Nat Hilton Capstone
I have been writing and producing music since my freshman year of high school, using all accessible instruments, software, and influences at my direct disposal. Throughout my endeavors, I found I have developed an obsession with the final product. I want my music to be concise, clear, and represent professionalism in an exciting way.
For my capstone, I decided to start a musical group that would record and release an EP, play a successful release show, and create an accompanying music video. I decided to collaborate with a fellow senior, Lyle Seitz, and junior, Sofian Zapf, to create five professionally recorded songs and release them online.
I studied home recording and worked with my out-of-school capstone mentor, Donato Pignetti (a junior recording studies major at the University of the Arts), to create the EP. We produced the EP with his help at the University of the Arts recording studio.
Once the EP was completed, we then spent several months planning a release show. We spoke with popular Philadelphia based bands and several venues. Through extensive planning, we managed to have the release at a popular venue named The Sound Hole on January 6th. We managed to have the band Joy Again play with us that night, a band with millions of supporters in and outside of Philadelphia. The release show had over two hundred people in attendance and allowed the EP to gain large amounts of attraction in the Philadelphia musical community. After this event, our songs were played on WXPN. We also obtained a featured review on Post Trash, one of the largest websites for independent music reviews.
After this, I then spent several months working on a music video for the EP. I chose the first track off the release, ¨Drug Store Romeo¨, to make the film for. The music video included many hand-drawn animations and featured me as the world’s worst dancer. Once the video was completed, the final product was accomplished and so was my capstone.
Link: https://earthboypa.bandcamp.com/
Bibliography:
“Planning Your Album, Ranch Studios,” Accessed May 10, 2018.
https://www.ranchstudio.com/otherstuff/PlanningYourAlbum.pdf
This source speaks about how to explore a narrative or concept in a musical release. The EP we released attempted to tackle the concept of relationships and the specific traits of individuals. This source showed that you must extensively plan before recording, making lyrics and the meaning behind those lyrics the forefront of the concept. I attempted this with the songs I wrote by looking at individuals in my life and writing character studies throughout the lyrics. It also spoke on how to balance poetic language and realism and how subjective that can be. We chose to write lyrics that hid the meaning of the songs, making the audience delve deeper into the words that were being sung. This source was extremely helpful in understanding how to create a piece of music that fits and flows together more interestingly than a series of standard songs.
The Small Venue Survivalist. Accessed May 10, 2018. http://smallvenuesurvivalist.com/electric-guitar-mic-or-di-and-why/.
This source is important because it helps with home production. We are producing the entire release in a home and want the most professional sound possible. This article speaks on how to record guitar well. In home recording, you can either record an instrument directly into a computer or record an amp with a microphone, which then leads into a computer. This article reveals that for guitar it is best to record with an amp, whereas other instruments it matters less. This was an important source because it helped with the process of recording the creating the final product.
Hirschberg, Lynn. "The Music Man." The New York Times. September 02, 2007. Accessed May 10, 2018. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/magazine/02rubin.t.html.
This source is an interview with Rick Rubin, one of the biggest producers in the world. He created Def Jam records and helped create releases for some of the biggest modern stars of this era. This source helped me gain an understanding of how important production itself is in creating a release.
"Home Recording Tips for DIY Musicians." Ditto Music Promotion. Accessed May 10, 2018. https://www.dittomusic.com/blog/home-recording-tips-for-diy-musicians.
This source is similar to the microphone recording source above, it gives information on home recording. A lot of the demos created for the EP were recorded in my home and I needed to figure out how to make the songs sound cohesive and professional with very limited resources. A lot of these tricks had to do with recording drums and micing amplification systems, which was extremely helpful for my process and furthering education on recording itself. It speaks on phantom power, which is a necessity when recording vocals through a condenser microphone. I wanted the vocals to sound close and quiet, but also clear, which a condenser microphone can accomplish very easily. This source was extremely helpful and important.
Kipp, Marianne. "How to Design an Album Cover: The Ultimate Guide." 99designs. March 10, 2018. Accessed May 10, 2018. https://99designs.com/blog/design-other/how-to-design-album-cover/.
