Picking Me Up!

As deadlines start to appear on the horizon I find that although I have done quite a bit of work regarding the contents of my various projects, I have yet to start organising a prioritised schedule for the final delivery of each project. I feel that this task has become urgent and I must plan to start work on this next week by firstly contacting each tutor and refreshing my memory on different requirements and deadlines and then organising my workload into a manageable chunk for the remaining 12 weeks of the course.
The Beatles research project I am working on has been difficult of late as I struggle to find relevant and unique evidence to strengthen the argument that the band’s refusal to play live and subsequent studio committal was a catalyst in the development within each individual’s compositional and recording techniques. Trying to find a new angle to research the Beatles is difficult enough and although I thought I had found such an angle I am realising that the material available does not cover the many topics that one can research about the Beatles. I do prevail and with the research presentation looming I have structured a headlined research format that will assist me with my research.
I have begun further development of my solo performance and have settled on a set list of 12 original songs although 10 songs will probably be adequate for the available timeslot. I will also need to find a topic of research in relation to my solo performance to complete a 3000 word research paper which is then followed by a 1000 word evaluation of the performance. With most of my ideas in place I now need to contact all the musicians who have agreed to help and plan a rehearsal schedule to work from.
I recently finished the video editing for the content for my website design and am more than confident I have all I need to push on and complete this project. With all the multimedia content now ready to be included within the website I will now focus on the details of proposal/contract before returning to design the website itself. My experience with design software makes me think that I can easily complete these tasks over 2 weeks of classes but have enough time to allow myself 4 weeks to create, produce and test the website.
Despite not meeting with my designer in person of late I have maintained good communication via mobile phone, e-mail and social network sites. This form of contact has allowed me space and time to complete the press release and biography text needed for parts of the portfolio. I will need to contact the tutor soon and arrange to get a new proposal and contract before any deadlines appear leaving me under pressure.
There was a session class this week and we worked on a new song due to the absence of a sound engineer who was meant to assist with the recording of Caledonia. The new song was This Masquerade, made famous by George Benson, and the overall majority quietly agreed that we would record this song with the intention that it was for promoting an online dating service. I felt the session went well enough however I do not believe we would have lasted very long in a professional studio under paid working conditions.
Next week I hope to have a better grasp of this class and also hope to find a general level of progress across all current projects.

Head Down & Straight Ahead

This week has been the most productive of the year so far as I feel more confident with the progress and plans I have made for the development of each of my projects within my degree programme.
The Beatles research I am working on has been helped with the creation of a structured plan that will assist me with the development of each section within my argument. I returned to good old fashioned pen and paper due to the absence of my ever faulting computer and surrounded by my research resources I began constructing a 10 point plan of argument progression with each point having 3 topical divisions of discussion. I intend to work each point around 450 words which will give me a total of 4500 words for the main argument which will be included after the 500 word introduction I have already completed. This will then leave a 500 word conclusion to complete the 5000 word minimum word count set for this assignment. I have also finalised a list of sources of information and my bibliography which will now give me a solid foundation to progress from. Amidst all this preparation I did miss a meeting with my research supervisor and although I am making personal progress I must remember to the report this to the relevant people otherwise my progress is worthless.
I have finalised the set list and structure of my solo performance show and now must communicate with the relevant people who are involved with the production and performance of the show. I intend to perform 10 original songs that I have written or co-written with my brother over the years and have produced a suitable set list that will begin with me playing acoustic guitar and singing solo before adding a musician as each song progresses to finish with a full band performance. I also plan to use these musicians to form different support acts throughout the show and will also be using a narrative to explain to the audience the ongoing changes.
I have only the video content to finalise for my digital multimedia project and then I can return to the proposal and contract before starting to design the website itself. The video documentary I am producing is a set of 6 x 1 minute videos documenting the processes involved with song writing and recording within my home studio. The idea behind this is to demonstrate in small doses the ability of any artist to achieve high quality results within their own home studio. The reasoning behind the short video clips is to ensure focus of the online video generation who are a lot more adapt at fast searching and browsing online meaning the appeal has to be correct in order to catch attention.
There was no portfolio class this week and for the next 3 weeks we are required to meet with our designers in order to finalise the final designs of our portfolio for a final presentation on the 15th March 2011. I have been pleased with the work I have done in this project with my designer so far and I see no reason why this work can’t be finalised in time and with a high standard of professionalism.
Frustratingly enough there was no session class again this week and the most annoying factor was that the students were not informed until 30 minutes after the class began. I dare not complain as I myself have done similar things this year and don’t think it is appropriate to comment and criticise others for the failings you exhibit also.
On the plus side I did find out that I was awarded a B for last semester’s specialist production module which was very pleasing as I did not use a sound engineer and completed the project myself. Next week I hope to make similar progress as I look to finalising the final finale.

