<i>Honey Tree</i>: A Neo-Soul Album, Artist & Musical Development Through the Electronic Press Kit

Portland State University Portland State University

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University Honors Theses University Honors College

Spring 6-10-2022

Honey TreeHoney Tree

: A Neo-Soul Album, Artist & Musical : A Neo-Soul Album, Artist & Musical

Development Through the Electronic Press Kit Development Through the Electronic Press Kit

Raine Welterlen

Portland State University

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation

Welterlen, Raine, "

Honey Tree

: A Neo-Soul Album, Artist & Musical Development Through the Electronic

Press Kit" (2022).

University Honors Theses.

Paper 1246.

https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.1277

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Honey Tree: A Neo-Soul Album

Artist & Musical Development Through the Electronic Press Kit

Raine Welterlen

An undergraduate honors thesis submitted in partial fulﬁllment of the

requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Arts

University Honors

and

Music Performance

Thesis Adviser

Sherry Alves

Portland State University

2022

Welterlen 1

Introduction

Throughout my academic career I have become increasingly involved in the jazz idiom

and realized early on that all the music I love is heavily influenced by Black American music.

The goal of my education has been to understand jazz well enough for these influences to

become apparent in my original music. This is the creative challenge I set before myself; to write

and arrange a Neo-Soul album I have decided to call, Honey Tree . Writing and recording an

album is not enough to make a finished product by music industry standards. It is no longer a

realistic plan to continue to play in dive bars, hoping to be discovered by an A&R person and get

signed to their label. These days a musician is expected to be able to market themselves in order

to grow an audience before a record label will even look their way. The purpose of this creative

thesis is to assemble a comprehensive Electronic Press Kit (EPK) that will help kickstart my

career as a musician. In my artist’s statement I discuss the methodology of monetizing my music,

setting up marketing, producing and recording the music, and how this process has helped me

grow.

Copyrighting Music

While producing this album and developing my Electronic Press Kit, I obtained the legal

rights to the music as well as access to the money it might generate. There are two important

steps to this: copyrighting the music, and registering with a Performance Rights Organization

(PRO). Copyrighting music is a relatively simple process, but requires a written or recorded

transcription of the music. I chose to make sheet music that included the chord progressions,

melody, and lyrics. Once completed I filled out an online form with the U.S. Copyright office,

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paid an $80 processing fee, and waited for their verdict. It only took a couple of months to

receive confirmation and certificate in the mail.

Performance Rights Organization

Deciding what PRO to register with is one that needs some deliberation, as it is an

arduous process to switch from one to another. A PRO is a non-profit organization that collects

royalties on behalf of songwriters and publishers when their music is performed or broadcasted

publicly. Because the profits are split evenly between the two entities and distributed, many

songwriters form their own publishing company so that they receive one hundred percent of the

profits. This process only requires registering as both entities with the PRO.

There are three different PROs in the U.S.: ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. SESAC is by

invitation alone, but the other two only require a one time fee to join. To decide between the two

I took multiple things into consideration, such as price, potential benefits, and ease of use. I

decided to go with ASCAP as they charge fifty dollars to join as each entity, but BMI charges

fifty dollars to register as a writer and an additional one hundred dollars to register as a

publishing company. ASCAP also offers more benefits and is more equipped to receive royalties

from PRO companies overseas. The process of joining ASCAP was just as easy as getting the

music copyrighted, but the work of doing research and coming to a decision took some time.

Electronic Press Kit

While registering with a PRO is important, it will operate in the background now that it is

set up. However, the Electronic Press Kit I have been developing will be put to use everytime I

try to get a job as a performer. The higher quality the materials, the more likely I will be to get

Welterlen 3

work. To break it down, an EPK is a pre-packaged set of materials meant to promote a person or

company, and it can be used for promotional material for the media. In the music industry it is

usually used to show a venue or event planner what your musical performance is like, and

provide the materials needed to promote your show through websites and social media. The

components of an EPK are a biography, footage of performances, branding, headshots, and

studio recordings (Beeching 142).

