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.
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