Personal Project Plan
Plan:
Week one:
Check through everything and pick out anything wrong or that I don't like
Week two:
Final overdubs of any vocals I want to change and small fixes from last week
Week three:
Final checks and mixing
Week four:
Make promotional material and design cover art and make canvases for each track
Week five:
Release and promote
Week six:
Evaluate and write up
What to get done over November and December:
1.) Finish recording all of the tracks
2.) Finish mixing all of the tracks
3.) Be happy with the standard that they are at
This project was delayed somewhat due to me recording and releasing a single ("Wrong Number") because of my worry of my monthly listeners going down too much. Now that the single is set to release in a few days, I have gone back to focusing more on this project instead. I have gone back to planning out everything to be able to get all of the stuff done in time.
Here's the list I made after listening back through the songs and concluding what else they needed to be finished off:
IYWH - 1.) Rerecord bass 2.) Add backing vocals 3.) Rerecord electric guitar 4.) Mix properly but yeah
Robot - 1.) Mix better 2.) Fix vocal effects 3.) Vocal check 4.) Nearly made me cry
Hey Stranger - finished I think
Stitch by stitch - 1.) Rerecord vocals 2.) Drag bass and guitar for timing
Hey Mister - 1.) Rerecord vocals (not all? Check) 2.) Rerecord electric guitar
Luna Light - 1.) Rerecord vocals 2.) Record strings (add bass parts) 3.) Adding backing vocals
Used to be - 1.) Write and record strings 2.) Timing immediately wrong 3.) Rerecord vocals 4.) Backing vocals 5.) Write proper piano part and record
Mirror Maze - 1.) Get electric guitar in time 2.) Record strings 3.) Vocal check 4.) Redo backing vocals (none on verse)
Gravity - 1.) Even volume on electric guitar 2.) Backing vocals 3.) Write and record strings 4.) Vocal check on last bit of last chorus 5.) Bad last note electric guitar
Laura - 1.) Fix vocal effects (too compressed) 2.) Vocal check 3.) Do we want real strings? 4.) Backing vocals
Released tracks - 1.) Vocal checks
NOTE - I've marked in green what I've completed
One thing I've noticed that I do differently now as to before is I plan out what I need to do on what day but don't necessarily do it on that day. What I mean by this is I know that some days it's harder to get stuff done than others and so on days where I feel quite motivated and ready to do stuff, I'll pick and choose stuff from other days to get done as well. Although, this could also be my different style of planning everything out where instead of planning by task (e.g., do all the vocals, do all the bass etc.), I've planned out by song (e.g., do the vocals, bass and strings for x). Despite my previous view, I think that this will actually get things moving faster as it makes it easier for me to see when they're going to be finished and has already resulted in me having two more finished tracks within four days.
Here are some images of my diary for my plan for this week:
I managed to achieve a lot of the things in my diary and was doing well but, unfortunately, I was held back as I managed to get a cold on Friday that massively impacted my voice and meant I was unable to record vocals. I was able to temporarily revive it for the Frost Fair but it went again afterwards and it's difficult to plan out this week (today is Tuesday, 3rd December) as I don't yet know when my voice will be back enough to start recording again. Due to this, I'm trying to focus on what I can do such as perfect the songs that are closer to a final product. I've managed to finish off Robot and Gravity is right on the edge of being finished.
I thought I'd finished If You Were Here but then I realised I wasn't entirely happy with the vocals the whole way through and so I want to rerecord some bits of it when my voice is back. Again, the annoying thing here is that it's unpredictable.
Here's the list from above but with only the things I can do with my voice being out of action (and removing things I've already done):
IYWH -
Robot - FINISHED
Hey Stranger - FINISHED
Stitch by stitch -
Hey Mister - 1.) Rerecord electric guitar
Luna Light - 1.) strings (add bass parts)
Used to be - 1.) Write proper piano part and record 2.) Add strings to track
Mirror Maze - 1.) Get electric guitar in time 2.) Record strings
Gravity - (finalise mix)
Laura - 1.) Fix vocal effects (too compressed) 2.) Do we want real strings?
It cuts the list down quite significantly as I rely a lot on the vocals for the other things. For example, a limitation of Bandlab is you can only have 16 tracks on a project (hence why I have decided to record the three violin parts on a separate project so it can be 9 violins but take up only 3 tracks) and this means that for If You Were Here, I need to make a new track for the guitar but I can't until I do the vocals as the vocals are currently taking up two tracks and will only take up one once I've rerecorded the bits and pieces and am definitely happy with what I have.
On the other hand, some of the stuff on this list I am able to do just on a computer without a huge amount of effort. I might get the electric guitar in time on Mirror Maze but I'm just going to listen to it and decided whether I need to rerecord it or if I can just drag some bits in time.
I just listened to a bit of it and I think it would be easier if I just rerecorded it at home.
I listened to Laura to check the vocal effects and then I wanted to make the bridge more interesting and impactful and so I added low MIDI strings and then added higher ones as well to develop it into the final chorus.
I added the string parts to Used To Be - I've been trying to do this for a while but have been putting it off because every time I do it, it sounds out of tune and wrong and makes everything sound really awful. After lots of trial and error (using the autopitch on every track, using the autopitch on the three tracks all together rather than individually etc.), I ended up using the original audio track of the violin parts from Musescore, where I wrote the sheet music. I put it in with the three recordings of me playing the parts. I went back and forth whether or not to use the autopitch on the full track (I exported them as one track despite being three recordings and the sheet music audio) or not and I ended up not doing it because it would make it sound too fake and would sometimes change the notes to wrong notes and overall, I decided it would sound better being as is.
I also decided to record some piano in since I was on the track anyway - I mainly replicated the guitar and vocals for the rhythms I used and just played triad chords. I'm not going to keep this as the final recording because I recorded it on a MIDI piano at college without a sustain pedal and so it'll sound much better on my keyboard at home but I still recorded it anyway so that I know what I'm going to play and it means I will rerecord it because otherwise, I might get too overwhelmed with the idea of having to come up with it and then not end up doing it.
/27/12/2024/
It's been difficult organising myself outside of college time because of the Christmas holidays and I've wanted to talk to my family. Luckily, no college means more time so I've been able to put together a system of creating at least one goal for every day so I can get stuff done every day. This meant that I was able to record the strings for Luna Light on the 23rd and practised my entire set on the 24th as I haven't performed in a while and wanted to extend as well as remind myself of it. I was going to get more done on the 25th but I got too tired and so moved it to the 26th where I worked on the remembering the songs I had trouble with on the 24th.
