Reflection

Originally I said I would have six songs recorded and up onto YouTube. In reality I decided not to use YouTube because it was alot of extra work that I did not realize. For instance, I would first have to record all of the instruments and then rerecord using YouTube. Instead I decided to upload all the songs I did onto Soundcloud, this way I only would have to record once using Logic Pro X. This gave me more time to experiment with Logic. 
Another thing I learned about my project was my original timeline was WAY off. At the beginning of my project I predicted I would do six songs! When in reality I only did two. But granted I had to work quite a bit on the KickStarter Project, which took away time from the project. Also, when I created my timeline I created it so I had no extra time which was not very smart because if I needed more time I would run into the next project. Therefore, I think in order to have enough time it is better to give more time than less. If i were to do this project again I would give 3 weeks per song just because it really is a lot of work.
Not only was my timeline too constricting I also ran into quite a few other unforeseen problems. For instance, when I did a cover of A Life That's Good I had to take multiple recordings of the guitar because in order for me to sing it needed to be realitilvly similar to the original version. For instance, the first time Aric recorded the guitar part it was not matched up with the metronome and was not in the right key. Therefore, when I went to sing it was too low and I could not use the metronome because it would not match up. Then when we recorded the second time he still didn't use the metronome but, he was in the right key so I was able to sing it. If it was lined up with the metronome the song would have been better,just because it all would have matched up and been clean cut.
Furthermore, another problem I had was with my original song, Darkness which for whatever reason I could not sing in the right key. Therefore, Mr. Gallagher had to add a melody part to help me stay on key which took me a while to get used to. This was very frustrating because it was my song I could not remember. Honestly if I still had a recording from last year I would have taken that voice recording and droped it into Logic because it would have been better.
I actually tried to do a third song but I could not finish it for the project. I thought I would be able to but, I ran into another unforeseen problem. The song I was working on was Follow Your Arrow and I asked our chorus teacher to play the piano for me and she did. But I believe using the metronome messed her up because she is not used to playing with one and it is hard to get used to. Therefore, sometimes the music was matched with the metronome and other times it wasn't. Another aspect of the song I did not realize was that it did not have a melody, therefore I really had to know the song. But when I went to record it there were errors that prevented me from being able to sing it all the way through. Therefore, I would have needed another recording and I did not have time to get one and record my voice. 
The biggest problem I faced was having to rely on other people to play all the instruments I did not know. I am greatly appreciative to all those who helped me out but it is difficult to be reliant on someone else, because that means you have to find time to meet, and give them a while to learn the song, and originally I did not anticipate that into my timeline.
Although I had a lot of problems with my project plan, I did learn a lot. For instance, I learned how to navigate Logic Pro X which took me a while. But I now know how to create various tracks and hookup the mo2 and microphones to Logic. Also, I learned how to quantize which became very helpful, I worked a little with layering, and learned how to edit the work I did. There are amazing tools Logic allows users to use which makes recording a lot easier. My favorite tool on Logic was being able to loop and cut out parts I did not need, these tools were VERY helpful and I could not have recorded without them. A really big thing I learned,as I said before is giving yourself enough time to record, because it really is quality over quantity, which took me a while to realize. At first when I did this project I wanted to do a whole bunch of songs but ending the project, I wish I could have finished one more song, other than that though I feel good about this project.
Overall, I think this class was more productive than last years songwriting class, but one of the drawbacks was the class size. Last year we got a lot more individual attention and since we have more classmates we got less (which is to be expected). Also, only having one room to record in was difficult because you had to sign it out in advance and it was usually taken, therefore a lot of us had to come in at other times. We probably could use a few more computers just so everyone can use one, but other than that this semester went pretty well. It was interesting seeing all the different projects that people made.
Lastly, you can check out my recordings below!