My EPK materials are presented on a website I built at the beginning of spring term. My

biography was the last page to be published, as it is challenging to write about yourself in the

third person, especially when trying to sell something. With some help from friends and family I

found ways to describe my music and my sound in a complementary way. On my website I have

a few YouTube videos of me singing and playing in my room, but I am lacking high quality

footage of my past performances. So, I am going to live stream my senior recital at the end of the

term. I work for Left Door Streaming Company as an audio engineer, and most of the work I get

is at The 1905, a jazz club in North Portland. This is where I’ll be having my senior recital.

There I will perform seven jazz compositions and five original songs. Having videos of these

performances will make it easier to get work at other venues with both my jazz sets and my

original neo-soul songs.

Branding

All of the elements in an EPK should also convey the branding developed by the business

entity; this includes certain colors, fonts, and editing style for photos and videos. It is more

sustainable to use branding that I already like, so I chose the colors plum and golden yellow for

the theme of my website. I also commissioned my roommate, Em Rochlin, who is also

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presenting their thesis this term, to design a logo for me that encapsulates my most recognizable

features. I based the fonts on my website and on my business cards off of their handwriting in the

logo and I based my domain name off of my social media usernames and currently own

reginarainemusic.com. Having these branding choices already made will streamline the process

of building promotional materials like posters, stickers, and social media posts. My advisor and I

also discussed how to go about using these materials effectively. Physical posters and social

media are not the most effective way to reach an audience as both of these platforms are highly

competitive. The best way to reach people is through their email. My advisor suggested that I

email all my friends, family, colleagues and professors inviting them to either the live-stream, or

the in-person show, so I can start building my email list now.

Influences & Inspiration

Now that I have these structures in place to market my music, I need to turn my music

into a product. The first step of this process is to share the music with other musicians and start

collaborating towards a full arrangement. This stage of the process is a very vulnerable one

because it is as if you are letting someone else hold your baby for the very first time. I chose to

give myself some protection from this by writing out most of the arrangement on my own. I want

my songs to be included in the neo-soul genre, so I did some research on its influences and

development using the book, Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On by Michael

Campbell. In this book he tells the history of popular music and how different genres influenced

one another, developing into the music we listen to today.

This genre is heavily influenced by jazz vocalists like Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Nat

King Cole, and Frank Sinatra, who were singing jazz standards from the Great American

Welterlen 5

Songbook, starting in the 1930s up until the 1960s. They interpreted the music with a

conversational style that would focus on conveying emotion rather than displaying virtuosity

(Campbell, 73). These crooners were influenced by Black gospel singers who used blues and

expressive melismas to add more expression to their impassioned spiritual music (Campbell,

103). Musical artists originating from the U.K., Rex Orange County, Lianne La Havas, and

Eloise are singer-songwriters I listen to regularly who are also inspired by the crooners of the

60’s, and use the same style of storytelling and personalization in their music.

They also use similar arrangement choices as soul singers from the 60s, such as Sam

Cooke and Aretha Franklin who would write songs with more open, syncopated rhythms over a

strong backbeat, which is identified by a snare hit on beats two and four (Cambell,103). In figure

1 you can see an example from my song “Honey” where the kick drum (bottom note) hits on beat

one, and the snare (middle note) hits on beats two and

four. Rex Orange County and the American indie rock

band, Hellogoodbye, also use this genre’s more active

bass line. In the example seen in figure 2 from my composition “Persephone,” you can see the

bass line has bigger intervals over a shorter amount of time in the last measure.

Another genre that heavily influences Neo-Soul is the Detroit born Motown Sound.

Artists and producers did not limit the melody to just the lead vocals and made arrangements that

gave horn players melodic riffs as well (Campbell, 215). Rex Orange County and the

instrumental band, The Olympians, utilize Motown-style melodies in the lead and supporting

horns sections. The

Welterlen 6

melody of “Persephone,” in figure 3, is briefly taken over by the trumpet. In “Car Radio,” the

horn section fills in breaks in the lead vocals during the chorus and verse with harmonized

melodic content (figure 4).

