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Release info - 09/05/2019

I have recently started a record label called MOOD that I run with my friend and we have decided to release this EP as the third release of the label. In order to do this, we need to send the EP off by a certain date as there is a turn around time of 4 weeks for the distribution to go through. Due to there being an EP due for release in three weeks time from now, there is no point in sending the EP off to the distributors until two or three weeks time. This is so there is a nice gap between all releases on the label and we do not oversaturate. Bernsen, (2016) states that over saturation for artists music or record labels is a bad thing and should be considered at all times. The reasons for it is simple. People get bored very quickly and if something is too frequent, they lose interest, fast. Due to the release being planned for distribution send off in three weeks time, the project will unfortunately be officially released past the deadline of the project. Below is a screen shot of the conversation with my friend Nelson who I run the record label with about the release date.

Reference list:

Bernsen, E (2016) How Often Should Artists Release New Music? [online] SONICBIDS BLOG. Available at: http://blog.sonicbids.com/how-often-should-artists-release-new-music [Accessed 7th May 2019]

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Artwork - 09/05/2019

Once the masters were complete, I begun thinking about artwork. Seydel, (2016) states that artwork is a vital part of releasing music as it provides a visual aspect for the listener to absorb either before, after or during the listening process. This made me want a good cover for the EP so I asked around my friends and family for any talented designers. One of my friends suggested that I go with the same person who did my last release to keep a theme going. This seemed like a great idea so I asked my friend George to do it for me. George specialises in animation artwork which is what I wanted so I sent him the mastered project so he could listen and come up with something. After just a coupleof days he sent back a draft and it was perfect. Below is a screen shot of the artwork.

The artwork fit the EP extremely well so I decided to go with it and use it for the cover.

Reference list:

Seydel, R (2016) Why Album Cover Art Will Always Be Crucial For Success [online] LANDR. Available at: https://blog.landr.com/album-art-absolutely-crucial-success-2016/ [Accessed 5th May 2019]

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Mastering the EP - 08/05/2019

The mastering stage of the music was fairly straightforward due to the mix downs being so carefully crafted. All I really had to do was add an EQ (Pro Q2), Compressor (Pro C) and a limiter (Pro L) onto each of the tracks. They all individually needed unique attention to the compression and equalising because they are all very different songs, dynamically. Below are some screen shots from the mastering chains for each tracks.

In an online article, Messitte, (2018) states that considering where you want your music to end up is vital and a good first step to take towards the mastering process. Messitte continues to explain how choosing a destination for your music will have effects on the way it sounds, due to different streaming vendors having different loudness normalisation limits. For example streaming services such as Spotify tend to operate between -12 and -16 RMS which should provide the engineer (me) with room to create a strong master. Luckily for me, I learned what RMS is in my first year at university. Taking this on board, I made sure the all of the masters were hitting in between -12 and -16 RMS. This because I am aiming for platforms such as Spotify for my music to be streamed from. Below is a screen shot of the limiter at the end of the mastering chain for the track ‘Falling’. The others were hitting around the same RMS also.

The other aspects that were involved in the mastering stage of this project were equalisation and compression. Due to the mix downs being strong, there was no need to over do the mastering process and to me, simplicity is key with mastering.

Below is a picture of the equalisation on the track ‘Lonely’, as an example of how little I equalised the track. The only major aspect that was kept the same throughout the equalisation of the project was cutting off the high and low end to around 30hz and 30Khz. This is mainly due to the human ear not being able to hear below or above said frequencies. The dips in the screen shot show where certain frequencies were hitting too hard, allowing me to slightly take away and soften the harshness.

The next stage was the compression which again, only needed slight adjustments as the mixes were all pretty consistent within themselves and each other. Below is a screen shot of the compressor in action for the track ‘Don’t Worry’. Unknown, (2017) states that compression in mastering should always be light. Anything that needs hard compression, 90% of the time, means there are problems in the mix down, which is an issue that needs to be resolved prior to the mastering stage. Taking this on board, the ratio was set to 7:1 as I wanted any peaks to be put back into place but the threshold was set to -12dB as I only wanted the very loud peaks to be affected by the compression.