I listened back to all my songs again to make another judgement of what I need to do to them and this is what I came up with:
Luna Light - vocals on bridge and last chorus dodgy; rest seems ok except seems out of time at beginning
Laura - vocals dodgy throughout but also second chorus and idk felt off in places and restrained on the ooOooOooOoos. Also, consider taking the guitar out because I think it might sound better without it in a lot of places. (Btw also couldn't hear the strings, maybe they're muted, maybe they're quiet, idk)
Used to be - vocals are literally awful, they are terrible. Mix is bad. Strings sound ok but could be the mix and the terrible vocals covering it up
Mirror Maze - breakdown is off, most of vocals are cool, bridge vocals don't sound powerful but could be mix. Redo backing vocals and maybe ooos on bridge? Maybe not, decide. Record strings
Gravity - chorus isn't powerful enough. Maybe make vocals a bit louder on chorus? Try having strings come in immediately on the choruses as I think it'll be better. I know we've been advised that it sounds better gradual but I envisioned it more like immediate and powerful and grasping.
Hey Mister - like some of the electric guitar, first chorus sounds weak - hard to say with backing vocals will have to listen solo. Remove some of backing vocals and make quieter as they're there to support not surround. Other than that, nearly finished I reckon. Maybe look at the vocal effects again though
Stitch by Stitch - vocal take actually isn't bad (maybe I'm delusional idk), bridge needs new vocals but the current ones could (_could_) be used as backing (_could_). Other than that, a better mix will have that one finished right up yuppy yay yum
IYWH - actually isn't bad, high guitar too loud on chorus, why did the second chorus suddenly get quiet??? Also have the high notes of the picking sustained on the bridge, so maybe one or two a bar. Noticeable shift in volume of guitar on second bit of outro make it more subtle.
Robot - still makes me insanely upset which is why I did it second to last and not last. Only thing is that the bit (you know which bit) still annoys me and needs to be redone or replaced or something just change it it ruins the mood
Hey Stranger - piano come in more gradually because it scared me a little. Also it sounds like it's underwater? Don't know if we want to change that? Sounds a bit out of place is all so might need to look at the effects on it
To make it easier to understand and follow, I made a simpler version that included how many jobs each song had so it seemed less overwhelming and easier to do as I could tick off individual jobs. Here it is:
IYWH - high guitar too loud, 2nd chorus too quiet, add guitar to bridge (1 or 2 notes a bar?), more gradual guitar volume shift on outro *4*
Robot - Fix that vocal bit *1*
Hey Stranger - changed effects on piano bit *1*
Stitch by Stitch - Rerecord bridge vocals and mix *2*
Hey Mister - 1st chorus weak, adjust backing vocals, vocal effects, judge electric guitar, mix *5*
Luna Light - vocals out of time at beginning, vocals dodgy on bridge and last chorus, add piano, add strings, mix *5*
Used To Be - vocals need to be completely redone, add electric guitar, mix *3*
Mirror Maze - "breakdown" is off, mix off on bridge?, record backing vox and add ooos to bridge (?), record strings *4*
Gravity - strings come in immediately on choruses, maybe vox louder if needed (after first one) *2*
Laura - vocals off on bits throughout, bad second chorus and restrained at points, maybe take guitar out, check strings volume *4*
31 jobs. We can do that.
For tomorrow (27th), I've planned in to add the Luna light strings onto the track (I might record the piano too because I might as well whilst I'm there), record at least one string part for Mirror Maze and then fix the vocals on MM best I can depending on if I'll have to cut and move stuff around or (if I'm able to) record but my voice keeps getting sore recently and I'm not sure why.
Also, I've been keeping up with uploading three times a week and experimenting with having more videos dedicated to explaining something and catching the watchers attention and to also make me seem more human. I've also started interacting more with other musician's Instagram pages which not only gives me ideas for content as well as being able to support other people to get bigger, it also creates a stronger relationship means that they will also support me.
/27/12/2024/
I just finished doing the jobs set for today. I recorded the strings for Mirror Maze and just put them onto the track as well as fixing one small bit of the vocal that was out of tune. My voice has got worse as it's a bit croaky and quite sore but I was able to sing that one small bit and it sounded good so I've used it. I have almost definitely got a cold which will heavily impact on my ability to get a lot of this done but I'll try my best as I seem to be able to sing and I'm not sure if it's making my throat worse or not. I also added the strings onto Luna Light and they work well and then I recorded the piano which took a bit to get it in time but I got there and I think it works really well which is cool.
There was another bit of the Mirror Maze vocal where it wasn't right - it wasn't out of tune but I think I hesitated on the beginning of the chorus and so it sounds like my voice glitches kind of (it isn't an actual glitch which does happen, I think my voice was just a bit shaky) and so because it's too late at night to rerecord it and I don't know if my voice would be in the right condition anyway, I took one of the other chorus beginnings. The problem is, this chorus had no pre chorus as it's after the bridge so it goes straight into "I'm" but the other two have prechoruses which end on an "m" sound and an "n" sound which carries over onto the "I'm" making it "nI'm" and "mI'm" so when I moved it across it sounds a bit weird but I'm not sure if it's perceptible so I might keep it unless I get the opportunity to rerecord it and it sounds good.
/28/12/2024/
I was recording the guitar for the bridge of If You Were Here and I had to use automation to make it the normal pitch as there's a pitch shifter on the rest of this guitar to make it an octave higher. However, I forgot to fix it properly and had the line of the pitch going from 0 to +12 at a diagonal rather than just up and it slowly just shifted up in pitch and obviously sounded terrible but it was cool and I think I should use this for something at some point - I don't know what but now I have it in case the opportunity arises.
/28/12/2024/
I worked on the jobs set for today. One of them was to rerecord the one vocal bit in Robot that I didn't like however, my cold got unexpectedly worse and my voice deepened by about an octave. I tried doing it anyway and did my best to make my voice higher to match my normal range and, somehow, I think it actually worked and fits. I might change my mind at a later if I decide I don't like it but, for now, I think it's good. I just did the mixing on Gravity where I want the strings to come in immediately and to be more sudden than gradual. I wanted it like this originally but my Dad said it would sound better gradual so I did it like that. I've since decided that I think it'll be better for it to be more sudden to have a big impact and so I've also asked him to change the drums so it isn't a slow build. It still fills a bit like it's missing something though (it might be the drums) so I'll need to look into that. I adjusted the vocals on Hey Mister where I copied the beginning of the second chorus onto the first to give it a stronger start as well as making the backing vocals quieter so they didn't take over so much. I also recorded electric guitar for Used To Be and the bridge of IYWH - I just did distorted chords for used to be to make it feel bigger as I'm not yet sure if I want to add any high lead guitar because I don't know what I'd do with it. If I think it needs more, I'll play around with it at some point and come up with something.
I now have 18 jobs left (I keep doing some of the jobs in the evenings and at night because a lot of them are only small and it's an easy way to make me feel much less overwhelmed about it all).
