Final Post

Wise is a great class.  I have to admit there were times during the first semester where I would get frustrated or discouraged, but that was just because I wanted to get to my independent project.  I thank this course for giving me the opportunity to go after my passion.  Without this course I probably never would have gotten my home studio set up.  I may have not even pushed myself to get to know JP, which I did through looking for someone from the community to interview.  He has taught me a lot of valuable information about recording and all the processes it contains.  Now when I hear a song I think of all the different elements that artist chose and I seem to appreciate the smaller little quirks a lot more.  Overall I am very happy I took this class as I got the chance to try something I hadn't gotten the opportunity or may never have gotten the opportunity to do.  This class really helped me learn more about myself and the people in my community, whether it be my classmates or any musical groups, and I suggest this course to all incoming seniors!

Almost there

Last night I finished my project as far as the musical aspect is concerned.  It feels relieving to have my project done.  We completed the four songs in the studio and I just finished up my song at home.  Now I just need to complete all my other materials and I will be nearing a finish!

This week 6/9

I just had my last mentor meeting today discussing the regular topics my plans for finishing up my project.  Thursday JP and I will take a couple of hours to finalize the two songs we have left.  After that I just have the one I am solely working on.  I was hoping to have done that already however I haven't had much free time.  Over the weekend I will then work on my narrative and cleaning up my bibliography which is due next monday.

Recording session 6/4

I had a two-hour studio session last night in which I arranged my last song with JP. After arranging we had to fix up a lot of the the parts. Originally we forgot to quantize the bass part in the verse so it was sounding a little iffy until we fixed it. We added more percussion elements to the last one minute or so to complete more of a build. The last chorus we also added some strings and a crash leading into the chorus. There are still a few things to fix so I'll have my last recording session next week to finish up.

Presentation Ideas

I've been thinking a lot about my presentation since I saw April's this Monday.  It made me realize how much content I would need to prepare. So to get ready I've been brainstorming some ideas for the format of my presentation. I want to be able to show how my creative process has been working. Sometimes I begin writing some on the acoustic piano upstairs or the electric guitar and then I add more instruments with my keyboard. In order to do this I was thinking of maybe incorporating a small clip of this process and some pictures of my equipment and space, to give the audience a better idea of what I've been working on and how I've been going about it.  

Goals for the next week

By the end of this week I would like to have all of my songs arranged.  This may not happen however but it is a good goal to have. If I can do this then I will have a full week of preparing my materials that are due on the 15th as my presentation is on the 22nd. I will then also be able to discuss ideas with Wayne as well as my parents.  I'm hoping to include a short video perhaps of taking the process step by step from recording basic progression to layering, editing, and mixing as I think it is an area that is not otherwise very visible. If I follow this plan I think the rest of the way will be pretty laid out and managed.

5/28 Update

I had my mentor meeting today, the first in a couple weeks.  I was able to catch him up on my progress so far in home recording and work in the studio.  I also specified to him a bit on when the final presentation was and what his role was as he was uncertain.  I am planning to share one of my songs on google drive later tonight.  On another note, JP unfortunately had to cancel our meeting today last minute as something came up, as of what I am unsure.  Hopefully I can put our final song together next week so that I won't have to worry as the deadlines approach.

Arranging songs in ableton

As my project nears to an end I need to finalize my songs on ableton.  I am only doing one song by myself, the other three are in the studio, and therefore have not arranged a song by myself yet.  I was rather unsure where to begin because Ableton can be tricky to use when you aren't 100% certain of what you are doing.  I decided to watch a video of a tutorial on arranging songs in Ableton that can be found here, https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/arranging-track-live-9-new-real-timedemonstration-point-blank/ .  It is a thirteen-minute video by Ski Oakenfull that is a step-by-step example of how he assembled one of his tracks.  Although he uses some very advanced techniques that I will most likely not have to use, his video is fairly helpful in getting me off on the right foot.  I'm not going to arrange my song tonight as I have other work piled up, but I sure hope I get it done in the next couple of days.

Memorial Day weekend

Although activity has been picking up over the last few weeks of my project, this weekend, I won't be able to work on it as I am out of town. My sister is getting married and so I have been quite busy over the past few days. I look to continue my good fortune this coming week though as I attempt to put some more finishing touches on my material.

Mentor meeting / studio time 5/21

Well today I ended up without my mentor meeting and studio time with JP.  I guess there were some miscommunications, I'm not sure where Wayne was, and JP forgot to tell me, or maybe I forgot that he told me, that he would be out of town this week.  It's not too much of an issue though as I don't have much left with JP and we have almost a month, I just don't want to leave everything to the last minute.  Now that I know my date, I can start preparing exactly what I will have for my presentation within an appropriate time table.