Reference list:

Messitte, N (2018) 10 Tips for Mastering if You're Not a Mastering Engineer [online] iZOTOPE. Available at: http://productionadvice.co.uk/lufs-dbfs-rms/ [Accessed 4th May 2019]

Unknown Author, (2017) 8 Tips for Compression in Mastering [online] WAVES. Available at: https://www.waves.com/8-tips-for-compression-in-mastering [Accessed 5th May 2019]

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Music Video Progress - 07/05/2019

Now the live gig has been and gone and the music is close to being finished, I decided to focus on the music video. I booked an airbnb to shoot the music video in as I didn't have or know anyone with a place nice enough for the video to be filmed in. The airbnb is situated in Clifton, north Bristol and has enough space to get some decent shots. Below is a picture of the room purchased.

The room was booked for the 25th of May 2019 as this was the only time the videographer was available. Unfortunately this is past the hand in date for the whole project so I wont be able to present the video in my submission however, I can present the planning for the video up until then.

The videographer I am collaborating with said that the space is good and will look great once the footage has been edited. Another part of the music video I needed a silhouette of a girl behind a red light doing contemporary dance moves. This was to act out the flashbacks or memories that I am speaking about in the lyrics. Rowse, (2007) states that in order to create a silhouette, there needs to be pure darkness and strong lighting at your disposal. Place whatever you want to be silhouetted in front of the lighting facing towards the camera. To do this, I asked my girlfriend if we could use her house to create the silhouette shot as it is fairly minimal and wont take a lot of work to move the room around to how we need it. The videographer asked me to send him photos of the house just to confirm if we were able to successfully complete a silhouette shot. Below is the photo I sent the videographer.

The shot will be taken against the corner wall, allowing the dancer to face the camera with space to move. The videographer said that we may have to put fabric on the walls as they may bounce light due to them being white.

I asked my girlfriends house mate if she would be up for doing the dance moves as she has experience within that field. Luckily she replied with a yes and said she would do it for free which helped me out a lot as my budget was so low.

Reference list:

Rowse, D (2007) How to Photograph Silhouettes in 8 Easy Steps [online] Digital Photography School. Available at: https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-silhouettes/ [Accessed 2nd May 2019]

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Audio recordings from the live gig for the EP - 05/05/2019

I got the recordings back from the live gig and they sounded great in terms of audio quality however, I am not fully happy with my performance. Due to there not being any stage monitors I could not hear myself which is something that I personally need at a live gig. Next time I will make sure there are stage monitors present so I can hear myself clearly. Despite this, the vocals are still good enough to go on the project and all other aspects including the band seemed to sound amazing. Due to both of the collaborative vocalists I worked with, Malloy DaCosta and Rider Shafique being absent for the show so I made sure the guitarist and keys player solo’d over their parts. I decided to sing Malloy’s part of the track as he takes up the majority of the vocals and it sounded great.

The audio was recorded using a stereo out of the master channel of the mixing desk straight into the input of an interface. The interface was then plugged into a laptop and recorded through Ableton Live. 

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Finishing touches: Jevon Ives - Don’t Worry - 05/05/2019

In order to maintain the lofi feel to the rest of the instrumental, I kept the drums very minimal and held them back in terms of dynamic qualities. This meant I rolled the high end frequencies off most of the instruments used within the drums to add to the feel of the beat. This is important to make sure all instruments that I used work well with each other and didn't stand out too much. After this, I began thinking about the swing of the drums. Fidyk, (Date Unknown) states that swinging your hi-hats can benefit the whole track as it allows for a humanised feel with the drums which has an effect on the rest of the beat. The swing of the hi-hats had to match the guitar riff other wise they sounded out of place. Following that swing really gave the track some nice loose groove which added to the lo-fi feel of the beat. Once the drums were in and sounded like they fit the track, I exported the song with -6dB headroom ready for the mastering stage. Below is a screen shot of the swing on the hi hats. You can see the second and fourth hi hats are not quantised and ‘off the grid’. 

Reference list: 

Fidyk, S (Date Unknown) Focus on the hi-hat the classic swing sound [online] Modern Drummer. Available at: https://www.moderndrummer.com/article/march-2012-focus-on-the-hi-hat-the-classic-swing-sound/ [Accessed 29th April 2019]

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Finishing touches: Jevon Ives - Falling (Feat Malloy) - 04/05/2019

In order to finish this track I needed a collaborator to sing the first verse and the chorus as I just wanted to ‘feature’ on this track. This is because I have very much been at the forefront of everything within this project so far and I thought it would be good to mix it up a bit in terms of vibe, position and collaborative ideas. I reached out to my friend Malloy DaCosta who has a great voice which I thought would fit the beat perfectly. I asked him to try and write to the track in his head voice as his head voice in particular is extremely subtle, whispery and tonal. This is why I asked Malloy to sing on the beat so hopefully he is able to do what I asked.

