EXP Proposal

Introduction

I will be starting my EXP on March the 6th. The aim of my EXP is to look back into the two main types of R&B, which are Alternate and Contemporary. I will look into the roots of the two branches of the genre, to see what made them divide and what were the early signs within R&B which made this inevitable. Furthermore I plan to do a 4 track EP, 2 for each genre. I will research what makes them different and include that in my tracks.  

Context

I have chosen to search into R&B because the majority of my work has some sort of relation to R&B, some of my work includes Jazz which stems off from blues and some types of R&B have grown from soul music. Since my dissertation was based on Jazz i thought it would be quite interesting to look into the two main genres that stem from soul. I have acquired good skills in researching and coming to a fairly rounded conclusion myself, this is helpful as it will help me form my own opinions on matters and put information together. In addition, using what I research in my music is a good example to show that there may or may not be a difference and what that difference is. I could possibly look into two factual genres e,g Blues and soul, as a back up plan if there is no outcome from alternate and contemporary. Other examples of what

Areas Of Research

The areas I will be researching will be the transition of soul to R&B, what artists were at the forefront of this transition, What makes an artist alternate or contemporary, which artists are contemporary and why if there's a way to depict the difference. Moreover I will also be researching what musical sounds make the genre more alternate or contemporary. Following up what I stated earlier, if I come to a point where i will need to be researching soul and blues, I will be researching the years of which they had been around for a while and their transition into R&B and other genres they helped form. Furthermore I will also be looking into the musical differences between Alternative and Contemporary R&B, this will give me influence and guide me to add the right type of musical elements to the track I will be working on.

Methodology

I will go about creating this project by beginning with the research. Beginning with the research will help me differentiate between alternate and contemporary music, this is crucial as without the knowledge of the difference between the stems of genre, I wont be able to produce music that shows what i view as the difference, the research will include listening to music, reading articles, books and artists own papers so I know where they stand on the alternate and contemporary genre. Furthermore once I have made a start on my research I'll be able to make a start on the practical side of the project. To be confident there is a difference between Alternate and Contemporary R&B, I will take ideas from artists who classify as alternate and contemporary and implement them into my own work plus what i have researched to hopefully prove the difference. 

Timeline
I plan to work on a track a week and research the process behind the track the same week, I don't think i'll be able to get a track done a week, but I plan to start a track each week, I believe this will be helpful to me because if for some reason I'm unable to finish one track, there will be a beginning to it and hopefully it will portray what research is behind it to some degree.
The week starting Monday the 6th of March - Start researching Alternate and Contemporary R&B, this will be fairly straight forward assuming I find the information i'm looking for fairly swiftly. Completing my research sooner than later will allow me to start the practical side quicker. With Research started and a rough knowledge of alternate and contemporary sorted, I will be able to start my first track in the same week, I'll decide whether it will be alternate or contemporary once I have decided which artists footsteps I will be following in.

Week 1 - I will continue researching the two split genres and working on the track I had started, I will be researching artists and incorporating some of their musical aspects into my tracks as well, the artists I take influence from will be included in my research.

Week 2 - I will continue researching the Alternative and Contemporary R&B and continue progressing on my tracks, The progress of my tracks will most likely be going slower than I planned as I will be focusing on my research as that is what will be the inspiration behind the tracks.

Week 3 - I will hopefully be making a start on my second track by now and possibly my literature review, I would have hoped to do many case studies and still looking into the musical elements that differ between Alternative and Contemporary R&B.

Week 4, 5&6 - I will be concentrating on my tracks, I would have hoped to have enough research to be able to work purely on my tracks for a little while. This will allow me to get my practical out of the way and focus on research towards the end of the project.

Week 7, 8&9 - I will be mixing and mastering my tracks, picking up research again and hopefully having enough to finish my literature review, I would have been adding my practical research as I get along with my tracks so I'm sure my practical research will be up to date by then.

Week 10, 11&12 - I plan to have everything finished by then and just be getting feedback from my teachers to make sure everything is in order. I would like to be prepared to finish a week in advance incase any problems occur.

Week 13 - Hand everything in and begin working on my evaluation and my video deconstruction.