Weekly Update #2

Ok so clearly, I haven't exactly been following the "weekly" parts of the Weekly Updates, but I have been busy for the past few weeks working on the two songs by creating them on Logic Pro X rather than recording them. It was quite difficult at first since I had barely ever used the program before, which is why it took me longer than expected; however, once I got the hang of it, I finished creating the music for one song and have begun recording the vocals for it with the singer. I have also started making the drum beats and piano parts for my second song, the one I am doing the music video for, and I have talked to some of my friends who are doing filming in this class to help me record and film the video.

Weekly Update #1

Over the past two weeks, I have been very busy during my Music Technology class. Not only have I been working on my songs that I will be recording, but I have also been busy making the incentives for a Kickstarter campaign my class did last year. Therefore, I have not had as much time as I had originally expected to work on recording my songs, and so I have changed my plan to only recording two songs instead of three.

My Semester Project

My Semester Project

My driving question for the next few months is how will I create a well-made music video for one of the songs that I wrote?

For the rest of this semester, everyone in my class has to do a special project, and I am going to record two original songs with me playing drums and two other people singing and playing piano. One is songs that I wrote, and one is a song that the lead singer wrote. I will record and edit one song each week over a three week period, starting next week.

Once I am finished recording all of the songs, which will be in about four weeks from now, I will choose one and create a music video for it, and then edit it once I am done. It will probably take me over a month or two to finish filming and editing it, making it around late January when it is done, which is the end of the semester. I think that the filming of the video will take two or three weeks, which leaves me over a month to edit it.

The key skills that I will learn while doing this project will be how to use recording and editing computer programs such as Logic Pro X and Final Cut Pro. I will also learn how to use a professional video camera, and in my weekly updates, I will include the information that I learned that week from filming or editing.

Schedule:

11/1

Record the first song

11/22

Record second song

12/13

Design music video outline

12/20

Finish recording music video

1/15

Finish editing music video and upload it to blog

The criteria needed for each product:

1. Product: Videography-

I need to make sure that the camera is in the right spot at all times, isn’t shaky, and has the right lighting.

2. Product: Editing-

I need to make sure that everything is edited well without jumps between each change in scene, etc.

3. Product: Sound-

I need to make sure that the sound in all of my videos is good quality and cut together well.

	Skills Needed	Already Learned	Taught Before Project	Taught During Project
1	Drum playing	-----
2	Recording			-----
3	Video Taping			-----
4	Editing		-----

Tambourine History

The Tambourine

For the few of you who are wondering what a tambourine is, it is one of the simplest musical instruments ever made. It is part of the percussion family, is usually handheld, and can be played in virtually any genre of music because of how plain and universal the sound is. The metal disks are called “jingles” and are around the outside rim of the circle of wood. Throughout its history, the tambourine has barely been altered in its looks because of how simplistic and easy it is already to use.

The tambourine was first used in Greece and Rome during the 13th century in religious and folk songs. Since the late 1700’s, it has traveled around the world and landed in Europe, where Mozart began to include it into his compositions. Once the tambourine was heard in classical songs, many artists began adding it to their own work, snowballing the sound into nearly every song you heard until recently. Now, new technologies have enabled us to use fake sounds produced by computers, so most instruments are not needed in creating a song anymore.

The percussion consists of some of my favorite instruments because each piece of it has such a unique sound. Also, they are so important to music because they keep the time and add the structure to the song. The tambourine is awesome because even though it is so simple, it adds so much to a song and can have very complicated rhythms that add something special to each melody.

Bibliography

• http://www.x8drums.com/v/blog/2007/02/history-of-tambourine.asp
• http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=tambourine
• http://www.vsl.co.at/en/70/3196/3211/3215/5813.vsl
• http://www.promusicaustralia.com/drum/TocaImages/T-H_Series.jpg

What is the History of the Spotlight?

First, for those of you who are not familiar with a spotlight, a spotlight is the blinding bright light that shows specific things on a stage. For instance, when only one person is on the stage and the only light that is being used is highlighting only the person, that is a spotlight. A spotlight, or a followspot, is manually used so it can be more precise to the specific environment. The person manning the spotlight had a very important job because he has to make sure it is showing the right spot at all times and is not too bright or too dim. Some spotlights are able to change colors by using “boomerangs,” gel frames that are in different colors and fit to all different sizes of spotlights.

The history of the spotlight begins in the 1700’s. Electricity was invented by Benjamin Franklin around 1740, and the light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison around 1880, over 100 years later! The exact beginning of the spotlight is very shady because no one really knows who invented it first. At the start of the 1900’s, Garret A. Morgan invented the traffic signal, which is quite similar in shape and design to the spotlight. However, in 1919 Robert Juliat founded his own company that sold many different kinds of stage lighting, including the spotlight.

Currently, we are all under the spotlight effect. The spotlight effect is how people feel when they are the center of attention. When people get embarrassed, it is because they feel the pressure of people watching and judging them. It is mostly based on overestimating how much you feel you are being judged. The main point is to try and not feel like you are being judged, because then a lot of pressure will be relieved from you and you will feel better.

Bibliography

• "The UnMuseum - Who Invented the Lightbulb?" The UnMuseum - Who Invented the Lightbulb? N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.
• "Spotlight Biography: Inventors." Spotlight Biography: Inventors. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.
• "UNCOMPROMISING QUALITY SINCE 1919." ROBERT JULIAT. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.
• "The Psychology of the Spotlight Effect." Neurolove.me. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2013.

Vox Bells

Music Tech Time Audio

Music Tech Time!

            Hi everyone, I'm Kate. This year I am in a music technology class that allows us to use a bunch of programs such as Garageband, Logic, Final Cut Pro, and Adobe Creative Suite. I am very interested in this class because I am a songwriter and am learning the drums and piano, so with some of these programs, I can create my own songs. Also, I love music and bands, and have been to multiple concerts such as Ed Sheeran, We The Kings, All Time Low, Fall Out Boy, The Cab, and The Summer Set. 

            My goals are to create a whole album of my own songs, and have some of my classmates sing and play instruments in some of the songs with me. Also, I want to learn all about the programs listed above and be able to use all of them fluently because they will help me learn to play certain instruments and enable me to create full songs. I will be doing weekly blogs that will include things that I learn while studying the programs, so if you are learning how to use these programs as well, I hope I can help!