Deadlines Down!

After the second week of college since the winter break it is business as usual as most of the deadlines are in place to finish off the year, hopefully with a good level of success. Last week we had a series of small meeting to determine the basic outline of this semester and this week was about returning to a one to one meeting basis with various supervisors across different projects. I did manage to see all my tutors this week and have taken a lot from the meetings I attended with each one.
Having submitted my literature review for my Beatles research I have now time to push forward with collecting the research and trying to structure it within a tangible argument for which I am hoping to produce a topical plan that will lead me through the main focus of my argument. There will be a small presentation due in the coming weeks for this module also but I am not concerned about this as I have a lot of experience with public speaking and presentations.
I have been given most of the details regarding my solo performance project and using my initial proposal I have now began structuring the show and its contents for third party referral before finalising important details such as date, time and venue.
Unfortunately the final hard copy of my proposal for the digital multimedia project has vanished with the previous tutor so I must return to the last saved document I have and attempt to edit in a similar way to the one previous. Although it was disappointing losing most of my work before the holidays it has given me the opportunity to review the work I was doing and make suitable and relevant changes to accommodate the changes that have occurred since completing these documents. I intend to work on the media content for my website at the moment and return to the proposal in the coming weeks.
For the portfolio project I have started to write the biography and press release required for inclusion in the portfolio. Researching notable artists like Sir Paul McCartney for biography layout suggestions has helped me get started with my own biography and although I feel it sounds quite dramatic at times I am beginning to understand how to produce and effective and interesting biography without twisting the truth. The press release itself is quite simple as it is focused on the E.P. release and forthcoming activities of my solo act Daniel Dundee.
There was no session class again this week and we have been given some sheet music to learn and informed that next week there will be a class at the usual time. I am looking forward to getting started in this class and although it was disappointing not working in the studio we did benefit from getting a head start with the sheet music. We will be working on the popular folk song Caledonia which was written by Dougie McLean and we are to perform and record this within a session for a malt whisky commercial. This type of project is very interesting for me as I feel that it is something I hope to do myself professionally in the coming years.
Next week I hope to make some more headway with each of my projects although I can’t guarantee that all will progress equally!

Semester II

Back to college after an extended break and the week started with a series of meetings to brief the students on the requirements set out in semester 2. Despite the long holiday there was a sense of seriousness and I decided to stay sharp and push on in a similar manner to what I ended semester 1 on. Within these meetings I was given a new timetable as well as the opportunity to select a new option module which would replace the specialist production module I completed last semester.
There was also the added focus of our attention being brought to the importance of our solo performances and also the research dissertation we are all working on. These 2 projects are probably the 2 biggest events of the coming semester and will be time consuming for most. I felt it was appropriate that we were reminded of this and have responded by arranging my work on these 2 projects to match the new deadlines in semester 2.
I was planning to complete a rough copy of my dissertation for review but unfortunately I did not find the time to work on it directly as most of my productivity was used trying to find some research material that was relevant to my specific research topic. I am finding that this type of material is rare and that I need to rely on the cross referencing of small amounts of text from a big variety of sources. I am trying to be more specific with my argument but find the lack of specific research material frustrating. I do soldier on with these tasks and have begun working on a research structure that will cover all aspects of the research project.
The digital multimedia project has a new tutor leading the way as previous tutor Pete Nixon decided to move on to pastures new. The replacement tutor is Mike Brown whom I have known for a few years from my time as a student at Dundee College and his presence gives me confidence that I will have some solid experience to rely on as I attempt to complete this project and fulfil my proposed website design.
I met with my design Leighton this week in the art studio and we managed to catch up on the status of the portfolio design which was motivating as the development with the designs has moved on significantly. I was very pleased with the conceptual art that was being used to promote myself as an artist and have also recognised that this project has brought an awareness that I could easily compete professionally within the music industry. I have yet to finish the press release and biography satisfactorily and have been unhappy with the poor attempts I have made with these items. Although they are simple tasks and I enjoy creative writing I find it difficult to write about my life and music in a direct manner which is often required for these types of media releases.
An information crammed week and with the absence of some classes I have plenty free time between this week and next to make progress across all my projects.