Music Production and Technology Final Year Project

jme467

Hey Guys,

Just going into my final year of Music Production and Technology in LIT, and I just said I'd see if anyone had any ideas or suggestions as to what to do for it?

Generally it tends to be only recording EPs or building preamps (etc) that goes on, but we are literally allowed to do anything, so I really wanted to try something fresh and new. I'm sure the lecturers are sick to their teeth of the same things year after year like.

My only real idea so far, was to write, stage, and record a short rock musical. Anyone have any other suggestions?

PMI

You just said, it, now go do it....

Neurojazz

Sounds awesome - pretty large idea

Android 666

Oh, oh, oh, do 'Boogie Nights - The Musical!'






















…or Debbie does Dallas

i57dwun4yb1pt8

reproduce this using a DAW


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056010219

ebaysellerrob

funny Im stock piling alot of music was thinking of wriying a rock musical myself lol any ideas what type of one

krd

Why don't you get the gangsters of Limerick to rap?


I'm not joking either - I would bet the farm, they've been putting their gangster narrative into rhyme for at least a decade.


Irish gangsters are mostly frustrated artists. Whenever they do a hit - there's always an epic theatricality to it. Like - How would Scorcese reproduce this - what can we give him? In the old days - people would just disappear. Now it's like everything has to be ****ing Batman. People can't just be dragged down lane ways and bopped over the head any more - they have to be pursued across isolated rural landscapes at dawn or near dusk. I swear - Irish gangsters these days - think out everything in cinematic terms.

Seriously, I think - if we could get these guys on creative writing and film making courses. Got the finance to produce and publish them - it would be the end of our gangster problem and we'd possibly have the finest film makers, dramatists and novelists in the world.

Anyway - that's my idea.

You'd could always do a Limerick Donk record.

Neurojazz

Have a rack of a million cowbells at the back of the stage. To go with the Donk.

ebaysellerrob

funny you mentioned rap in a rock opera..just saw repo the genetic opera and they had sarah brightman(the original christine from phantom and think she was in evita) one of the best female opera tenors rapping lol so why not give the limerick lads a go lol .go to your local a and e on a friday and wait for some of them to come up to you to read you their poetry

tweeky

Watch "Classic Albums - The making of Bat out of hell" everyone laughed except Producer Todd Rundgren, sold 40 million Albums and made a sh1tload of money on it.

jtsuited

tweeky wrote: »

Watch "Classic Albums - The making of Bat out of hell" everyone laughed except Producer Todd Rundgren. Sold 40 million Albums.....Made a sh1tload of money on it.

Really???? I've said it before and I'll say it again.....Todd Rungren was a friggin genius. And I don't bandy the term 'friggin genius' about much at all. In fact apart from Rundgren, I'd say Stevie Wonder is the only other person I'd call a friggin genius.

To the OP, how about a short rock musical based on the development of nuclear fission. nah, i'm out of good ideas.

Mars Bar

jme467 wrote: »

Hey Guys,

Just going into my final year of Music Production and Technology in LIT, and I just said I'd see if anyone had any ideas or suggestions as to what to do for it?

Generally it tends to be only recording EPs or building preamps (etc) that goes on, but we are literally allowed to do anything, so I really wanted to try something fresh and new. I'm sure the lecturers are sick to their teeth of the same things year after year like.

My only real idea so far, was to write, stage, and record a short rock musical. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Go for it!

But now I'm gonna have to think of something epic for mine to beat yours!

tweeky

jtsuited wrote: »

Really???? I've said it before and I'll say it again.....Todd Rungren was a friggin genius. And I don't bandy the term 'friggin genius' about much at all. In fact apart from Rundgren, I'd say Stevie Wonder is the only other person I'd call a friggin genius.

Saw the doc last week, Todd paid for it and sang all the BV's.

jtsuited

tweeky wrote: »

Saw the doc last week, Todd paid for it and sang all the BV's.

Jesus. The cost of that (making records back then was big money) must have made it a fairly considerable gamble.

The backing vocals bit.....sure there's no better man than Todd for the bv's. Rundgren's melodic arrangements have never been topped.

krd

jtsuited wrote: »

Jesus. The cost of that (making records back then was big money) must have made it a fairly considerable gamble.

The backing vocals bit.....sure there's no better man than Todd for the bv's. Rundgren's melodic arrangements have never been topped.

Yes, but records used to actually make money then. Or at least break even. In the vinyl days, small record companies could be sure of shifting a set amount of vinyl. Even if the record wasn't great - there would be people who'd buy it.

Now we live in a world, where Lady Gaga gets paid 800 quid for 2 million plays on spotify. 800 quid will probably just buy tickets for 10 people to one of her shows.

studiorat

Is a musical not just a little bit ghey?

ebaysellerrob

nope..look at andrew lloyd webber owns half the theaters in the west end and has the longest running musicals of modern times even with the fact that a musical producer only makes 2% of the door a night and the fact the likes of love never dies cost 30 million to make the first week alone it made 13 million

also what are considered two of the best rock operas of all time are the rise and fall of ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars and dream theaters scences from a memory

dont confuse a theme album for one with a running story line:cool:

studiorat

ebaysellerrob wrote: »

nope..look at andrew lloyd webber

exactly...

ebaysellerrob

have you ever seen or been to a musical or opera
also you know andrew lloyd webber is straight he is married and use to date sarah brightman

Neurojazz

studiorat wrote: »

exactly...

