Reflection 16

I may have failed at doing my overall goal for the end of this project, but I didn't fail at finishing the project presentation! I'm pretty much done already. I feel like at this point I'm just going to make it prettier and more enjoyable to watch and view and such. Thanks for sticking with me throughout this journey!! So long and farewell!

Reflection 15

Okay so I've been working on the power point at this point. I've already decided what I'm going to say, now i'm left with doing a powerpoint. There isn't really much more to say other than that. I don't want to give anything for my presentation away sooooo yea! Be excited to hear of my failure!

Reflection 14

I've begun work on my power point, which will be used along with my presentation. I'm going to talk about my plan, the history behind it, how far I got, and then what went wrong. It'll encompass everything I've learned and have I've grown through out this project. So far I know what I'm going to say, I just have to actually write out the presentation now. this experience has definitely been interesting. Sorry I couldn't do what I set out to do.

Reflection 13

I have accepted my failure in this assignment. I haven't been able to complete my song or even begin a video of any sort. So I think that's really what I'm going to talk about with my TED talk coming up. How you start out expecting these great accomplishments and things but sometimes they don't end up working out. Sometimes you have to just roll with the punches and keep going anyway. Sorry this turned out this way. I was pretty excited for the video too. But that's a fact of life. Sometimes you fail. And that's okay. You just gotta learn from your mistakes and move on.

Reflection 12

I'm far to tired for this music writing process. Don't get me wrong, i Love music, and I love melodies and everything else relating to music. But I can't stand having to come up with music. I can do it if I make everything on the spot, otherwise it definitely does not work. So! What I might do is scrap this song entirely and instead use another song, one about how impossible it is to write a song. It'll be fun and funny and amusing and I'm pretty sure I already have a thousand verses to it because every time I try to write the other song, I instead sing about how I can't write a song. Maybe I'll do that. It would be easier. Not as serious as I would've like it to be, but at least its something. We shall see. Adios!

Reflection 11

Shwelp I have reached a conclusion. I am most likely not finishing the initial project I set out to do. My song is still not finished, as my source kinda didn't work out much. I'm struggling with this alot more than I thought I would. It seems I've put too much on my plate this half of the year, and maybe I need to step back and think a bit more before making all these decisions. Per the moment, I'm just going to try to finish this song at the very least. At least I have something done to show for my work. Thanks for sticking with me for this wild ride! Good evening and Good night!

Reflection 10

So far this project hasn't turned out like I planned it to. I finally got the chords from Dylan, and so I've been trying to work them together to produce a melody I can sing with them. it's a lot easier than starting from scratch, but I now still have to record it and then get people to help me make this video. I may have to speed this up much more than I originally would have liked to. I'm so far getting from this that maybe I piled too much on my plate, more than I realized I was. I'm going to hope I can still produce a finished product either way. Now to go get a band......

Reflection 9

So this week, I did a little more research on music itself, just so i could become a little more knowledgeable in the field. And this is when I discovered the Four Chord Song, which is a song compiling a bunch of other songs that share the same four chords. Which means music writing isn't that hard, it's just about the specific melody itself.....yea..... still was super difficult for me. The point is not all music is totally different from each other. In fact a lot of popular pop songs all share the same chords. It's just the technicalities that make it different. It was interesting to see that, because it's not something that noticeable at first when listening to music. Moral of the story is, everyone rips off each other and no one is original anymore. hahaha! goodbye and good night!

Reflection 8

MY FRIEND WROTE A MELODY FOR ME!!!!!! So i asked a friend of mine if he would help and he agreed and he told me this week that he has written one for me!!! He just has to record it then send it to me so I'll know how it goes and be able to fully work it out and put it together!!! He is my favorite person right (just saying, had to make it official). So I shall finally be able to push forward with this assignment, record it, film a video and so on and so forth! Yes!!!!! Next week that's what I'll probably work on, putting the song all together. Should be fun! Peace!

Reflection 7

Sorry folks, forgot to post this. It was break during this time, so I didn't really do much for this assignment (hey at least I'm honest about it!) I kept trying to come up with chords, but I ended up getting the melodies to other songs instead. For example I sang my song to the tune of When I Ruled the World by Coldplay and We Belong Together by Richie Valens. It was a hard time, and very frustrating cause you think you have a tune and then you don't. So I've ruled out certain chord combinations, which i guess is helpful. Here's to next week! Cheers!

