DRUMMER BOY - MATTHEW E MAZZONE
CULMINATING EXPERIENCE PROJECT
BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC 2014

Everybody has a talent, a skillset, something they can do better than anyone
else. I am not suggesting that what I do is better than how anyone else can do
it. But, I am suggesting that what I do is better than anything else that I can
do.

When I was a kid I considered myself a musician. When I was a teenager I
considered myself a DJ. When I was in my twenties I considered myself a
buddying producer. And, during my time at Berklee College of Music I turned
30. So what does that make me now?

I am all those things and more. My project is a realization of everything I have
worked for. Everything from when I was a child sitting in front of the piano until
now. Finally I have taken the step to create a collection of works to define me
as an artist.

	
  

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DESCRIPTION OF THE CULMINATING EXPERIENCE PROJECT

My project is an album of original works. This is made up of music that I want
to represent as my sound. Stylistically it varies across many genres including
chillout, drum & bass, house and trance. I have ten songs in my album. They
are as follows:

1)

Valence

Chillout/Trance

2)

Finding Zz

House

3)

Closer To You

House

4)

I Found You

House

5)

Rain

Drum & Bass

6)

Fantasy

Drum & Bass

7)

To You

Drum & Bass

8)

Amaranthine

Drum & Bass

9)

La Libelula

Trance

10)

Dawn

Trance

I have noted the styles of the works too so you can get an idea of the variation
on the music. The music is a combination of brand new works and also
previous works that I wanted to include.

Also as part of my project I have included videos. I have two music videos so
far which are on my YouTube channel. The YouTube channel is going to be a
promotional too for both my album and myself as a producer and music
technology enthusiast. As well as music videos I also have other personal
videos that show my journey as a student. I plan to continue to work on my
YouTube channel with both music videos and tutorials related to music
production.

	
  

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INNOVATIVE ASPECTS OF THE WORK

There are several aspects of my project that are innovative. Firstly it is not
common for an album of electronic music to be comprised of such varying
styles. My album will appeal to a wide audience because various target
markets will appreciate different aspects of the work. The incorporation of
video on YouTube isn’t a new concept, however it is innovative because it is
allowing my project to have more potential to grow. Utilizing social media is
important and required in today’s market.

I have also completely revised how I am going to do live performance.
Although my project is the album content, I do realize that part of being an
artist is performing my work. I have spent time learning about using Ableton
Live and MIDI controllers as a means to perform my music. I have had a few
prototypes in the last few months where I have performed in front of a live
audience. This has changed the way in which I produce my music. The
primary sequencers I have used are Apple Logic Pro and Ableton Live. I have
performed using both sequencers and I will continue to use this concept in my
DJing. When producing a track that I plan on performing in the future, I need
to change the way I arrange my instrumentation and use automation so that it
can work in a live situation.

NEW SKILLS ACQUIRED

I have had to learn a lot to complete this project. Whilst I already had skills in
music production, I have increased my skills immensely over the last year. I
learnt a lot of new software, most notably Ableton Live, Z3ta+2, Massive,
FM8, Virus TI, Ozone and other plugins.

Learning how to mix properly and effectively was a big learning curve and I
learnt a lot of new techniques in both my classes and in private tuition. I also

	
  

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learn new hardware controllers like the Akai APC40, Ableton Push, Native
Instruments Maschine, Numark NS7, Access Virus TI Snow, Mbox Pro and
the vast amount of gear in campus studios.

However by far the biggest learning curve for me was video production.
Before starting this project I had absolutely no prior experience in filming and
video editing. There is still so much more I want to learn in video editing,
graphics and general production but considering how far I have come I am
very happy with my progress.

CHALLENGES, BOTH ANTICIPATED AND UNEXPECTED

This project was larger than I originally anticipated and I did encounter
problems. Mainly the problems were the skills I needed to learn in such a
short space of time. I didn’t want to sacrifice quality of the work but in some
ways I needed to in order to finish everything.

Learning how to mix properly was difficult and time consuming. I got help from
Berklee faculty and I realized that I needed to break some bad habits that I
had practiced over previous years. Having said all this I do believe that I am
much better at mixing now and I feel future projects will be easier.

The biggest challenge was mastering. This something I have very limited
experience with and realistically it will take me years before I will be able to
master my own work correctly. I want to learn this and I plan on continuing to
build this skillset in future projects.

	
  

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FUTURE RAMIFICATIONS AND PLANS FOR THE WORK

This project will continue to grow in the coming months. The first stage of my
project is the album content and the future of this project getting it out to the
public.

I want to be my own manager and so I plan on starting my own record label to
release this album. I will create remix stems for all music in this album and so
when purchased the consumer will have the opportunity to remix my music.

The business model I have designed for my record label is as follows.

As you can see I am trying to create a model where the more artists I get
signed to my label the greater the growth in total music released. The artists
that get signed to my label will release their original works as well as their
remixes of my work. I plan on implementing this business plan later this year.

	
  

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CONCLUSION
As I stated this project is a realization of everything I have worked for. Even
though this project marks the end of my time as a student at Berklee College
of Music, in terms of my career it marks the starting point of a long journey.
This is album number one of many more to come. I have learned so much
about music production that now I have an overload of music adrenalin. I want
to continue to produce and use the many skills I have developed over the last
year.

I feel that I have been able to utilize my current skills, the facilities on campus
and my time as effectively as possible. For the most part, I am happy with the
project but most importantly I look forward to the future. I hope you enjoy
listening to my music and I want you to continue to listen to my future projects.
This really is just the beginning.

	
  

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