Go watch 'Shallow Hal' :P

studiorat

ebaysellerrob wrote: »

have you ever seen or been to a musical or opera
also you know andrew lloyd webber is straight he is married and use to date sarah brightman

A musical and an opera are two very different things imo, been to plenty of both with work. I also worked on an ALW session years ago. Pink shirt, V-neck sports casual pull-over draped 'round the shoulders and cream slacks. Definitely a touch of the ghey going on...

jme467

studiorat wrote: »

Is a musical not just a little bit ghey?

Wow, lots of replies :P Thanks to everyone!

To be fair studiorat, I said ROCK musical.. People like U2, Green Day and Pete Townshend have made a lot of money from this kinda thing, and I'm sure many more will follow..

I do get your point, but I'm just looking for something completely out of the ordinary with the hopes I'll get a decent mark. Feel free to suggest something else, as I'm sure there'll be a truckload of work involved with this

studiorat

Well what's the Technology aspect? It's a Production and Technology degree no?

jtsuited

ebaysellerrob wrote: »

have you ever seen or been to a musical or opera

yowser!!! two very very very different things there.

Musical theatre is the lowest form of 'art' a human can engage in. And I say this as someone who auditioned for the child chorus of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat starring Philip Schofield. Alas, I was too tall.

Android 666

jtsuited wrote: »

yowser!!! two very very very different things there.

Musical theatre is the lowest form of 'art' a human can engage in. And I say this as someone who auditioned for the child chorus of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat starring Philip Schofield. Alas, I was too tall.

Your mouth wasn't at the optimum level for Philip Schofield’s cock?

Android 666

Android 666 wrote: »

Your mouth wasn't at the optimum level for Philip Schofield’s cock?

See the fate you narrowly avoided!



You wouldn't have been able to eat a yoghurt while watching This Morning for the rest of your life…

Mars Bar

studiorat wrote: »

Well what's the Technology aspect? It's a Production and Technology degree no?

Recording it!

studiorat

Recording is only a small part of a Music Technology degree. The deal in UL as far as I can make out is quite a bit more than simply recording course like pulse etc. Interactive systems, Video etc.

The courses I deal with day to day are for musicians and how they use technology and for people looking for ways to develop new technology and new uses for it. The creative use of the media and the technology, not just how to work a mixing desk etc. As a final year project I'd imagine it may need a certain amount of originality. "Recording" just doesn't cut it imo either does working in pre-defined genres like rock musicals etc. Because there's not enough original use of technology.

What about a way to present music in a live situation that stretches the limits a bit. A rock band performance with the audience in the middle or something. Something with video interaction, live multi-room performance. Not a friggin musical!

How about a Max Msp patch that measures how "Ghey" Andrew Lloyd Webber is?

jme467

Seems to be a lot going on here and I think people are staying a little far from my original post..

@studiorat, I do get all the points you're making, and appreciate the input... but the fact is that we were told we can do absolutely anything. I was simply trying to be original, because every year it's the same things over and over again, EPs and Preamps.. I was only trying to be original and the idea of something which would combine composition, recording and staging seems like something which could get me good marks

NyquistFreak

Hi Op,
Its probably a bit late to be replying to this thread at this stage but I feel I should warn ya, I took on something like that last year for my own FYP (same course) and it was a nightmare! The initial stages were grand, but it got pretty hairy after christmas (especially if you need to rely on other people to be playing parts for ya and rehearsing and the like) folk who'd promised to help f*cked off out of the country for an entire month on me when I really needed them around, sure they were giving up their free time to be in my project for no pay like so I couldn't rally get too mad at them for having their own lives to deal with at the same time. Not saying that'll happen with your idea but its just something to bear in mind I guess.
I did a bucket load of research and work for it that just didn't fit the examination criteria at all at all, which was really terrible when it came to results time knowing how much work I had put in, but I kinda realise now some of the things I got distracted with in the name of making the project cool were just so far off the mark for what was needed, sure I was including things in it we're only covering in class now, ha!
Look negitivity aside, at this stage the only advice I could give you if you're going ahead with it (and it actually really does sound like a cool idea!), assuming your proposal is already handed in, is to keep in good contact with your supervisor (and probably Róisín too in the writing stages?) to make sure you don't go too far off the beaten track like, they can only give marks based on the criteria they're set for marking, it was my fatal flaw last year anyway! And to be fair, the lecturers inside are all pretty cool and helpful people who don't want to see you fail at the end of the day, better to make use of their help, it's what they're there for! They're telling us to keep a log book this year of thoughts and notes and things as we're going, which seems like a good idea cos sometimes the aul communication gets a bit lost there and if your supervisor can see where you're at with it on a pretty constant level it should be easier to keep you on track with it.
Best of luck with it anyway

GTE

studiorat wrote: »

Recording is only a small part of a Music Technology degree. The deal in UL as far as I can make out is quite a bit more than simply recording course like pulse etc. Interactive systems, Video etc.

The courses I deal with day to day are for musicians and how they use technology and for people looking for ways to develop new technology and new uses for it. The creative use of the media and the technology, not just how to work a mixing desk etc. As a final year project I'd imagine it may need a certain amount of originality. "Recording" just doesn't cut it imo either does working in pre-defined genres like rock musicals etc. Because there's not enough original use of technology.

What about a way to present music in a live situation that stretches the limits a bit. A rock band performance with the audience in the middle or something. Something with video interaction, live multi-room performance. Not a friggin musical!

You really forgot the production part of the course.
I can see where you are coming from if it was a dedicated Music Tech course like UL has but the Production side, which is part of the course he is actually doing, opens it up massively.