After 4 weeks of my course I am finally starting to settle down with all the projects in hand and eventually feel that despite my concerns I have now started progress within each of the projects I need to manage and deliver throughout the academic year. I have been suffering with some type of flu bug which has really drained my energy and motivation and I have been anxious regarding the progress of my study and workload. These anxieties have also led to irregular sleeping patterns which are not helpful as I hope to keep on top of all the work I need to do for each individual project.
Although these ailments have held me back I have been mentally preparing myself for the work that lies ahead by reading available research resources and also thinking about my current approach to each project. This time to digest all this information has allowed me to spot a few weaknesses in my preparation for each project and also to recognise that my initial ideas where not detailed enough in proposal.
With my dissertation I am more confident that I am heading in the right direction and have already began working my way through a variety of resources to critically identify the information I need to support my argument. Having scoured Dundee Central library for all relevant Beatles resources I have managed to find 3 relevant books which will provide me with much to talk about. I have also identified a number of websites and digital media sources which will also be helpful in my research of how the Beatles song writing and recording techniques changed after they stopped performing in a live capacity to an audience. This particular angle has given me scope to avoid the generalised information that is available on the Beatles.
With my digital audio multimedia project I have completed the first draft of my proposal and now have it ready for tutor feedback which hopefully will help me improve its detail and direction regarding the design of my own website with a variety of multimedia content.
The ensemble project has been going slow lately due to my illness and also briefings from tutors which will add more pressure to our performance as the weeks go by. We are also preparing a proposal for this project and must also carry out a research based case study of the particular topic we are covering. As a group we have recently defined a topic which sees us researching released popular music's role in films released after the music.
My portfolio project has also suffered due to my illness but thankfully I have taken steps to ensure that I do not fall behind schedule. I have arranged a photo shoot during the October break that will provide me with most of the images I need for the graphic design of posters, flyers and E.P. covers.
The specialist production project has also suffered a similar fate however my proposal is to do most of the work in my home built studio which has allowed me to complete certain tasks ahead of schedule.
Despite how I have been feeling lately I have found that good communication and making use of the online facilities available to me has been essential as I look to keep on track with my projects and also rid myself of the hindrance that is illness.
Next week I hope to have made more progress with all these tasks and will report accordingly.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Starting To Groove!
It is week 3 of my BA course and at last I am feeling like I am gaining some control over the various projects I must submit in order to successfully achieve my degree. This blog itself shall primarily serve the requirements of a logbook for my dissertation which has various deadlines across each semester. I also intend to note other points of interest regarding other modules on the course along with details of any relevant projects I undertake out with my academic studies.
The dissertation itself has got off to a slow start for myself as I took a few weeks debating my choices of topic, which I have finally managed to narrow down to 3 Beatles related subjects from which I can find a satisfactory research topic to set a question too. The title is to be the foundation of my research so I must choose a title carefully in order to set myself an attainable task from which I can deliver a presentation and research paper. Of these 3 ideas I am more swayed towards a topic on how The Beatles sound changed from the time they stopped performing live in the mid sixties. I see opportunities in doing this as I can research opinion from audio engineer student’s as well as other music students and hopefully add it to the research and argument I propose. I am now working on a proposal for this idea and if I manage to persuade my tutor that I can deliver then I think that this topic will be my final choice enabling me to get to work before time takes its toll.
I had picked up what seemed to be a flu bug and was unwell towards the end of the weekend which forced me to miss Monday in college. Despite this absence I did manage to e-mail my tutor the requested work for my dissertation and also accessed Blackboard to download the PowerPoint presentation given in the class I missed. As I am only in college 2 days per week it is important for me to get use to these electronic facilities for communicating with my tutors and peers as I attempt to complete my projects across the year. Although I missed 3 classes in all I did manage to catch up with other students and found that I wasn't far behind and should easily catch up next week.
For 3 of my other projects I have managed to link all of them so that I can enhance the content of each one and also manage my time and resources better. The digital audio multimedia, presenting a portfolio and specialist production projects all have a common theme in that I am required to create and oversee the production of various media that I would need to use in the music industry as a professional. Across these 3 modules I aim to create an E.P. of my original material which I can feature in my solo project along with other material I have written myself and regularly perform as solo act "Daniel Dundee". I will also be creating a small documentary on how I write, record and produce a song as well as various promotional and marketing materials for the different products which are also to be featured within my own website.
Next week I should have more details regarding the progress of my dissertation, so until then, I am Daniel.
The dissertation itself has got off to a slow start for myself as I took a few weeks debating my choices of topic, which I have finally managed to narrow down to 3 Beatles related subjects from which I can find a satisfactory research topic to set a question too. The title is to be the foundation of my research so I must choose a title carefully in order to set myself an attainable task from which I can deliver a presentation and research paper. Of these 3 ideas I am more swayed towards a topic on how The Beatles sound changed from the time they stopped performing live in the mid sixties. I see opportunities in doing this as I can research opinion from audio engineer student’s as well as other music students and hopefully add it to the research and argument I propose. I am now working on a proposal for this idea and if I manage to persuade my tutor that I can deliver then I think that this topic will be my final choice enabling me to get to work before time takes its toll.