Update 5/20

So over the last couple days I've been working on a song by myself that is almost complete, it just needs to be arranged. It has drums that I am fairly pleased with and sound pretty good for my skill level. This will bring my song total to 4, 3 with JP, and one by myself, although none have vocals which is alright with me for the time being.  I think the song I did by myself really shows my overall growth in recording. I started out the project without a clue as to how to record or get good quality. Now I have a fairly polished tune with about 8 different audio tracks with very good quality. Multi-tracking has allowed me to get a sample of different sounds and put them together in a way I wouldn't ever have imagined them. After I arrange this one and finish arranging the ones with JP, I will focus on preparing for my presentation on either the 8th or 22nd.

Drums/beats

I tracked some of a new song yesterday before work. I got part way through the verse although I may re-track most of it though because I'm not quite satisfied. I have guitar, piano, bass, and I may mix in some horn. The one thing I would like to do in the next week or two is get better at making beats and drums. It's definitely my weakest area and it's important because I don't have a lot of rhythmic elements in my couple home-recorded tracks. It's definitely something to work on, but it may take time and so it might be after my presentation that I actually finalize these songs.

New setup

I am officially the most excited I have been since the start of this project. JP came over today to help troubleshoot my recording issues. First we organized all the space so things are much tidier, I'll post a picture at the end of this post. He also fixed every sound quality issue we had with the piano and guitar, and we set up the monitor speakers. The guitar is being recorded with the mic and is sounding great. After he left, I began recording a new song and was very productive, as I'm most of the way through tracking it. I now basically feel no pressure in finishing this project and feel very compfortable recording. It was a good day! Here's a couple picturse of my new setup. Pardon the picture quality.

Monitor Speakers

My monitor speakers just recently arrived in the mail. The difference between monitor speakers and regular speakers is that the former can work as a recording output so that everything you're playing can go through the motu and laptop and then back out through the speakers.  Before I had to use my tv to serve as the output so hopefully these new speakers will have better sound quality and less delay. When I say delay I mean the amount of time it takes for the sound I make with a given instrument to be out putted by the speakers. I will get them set up tomorrow when JP comes over to help me troubleshoot all of my issues.

Next week

For my scheduled studio time next week, JP is going to come over to my house and try to help us get set up with everything working properly. Although I'm missing an hour of studio time, this will help me a lot in the long run if I can record at home with little to no technical issues. I haven't attempted recording at home since last Sunday so I hope this all goes over well.

Update 5/7

So as it turned out, Wayne had to cancel our weekly meeting as he had a scheduling conflict that he was not aware of.  This means that we were not able to do the things I had vaguely outlined in the last post, but that's alright as I am sure it can wait another week.  I had another one-hour session with JP as well although we were not very productive and I think kind of on a different page for most of the session.  His computer also crashed in the middle of mixing so that didn't help.  I'm hoping I'll be able to venture towards the finishing stretch of my project in the next week or two.

Out of the Rut - Assigned Journal Activity

Monday we were given a journal activity to complete called "Out of the Rut" to help everyone get back in to the swing of things and stay productive throughout the warm weather.  One of the prompts we were given was to make a list of three things that I should talk to my mentor about this week.

Part 1. Quick Lists
 The first thing is probably continue the talk about my lack of an ability to record guitar.  Wayne advised me to email his son Jesse, a recording expert.  We have had limited contact as I took a few days to get back to his e-mail but we'll probably discuss the matter more thoroughly.  Another thing we'll probably talk about is my latest recording session and first complete arrangement of a song, although it still needs editing.  Lastly, this week Wayne and I are going play some guitar together.  This will give me a chance to show him some of my less finished work.

Part II. Partner Read
As part of the partner read I chose to read Aidan Bates' blog.  He is another wise student who is in the process of creating a short film.  He has talked a lot about different techniques of acting and filming such as zooming and trying to create more emotional expressions.  He has also talked about scheduling times to film and looking to find times that the whole cast can be there for which he has expressed some concern in.  I think this has been one of his biggest obstacles as it is hard to continue on with the project when he has no film to edit.
Macro/micro: From his entries I have not seen any intention to write direct films as a career.
In the larger scheme of things, I think the project serves to him as something he was able to accomplish with a lot of work and is something he can look back on and remember.

