The process of this 20% Project was really eye opening. I liked the whole idea of choice and allowing students be drivers of their own education. I know that this is going to be something that I am going to employ in my own teaching. As far as the project goes, I am very happy with how it turned out. I definitely was playing guitar more than I normally would have been and that made me happy. I think that some of the songs came out well but there is obviously so much room for improvement. I hope to continue this work more especially this summer when I have a little bit more time. I thank Julie and Jeff for setting this up. I loved the project and hopefully I'll carry this
This has been a big week for my 20%. I have been looking into Pink Floyd heavily this week and have come up with a lot of really good items. The piece that I decided to work with this week was their song "Wish You Were Here." I have been working on this song for some time now but I just now finally got a recording that I am happy with. The vocals turned out well and I feel that it matches the style of the song nicely. There was a small error to finish the song but I have to be okay with that. I am beginning to understand that I am a streaky singer and my mood really affects how my songs turn out. It just happened to be the day for the right attitude that I need. You will find this song as well as all my others here. My Music.
In the making of this song I looked at the YouTube video for some guidance. I did not follow it completely but it was good to have for reference to help me along in the making of the song. I have also been looking into other communities for advice and other pieces of information on the band. What I was able to find in the Google community on Pink Floyd was a great help and I found so many pieces about the band and their music that I have really loved. The piece that stood out to me the most was their song "The Great Gig in the Sky." I have loved that song and whether it be from The Dark Side of Oz or just an audio track, the vocals blow me away every time. Here is a clip from with this song and shots of the Northern Lights. If you have a few minutes I highly suggest you take a listen. Floyd Community Pink Floyd Lesson Great Gig in the Sky Ok, here I have to comment on a piece of technology that has been extremely helpful for me so far on this 20% Project. Before when you wanted to play a song, you would go to the local music store and look to see if they had the sheet music in store. Invariably they wouldn't and then you had to order it through them and then come back a week later and pick it up. Not anymore. Now you can find dozens of sheet music sites that are just waiting to assist you. All that needs to be done is to simple enter in you card number, click a few times, and you can have virtually any sheet music for any instrument in seconds that you can keep as a PDF or print out for no additional cost. So this is a shameless plug for Musicnotes. That is the vendor I go through to order my music and it has been crucial for the development of this project. Aside from bombarding you with emails, it has be a great tool to find new projects to work on. Highly recommended. If you need music, Musicnotes.com.
One of the critiques that was given to our class as a whole on this project was the need for collaboration. So for this week I was able to meet with my family (who also play guitar and sing) to come together and make some music. We were all gathered around the dinner table on Easter Sunday when we break out the guitar and start playing. It was so calming to be in a room full of people chattering and moving about and then to have some soothing guitar playing in the background. I just set my Garage Band to record as my uncle was playing and this is the result that we got. It is a little ironic that he playing Imagine on Easter Sunday depending on your perspective, but I think that it came out really nice. Take a listen.
Imagine Easter For this week, it was my great pleasure that I was able to return to the piano bench and start hitting the keys again. I have not been to the piano in such a long time and I was so happy to make it back. I learned a new piece that is somewhat difficult but I will persevere and attempt to complete this song. It is a song called You Won't Let Go. The trick is that it is in B major which means there are five sharps. A lot of black keys. This makes it a challenging song but gives it a good sound. Right now I have worked on the intro and the first verse but there is so much more to the song. I hope that I will be able to get through the song in the next week and then maybe a week or two after with vocals and recording. This song is going to be a challenge and it may not sound as good because I don't have percussion or a guitar to accompany it, but I like it and I like the piano part, so I hope that it comes out well. Look to find me here in two weeks with a recording. Hopefully.
