Ian Joslin

ERWC/Period 4
Oct. 14, 2016

Finding My Sound

I. Part One: Description.......................................Page 1

II. Part Two: Research.......................................Page 3
III. Part Three: Reflection.......................................Page 6
IV. Part Four: Works Cited.......................................Page 8
V. Part Five: Annotated Bibliography.......................................Page 9

Senior Project Description

I am writing and recording a six song EP to further my music writing and lyric
capabilities to provide the world with quality entertainment. The music will be humorous

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and its main goal is to make you smile. This idea came to me because through the
community of Santa Susana high school I have met many creative people who have
inspired me and helped me become the artist I am. I have performed at many senior
projects that have forced me to become more creative and expand my musical skills.
Writing and recording this EP will help me create a portfolio that will show creativity and
my array of skills to be part of entertainment industry. I expect to learn from this process
how to elicit a certain type of emotion through music.
I am going to write and compose the songs myself, which includes lyrics, vocals,
and all the different instrument parts. I am going to collaborate with different musicians
and coordinate a band, and Ill have the opportunity to record in a studio to accomplish
all of this. The skills which I possess, makes me believe I can do this senior project, is
my ability to write lyrics and music, and my ability to work with others. The difficulties I
can anticipate are money for studio time, coordinating musicians to come record and
the difficulty of a musician learning their part, and producing the exact sound I want. I
will overcome the difficulty of the money by mowing my parents lawn in return for money
for recording. To overcome the coordination aspect I will set up a timeline by which to
get certain parts recorded with a particular musician, and I will meet with each of them
ahead of time to teach them their parts and make sure they have them down perfectly.
To produce the exact sound I want, I will have to spend a lot of time in the studio telling
the recorder exactly how I want the various components mixed.
Some research I have already done is that I have talked to Lee Krabbe, a music
producer. He states that making a good EP requires an extreme amount of time and
patience, and can be very challenging. He said You have to be able to play your parts

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perfectly, so well that you can nail the part falling down stairs. Whats recorded is
recorded, you have to be happy with it because it will never change. I will research
what makes a good creative portfolio that I can utilize to apply for a job or to a
university. I will plan to research what makes a song enjoyable, such as what beats per
minute or key a song can be in to convey a certain emotion. I have already done some
of my own research and I have noted how some people reacted to my lyrics and songs.
I want to find out how much time is needed to produce one song, that includes writing it
and recording it. I will talk to many musicians and look up many trustworthy articles to
research these components of my project. I will research how my EP will be presented,
either by handing out CDs or by streaming it on a website or app, to make sure people
have the opportunity to hear it.
I believe overall this project will take months to complete. Not only will the
recording process take an extreme amount of time, but I will have to write the music and
work with musicians in advance. I intend to start working on this project the moment it is
approved and I will continue to work on this project until summer or the next school
year.

Research: How has the Digital Age Changed the Music Industry?
The Los Angeles Times article "Recording Studios Are Being Left out of the Mix."
is an update on how the digital age has changed the music industry. This particular
article is about the big expensive recording studios and how they are declining in
number and going out of business. With almost everything being recorded and edited

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digitally and outstanding software to do so becoming available, many artist are opting to
record their music in garages, bedrooms, and small homemade studios instead of
paying the thousands to sometimes millions of dollars to record in LAs or NYs
professional studios. This change has been happening for around a decade or so. This
relates to my senior project because I am recording my EP in a very very small
homemade studio in a corner of a garage.
Without the analogue to digital transition in the music industry, I would not be
able to record anything that sounds good. I do not have nearly the amount of money or
connections to record in the big fancy studios in LA. But this does not mean that the mix
of the song is considerable worse. It is actually quite close. The software sound
engineers use in the big recording studios are some of the same in these home studios.
This means mix is most dependent on the skill of the sound engineer and how well
he/she is able to navigate these softwares.
I have written a an EP and now have learned greatly about recording and mixing
by recording it with Lee Krabbe, in his home studio. His software and microphones are
the same in these big studios, the only difference is recording through him is much,
much cheaper. So for a indie artist, like myself, the digital age and its effects on the
music industry has allowed my dreams to come true.
In an article Analog, Digital, What Is the Difference? is says digital is much
cheaper. Recording an album with analog technology can require a whole studio full of
equipment, but with digital recording technology, its possible to record a whole album in
a bedroom on a laptop. And whereas analog technology can wear out or be damaged,
digital media can last for an indefinite length of time.