I had picked up what seemed to be a flu bug and was unwell towards the end of the weekend which forced me to miss Monday in college. Despite this absence I did manage to e-mail my tutor the requested work for my dissertation and also accessed Blackboard to download the PowerPoint presentation given in the class I missed. As I am only in college 2 days per week it is important for me to get use to these electronic facilities for communicating with my tutors and peers as I attempt to complete my projects across the year. Although I missed 3 classes in all I did manage to catch up with other students and found that I wasn't far behind and should easily catch up next week.
For 3 of my other projects I have managed to link all of them so that I can enhance the content of each one and also manage my time and resources better. The digital audio multimedia, presenting a portfolio and specialist production projects all have a common theme in that I am required to create and oversee the production of various media that I would need to use in the music industry as a professional. Across these 3 modules I aim to create an E.P. of my original material which I can feature in my solo project along with other material I have written myself and regularly perform as solo act "Daniel Dundee". I will also be creating a small documentary on how I write, record and produce a song as well as various promotional and marketing materials for the different products which are also to be featured within my own website.
Next week I should have more details regarding the progress of my dissertation, so until then, I am Daniel.
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Start Now!
After coming to terms with the amount of written work that is required of me this year I have slowly started to accept the challenge ahead and have been working on all the decisions I have to make regarding various projects for each degree module. Every module is some form of project that needs to be backed up by research and a written log which gives justification to any project subject chosen.
I still haven't decided the subject or angle to work from for my dissertation and after some more brainstorming in the form of peer opinion I feel I am no better off with regards to deciding and have began improving my search for a suitable angle to research The Beatles. I am not worried about the size of this project however I realise that if I don't start soon then I will be creating bigger workloads for myself further down the line.
With my digital audio multimedia project I have began working on a proposal to create a website for Daniel Dundee and also create a short 6 part documentary showing the creative and technical processes I use to writer, record and perform a song. I also intend to feature the E.P. I will be releasing along with performance details and a photo gallery.
In the ensemble project I spent most of my time practising 3 of the 4 agreed songs with the band and despite it being our fist practice session I was quite happy with the effort by everyone in the band as we mastered the basics of all 3 songs. For next week we have agreed to work on another 3 songs and also need to discuss the specific topic of the Blues Brothers we are going to research.
Tuesday will be the shorter day of the week for me at college at the moment which gives me time to use the library facilities as well as network with other students which often brings creative influence. For my portfolio class I was teamed up with a graphic design student named Leighton Wolfe who will assist me with the design tools I need to create different artwork and promotional material to support my solo act Daniel Dundee and also to feature the release of my E.P. which will be featured within my solo project performance. After a half hour discussion with Leighton I familiarised myself with his strengths and and also set up communication to enable us to easily exchange ideas. I will use this project to enhance certain aspects of my digital audio multimedia and specialist production projects.
I finished off the day in college with my first official specialist production class which involved our tutor discussing the requirements of the module and advising us on how best to go about it. I have already decided to record and produce my E.P. and feature it within this project which will also be supported through 2 other projects involving the same product and act.
As I start each project with a proposal I must also keep track of my development within each one with a logbook to detail the objectives and tasks involved in achieving my overall aims which I find is an effective tool to maintain consistency within any project I undertake. Over the coming weeks I hope to begin a more detailed documentation of my progress and ideas within each project.
With my digital audio multimedia project I have began working on a proposal to create a website for Daniel Dundee and also create a short 6 part documentary showing the creative and technical processes I use to writer, record and perform a song. I also intend to feature the E.P. I will be releasing along with performance details and a photo gallery.
In the ensemble project I spent most of my time practising 3 of the 4 agreed songs with the band and despite it being our fist practice session I was quite happy with the effort by everyone in the band as we mastered the basics of all 3 songs. For next week we have agreed to work on another 3 songs and also need to discuss the specific topic of the Blues Brothers we are going to research.
Tuesday will be the shorter day of the week for me at college at the moment which gives me time to use the library facilities as well as network with other students which often brings creative influence. For my portfolio class I was teamed up with a graphic design student named Leighton Wolfe who will assist me with the design tools I need to create different artwork and promotional material to support my solo act Daniel Dundee and also to feature the release of my E.P. which will be featured within my solo project performance. After a half hour discussion with Leighton I familiarised myself with his strengths and and also set up communication to enable us to easily exchange ideas. I will use this project to enhance certain aspects of my digital audio multimedia and specialist production projects.
