Month: February 2022

SUMMARY

During this February I have a couple projects to complete such as Music Composition, the practice of practice, and the microphone project.

Role

Guitarist

Intention (SMART Goal)

By March 2nd in School Of Rock, I will get better with guitar by using the How To Play Come As You Are by Nirvana quick riff video on youtube and will have a couple seconds of a cover of a song of choice in our Session 4 project.

PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY

Leader(s) in the Field / Exemplary Work(s)

Kurt Cobain. I look up to Kurt Cobain because he’s a very influential guitarist and made great music in Nirvana.

Training Source(s)

How To Play Come As You Are by Nirvana quick riff

SMART Goal Schedule

Working on guitar every day and watching tutorials on Youtube to improve on the guitar.

PRODUCTION

SMART Goal Starting Point Evidence

SMART Goal Ending Point Evidence

POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION

Overall during this project, I think I did pretty good. I was more on task than in previous times. I worked really hard and I think my guitar skills got better which is always a plus.

21st Century Skills

Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)

During this project, I was creative by exploring my options and I tried different styles but decided on Come As You Are by Nirvana. One problem I had was my nails were too long and in the way of the strings but now I know I can’t play with long nails this was my critical thinking. I had to innovate and change it up then I could play again.

Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)

During this project, I communicated with my friend/classmate Austin. He has helped me and given me feedback on my progress.

Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)

Youtube:

How To Play Come As You Are by Nirvana quick riff

Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)

Possibly becoming a guitarist in a band.

Self-Evaluation of Final Version

During this project this month I felt good. It felt more relaxed which I always appreciate I worked hard and I think. I did well this month.

What I Learned and Problems I Solved

I learned new skills on a guitar that I couldn’t do before. The problems I had were not knowing how to play the song and finger placement. I solved this problem by watching tutorials on YouTube. After this, it all came together nicely.

Grammar and Spelling

I used Grammarly to help me.

Editor

Austin

Summary

• For this project I used https://onlinesequencer.net/ to help me create 3 chord sequences. This was a long process trying to find what notes sound good together and how they can be arranged. Its kinda like a puzzle trying to find the right pieces.

Melody Terms and Definitions

In music, a triad is a set of three notes (or “pitch classes“) that can be stacked vertically in thirds.^[1] The term “harmonic triad” was coined by Johannes Lippius in his Synopsis musicae novae (1612). Triads are the most common chords in Western music.

When stacked in thirds, notes produce triads. The triad’s members, from lowest-pitched tone to highest, are called:^[1]

• The root
• The third
• The fifth

– Triad definition from Wikipedia

• Theme – a longer, more flowing melodic idea
• Motive – a short, rhythmic idea
• Period – 8 (ish/around 8) measures of music
• Phrase – 4 (ish/around 4) measures of music
• Antecedent (Question or First) Phrase – sets the music up and leads you to expect something
• Consequent (Answer or Second) Phrase – releases the tension built up by the first phrase
• Scale Degrees:
  • Tonic Scale Degree – the note that begins and ends the scale, the note that releases the tension, one scale degree that creates a feeling of stability and resolution.
  • Supertonic, Mediant, and Submediant Scale Degree – scale degrees with a moderate level of tension useful for transitioning and carrying on an idea
  • Dominant, Subdominant, and Leading Tone Scale Degree – the notes that build tension, several scale degrees that create a high level of tension/the need to resolve the tonic
• Steps – any movement using half or whole steps
• Leaps – any movement using intervals larger than a whole-step
• Conjunct motion –  melody built primarily out of steps that move smoothly (example: moving in a scale)
• Disjunct motion – melody built primarily using leaps
• Repetition (the god particle of music) – use repeated material to create a link between the two phrases of a period
• Contrast – write two phrases that contain contrast material to create tension and interest
• Variation – halfway between repetition and contrast. The two phrases include some recognizable material and some varied material.

Composition term definitions from Dr. Henke’s video:  How to Write a Melody

• Dr. Jamie Henke, artsdivision.wisc.edu/staff/jamie-henke-jamie-henke/

My Motives

• https://onlinesequencer.net/2588422

• https://onlinesequencer.net/2593481
• https://onlinesequencer.net/2649525

• https://onlinesequencer.net/2649525

Feedback

• “It felt like Billie Elish made smooth jazz” -Austin
• “It felt really bassey and deep and smooth” -Austin

What I Learned & Problems I Solved

• I learned how to make Motives with Triads and the process and time length it takes.
• I solved one of my problems like not knowing what sounds good together by trying more than one sequence and trying and trying till it sounds good
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJTggXbjVSo

PUBLISHED BY

Megan Ripoli

Summary

• For this project, I was working in Soundtrap. I am still fairly new to soundtrap so I was just working around in it. I also worked on the song structure for our previous project. For my composition, it mainly consisted of piano, vocals and other tools. 

Audio File Formats and Definitions

AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format): stores standard CD-quality audio; similar to WAV (Higher Quality)

WAV (Waveform Audio File Format): CD audio; can be saved with different sampling and bit rates; similar to AIFF (Higher Quality)

MP3 (Audio File): Used to store audiobooks and music on a hard drive; Close to CD-quality sound; the higher quality sound comes from higher bit rates which also take up more storage space

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface): music data: notes played, when notes are played, how long each note is played, and the velocity of each note played; used to be able to exchange and use information between software and hardware programs; no actual audio data

All the audio file format information is found at: fileinfo.com

Song Used As Template

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN1odfjtMoo
• I chose this song (Zitte E Buoni) for Garageband to take apart because I personally really liked the song structure and think it’s a really good song. For my final composition, I did it in Soundtrap and I had a little difficulty with it. First off, I didn’t really have a verse and outro and intro with certain vocals and lyrics. I still made a good song. Personally, after making my song, I consider it a soft pop song instead of one exactly like the one I chose.

Soundtrap Tracks

My Composition

• https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive

What I Learned & Problems I Solved

• From this I’ve learned that making a song is a lot harder than it looks, especially digitally. It’s really difficult playing piano or guitar on Soundtrap, but if I took a while to get used to it, I think I could make a really good song.
• The problem I solved while working on the assignment and making the song was not knowing how to use soundtrap very much, but I ended up learning some basic knowledge about it.
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C0pGsE4_DtFjEUrO6RUWL-f5BKsEubhG/view?usp=sharing