Project Action Plan

January Week 3 & 4: I have chosen to improve my timekeeping and I will do this by playing with a drum beat/metronome to set a tempo of the speed of the song (120bpm) to follow and will divide the structure of the song into smaller parts which I would repeat until it is much was in time with the tempo which will make the recorded track easier to record, refined changes between chords, and of better quality in general.

February Week 1 & 2: I will spend the next two weeks focusing primarily on live sound, lighting, and technician work assisting with gigs from both the first and second years, this is beneficial for my FMP as it will acclimatise myself to a variety of job roles and changing between them throughout the weeks which would be similar to a professional working in the music industry as there may be times where work needs to be done in another job role or multiple roles need to be performed by one person at the same time.

February week 3: I will structure my rehearsal sessions by setting a target to have achieved a recorded evidence of my work that I have completed whether it be an instrument recording or edit of another song, this will then make time be spent more efficiently and will ensure that an amount of work is present before the Final Major Project deadline.

February Week 4: this week I will explore different guitar techniques such as hammer-ons, bends, vibrato and slides taking into consideration of how they could take place in the structure of the song I have been working on, this is important as every component of a song can affect it’s musical context and can also be used to communicate more subtly about other subjects and there are many blog posts on this subject covering a variety of songs in music history. Knowing the context of the music being written will be important in how it is marketed to the target audience and this is something to consider for the FMP as it will need to be marketed effectively along with the gig at the O2 Academy at the end of the course.

March Week 1: during this week two professionals from the local music industry in Oxford will be speaking to us about their job roles and how they personally got into the music industry. I anticipate that this will be very insightful and contain some valuable information which in some cases can only be learnt through experience; additionally this will be a good chance to gain contacts within the industry which will be useful in finding a career in the music industry.

March Week 2: using the experience from the previous week I have arranged a visit to The Jeherico Tavern where I will experience first hand the organisation at that particular venue, and using my previous experience from working at The Courtyard Youth Arts Centre (before college) and from taking leadership in sound technician work at college will allow both a good reference point on which to determine the successes, differences, and drawbacks of The Jehrico’s preparation schedule before a sold out gig. The visit although it puts me slightly off schedule it allowed me to show that I am (still) capable of working within a venue in preparation for a gig and this will benefit my FMP because it shows my professionalism in organising and communicating with a music industry professional and shows that my skills don't have to be limited to college events.

March Week 3 & 4: I will be researching into production techniques and aspects of the music industry such as the musicians union, the effectiveness of social media promotion, and tax in the music industry, all of which will expand and professionalize my viewpoint on producing and managing money for a career and income in the music industry which is a possible outcome of the finished FMP, having this adjusted viewpoint will lessen the risk of losing substantial amounts of money and I will know about the organisations that protect musicians both financially and in court.

April Week 1 & 2: after an escapade to the technical side of the music industry I will spend the coming weeks practicing and recording sections of the song I had been working on in February which will help to get back within the deadline of the FMP.

April Week 3 & 4: in addition to the track I have been composing I will remix a selection of songs from bands at college, I am doing this because it will show specifically my ability to edit and mix multiple songs and in some cases create a completely different sounding song compared with the original track which is important for the FMP as it shows that there are very few restrictions in the kinds of music production that I am able to do.

May Week 1: reflecting on what I have learnt over the past two years on the course I will construct a rationale break down of what I had learnt from each module which will help to give evidence of learning a variety of skills and working with people on tasks, therefore providing a reference point for the FMP.

May Week 2: throughout the production and remixing of music for the FMP I have continued to take inspiration from some artists/producers as well as following a similar path to people already in the music industry, during this week I consolidated these influences and similar musicians/producers that are at a professional level and will identify how to set up and undertake a recording or editing project.

May Week 3: after all of the preparation, planning, and research I will write up a project concept stating my aims for the project and explain how using the things I have learnt and researched I will produce my FMP and perform an offstage job role at the concluding O2 Academy gig in Oxford. Additionally a separate blog post will be created to state how I intend to evaluate the FMP and the evidence that I will use to form the overall conclusion.

May Week 4 & June Week 1 & 2: I intend to have completed the majority of the remix tracks and also have evidence of my own composition and performance recording, it is important to get everything completed at this stage as the music composition and remixes may be used for background music during changeovers at the O2 Academy gig as well as possibly being played during the entrance/exit of the event. Having my music played at the O2 will be a good benifit for my FMP as I can document the entire process of writing and recording through to the track being used in a public place around people who will be hearing it for the first time, additionally it will be interesting to see how the different locations of a basic studio and a professional music venue portrays the sound and what aspects sound different because of the hardware changes.

June Week 3: preparation for the O2 gig and performing a live sound job role.