Reflection 6

So I'm finally much calmer this week about the whole music thing, which is good. I haven't heard back yet from my composer, so I'm going to assume he is still working on something for me. However, to keep from just abandoning the project completely, I've been loosely attempting to come up with some form of music. I'm not going to hard core with it seeing as I have someone else working on it for me. However, I figured I might as well continue to attempt seeing as there is always a chance he can't come up with something. I still don't have anything, but I feel like I'm getting a good feel for how the song could end up going. I don't really know how to explain it, but it's a good thing! I'm going to keep working on it, maybe start asking around to see who I can get to act in my video. Wish me luck! So long!

Reflection Five

I doth have done it!!!! I have gotten someone who has agreed to help me with the creation of music. I've just given him the lyrics today, and he said he would try to have it done before break (and that if he can't I would have to find someone else but I don't care because he said he'll try and that's all that matters)! So today I edited the lyrics for the final time after a many variations of the original concept (I don't want to post them on here to make sure there is no way they can possibly be taken and used before I can finish) and I gave them to him. I should finally be on track now for getting this video done and who knows, maybe I can see how far I could get it spread around. Next week I'll see where he is at with the music and go from there. That's all for this week! tata!

Reflection 4

I'm going to be enlisting help for this because it is honestly getting ridiculous. I have absolutely zero ideas for this and I'm getting desperate. I asked my friend Leah, who also edited my lyrics, to help me with this musical process because she has been in various school music programs for as long as I can remember and she has a very similar taste in music as I do. However, we can't seem to come up with a melody that is appropriate for this song (it keeps sounding broadway-esque rather than regular music-esque). And since this is getting ridiculous considering this is like week 3 I can't come up with a tune, I'm going to find someone who hopefully can. I know a couple of experienced guitar players (because that's the main instrument I want in this song) so I'm going to approach them about this. It's going to be super awkward because I either haven't spoken to them in 4 years or I'm not really good enough friends with them but you know what, I'm desperate, and I need to get this done, so I shall brave these awkward encounters to complete my song. So that's my goal for the upcoming week; to find someone who can help me create some music!!!!!!!! If I don't make it back from these awkward encounters, let it be known that at least I tried! Farewell!

Reflection 4

So for this week I said, "Forget about music, lets do something else" So really I just wrote out my plan for the video, which doesn't sound like much but to be able to create the video I need a plot line. It's exceptionally bendable at this moment because it really all depends on song length how much I actually include in it. It's another point off my checklist which is always an important step. So the game plan is to just, keep planning as much as I can and write the music when it comes to me. I've come to realize I can't force it, no matter how much I wish it would just come to me. I'll let the music process work naturally. Tata for now.

S2 Reflection 3

WHO DECIDED THAT WRITING MUSIC SHOULD BE A THING WHY CAN'T IT JUST MAGICALLY APPEAR AND EXIST AND NOT BE DIFFICULT TO COME UP WITH THIS IS MY SECOND WEEK IN A ROW TRYING AND IT'S NOT WORKING!!!!!!!
Okay but on a more serious note. Yeah, I've honestly not been able to come up with any music. My dad (who has written a variety of songs) says I need to stop trying to force it and need to just let it happen. But I'm afraid if I do that then I'll come up with it too late in the game to really do anything. So I'll keep trying for now. I'm wondering if it's due to a lack of inspiration. I'm constantly surrounded by the same places, the same things and the same people. I'm wondering if that's why I feel no inspiration, because I'm overall bored where I am at. Maybe I do need to stop trying to force the music. I need a trip, even if it's a day trip, to a new environment. Just something different. Maybe then I could write some music. Here's shooting for next week.

