Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Songwriter, Composer, Producer
Project Brief/Overview
The aim of this task was to work collaboratively with six fellow MA Music students to produce a response to a professional music brief within a short timeframe to reflect the demanding nature of how opportunities present within the music industry. Working as a group we were tasked with creating a performance and installation that conveys the concept of transcendentalism through the exploration of the themes of nature and the heritage and people of the city of Glasgow. The event would feature original music alongside a visual display to create an audio immersive experience for the audience.
As a group we organised and ran a showcase event called “The 4 Seasons of Glasgow”. The aim for the showcase was to celebrate the city of Glasgow and its people alongside exploring the beauty of nature. Therefore, exploring and conveying the key themes of transcendentalism. The event featured two key aspects; original songs written and performed by four group members alongside MA Music Songwriting (module) students. In addition, visuals of Glasgow and nature were created and used to accompany the performances creating an audio-visual immersive experience for the audience. Therefore, meeting a key aspect of the brief.
Transcendentalism
Rogers (2023) states that transcendentalism is the idea and belief that all of humanity is connected to nature on a spiritual level. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a key figure in the transcendentalist movement. Emerson believed that nature was sacred to humanity and that being immersed within nature had the ability to “revitalise and enlighten” (Litcharts, 2023). The group collaboration aims to convey the relationship between Glasgow and nature; therefore conveying the concept of transcendentalism.
Role & Responsibilities
For the brief, my role was the “Audio Visual Pre-Production Manager. In this job role my responsibilities were to create the visuals that would be used and displayed in installation accompanying the performances. I would be working with materials that were being supplied to me by the fellow group members who went to locations across Glasgow to take photos representing the city. A starting point for the process was choosing photos that represent Glasgow in each of the four seasons. I began the video editing process; collating the photos and editing them together into iMovie to create 15-minute-long accompanying visuals representing Glasgow in each of the four seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter to accompany each individual performance.
Creative Process
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I drew upon my previous video editing experience that I developed working on iMovie as part of college assessments and my own music releases. I have previously used iMovie to create live performance videos for academical assessments for HND Music and for BA (Hons) Commercial Music. In addition, I have also created videos for promotional material to promote my music as a solo artist.
The video editing process was relatively straight forward. I adopted a methodical process editing and enhancing each photo as it was added into iMovie. Overall, this was a beneficial experience having the opportunity to reinforce and continue to develop my technical skills that will be advantageous in securing future work opportunities and commissions.
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Group Collaboration
Ribeiro (2020) informs that good collaboration skills are essential to improving increasing the chances of a project’s success. Good communication, listening skills, and adaptability are all key qualities for good collaboration particularly regarding problem solving (Indeed, 2023). For the project brief I collaborated with the group remotely on Zoom, it was emotionally challenging at times not being able to attend in person. To ensure a positive collaborative experience I maintained regular communication with the group, contributed discussion and ideas to meetings, contributed to WhatsApp communication/conversations and provided updates on my progress.
First Meeting (Planning)
The purpose of our first meeting at the venue was to assign our individual roles and responsibilities; agree and finalise the content of the event (visuals and performances) and agree on the brief for the songwriters who would be writing music to perform at the event.
During the meeting the in-house technician gave the group a tour of the facilities. This allowed us the opportunity to plan out the room layout and work out how the visuals and performances will be presented and displayed to the audience. Overall, this meeting was a positive, constructive experience that allowed each member of the group to have a clear understanding of individual roles and responsibilities and agree on the key outcomes of the task and how we would achieve these.
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Photos from our first meeting. Initial planning. October 19th 2023. (Photos: Clare Duffin)
Second Meeting (Rehearsal)
The second meeting was a rehearsal and preview of the show, working in the performance space. For this meeting I created a rough 10-minute drafts of the visuals for Summer and Autumn that were displayed on the screens to preview how they would look during the event. The running order of the event was agreed upon by all group members. A deadline of Wednesday 1st November was agreed for the songwriters to confirm attendance/performance for the event and for the group members to submit all final materials to Lucian, In-house Technician, Dream Machine. This would ensure that the Technician had sufficient time to organise the materials (visuals, running order etc.) for the event.
Photos from our second meeting, the rehearsal. October 26th 2023. (Photos: Clare Duffin)
Day of Event
On the day of the event, I attended remotely through zoom; contributing to discussions on the final preparations for the event and then watched the event from home. Overall, I feel that the event was a success; it ran smoothly, without any interruptions or issues and we received positive feedback from the audience. After the event, I felt a sense of fulfilment and pride in the collaboration process and positive outcome. The debrief helped contextualise some of the key learning of the issues and challenges experienced during the collaborative process and how they align with the music industry.
Photos from the day of the event. Showcase event. 2nd November 2023. (Photos: Clare Duffin)
Obstacles
During the development of the project, I encountered several key issues that I had to overcome. Firstly, I only created three out of the four visuals; two of the group members organised their own visuals. One individual stated it was “already sorted” and that the group would be using the pre-set visuals provided at the Dream Machine. I found this challenging and concerning that perhaps I was not fulfilling part of my role. After having spoken with the group, listing my concerns, I received messages assuring that I had contributed “loads” within my role. On reflection, this was a positive outcome resulting in event being organised ahead of schedule.
Furthermore, on the day of the event, the cameraman abandoned the event over a minor disagreement relating to the camera placement. Therefore, we improvised; deciding to record the event by phone.
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Final Reflections:
During the debrief session for the event, the module co-ordinator highlighted that job roles and responsibilities can adapt and change throughout the development of a project; this was a key learning point for me from the collaborative process. This advice provided reassurance knowing that adapting tasks and roles within a collaboration can be a normal part of group collaborations; providing further reassurance that adapting and going out with the defined role is a normal part of the collaborative process.
On reflection the process of working on this brief was a challenging but rewarding experience. It was hectic planning, organising, and running the event within the short timeframe allocated in the brief (timeframes typical of professional industry briefs/commissions) but I would suggest that as a group we successfully achieved the outcomes of the brief. This experience has been combined academic skills with collaborative work experience which is highly beneficial to my on-going professional development as an artist. Reddington (2016) highlights that combining academical experience alongside practical skills and work experience can be advantageous in improving work prospects and opportunities in the music industry.
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References
Indeed (2023), Collaboration Skills: Definition and Examples
Available at: https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/collaboration-skills
Dumbreck, A, McPherson, G (2016), Entrepreneurship and Music Technology Practioners, Reddington, H. Music Entrepreneurship, Bloomsbury (Ch. 6. P141-162)
Ribeiro, S (2020), The Real Benefits of Team Collaboration in the Workplace
Rogers, E (2023), “Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance””
Litcharts (2023), Ralph Waldo Emerson: Unity and Interconnectedness”
Available at: https://www.litcharts.com/lit/nature/themes/unity-and-interconnectedness