Professional Project Report

Before starting this project, I knew exactly who I wanted to work with. I’m blessed to have collaborated with extremely talented and skilful musicians in the past few years. Thankfully everyone I asked to be involved responded with ebullient emotion and commitment towards the project. As I gathered resources for this project, I started to book in dates through Google Calendar to keep track of the recording timeline. However, when I started to get my head around the schedule, Newcastle went into lockdown due to COVID-19. As per the restrictions in place, I was concerned that my intentions for recording a full band were not possible. Nonetheless, with a positive mindset, I was able to solve this issue. The project was to be all online, meaning everyone had to record individually in their own homes.

Within the first few weeks of project organisation, I found myself taking initiative to work on the structure of ‘Damn!’. I felt that it needed another section before the chorus, to push the momentum and focus into the high energy vocal lines. While pondering lyrical possibilities, I tapped into the feelings that I had when my current relationship started. Excitement, curiosity, and vulnerability came into my emotional sphere and I was moved to write something that expressed those feelings. “You’re giving it out (giving it out), all that energy to me. You’re making me doubt (making me doubt), I don’t know how we should be.” These lyrics allude to the feelings of excitement and uncertainty in the beginnings of a new relationship. “I find myself falling into your iridescent eyes, and I can’t keep on living in these self-protecting lies.”As the relationship with my partner grew deeper, I started to open my heart to the possibility of love, despite my fear of vulnerability. This process is an integral part of my songwriting technique, as I connect deeply to my emotional state. I feel that the creative energy flows out of me effortlessly and manifests itself into lyrical and melodic content. (Video Diary - 0:10 - 0:50)

My ability to record in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), specifically Logic Pro, has progressed beyond expectations since starting this project. Making music in a DAW can be extremely frustrating if you lack basic recording knowledge. Therefore, I researched into more complex aspects of producing, such as editing and mixing. This helped me understand the process needed to record instruments efficiently. Example Here (MusicTechHelpGuy, 2016). While recording guitars, bass, synth, and vocals, I gradually learnt that I required more patience when it comes to recording. The more time I spent on Logic Pro, the more information I absorbed. This meant that the end product was of a much higher quality. The process of layering each instrument turned out to be easier than expected, thanks to Darcy Long (sound engineer). As each musician uploaded their audio files to the Google Drive folder ‘India Jazz Project’, Darcy made a very simple mix of the instruments and re-uploaded them for the next musician to use. This process was very important because recording against the previous layers of the song is essential for the timing and dynamic shifts to be accurate. When arranging these songs, Andrew and I decided to add layered synthesiser parts. We wanted to create a colourful, atmospheric sound in ‘All Mine’ to bring out the dreamy quality of my lyrics. He used his Roland GAIA SH-01 to create three different pad sounds to fit perfectly in the background of the verses and pre-chorus’. As I understand, “A synth pad is a soft, often elongated sound designed to ‘pad out’ a track or section of instrumentation” (Whitehouse, K, n.d. para. 1.) These pads added an enormous dream-like, atmospheric quality, that encapsulated my vision for ‘All Mine’. (Example on Synth Verse 2.wav at 2:10)

As the many layers of ‘All Mine’ and ‘Damn!’ came together, I felt inspired to hear the potential these songs possessed. Carter Smyth’s keyboard tracks were especially surprising to me. I felt that his instrument added a whole new layer to my songs, as his ability to express emotion through playing was undeniably moving and captivating. (Video Diary - 2:02 - 2:38) When pitching the project to all my collaborators, I gave them all the chance to express my songs in a way they believed was essential in bringing my story to life. Carter’s contribution was the most satisfying to listen to because he understood my approach to the sound and mood of these songs, especially in ‘All Mine’. (Example on Copy of All Mine. Rhodes 0:16).

