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.