Supervisor Meetings

This page outlines the development of the project from the perspective of the supervision meetings. Similar to other higher education establishments, each student undertaking a final year project is a assigned a supervisor, whose responsibility is to answer any questions provided by the student as well as guide them towards the practice or area in which they wish to explore academically. In the context of this project, the supervisor assigned deals with sound and can provide a series of advisories, both technical and theoretical that can mould the final output into shape. Throughout the duration of the academic year meetings will take place to maintain a steady arrow towards the project's overall goal. The purpose for having these sessions recorded is to aid with the practice that is required to achieve the aesthetics for the conceptual ideas of the project.

Meeting One

 Constituent Parts

( 15 / 12 / 17 ) 

Following the initial group supervision meeting, I made an appointment with my supervisor Stephen Kennedy. In this meeting we introduced and elaborated on a sonic prowess that exists in sound and how it can be coupled with my intentions of creating a music video. The research method as outlined by my supervisor will involve the deconstruction of an original sound piece, taking certain sections and subsections to create a new alternative sound, which will be represented via a video installation. At this particular point my project's proposal was still solidifying, what I thought I could see in the process was a music video that sounded very unique in it's nature but not because it was any different from the original soundtrack. Nevertheless after having this meeting I began to think about how I can deconstruct an instrumental and begin building it from scratch.

Meeting Two

Research Question 

( 26 / 1 / 18 )

In this meeting we discussed the development of a research question, gathering online resources and generating some materials that can be used to communicate the project idea. One of the issues that I encountered on this occasion was not being able communicate the premise of my project due to the fact that I had no materials to forward to my supervisor. We agreed on a follow up meeting next week where I would introduce a variety of my works, as well as some inspirations or practice related examples that better represent the idea of my project. 

Meeting Three

Presenting Materials

( 4 / 2 / 18 )

In this session I presented my supervisor with some materials that follow the practice within which I intend to explore and expand on. It appears that there is a tradition of mixing and remixing music from periods in contemporary history. This tradition, although seemingly frowned upon by some financial and business aspects of society, is upheld and glorified on the basis that it carries a volume of prowess that cannot be imagined or theorised. In this video I introduce a variety of music videos, alongside the one I intend to sample and remix into my own aversion of the track. I also introduced an example of where I made a brief contribution to the tradition of remixing sounds and music. 

100 by The Game ft. Drake

Feel the fire by Peabo Bryson

The sound track 100 consist of a series of samples extracted from the song Feel the Fire, a track which was released decades before Johny Juliano (The producer of 100) produced the track for The Game. One of the reasons why this is important to note is that a technique as simple as this can attract audiences of different ages, some of which whom may not have been alive at the time of its release. Nevertheless, with the example of 100 being one of many hundreds and perhaps thousands of song titles who follow this practice, it is also important to note how this allows music to become timeless, that is giving music the ability to travel across time and in different periods.

Brothers & Sisters By Made Eze

Brothers & Sisters is a soundtrack that I made, it uses the instrumental from 100.  I presented this example during the supervision session to provide my supervisor with a clearer idea towards what I intend to do for my project. In this video there is a short narrative before the beginning and after the end of the soundtrack, it constructs a deeper meaning to the overall message of the song. Similar to what I mention in the 'Defining an issue and creating a question' video, my intentions are to combine and manipulate different forms of media, some of which have been taken from existing materials to aid to the message that I wish to carry forward unto my final output. Further into the discussions of this meeting, it appears that the examples in which have been spoken about all have combined themes of old and newly added material. In Brothers & Sisters for example, the combined medias form a message of purity and sacrifice, I.E doing what one is able to do to fend for those he or she love the most. A simple breakdown below demonstrates how these medias communicate with each other:

100 Instrumental: sampled with heightened pitch vocals by Peabo Bryson, the instrumentals produces a strong deep beat that evokes emotion or perhaps, bring a listener to attention. 

Brothers & Sisters Lyrics: In this example the lyrics disclaim a series of accounts that involve a large community of people, all of which are oppressed by the unfair struggles of life. In one part of the song where the artists says 'We will never die from the eyes full of jealousy in our enemies overcame many themes of unpleasantries' the artist inspires the listeners who are relative to such accounts to look after their loved ones, similar to the way in which the original soundtrack 100 describes an account of someone being called to turn his back against one of his own. 

