Creative Evaluation/Critical Appreciation
For my BA2 Songwriting project, I outlined my previous experiences with group work involving original music; gradual decomposition of member cohesion, widening of musical differences, my own issues with control and influence over the output of any band I'm involved with amongst other listed problems. My intention with pylon and BA3 was to further familiarize myself with the dynamics involved with composing with a full band in mind and force myself to assume a position other than band leader whilst still functioning as the primary songwriter. Along the way, I both found my creative processes going into the project to pay off and simultaneously understood aspects of my approach that failed, leading me to a more rounded understanding of what I struggled with in previous group endeavors.
With reference to my creative processes, there was an undeniable influence in the EP of live, electronic recordings - recording the rhythm guitar tracks and the drum tracks simultaneously was a very humbling experience as it made me aware of how difficult it was for me to outline and describe my ideas for a song's overall momentum and ideal composition; During the recording of Branca particularly, the drums and even the guitar overdubs morphed into something entirely different from the scratch tracks and demos I had recorded at home, due equally to individual instrumentalist influence as much as it was due to an inability to properly explain how the song was intended to play out. As is evident in the recording, the drum beat during the vocals is far spacier and involves the toms far more than the original demo which was much more reminiscent of a simplistic slacker rock rhythm with a driving 8th note hi-hat pattern, whilst the guitars are significantly less distorted in the final recording compared to the demo, incorporating more ambient effects such as delay and reverb to create room in the track. I believe that this caused Branca to take a more interesting form as a song, engaging with far more dynamic elements than the initial scuzzed-out and simplistic demo track, however I also find myself missing the distorted and dry tone of the demo as i felt that the EP as a whole had slightly more cohesion as a listening experience when Branca sounded more similar to Penny Is a Bad Pick and Seer Sated. Overall, I feel that the new processes I engaged with for the project benefited the final outcome as they added dynamics and sonic depth to the songs that wouldn't have been present otherwise, highlighting particularly the process of composing with a band as this caused the EP to, in my opinion, stand out within the intended genre of slacker rock as it fuses several zones of influence from west coast jazz to sludge metal to harsh noise which would not have been possible had there not been multiple personnel involved in the writing process.
Hvaving never worked on a multi-song release before, i wanted to make the most of it and thus I approached the album with a basic thematic structure in mind: I wanted to harness the vast, dry and cruel vacancy of a desert landscape, not only with the lyrical content of the EP but also with the instrumental tones and structures of the songs. Penny and Seer Sated are both based around a very heavily distorted and dry guitar hook, followed by less intense and spatial verses whilst Branca and Away, Out consist of cleaner, stripped back instrumentals that allow the listener a period of reprieve from the dry presence of the accompanying tracks on the EP. The idea came from, as mentioned in the Processes page, the literature I was consuming prior to and during the writing process of the EP which was an entirely new concept to me. I personally feel as though this approach towards writing and composition not only benefited the lyrical content of the EP but also the musical and compositional aspect as when translating my inspirations into ideas for lyrics, I furthered my understanding of the subtleties involved with the environment I was drawing aforementioned inspiration from. For instance, reading Cormac McCarthy's books informed me of the unique tensions involved within the communities in the desert, with No Country For Old Men highlighting the criminal presence involved with everyday life in places such as Las Vegas, where Seer Sated is set, and Blood Meridian which goes into great detail describing the lurid and harrowing dullness of the deserts of South America which are referenced in Away, Out. On a separate note, Eduoard Leve's writing allowed me to expand my capacity for perspective writing as his books often involve the first and second-person, the latter being an especially foreign scope for my own writing. Away, Out took heavy inspiration from both Suicide and Autoportrait, the former taking place exclusively in the second-person and the latter making exclusive use of the first-person, both of which are perspectives within which the song involves itself. Overall, I believe that the literature I engaged with fueled the writing in ways beyond simple lyrical inspiration, with McCarthy's writing providing context for the surrounding thematic environment and ideas for how to achieve a synesthetic envsioning of this environment with the sonic palette and tones of the EP, and with Leve's writing aiding me in contextualizing my ideas in unique linguistic frameworks that I had never engaged with before, primarily the second-person element of his literature. This conscious approach bolstered my lyrical writing and allowed me to expand my creative constraints when approaching the EP, simultaneously opening up my capability for thematically rich art as well as enhancing my ability to submerge myself in the aesthetic with which my art concerns itself.