After receiving some voice notes back from Malloy humming and roughly singing the lyrics he wrote I was very happy and it was exactly what I expected. Unfortunately they were Instagram stories which meant I could only view them twice and they got deleted therefore I couldn't upload them to the blog. Instead, I asked him to come down to Bristol to record the silky vocals he had written. I said to him I would pay for his petrol to provide him with a little more incentive as he had to drive up from London.

Unfortunately, once again, the studios at DBS music were fully booked and unavailable for me to use so, once again I had to resort to paying to use Pirate Studios. We only had an hour booked in the studios so I didn't have any time to take pictures of the session however despite this, the vocals sounded great and I was happy with the outcome. After the recording session I took the vocals home to mix them down and get the track sounding more together. Mayzes, (2019) states that if the recording is already of good quality, then the after effects do not need to be that aggressive. Taking this into consideration, the usual equalisation and compression techniques were used lightly for all other vocals which got them sounding better than I expected them to.

Since the collaborator had done his part on the track, it was my turn to write some lyrics and try to finish the track off. In order to do this I decided to write more of a singing type rap to go over the track. This would split the EP up and make it sound extra versatile in terms of listening through the EP one by one. It is also nice to be able to use a different vocal technique when writing and recording as it provides me with a fresh creative perspective. Dias, (2018) states that exploring alternative ways of using your voice can have many benefits. It is very easy to get stuck with what you know and not want to branch out but the results can be truly satisfying. With this in mind, I decided to try and record the vocals to see if they worked when listening over the beat. I didn't even bother trying to book the recording studios at DBS Music as they had been pretty unreliable for booking studio time in the past couple of weeks, so instead I just recorded it in my room. To me, the recordings I get in my bedroom are equally as good because my microphone, (Rode NT1A) is industry standard and my post editing work rate is up to par. There is reference as to why I used this microphone in the earlier stages of the blog.

Once the vocals were recorded and sounded how I wanted them to be sounding it was time to begin dynamically balancing the different vocal tonalities of the features with each other. This was the opportunity for my engineering skills to be put to the test and for my ears to do some well needed mixing. Audio Academy, (2016) state that despite knowing what you want in a mix, it takes years of training your ear to actually achieve the efficient results you want. It takes patience and perseverance to be confident when mixing music, especially projects such as EP’s as it is about holding a consistency throughout. Taking this on board made me feel confident as I have been mixing my own music for over 10 years now. 

In order to get the track ‘Falling’ sounding on par with the rest of the EP, I had to do a lot of ‘A’ & ‘B’ing and comparing the tonal, dynamic and harmonic qualities of each track. This allowed me to establish what works needed to be completed to each track to get them sounding consistent with one another. Benediktsson, (Date Unknown) states that A-Bing your music is one of the most simple yet effective techniques to ensure a consistent album. The speed of the transitioning between the tracks allows for precision on the spot comparisons of dynamic and tonal qualities.

Reference list:

Audio Academy, (2016) Ears & Years: What it takes to make a great sound engineer [online] Audio Academy. Available at: https://audioacademy.in/ears-years-takes-make-great-sound-engineer/ [Accessed 1st May 2019]

Benediktsson, B (Date Unknown) 3 Steps to Help You Mix an Album in No Time [online] audio issues. Available at: https://www.audio-issues.com/music-mixing/3-steps-to-help-you-mix-an-album-in-no-time/ [Accessed 1st May 2019]    

Dias, J (2018) 5 essential singing techniques [online]. take lessons. Available at: https://takelessons.com/blog/essential-singing-techniques-z02 [Accessed 28th April 2019]

Mayzes, R (2019) VOCAL COMPRESSION: HOW TO COMPRESS VOCALS (LIKE THE PROS DO) [online]. Music On A Mission. Available at: https://www.musicianonamission.com/vocal-compression-how-to-compress-vocals/ [Accessed 1st May 2019]

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Finishing touches: Jevon Ives - Lonely (Feat Rider Shafique) - 02/05/2019

Once the gig had blown over, I was left with the task of finishing the music for the E.P. Due to me having a band to perform with at the performance meant that the music didn't have to be finished completely prior to the live gig, which was handy as I needed to allocate that time to rehearsing and promoting the event. Despite this, the music was not far off complete anyway so it was only final touches to the mix downs and mastering that was left to complete.

