PROJECTS
2017
Project 1 Anorak
Project 2 Steve Lawes Collaboration
Project 3 The Penny Antics
Anorak
Anorak
Anorak is an animation project that I have added the sound, foley, voices and music to for Oliver Hamilton. I started this project on 03/11/2016. and had it completed by 10/5/2017 as part of my 'Practical Project' module for university.
My Channel
My Channel
Anorak - Lewis Hammond
50149641 Foley capture
50149641 Soundscape Showreel
ANORAK Teaser
Collaborative Performance & Composition
Steve Lawes Collaboration
For my collaborative project, I composed two separate ten minute musical compositions for local independent artist Steve Lawes. (One being an entirely original piece and the other being a Reggae/Dub arrangement of Blur's 'Song 2'.) I started composing for this project on 16/10/2016 and had it filmed, mastered and completed by 5/5/2017.
Steve Lawes Original
Steve Lawes 'Song 2' Arrangement
The Penny Antics
The Penny Antics
This project is my minimalist two piece Grunge/Punk band. I compose the melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and lyrical elements for the bands guitar and vocal roles. I also share management of the promotional side of the band and am responsible for the band's name and logo. Below are MP3 files to the three singles off our debut album 'Reminder' as well as links to our social media and the music video to our song 'Guilty Pleasures'.
(Explicit)
The Penny Antics - Guilty Pleasures
(Official Music Video)
2018
Project NOT(e)WORTHY EP (The Penny Antics)
NOT(e)WORTHY EP
NOT(e)WORTHY EP
13/01/2018
12:00 - 16:00
In our first recording session, we began tracking the drums and percussion for The Penny Antics' five song EP 'NOT(e)WORHTY'. During this, we successfully captured the drums and percussion for four of the five tracks on the EP. Due to our personal schedules, the next recording session is set to take place on Saturday the 3rd of February between the hours of 14:00 and 22:00. In that session we aim to finish tracking the main drum tracks and overdubs and begin work on tracking the guitars and vocals.
03/02/2018
14:00 - 22:00
Our second recording session started with Shane layering the previous drum tracks with overdubs as well as starting and finishing the fifth and final drum track. We then moved onto tracking the electric and acoustic guitars. For the electric guitar tracks, we split the guitar signal between two separate amps and used a close-mic technique on both in order to capture the sounds. When recording the acoustic guitar, we used a distant-mic technique with two AKG C414's focused on the guitar's sound-hole to create a stereo-field and also recorded the back of the guitar in order to pick up any extra resonant frequencies. Lastly, we added electric guitar overdubs to two of the tracks and finished the vocal for the first song of the EP 'Pincushion'.
09/02/2018
12:00-16:00
On our third session, I recorded the main vocal track on each song and then went back and double-tracked where applicable. When double-tracking, I felt it was important to capture the second vocal take in one recording (or as close to one recording as possible) so that certain songs on the EP had a more 'human' and 'DIY' feel to them. Once the vocals and double tracked vocals were finished, we then began discussing potential dates for mixing the EP. In this session, we aim to add any extra textures or effects that may compliment our sound as well as automating and panning the tracks to give a more industry-standard listening experience.
01/03/2018
On this day, we received the first four mixes of our five songs. Once we had received these files and repeatedly listened to them for troubleshooting purposes, both myself and Shane discussed various FX issues that needed addressing. We are currently in the process of booking a final mixing and mastering session to conclude the recording of the EP. I have attached a button titled 'I Don't Care' to the first mix of the first song we received back within this project.
25/03/2018
19:00-21:00
On this day, we went back into the studio to mix and master the EP. When mixing and mastering, we made full use of things like panning and automation in order to get the best listening experience out of each track. We also compressed certain sections of songs in order to give them a greater sense of build and release. As well as mixing and mastering, we also overdubbed and double tracked a few vocal harmonies from Shane for four of the five songs. We did this to pad out the songs and add more points of interest for the listener. We should be receiving the final mixes within the week.
01/04/2018
After finishing the project, we received the final mixes of each song. You can listen to the final mix of the song 'I Don't Care' by clicking the appropriate button I have attached.
I Don't Care (First mix)
I Don't Care (Final mix)
2019
Project 1 The Penny Antics Live at The Railway
Project 2 The Penny Antics Tutorial/Lesson Videos
Project 3 The Penny Antics 'I Don't Care' Music Video
Live at The Railway
16/02/2019
On this date, The Penny Antics performed a twenty minute setlist of original material at The Railway Hotel in Southend-on-Sea. The decision was made to record this particular performance and publish the finalised product onto our newest form of social media - our Bandcamp page.
During the set, there were two overhead microphones placed directly above the drumkit, a microphone at the front of the kick drum, a clip-on microphone on the snare drum, two vocal mic's for myself and Shane and a microphone on each guitar amplifier. Once the performance was over, the soundman for the night sent us over the .wav files which I later mixed into the version that is available for streaming and downloading from our Bandcamp page.
