Monday, 19 March 2018

WHAT IS AN E.P.?
Since most of you are recording E.P.s for your Final Major Project, this might be useful.
HERE
FMP RESEARCH



UAL Exemplification Matrix


Fail 
Work submitted fails to meet one or more of the assessment criteria and is of a poor standard
Pass 
Work submitted meets all of the assessment criteria and is of a satisfactory standard
Merit 
Work submitted meets all assessment criteria and is of a high standard
Distinction 
Work submitted meets all assessment criteria and is of a very high standard
Context
Limited understanding of subject context, lacking clarity in aims and purpose.
Understanding of subject context used appropriately to make judgments, describe aims and clarify purpose.
Good understanding and knowledge of subject context used to make sound judgments, articulate ambitions and clarify purpose.
Comprehensive understanding and knowledge of subject context used to communicate complex concepts, articulate ambitions and clarify purpose.
Research
Little or no evidence presented or information does not relate sufficiently to task.
Sufficient relevant information has been gathered, documented and used in the development of ideas.
Thorough and sustained research and investigation of relevant sources, interpretation and synthesis of information used to inform, support and develop ideas.
Independently identified, thorough and sustained research and investigation of a range of relevant sources, insightful interpretation and synthesis of information used to inform, support and develop ideas.
Practical skills
Limited range of processes demonstrated, judgement and execution of techniques is poor.
Adequate range of processes, skills and knowledge demonstrated. Competent execution and application of techniques used to develop ideas.
Consistent and appropriate processes, skills and knowledge applied to extend enquiry and develop creative solutions.
In depth understanding and aesthetic awareness, imaginative and flexible processes, skills and knowledge applied in extensive enquiry to develop creative solutions.
Evaluation and reflection
Insufficient evidence of ongoing evaluation, lack of or only basic analysis and little or no justification for ideas.
Clearly communicated evidence of valid evaluation and realistic analysis independently used to inform and develop ideas.
Effective communication of analysis and interpretation, independent synthesis of information and application of reasoned decision making to inform development of ideas.
Accomplished and professional communication of perceptive analysis and interpretation, demonstrating clarity and sophistication in thinking and maturity in decision making to progress ideas.
UAL TIMELINE


Date
Week Title
Topic
5th March
Week 1
The Proposal
12th March
Week 2
How to research
19th March
Week 3
Harvard Referencing
26th March
Week 4
Literature Review [Week ends on Thursday 29th March]
Spring Break
16th April
Week 5
Case study 1 [Monday 16thApril = no classes]
23rd April
Week 6
Mid-point Presentation
30th April
Week 7
Case Study 2
7th May
Week 8
[Monday 7th May = no classes]
14th May
Week 9
Run through performances
21st May
Week 10
Gig week
28th May
Week 11
Deadline for written work – Tuesday 29th May.
[Monday 28th May = no classes]


Friday, 16 March 2018

Unit 8 Evaluation

You need to write a blog post evaluating how successful you feel you have been in actively supporting your own progression. Things to think about are how many courses you looked at and applied for, how many new skills you developed over the year, how well you prepared for auditions etc.  

Please label this 'unit 8'

Demos

How do you let people know about your music before you have a release? What if you have a varied sound? What does demo mean?

Demo
~n
recording made to demonstrate the capabilities of a musical group or performer or as preparation for a full recording:'We recorded a three-song demo'
It used to be that bands/artists would record a few tracks on a tape or CD, duplicate them themselves and then send them off to magazines, promoters and record labels in the hope that their s would get listened to and they'd get a review/gig/record deal. You'd also make a rough demo of new songs for your label so they could see what the album might be like and that the producer would have a reference to go from.






Then technology advanced, the internet arrived and most people had (or had access to) computers. MySpace came along and you could upload 4 songs as mp3s, add some photos and collect 'friends'. You could even send a link to your MySpace in an email - how radical!


Physical demos were still used, although tapes were now obsolete (I bet some hipsters love them but they'd be hard pushed to find anyone with a tape player!) Briefly, USB sticks were used to send files over. the problem was, although you could add files of photos and bios etc, they were small so you had to compress the music a lot and hardly fit anything on there. 



There was even a phase of using tiny CDs that fitted into the middle section of a CD drawer - if you tried to put one of those into a mac CD drive, you'd never get it out again!



















Things got simple again and soundcloud/mixcloud made life easy for musicians. With SoundCloud, you can upload tracks, set privacy settings (do you really want the whole world to hear your rough versions?!) and share links wherever you like.  And with MixCloud, you can upload longer tracks; ideal for DJs trying to get work.




Facebook allows you to make an artist page with a music player although you might not want to have demo's up there as it's such a public forum.


But where is the first place you'd look now if you wanted to find to more about an act? And do you have the attention span needed to sit and listen to just music with no visuals?!

YouTube trailers - linking into film terminology since music has become more multimedia. More and more people are making a 'trailer' of their music, with moving image, showing a much broader 'demo' of what they do, partly because music is so much more than just music these days. If you are working on a project but don't have anything fully finished, you can mash up your files to make a trailer of what kind of sounds might be expected, and a trailer for an album also works as a very effective marketing tool before any full singles have been released.









How much does it all cost? these days, it shouldn't really cost you anything - you don't even need to buy blank CDs!
Collaborate- double exposure if you have a film making friend as they can use your demo and part of their showreel.



Free stock footage
Useful stop-motion software for iPhone


TASK: How can you 'Demo' your music? Create a plan on your blog

For you Unit 8 assignment, you need to find 3 ways to present yourself and your work. So far we have looked at applications/interviews, creative CVs and now demos. Please ensure that you have started work on this....we only have one more to look at.