Inspiring-Music-Capstone-Project (1)

Annotated Bibliography

• Harrah-Conforth, Bruce. “Rock and Roll, Process, and Tradition.” Western Folklore, vol. 49, no. 3, Western States Folklore Society, 1990, pp. 306–13, https://doi.org/10.2307/1499628.
• Grossberg, Lawrence. “The Politics of Youth Culture: Some Observations on Rock and Roll in American Culture.” Social Text, no. 8, Duke University Press, 1983, pp. 104–26, https://doi.org/10.2307/466325.
• WANZENRIED, JOHN, and VINCENT DI SALVO. “INTENSIONAL AND EXTENSIONAL ORIENTATIONS IN ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC.” ETC: A Review of General Semantics, vol. 32, no. 1, Institute of General Semantics, 1975, pp. 31–42, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42575751.
• Pearson, John. “‘That’s the Stuff You Gotta Watch’. The Background to Rock and Roll.” Irish Journal of American Studies, vol. 6, Irish Association for American Studies, 1997, pp. 39–86, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30003142.
• Kotarba, Joseph A. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Music as a Timepiece.” Symbolic Interaction, vol. 25, no. 3, [Wiley, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction], 2002, pp. 397–404, https://doi.org/10.1525/si.2002.25.3.397.
• Kruse, Holly. “Subcultural Identity in Alternative Music Culture.” Popular Music, vol. 12, no. 1, Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 33–41, http://www.jstor.org/stable/931257.
• Tsitsos, William. “Rules of Rebellion: Slamdancing, Moshing, and the American Alternative Scene.” Popular Music, vol. 18, no. 3, Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 397–414, http://www.jstor.org/stable/853615.
• Mayer, Adam, and Jeffrey M. Timberlake. “‘The Fist in the Face of God’: Heavy Metal Music and Decentralized Cultural Diffusion.” Sociological Perspectives, vol. 57, no. 1, Sage Publications, Inc., 2014, pp. 27–51, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44289985.
• Ahlkvist, Jarl A. “Music and Cultural Analysis in the Classroom: Introducing Sociology through Heavy Metal.” Teaching Sociology, vol. 27, no. 2, [Sage Publications, Inc., American Sociological Association], 1999, pp. 126–44, https://doi.org/10.2307/1318699.
• Gordon Lynch. “The Role of Popular Music in the Construction of Alternative Spiritual Identities and Ideologies.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 45, no. 4, [Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Wiley], 2006, pp. 481–88, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4621930

-Capstone Introduction: When it comes to writing and producing music for a rock ‘n’ roll style album, there’s a certain number of key elements that is used for creating it. The genre of modern rock ‘n’ roll music usually consists of heavy sounding electric guitars, a bass guitar that carries the grooves, then some hard-hitting drums, and some intense yet powerful vocals. For my capstone project I shall present a modern rock ‘n’ roll style album where both the compositional and production work is primarily done by me. I will be recording, mixing, and mastering all of the instruments and vocals that are presented in this three-track album. Another exciting factor that this album may contain, is that I plan to record some of my friends as collaborators for this project and I’ll have them sit in with me and sing some of the songs that I have written. Once the album is done, this will prove to be a big milestone, and stepping stone for me because it’s going to be the first ever musical album that I have ever written and produced by myself.

Capstone Project Thesis Outline:

Main Idea of Project/Abstract

For my capstone project I will be composing and producing an EP that contains songs  which would primarily involve the style of the rock and roll music. An EP is best described to be a shorter album that would usually consist of three to five tracks maximum, and I have planned out the order and the format the songs will be in. In terms of how the songs will be written and what tools will be used along the way will involve Electric, and Acoustic Guitars, Vocals, Electric Bass guitar, Drums, MIDI Synthesizers, Pro Tools, Logic, or Reaper(DAWS), Scarlett Interface, and one dynamic microphone, and condenser microphone. With all of these tools I will be able to compose, and produce my first original work and rock and roll album.

Another main goal and idea of this project asides from getting a good grade in school, is that this whole project will give me the opportunity to start building myself as a musician, producer, and as an aspiring artist. Based on the workload that the entire project requires, it will help me further my path as an artist and influence the path that I want to take with obtaining a Bachelors in Music Technology, all the way to obtaining a doctorates for it one day. Although the process of writing a rock and roll EP is not usually a walk in the park, but I’m confident enough in myself in terms of my abilities as a musician. My favorite musical genre of all time has always been rock and roll, and over my years of experience as a musician I have never ever written something original that is to be put onto an album of some sort. With this capstone project, it will be one of the biggest steps that I’m ever taking both as a musician, a producer, and an artist. Once the completed EP is done, I can finally work my way into developing my own style and sound for my own music.