Background vocalists have always been an important part of Black American music and

are used by artists in many genres. One of my earlier musical influences, Hozier, a solo artist

from Ireland, uses blues forms and style as well as gospel influenced background vocals. There

are background vocals in all of my arrangements. As seen in figure 5 the backup vocals in my

song “Within Your Reach” are independent from the lead vocals, providing harmonic and

rhythmic accents.

In “Persephone,”

you can see in

figure 6 how the

back up vocals

echo the lead, and

then switch to haunting “oohs” during the verse that resemble background vocals used by Hozier.

Welterlen 7

Demos

To create the sheet music, I worked from my home studio setup, switching back and forth

between two computer programs: Logic Pro and Finale. I started with Logic Pro, which is a

Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), to create a basic recording of the song using the piano or

ukulele. From there the process was slightly different with each song. For example, when I

started working on “Car Radio,” I wrote the bass line of each section first. But when I started

writing “Honey,” I had a specific idea for background vocals I wanted to use. I would move

section by section, building in each instrument, experimenting with new ideas and fine tuning

existing ones. If I felt stuck I would listen to a playlist of songs to find inspiration, that included

music by the artists mentioned above. The composition “Pluto” by The Olympians, helped

inspire my song, “Persephone,” so I used a small riff from its bassline. It is a three eighth note

chromatic motion leading to the root of the first chord, as seen in the pick-up measure in figure 2.

However, my song is in a different key and time signature so it isn’t similar enough to be

considered copyright infringement.

Notation

As the demos started to come together I would start using the music notation software,

Finale, to begin the most tedious part of this project. This was making sheet music for a band to

Welterlen 8

read. Using the notation tool Logic Pro provides, I would copy the notes into Finale and fine tune

the rhythm. However, the formatting needed to make sheet music readable and clear, takes much

more trial and error. Rehearsal marks, dynamics, spacing, fonts, and notation style are all big

components of this. Even with computer software, notating music can be finicky at best, and

straight up infuriating at worst. My advisor and I went through three rounds of review, but there

were still mistakes to be found when I first brought it to my band.

Rehearsal

I met both my bass player and keyboardist through a jazz ensemble at PSU. The bassist,

John Blewster, is a Sophomore earning a degree in Computer Science; and Marvin Maderang,

also a Sophomore, plays piano part-time in the Jazz Studies Department. I asked PSU jazz

department alumni, and old co-worker at Left Door Streaming, Kyle Owens, to play drums. I

started out rehearsals with just Marvin and John, as I had trouble finding a drummer at first. The

time it took to find a drummer ended up being beneficial, as the students got some extra time to

practice the songs before I brought the professional drummer in.

The first few rehearsals were reading sessions where we would talk over the form and the

general vibe of each song. We played each song twice and there was measurable improvement

between each runthrough. As we went along I would hear my mistakes in the chart and I would

stop them and have them write in corrections. In the next few rehearsals, details of the

arrangements started to change as they brought new rhythmic and harmonic ideas, as well as

their own virtuosity to the music. Despite the amount of work I put into the sheet music I knew

that the right musicians would use them as a starting point, rather than settle for playing them

Welterlen 9

perfectly. I don’t play these instruments, so as they learned the music they interpreted and

improved the individual parts, making the overall arrangement stronger.

Recording

For the recording process I asked another co-worker from Left Door Streaming, Scott

Stanley, to be the engineer for the album. He owns and operates The Studio of the Woodland

Realm in Northeast Portland near the Lloyd district. We decided to do a live recording where the

musicians play at the same time and are able to interact with one another, rather than record each

instrument individually. We reserved two full days in the Hallowed Halls, a studio in South East

Portland that has enough room for everyone to record in the same room. Much of the first day

was eaten up by set-up, and despite some technical issues with our headphone mixes, we had a

few takes of each song done by that evening. However, the takes from the next day were much

higher energy, as everyone was more comfortable with the space and had plenty of time to get in

the right head space. The result is that most of the takes we are using moving forward are from

the second day of recording.