/01/01/2025/
I haven't done as much in the past few days due to my cold meaning I can't do many vocal things but I did the backing ooos for Mirror Maze and I edited the guitar in time for that track.
I just tried going back to vocals today as my throat isn't sore but my nose is blocked so I'm trying to record vocals that don't sound like I have a cold. I rerecorded the vocals for the ending of Luna Light and I'll listen to them again tomorrow to make sure you can't tell I have a cold and that I'm happy with the tone. I went to rerecord for Laura but I wasn't sure which bits to rerecord - I know that there must be stuff wrong with it as I wrote down that there was so I'm not going to leave it. I've asked my Dad for his opinion and I'll listen again at another point.
Also, I really want the chorus of Gravity to feel epic and all encompassing and just really big but it still didn't so I thought of adding lower strings with MIDI because MIDI gives a depth and tone that I can't create by playing the violin (especially considering the violin isn't really known for its bass notes). I recorded the MIDI playing just two notes at once and tried to vary as little as possible so it was closer to a drone and then I added it and I am so happy with it - I definitely need to listen to Gravity again later or tomorrow or something because the mixing will be super messed up but I think that it's going to sound so much more epic like this and I'm very excited about it.
/02/01/2025/
I am having a lot of issues with Gravity. I knew I was excited about it before but I also had a feeling that this was going to happen. It isn't as good as I thought and actually sounds quite flat and, at first, I felt motivated to make it sound the way I want but now, it's started to feel like throwing water into a lake. I keep adding things to it but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference other than just being there and making the track look muddy. I feel like I need to take some things out but I'm not sure what as the lack of impact is precisely the problem. I'm wondering if it's the mixing of the track but I don't know how else I'd mix it to get the desired effect. I listened to some other music trying to find the effect I want ("right where you left me", "tolerate it", "How Did It End?", "'Tis the damn season", "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived") but I realised that one of the differences between these tracks and my own is that the singing isn't sung in a powerful way, it's more like talking.
There are some weird noises in those tracks as well though - surprisingly large amount of distortion on synths and guitars considering the folk elements of some of the tracks. I have a distorted guitar on this track playing once a bar but it still isn't enough - maybe the strings are washing everything out and making it sound flat? I'll have to experiment more in the morning. I have now added a distorted synth bass sound to it so I'll see if that makes a difference.
It's never sounded flatter.
I'll have to try again in the morning and take some stuff out because having as little going on as possible yet still achieving the desired effect is something I learnt works well. Right now, I keep throwing more and more instruments at it and I need to take it apart and see what actually makes a difference and what is there for the sake of it.
/02/01/2025/
I took Gravity to my Dad and he came up with the amazingly simple plan of taking the bass out on the pre chorus to have more impact when it comes in on the chorus. He came up with this because I showed him "right where you left me" and he told me that that's what it does on that song. It feels so much more impactful now and it's fabulous and may be very nearly finished.
One annoying thing to note though is that Bandlab has an AI mastering feature (very useful, love it) and it's stopped working - kind of. When I edit the mastering to listen to the mastered version, it doesn't update to not having the bass on the pre chorus and I've had this with other updates to multiple other tracks. When I download the mastered track however, it does have the updates on it which means it's clearly working. I've tried closing it down and getting it back up and I've had the problem for a while on my phone (I assumed it was my phone because it's old and has been having other issues anyway) and so I uninstalled the app and reinstalled it but it still hasn't fixed. A very brief Google search has yet to solve anything so I'll have to have a look at it later but this is an annoying new feature on this.
On a brighter note, I brought some of the other songs to my Dad and he suggested to just not have any electric guitar in Hey Mister because he said it works well without it and sounds better without it - I trust his word for it due to how difficult I seem to find it to understand guitar riffs. He also told me what I did wrong with the vocal which was make it too trebly and so I'll fix that. I also asked him about Laura and he said about the vocals being too bassy (I've had trouble adapting the vocals to sounding normal after adding the compressor) but also he thought of dropping the instruments other than the drums right before the bridge which I reckon will work amazingly well because I also added in more MIDI and ooos on the bridge for more effect and so this will emphasise that which is awesome.
/03/01/2025/
Predictably, I found it difficult today as I wanted to record the vocals for Used To Be but I still have my cold. I thought I'd be able to do it anyway as my actual throat wasn't sore. However, I was barely able to control my voice and so I got really frustrated and stressed as I didn't know what I was going to do if my voice wouldn't work. Luckily, my Mum suggested to have a shower and the steam will help and it did. After the shower, I recorded vocals and I had my proper voice back which I haven't had for a couple weeks and I lost for a while a week and a half before then as well. I was able to record the vocals for Used To Be and even rerecorded the vocals for Stitch By Stitch as well (although that was admittedly more of challenge due to the shouty E5).
Managing to get this done has made me feel a lot better about all of this and I feel like I will get it pretty much finished by Wednesday, which is the goal. This means that I'll have only little things to do, if much at all and I can mainly focus on marketing and not have to worry about both at once.
Also, I spoke to my Dad and we figured out how to fix the mastering problem on Bandlab: it's because I'd applied the mastering so then it wouldn't change but once you unapplied it, it fixed the issue.
/04/01/2025/
I was working a bit on the track order today and I'm finding it really difficult. Although I know most people are likely to just shuffle music now, I still think it's important to think about the order of the tracks for anyone that just presses play. I've learnt to put a "hit" song at the beginning and I decided to go for Dry As A Bone as it's got a music video. I followed it up with some of the stronger songs such as Gravity, Demons In My Head and Stitch By Stitch. This is the order I currently have:
Dry as a bone - 3:31 - during - C2
Gravity - 3:50 - immediate - C2
Demons in my head - 3:16 - immediate - C0
Stitch by Stitch - 2:52 - during - C0
If you were here - 2:54 - reflection - C0
Connecting dots - 3:37 - during - C2
Mirror Maze - 3:53 - during/immediate - C3
Used to Be - 4:00 - during C1
Hey Mister - 3:06 - during - C0
Stronger - 3:54 - reflection - C4
Hey Stranger - 2:07 - reflection - C3
Robot - 3:39 - reflection - C2
Luna light - 2:36 - reflection - C0
Laura - 4:20 - immediate - C3
I've factored in length and key as I read on the Musician's Union's website about having songs in the same key close together means it'll make the album feel monotonous to the listener and they'll become bored. I wanted to have Laura at the end because it feels like an ending with the last line being "I've sunk down trying to find you" and that felt very final. I put Used To Be in the middle as it is the hardest one to get through as it's long and I don't think it will be many people's favourites so I don't want to start or end with it. I felt like having more reflective songs towards the end because I'm attempting to show a narrative and some sort of growth through the songs. What I mean by this is that the beginning shows the emotion during and immediately after the event whereas it then merges to become more reflective and show the passage of time. I know that Laura is set as an immediate song but that's because it is an immediate song that has more of a journey to what feels like fits well as a final track.