 In order to finalise the E.P and get the music sounding exactly how I wanted it, I decided to do some final touches on the vocals for ‘Lonely’. After Rider Shafique’s vocals were inserted I needed to balance his vocal dynamics with mine as they sounded a little heavy after my part. To do this I took some more low end out of his voice and turned the vocals down a bit. This helped a lot and balanced the vocals with each other to the level I was attempting to achieve.

 After the tweaking of vocals and other various instruments, the track sounded complete. In order to take it to the next level I exported the track with -6dB headroom ready for the mastering procedure. Below is a screen shot of the master channel (far right) hitting around -6dB ready for the mastering stage. 

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How the gig went - 30/04/2019

All acts performed really well and got the crowd into the mood for my final performance at the end of the night. In order for the crowd to actually hear the acts, I had to go onto the stage and ask everyone to politely leave the building if they wanted to talk with each other. This was almost like a common courtesy however, people get excited and feel the need to talk over the acts, especially when it’s Bring Your Own booze. Despite the few that were talking lots, the majority of the crowd were respectful and there to listen to the talented line up.

Our performance went really well as a band and the venue was pretty full up by the time we got onto the stage. Alex the sound engineer did a really good job with making us sound the best we could however, I do wish the PA system at the venue could have gone louder as the venue was pretty full up and was hard to hear with everyone talking. Taking this into consideration I made sure to remind everyone to listen or go outside to talk. This seemed to help despite the awkward vibe it gave me as a performer. The crowd really engaged with us as a band and the cheering after each song was seriously overwhelming. There were people shouting for one last song when we had finished the track list but unfortunately we had not rehearsed for an encore song. I saw a lot of phones out recording the set which was a good sign and great promotion for me as an artist, the EP as a product and the band. 

Below are some pictures of the performance 

Below is a link to a video of me performing my track ‘Falling’ from the EP:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_ClYdSafE_Sm8PSMVHordg3CBlAnBda2/view?usp=sharing

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Gig day practicalities [soundcheck] - 26/04/2019

Pack, (2017) states that sound checking is the most important part of the performance as it will determine what the band will sound like. He continues to explain how preparation prior to the sound check is also essential, such as mixer diagrams, which I had already done. There is a lot more preparation that needs to be put into gigs at bigger venues such as booth monitoring however due to the small size of this gig, were not applicable.

Sound check - Mac Lloyd 

Once we sound checked and set everything up how we needed to, I asked the first support act (Mac Lloyd) to sound check his performance as he was going to perform soon. He used his laptop to play the music and sung over it so there was not an awful lot to do apart from plug him in and turn him up on the mixer. Once he was happy I decided to ask all of the acts if they needed anything to drink or eat as I felt it was my job to keep everyone happy and liaise with them. Due to the venue not having an alcohol license, I went to the shop and brought everyone some well deserved goodies.

Sound check - Charli Brix  

Unfortunately support act number two (Charli Brix) and her guitarist were not at the venue until just before their set so we had to improvise and engineer the sound for their performance on the spot. This was challenging but also quite interesting as it was a very hand on type job which I tend to work well with. Despite this, Charli Brix only had an acoustic guitarist with her which meant there was only two microphones for us to set up before her set.

Once sound check was out of the way, the night had officially begun and the doors opened.

Reference list:

Pack, B (2017) How to Sound Check a Band for a Live Show [online] Pro Audio Files. Available at: https://theproaudiofiles.com/soundcheck/ [Accessed 17th April 2019]

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Gig day practicalities - 26/04/2019

After the final rehearsal I was feeling very confident and proud of the band as we had all came so far since the first rehearsal. I pushed everyone to make sure they know when to come in and when to come out etc. Once rehearsal was done I called my dad and asked for the lift he said he’d do. He took us to the venue with all of the equipment and we straight away begun setting up for the performance. We met my friend Alex who helped out with the sound engineering at the venue which was very handy as it took some pressure off my job role. We followed the mixing desk diagram I wrote up prior to the gig which was also saved a lot of time and unnecessary stress. After sound checking the band for two songs we rehearsed, myself and the band were all a lot more confident with the gig and felt comfortable on the stage together.

