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Final Cuts & Releases

Final Mixed & Mastering Progress

We received the final mix for Love for You & Home. We are very happy with the final mix that we received. The volume levels for both instrumentation's and vocal + harmonies are well blended. We also really love the additional sound effects like static electric guitar and radio channel statics. The small parts Ridz added into the song made a big difference, it completed the song.

Single Release & EP Release

As it is the first time we will be releasing music through SPINNUP Asia, we all agreed that it would a good idea to try releasing 1 song as a single to  experience the process and understand the finer details like the estimated release date, choice of art cover etc. We decided on ‘Promise’ as the song that will released as a single. 

We sent in our song “Promise’ which will take 3 to 10 days to be released online. We were able to apply for the playlist pitch, where we showcase and describe the uniqueness of our song to different Playlists in Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and many other online platforms. We were able to get on the ‘New Music Friday Singapore’ playlist and we are also mentioned on Hear65 upcoming releases online post.

Release Update! - Promise is up on Spotify within 4 days. We have officially sent in the full EP. The release will be on the 1st of January. All art covers have been settled and we will begin releasing snippets and short edits of our up coming release on our social media. Although we were not able to achieve our goal of sending in the EP on the 1st of Dec, we were able to release a single and qualify for different playlists. It has been an amazing experience working towards this day and we will definitely be making new music and releasing them in the near future.

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Distribution and Promotion

Promoting EP Release

We have decided to use SPINNUP Asia as our distributor for our first EP. We choose the EP Release package that includes the release of 3 to 6 songs and distribution to 31 online stores and services like Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer.

Picture taken from https://spinnup.com/as/pricing/

Art Cover

We have decided to go with the idea of Singapore landmarks for the art cover. The concept of our ep is personal experiences and growth and we agreed that choosing different pictures of the local landmarks would best capture the different feeling of each song. We also agreed to incorporate the logo of our ep in all the pictures and use black and white instead of color.

EXAMPLE 1:

'Promise' we choose a picture of the city skyline as it exudes the feeling of a lonely night in the city and best describes the lyrics 'Spent my time thinking about you, How i wish i wcould see you again..."

EXAMPLE 2:

As for 'Doubt' we decided to go with this picture of a lone leafless tree in the middle of a field. We agreed that this picture captures the idea of being alone, stripped of ones armour but still standing strong against all the critism and hate. A similar idea to the lyrics in the song.

We have also prepared promotional videos and captions for each of the post. We have contacted a few blogs, podcasts and local artists for example Hear65, The Gigs People and Randomly Relatable to help promote our upcoming release to their following.

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Progress and Descriptions

Song Mix and Mastering Progress 

We received the 2 different versions of the mix for Love For You, Home and Self Conflicted. The mix for Love for you and Home were good, the instruments and vocals are well balanced. Ridz was able to bring forward the idea that we intended to put for each individual song.    

EP Name and song Descriptions

We decided to name our EP, Transitions because we wanted to tell a story with the songs that we wrote. Naming each song after a memorable moment in our lives, was one of the ideas that stood out most from our list. In this EP each song explains the experience of an individual at each stage of their life. From having a crush to falling out of love with their significant other. To gaining self confidence and finding the true meaning of home. 

“Love for You” is an Alternative/Pop song that describes an unrequited love story and the hardship one faces when constantly put down by their crush.

“Promise” is a Synth/Pop song that describes a rocky relationship and broken promises made by the one that got away. It brings forward the emptiness one feels when left behind by their significant other.  

“Self Conflicted” is an Alternative/Pop song written to convince the world that persistence and constant assurance will always be the factor that leads you to self love and appreciation.

“Doubt” is a Contemporary R&B song written to encourage those who have been put down. A song that gives hope and ensures that no matter what happens you will rise up greater and stronger. 

“Home” is a Acoustic/Pop song that brings forward the emotions one feels when lost, alone and terrified of the world. 

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Recording Session - After much deliberation, we decided that it would be best to do the recording session on our own. We were able to get in contact with our old mentor and was able to loan equipment and a room for the recording. As most of the instrumentation parts for our songs will be through MIDI, we only needed the equipment to record guitar and vocals.

Day 1 - Song Recording

We had our first recording session on Sunday and we were able to get the room from 12pm to 7pm, which was an exceptional amount of time as we were able to record the guitar parts for our first two songs Love for You and Home and the vocals for Love for You.  

Day 2 - Song Recording

Our second recording session we only managed to record guitar parts for the last song Self Conflicted. As the room we had was only available for us from 1pm to 4pm. 

Day 3 - Song Recording

On the third recording session we completed the vocal parts for Self Conflicted and Home. 

Day 4 - Song Recording

We had our last recording session yesterday and we were able to complete recording vocals and guitar parts for Self Conflicted. We were also able to re-record some harmony parts for Home and Love for You, as well as some ad-libs for all three songs.