/04/01/2025/
I've nearly finished everything on the album now which is incredibly exciting but also scary in case anything happens. I have very little left now as I was able to get those vocals finished yesterday and so I have only one more part of a vocal to record which I was going to do today but didn't in the end as I got distracted talking to my family and working on the other songs more. I'll record it tomorrow as well as record a few make up guitar bits as well as listen back through the songs again with my family who will give their input on the mixing and instruments and impact and everything. It's difficult for me to judge some of it as I've heard all the songs so many times, I've become more desensitised to impactful moments.
After I finish all the tracks, I'll get working on other aspects such as the cover art, social media moves before my marketing plan comes in as well as making lyric videos. My sister has told me how she struggles to know what I'm saying in my songs and my lyrics are very important to me and so I feel like lyric videos will be a good way to remedy this as well as giving the listener more connection to the song and have a better understanding and maybe relate to it more.
I also was originally worried about a lyric video for every song might be excessive but also realised that Taylor Swift does it and although I can't and shouldn't copy everything she does musically, I think that this would be a good marketing move.
/05/01/2025/
I think I've finished the album with the exceptions of some overdubs which won't yet be possible. I'm not entirely happy with all the vocals in Luna Light but due to my cold, I think it's the best that I'm going to be able to achieve right now and I'll have to wait a week or so to be able to get it to sound better.
Other than that, all finished. Now, I just need to listen to them throughout the week and listen out for anything I don't like or sounds off or even if I think I could add anything anywhere.
On top of this, I want to start thinking about the lyric videos as I can imagine this will take quite a long time for me to achieve and so I want to get into planning and making them as early as possible - I've set this as a task for tomorrow (to think about and plan the videos).
/08/01/2025/ - WEEK ONE
I didn't originally include making lyric videos in my 6 week plan but luckily, I did account for me being behind in the recording or production of the album so the first few weeks should also be able to be used for making the lyric videos as it's mainly just checking back through the songs and making sure that I'm happy with all of them.
I spoke to my sister about making the lyric videos and she was really enthusiastic about helping me and so has been coming up with really great ideas for them based on just listening to the song and it's what comes to mind. I trust her ideas because I know that she's enthusiastic about film making because we used to make films together with our friends when we were younger. I also like some of her ideas including having a drawing on paper slowing going into water for the Laura lyric video (I told her I wanted it to be to do with water because I "drown" at the end) as well as having sand pouring into the screen and fill it up by the end for Dry As A Bone and I'll discuss other ideas she has at a later point when I have the chance to have a proper discussion with her about it all.
For now, I'm just looking more into making lyric videos in Shotcut to see if I'd be happy with the ability of Shotcut.
I only have two more concerns: 1.) Fonts - I'll have to look through the available fonts and see if there are any that I like and fit the song
2.) Lag - I think it's because of my laptop but it lags hugely when editing videos on Shotcut, especially if I add too much for it to cope with. Either it'll be ok (I did once edit a huge two hour long video with subtitles in i t which was split into around 5-10 minute clips for it to be easier to edit so a song might be an ok length) or if it isn't, I could convince my brother to let me use his computer which is much more powerful. Worst comes to absolute worst, I can always look into making it on Premier Pro instead and do it at college - I'm very reluctant for that option purely because it'll be finished much quicker if I can do it at home rather than having the limit of only at college.
Also, after looking at my 6 week plan as well as my 6 week marketing plan, I think I need to release my album earlier in order for it to be out before the deadline for this assignment. This means I'll have to adjust my marketing plan for it to start a couple weeks or so before the end of my 6 week plan in order for it to start before the album comes out but then still allows the album to come out in time. I can then mostly use the marketing plan for marketing it after the album is already out which is probably better anyway as it means people won't be waiting around for it and not bother listening, it means they'll go straight to it.
I quickly found a Shotcut forum (here) where someone asked about external fonts and it seems very easy and so that's sorted. From what I understand, Shotcut uses the fonts you already have on your computer and so I won't be able to check a basic list right now but I can when I get home.
/08/01/2025/
I listened through all of my tracks and made notes about what I need to fix. Here are the notes that I made when listening through:
Gravity - Vocal too quiet/guitar too loud in first verse. I think the vocal is too quiet all through. Doesn't have impact on chorus but maybe it's me. Vocal volume is fine on second verse and pc. Vocal too quiet second chorus. Vocal volume fine on bridge. Maybe slightly too vocal quiet on quiet bit of bridge before chorus comes back in. Vocal volume seems alright on last chorus.
SBS - vocal too quiet 1st v and pc and 1st c - vocal might be too quiet all the way through. Gotta be heard on be guitar is late. Distorted guitar on chorus too prominent and doesn't blend. Something needs to happen before distorted bridge vocal, idk what but something - maybe like a guitar slide or smth idk.
Luna Light - take out strings during verse? Consider. Keeps sounding like too much - overwhelming but in a bad way. Like the compression is too much of I keep sounding like too much but not and it's weird. Maybe Rerecord the vocals when voice comes back
Mirror Maze - "the last" is louder than everything else lol. Did the vocal just get louder after that point?
Used To Be - vocal too quiet, vocal volume seems ok after chorus but maybe not I'm not sure. Vocal disappears a bit in 2nd pc and 2nd c and 3rd c
Laura - use automation on strings, kind of want the guitar to be slightly louder when it's going backwards, still love that bit where it stops.
HM - vocal might be a tad too loud (maybe idk?). OMG THAT. CHORD. SUCKS. Broken seam - guitar is late. Guitar comes in late on last chorus - might be late all through last chorus.
IYWH - idk why I feel like this one is like boring kind of. Maybe make bass slightly louder. Distorted guitar late before outro
HS - get rid of vocal noises in between singing.
Robot - part of me wants to rerecord the entire vocal line because some of it is to just sung rather than felt. Risky move though considering I have a cold at the moment and idk when it's going to go and idk how long it'll take until I'm happy with the vocals. I don't dislike all of the vocals but if I rerecord some of it, it might sound disconnected from the rest
/09/01/2025/
I'm currently going through all the songs and fixing them all and something I wanted to note was that on Laura, I realised I think it was the EQ that caused the sound I didn't like. I realised this because there wasn't any EQ on the track and now it sounds much clearer.
I have finished going through all of those so now I'm looking more into lyric videos.
I like Taylor Swift's lyric videos as the lyrics appear in different places with the sentences written in different ways which makes it more interesting to watch. I chose this specific video as an example for two reasons: 1.) I really like how they reversed a video of blowing out candles to make it look like they're lighting themselves 2.) I like this song.
