Finlay O’Brien - Arts Award Explore Journey
Welcome to my Blog
My name is Finlay (F.O.B.), and for my Arts Award, I am going to be looking at creating beats and my own tracks for freestyle rapping.
VIDEO 1 - Arts Award Journey
PART A
TAKE PART IN THE ARTS
IMAGE 1 - Arts Award Plan
To plan my Arts Award journey, I learned how to use Canva to create a mind map for my blog. This mind map helps me stay organised by showing what I need to achieve each week in order to reach my overall goals. Using Canva made it easy to visualise my plan clearly and creatively.
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Gallery 1 -planning my journey
VIDEO 2 - Exploring Bandlab
When I was planning my journey I found out about BandLab. With help from my We Are Noise tutor I realised that BandLab is a powerful tool for creating remixes, and you can edit different tracks in lots of interesting ways. I tried with changing beats, adjusting effects, and layering sounds to produce my own remix ideas.
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Gallery 2 - editing my blog
I recored a video with my We Are Noise tutor talking about what I’ve learnt so far about remixing.
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VIDEO 3 - How to Mix
Gallery 3 - Video & editing
I have been learning to remix with my We Are Noise tutor with the song Till I Collapse by Eminem. This is one of my all time favourite tracks. I exported the acapella, imported it to Bandlab, and went from there. I layered in sound effects like a cassette boom from the 90’s, added a new bass line software sample, and scratch fills. I think it brought a cool new sound to one of my favourite Eminem tracks.
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Gallery 4 - Editing on Canva
I have also been spending time learning to use Canva. It’s the website I used to create my mind map. I have made an album cover for one of my tracks I remixed Till i Collapse. And I also made a logo FOB to represent me as an artist. I learnt how to make the page I was working on the right size and add different pictures and add glow effects.
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Gallery 5 - Recording
VIDEO 4 - Recording an instrument
I have been exploring Bandlab a bit more and what I can do with it other than upload and mix songs. I wanted to add a different base line and with helkp form my We Are Noise I learnt how to plug and record a bass guitar. I talked my tutor through what i wanted her to play and my other tutor helped me added in to the track.
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Part B
EXPLORE
In this section of my Arts Award journey I have researched Machine Gun Kelly (MGK). I used Wikipedia and YouTube for my research and made a magazine article with my information. I chose MGK because I find his story and songs relatable.
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IMAGE 2 - Magazine page 1
IMAGE 4 - Magazine page 3
IMAGE 6 - Magazine page 5
IMAGE 3 - Magazine page 2
IMAGE 5 - Magazine page 4
IMAGE 7 - Magazine page 6
IMAGE 8 - Magazine page 7
IMAGE 9 - Bad Boy Logo
When researching MGK I learnt about the record label he is signed too. In 2007 to 2010 he released 4 mix tapes with Bad Boy Records. It’s a record label from America and it was made by Sean Combs (Puff Daddy).
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Gallery 6 - making my magazine
Here I am on Canva making my magazine and doing some research about MGK. I am getting more confident using Canva on my own and I am able add my own pictures and backgrounds.
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VIDEO 5 - making my magazine
Part C
CREATE
For this part of my Arts Award I have created some remixes using what I learnt on Bandlab. I made four Till I Collapse, Aitch X Mazza, Lincoln Park, and Baby Doll.
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VIDEO 6 - Till I Collapse
IMAGE 11 - Bandlab
IMAGE 10 - Bandlab
VIDEO 7 - AitchXMazza remix
VIDEO 8 - Baby Doll Remix
IMAGE 13 - Bandlab
IMAGE 12 - Bandlab
These are my remixes I spent time int he studio with different We Are Noise tutors exploring different styles of songs to remix and learning different techniques.
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IMAGE 14 - Bandlab
In the pictures above you can see some of my remixes in Bandlab to see the effects and different channel’s I used to create my remixes.
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Part D
Share
For this part of my Arts Award I will be sharing what I have learnt from the We Are Noise sessions. I didn’t think I would enjoy this experience as much as I would but I enjoyed learning about remixing and learning Bandlab.
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Reflecting on my Journey
I have recorded a video talking about what I have learnt on my Arts Award journey.
VIDEO 9 - Arts Award Reflection
Coming to We Are Noise I have found new ways of creating music how I want to hear it. I thought I would just mess about all year but it’s really helped focus on something new I enjoy. I have liked exploring different remixes and songs I have and haven’t heard before and knowing more about what goes into making your own sound.
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