There were a lot of scheduling conflicts so we weren't able to book the studio at

Hallowed Halls until week seven of spring term of this year. It was great to have extra time to

rehearse before going into the studio. Given how early the symposium is this term and how busy

I am preparing for my senior recital and graduation, I decided to take my time on the project.

Rushing through the overdubs and mixing process while I am in the most stressful time of my

life so far would damage the quality of the end product. So once things have settled down I will

finish lead and background vocals as well as any trumpet or ukulele overdubs I want to do in

Scott’s studio. Then, he can start the process of editing and mastering the music, which gives the

Welterlen 10

album consistency and prepares it for public platforms. Once it is ready, I will release it using a

distribution company like CDbaby, to get it on apps like Spotify, Apple Music, and TikTok. At

the same time, I will be putting my EPK to work getting jobs at local music venues, posting to

social media and possibly even getting coverage in local music magazines like Willamette Week

and Vortex .

Conclusion

While in the midst of this creative thesis I realized that I will not need to transcribe such

extensive arrangements in the future. When working with the right musicians they will know

how to emulate the style you want if you trust them and your ability to communicate.

Micromanaging the arrangement has helped me improve my confidence and communication

skills in relation to music, and has shown me the parts of my musicianship I want to improve. I

have also discovered some things about the management role. Waiting for everyone to confirm

their availability will take too long and the opportunity to book a space will pass. I had also

planned to start curating my social media presence during this year, but it is difficult to get

started and be consistent when juggling so many other things.

The plan for my honors thesis changed many times over this past year because I wanted it

to resemble the work I will do in my professional career. I couldn’t see the purpose of writing a

research paper when it is unlikely that I will ever need those skills. I wanted to learn about the

process of recording an album, and once I started, I knew the project would not feel complete

without setting up the business side of things as well. Now, as I enter a new chapter of my career,

I have already built a website, designed marketing materials, obtained the copyrights to my

Welterlen 11

music, made musical arrangements, and collaborated with other musicians towards the

foundations of my first album. All of this will result in a senior recital and live stream that will

be held at a reputable jazz club on June 8th, 2022 at 5:00 PM PST. While there is still more to

learn and do, I have a strong foundation to push off from as I end my formal education, and

begin a professional career in the music industry.

Welterlen 12

Appendix

Link to Album: [To be added in 7/22]

Live Stream: [To be added in 6/22]

Link to Website: https://www.reginarainemusic.com/

Car Radio Rehearsal Example: https://youtu.be/WqLlhUYtg_g

Car Radio Demo: https://soundcloud.com/raine-regina/car-radio

Bibliography

Beeching, Angela Myles. Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music . Oxford

University Press, 2020.

Campbell, Michael. Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On . Schirmer Cengage Learning,

2013.

Pattison, Pat. Writing Better Lyrics: The Essential Guide to Powerful Songwriting . Second ed.,

Writer's Digest Books, 2009.

Corozine, Vince. Arranging Music for the Real World: Classical and Commercial Aspects . Mel

Bay, 2002.

Levine, Mark. The Jazz Piano Book . Cher Music, 1989.

DISCOGRAPHY

Eloise. Somewhere in-Between. Harbor Artists & Music. HRL005V. Vinyl, EP. Recorded

2021.

Hellogoodbye. S’only Natural. Wasted Summer. WS-02. LP, Album. Recorded 2018.

Hozier. Hozier. Rubyworks and Columbia. 88843099961. Vinyl, LP, Album. Recorded

2014.

La Havas, Lianne. Blood. Nonesuch. 550000-2. Album, CD. Recorded 2015.

Rex Orange County. Apricot Princess. AP001LP. Vinyl, LP, Album. Recorded 2018.

The Olympians. The Olympians . Daptone Records. DAP-044. CD, Album. Recorded

2016.