Letter of Introduction

All though I have been through many different school systems in my life I must say that none of them taught me lessons about life more than Memphis City Schools. I started out in MCS and moved to a charter school. From the charter school I went on to a private Catholic school. From the Catholic school I went to an alternative school and I have finally come full circle back to MCS. Out of all of the places I have been I am most thankful of my time at MCS.

Going to a rough alternative school from a sheltered private school wasn't easy but was the best preparation for the real world. During my stay I tended to keep to myself and expressed my life's highs and lows through my fingertips. Music became everything. If I wasn't doing school work I was doing music. Slowly but surely my homemade studio became operational. This was how I became so rooted in doing music. It was the only thing I had. I finished out the year with good grades and went on to start my next year at East High School.

I started East doing my music and focused on my future. It was at East High where I had received the first academic achievement award since the fifth grade. I had been inducted into East High's first ACT 30+ Club. I realized that in order to take my music from being a hobby to being a profession that I would need to add knowledge to my talent. Now I am applying to Tech schools all over the country so that I may land a job doing what I love.

Abstract

My city has always been known for music and its influence on America, and music runs deep in my family. However, now I see a lot of talented Memphis artists making good music but not capitalizing on their efforts. In an effort to help the artists of my city profit from their work, I have decided to make my capstone topic "What it Takes for a Person to Produce and Promote an Urban Single On a Professional Level."

First I will research what a producer needs to make instrumentals on a professional level as far as instruments, computer programs, and anything else goes. Secondly I will discover the industry standards for recording vocals. This means finding out what microphones, headphones, and sound proofing equipment you are most likely to see if you walk into a studio. After that I will learn all of the procedures involved in the final mixdown of the music. I will then conclude my research with how to promote a finished record. With all of the research I will make a beat, record vocals, have a song mixed and mastered, promote that song, and end with at least 500 online listens of the song. I will then post a easy to follow step by step blog on my studies online so that fellow Memphis artists will start getting paid for their talent.

Sincerely,



Glenn David Jones

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

"OJ Da Juiceman and Drumma Boy in the Studio." Youtube.com. Web. 21 Apr 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwlwdwRThPc.
In this video OJ the Juiceman who is signed with So Icy Ent. and is heavily affiliated with the rap superstar Rodrick Davis otherwise known as Gucci Mane is in the studio with Christopher Gholson better known as Drumma Boy, a Memphis native that produces for a lot of big names. Drumma Boy has done songs for Gucci Mane, Trey Songs, Drake, Lil Wayne, and various others. You can see the studio in the video and catch a glimpse of the equipment he uses. We can see that he uses the Fantom G8 synth, which is made by Roland. He also has a MPC 5000 produced by Akai. He has all of these running through Pro Tools which is a digital audio workstation program.





"Timbaland Studio Tour." YouTube- Timbaland Studio Tour. Web. 21 Apr 2010. .

This video is a tour of platinum producer/recording artist Timbaland. Timbaland has made beats for Ludacris, Missy Elliot, Snoop Dogg, One Republic, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5 and a long list of various other artist from a diverse collection of genres. Inside his studio the video leads the viewer into the "production room" of Timbaland and the setup shows many different instruments. There are many ethnic percussion instruments such as bongos, congos, and maracas. On the digital side of production there is a MPC 2000xl similar to Drumma Boy's. Also the studio is equipped with a Yamaha Motif synth. Another similar sight are numerous Apple computers.





s, j. "Neumann u47 fet microphone review condenser microphones." n. pag. Web. 1 Apr 2010. http://www.recording-microphones.co.uk/Neumann-U47-microphone.shtml.
The Neumann u47 fet microphone is one of the most respected names on the market. The German engineered microphone has a rich history as both as studio microphone as well as a performance microphone. It was a tube based microphone and operated on the Telefunken VF14m "Pentode" valve. The classic design became obsolete when tubes were replaced with transistors so the production of the u47 halted in 1965. However the Neumann u47 was such a success the developers at Neumann tried to recapture the sound aesthetic using transistors. This new creation was called the u47 Fet (field effect transistor) and was produced until 1968. Both versions of the u47 are still highly sought after today.

"The Elements of Studio Audio Mastering." Elements of Studio Audio Mastering n. pag. Web. 1 Apr 2010. http://www.tweakheadz.com/mastering_your_audio.htm.
The art of mastering audio is the process of making a project as loud as possible without distortion. This is achieved by using compressors, EQs, and limiters. Compression increases the volume levels of lower sounds while decreasing the volume level of louder sounds. This creates a more smooth sounding mix. EQ is a abbreviation for equalizer. This allows you to set the tonal balance by lowering and raising certain tones. A limiter does exactly what the name implies. It limits the output so that it never goes over a certain db level. There is no order to which effect must go or come first. The only rule is that the limiter is the last effect in the chain strip.

"Digidesign 003 complete." Digidesign 003 complete n. pag. Web. 1 Apr 2010. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/003Complete/.
Digidesign Pro tools LE is a software program that is the heart of the 003 Factory Complete system. This program is the industry standard. Its used in numerous professional recording studios and post houses across the globe. This is good because if an artist has a copy of Digidesign Pro Tools LE then he can save his project in a Pro Tools file and carry it into any studio in the world that has Pro Tools and pick up exactly where he left off. Furthermore, once a project is recorded its even easier for the post production team to mix and master the project. All they have to do is load the file up in their copy of Pro Tools and they can see all of the tracks that the vocals was recorded on.

My Reflection

Capstone Reflection


"I’m working with, I usually use the MPC2000XL, I just bought the MPC5000, of course I’ve got the Korg M3, that’s like my main keyboard, the Fantom G6 and a Motif rack. That’s what I’ve been using. And just keep expanding." -Zaytoven. In order for one to produce a professional sound one must use professional level equipment.


I learned that a lot more goes into the production of a hit single then just writing a song and recording. The recording process on its own is a massive collection of sophisticated techniques that takes one lots of knowledge and experience to produce a professional mix down. It also takes the right equipment to deliver a crisp clean sound free of distortion. Then once a song is finished it takes professional level promoting to secure a spot on the charts and gain national attention. This means flooding social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook with your music.

I'm most proud of the song I produced for this capstone project. It shows how I utilized the lessons learned from my research. It is also a direct reflection of my talent. Not only is this project music, but it is an expression of my soul. Everything involved in this piece is original and comes from a real aspect of my life. The bass line provides a smooth vibe which contributes to the essence of the situation. The lyrics are written to the language of my heart. I'm proud of my project because not only is it my project, but... it is ME.



Not only did I learn a lot about producing music, but I also learned a lot on how to do a research paper. Without all of the year of lessons that MCS gave me it would not have been possible. Doing this Capstone project I have come to realize that anything I want to do I can as long as I put my mind to it. I also learned that even people with the most talent need knowledge to fully realize their potential.

The Step by Step to Success

1. Get a quality instrumental that sounds industry ready. This means it sounds like the songs you hear on the radio because these songs are your compotition. Make sure the bass hits like other urban singles.

2. Go to a studio to record your single. Use a studio with experiance.

3. Get the project masterd. I suggest L. Nix.

4. Take the net and streets by storm. This means asking everybody you see to check out your music.

Videos