Blog 26: Senior Project Reflection

Senior Project Reflection

1) The thing that i would be most proud of during my 2 hour presentation would have to be that of the room setup that i had in my head turn into reality. I enjoyed how all the panels came together and were so well done with the help of my friends. I enjoyed seeing the initial reaction on the people's faces as they walked into my presentation.

2a) AP

2b) AP

3) My whole senior project was the thing that worked for me because it gave me various directions to go and also gave me a lot of liberty as to what i could do, from my room setup to both of my independent components.

4) If i had to go back and change anything I would have probably prepared and started doing my whole room setup up earlier since I started doing it a couple days before and did not realize it would take so much time to make all the props for my room.

5) My senior project has really made me aware of all the different areas within EDM that exist such as graphic designers, performers, artists, and of course the DJ's themselves. As i constantly learned more through the means of my research checks and Independent Components I got closer and first hand look as to what goes on into coordinating these events. When i would go to these events such as those that i went into with my second independent component i would become aware of some things that were done properly based on my research. During the next couple of years i plan to use the knowledge i have gained but also acquire new knowledge and go into the EDM business as much as i can.

Diplo's 6 HOUR Summer Playlist

Superstar DJ and head of the record label "Mad Decent", Diplo, has just recently released on his soundcloud  a 6 hour mix meant to be for the summer. This track offers various songs from the 90's up till songs if this year. This is a playlist to listen to, maybe not on the same day but definitely has an uplifting vibe that is sure to get you ready for the summer! This playlist offers songs from Major Lazer, GTA, A-Trak, Flosstradamus, Daft Punk, Miguel, Baueer, Kendrick Lamar, Diplo himself, and many more. This 6 hour summer playlist is not all EDM but that should be no surprise from Diplo. Diplo has collaborated with various artist such as Snoop Lion and Bruno Mars. Take a listen below.

Skrillex in Mexico After Movie

Skrillex in Mexico After Movie

Skrillex is a world known superstar DJ who is constantly on tour for the past couple years. This past December Skrillex had his mothership tour in different cities across Mexico. This tour featured stops in Monterrey, Mexico City, Puebla, and Guadalajara. Skrillex teamed up his mothership team which consisted of the artists Nadastorm, 12th Planet, and Zedd. This after movie gives you a small glimpse of the way these superstar DJs travel as well as the fan base of EDM in Mexico. This video is lengthy but definitely one to watch.

Blog 25: Mentorship

Mentorship

Literal:

• Mentorship Log
• Bryant Castaneda : (626) 506-9303

Interpretive:

• I gained a lot over the course of the year with my mentor. The most important thing i gained from my mentor would have to be that of all of the things needed in order to produce a song. I gained so much valuable information on how to produce your own songs over the course of the year. I gained so much information that i can now use when i start making my own songs and edits. Not only that but also all the experience and first hand experience he has from DJing helped me see how things have to be done and all the preparation that goes days before the event and the things that have to be done that same day of the event. I learned things can be hectic but in the end can be rewarding especially if you enjoy doing what you do.

Applied:

• The type of music played at Electronic Dance Music events plays a huge prominent role in the success of the majority of EDM events. I constantly witnessed how my mentor had to keep changing and catering to new sounds and the new styles that came out with bigger name artists. I saw how much preparation and promotion is taken and needed in order to ensure success of the night, especially when I went to one of his gigs. Artist play this huge role of attracting people to the event, without them the night would more or less fail. The DJ's/ Artists are defined and known for their music, just like my mentor they have a set of people who follow them and play a huge part in ensuring the success of the event.

Full Stream of Daft Punk's New Album

Daft Punk Stream Full Album

After much wait Daft Punk's Random Access Memories is to come out May 21st. Daft Punk have offered something unexpected which was to stream their whole album free via iTunes. This came as a shocker to everyone and is definitely an album worth listening to. Daft Punk also offered an exclusive video of their new song alongside the video, both Daft Punk members appeared as they unveiled their new album in it's vinyl version. The vinyl copy of Random Access memories offers pictures of their own clear piano synthesizers and a deeper look into their helmets.You can stream their album below and also watch the video.

Daft Punk Album Live Stream - Click Here

Random Access Memories Unboxed

Daft Punk Interview on BBC's Radio 1 with Pete Tong

New Daft Punk Interview

A week ago Pete Tong's radio show on BBC Radio 1 had an exclusive interview with Daft Punk. Pete Tong's radio show is one of the most listened to and known within the EDM scene so having Daft Punk on the air with him was something else. Daft Punk talks about the process that they took in order to create their new album Random Access Memories. Daft Punk also talks about how this is their first actual first studio album and how it was the record that they wanted to do and create. Take a listen to this interview yourself below and come up with your own thoughts about what they say. It truly is something else to hear Daft Punk after being inactive for so long.

Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions

Exit Interview Questions

1) My essential question is what makes a successful EDM event? The best answer to my essential question is to successfully create an eye-appealing and informative flyer that will inform your audience about your event. This is my best answer because a flyer is a simple, cost-efficient, and appealing way to inform your audience about your event. A flyer is a simple way to give all the information about your event that will let you directly connect with you audience. A flyer gives out information such as that of the venue location, the artists that will be attending your event, promoters, prices, and specials. Flyers also appeal to audience since it gives fans a way to directly connect with the event since it offers something tangible that fan can keep over the course of the years as a memory item. Creating a flyer also offers you a way to connect with a mass number of people since there are other types of flyer that are created in order to promote online through social media sites or online websites.

2) I have been into Electronic Dance Music events over the course of 4 years and waiting until the age of 18 to be able to attend a big scale EDM event since they are only 18+ since 2010 after the death of a 15 year old at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles. Although I did not know it at the moment my first answer would directly derive from there as experience. Over the course of the years I would go out and collect flyers for different types of events that had all different types of information on it. Each flyer I kept was different and unique in their own way that always had information from venue location to artists and date of the events. As I developed more into my senior project I began to read articles and the first article that demonstrated the importance was an article title "How to promote your events and throw your own events" this was a 6 article series which first opened the doors in the direction that I needed to go in to. Article series #4 was the article that stated the importance of a flyer and introduced me to the Information Hierarchy which is the basic concept of making the most important items that will bring in the most people into your event the biggest thing on your flyer and then making the other items smaller and smaller depending on how important the information is. After learning this information i started playing closer attention to flyers that would be handed out to me as well as those of the flyers that i already had. It wasn't until then that i also realized how flyers are also promoted on social media sites such as Facebook in order to capture a broader audience. This made me realize that flyers are virtually everywhere online and people don't really see or notice how much of an impact they have on how successful and event is.

3) One of the first problems that I encountered at the beginning of the year was that of completely shifting my focus from producing Electronic Dance Music to EDM events. During the beginning of the year I came with the intention of being able to produce music and songs so that by the end of the year i would be able to send well produced demos to record labels and hopefully be able to become signed by a record label. Things took a turn once I was told that i could not be able to present on how to produce a song for 2 hours. That's when I shifted my focus away from the producing aspect to Electronic Dance Music as a whole. I then learned some of the important things that are needed and that are done in order to create an Electronic Dance Music event. They were things that I had not necessarily known attracted me the way they did to these events. 

Another problem that I encountered was that of being able to successfully do my second independent component. After I had derived my first answer, which was that of creating and informative and eye-appealing flyer, i wanted to go further in with this answer. I wanted to promote and become a promoter for events in order to see how you had to do things and how things had to be done in order to give people out flyers. At first it seemed like an easy task such as just going and asking to join to promote for their events but later found that these types of events are a small batch people that already have their network built within them and it's really hard to get into. I had to seek out people who had previously been in these networks or were part of them and that when i remembered about Joshua Salas who two years ago was part of a promotion team for a Club called Matinee. I then found out that he has also become a resident DJ for that club and that's when i started to find a way to get a hold of him so that he could help me with my independent component 2. I got a hold of him and he got me to promote for events that he would DJ for. He was the one who showed me how to properly promote using flyers, areas of interests to go, and how to greet people. I promote for a number of events and on the last event I helped promote for which was a house party, I actually got the opportunity to DJ. 

4) The first important source that helped me answer my essential question was that of the 6 series article which was how to promote and throw your own parties since it was the first articles that helped me open the doors and guide me in the direction that i needed to go after shifting focus from producing Electronic Dance Music to EDM. Without this series of article i would have probably not known which direction to head in since i didn't know where to go at the time. 

The second most important source that i had to be my fourth interview with Joshua Salas. I had decided to interview Josh Salas for my fourth interview since he is in the EDM scene a lot as a DJ and promoter. He has also had many first hand encounters with the EDM scene having attended many EDM events over the course of the years. Throughout my interview he gave me the reassurance of everything I had come up with over the course of the year. It made me feel sure about my whole senior project and the answers i had derived over the course of the years. 

5) Over the course of the year I have learned many things and my final product would have to be that of experimenting in order to figure out what works and what doesn't as well as being able to constantly innovate. During my first independent component i actually became aware of this since my first independent component was producing a song and throughout the whole time that i was making the song i was constantly changing sounds around to see which ones worked best and which ones didn't. I also saw this during my second independent component when I had to promote and hand out flyers out in the street since i had to determine what places worked best for handing out flyers and what places didn't as well as figuring out what time of the day i had to go to in order to hit the target audience that would most likely attend the event. This is constantly done with EDM since there are always new sounds and songs coming out and it's all about experimenting and innovating in order to get the most sells of your songs, in order to distinguish yourself from others, and in order to make your event more attractive and well known than that of others. Things are constantly innovating and new things are constantly coming out throughout the world and EDM ins't an exception.