My Final Major Project
Evaluation
What Went Well:
I'm pleased with the variety of genres that I've sampled within this project. I wanted to make sure I didn't just stick to one sound throughout the project. Some of the beats are quite exciting and a couple are quite relaxing, which I think is a perfect balance. The first beat on the tape is one of my favourites - I love how the intro builds up and then the sound changes completely, it attracts the listener. In terms of the cover and title of the project, I think it's a really great idea; to me it's quite funny and it also looks quite cool, which could possibly persuade someone to listen if they saw the picture. I believe the name is perfect for the tape as all of the songs contain samples. In terms of the lyrics I wrote; I think quite a lot of my lyrics were amazing, but they didn't have the right lyrics between them to glue the songs together and make them great songs as a whole.
What I Could Improve:
I think one of the main things I can improve is layering the samples. This means adding more sounds over the top of the sample. Some of the beats I've made that include samples, not necessarily the ones on this project, could do with a wide range of sounds to accompany them - to make sure I follow through with this, my target is to use at least 3 VSTs on each beat that I use a sample in. The reason I want to add more layers to them is because I believe that any decent song should contain various different sounds to interest the listener.
The second thing I need to improve is my lyrics. One of the only ways I can improve is to keep practising - I will do this by trying to write lyrics to beats from different genres. Another thing I'm going to do is listen to the words more in rap songs. At the moment, and for a while now, I tend to focus on listening to the instrumental and figuring out different things like what instruments are being used and what each sounds purpose is.
The third thing I want / need to improve is updating my website regularly. Although we haven't had a teacher for most of the year, I feel like I shouldn't use that as an excuse as it's my responsibility to update my website and I should've put more time and energy towards it.
The fourth thing I want to improve is mixing and mastering. When I first started planning my FMP, I had an idea in my head to create a mixtape full of sample based instrumentals, that I would rap on, mix and master, however I haven't mixed or mastered anything since declaring that. I think the best way to gain experience in this field is to keep writing songs and record them as soon as possible, so I get as familiar as possible with mixing and mastering my own voice and beats.