Hi there! I’m Leo and I have been invited to discuss my creative process! In this short (ish) blog post, I will dive into my most recent group project at university and how it has affected my creative thinking and ability to come out of my shell when in a group setting. (Appendix located at the bottom of the page.)

Humble beginnings…

At the start of the process we were asked by our lovely tutor James to split into two groups, groups of which we later learned would each have a task different to one another. My group, consisting of around 5 of us, was tasked with selecting the genre of the song and creating a vibe that we wanted it to have. Meanwhile the other group had to tackle the lyrics and building a story for the song to be based upon. As mentioned in a later discussion as a part of Appendix A, several members of the class agreed that this was a challenge. Most (if not all) of us felt as though each group needed each other to be able to form ideas of true value, stating that the lyric group needed the genre group and vice versa. I personally thought at the time that my group had the toughest job, because if we were told about the lyrics while building a vibe then perhaps our jobs would have been made easier. By the time the two groups had shared ideas together, there was only 15 minutes of the hour-long session remaining to put these ideas into song. Although a lot of us seemed puzzled or confused (maybe that was just me…), we managed to put the first draft of the song together. Here is the second take of said draft (Appendix B at the bottom of the page).

The weeks ahead.

As I cannot for the life of me remember if I was present for the second week of the project, I do know I was for the third so we will start there. This is where things started to really kick into action, the structure of the song was neeeeearly there with the middle of the song proving to be difficult to solve. Jack’s new chord progression suggestion (I’m a poet I know) of a Bb sliding down to a B briefly then to an A, then back up, was the change that we all had in mind when I raised the suggestion of there being somewhere else the song needed to go. It allowed Saskia to write fresh lyrics and give her the freedom to change the song’s perspective if she really wanted to. 

After the final week, the song felt pretty much complete. We figured out the structure to be: Intro – Verse – Pre Chorus – Chorus – short (intro-like) break – Chorus – Instrumental Build – Verse 2 – Chorus 2. Chorus 2’s chords were also shifted to fit the key change in the build.

The final product can be seen as Appendix C

My creative reflection.

During the process of creating ‘Two Timer’ with the group, here are some things that I noticed influence my own creative process:

• After working in a group for the academic year, I feel as though I have been able to communicate my feelings and thoughts without being as afraid of judgement or rejection of an idea. As a production student I feel that this is crucial. Sometimes in the process of a song’s creation I will need to make my voice heard, not only as a producer but as a songwriter when I feel certain parts don’t work or require tweaking a little bit. 
• Not only have I been able to communicate easier, but with there being 7-9 of us in the group at any given time I am forced to listen to new ideas and think of ways to implement them creatively. As a producer I will need to be able to make what the artist’s wants and then blow their mind.

Our tutor James always kept the balance in the sessions between us, pushing us in what felt like the right direction all the time. Some lessons I felt I learnt from him are:

• Leave space for ideas to thrive or to build some kind of atmosphere. It could build tension, suspense, or match a feeling of loneliness with the lyrics.
• Building from the previous point, not everybody needs to be playing at the same time, all the time. This is critical, as yes someone could come up with an incredibly complex and fun to play melody or a key change, but it might just not fit with the project. Save the idea and you could create something completely different with it. 
• MUSIC IS FUN!! Enjoy the collaboration and variance of a recording week by week. Every day is different just like every live setting. No two recordings will sound the same, AND THAT’S COOL!

IN CONCLUSION!

The experience of working as a group for this project has helped me not only create new friendships with my peers but gain important experience in working in a group setting. I’ve always loved the idea of collaboration with other people who share similar values as a musician and person as me. And now I know more about working with people that both suit my personality and don’t, but adjusting to work effectively in collaboration.

Thank you for making it this far in the blog! The whole creative process inspired me to record this song with some of the group I made it with and use it for part of a production assignment. This I will include as something fun to conclude this blog. 

– Leo Rafferty : )