Back to the basics

 I just started re-recording some of my songs that I'm working on outside of the studio as I realized I didn't use a metronome to find the tempo.  The metronome is a fairly new tool to me on Ableton as it took some research to be able to use it correctly. Finding the right tempo is really important because without setting the correct tempo, the loops won't have clean 4/4  bars, and they will be slightly off the grid make mobility more difficult.  For example, one of my progressions had a 3.0.2 loop during the default tempo setting which, although sounds the same, is harder to record over with out getting the tracks out of sync from one another.  It was frustrating to make these loops as the grid didn't have these distinct points.  Although it is slightly frustrating to re-record some of the material I have been working on, it will make my life a lot easier heading forward especially when adding drums and other rhythmic elements.

4-hour block recording session

I just got out of my first multiple-hour block session with JP and am pretty excited.  We definitely accomplished a lot and I now feel as if I am nearing three complete songs with him.  They're all pretty rough right now, but they keep getting closer to a more complete song.  Each song still needs vocals however I believe Aidan will be helping to write lyrics so I am feeling some progress in that regards as well.  I wish I had taken some pictures of the studio and my hands-on process with equipment, but unfortunately it slipped my mind as I read the comment on the previous entry after I returned from the studio.  In my next entry I'll try and post one of the songs in its current stage.

Recording sessions continue

Last night I also had my first recording session with JP in about a month. Although it was only an hour long, it felt really good to listen to some of the stuff we had been working on and continue arranging some of the songs. We added some drums and percussion elements to one of the songs but mostly were focusing on finalizing it. I mentioned my problems with recording guitar and he said I could always just export the file to work on it with him at the studio. We could then do the guitar tracks with his equipment. Although this is not a permanent solution, it will help for the current song I've been working on. To make up for lost time we've also set up a time on Saturday in which we will have a four-hour block. I'm very excited for this because I've felt we haven't had enough consecutive time to really get into a song and I think we can get a lot done during this next session.

Mentor meeting 4/30

Yesterday I had my weekly mentor meeting. We briefly discussed my issues with recording guitar and he is referencing me to his son who is advanced with editing software as I believe he is a soun or recording engineer. I also showed Wayne some of my material that I had been working on myself, although it is quite limited.  I have a couple songs that I've been working in by myself that consist of simple loops including bass, piano, and maybe another harmonic elements. I still need to get better with using electric drums.  I hope I will have something more to show next week.

Happiness Revisited IC 4/27

1)  I could probably make an entire list of what makes me happy, but that may go on for a while. Really when it comes down to it, I am most happy when I am relaxed, unworried of external issues.  I have found these moments when I watch baseball games on the couch, playing music, or even driving on a highway listening to music in my own world.  These things are simple but at the end of the day they are the most relaxing and make me happy.

2) The article seems to make a point on how happiness is unmeasurable and complex and that no one has come close to finding what happiness is.  This is why I find the flow chart a bit confusing. I understand they are giving a basic relationship between skill level and challenging yourself, I just feel as if it's not an accurate model for everyone.

3) I think prior to my project I was towards the bottom of the flow channel yet still in the flow channel. I don't think I was really challenging myself much, in fact I may have been below the flow channel towards the boredom spectrum.

4) Throughout my project I have demanded more use of skills than I had previously. Even still I have challenged myself enough so that I may be towards the anxiety side of the chart just above the flow channel. I've faced most of the challenges in the past few weeks when I've been mostly on my own with the project and have had trouble with some different things. I've also felt a little disorganized being behind on blog entries and missing studio time with JP.

5) I think I will achieve flow once I catch up or get closer to catching up with the journal entries so I have less challenges to worry over. Also once I get more lessons with JP I will be able to record some more of my songs and ask him some questions in irder to record at home.

More recording troubles

My frustration has continued with recording by myself. Today I set up the mics to try to record guitar for the first time. My software was able to pick up the feed and everythingI however the sound quality especially when playing chords was terrible. It was just a bunch of noise honestly and after about three hours of fiddling around and trying to get it to work, I gave up. Now on top of that, I'm also now having issues with my keyboard which I have already successfully recorded with so I feel like I'm just going backwards.  This Thursday I will finally be able to meet with JP again though, for the first time in a month, and be able to ask him some questions and record a new song.  Then this Sunday I'm hoping we can work out a time for a 3-hour session. That would be very helpful as we've only had one hour long ones before. I sure hope things will begin to turn around.

Coming back to Ithaca

I'm on my way home now after visiting the University of Vermont over the last couple of days.  It had a really nice campus and surrounding town but was also really cold. This being said, I haven't made much progress on my project the last few days.  When I get back tonight and hopefully tomorrow I will set up the mics and begin to record guitar for the first time. Here's to getting my project back on track!

