Task 1.

1: Objectives
1. Produce a four-track EP to be used for commercial use: For this unit, I will compose and
produce a body of songs totalling around 12-15 minutes. I will write more than four songs and
select the pieces I feel show my abilities the most. I hope to use these songs to promote myself
as an artist, through submitting them to radio stations and putting them on streaming services
such as Spotify. EP’s and Albums are one of the main ways artists make money, so through
this unit, I hope to develop a skill set which will be beneficial to my future career aspirations
as a singer-songwriter.
2. Improve vocal range used in my compositions: For this unit, I hope to improve the vocal
line of my compositions. I have been undertaking vocal lessons in order to improve my vocal
range and hope to make use of this in more interesting vocal melodies. This will also help me
develop my compositions s in terms of vocal harmony and adding layers to the vocal sections
of my pieces. This objective will also be beneficial for live performances.
3. Improve my use of Logic Pro X: I have only started using Logic Pro X for composition this
year. Through this objective, I hope to improve on my ability to achieve the sound I want by
creating my own synth sounds and adding effects. As Logic Pro X is industry standard
software, I hope that learning to use it will benefit my employability and ability to produce
demos as a singer-songwriter.
4. Use Synths which I have programmed myself: As mentioned above, I am relatively
new to using Logic Pro X. Throughout the unit, I hope to utilise the software in order to
produce my own sounds which will give my music a unique sound.
5. Improve my use of recording equipment: This objective links to my Logic Pro X and Synth
objectives. I hope to work on my abilities in the studio e.g. mic positions, use of the desk, and
the equipment used. This will also be beneficial to future work, both in the studio and in a live
setting, in order to achieve a polished finished product.
6. Improve instrumentation: I hope to produce compositions which feature a wider range of
instruments rather than just consisting of vocals and guitar. This will help to develop my
understanding of different instruments as well as working in a band. This will be beneficial to
future work as I will be more able to bring my music to others and develop the piece.

On the next pages, you will see the 4 tracks used in my EP. I chose the following tracks as I
felt they achieved my own personal assessment objectives and show a good variety of composition
capability. I also evaluate what I would do differently were I to record the songs again. Following
that are notes on tracks that didn't make it into the final EP with a short explanation as to why.

Track 1: These Thoughts.

This song shows my usage of self-made synths. Tracks 17, 18 & 19 (see the first picture) were
all purpose-made for the piece in Logic Pro X. Creating my own synths allowed me to experiment
with the mood of the piece as well as showing a higher degree of skill in instrumentation. It is a good
opener to the EP as I feel it hooks the listener with its happier instrumentation but deeper lyrical
content.

Track 2: where i fit between the lines. (stylised in all lowercase)

This song is in the spoken word genre, consisting of a poem over simplistic music. I wanted
the music to have a looped kind of vibe, with guitars as the main instrument as well as some synths
and programmed drum beats. This song contrasts the two songs either side of it, the fact that it is
spoken word makes it have the lowest range in the collection which emphasises the high range used in
Lost in the Woods.

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Track 3: Lost in the Woods.
For this song I really wanted to push myself vocally, using a much higher end of my range
than used in my other pieces. I also developed instrumentation through the use of more complex Bass 1
and Drum parts, which were partly inspired by listening to drums in songs such as Viva La Vida by
Coldplay. Lyrically, this song offer’s parallels to These Thoughts and where i fit between the lines

1 http://blog.holistic-songwriting.com/2016/04/25/how-to-write-for-bass-guitar/ This website was helpful in

understanding how to write bass riffs.
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with themes of tree’s and nature. Within the collection, I feel nature and the trees represent the fears I
have for the future, whilst also echoing the landscape I write my music in.

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Track 3: Lost in the Woods continued

Track 4: Sunglasses
This composition started as a really basic riff on guitar which mimicked the vocal melody. I
wanted the studio version to have more of an electronic vibe. This song also sees improvement in the

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use of vocal harmony and instrumentation, with the use of Willow’s vocals; which I wrote taking into
account harmony as well as lyrical content; and pre-set sounds in Logic Pro x. This is the only song on
the EP with no overt references to nature as the day described in the lyrics took place in a city. This
represents myself looking to the future in a more optimistic way than in the other songs. I chose to put
this song last in the collection as it concludes the EP on a happier positive note.

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Unused Track: Spoons.
This track did not make it onto the EP due to the simplicity of instrumentation. I felt it did not
showcase my songwriting ability as well as other pieces due to the fact it only had guitar and vocals, I
also felt the melody was simplistic and repetitive which is not suitable for this project. To develop the
song in future, I hope to add a bridge part to improve the simplistic ABAB structure, as well as a
possible key change and further instrumentation.