The epitome of self-indulgence to me, is harmonising against my own voice in recordings. I was so excited to record vocals for both songs, that I jumped ahead and experimented with harmonies as soon as my guitar layers were completed. This process was completely improvisational. I set up my microphone, pressed record and let anything come out that felt right. I refined parts I wanted to keep and cut parts that I didn’t feel joy when listening to. This process was all done by ear. No instruments were used to work out the harmonies because I feel that when the notes come from my voice, they’re intuitively intentional. Although, when recording the official vocal tracks, I started to realise how critical I was being on myself. Every time I recorded a full take of the vocal lines, I felt that there were so many mistakes. This was an eye-opening experience because during the recordings, my partner Andrew witnessed my self-critical side. (Video Diary - 6:17 - 6:50) This sent me into a contemplative space where my own intentions and purpose for this project were questioned. Why do I want to record these songs so ‘perfectly’? Is this an act of proving my worth as a musician? What has brought me to this place of being so self-critical?

In week 10 my backing vocalist Bree started to track her harmonies. There was a big miscommunication between us with the process required for recording her parts. Initially, I sent examples of the backing vocals that I wanted her to learn for the recordings. However, Bree was unaware that I uploaded my official lead vocals, harmonies and instrumental mix-down to a different folder. Therefore, she was recording with only my first trial backing vocal parts (no music and no officially recorded lead vocals). Her recordings were out of time and sometimes off pitch because she didn’t have a chordal reference to work off. We tried to revise the backing vocal parts a few times to fix any mistakes in her vocal lines, but Bree had a lot of uni work on her plate. (Video Diary - 6:52 - 7:52) In the end, I recorded my own vocals over the issues that were unsolvable. Luckily, Bree and I were understanding of each others situations and figured out the issue without any disagreements. The backing vocal parts now feature myself and Bree, which thankfully doesn’t cause any issues within the mix because our voices blend well together. (Video Diary - 8:14 - 8:53)

The organisation of this project was carried out professionally and sustainably. All members of the band were committed to composing meaningful and high quality music throughout the process. Even through issues like a global pandemic, losing all of our live performance work, and the uncertainty of our career futures; we, as a collective, stuck by our purpose and created recordings that will last forever. The small milestones each member has achieved means a great deal to my personal career and goals, as these songs will allow me to move forward in an industry that is struggling globally. During my experience in the ‘India Jazz Project’ I’ve been researching into more sustainable ways to consume music. Spotify and Apple Music are the biggest streaming platforms in current times, and as huge corporations, they fail to provide artists with enough payment to survive the crash of hard copy CD sales. “The World Intellectual Property Organisation report, published in June, calculated Spotify paid an average of $0.0042 per stream in 2020, or less than half a cent, while Apple Music paid $0.010 per song.” (Perpitch, N. 2021. para 1.) With this jaw-dropping lack of fair pay, musicians are struggling to make ends meet and often resort to working many jobs at one time. Although, there are some music platforms like Bandcamp and The Pack that are striving to pay musicians fairly through a more direct system of payment. My plan is to release these songs on Bandcamp and The Pack before releasing them on Spotify, to hopefully gain some fair income for the work I have achieved.

In a deeper process of self-reflection through journaling, I’ve realised why I’m creating these songs. I want to help people see the beauty and positivity that lies not just around us, but within us too. I want to make good quality, purposeful, highly developed, and emotive music. Music that moves people into smiling, crying, or expressing their personal truths. I’ve always wanted to share music that is meaningful to me, and I feel that I’m currently paving my way to fulfilling these dreams. In the past, recording my music has often been restricted by time and money. Although my previous band Viragos recorded very high quality music, it was never released due to issues within the band. This was a major disappointment for me because I’d worked extremely hard on the songs and felt very proud of them. As time went by, my passion for song writing was reignited through my partner Andrew. He encouraged me to keep writing, regardless of my past disappointments. (Video Diary - 9:18 - 11:07) This project has been a huge learning experience and successful outcome for myself and I couldn’t have done it without the help of my fellow musicians. I’ve been inspired to keep creating no matter what the world throws at me. In light of this, I will be endeavouring to record three more singles next year, to eventually create an album of my original music. On reflection, I realise that these songs were the impetus of paving the way for my future after university. They are the liberation of past projects, of COVID-19 and of anything that’s ever held me back from forging ahead with my purpose. I’m so eager to experience the journey ahead and I’m very grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given to create this project under my new artist name, India Jazz.

References Here.

I’d like to give a very big thank you to all of my collaborators. I’m so lucky to have friends like you.