Two years ago we came up with the idea of composing an album together. This Friday, Febuary 17th, the time for the release of this album, often called BAP, now having the official name “Music of 2021-22” has finally come!
Table of Contents
The Beginning of the BAP: Planning, Scoring, Discussing
We started by splitting up in three groups of which each group brainstormed an idea, that gave suggestions, according to which system the respective members should proceed when composing. The steps of the scores were discussed in the groups so that everyone could give and take feedback about their compositions.
Recording & Partnership with MJS
It was always important for us that every track is not only produced at a DAW but also has at least one real instrument in it that was professionally recorded. That’s why many different musicians worked together on this album. Some pieces required only one musician, some pieces up to four. Luckily many friends and colleagues of our members could help out and play some of the pieces.
But there were still some pieces for wich we could not find musicians to play them. At this point we asked in the girls school “Max-Josef-Stift” (MJS) in Munich, if some of its students were willing to help us. That’s when we found Nataliya, Riona and Mona. Nataliya and Riona are going to school in the MJS, Mona is a music teacher there who helped us organizing the recording and the required equipment.
We met two times in December 2021 for the recordings for the BAP. Concerning the location we decided that the concert hall of MJS with its magnificent acoustics would be the best place. Positioning the microphones was the first issue we had to face that evening. Luckily we had not only our own equipment we brought along, but also some cables and microphones the MJS led us. Until late at night we recorded 5 pieces for the BAP with Riona at the piano and Nataliya at the piano and violin. We did take after take, until everyone was happy with every detail.
Mixing, Mastering and Release
After the recordings a long period of mixing and mastering was on the schedule. Many YCC members who already had made experiences with music production worked on all the pieces together – sometimes two at the same piece at the same time. It took quite along time exchanging files and listening to dozens of mixdowns. When everyone was fine with their work we collected all the pieces and matched the loudnesses, so that a song of the album would not be too loud or too quited compared to the other songs.
Then we had to think about a cover. Because so many different instruments, different composing styles and different genres – from Traditional Music to EDM – have found their way into the BAP, it was not quite easy finding a motive for the cover. Luckily Adrian’s fellow student Sophie was able to design the epic image we can proudly call our newest album cover!
This Friday the album will finally be released on all streaming outlets including our Spotify, Deezer & Co.! We want to thank everyone who has accompanied and supported us on this long journey – especially our members for taking part in the BAP, Nataliya, Riona and the other musicians for recording the compositions, Mona and the MJS for letting us record in the school and Sophie for the album cover!