Editing, Mixing & Mastering - We have completed the recording and instrumental arrangement of all the remaining songs and we have forwarded all files to Ridz for editing, mixing and mastering of Love For You, Home & Self Conflicted. 

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The Preparation PII

Song Progress PII

We have completed the arrangements and instrumentation for the remaining 2 songs and we have confirmed that we will only be recording our vocals and guitars parts as all other instrumentations will be done through MIDI on our own.

Challenges Faced

Throughout the past few weeks of continuous jamming sessions and meet ups we have faced multiple issues that causes the delay to our timeline. The few major problems we faced were :

Schedule Mix-Up - Due to some misinformation regarding our individual schedules, we were not able to meet up on the days that was planed and had to cancel our room booking for the day. This is one of the major problems that caused the delay to our timeline and forced us to rush to find available bookings for jamming rooms/studio. Which led to our second problem.

Finding room bookings for next day session - As most studios require us to book one week in advance we had trouble finding rooms for days that we have to reschedule.

Stuck with no inspiration - During our sessions it is more often than not that we get stuck and don't know how to continue on with the song. During this period time from our room booking is wasted and we are not able to accomplish the desired task by the end of the session.

As the period of jamming sessions have completed. I learned that most of our problems are caused by misunderstanding, lack of communication and unplanned session. Which we will learn to improve. 

Audio Engineer

We have all agreed and confirm that we will be taking on the services of RidzRazali for the editing, mixing and mastering of all five songs. As he is an artist and a friend that we have worked with, we were able to listen to some of his original mix, and we all agreed that it’ll be easier to communicate our ideas to him.

Picture taken from Ridz Razali instagram page https://www.instagram.com/ridzrazali/

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The Preparation

Song Progress 

We have so far completed the instrumental and vocal arrangements for the remaining 3 songs. The structure, melody and lyrics for 4th and 5th songs have also been completed. 

Jamming Studios and Scheduled Meet-Ups

We have all agreed to meet every Tuesday and Friday nights and book a studio space to finish the recording of Love For You, Home and Self Conflicted. I also did some research on the jamming studios open and available for room bookings. 

List of Studios available : 

Decibel Studios 

Tonehouse Studios

The Music Parlour

Euphoria Studios Singapore

Trinity Music Studio

Anadiji Sound Lab

Out of these 6 studios, 3 provide Producing, Recording, Mixing and Mastering services as well. Based on prices and location we have agreed to book from Anadiji Sound Lab for the remaining 2 sessions that we need to complete the song.  

Picture taken from Anadiji Sound Lab Website https://www.anadigi.org

Recording, Mixing & Mastering Pushed Back 

According to our timeline we should be done with the arrangements of Love For You, Home and Self Conflicted and prepared for recording sessions, however are still behind on the completion of the last song Self Conflicted and this has caused some delays to occur to the timeline. Due to this we have to push back and shorten the time we have for recording. 

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The Plan

The timeline for Project Insaints EP release. (attach picture - graph)

What?

The objective of this project is to complete recording and production of the remaining 2 songs by 28th Nov. So that we can start pre-panning for marketing of the songs 1 month before its release which will hopefully be by the 1st Dec.

How? When? Where? Resources?

The things we need to prepare to successfully complete this projects are, 

1. Jamming studio - for the use of meeting up and completing the songs.

Get the schedule of all members and plan out which days to meet to complete the songs.

Research on studio or jamming rooms that are open and available for booking.

Check for the prices of room per hour and the locations if it is easily accessible

2. Song Arrangement 

Plan out song structure and arrangement 

Prepare lyrics and melody

3. Distribution Platforms and Recording Studios - places we can record and release our son through

Research on possible platforms to release our songs

Research on engineers and studios to do mixing, mastering and editing for the songs

4. Marketing Strategy 

Plan for the type of marketing to do and the timeline for the marketing releases.

Photoshoot (individual and group shots)  - confirm if it will be indoor or outdoor shoot

Social Media Posts - pre planned with caption 

EP art cover -  colours and design 

5. Timeline

Aim for the project to be sent in for distributions by the end of Dec 1 2020

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The Start

Hi im Haziqah! I am in a band and we call ourselves Insaints. Here ill be recording the process of our EP release, which will hopefully be released by June next year.

About Insaints - We are a group of 4 friends that began our music journey in school. Having joined the same CCA (Acoustic Pop Band) we decided to create a band and experience a new journey, performing together. 4 years passed and since then, we were able to experience performing for the ITE Combined Arts Performance, Northeast Community Development Council Appointment Ceremony and Shine Festival 2018. We were also nominated for Audience’s Favourite (SafraThe Ultimate Talent 2019) and “Best Song to Break Up To” (Youth Music Awards 2019). Currently we have been releasing original music on Spotify and we are in the beginning process of releasing new music in the up coming months.