In my lyric videos, I want to have the same aspect of the words appearing all over the screen at different points - what I'll have to figure out is what that means and how I want to present it.
Something I don't like about Taylor Swift's lyric videos is when the words appear. Because the words have been edited to fade in, it means they would've been edited to appear on time but always seem late because of the fade. I've done this before on videos with subtitles and, honestly, it's really annoying because you just feel behind the whole time. In my lyric videos, I'm either going to not have them fade in or, a more likely scenario, I'm going to try and figure out how to have them have a transition without it seeming late so it's more satisfying to watch.
I just looked at this video and it seems more close to what I'd do. The fade in words are still frustrating because they feel late. However, I loved the way they did the "oh" in the first verse, that was really epic. Also, they have the lyrics on the chorus just appear which is exactly how I would have done it and I'm glad they did it that way. But, they have some of the lines on the choruses fade in which isn't bad because I do also like the effect of them rippling away but what I don't like is then the line after this is always late which makes it feel disjointed again.
I want to try and make sure that all of my lyrics come on screen on time because, in my opinion, it's like music, if it's out of time, it ruins it a bit.
/10/01/2025/
Above is the first draft of the album.
/16/01/2025/
I haven't had a chance to do a huge amount this week as I've been busy on Tuesday and Wednesday with interview at Bath Spa University and Gloucestershire University. My cold is still present but it's definitely a lot better than it was and so I plan to complete all of the vocal overdubs by the end of this week as I should have time being free on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here is a list of things I want to rerecord:
I will also need to listen through the whole of the album again and make sure I'm happy with every other bit of vocal in the album. I would normally ask my dad to also listen through and I will but I think that I notice more of what's wrong with my vocals than he does and so I think I could probably rely on my own ears for this part.
For my lesson today, I'm going through the songs and trying to make them the loudest I can without them clipping - I'm using the overall volume at the top of Bandlab to do this and basing it on if it goes red when playing through the song.
Bandlab has a feature where it automatically sets it to the optimal input gain and I can change this but it doesn't save. I don't know how to fix this.
For the lyric videos, I still haven't filmed the backgrounds for them yet so I reckon I should start that this week and then I can edit them and add the text over the top. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to make one lyric video as I'm yet to do it so we'll see how long it takes me to make 14. I think I'll be able to do it in time because I can put my mind to it and get it done - the thing that's holding me back is that I haven't yet filmed the backgrounds as I can't do anything until that is finished.
I'm partially thinking I might edit the videos on my phone. This is for a couple reasons: 1.) Capcut doesn't lag after adding video effects whereas Shotcut does 2.) Capcut doesn't lag after adding lots of text whereas Shotcut does. 3.) I think it's easier and it's more familiar of how to use the text in Capcut compared to Premier Pro 4.) If it's on my phone, it's easily portable meaning I can do it at any time and anywhere
One potential restriction could be the available fonts. What made me think of this idea, however, is the mini lyric video I did at the end of my recent Youtube Video below (timestamp: 8:28).
I looked into it and I've successfully downloaded and imported and used a different font in Capcut - this is really awesome because it means I can find any font I want and (as long as it is available for commercial use) import it in and use it. I was testing out the text on a short video on my phone and wanted to have the word twice but with one bigger and more transparent but I couldn't find how to do this until I found this video that explains it perfectly and although it's a bit fiddly, it's possible enough.
Here is what I made using the text methods in the video:
I just tried the same method with a black background and it meant that it didn't show up. I think this effect would be useful for background vocals or on things I want to emphasise.
One thing I'll do when I get home tonight is write out the songs on a piece of paper and come up with an idea for all of them for the lyric videos it'll be easier on paper as it'll be easier to brainstorm I think - if I have any ideas before then, I can always write them down on my phone. After I've done that, if I can record any with my current resources, I'll do that and then record the rest over the weekend and then I'll be able to go through and edit together the footage and edit it with vignettes and colour correction and things and then add the song over the top and animate text for it which I think will be relatively fun.
I just thought of a way to make the text a lower opacity and it worked. Basically, I did the same thing as I did for the above method except I didn't use the splice feature, I realised that you can change the opacity of an overlay and so I did that instead and it came up with what I wanted. But now, I have two methods of having words in the background rather than just one which is awesome.
/23/01/2025/
I'm now on week three of the six week plan to finish my project. So far, I've made two lyric videos (Robot and Stronger) and this was a challenge. I've also only got the rest of this week to finish mixing and mastering my album.
The lyric videos were challenging due to some lag that I mainly experienced with the Robot video because I often had multiple pieces of text on the screen at the same time. I changed this for Stronger and had less problem with lag. I recorded the videos for these two on the weekend as well as six others. I also recorded another one for Gravity on Monday with the help of Ellen as I wanted to have objects in slow motion past the screen but my phone didn't have the slow motion ability to make it look to be anything other than a blur. She used her phone to record it and this helped enormously as she managed to get the footage that I was looking for. The annoying thing about the lyric videos is that they take longer than I had anticipated and so I think it will take me 14 days to do them, completing one a day. I couldn't do one yesterday as I was at Falmouth all day for my interview, hence why I've only done two.
In terms of mixing the tracks, I'd be 95% sure in saying that 13 of them are finished but there is one track (Used To Be) that I think needs to be mixed better as it's all a very confusing sound at the moment.
I just edited the lyric video for If You Were Here and I'm exporting it for the first time. It's likely that there will be a lot of places where I'll need to go back and change the timings of the lyrics as it was lagging every time a new lyric came on screen making it difficult to know if I'd timed it correctly. When I edited Robot, I ended up exporting it five separate times trying to get the correct one. The way I get around the lag is by having CapCut on one tab and then the exported video on another and I watch the video and every time there's a mistake, I adjust it in CapCut and guess how much to move it by. It's tedious but it works eventually.
Notes about video: Slower blur out on intro verse, Move down lyrics on first verse, 1st c, "smiling away too soon" and move down lyrics, 2nd v day is late. There's more than a few things by this point so I'm going to watch the rest of the video but then I'm going to do the tab comparison to fix them. Ok, the bridge and last chorus and outro were all surprisingly in time.
Notes about second export: you watched is late
/26/01/2025/
This week, I've worked on lyric videos but I've also been finishing my album as I want it to be completely finished by Monday (today is Sunday). Yesterday, I listened through all the tracks with my Dad and here are the notes we made on changes each one needed (if any):
Laura - finished
Stronger - pizzicato louder, 2nd along switch, drums bit too loud
Luna light - vocal down a bit, last chorus don't lose the "luna light"
Mirror Maze - vocal down, turn up picked guitar on bridge
Stitch by stitch - finished
Gravity - only have last two chords, ripple edit, add guitar riff before bridge
Iywh - vocal down more bass eq, high hat track turn down
Have I crossed your mind? - finished
Demons - bit louder drums
Connecting Dots - finished
Daab - turn up high hat track 4
HM - vocal too tinny and high needs more bass, check guitar on 2nd verse timing
Utb - noise at beginning of track, vocal down a bit and more bass?