Unused Track: Forever

This track was not used due to lack of interesting melody. I felt it was too repetitive, as well
as the notes being used in the melody not showing my vocal capabilities. The lyrics felt simplistic and

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the melody was not very memorable. I also disliked the simplistic and repetitive chord pattern of C
Am F G.

Unused Track: Materialistic

The main challenge I came across with this song was transposing the music into a lower key. I
initially wrote and recorded it in B Major, however, I was unhappy with my vocal performance.
Changing the key to G Major meant that I found it easier to sing within my vocal range, ensuring it is
more useable in a live setting as well as having a better vocal performance on the track. I felt that
changing the key took away from the instrumentation, leading to the track not being used in my final
EP. I also felt the pressure of time restraints, so was unsure that it would have been finished in time
for the project being handed in.

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Improvements & Evaluation
1. I am happy that I was able to produce a four-track EP. I feel the four tracks show a range in
my songwriting ability, none of the songs sound too much the same, and I can see
development within the collection. Moving on from this, I would like to produce another EP
from a completely different angle, with more of a theme running through the tracks. I feel the
songs used in this project did not link together enough thematically. I am pleased with the
songs chosen for the final EP and feel they show my unique songwriting style well.
2. I still think that there are improvements to be made in my vocal range. I can see development
in my skills, for example, a comparison of vocal melody in Lost in the Woods with These
Thoughts shows a clear improvement in range. However, I still feel there is room for further
development. In terms of harmony I am happy with improvements made, however, I still feel
that I need to work on my understanding of harmony through music. This can be achieved
through the development of my vocal ability, as well as further research into the use of

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 harmony in pop music. I hope to achieve this through discussion with my teachers as well as
reading books such as The Pop Composer's Handbook2
3. I feel that through this project I did improve my use of Logic Pro, however, there are parts of
the software that I still don’t yet have a full understanding of. To improve this I will research
Logic Pro further, including the use of effects as mentioned in the above point. Improved use
of Logic Pro will further improve my abilities to produce demo’s as a singer-songwriter.
4. I am happy with my use of self-made synths, however, I was not always able to create the
exact sounds I wanted and I only achieved this goal in one song, These Thoughts. I feel due to
my lack of understanding as to how to make the sounds needed, I often ended up using pre-set
synth sounds on Logic Pro. This will again improve through research into the use of Logic, as
well as more thorough research into how synths work. I would like to use more synths in the
other musical pieces throughout my set.
5. I definitely improved my use of recording equipment in this task. I learnt how to correctly
record vocals in the studio, as well as guitars. For future work, I think it would be beneficial to
research and trial recording of other instruments such as Piano and Drums rather than use
MIDI files. This would allow me to compose in a more natural manner, and achieve better
results for use in a live setting.
6. I am satisfied with the range of instruments used within this task. None of the songs used in
the EP use just guitar and vocals, and all would work in a live band setting with synths. I feel
there is room for improvement in terms of my writing ability for instruments I’m not used to
playing. As mentioned in my Into the Woods description, I feel I can still improve in my
ability to write a bass-line. Drums are also a possible area of development, I would like to
move away from the simple bass-snare pattern I used in many of my songs. In terms of other
instruments, I feel I used a wide range of instruments to present my musical ideas.
7. Following this task, I would also like to work on my use of effects. I feel I used them enough,
but due to not having a full understanding did not utilise them in the best way. An example of
this would be reverb on the song Sunglasses. I didn’t use it in such a way that all instruments
sounded as though they were recorded in the same room. Effects can be used to highlight
musical elements of the pieces, and I feel I did not do that to a good standard. To improve my
use of effects, I hope to research the use of them through studying Music Production in further
depth.

Overall I am really pleased with my development as a songwriter over the course of this
project. I have produced a body of work that I am really proud of and that will be beneficial to me
as a commercial EP as well as a portfolio of work for university applications to study songwriting. I
am satisfied with improvements made but understand that songwriting is a learning process that I
will develop throughout my life. This body of work is a good indication as to where I am now and
will be useful to measure success in the future.

Below you can see my final body of work uploaded as an EP to Soundcloud, I called it The
Bird Seed EP as this is the moniker I originally started writing under - I feel it symbolises the
creative journey I have been on over the process of this EP. – Link Removed -

2 The Pop Composer's Handbook by Bruce Cole

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