This source spoke about how to create good album art. Alongside music, I have been making visual art from a very young age and I wanted the art of the cover to reflect the music itself. The source spoke on using the meaning of the music to derive visuals for the cover. I took this in a different direction and used a recurring image that we found over the course of the recording process. The image was of two animal figures, one with a hand for a head which corresponds to a song named Sun Daze. This image was frequently talked about during recording and had a lot of meaning to us and the music. This source allowed me to finalize decisions more quickly with art and to understand depth is important to both the audience and the musicians creating the music.
Kusek, Dave, Chris Robley, Brad, Joel Andrew, and Brian Hazard. "How to Create an Image for Your Band." DIY Musician Blog. July 07, 2016. Accessed May 10, 2018. https://diymusician.cdbaby.com/musician-tips/artists-think-image-issue/.
This source speaks on how to create a band aesthetic that challenges the norm. Many modern music projects have very similar looks and feel, copying and reusing has become a strong motif throughout modern music culture. I wanted to find a way to add uniqueness to the project without straying too far from the genuinity of the music itself. I found this source to be very helpful with that. It spoke about how using traits and feelings of your songs to derive an image. If your songs are darker follow that feeling, if they are more lively follow that. We found that our music was very positive and fun, so we decided using bright colors and to make a fun music video would create the aesthetic we were searching for. This source was very imperative to us, and was a huge reason our release show was such a success.
Letang, Shaun. "How To Make A Music Video For Beginners 2018." Music Industry How To. March 10, 2018. Accessed May 10, 2018. https://www.musicindustryhowto.com/how-to-make-a-music-video-for-beginners/.
This source spoke on how to create a music video. I wanted to create a video to add a professional feeling to the release, but I did not want to bog it down with pretension or overly artistic intent. I found that a simple idea with me dancing and having fun would capture the essence of the song and EP as a whole. The source spoke on how to use beats of the song or breaks in structure to dictate the plot of the video. I found that we did this by using location to reveal the change in section, we also created animated characters that added something more interesting on screen. This source was extremely helpful in understanding how to create a music video that interests the audience, flows with the music, and fits with the mood you are attempting to capture.
"Recording Drums: A Primer on Recording Drums at Home." Tape Op - the Creative Music Recording Magazine. Accessed May 10, 2018. https://tapeop.com/tutorials/31/recording-drums/.
This source speaks on recording drums at home, which is similar to the above sources on home recording. Recording drums was a huge issue for us, we found that a lot of the time they sounded spacy or distant. But this source gave us information on microphone placement and post-recording mastering and mixing. Those two factors allowed the drums to sound clearer and crisper, something that we had been searching for since the beginning of the recording process. Drums are the backbone of the song, and this source allowed that aspect of the music to be prominent and clear. That is why this source is extremely important.
"Recording Drums: A Primer on Recording Drums at Home." Tape Op - the Creative Music Recording Magazine. Accessed May 10, 2018. https://tapeop.com/tutorials/31/recording-drums/.
This source speaks on recording drums at home, which is similar to the above sources on home recording. Recording drums was a huge issue for us, we found that a lot of the time they sounded spacy or distant. But this source gave us information on microphone placement and post recording mastering and mixing. Those two factors allowed the drums to sound clearer and crisper, something that we had been searching for since the beginning of the recording process. Drums are the backbone to the song, and this source allowed that aspect of the music to be prominent and clear. That is why this source is extremely important.
"Release Preparation: The Musician's Guide to Marketing Plans Part 1." Cyber PR Music. May 04, 2018. Accessed May 10, 2018. http://cyberprmusic.com/album-release-preparation-the-musicians-guide-to-marketing-plans-part-1/.
This source speaks on how to market music. I found this the most difficult, I just wanted to produce music and art for myself, and the business behind it was never something that interested me. However, the source speaks on how marketing oneself and creating a business around you art is a huge step in reaching listeners. This source allowed me to become more comfortable with sharing the music I made and placing it on the internet, I also created several social media pages to gain listeners. I then put the EP on Spotify, making my music more accessible to the public. This source was extremely helpful in my understanding of music business and how to confidently represent yourself alongside your art.
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