I finished off the day in college with my first official specialist production class which involved our tutor discussing the requirements of the module and advising us on how best to go about it. I have already decided to record and produce my E.P. and feature it within this project which will also be supported through 2 other projects involving the same product and act.
As I start each project with a proposal I must also keep track of my development within each one with a logbook to detail the objectives and tasks involved in achieving my overall aims which I find is an effective tool to maintain consistency within any project I undertake. Over the coming weeks I hope to begin a more detailed documentation of my progress and ideas within each project.
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
The Reality Of It All
This week was the first week of my BA Popular Music Performance course and after 8 weeks break from academic studies I have quickly been reminded of the commitment and discipline that is required to fulfil assessment criteria. This final year of the degree is quite different from the previous 2 years study in that responsibility for the deliverance of projects lies in my own hands with less week to week guidance from tutors. I feel that the last few months of my HND year I took my foot off the gas a little and didn't remain fully committed to the end which resulted in a lower grade than I had shown potential for. This year however I intend to get off to the same start and maintain constant progress until all tasks required of me are complete and hopefully I will finish the year off with the prize of a degree in popular music performance.
The first day of college brought a quick introduction to the course that lay ahead and it was immediately down to business as we discussed different possibilities for the dissertation and ensemble/solo projects. The dissertation is a research project on a specific music related topic and will be assessed over a 5000 word research paper supported by an oral presentation. Despite drawing mind maps and discussing previous topics I am still undecided on what topic I will choose for my own research and have settled on trying to find a suitable angle to research a particular aspect of the career or effect of The Beatles, my favourite band. I understand the large scale of this project and must decide soon which area I will research so that I can begin soon. The ensemble project will be assessed in December this year so it takes slight priority in class over the solo project which has to be delivered in May 2011. I have already decided to team up with some familiar faces and present a Blues Brothers project and although we have selected some big hits to practice for next week’s session we are still undecided as to how to approach the research for this.
The other class of the day was digital audio production multi-media that requires the student to research the current digital multimedia used within the music industry and use this research to create our own multimedia product. I shall propose to design a website that promotes myself as solo artist "Daniel Dundee" and can feature the E.P. I intend to produce and release before performing as part of my solo project.
Tuesday was a shorter day which helped absorb the abundance of information available in the first week of term. After a short student advisor meeting I was off to my first class, presenting a personal portfolio, which gives me the opportunity to have artwork produced to promote myself as a musical performer and already I have started working on the ideas for this project. I hope to have a logo designed and also produce the artwork for the E.P. I intend to release along with any other relevant promotional material. The other class of the day was an option class where I have selected specialist production to assist me with the recoding and production of the E.P. I plan on releasing.
Already I can foresee a busy year ahead however I know that if I do a little every week then I will keep on top of it all and also be ready for an unplanned obstacles along the way. I have toiled with the idea of bringing some of my projects together and can see an opportunity to get the best out of my college experience to promote myself as a singer, songwriter and producer. Next week I will have more details of what lies ahead for me on my new year of education and development.
The first day of college brought a quick introduction to the course that lay ahead and it was immediately down to business as we discussed different possibilities for the dissertation and ensemble/solo projects. The dissertation is a research project on a specific music related topic and will be assessed over a 5000 word research paper supported by an oral presentation. Despite drawing mind maps and discussing previous topics I am still undecided on what topic I will choose for my own research and have settled on trying to find a suitable angle to research a particular aspect of the career or effect of The Beatles, my favourite band. I understand the large scale of this project and must decide soon which area I will research so that I can begin soon. The ensemble project will be assessed in December this year so it takes slight priority in class over the solo project which has to be delivered in May 2011. I have already decided to team up with some familiar faces and present a Blues Brothers project and although we have selected some big hits to practice for next week’s session we are still undecided as to how to approach the research for this.
The other class of the day was digital audio production multi-media that requires the student to research the current digital multimedia used within the music industry and use this research to create our own multimedia product. I shall propose to design a website that promotes myself as solo artist "Daniel Dundee" and can feature the E.P. I intend to produce and release before performing as part of my solo project.
Tuesday was a shorter day which helped absorb the abundance of information available in the first week of term. After a short student advisor meeting I was off to my first class, presenting a personal portfolio, which gives me the opportunity to have artwork produced to promote myself as a musical performer and already I have started working on the ideas for this project. I hope to have a logo designed and also produce the artwork for the E.P. I intend to release along with any other relevant promotional material. The other class of the day was an option class where I have selected specialist production to assist me with the recoding and production of the E.P. I plan on releasing.
Already I can foresee a busy year ahead however I know that if I do a little every week then I will keep on top of it all and also be ready for an unplanned obstacles along the way. I have toiled with the idea of bringing some of my projects together and can see an opportunity to get the best out of my college experience to promote myself as a singer, songwriter and producer. Next week I will have more details of what lies ahead for me on my new year of education and development.
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