Robot - finished
I worked on all of these changes that night (it took roughly one to two hours). I am now going to listen through them all with my Dad again today except with my laptop which means I'll be able to edit them as I go and as we find small extra things to change in each one. I feel very anxious about it all as I'm worried they won't turn out right - my biggest fear with it all is that I've gone deaf to something really obvious in the mix but I'm worried if I show someone else they'll point out something that I don't think needs changing but then it'll weigh on my mind and I won't feel happy about it. Another aspect to consider is that my Dad has had problems with his hearing in one of his ears which means I'm forced to be less trustful of his opinion.
/27/01/2025/
Second draft of the album.
Week 4 - /28/01/2025/
My goal for this week on my plan was to make all of the promotional material a well as cover art and canvases (Spotify) for all of the songs on the album. I don't know if I'll be behind with all of these as I still haven't finished mixing the album - although I believe that it's very close.
I messaged my brother to help with the cover art as he's got an a level in graphic design and I always struggle with ideas (although, I did see at the start of a video when editing it that my face was reflected in my guitar and so I thought maybe something along those lines could be cool).
I'm now listening through all the songs to check them (in between listening to them, I'm playing a professional song to "reset my ears"):
Stitch by stitch - Finished
Luna Light - make sure all luna lights are heard - first two disappear a bit but last one is fine
Gravity - second ground distorts a bit, third down distorts a tiny bit
If You Were Here - main vocal is too loud still, check breath before second chorus
Dry As A Bone - slight glitch on note but don't think we can change that so finished
Stronger - after first along - double noise, pizzicato too loud now (not start), "re" on replaying is too loud, distortion on last along
Demons In My Head - Finished
Used To Be - Main vocal too loud? Listen through ALL guitar and ALL bass and check timing
Connecting Dots - everywhere has moment where high hats are insanely loud
Mirror Maze - Main vocal too loud
Hey Mister - check all guitar and bass for timing
Robot - second verse starts too loud
Laura - finished I think but I'm scared
/29/01/2025/
Third (hopefully final) draft of album.
/30/01/2025/
I don't yet have a final version on the album but I've decided that the third draft is the unofficial final version of the album except "Hey Stranger" ("Have I Crossed Your Mind?") has now been turned down as it's too loud compared to the rest of the tracks due to not having as many instruments and so they have more space to be loud.
The plan for this week was to make promotional material as well as the cover art and the canvases for Spotify. I have not yet done this because I've been busy finishing off the album as well as preparing for Battle of the Bands next week and some open mics I'm going to do this week which I'm excited and worried about due to not having done one in a month and a half (hence why it's taken up so much time). I could've finished the cover art and promotional material and canvases by now if I'd planned my time out better.
I don't think I checked my plan enough before and so didn't plan in doing the promotional material or canvases or anything. I also need to start incorporating my marketing plan into my other plan now. I have a couple of ideas for the cover art that I want to try out and the promotional material will be two videos per song. The two ideas I have is to have one with cool text of some kind (it's more interesting to look at). Some examples include my Dry As A Bone video and my Wrong Number video. The other idea I have is to have some kind of lip sync to the song but I still have to make it interesting as I need to give the audience a reason to stay other than just "please like my music". I think I'd have to wrap them all up in a short, disguised video. What I mean by that is that I'm using it to promote my album but I don't say that because people often don't like having things shoved in their face (knowingly).
My idea for the cover art came from when I was recording last week and I did a video where I flipped the phone sideways to give an interesting transition between shots. This meant, at the beginning of the video, that you could see my face reflected in my guitar. It's not a particularly good shot because it's in the background but I used a screenshot of it to make a mock up of what the cover art could look like for my album.
I'll have to take a much better picture but it's a good coincidence that this happened.
For the canvases for Spotify, I can use a mix of the lyric videos and me lip syncing to the song in my promotional material/me singing into my studio microphone.
I can't do a huge amount today or tomorrow as today, I have an open mic tonight and tomorrow I'm seeing my friend most the day. So, I've set to make the album cover art tomorrow as I'll probably be able to take the picture in the morning. I will also write down to make another lyric video today because those still need to be finished. I recorded and cut down two yesterday but haven't added the lyrics. I have finished five lyric videos so far and recorded 10 of them. I think I will be able to get these finished before the album comes out which is good as I want them to come out simultaneously. I've also now put down to make another lyric video on Saturday and I can record promotional material on the Sunday as that's when I make all of my social media videos anyway.
I just looked back again at my marketing 6 week plan and it says that I need to release 3 videos next week to make an emotional connection with the audience (so, have text to describe the song, recording, playing etc.) and then not announce the album until the week after.
After making some of the promotion videos, I'll be able to start making the canvases for Spotify to also have those ready by the time the album comes out. Something else I'll need to do is decide which of the tracks I want to apply for the opportunity of it being on a playlist.
/06/02/2025/
I have finished the album now and it's the same as the third draft except I turned the gain down on "Hey Stranger" which has now become "Have I crossed your mind?" because it was louder than all the other tracks and obviously so.
After having finished the album, I knew I needed to sort out the cover art and so I set up the lighting to reflect me in my guitar and then took 21 pictures to try and get a good one. I held my phone in the reflection of where the strings are so you could either barely see it or not see it at all. Here were the top contenders:
The one that I eventually chose was the third one as it had a better look of looking into the distance and having a more neutral expression.
I put the image into a drawing app I have on my phone (ibisPaint X) and edited it to have more of a blue theme as well as look more mysterious/watery. When adding the image into the app, I made sure to make the canvas 1000x1000 because it has to be a square for Ditto to accept it for cover art, it also has to be over 1400 pixels and so I just resized the image on Google. For the text, I looked at other artists' albums and eventually took main inspiration from the cover art of PJ Harvey with a simple font and small writing. I wanted my title and my name to be bigger than she had it but I still went with the similar theme font wise.
Below is a video of the process of me editing it into the cover art on ibisPaint X:
I have been working on the lyric videos and have now finished eleven out of fourteen of them.
I have only Demons in my head left to do the lyrics for and then Laura and Dry as a bone both need to be recorded, edited and had lyrics added. My Mum said that she would help me to film both of these on Friday (tomorrow) and then I'll have plenty of time to edit them and add the lyrics.