100 lyrics: The opening verse is introduced by the Game, his verse describes an account of who, what, where and why they wanted him to kill the artist that is featuring on the track. The hook that follows this verse in simple terms, delivers the message that in these difficult times in which society lives in, one thing to desire is that the ones whom you hold closest are as authentic with you as you are to them.

Mans not hot by Big Shaq

This comedy based sound track is one of the most played parody titles on the internet. Similar to Gangnam style, a pop based mainstream title, Mans not hot successfully became an international hit. Interpreters and online commentators refer to the genre of this music as grime, however the majority of the audiences who listened to this soundtrack were unable to locate its true origin, nor the original artists. As the soundtrack continued to grow however, some issues concerning copyright surfaced in the field of social media. This is where the elements that were discussed in the initial meeting begin to take shape.  Although a significant percentage of music communities value the shared expression of remix art, some communities also value the need for ownership. It was interesting to bring this example into the supervision meeting as the issues that involved this particular title put my research issue into perspective. 

Lurk by 86

Lets Lurk by 67 ft. Giggs

This title was released a some time before Mans Not Hot. although it did not receive as much attention as the grime / drill parody title the soundtrack became popular in the scenes in which this title was manifested. When the parody title was released it appeared as though audiences had completely replaced this aversion of the track instrumental and perceived Mans Not Hot as an original title. Furthermore, when the issue of copyright / Intellectual property became prominent on social media, no responsibility was claimed for the loss in revenue for the originators of the soundtrack 'Lurk'. Further details give reason to suggest that 67, a UK drill rap group were not the sole rappers to have used the instrumental for Mans Not Hot. Another drill rap gang 86, had released a record with that instrumental far before any of the subsequent aversions were released. 

As the discussion continued a question became vivid, that is copyright an issue and why do artists grow economically offended by the threat of another artist using their power of freedom to express on any title? One of the themes I enjoyed exploring was the need for copyright, as I would require knowledge and information prior to making a remix out of an artists or artists original sound track. 

Fragile by Tech N9ne ft. Kendrick Lamar, Mayday & Kendal Morgan

The video above is the sole example that I wish to strip down to its bare and simple components. The reason for this is due to the inspiration that the sound track provides me with, that is to remain unapologetic towards groups or individuals who believe to know you and understand you far more than you understand yourself.  There are a multitude of perspectives in which this video can be broken down, however for the purpose of this project section I will simplify it as much as possible. The video is a combination of differently recorded media. un between the performance shots of the video there is a narrative, a child is being bullied at school because of his appearance, whilst one person takes in the background begins to develop a liking to him. Although this narrative is sporadic  and requires some time to get used to within the edit of the video, the message remains vivid and clear for the audiences to understand. 

Meeting Four

Nietzsche & Schopenhauer

( 15 / 2 / 18 )

In this meeting I discussed signification with my supervisor. After homing down on the research issue within society the question began to form more vividly. What I discovered through this meeting was a small and brief landscape of theoretical aspects towards music. A reading by Christopher Cox exampled the works of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, describing the relationship between the two theories of will and how they make sense of the realm that lives outside the landscape of reality. According to Schopenhauer this landscape is only accessible momentarily through artists that are expressive enough to reach that field of creativity, however Nietzsche only refers to these artists as an accidental term of events. Nevertheless after this meeting I was able to continue my academic process with a clearer field of vision towards what I was aiming to achieve with my project. 

Meeting Five

Finalising Research Issue & Question

( 22 / 2 / 18 )

This meeting looked at the cultural differences in the engagement of sound on human expression. The comparison between political perceptions and non western societies on sound provided the weight that was required to carry out my self lead practice and research. In simple terms, there are a series of concerns and issues that some political parties hold towards the expression of art in its purest form, that being music. These issues, according to what was discussed in the meeting have historically been a concern to the political parties, whom respond by banning, removing or controlling the output of music that is released to the population. Further to this discussion, a comparison was made to non Western societies who are more likely to entertain the outputted music because it is the way in which they have expressed and lived their lives for centuries. With that being said the importance of this issue brings forth the reason for creating a project, not one that simply stands in line for a classification but one that provokes the interest of similarly thinking people. Therefore the project itself is asking, how can music in its contemporary form be elevated, to a serious means of engagement with the world.   

Meeting Six

Project Planning 


( 15 / 3 / 18 )

This was the final meeting before the project underwent its technical and physical process. We discussed whether the quality of sound needed to be elevated to a mastering degree, how the project will be displayed during the exhibition and the nature of the soundtrack itself. The green light was given to get started with the project and any follow up meeting would be for the purpose of overviewing the material that is being developed.