One of my primary difficulties with the EP would be the process of production. Being totally at a loss for meaningful and tailored input towards an incredibly impactful aspect of the recording process was absolutely a difficult learning curve for me and while I'm very happy with Ryan Wynne's efforts on the mixing and mastering front for the EP, moving forward I feel it would be more creatively fulfilling to be able to contribute with specificity to the mixing of the music. The overall process of recording music showed me how difficult it can be to achieve the perfect ideal sound for a project; For instance, both the vocal performances and mixing are a point of frustration for me as, while I understand that a good portion of my opinion is formed from self-critique, I had a very clear idea of how the vocals should sit in the mix and the inflections that should be present. I think the vocals clash with the sonic palette that the EP resides within as they feel overproduced, laden with delay and processing, and I personally believe that the EQ and the presence they hold in the mix of each track, particularly Penny and Branca, are far too forward and centered amongst the distorted and heavily compressed to the point which i find them overbearing in the context of the song. This is simultaneously made harsher by the very weak vocal performances I delivered during recordings, 50% due to struggling to find adequate space to record vocals and 50% due to nerves and unfamiliarity with approaching the process of recording vocals i.e. volume, space from the mcirophone, gain management. I think the main takeaway from this has been the acquired understanding of how important it is to communicate with engineers and production teams on the exact desires of the project and the aesthetics that the music should preferably adhere to.
Song-By-Song
Penny Is a Bad Pick
Penny Is a Bad Pick was the first song i wrote for the project, simply coming out with the demo in an afternoon after changing my guitar to the tuning that all but 1 song use on the EP, CGDGBE. This tuning is used by Pavement on the album Slanted and Enchanted and throughout the band's career and follows a drop tuning idea with an extra low C on the bottom, lending that extra low end to the guitar parts that come out when writing it. The song sits confidently in the key of G major and I felt it'd be the perfect song to open the EP with the catchy, poppy hook from the guitar. Penny is definitely the most straightforward track in terms of melody and harmony, which is why I put it as the first track to really ease the listener into the release and the sound of the band. Penny is my second favourite thing to come out of the recording sessions as it feels pretty faithful to the song I had in mind. I had great difficulty with the vocals as I could never get them across in a manner that satisfied my vision for the track, so in the end we just settled for the last take we did which I think serves well enough for the song, however if given more time I would've liked to get into a proper vocal booth to rehearse and record them professionally.
Branca
Branca was the second song written for the EP but didn't necessarily come together until the very end of the recording sessions as finding a melody to go along with the fairly complicated chord progression was a challenge. Deciding which type of guitar tone to use for the song was a point of contention too, as we didn't know whether to put it before or after Seer Sated and as such couldn't decided whether it would feel jarring going from the relatively sparse feel of Branca into Seer's intense squalls of noise and dissonance. We decided to place it before Seer Sated, and in order to retain cohesion across the EP we added in the noise breakdown that comes after the second chorus, helping to prevent Branca from feeling out of place amongst the relative distortion of the rest of the EP. I feel confident in saying it's my least favourite of the recordings we did for this EP as the end product didn't align with my vision very closely at all, which is frustrating however it taught me to both be more specific with my requests during production and also to work on my confidence when recording vocals so that I don't come across so nervous and fail to hit most notes.
Seer Sated
Seer Sated was the third song to come out of the writing process and, similar to Penny, took a very short time to write. The song was written when the EP was planned to be much noisier than it wound up being, but it underwent very little changes when we decided to dial back the album as it served as an excellent pacing and dynamic device. The half-time psychedelic breakdown section was entirely improvised on the day of recording at the suggestion of Sid and Red; I was initially quite skeptical but over time I found it to be an incredible addition to the movement and flow of the song, with the shift in pace serving as a way to ease the listener into the slow and spacious closer of the EP. Seer Sated was the first song to be close to complete in terms of production and while it isn't my favourite track on the EP, it certainly isn't my least favourite and I couldn't possibly imagine the pacing of the release being anyhwere near as smooth flowing without its presence where it is.
Away, Out
Away, Out was, conveniently, the last song written for the EP and is the only song not to use CGDGBE tuning, instead using the much different A#D#A#D#A#A# tuning, which was inspired by Sonic Youth's tunings that often involve strings tuned to unison notes and no more than 3 notes in a tuning. The palette that this tuning provided was very wide and calming, with the voicings being laden with 6ths and 7ths which helped create a nostalgic feel to the song. The piano at the very beginning of the track was a very last minute addition by Sid, who noticed the old out of tune piano in the studio we were using and felt that a small piano line would fit perfectly with the free-time spoken word introduction for the track. Comparitively to the other songs, the recording session was done in the first take and the overdubs not long after whilst the other tracks all required a few different takes until we were satisfied with the dynamics. Personally, I believe that Away, Out is the best song on the EP by a long shot and is the song which sounds the closest to what I imagined it should.
Conclusion
Overall, the process of writing and recording the EP was very enjoyable and educational, showing me elements of the creative process that I hadn't thought about prior to working with a band and producers, as well as being a suitable environment to thoroughly experiment with new methods for lyrical writing. It showed me how valuable it is to have outside opinions contributing to a piece of music and simultaneously how important it is to be clear with your aesthetic ideals involving your own music when someone else is helping you achieve a final goal. I enjoy the EP and find it absoutely aligns with my ideas for how it would sound, being distorted and lo-fi and very evidently slacker rock, however there are certain elements within production and performance that I would've liked to change given the time and space for proper vocal takes and given that I had any ability involving a DAW myself.
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