Below is a picture of me and Alex helping out for sound check at the venue. 

In order for me to record all of the set for the second ‘perspective’ of this project (the live recording from the gig), I asked my friend to bring his interface along so we could run the master bounce of the mixing desk out into a recording program such as Ableton Live. At first I was a little sceptical about how the recording would sound, and whether or not the reverbs would be audible in the recording however, after a test recording the clarity was outstanding in comparison to what I was expecting. 

Houghton, (2011) states that there are other options for recording a live gig such as using a field recording device such as a Zoom Microphone however, this would not allow you to see the waveforms live. I am also very confident with Ableton Live as I have been recording my own vocals and producing my own music on it for years now. Despite the other options that Houghton had suggested, I continued with the original plan and used the interface and Ableton to record the master out.

 Reference list:

Houghton, M (2011) Recording A Live Show [online] Sound On Sound. Available at: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/recording-live-show [Accessed 17th April 2019]

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Rehearsal number two (Day of the gig) - 27/04/2019

On the day of the gig there was so much to do so I asked some close friends to help out at the venue while I rehearsed with the band for the second and last time before the gig. This rehearsal was probably the most important as we were all going to be playing from what we learned from that specific session. I booked the Pirate Studios again for 12-5pm hoping that it would be enough time. Unfortunately the guitarist was not able to make the final rehearsal, which was a shame but I had to not dwell on it and concentrate on what I had to work with at the time which was keys, bass, drums and vocals. Vincent, (2008) states that you need to improvise when it comes to bands, whether that means musically or mentally, improvisation is a big role in the art of performing live.

Carly Barber (Charli Brix) who was supporting me offered to help out with my backing vocals as I had no one to do them and she had done backing vocals for me before at a different gig so she came down to rehearsal also. She is also very good at harmonising and picking up new ideas quickly so it was perfect for what I needed. Raga, (2016) states that a good backing singer should have these qualities which validated what I was saying about her skills. I also asked her to sing the second verse of one of the tracks where the original singer could not make it. She sounded amazing and was comfortable doing what I asked her to which made me feel more positive.

Below is a link to a video I recorded on my phone in the middle of rehearsal number two (on the day of the gig). 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/W3McF21rGX3Vmi8d9 

Reference list:

Raga, S (2016) 9 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Backup Singers [online] Mental Floss. Available at: http://mentalfloss.com/article/81585/9-behind-scenes-secrets-backup-singers [Accessed 20th April 2019]

Vincent, S (2008) Live Sound 101 [online] TUT Plus. Available at: https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/live-sound-101-preparing-for-the-show–audio-360 [Accessed 16th April 2019]

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Planning the transport for the band on the night - 17/04/2019

I begun planning transport for the bands equipment as I do not own a car so I asked my dad to pick us up from rehearsal and transport the instruments to the gig. This part of the preparation was small but certainly essential for the night of the show and took some stress off of my shoulders.

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Planning the live engineering at live gig - 16/04/2019

I had to ask for a little assistance with the engineering side of the gig as I have had so much on my plate with university work. My housemate has had experience in live sound so I asked him for a bit of guidance. He said to ask the venue what mixing desk they had and draw the desk (including channels and sends) on some paper.

This allowed me to see the desk and begin figuring out how everything would run through the desk without being under pressure at the venue on the day. Preparation is certainly key for a smooth running gig states Vincent, (2008). He continues to explain how despite preparation, there are always things that could go wrong so be prepared for that also. After drawing the mixing desk out very roughly, I marked each channel with what instrument I wanted to run through it. For example channels one and two both needed equalisers and aux sends for reverb as they were going to be used for the acoustic guitar of the support act and all main vocals throughout the night. Therefore ‘mic 1’ and ‘mic 2’ were written on those channels. 

There is a picture below of the drawing of the mixing desk.