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This is important to my senior project because it shows again how the digital age
has made recording my EP much more possible. One doesnt need big mixing boards
and giant speakers in order to make music. Although most argue that it is best to use a
mixture of analog and digital equipment. I am recording my album on both. The
microphones will record my acoustic guitar going through a preamp and compressor,
which are analog, and into a computer, where it will be digitally mixed.
Now that sounds can be recorded onto computer rather than tape sounds
become much more reliable storage wise. I can bring my laptop hooked up to a
microphone and record sounds anywhere, such as cars passing by on streets, or busy
market places. One could record these sounds with tape, but it is much easier to
damage a tape. It is a lot longer too. In studios it would take 30 minutes to go from one
song on tape to another song on tape, it only takes a minute to click open new song
on a computer. This is actually one of the reasons music studios are going out of
business, because when studios dont make as much money when they charge people
for time.
Another online article Has the Digital Revolution Really Changed the Music
Industry? published on Factor.com, has shown another way that the digital age has
impacted the music industry. Before the digital age, everyone bought music with vinyl,
cassettes or CDs, nowadays almost every song recorded and released can be digitally
downloaded or streamed. This is due to programs like Apples Itunes or Apple music,
and websites like bandcamp, reverbnation, spotify, or even pandora. This impacts how I
would like to share and get my music out to the world, it can help me connect and get
discovered by major label companies to get future music recorded.

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The website Bandcamp.com, is a website that up and coming growing artists can
put their music on. People can stream it from there or buy a downloaded copy. This
helps me make money and get my name out to the world very easily without paying to
make a boat load of CDs. Before Youtube, artist looking to share their music videos or
songs would have to pay MTV just to submit. Now, anyone can load their art to youtube
and anyone can view it. When artists get popularity online they often become successful
and sooner or later get a song on the radio or get a gig at venues. So the digital age has
helped many, and will help me become successful.
Social media also plays a role in the change of music. Social media allows bands
and fans to connect as well as keep people updated. People can share music on social
media sites connecting to audiences that could be all over the world. Overall, the digital
age has made the whole process of writing, recording, and sharing music much more
accessible. Anyone can record what they want as long as they continue to work hard.
No more, do musicians have to struggle to find the money and connections to get into a
big Hollywood studio. The digital age has given everyone a chance to teach, write,
record, and share music.

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Reflection
I am currently 4/6 done with my senior project, that is I have finished completely
four songs and have two more to record. It has been a long hard, yet thrilling process to
find the sound of my music. The product, in my opinion, is far better than I expected. All
the very hard work and time I have done have paid off significantly. The outcome iss
professional sounding and I am proud of myself, Lee Krabbe my producer, and all the
musicians for doing an impressive job. I expect these next two songs to be even better
because I now know much more about the sound I am aiming for and I am very used to
recording by now.
The strengths of my project would be the knowledge, growth, and skills I have
learned through this whole process. One can hear the growth in the music Ive made
already and will be able to hear it in my future music. My voice has gotten extremely

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polished. Before I started recording I honestly was terrible at singing, I pretty much just
yelled all the lyrics. I can now write complex melodies and riffs on piano and guitar. I can
now listen to any song and pick out the different components that make it up. I now
know what I am doing, the amount of time it takes to record a song has been cut in half
compared to the time it took months ago. The learning process of challenging myself
and recording an album have given me the skills to make music in other home studios
with my friends for fun.
A problem I encountered was the amount of time I had to put into recording. So
far I have put in more than a hundred hours, and have only about ten minutes of music.
Luckily I started this project my junior year, otherwise I would not be able to complete it
nearly in time. This has taught me to have significant patience. To reach closest to
perfection, you have to take your time. Whether that means spending two hours
recording and editing a midi track or six hours tuning in the perfect drum track, it all
takes loads of time. I really had no choice to spend time on this project, because I
wanted it to be the very best it posible could be. After finishing four songs a year later, it
is evident that the time spent on this project was well worth it.
Another problem I faced was not having the drummer I wanted to come in and
record. I had to solve this problem by resulting to a drum program where I had to
meticulously program every drum hit i wanted. Luckily my producer, Lee Krabbe, had a
very good and expensive digital program that sounded like it was live recorded. This
took much more time, but in the long run was actually beneficial. If there was a certain
part of the drum that I didnt like, after listening to many times, I had the control and
availability to change it. So, this problem was a blessing in disguise.