This week was a great success. I finally had some time to sit down and do a bit of recording and I am very happy with the results. The first piece I was able to get down was the blues riff that I had been working on. I had given it a shot a few times but I found I had to get through a whole piece without finding something that I wanted to fix and try to improve upon. Although this piece isn't perfect, I am pretty happy with how it came out. I might try to do some more attempts at this later on in the year but for now this is one that I am happy with. This is the first original piece of music that I have recorded.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow is my next new song that I have shared with you today. I came across the music for this song and decided to learn it. It is a pretty simple song but I tweeted a little bit and found that I made my version a little more challenging. It took me a few takes and then finally I got one that turned out really good...and then miserably failed and made an error beyond repair at the very end of the song. I liked the track, however, so much that I have decided to include it for you all to enjoy. You will begin to see my progression as I, one, begin-and almost finish-playing the piece well and then, two, keeling over for you to listen to the calamities that follow on the track. This, all for your listening pleasures. The process for this has been up and down. I have found that it is noticeably more challenging to play when recording. I feel like I am playing more for the recording than for pleasure and it never comes out as soul-some (new word?). This is especially apparent with the blues riff. I tend to over-think things and it never comes out as smooth. I am also not as creative, especially when improvising (which is what the blues piece is). I get caught up in trying to make sure that I get everything "right" that I lose the feel of the music. I think to improve this is to just keep recording and get as much time in front of a mike as possible. If I want to feel more comfortable when recording, I think that this is the best way to overcome it. Musica I found found it incredibly difficult to play this week. I just started coaching lacrosse on Monday and have been at school from 7 to 8 every day this last week. This has obviously left me very little time to do anything including my 20%. Then the pieces that I have done have been scattered without a distinct direction. I thankfully sat down to work on the piano, which I haven't done in years, to learn a song called "You Won't Let Go." That song is great and will be working on a recording hopefully in the next few weeks. However, I have barely picked up my guitar this week and when I have I haven't done any recordings. A slow week for me. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up from here on out but its going to be tough. Wish me luck.
Since college I have been working on this blues riff. I was taught the riff by a good college friend and I have done my own variation of it since then. This last week I was able to sit down and take the time to do my first recording of it. I have done a few takes but I still need to get a better version of it. I like it as it does not have any vocals. I think that I might put them in if I feel necessary but I do like how it sounds so far.
This has been a good riff to learn because I know that I will be able to branch off from this and learn some more blues from my basics. So far though, this is the only riff that I know. Updates will follow. Look to see the file hopefully by next week. I love this project. I have been telling myself that I need to start playing more music and this project has given my just the right amount of motivation to sit down and do it. Since last week, I have been playing almost everyday and have had a few recording sessions. I downloaded Garage Band and it has been such a cool tool. Simple, easy to use, good recording quality, free... It is really everything that I would want. There are a lot of features on it but right now I have just been focused on the main recording options.
I started recording last week after my first blog post. I had some fun playing with the effects to a song that I recorded by Simon and Garfunkel called "Only Living Boy in New York." Below I have shared the file to Dropbox with the music. I uploaded two versions of the same song, with and without the effect. The effect is a little silly but it makes me feel happy when I listen to it. Let me know what you think. Enjoy! db.tt/lB9OPIGg Music for me has changed considerably through the course of my life. I grew up not having no more interest than the radio and then later progressed to rock both new and old. When I went to Europe to study for a year and tried to convince myself that I would not be taken in by that techno/house/monotonous beats/whatever you want to call it music...Within the first month I was going all over Madrid to hear it.
Now as I progress and change with my music selection, I realize that the area that I lack is not that of other people, but of my own. At a younger age I played piano and currently I play guitar and while I have dabbled in song writing, I have never pursued it with any diligence. This will be my study and pursuit for the 20% Project. I will be attempting to write and record music that is of my own creation. I have a piano at home and may dabble in bringing that into the mix. However, most of the songwriting will be done with a guitar and vocals. I have listened and enjoyed the music of others for a long time, but now it is my turn to get out my pen and pad and start scribbling like all the greats have before me. I will no longer be a spectator when it comes to music. It is time to start giving back to the world where for too long I have just been a consumer. In this effort I will attempt to create and record several songs and, if possible, get those songs together to form a cohesive album. I cannot foresee my success in these efforts, but I do think that this is a noble pursuit. In this journey I will be using the internet to help me with songwriting and recording tips and Garage Band as my recording studio. Through this I also aim to become a better guitar player and singer but this is not the focus of the project. I thank you all for your interest and I look forward to updating you further. |