After drawing on the picture of the mixing desk and making sure all inputs and outputs were included, I knew what equipment I needed on top of the in house facilities the venue offered. Due to the venue already having a PA system, microphone stands and a mixing desk, all I really needed to supply was XLR cables and microphones. I decided to try and use the facilities around me and ask the university of I could borrow some cables and microphones. Once all equipment was gathered, I asked all of my family and friends to give the event one final push on Facebook etc in order to get as many people there as possible.

Reference list: 

Vincent, S (2008) Live Sound 101 [online] TUT Plus. Available at: https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/live-sound-101-preparing-for-the-show--audio-360 [Accessed 16th April 2019]

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Meeting my new manager - 16/04/2019

I recently met up with a guy called Ben who was looking for a new artist to manage. I have been looking for a manager for a while now so I took the opportunity and met up with him for a beer and a chat. We got onto the subject of releasing music and he gave me some good advice. He said to me that it's better to focus on one track at a time rather than four or five track EP's and his reasons for it were similar to Bernsen, (2016) in the paragraph above. He said that it's good to keep fans intrigued with not only your music but yourself as an artist as it is very easy to get bored of someone. Judging from my own personal thoughts on some artists that have perhaps released too much music it made complete sense so this finalised my decision of doing a three track EP rather than a four track. Ben also said that he wanted to watch me perform and see how I am on stage so bearing this in mind, the pressure levels all of a sudden skyrocketed.

In order to justify what Ben was speaking about, I had to do some research to back it up before I acted on the advice he provided. There is a good theory to releasing singles on the website ‘DIY Musician’. Unknown Author, (2016) states that despite the fact that you are technically releasing less music, singles allow the artist to release music more frequently. People usually release an album after 6-9 months of staying quiet, which certainly pushes fans to forget about you as an artist. Instead, if artists turned every track of the album into individual potential singles, accompanied by music videos and other promotional techniques that go into releasing an album, the chance of the fan base wanting more will be highly more likely.

  Reference list:

Bernsen, E (2016) How often should artists release new music? [online] Sonicbirds. Available at: http://blog.sonicbids.com/how-often-should-artists-release-new-music [Accessed 13th April 2019]

Unknown Author, (2016) Reasons you should be releasing singles [online] DIY Musician. Available at: https://diymusician.cdbaby.com/musician-tips/reasons-you-should-be-releasing-singles/ [Accessed 16th April 2019]

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Cutting down the track list - 14/04/2019

After an extremely stressful few weeks of band practice, venue organisation and various other university tasks, I decided to change the plan a little and only produce three tracks for the EP. This was mainly due to running out of time and creativity which is a big part of making music, especially creativity. Doing this meant that I could focus on the three tracks that have already been worked on and fine tune them without too much pressure. It also took a load of stress off the live performance, meaning we only have to rehearse three tracks from the EP rather than four. Due to the fourth track of the EP being planned to be another solo track, there wasn't any one (Collaborators) to disappoint with the news. 

Bernsen, (2016) states that spacing out music releases is key to gaining a fan base as it keeps people wanting more and gives you an illusive look as an artist. Releasing EP's is still a positive and tactical thing to do as it shows fans that you are active however, I feel my music is at a point where I should slow down a little with the EP releases and try to put the same energy into focusing on smaller projects.

Reference list:

Bernsen, E (2016) How often should artists release new music? [online] Sonicbirds. Available at: http://blog.sonicbids.com/how-often-should-artists-release-new-music [Accessed 13th April 2019]

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Rehearsal feedback - 12/04/2019

The first rehearsal went well and made me feel a lot more confident with the whole live performance. All of the session players are extremely talented and are used to playing in bands etc. The only problem for me personally was the organisation of the cues within the tracks. For example when to solo or when to finish. These are things that come in time as it's not necessarily something you can just teach a group of people. 

Kageyama, N (Date Unknown) states that bands should not have to practice for any longer than four hours per day. If you find yourself practicing for longer than this, you’re probably doing it wrong, she adds. In my case, if me and my band had the same amount of spare time as what Kageyama is implementing, there would be nothing to worry about at all. Despite this not being the case for me and my project, it seemed unnecessary but was still good advice nonetheless.

Reference List:

Kageyama, N (Date Unknown) How many hours a day should you practice? [online] Bullet Proof. Available at: https://bulletproofmusician.com/how-many-hours-a-day-should-you-practice/ [Accessed 12th April 2019]