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Overall I am very proud and thankful for this project. It sounds amazing and
exceeded my expectations as well as taught me how to become a great musician. It
sounds like it was recorded in a big fancy studio, when it wasnt. This impresses me and
urges me to share it as soon as its done. I never thought I would have the talent I have
now and I am thankful I can get these talents to use, such as mixing the choir shows at
school or teaching others music theory.

Works cited
Fowler, Matt. "15 Legendary Albums That Were Recorded in Bedrooms, Kitchens, and
Garages." Mic. N.p., 25 Oct. 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.
13, October. "Recording Studios Are Being Left out of the Mix." Los Angeles Times. Los
Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2009. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
Sisario, Ben. "The Magic Shop, a Venerable Recording Studio in SoHo, Will
Close." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
@SonicScoop. "Midtown Meltdown: MSR Studios Is Shutting Down - SonicScoop."
SonicScoop. N.p., 02 Sept. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
Andrews, Charlotte Richardson, Callum Tyndall, and Daniel Davies. "Has the Digital
Revolution Really Changed the Music Industry? - Factor." Factor. N.p., 08 Jan. 2015.
Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
"Analog, Digital, What Is the Difference?" Recording Connection Audio Institute.
N.p., 15 Dec. 2014. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.

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Annotated Bibliography
Fowler, Matt. "15 Legendary Albums That Were Recorded in Bedrooms,
Kitchens, and Garages." Mic. N.p., 25 Oct. 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.
The article 15 Legendary Albums That Were Recorded in Bedrooms, Kitchens,
and Garages. on the website Mic.com is about 15 legendary albums that were made
bedrooms, kitchens, and garages. There are many more, but this website highlights
some major albums like Beck, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Bon Iver. It
shows how huge musical artists dont need big fancy studios anymore.
13, October. "Recording Studios Are Being Left out of the Mix." Los Angeles
Times. Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2009. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
The article Recording Studios Are Being Left out of the Mix published by the
Los Angeles Times shows that with the introduction of the digital age big studios have
been declining. In the past you would need a big expensive studio in Los Angeles or
New York in order to record great music. Everything was recorded on tapes and mixed
on huge analogue mixing consoles. Nowadays, digital software, computers, and the
availability of equipment has changed the entire scene. Big studios are going out of
business because anything can be recorded at home and a lot quicker.

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Sisario, Ben. "The Magic Shop, a Venerable Recording Studio in SoHo, Will
Close." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
This article "The Magic Shop, a Venerable Recording Studio in SoHo, Will
Close." by the New York Times is about a big studio where people from David Bowie to
the Foo Fighters have recorded. It is a disappointment to many that it is closing but not
a shocker. The change in the music business has driven studios like this one out of
business.
@SonicScoop. "Midtown Meltdown: MSR Studios Is Shutting Down SonicScoop." SonicScoop. N.p., 02 Sept. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
This article "Midtown Meltdown: MSR Studios Is Shutting Down posted on sonic
scoop is about a big spacious studio in New York called Manhattan Studio Recording
that has just announced it is shutting down. It recorded many famous musicals, but like
many could not keep up with the change of the music industry. This is another example
of how big recording studios are still declining.
Andrews, Charlotte Richardson, Callum Tyndall, and Daniel Davies. "Has the Digital
Revolution Really Changed the Music Industry? - Factor." Factor. N.p., 08 Jan. 2015.
Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
The online article showed how the digital age impacted the music business in
other ways. For instance, people who record themselves without labels can use
websites such as bandcamp and reverbnation to distribute their music and make a
name for themselves. Social media can be used to promote your music and instead of
paying to submit music videos or songs, and hoping you get played, one can now
download those videos straight to youtube. Music doesn't need to be sold on CD or vinyl
either anymore, it can all be online.

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"Analog, Digital, What Is the Difference?" Recording Connection Audio Institute.

N.p., 15 Dec. 2014. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
In Analog, Digital, What Is the Difference?" an article posted on Recording
Connection Audio Institutes website argues that some people believe analog has a
truer representation sound and digital can be quite cold, but digital is much cheaper,
does not need as much equipment and will be much much more durable and long
lasting. Analog will be more true and warmer, but digital is cheap and gives more
control, but using a mixture of both is the best.