of all of his influences on his time spent in NYC at the Manhattan School of Music.

Melody: The melody in Blues for the Knight is played by all sections of the jazz ensemble at some point in various ways with other counter melodies intertwining those main melodic This is clearly heard in the beginning with the trumpets having the melody and the trombones and saxophones playing intricate harmonies around that. The melody I feel is something that sticks with the listener because of its simplistic nature and I believe it’s impactful to the ears that it reaches.
Harmony: The harmonies within the chart are intricate and intertwined like many jazz ensemble charts. They complement the melody by providing a sense of complexity but yet bringing the listener back to home base within the melody.
Rhythm: What also makes Blues for the Knight such a unique and fun chart to listen to has to deal with the rhythm and feel changes. There are two main feel and style changes within Blues for the Knight and they are straight ahead Swing and a Hip Hop/Funk feel. These style changes are crucial to really the overall contour of the chart itself.
Lyrics: There are no Lyrics to Blues for the Knight.
Density: The density of this chart is equally balanced. The arrangement is not overcrowded. The orchestration is already lush in enough in harmony and rhythm,
Song Structure:

INTRO

MELODY

SOLO SECTION

BRIDGE W/ SAX SOLI

-BACKGROUND FIGURES

-FULL BAND BUILDS

-DRUM SOLO FILLS

-BUILD TO CLIMAX

MELODY RESTATEMENT AND RETURN TO MAIN MOTIFS

BUILD TO END OF CHART.

Instrumentation

Saxophones

-(2) Alto Saxophones

-(2) Tenor Saxophones

-(1) Baritone Saxophone

Trombones

-(2) Trombones

-(1) Bass Trombones

Trumpets

-1^st Trumpet

– 2^nd Trumpet

– 3^rd Trumpet

– 4^th Trumpet

Rhythm Section

-Piano

-Bass

-Drums

-Guitar

Performance

The tendency for any band when playing this chart is to overplay and over compensate for energy. The chart already has enough energy just from rhythmic pulse and feel that is established from the beginning, so for young musicians and even this band they will over play it. In the preproduction meeting with band I made it very clear that it was not necessary to overblow or overplay and discussed the importance of letting and the chart breathe. I also talked with them about being aware of their sound and being able to control it because they are playing in a studio now not live.

Equipment

Channel/Mic

Drum Kit (tube mic)
Piano (tube mic)
Bass (km 184)
Alto Saxophones (AT 3031)
Tenor Saxophone/Baritone ( AT 3031)
Trombones (Neumann TLM 49)
Trumpets (AKG 1000s)
Solo Mic (Omni)

Mix

The mix of the project will have to be compressed quite a bit due to the size of the ensemble of dealing with overall contour of the group. As producer on this project I desire a real warm mix with a round bottom mix of bass and drums and allowing the higher voices of the ensemble to breathe.

Assignments Sample Budget and Schedule

“I Need” Derisa’s Production Project

Post author By Derisa Greaves
Post date February 27, 2018
No Comments on “I Need” Derisa’s Production Project

Derisa Recording Schdule (I need)

derisa BUDGET PROJECTIONS

Sample Budget and Schedule

Isabella Martinez Sample Budget and Schedule

Post author By Isabella Martinez
Post date February 6, 2018
No Comments on Isabella Martinez Sample Budget and Schedule

Project: “Dishonesty” Demo

Artist: Daevu

Producer: Kameron Watkins

Studio Costs: $800 for 2 days of tracking, 1 day of overdubs, and 2 days of mixing

Engineering costs: $2,000 to pay the tracking and mixing engineers. (Honestly this may be way off, but this is just based on estimates I found online)

Equipment: Let’s just imagine this is an ideal world where everything we need is already in the studio and we only need to spend like $400 on extra stuff

Materials: $50 for an external hard drive

None of our musicians/composers are union, so I don’t think we have to pay for their health insurance: Let’s say we pay them like $50 an hour. We had a 5 hour session and 3 musicians, so that’s $750 total.

No travel expenses; they are based in Jacksonville.

So total, our budget is $4,200

Schedule:

1/30/18 10:00pm Riverhouse Pub: Meet up with the band, discuss goals for the demo, establish a schedule that works for the whole team
2/3/18 12pm-5:30pm track and record song (Vocals, guitar, and drums). Discuss overdub plans.
2/8/18 Meet up with Andy to overdub songs (keys, bass, and more harmonies)
2/9-2/11/18 Mix song
2/12/18 Send final mix to Andy and David

2/13/18

Assignments Sample Budget and Schedule