Update 4/22

I have to say that progress has been a bit slow over the past few days. Due to the lack of free time I currently have, I haven't set up the mic just yet to record any guitar. When I say progress, I mean progress recording my material. I have continued to add on to my songs, and yesterday I made most of a new song on piano. I'd like to record this soon so I can add bass and maybe some strings. I'm leaving town tomorrow and so will not be able to record for the next couple of days.  I'm hoping to work with JP in the studio on Sunday after I get back so hopefully things will get more exciting then.

In class 4/20 - comfort zone

1. Today in class we listened to an article by Brian Grazer.  Grazer talked of how he paired himself with some of his peers in a setting he was unfamiliar to and a field he was not yet competent in.  He does this in order to create growth in his process to stay out of getting in a rut.  He thinks the only way to grow and make yourself better at whatever your doing is by getting out of your comfort zone and working with different people.

2. To push me beyond my comfort zone I have involved myself with members in the community that I didn't really have a relationship with. I didn't know JP until I started this project and although it may have been a bit tense at first he has certainly been a big help in providing growth in my recording process and my piano playing in general. I have also played some of my music live rather casually in front of people while hanging out.  Critiques have almost always been positive and it has helped let me know what people like and how I should do certain things differently. In the future I think I will let more people hear my recordings as they become more polished as going out of your comfort zone can be quite beneficial.

Setting up mics

If you've been reading my blog you'd know I've had some issues with recording electric guitar.  During my last meeting, my mentor briefed me on his typical recording process.  He suggested recording with a mic rather than running the cable through the amp and motu.  Since I have not met with my instructor in his home studio for a few weeks, I think this will be my next course of action. I have not set up the mics yet as I have never had to use audio so I will look into that over the next couple of days. While I do this I will also be practicing and polishing the guitar leads I would like to record.

Troubles with studio time

For two straight weeks now my instructor has cancelled our scheduled recording sessions for personal matters. While I obviously understand, it is frustrating that we have been unable to meet. I have continued my recording and editing at home however it has restrained me from working on the songs that are on his computer as well as pressing questions I am eager to find the answers to. In my last blog entry I discussed running my fender through the amp and into the motu.  When I finally got this to work the sound quality was very poor. The sound out of the amp was clean and sounded normal yet the recorded sound was not.  Since I'm not an expert yet I will look to ask my instructor the next time we meet as to why the quality is so poor. I will most likely bring in my laptop as well.

Motivation (In-class entry)

I think I have done a fair amount of hands-on work compared maybe to other projects. I have definitely held my time restrictions in terms of dedicating at least 8 hours per week to my project. I practice everyday and record at least every other day at my house and every Thursday at my instructor's home studio. This being said, I still need to do a better job of keeping up with blogging as I'm falling behind with that.  My motivation to constantly be moving forward with my music is the accomplishment. I want to be able to listen to a song of mine and be proud of it and think it's as perfect as I can make it.  My only deadline for the music completion is the project deadline and I don't see any reason to make that more complicated although dividing the work into smaller tasks and setting individual deadlines for each may not be such a bad idea.

Mentor advice

During the meeting with my mentor today, we discussed several possibilities that could prove to be helpful for me. I mentioned I had some trouble with getting quality sound off my acoustic guitar and we talked about several alternatives I could do to fix that. First I could try using multiple mics to make it easier for them to pick up all the sounds. I could also just try running the electric through the amp and then the motu and just use whatever distortion is on the amp.  Then I could just select different audio effects once it is recorded. I will probably troubleshoot a few ideas and maybe even vary which ones I do for each song.

Recording issues

I have come across several issues while recording at home.  First, I was trying to use my laptop as an output for the recorded music, however, I found that the speakers couldn't handle the bass and a lot of the louder keyboard sounds.  It turns out that my separate speakers are not monitor speakers so I could not use them as an output. For now I have decided to use the AirPlay system. Another issue I've been having is using the keyboard for midi. Somewhere there's a confusion in the setting that I'll hopefully figure out soon and I'll be able to keep recording.

Update 4/4/15

Last night I finished a complete track at my record session.  For piano I used my teachers Wurlitzer, which is a keyboard that gives a higher and more vibrato sound. It was interesting to use and gave me a varied sound than what I've previously used. I also used a couple different bass lines, some drums, and a soft synth lead over top.  I was very pleased with the drums because I was able to use a plug-in called battery that gave them a very acoustic sound so that they sounded quite like a real drum rack. Next week I think we'll move on to another song. I'd like to have 4 complete songs by the end of the month.

