The Songwriting final projects have been posted.  You have the opportunity to vote for your favorite project(s).  It takes about 15 minutes to listen to all of them. The poll closes on Friday, May 31 at 8:30 am.  The winner will be announced during presentations later that day.
The songs and videos may not play properly if you try to view this page on your mobile phone.  Unfortunately, this seems to be a bug to which we have no current solution.  Also, if you encounter any problems voting, please let me know so that I can try to address them before the end of next week.

Get Up

It has been a long process these last two weeks. It was rough to record a lot of takes of our vocal tracks.  Our song is finally complete and it was great working with my producer/partner Eli.  We had problems at first.  We had to  rerecord about three times, which was annoying. The first time we did it wrong and Dr. Fletcher told us to do it over because there was too much clipping.  Then, when we did it over, the file didn't save properly. The third time we got it right and we were almost done.  Finally today we finished by adding auto-tuning and correcting clipping on other tracks and our song sounds great.  We want to thank everyone who helped us and who performed on our song with us.  Vote for us!!!

The Distance

Our final project was certainly a challenge. My partner and I had to create our own song using Garage Band. The song had no loops in it.  We recorded everything either as Midi or Audio. We wanted to be original and create our own beat, our own guitar progression, and our own lyrics. The part that took the most time was the recording. This was difficult for us because my partner and I had trouble trying to stay with the beat. It was also hard to play for a long amount time because we didn't have enough stamina to keep the guitar going.   Instead, we would play for several measures of the song and then we would pick the best measure and loop it. Recording the lyrics was difficult because my partner and I would sometimes mess up the words or the vocals would just not come out very cleanly. A lot of the times we had to delete the track and start over because the mic would pick up sounds coming the background. It was very annoying for us to record while other people were in the booth with us. Overall the project was challenging but it was also fun and a good experience.

Relax

In our final project, Jordan and I were focused on composing a jazz instrumental. Since it is an instrumental, we had to add improvised solos, which Dr. Fletcher played for us.  Jordan played the drums and a bass line on the tuba.  I played a harmony to match the bass line on my tenor saxophone. We chose to name the song RELAX to convey the overall mood.  When you listen, it seems like nothing else matters.  You may find yourself so relaxed that you dose off.  That's the effect it has on me.  Listen for yourself and see what you think.

A&R

We made many mistakes at the beginning of our final project. There were lots of changes that needed to be made.  The hardest part was finding or recording the right beats.  Later on after adding the beats we had to check for clipping. Then we realized our final project would not be complete without more vocals. We knew many mistakes were going to be made, but we also knew we could learn from them.

Final Gambit

For the last four days of Spring Phase, we were putting the finishing touches on our final projects. The title of my project is called "Final Gambit". For this song I made the beats for the B section by playing them in with a keyboard.  I also made the bass. My main problem was that I had no recorded audio tracks. I wasn't going to receive full credit until I fixed this. Jordan helped me by playing beats for the A section on a real drum set. Christian tried to help me with the intro, but the melody didn't go together. I put a lot of work into my project. I hope it will turnout well. I am looking forward to presentations next week.

Just Be Strong

During this week the whole class has been racing to perfect their projects. Brian and I have been working extremely hard to get everything just right.  The other day I stayed after school for half an hour working on our project. The pressure and nervousness from our deadline has been a great motivator for us to find new ideas. For example, we added new instruments including a Sub-Synth Bass, a Future Flute, four Big Electric Lead Guitars, and an Arena Run track.  We added sound effects for a transition, not to mention two brand new beats. Despite the huge headaches and sleepiness, I think we really pulled this off.