Running Head: THE PROCESS OF MUSIC PRODUCTION 1

The Process of Music Production

Allison McGehee

Kathrin Dill

Waxahachie Global High School

Capstone Proposal
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Purpose and Benefits of the Project... Page 3

Future Career..... Page 3-4

Inspiration.. Page 4-5

Audience.... Page 5

Research Topics. Page 5

PLTW Engineering and Design Process Page 5-6

Our Mentor. Page 6

Milestones... Page 6-7

Measuring Success... Page 7

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Purpose and Benefits of the Project

Experience is a key element of a career. You can be taught all day long about how to do a

certain thing, but until you do it, theirs is no telling how different it could turn out for you. The

same thing goes for our project. Without being 100% positive that we want to be a music

producer, we must find out if creating music is something we enjoy, or are talented in. You wont

know until you try. In our life, there have been people who have put us in such a state of fear of

everything that Wed be afraid to open our mouth. The only time we ever felt like ourselves and

wasnt afraid was when we were singing without people around to tell us to be quiet. When wed

even think about saying anything in class or around friends our surroundings would turn into a

war zone, we would freeze in fear, and almost cry. Music is how we get to be ourselves, and how

we get to do what weve waited years not to fear.

For some areas, there can only be so much preparation, like the area were going into.

Sometimes you just must dive in and get as much experience as you can. If there is a chance that

we begin to do our project, and we find that producing music isnt necessarily our passion, then

we can move on and not waste more time on it. Whether it is successful or not, the experience is

something that is required. Before going any further into the career, we need to get the basics,

and this project benefits us in that way.

Future Career

Our plans consist solely of music. Were not sure what our future holds for us, but we

know that music is at the center of that future. Therefore, our plan is going to build up our

weaknesses and reinforce our strengths in that area. The specific career that were aiming for is a
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Music Producer. The degree in that area is a Bachelors of Science in Music Production, or an

Associates in Music Production and Engineering.

Inspiration

We pull our inspiration from listening to music. Were almost always listening to music

and finding something new to listen to. There is something about music that brings people

together and it has such a large impact on everything

throughout life. We consider music to be an essential

part of our life, and without it life is gray. We can see

ourselves making music, singing, producing,

coaching, and listening to music for the rest of our life. Whenever life changes, and

circumstances get worse, music is always there. There is nothing more satisfactory than the

beautiful rhythm of the perfect bass line. We can find so much peace in how amazing harmonies

can fit together like a puzzle. Some lyrics can be encoded, others are blatant about what the

meaning of the song is, and some songs can make absolutely no sense. That is the beauty of

music. It is always changing, and is so diverse. There are so many choices, and so much freedom

involved and that is what makes it so appealing.

Allisons entire family is involved in music somehow. Her brother, Brady, plays the

drums quite fantastically and dabbles in acoustic guitar. Her other brother, Dalton, plays guitar

and knows his way around a sound board, and her mom is an amazing piano player. Her father

plays bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, mandolin, and some violin. She plays the

acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and the piano. Also, she and her parents sing. She has a room in

her house dedicated to music thats filled with instruments. Her family is practically a travelling
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circus. Music has been around us our whole life. We fell in love with it. Even in the hardest

times, music never left us, and we still use it to take the

stress away.

Audience

The general demographic that is our audience is

quite varied. Music is so universal that anyone can be a part of the audience. Things like music

and the arts are meant for all kinds of people to see and hear. There is no specific group of people

that we plan to reach with our project. We are firm believers in leaving groups behind and the

realization that every person is different in their own way. This means that our music cant reach

everyone in a single group, or individually either. The music will reach whoever needs to hear it.

Research Topics

a. Music and Brain Function

It is said that when one listens to music, they must use their entire brain, rather than

just one area. How does your brain act and react around music?
b. Music and Depression/Emotion
There are songs that make people feel a certain way when they are listened to. We are

looking to find the different kinds of sounds and rhythms that change peoples mood.

We can also organize our album where each song represents a different mood each.

How do different kinds of rhythms and sounds effect the mood of a person?
c. How music effects children in their developmental years.
There has been much controversy over whether playing classical music around

infants makes them smarter, or what the bad impact is if they listen to the louder,

more angry music. What does music do to a babys mind?

The Engineering and Design Process

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1. Define a Problem:
2. Generate Concepts:
3. Develop a solution:
4. Construct the Test Prototype:
5. Evaluate Solution:
6. Present Solution:

Mentor

Our mentors name is Stephen Martell. He is a teacher at Global High School, but has

previous experience working as an assistant professor in Radio/TV

Production and worked in media ministry for 25+ years. He has a

Bachelors in communications from Florida State, and a Masters in

communications from Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth.

He has produced a few works in his day. We see him every Tuesday and

Thursday after school. His position is mainly meant for questions or

concerns that cannot be researched, because he has been though the process. So, when we meet

we can discuss our progress and we can ask him the questions we might have throughout the

project.

Milestones

Suspected Date of Description of Achievement Status

Achievement
October 20, 2016 Set up instruments and the studio equipment and a Achieved
solid location to record
November 11, 2016 Master the basics of the recording equipment In Progress
December 15, 2016 Finish recording the first song and critique the In Progress
(End of 1st semester) process to improve for the rest of the development
of the album
January 3, 2017 Have at least 2 featured artists lined up for the In Progress
(Beginning of 2nd album (maybe?)
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Semester)
January 6, 2017 Attempt the revised process in putting the second In Progress
song together
January 20, 2017 Finalize the song-creating process and continue in In Progress
creating the rest of the album
January 31, 2017 Lay out the number of songs to be on the album In Progress
February 10, 2017 Finalize lyrics and music for originals 3 & 4 In Progress
February 13, 2017 Have featured artists recorded In Progress
February 20, 2017 Music and lyrics for originals finalized In Progress
March 1, 2017 Finalize cover songs In Progress
March 15, 2017 Record parts from originals In Progress
March 30, 2017 Finishing touches on songs In Progress
Mid- April, 2017 Burn copies of the CD to be sold In Progress

Measuring Success

The success of an album, artist, or producer depends on how much the album is

popularized and Hopefully, by the end we can put the finished product on iTunes. We would like

to also make copies and sell them anywhere we can. This is all for the experience and feel of

putting music together. On the back of the album cover, we can print the URL for our online

portfolios and put a form there for feedback and reviews. We can also have a portion of our

Capstone pages on our portfolios where we can release previews to songs as they are being

made, and can promote the songs through Twitter, Instagram, and other social medias.