The History of Music Recording
1877
Edison phonograph was revolutionary its early recordings were made using wax cylinders, However they never took off as a product.
Later that year, Gramophone released. Different as they played music recordings via flat discs rather than wax cylinders.
The first records were played at different speeds - between 60 and 120 RPM ( Revolutions per minute) - in 1925, 78 RPM became the standard speed for records, made from thermoplastic and were very brittle.
Cassette Tapes
Invented by a Dutch company Phillips in 1963, Between the early 70's until the 2000's cassette was one of the two most common formats for pre recorded music. Along with the Compact Disc, also invented by Phillips as well as a company called Sony.
Sony revolutionised the way people could listen to music when they released the walkman in 1979.
Compact Disc (CD) was revolutionary in its own regard as they offer a better sound quality than the vinyl record had previously, as well as the aforementioned Cassette Tape, in 1988 the Moving Pictures Expert Group was established (MPEG) A working group of authorities that was formed to set standards for audio and video compression and transmission.
MPEG 1 - Used with video and CD
MPEG 2 - Used in DVD's and Digital Television set top boxes
MPEG 3 (MP3) For audio compression invented after the internet was 'born'
MPEG 4 - Standard for multimedia on the web, allowing higher levels of interaction with content, within the limits set by the author.
The iPod
Released by Apple in 2001, the iTunes store was launched in 2003, and has gone through various transformations.
CDD: Initial Research-Codes and Conventions Of CD Covers
The task we got set was were given 4 random CD cases with the covers on and we had to analyse them, to see if there were any recurring conventions that occurred with each CD cover. we had to analyse the Front, Back and Inside the CD case to see what they all had in common and how the theme of the album flowed throughout the case cover.
The group I worked in found out that there are certain conventions that link with each CD cover such as: the front cover consisted of having the artist's name, the album name and a picture of the artist or something that had something to do with the theme of the album. The back cover was normally similar to the front of the cover as it had the same theme as the front however, it had the song list of the songs that were going to feature in the CD. The inside of the CD had a little booklet with more information of the CD and lyrics and the inside of the cover on both sides normally matched the theme and colour scheme of the front and back of the album. And on the inside right of the album there is a disc slot for the CD to connect to.
These were the reoccurring features found from each CD;
Front cover:
- Name of artist/band and album - both in the same font and easily readable.
- The artist/band's name is usually bigger than the album name, although this isn't always the format as 'Eden' shows.
- Usually has an image of the artist/band or some photography/artwork which shows the atmosphere of the album.
Back cover:
- Tracklist.
- The same or similar colour palette and imagery as seen on the front of the pack.
- 'Legalese' text in small print, often found at the bottom or side.
- Record label logo (sometimes).
- Barcode.
- On more modern albums, social media details and accounts for fans to find more content of the artist/band.
Inside front/back cover:
- Usually an imagery and colour palette theme continuation, but there are no set rules.
- Sometimes there is a circular image underneath the disc tray - credits and other imagery could also be hidden here.
- Back cover information repeated (like the trackless and 'legalese').
Analysing an Existing CD Digipack
Initial Ideas
As a band, the Royal Concept produce music in the indie rock genre so to make the digipack authentic I want it to be similar to the expected conventions of the genre. Traditionally the indie genre has always been associated with independent and abstract views.Left wing. I want my digipack to follow along with the ambiguity associated with this genre and avoid conforming to the 'normal' expectations.
For the CD Digipack I have took inspiration from various sources and created a template for what I want it to consist of. Firstly, I looked at the expected conventions of digipacks and decided I wanted a similar ambitious look to the original cover of the album produced by 'The Royal Concept' in terms of the purple colours. I then found an image online of a purple background with a galaxy surrounding it. This gave me the idea to associate the album cover with space and planets, such as labelling each track with a different star or planet instead of a bullet point. I also wanted the protagonist of the band to have his face in space.
For the side panels of the digipack I want to blend the lyrics of the songs in the album within the image of the artist. The shot taken should be from a waist height so I can blend lyrics with the whole body. I took inspiration from various artists. Another idea was to use the resources available to me in photoshop, therefore i could use the filter gallery to adjust some of the photography for the panels.
Another idea I had was to make the images have a 3D effect around them which has been used conventionally by artists of various genres such as Drake and Mr Hudson. I want the effect to have a gradient background so the effect is more noticeable. As Harry is going to be my priority for the Digipack he is going to feature predominantly on most of the panels. This idea can be created relatively simply in photoshop and can be used on all of my images to create some continuity.
Another idea i had regarding font took inspiration from Future's Ds2 album in which he uses the letters in his name and the name of the album in columns and covered them in a box which would be in the corner and feature an image of the artist instead of Fututes design. I like the colour scheme of the front cover and consider using it as a background; purples and blues.
Finally, one of my ideas for a background is the concept of geometric shapes to comply with the abstract look I am after. This would feature the same purple and blue colours I previously mentioned. Inspiration for this idea stemmed from Drake and Futures project 'what a time to be alive' which used diamonds in the background, these shapes create a similar look.
Audience Feedback on Initial Ideas
To receive audience feedback I showed my blog post to a variety of sixth form students and asked them to comment on its effectiveness and how good it looks visually. I asked 10 students who study different A-Levels so not all of them will be aware of the conventions associated with the CD Digipack. While not all of the comments were constructive {some were extremely vague} some helped me in my chosen idea. I selected 4 of the comments I felt were most effective and indicated how they were helpful in me selecting my chosen idea.