A setback I've noticed is I think you can only upload up to 5 videos a day on Youtube and so, to get around this, I'm going to upload them separately as unlisted videos and then make them public on the 14th of February as I uploaded my album to Ditto music and it was accepted surprisingly quickly (the next day) and so is confirmed to be coming out next Friday.
There are a few reasons for this:
1.) I had originally planned for it to come out mid February
2.) It's Valentine's Day and so may make marketing easier to focus around that
3.) I recently had my monthly listeners go up to 965 because one of my songs that I released ages ago (Stronger) got put on a playlist - almost all of these listeners are likely to be gone after 28 days and so I want to try and keep things going as long as I can
Also, I used a spreadsheet to keep track of what I have and haven't finished on each of the tracks which is shown below.
/10/02/2025/
I've now finished all the lyric videos and have been uploading them to YouTube as private with a schedule to come out on the 14th of February.
I've finished 8 of the canvases for Spotify.
I managed to record 7 more videos for social
media yesterday because my Dad took me out to where we filmed part of the dry as a bone video to take some pictures to update my Spotify pictures and so I also used the opportunity to record some videos to have a change of scenery on my social media.
Above is the system I used to keep track of what I had done and what I needed to do with the lyric videos. The green straight lines meant I'd recorded it and the blue squiggly lines meant I'd edited and finished it.
Above is the system that I am using to keep track of what videos I have and haven't made for social
media for each of the songs. It's also is a system for if I've made the canvas or not. I have written the code for the colours below the song list.
media for each of the songs. It's also is a system for if I've made the canvas or not. I have written the code for the colours below the song list.
I've also been using a spreadsheet to plan all of my daily tasks and to show this, here is an example of my tasks from the 18th Jan - 26th Jan:
/11/02/2025/
Final version of album:
Evaluation of album:
I am happy with the result of my album and the way I produced and mixed the tracks. I would have liked to have all the knowledge I have now when I started the album; but at the same time, I am grateful because I've learnt a lot of ways to make music more impactful and sound the way I intend it to. For example, the part in the bridge of Laura where the music stops and then comes back is a common technique that I've heard used but I did it by accident and it happened to sound amazing.
I think that I could have managed my time better and I also know I was very controlled by my emotions and I need to learn to channel them in the right way. This leads on to my lack of motivation at times which I think could be improved by collaborating with people more but also being able to see things in a better perspective to not get so overwhelmed and paralysed. This can be achieved by reflecting on what I have and have not completed as well as using time management and planning to prevent missing deadlines or feeling swamped.
Due to unforeseen things as well as a lack of motivation, I had to change around when I did a lot of things.
6 WEEK MARKETING PLAN:
Week one: Make promotional videos and upload two with a post promoting and announcing the album
Week two: Make more promotional videos and upload three along with a post promoting the album's release. Release album this week along with all lyric videos on YouTube. Contact Ross at Radio NineSprings, Jem at GWS Radio, BBCIntroducing and anyone who could promote my stuff.
Week three: Continue making promotional videos (two per song) and make some music video promotional material and post announcing the music video. Upload two videos about the album and one about the music video.
Week four: Upload two videos about the music video and one about the album and another post about the music video.
Week five: Release music video. Upload another post about music video and two videos about music video and one about album.
Week six: Upload two videos about album and one about music video.
NOW HAVE A REMAINING 17 VIDEOS TO UPLOAD OVER THE NEXT MONTH OR SO AND PUT QR CODE TO ALBUM IN PROGRAM OF UNPLUGGED AND USE IT AS PROMOTION OPPORTUNITY.
Week one:
I have made five videos for promotional material for the album. Normally, I'd make three but because I knew what I needed to make and to help future me feel less overwhelmed, I thought it'd be helpful to make more videos than I need for me to fall back on in case I become busy with other parts of marketing or the collaborative project in the next few weeks.
I have made a chart to mark off what videos I've made as I've planned to make two per song with one being a written video and the other being one of me lip syncing to the song. Here is the chart I made (it is the same as the canvas chart as I used similar recorded material):
I am planning what I'm recording each week as well as planning which videos I am uploading. I have put all of the promotional videos into a specific folder to keep them organised so I know where to go when I need them and I move them to a "used" folder once I've used them to make sure I don't accidentally upload the same video twice. Here's a link to my Instagram where the majority of my posts/videos are posted: My Instagram
Week two:
As my album comes out this week, I have decided to contact two radio stations as well as a music friend to help promote its release. I emailed Ross at Radio Ninesprings who I knew from him playing my music before when promoting the StrodeLive 24 album and he emailed me back and said he'd play my music on three separate occasions as well as promote the album which is awesome! I also messaged Jem at GWS Radio who I met when I performed at the Frost Fayre and he agreed to play my music on their radio and even invited me into the studio to do an interview of which I have a picture below. That was really awesome of him. The third person I contacted was one of my Dad's old friends (Jon) who he used to be in a band with and he is still in music and so has more contacts than I do and he agreed to "bosh it around" in his words which is really great. I'm really happy with how everyone is so supportive.
Also, I have uploaded two of my released tracks to BBCIntroducing ("Wrong Number" and "Dry as a bone") and one part of this was that it would help if I had a picture and so my Dad offered to drive me out to a nice location and take some photos there. I also used one of these photos to update the pictures in my bio on Spotify. I also took this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and I filmed five videos there to use for promotional material and then made two written videos once I got home as they are more difficult to make than the synced ones due to having to be more creative and I don't want them to pile on me all at once at one point.
Also, I made sure to promote the lyric videos I made on YouTube along with the announcement and push of the album as I think this will be a good way to create a sustainable audience as they'll find more meaning in my songs if they know the lyrics and they have a visual representation of the songs (hence the canvases for all the songs).
I also updated my website to have my album be a more centre focus on it and to have it written that's it's been released. I chose "Stitch by Stitch" to be the track that people can listen to on my website as I think it's the most likely to appeal the the widest audience. (Link to my website - Link to blog about website - click to see how I made my website!)
Week three:
Ross played "Dry as a bone" on Radio Ninesprings on Monday and my interview with Jem is going to be on Wednesday evening. Jon has been posting so much about my album's release and sharing lots of my posts as well as posts about me and he's been super helpful with pushing it to more people.
I struggled more with making videos this week as I felt tired and ill and really felt unable to do much over the weekend. I think I'm starting to get over that although I have now got some kind of cold which isn't helpful as it means I have less energy for things. I was only able to make one video but that's fine because that's why I made more than I needed to. Also, this is the week that I get to announce the music video for Dry as a bone and so I ended up needing to make promotional videos for that which I forgot about until I double checked my marketing plan. Luckily, these are much easier to make as I just snip out clips from the music video and add text. I made six promotional videos of clips from the music video which I think is the total amount I'll need for its promotion and the first one of those will be posted this week along with a post announcing the video and the other two videos will be promotional videos for the album, as normal.