Background Literature

• Annotated Bibliography: For this section of the Capstone Paper, I will talk about some of the research that I have done on the history of rock and roll music, it’s sub-cultural genres, and how rock and roll music has changed and evolved overtime. While conducting and finding some of these articles, I’ve unmasked some really useful information on the history of rock and roll, how it evolved as a genre, how it influenced so many other genres of music and created it’s own sub-cultural identities with different denominations in rock and roll music. I have also pinned about five of these articles that I feel show the most significance to my capstone project, and these five articles also help me describe myself as an artist and also describe what each track means in my capstone project EP.

Example 1 from Annotated Bibliography: “Subcultural Identities in Alternative Music Culture” By Holly Kruse: This article speaks about how some popular cultures may not exist in the public eye forever where the mainstream usually is, but that there are certain sub-cultures of the former popular cultures that still exist away from the public eye. Kruse dives into information regarding the 1980’s and 1990’s in which music took over the national and international scene, in which colleges all over would be able to help musical band get it’s notoriety through college radio and college charts. This paved the way for many bands such as Nirvana and R.E.M. to reach a breakthrough without having much help from a major record label , thus creating the possibility of success through independent labels that is focused amongst a fitting sub-culture. This article can help me explain the influences that I get from 90’s-2000’s rock, alternative, and heavy metal music, for when it comes to talking about each individual track I write for my capstone project EP.

• Inspiring Project Presentation: In this section of the Capstone Paper, I will talk about what the project is, what inspired me to make a rock and roll EP, and the tools I need to make it all happen. First off I will talk about the differences between a full album and an EP. Basically an EP is what many people would call a shorter version of an album which would usually consist of 3-5 tracks maximum, rather than a whole album would usually span about 8-12 tracks generally. Then I would talk about the band and the album that helped inspire what I’m going to do for my capstone project EP, and the three specific songs that truly influenced the style I have for each of my individual tracks. For example, the song “Verruckt” off of CheVelle’s(the band that inspired me) most recent album “Niratias” inspired me to make the song storm because they both share a similarity in sound, and song format. Then lastly I will talk about what tools I use primarily outside of a Digital Audio Workstation to help me compose and write these songs, which is really just me using my background talents as a musician and write riffs on guitar and bass, then come up with a solid drum beat then I record it.

Examples from Inspiring Project Presentation:

Song from CheVelle “Verruckt”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb0MAIzedwo

Song that I wrote called “Storm” inspired from “Verruckt” by CheVelle:

https://soundcloud.com/user-372583614/storm-final-mix-5/s-oyRPwA5xg0Y?si=4f7e17dedaa242848c731caccc24ab81&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Methodology/Work Process

• End of Thesis Project Presentation: In this section of the Capstone Paper I will talk about what I have done so far with the capstone project EP in the semester, what the work process was like, what roadblocks I had to face, and to dive down the specifics of what songs I have composed so far for this semester. So in terms of what I have so far for this semester is that I have written the instrumentals for two of the tracks that’s going to in my EP. The first track that I recorded all the instrumentals for is called “Floored” and it was originally a project that I had from my Electro Acoustic Music II class and I just expanded upon it. The work process in recording that instrumental consisted of recording electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and recording drums through an electronic drumkit. Then after I would process the tracks, mix it and master it, yet I still believe the track itself is still unfinished in my eyes as I believe that vocals can be added onto it. The second track I composed which also serves as a final project for my Electro Acoustic Music I class is a song that I wrote called “Storm”. The titled track for my EP called “Storm” is for now a fully instrumental track that I did, and in terms of the song writing process, it shares some similarities to “Floored”. The song format is the same electric guitars, electric bass guitar, and the electronic drum kits were all present, except this time I decided to implement some synthesizers on this specific track. For that specific track I was going for a more heavy, industrial and futuristic style of sound, and I have achieved by learning how to use synthesizers through MIDI keyboards. Some roadblocks I had to face this semester was just honestly finding time to sit down and write more songs for this EP. Balancing five classes and an overnight job is no easy path, but I intend to sit down and write more once this semester ends and when I go on break.

Reflections on the Project and How this relates to my future goals?

• Writing and Producing this EP will serve as my first ever originally written and produced music under my own name as anartist.
• This project also will help me get inspired to continuously find different sounds every day that I can expand upon, record, and make it into a full pledged track or song.
• Some challenges like finding time to sit down and write more can easily be fixed with proper time management and discipline for me.
• Being a musician and a producer can open up a lot of opportunities for me, and once I have my own released EP under spotify, apple music, or any music streaming service, I will have the chance to promote myself as an artist and find some collaborators along the way.
• I would hope that I can get a job in the music producing industry as a live sound engineer, an audio engineer, or a recording engineer. With the work I do continuing from this capstone project, I will have the chances to expand and learn more about this music field.