During the mixing process, the DAW I used was Logic Pro X. I began the process by adjusting the volume on each level, raising levels that were getting lost in the mix and dropping those that were too overpowering in order to avoid any clipping. After this, I removed the two cover songs from our set and automated the guitar feedback and background audience noise - boosting and cutting the frequencies where appropriate between gaps in the set as to keep the flow of sound as natural as possible. I kept the mix dry in order to maintain the lo-fi feel of the band.
The Penny Antics Live at The Railway
(Explicit)
Tutorial/Lesson Videos
05/04/2019 - 06/07/2019
As The Penny Antics were now taking a step away from live performances in favour of writing new material, I thought I would create a weekly tutorial/lesson series on our YouTube channel that broke down the songwriting process behind each song as a way of keeping in touch with the bands' consumer demographic.
The aim of these tutorials/lessons was to teach our songs in a way that even a novice of the guitar could grasp with relative ease, whilst simultaneously promoting the band's online presence.
The first obstacle that was highlighted from peer feedback was that the pilot episode in this series was far too long and in depth. Taking this onboard, I set myself a ten minute limit for future videos with a few minutes before and after the lesson spare for promoting the band.
In keeping with the band's 'lo-fi' aesthetic, these videos were all recorded using an iPhone 6's built-in microphone and forward-facing camera.
'I Don't Care' Music Video
Timeline
I started work on the stop-motion for the video on: 23/06/19
The live rehearsal was filmed on: 24/09/19
The final edit of the video was completed on: 24/11/19
We premiered the video through our YouTube channel on: 28/11/19
I handled all of the stop-motion + editing as well as filming Shane's drum parts whilst Shane handled the rest of the filming, editing and green-screening.
The Process
When filming the stop-motion, I decided to use my Apple MacBook to take the stills for ease as well as practicality as it has a HD forward-facing camera. This also meant that the files didn't need transferring from camera to editor as the stills were saved straight to the MacBook's hard drive and only needed importing to iMovie.
When editing the stop-motion, I decided to use iMovie - the video editing software that comes as a standard with most Apple products. As iMovie restricts how short you can make a particular frame to 0.1 second(s), I had to compromise on the overall smoothness of the animation and settle for a more 'jittery' feel.
During the filming of the live action segments of the music video we opted to use a Samsung Galaxy A70 for its 4k camera and mobility. We filmed this whole section of the video during a three hour rehearsal on 24/09/19.
The footage used for the green screen parts of the video were a mixture of live gigs we'd played previously as well as leftover footage from the filmed rehearsal on 24/09/19.
The band won the 'Best Animated Film' (Over 16's) category for this music video at the Harwich Festival of the Arts Film Festival on 16/11/20.
2020
Project 1 The 'Lockdown Sessions' (Antics Remixes)
Project 2 The Penny Antics Stop Motion Shorts
Project 3 'Everyday's a Gift' Music Video
The 'Lockdown Sessions'
09/04/2020 - 28/05/2020
The 'Lockdown Sessions' is an eight song album that was written, recorded and released as weekly singles during the COVID-19 quarantine. It consists of 'Penny Antics' samples remixed and edited to sound reminiscent of various genres of Dance music. i.e. House, Trance and Jungle.
Stop Motion Shorts
21/06/2020 - 21/08/2020
This project consisted of a series of stop motion animation shorts that lasted most of my summer during 2020. It was a fun little project that I found to be very rewarding. All music made by my band 'The Penny Antics'. Animation, voices, sound design and foley by myself.
'Everyday's a Gift'
Music Video
03/12/2020 - 18/12/2020
On the 3rd of December I was contacted by Punk/Glam band 'T-Bitch' in regards to animating a full music video for their upcoming single 'Everyday's a Gift'. I was given a brief to work to and had until the 18th of December to have the video completed by. This is the first full length stop motion animation I've done that spanned the entire four minutes of its accompanying song. All music made by T-Bitch with Ren Stedman as a featured artist.
2021
Project 1 The Penny Antics 'Nobody Cares' Music Video
Project 2 The Penny Antics 'DND' Music Video
'Nobody Cares'
Music Video
18/01/2021 - 22/01/2021
This video's shot entirely stop motion with a touch of green screening and its concept is loosely based on classic video game genres. i.e. platform games, puzzle games etc. The concept came to me mostly for my love of the retro video game look and in part due to my excitement for the new console generation. In true video game fashion, I added a little easter egg at the end of the video in the 'High Score' section for fans of the band to figure out. We premiered the video on our YouTube channel on 26/01/2021.
'DND'
Music Video
22/02/2021 - 26/02/2021
This is the compilation music video for our song 'DND (Do Not Disturb)' - one of the singles from our ten song debut album 'Reminder'. Premiering on the band's YouTube channel on 26/02/2021, This video is a compilation of various pieces of band footage all shot and added together into the black and white colour scheme that the band have adapted over time.