Spring Break check-in

Over spring break I have been in Denver, touring the university and the city. I have loved what I've seen so far. Downtown is very pleasant, buzzing with people and various things to do.  You can see the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains just west of the city. Although I didn't get to go up in the mountains, I saw an avalanche game and visited many different shops and food places in the plaza. Of course this means I haven't been able to really work on or think about my project. No worries though, as I feel fairly relaxed and confident on my progress thus far. Here's a picture of near where I'm staying.

Learning to use equipment

 I had been pretty frustrated trying to get the interface to work so my last lesson was purely learning how to set up the equipment and use basic tools on the software. Last night I began recording for the first time on my own. This is fairly exciting for me because previously I have been only recording in one-hour sessions once a week. Now that I at least know and understand the basics of this new software and motu I can start expanding my project. Ableton is a software that once you understand the starting points it's really quite easy to use, so I look forward to nights of recording and editing unrestricted by time. It may not seem like such a step forward, but to me it's a pretty big deal because now when I make a progression or riff I can just lay it down and expand off that to get the sound I want to hear.  I think this is where project will take off. 

Compilation

The last few days I have been deeply contemplating compilation with other artists. I think working with other musicians is important in making music for inspiration and differentiation.  Solo projects run the risk of some repitition in style. It is my hope that each song has it's own flow.  I will most likely not be singing on the album so working with a singer could add an element to the music that it might not otherwise receive. I look forward to exploring my options on this front.

New Equipment

I recently acquired new recording equipment. I got the software that my instructor has, a midi, and a couple mics.  I'm excited to start this new chapter of recording on my own with an unrestricted creative process. No that working with my instructor is restricting, but the idea of working by myself for however long I wish is somewhat freeing.  Before my sessions were once a week, and I will keep up with those, but I like the fact now I can work whenever I want to and find what's right for me. I think this will also give me an opportunity to better understand the process of recording and mixing without the help of others.

Mentor meeting

I recently had my first meeting with my mentor, Wayne Gottlieb, in his classroom Thursday after school. We discussed my goals for my project and what I wished to get out of my album. I told him of my several recording sessions at my other instructor's home studio and my progress with recording and learning.  He was interested in the genre and style of music I played.  He had several guitars along with him and we were able to play around for nearly twenty minutes.  He provided some useful insight in style and melodic accompanies.

Developing a theme

All great artists develop themes throughout their work.  I have been thinking about trying to convey some pieces of personal sentiment to my music, the only trouble is finding the right form for it to take. I have been contemplating adding lyrics to some of my songs to add more meaning to them as I find it important for my album to represent something larger than a selection of songs. I wish for them to all be building blocks. I am undecided what theme I wish to convey however, but I will be thinking this over for weeks to come.

First Recording Session

Today I began recording a new song.  I laid down a beat, piano and bass loop.  In each case, I experimented with different settings and styles.  For the beat, I first chose a kick, snare and, hat, and represented each with a different key on the keyboard using a midi.  This made playing different beats easier as I decided for more of a swing tempo.  I also learned to quantize each measure to make sure everything is happening on time.  After looking through options in synthesizer bass, acoustic bass, and electric bass, I chose an electric fender sound.  From this session I learned more about the process of editing and picking distortions.  I look forward to developing new thoughts on how to expand further on the song hopefully with new instruments.

First 2 week schedule

Week 1:

Monday:

Class: 1 hr

Journal entry: 30 min

Practice guitar/piano: 1 hr

Tuesday:

Practice guitar/piano: 2 hr

Wednesday:

Journal entry: 30 minutes

Practice guitar/piano: 1 hr

Thursday:

Recording, editing, mixing: 1 hr

Friday: 

Journal entry: 30 min

Practice guitar/piano: 1 hr

Total: 8 hr 30 min

Week 2:

Monday:

Class: 1 hr

Journal entry: 30 min

Practice guitar/piano: 1 hr

Tuesday:

Practice guitar/piano: 2 hr

Wednesday:

Journal entry: 30 minutes

Practice guitar/piano: 1 hr

Thursday:

Recording, editing, mixing: 1 hr

Friday: 

Journal entry: 30 min

Practice guitar/piano: 1 hr

Total: 8 hr 30 min

Dear Reader

    Music is something I've felt very passionate about for the last several years as it has helped me separate myself from the world in times of stress. I have wanted to record my music in the past, but I didn't really have enough knowledge or experience in the field to have any success. In making this album, I get the chance to formally bring together the ideas I've had laying around and make something more represent able and polished.

      In addition to simply making songs, I'd like to gain knowledge in recording, editing, and mixing. I'd like to add these elements as part of the learning process in my album. I'd like to use this opportunity to do something I might otherwise not get a chance to do.