Monday, January 30, 2012

What Enslaves Me

One of the biggest projects I've ever embarked on is one that is still going on at the time of this writing. I play in a two-person band, and we decided in spring of last year to record our debut album. However, we didn't want to hire any producers or pay for studio time, or anything like that. We have all the equipment and most of the know-how between us to do it ourselves, so we decided to do that. We wrote a whole new batch of songs, rehearsed them, and recorded them in the summer. I primarily played drums and bass, as well as doing some vocals, and I also handled most of the production duties. Now I am in the process of post-production.

The album definitely has not gone quite as I planned, however. For one thing, post production is taking much longer than we thought it would. We also ended up re-recording a lot of parts, and that has added time as well. The album will probably sound, when completed, more or less like I imagined, but it's taking much longer to get done.

The biggest limitations within this project have been lack of resources and know-how. We had all the equipment we strictly-speaking needed, but not everything that we could have used. There are many things we could have had that we didn't, and we suffered a bit for it. We also found that a lack of know-how hindered us, as when unforeseen challenges arose we had to learn how to deal with them. A lack of experience also played a large part in it, as we didn't know really what to expect.

With the bead, the biggest limitation I experienced came from procrastination, mixed with the excessive freedom of the assignment. When it was first assigned, I started trying to think of what to do, and didn't immediately think of anything. However, I decided that it could wait. After all, it wasn't due for two weeks, and pretty much anything would be acceptable. Surely I could figure something out eventually. Well, the day before it was due, I still hadn't done anything. This led to me going to the well I usually go to when I need creative ideas: music. I think this was actually somewhat of a good thing, in that it focused me and made me come up with and idea and get it done. However, it definitely was a limitation as well.

The limitation I chose to express was this type of procrastination. This bead assignment was by no means the first time I've procrastinated an assignment. In fact, I've probably procrastinated most of my assignments since I started college, and even before in high school. I know how it feels, but I wasn't really sure how to express it. So I went back to the same well I usually go to: music. This expression of it is a bit conceptual, and likely wouldn't make sense without explanation. However, it makes sense to me. The explanation is listed below the song.



The song starts out very soft, soothing, and mild. This represents the part of time where I feel like I have so much time, so I just don't do much of anything. This goes on for a while, but another element starts building, some held out droning notes. This represents the building sense of anticipation I have as I know that I have to do something about the project, but I still don't start. Finally, as the droning reaches its peak, the lead guitar starts. However, it is hesitant, experimental, unsure. This stands for how I reach the moment where I must start working on a project, and I rack my brain for any ideas. Finally, the lead guitar coalesces into something that makes sense and is confident, while all the while the other elements, including the drone notes, keep playing. This represents the final product. All of the elements, the stress, the ideas, the waiting, all form the final product.

Another element of the song happened by accident, but I thought it made another good statement about procrastinating and then doing a project, as I do it. At the end of the lead guitar line, I messed up slightly. I left it in rather than redoing it, however. This is because it stands for how, in a large project, what I turn in is never perfect. There are always things I'm not happy with, but I turn it in anyway.

Class Reflection/Group Role - Week 2

One thing that really stood out to me in this week's class was one of the things listed during the discussion of limitations and things that can be a "fishbowl." Someone mentioned procrastination as one of these things, and that kind of resonated with me. I know that I procrastinate almost everything, and seeing it mentioned in this context made me really think about it. I think that my own tendency for procrastination can definitely be a hindrance, but in a way it can focus me. When I know I only have a relatively small amount of time to get something done, I can really focus to get it done in that time. It's definitely something to think about, and I'm sure I'll continue to ponder it. Later, though. It can wait. Maybe tomorrow...

Also, in this week's class, I was in group 1. We told group 2 to write down their favorite movie quotes and make a script out of them. Of course, we ended up having to participate too due to group 2.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

"The Bead"

For the assignment "Do something with this bead," I composed a short instrumental song entitled "The Bead." I put a toothpick through the bead to be able to hold it better, and played each instrument using the bead. Of course, since it is a song about/using a bead, the song is in the key of B.



Monday, January 9, 2012

Class Reflection - Week 1

This was definitely an interesting class. It was one of the more unusual ones of my almost-complete time in college, although I suspect it may be the most normal meeting of the whole class. One of the biggest things I was hoping for out of it was to get a sense of what the class was and what to expect, and I think this week's class largely fulfilled that, at least to a certain extent. Coming into this class I had heard a lot of good things, but I didn't really have any idea what the class was going to be like. The only expectation I had was that, based on what I had heard, I somewhat expected the class to be relatively easy. Now I know that I was sort of half-right in that. I think this class will be less demanding in terms of time and such resources than others. This wont be a class where I spend 12+ hours in one week slaving over a computer doing tedious work to get one project done. However, I don't think it will necessarily be easy, it will just be challenging in a very different way. And that's really what I took away most from the class. It won't be like any other class I've had. Although I now know more than I did about what the class will entail, I still don't feel like I have much idea what to expect, and I think that's a lot of the point. I'm actually really excited about this class. A little nervous, but really excited.