Based on this feedback I want to make sure to keep the design simple. For the background instead of a solid colour I want to blend the patterns to make a grey style to blend with the galaxy. This will also avoid making the covers to bright. It will then make the colours of the galaxy, light purples etc more obvious combined with the basic grey colour as the background.
I constructed a template of what I wanted the front cover to look like. To do this I went on photoshop and pasted in the background I found. I used Sam as a practise target to gain experience in some of the tools I will need for the real thing such as merging layers and the use of the lasso tool. I used the picture of Sam and cut out his face and using the threshold tool I could remove his facial features to look like a silhouette. After merging the layers I decided to place Sam's face on a white background instead and have his facial features blended into the galaxy. This practise has allowed me to modify changes to my initial ideas. The process I undertook in creating a template is below.
This is the desired look I want for the front cover however I am yet to decide on which texts to go with for the rest of the Digipack.
Chosen Idea
I also attempted a few ideas that i had previously considered. One being the album title Goldrushed placed into columns similar to the Ds2 album cover, however I decided it made the album cover too condensed and wouldn't look professional. Another idea I had was to use 4 of the same image but rotate them around to look like they are facing away from each other; while this construct had a good concept, upon delivery I felt the idea was to cliche and didn't suit the tone I was trying to convey in my package.
Selecting A Font - Chosen Idea
In terms of selecting a font for the Digipack I wanted to keep the galaxy theme consistent, I wanted the texts to be purple or to also blend in with my template image of the galaxy using the clipping mask tool. I could't decide which font to use for text so designed a survey and asked between 10 to 20 students to fill it out.
I designed the 5 texts and labeled them each and asked the students to tally them. I wanted the students to be of a similar age so selected members of the sixth form as they can justify their selection in a way that is helpful for me. If the feedback I receive is not constructive it could affect the text I select and make the effect of the Digipack look less effective.
I took the results and put them into a graph. I labelled each text with a number so students could put in the box below their vote. 17 students participated
Results
Text 1 - 3 Votes
Text 2 - 3 Votes
Text 3 - 2 Votes
Text 4 - 7 Votes
Text 5 - 2 Votes
This evidence of feedback on the typographical elements of my digipack has helped me develop my photoshop ability but also realise my limitations in terms of ideas to avoid too much being put on the screen at once to the extent it becomes overwhelming. However I decided to go against these fonts as I cam across a website called DAfont.com which allows you to chose from over 1000 styles I chose the Lemonism font and applied it to both my CD Digipak and MMA for synergy between the two products.
The reason I decided Lemonism over the audience chosen text was that the clipping mask tool I was planning on using wouldn't have looked as good with the background I planned on using. With Dafont, i was easily able to download a copy which can be embedded into Photoshop as a text layer
which means I can alter its font size, colour, etc
Practise Shots With Canon Camera
Working with the Canon camera has allowed me to improve my skills in photography. Using the auto focus setting had pros and cons. An example with the images I selected to insert into the back are the pictures I took outside. The focus setting prioritised the background instead of Harry who I was trying to take the picture of; resulting in the image to look blurred and slightly distorted. This technique could be useful If i was intending to use a blurry effect for editing purposes however my ideas require the lead actor to be the centre of attention therefore he needs to be the focus of the picture.
A benefit of using this kind of camera was the settings were easy to follow which meant the set up process and initial pictures were easy to take. It was obvious to see after a few pictures that I was more confident in using the camera as the quality of the photography begins to improve. I took some good pictures of Harry and decided to use 2 different locations, one indoors and one outside to compare taking pictures in different environments. This relates to my music video also as some elements are filmed inside and others are in out door locations. This experience working with the Canon camera and taking practise shots has helped me develop my media ability.
Construction Process
The first thing I had to consider when setting up the Digipack was how to set up the background. I set up the template on Photoshop and in separate documents placed the images I had taken of Harry and labeled them depending on which panel they would feature on. I used the lasso tool to remove the background and then the rubber to remove excess parts.
I then went on a website for which I could customise a geographic filter to use as my background.
I chose the Ds2 colour scheme and the website allowed me to manipulate the size of the spaces and the actual size of the document I set it to the appropriate size for the template then after placing it into Photoshop I used the ruler tool and the navigator to cut out areas that weren't relevant after I had finished.
I then used the lasso tool to cut out the image of Harry and placed it into Photoshop.
I focused on each panel one at a time so started with the front cover. Using the image I had in a separate document I used the image/adjustment tool to make the image black and white.
I placed him to the left had side of the panel and then added the text I had already dowloaded. The image was currently black and white so I hid the texts and made the image of harry a priority. I created 2 more layers over the top of the original using The CMD and J keys to create a new layer of the same object
I then labeled them Harry FC (for front cover) 1,2 and 3 a process i would undertake for the rest of the CD Digipack. In the 2nd and 3rd layers I changed the colours of the images using Image adjustment, making one green and one pink and then dragged them both slightly over to the right so they would sit over the top of each other, creating the desired 3D effect. I then uncovered the text which sat on the right hand side of the front cover.
I applied the same effect for the rest of my photography as I wanted the whole package to look similar however, for the top two panels I used different filters which I found in the filter gallery, these give each image their own distinct look.
When creating the back panel I wanted to use the conventional method of having the album cover text with references to recording studios production company etc, I also added a barcode PNG image for extra legitimacy.
I took a CD and altered the text and made the production company KBA. I used the school's logo as the production emblem using the burn tool to de select the background, which I found difficult at first and originally attempted to just deselect everything, however it looked more professional to use the burn tool.
I placed the text in each corner then applied a border to ensure the text was not to close to the edge of the panels.
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