Modern Psychedelia

This is a demo of one of our songs called “20″. It is a song that demonstrates the crescendo aspect of post-rock, as well as the dreamy beautiful feeling. It is based off of a single riff which slowly gets built upon, then reaches a crashing crescendo at the end. This was my intention for the song before I had even written the riff for it. I wanted a song that started off timid and quite beautiful, and then built up to a climax where the instruments are heavier and the sound is bigger. The nullity of vocals is something I quite like about songs like this, as the meaning of it is open to the listener's own interpretation.

The slow 6/8 timing of the song was the basis of the dreamy atmosphere. This was furthermore developed by using delay and reverb pedals. I also managed to create a dreamy atmosphere by using a technique on some of the background guitars, where swells of sound are created through use of the volume knob on the guitar and pedals. These can be heard particularly between 3:00 - 3:50 of the song. They are parts are not easily heard unless you are specifically listening out for them, but even when you aren’t trying to listen out for them in particular they add to the atmosphere of the song, and fill up the sound.  

- Write drum parts with Felix

- Record demos of our songs

- Go into Stebbing Studios and record the EP

- Publish the EP on Soundcloud/Bandcamp

I believe that once I have completed both parts of my Impact Project this year, it will qualify for ASHS Gold. Though I am just finishing up part one of my year-long project and have only met some of the gold criteria, all the criteria are well on-track to being met at the end of the year. 

“Agency and Ownership Pillar”

I have been excited about and heavily invested in all aspects of my project.

I have initiated regular and substantial collaboration and communication opportunities with Felix, recording studios and vinyl pressing plants. 

Constantly brought new ideas into my project.

I have worked on the project frequently outside of Impact Project time. Everyday I work on composing my songs at home.

I have demonstrated and developed perseverance and resilience. Writing songs requires extreme amounts of patience and determination and I have managed to push through when I have found it hard to come up with ideas for a song.

At the end of the project it is possible that my life plan and career path may change, depending on how well my final product turns out.

“Knowledge Applied to Other Situations”

I have developed my composition skills and knowledge within music genres such as ‘post-rock’, ‘psychedelic’ and ‘ambient’. 

I have sought feedback from my mentors about my songs and acted on what they think I could change. 

“A Gold Quality Product”

Professionals in this field, mentors, experts and stakeholders will identify my finished product (EP and Vinyl Record) as of extremely high quality, as I am getting the EP recorded at a professional studio where the sound quality will be of professional standard. It would be considered as industry standard.

I have been acting on feedback in an ongoing manner to ensure I finish my project with the highest quality product possible.

“Participation and Contribution with the Community”

My project will be significant and will continue even after the semester has finished and I have left school. 

My project has endured past the scope of the original project, as I have now added in the goal to get the EP put onto vinyl.

This project will be life changing for myself if it goes to plan, as it may open up new career paths and get me involved even more in the New Zealand music industry. 

This project may inspire young musicians to make their own music once I have my finished product.

It will involve experts such as engineers at the recording studio who have national (as well as some international) reputation.

It may have the possibility to be recognised by the music industry in a national or international context.

I emailed Tangible Formats regarding their ‘Band Meeting’ package which offers 5 LP’s with full colour coverfolds for $250 USD ($366.80 NZD). I asked them if the package is flexible with the amount of LP’s they can include in the package. Here is the reply I received: 

Hello Josh, Certainly.  Here's a couple price options for the Custom 12"s   18min per side at 33 1/3 rpms   5 = $250 USD 10 = $425 USD 20 = $775 USD Shipping is extra. I hope this helps.  These are made in real time one at a time. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Wes

After the replies I got, I have decided to go with Stebbing Studios. Roundhead Studios would probably be the most ideal studio to get my EP recorded at, though I am not at all in the financial position to throw $10,000 at the EP. Even though he offered the Studio B to me for $4,500, it is still far out of my budget. 

I was happy with the rough pricing I received from Stebbing Studios, but I wanted to do more research and look at all my options before I properly decide on where I want my EP recorded. I sent an email to Roundhead Studios asking for a quote, here is the email I received. 

Hello Josh! Thank you for your email mate! The EP sounds cool as!

Roundhead is perfect for this kind of music..

In a perfect world.. we would allow one day per song to record and one day per two songs to mix..  so for 4 songs I would recommend six days.

Studio A would be perfect with the Neve console and the tape machine and all the old analogue outdoors gear..

Studio A is $1500 + GST per day so six days will be $9000 + GST ($10350)

Dont panic.. I heard you scream from here :o)

Ill hook you up.. When you are all ready mate just get in contact with me and I will help you nail down the best budget we can while still getting the aesthetic of the songs down in the best way for you..

I hope this helps mate..   Just so you know.. The B studio I can probably do six days for as low as $4500 + GST Take care and talk soon mate and all the best with your pre production.

I sent an email to Stebbing Studios requesting a quote to record my EP there. Here is the reply I got. 

Hi Josh

Thank you for your enquiry about your school project.

We would be more than happy to help you – Studio costs are based on time and we can only guess as to how long your project would take.

We would suggest you should budget for $1500.00 - $2,000.00 + GST and when you are closer to being ready to come into Stebbing Studios, you are welcome to make an appointment with our engineer so we can discuss your requirements in detail and give you a final price indication.

Look forward to hearing from you, thanks.

Kind regards

I have found a place that does short-run vinyl cuts for a price that is more in my price range. The company is called Tangible Formats, and they specialise in lathe-cut vinyl with no minimum quantity required. Instead of pressing vinyl they cut them directly in stereo, which is basically the mastering process of a vinyl pressing plant repeated over and over again for each record. 

I have figured that it would not be smart to spend nearly $2000 to get my EP pressed on 250 vinyl records because the reality is that it is not guaranteed that I will sell enough records to make a profit, let alone break-even.

I am more comfortable with spending a few hundred dollars to get the EP cut onto a small amount of records such as 10 or 20. It would still be extremely hard to break-even using this method, but it is a better option that paying $2000 to have a couple of hundred records sitting in a box in my wardrobe waiting to be sold. I also have to be considering how much it is going to cost to record the album first. Below is an example of a package Tangible Formats offers, which includes 5 records. You are able to request a custom quote, but the requirements are very specific and I will not have the information needed to ask for a quote until I’ve finished the recording process in the studio. 

As of Week 10 of the semester, I am well on-track to completing the composition aspect of my year-long project. I have almost completely finished writing two of my four full songs, and have written a couple of short interludes. I have the majority of the ideas for the other two songs, I am working on forming them into complete songs and making them flow so instead of sounding like different ideas they sound like one complete idea.