S2 Reflection 2

So this week my goal was to write lyrics. Shwelp, it didn't exactly go as planned. I wrote the first draft of the lyrics on Saturday. Then I had a friend edit them on Sunday. And then on Monday I did my final changes to them. More or less I finished a lot earlier than intended, so I jumped ahead a bit. I started trying to work on the music for this. Short version: COMPOSING MUSIC IS SO FREAKING HARD WHAT!? WHO DOES THIS!? THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!!! okay now that that is out of the way..... Writing music is actually a lot harder than intended. Every time I attempt to write something I always end up making it sound like a song that is already out and popular, or maybe isn't that popular but still exists. If it wasn't illegal, I would probably then just steal the music from one of those songs then. But it is illegal so I can't. This is a crucial step I've completed so far, as I need the song before I can do anything else for this project. However, so far what I'm getting from this is that maybe I should have written a melody first and then gone about writing the lyrics. It probably would have been easier. My goal for the upcoming week sis to continue my attempt at writing music, which is more difficult than it should be. Please wish me luck, pray for me if you believe in that, or do anything that you think will hopefully give me the ability to write this music because so far I can't.

S2 Reflection 1

So this is the official beginning of the second twenty percent project. I've already started doing a bit a research for my project and have come up with a game plan. I am going to:

1. write lyrics
2. compose music for said lyrics
3. record song
4. begin mapping out a story
5. obtain equipment
6. cast actors
7. film
8. edit
9. publish

It's a lot but I think if I really put my mind to it and spend a lot of time working on it I could accomplish it.

Please click the read more to get more information.

Second Semester Proposal

My 20 Time Project is going to be to learn the mechanics behind video editing and song writing

. I've always been very passionate about music, and I would honestly love to be able to get into the business of it in some way shape or form. And what better way to do that than to create my own music, with my own video to it to tell my own story.

My final product/goal/accomplishment will be an original music video with an original song, hopefully posted to youtube for various people to see.

What do I need to know about my topic to be successful? Honestly all I really need to know is the process behind song writing and how to fit various pieces of film together in order to properly convey a story. There will be nothing easy about this project. Each moment is going to require a lot of time and dedication. Writing a song isn't an easy process; it requires a lot of thought and emotion. Same with coming up with a story and making the video in the first place. A lot of this project will end up being done outside because I'll need garage band and various actors to play this. During actual twenty percent time in class, I will be researching popular videos, to see what sells and what doesn't. I will look at various songs type, and work on trying to write lyrics and video plot points. I hope this turns out well.

The Unlucky Thirteen...

...is anything but unlucky! well okay maybe a little, as I forgot to bring my instrument to twenty percent time this week. BUT, but, that does not mean I haven't been practicing!!! I have been, a lot. Like a lot a lot. This week my focus was strumming pattern. There are a lot of variations I could do for this song that'll still make it sound good. But I'm fairly certain I've found one that I like. So once I figured that out (which took me about half the week), I've spent the rest of my time really practicing it, playing it with the right rhythm and keeping the rhythm steady. It's a lot harder than it sounds, but I think I've done fairly well with it. I'm not great yet, but I have another week to practice it before midterms really come around. After that I think I'll start deciding what exactly I want to say. Because really there is alot I could say. That's all monkeys! tata!

Twelve

Gonna be honest, dragging myself out of bed to practice was hard. But I did it! Don't get me wrong I love playing and learning, but sleeping has also been nice too.

Okay back to business. So my final choice was tied between "Dead" by My Chemical Romance and "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds. I really love both songs, and have different reasons for wanting to play them both. Finally, I decided; I'm going to play both. Noooo not for the midterm! For the music club concert, I'm going to perform Don't You (it fits with the theme for me (also please come to the show it's going to be great!)) and for the midterm I'm going to play Dead. Now it's kind of a morbid song, but honestly when I was planning on getting the ukulele in the first place, I specifically had this band in mind. So, I figured I should stick with my original plan of using this instrument to play My Chemical Romance songs (obviously that isn't the only band I've played from, because I need a variety to really learn the instrument). I've been practicing it A LOT. For this break period I mainly practiced the chords and playing them in order and working on not having to look at the chord sheet and not having to pause to correct my finger position. This will help me in doing the best performance of the song I can do, and also it helps build my 'muscle memory'. Considering how lazy I want to be during break, it's gone really well!!! Let's hope it stays on this path! Peace and Love! Feliz Navidad and a Happy New Year to you all!