I'm starting to think that I may want to make more promotional material aimed at the lyric videos on YouTube as, although they're getting a lot of views, I don't think I've made people aware enough of it as I only put it on one story once I think and so I think I need to plan to do a post on it and put it on more stories and maybe make some reels about them as well. I think I just need to keep reminding people about all of this and then they'll eventually decide to go listen/watch it.
Week Four:
I was unable to make any videos on Sunday as I was in Frome all day doing a music workshop thing at the studio at the cheese and grain.
Luckily, I'm uploading two of the music video promotional videos and only one promotional video for the album which means I already have all of the material.
I think I will make those promotional videos that focuses entirely on the lyric videos and have one maybe two per video and have them come out with the other promotional videos after the music video is out. This will also mean that I'll have more content that I can post through the next few months to promote the album. I've planned to make two a day (one song a day) apart from on Sunday as that's the day where I make all of my normal content (although, it'll still be album content for the next while).
Also, Ross is going to play my music again on Wednesday evening as a repeat of the show from Sunday where he played all three songs that I sent him from the album.
Something else that I've been advised by my parents to do is to release another single as soon as I can to keep up momentum. Due to being put on playlists, my monthly listeners are currently 1,478 which is the highest it's ever been and far exceeds my goal of 300. However, it is important to note that most of these listeners will disappear after 28 days (I'll lose a big chunk on the 1st of March and the other peak will fall off on the 19th of March). My followers have also gone up to 103 (previously having been 28) and so releasing a single before they stop listening/following would be ideal as then it'd be more likely to be exposed to more people. I recorded the ghost track for it and then I'm going to try to record the guitar and the bass for it this weekend. I'm not sure how long it'll take for me to record and get this single release ready but I'm hoping it'll be in less than a month (although my normal estimations for this type of thing tend to be way off, not to mention the fact that I'm making two EPs with two other people at the same time).
Week Five:
Above is a recording of the presentation I did to my class about marketing, with a main focus on lyric videos and canvases. I explained about getting onto playlists as well as the importance of canvases and lyric videos in music and connecting with your audience.
This week, I am releasing my music video for Dry as a bone which will further help to promote the entire album. I am posting two videos about the music video and one about the album and then I am going to post about the music video coming out on a post as posts reach more of your followers whereas reels are mainly to reach people who don't follow you.
I only filmed four synced videos on Sunday as I couldn't think of any ideas for written videos and I felt tired and ill. I think that apathy has started to creep into my life and so I am trying to avoid it by continuing to set goals even if I struggle to achieve them.
I am going to make a longer video on Sunday to post next Monday. I wasn't sure what to do for this video but it then occurred to me about the music video coming out this Friday and so I thought I could post the bloopers video from that music video and maybe talk at the beginning and end of it as an intro and outro Which I could also use to help promote the lyric videos.
This week, I posted two videos to promote the music video and one to promote the album. Also, the music video came out on the Friday which will hopefully point more people in the direction of the album and have people be more invested in my music.
Week 6:
This week I have struggled more with apathy and have focused on both my own promotion as well as the promotion and marketing for Unplugged.
I have used this partly to my advantage as well as it being a marketing technique for Unplugged as I have used the snippet of my tiny desk for one of my uploads as well as a Strode Live upload. This helps me as it's one less upload for me to make for myself and it helps Unplugged as it spreads it to more people (who follow me but not strode live).
/25/03/2025/
I organised for some of us to go up to Glastonbury at The Old Tannery to talk on GWS Radio to help promote Unplugged. We also used this as an opportunity to promote my album as well as Tyler's EP, The Loft gig, The Red Brick gig and the EP that Tyler and I are doing together.
This is the second time I was able to speak on GWS Radio which is really helpful and will help me to build a presence within the local area.
Tyler and I are from: 32 mins 49 secs - 52 mins 8 secs (Listen using the link above)
EVALUATION:
Overall, I think that I've done a lot in terms of marketing for my album and I think it partially worked as my monthly listeners went up to a peak of 1,494 people and I've had 135 saves and 143 playlist adds which has continued the trend of around a 10% save rate when one of my songs gets added to a playlist on Spotify (this was mirrored when Stronger was added to a playlist at the beginning of February and 500 people = 50 saves and then 300 people = 30 saves). Promoting mainly Stitch by Stitch has definitely worked as it is always listened to the most - I can see this as I check how many people listened to how many songs each day and most of my songs get 1-3 people but Stitch by Stitch has been the most, with the exception of around 2 times, with 6-8 people listening to it a day. This could also have been helped by my Dad streaming it all the time to get it to the top of the list of my popular songs on Spotify as we suspect this is how Demons In My Head got onto a playlist. As a clear cut comparison, in the last 28 days, all the songs on my album have been listened to a range from 4-11 people whereas Stitch by Stitch has been listened to by 74 people. Since the peak of 1,494, my listeners have gone down to hovering around 210-225 which is higher than before (around 130-145) but not as high as I originally would've liked (over 300).
I think I could've done more for my marketing by contacting more radio stations and more people. I struggled to contact the people that I did as I was worried about saying the wrong thing or them being annoyed or something but luckily my parents talked me into contacting Ross and Jem as that worked out really well and I think contributed heavily to my streams and engagement. However, I could've contacted more radio stations and I reckon I could've found more open mics to do to help push it. I think part of it is that I've also been distracted with Unplugged happening this week and so my album and its promotion got pushed to the back of my mind. But, I did get to meet Jon (my Dad's friend) and he seems to have a lot of good contacts (e.g., my Dad mentioned to him that we sent a track to Steve Lamacq but haven't had a reply as is to be expected and then Jon said that he knows someone who plays bass who is friends with him).
I think I did 50% well with my social media. I am still posting consistently and the content isn't bad BUT, I still feel like I should've temporarily uploaded every day around the release of the album to really shove it in people's faces and make it known. I think I was too afraid of running out of content and having to rush around to get stuff done. I think more organisation and time management will help me out with future projects - I think I was getting there with this project but then got overwhelmed despite being organised because everything was a lot to think about and so I think I need to better find a way that works for me (probably by combining the spread sheet idea with multiple other spread sheets/mind maps that have listed all the things that I need to do).
I will continue to promote my album alongside other projects. For example, I'm continuing to post the videos I've made in the last 6 weeks for the tracks and I also went on the radio today for the relaunch of GWS Radio and I promoted it on there which opened the opportunity for me to go on again in a couple of weeks which will also serve as great promotion. I use only Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for my posts/videos as I think they're the most used and trusted by the public. What I mean by this is not many people like to use Twitter (X) anymore and Tiktok steals your data so, despite the possibility, I've ruled it out.
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