FINAL DAY :(

I cannot believe everything is almost over. The past two weeks have been difficult but amazing. I have learned so much about music and myself. Today I woke up early because I had a full day planned of hard work. I first went to Shirley's room and worked more on my Self Evaluation. Then, I met up with Bill at 9:30am to record for two hours. We were able to finish all the recording and start mixing. We mixed three out of my five songs, then we had our final assembly and lunch. Following lunch I came back and worked with Bill in the studio, we were able to bounce those three songs we had mixed. I took a break for a while and returned to the studio around 7:00pm for another hour. We have mixed all of my songs except one and so tomorrow morning we will finish that and then burn!!! I am hoping to burn as many CDs as I can depending on time. I have to finish my Self Evaluation tonight and will hand in my papers tomorrow! Thanks for reading my blog!!

Week Three: Day 11

WOW! The progress I made today was amazing. I woke up and went straight to the studio around 8:30am. Bill and I got right to work with a short warm up and then recording. We recorded "Amazing Grace," "Only Hope," and "You Raise Me Up." All three of these songs went very well. After a couple hours of recording, I took a break and headed over to the tech lab. Seth was there ready for me to print my CD case inserts. I would like to thank him for all the work he did for me today. We spent about an hour sizing and formatting the inserts. It got very complicated and we printed off a lot of paper. Fortunately, everything turned out great! I went to lunch and later returned to cut the 200 little squares. 100 front cover inserts and 100 back inserts. It took a lot of work but I am very happy with the results. Following dinner I met up with Bill again in the studio. We diligently worked on mixing "Amazing Grace" and finished it!!!! We also recorded "Here's Where I Stand" and began tuning/editing/mixing. Tomorrow we will finish "Here's Where I Stand" and start mixing the last three. This project is really coming together and I cannot wait to show everyone my final product!! Hours today = 6.

Week Two Reflection

The second week of senior project was very self driven. I spent a majority of my time practicing and working on my CD case. Although I did spend a lot of time on my own, I was able to record a satisfied amount. I found that I cannot stress my voice, so taking a break for a couple days has been a benefit. My goal for this week was to basically record enough to place me in a good position for the final week of senior project. Since recording a lot this week was hard to accomplish, I decided to shift my goals around. I worked on my CD case and self evaluation that I was supposed to start next week. This way, I am able to confidently complete the rest of the recording at the beginning of next week. I am very pleased with my work this week even though it did not turn out how I had originally planned.

I really enjoyed this week, recording and creating my CD case. It was nice to switch up my activities and work on the presentation of my CD. Through the help of Brenda Godwin and Andrew Landers I have successfully created a CD cover. The cover grasps everything I had envisioned. I am truly confident in my senior project now that I have completed more than half of my recordings and album cover.

In the first three days of this week, I worked diligently on recording. Bill and I recorded as much as we could until he had to depart on Thursday. In the last two days of this week that I did not spend in the studio, I still found myself diligently working on my CD case. Although this was not my original plan, it seemed to work. I was actually surprised as to how this did work out because I was doubting myself at the beginning of the week. The benefit from my work this week would be that I was able to switch the pieces of my project around so that I would complete my goals without losing time. I spent a total of 16 hours working this week, averaging 3.2 hours a day.

Week Two: Day 10

Progress!! Today I woke up and finished my weekly reflection with Shirley. Then, I went to the recording studio and got Seth Richardson to put all of the background music from the songs onto my computer. This way, I can practice the songs this weekend and be ready to record on Monday. Brenda and I designed the cover of my album, to the right is the picture I have chosen. Seth Currier also helped me copy the papers for the album. I decided that I would not print off the couple hundred pages I have to until I made sure that my citing was correct. I spent a total of 3 hours working on my project today. I completely spaced on getting my time sheet in, hopefully I can turn it in this weekend. Only 3 days left....yikes!

Week Two: Day 9

This morning I woke up and it was nearly 60 degrees around 8:00 am. With such a beautiful day ahead of me, I could not wait to take pictures for my album cover. I met up with Brenda around 8:15 am and we talked about the layout for my cover. She was happy to help me, which is great because presentation is key. I then walked upstairs to meet up with my mentor, Shirley. We went over what information I would need for my CD and all the details behind that. Then I began my self-evaluation. The self-evaluation for senior project is a 3 to 5 page paper that includes my goals, benefits, and what I have learned. I have fortunately already finished my first paragraph and created an outline. After assembly, Andrew Landers took some photos of me for my album cover. I wanted to make sure that when looking at the album, you would be able to recognize Proctor in the background. Most of the pictures that Andrew shot of me were in front of the Proctor pond. We were able to narrow down the shots and I am happy with the results. Tomorrow I will work with Brenda again and hopefully finalize the CD case itself. I am also hoping to get into the studio tomorrow to practice the songs. Week two is almost over...hours today: 3

Week two: Day 8

Today I woke up to a dull sky and pouring rain. I got to the recording studio around 9:00am and did a quick warm up with Bill. For the next two and a half hours we worked on "Here's Where I Stand." This song is very fun to sing, though it is very difficult. The words repeat many times, but the notes are different. The score is nine pages long and very overwhelming, though we managed to get quite a few tracks down. I am starting to realize the time that this project needs cannot be crunched if you want perfection. You pay attention to every single note sung. I was able to take some pictures today, I wanted to show my readers a visual of what I have been up to. In the top left is myself with headphones on, a music stand, a big microphone, and to my right (the stand that says: "AVIOM") is where I can control the volume of myself singing and the volume of the background music. If Bill wants to talk to me, but he is in the other room, he can see me through a window (below), and talk through an intercom that will speak into my headphones. The building is a building within itself, meaning you cannot hear the noises outside. Below I have another picture of the control room, where all the engineering is done. As I sit next to Bill in the control room, I am amazed as to how this system works. It takes a lot of skill and patience with the programs and technology Proctor has invested in. I am so thrilled to be working in such a magnificent place. Tomorrow I will not be singing, I will be working on my CD case cover...hopefully getting that finished before the weekend. Only 4 more days of senior project:(

Total hours today: 3

Week Two: Day 7

Today was successful..I got right to work at 8:15am with Bill by warming up my voice with a couple onsets. Then I sang through "You Raise Me Up" as a warm up and then went right to recording. Although it was still early, I managed to pull through two recordings today: "Hero" and "Only Hope." We are going to edit them and hopefully they will work out. I left the studio after that block and went to my dorm to take a nap. I fortunately found someone to help me with my CD case cover, Brenda Godwin. I will meet with her on Thursday and hopefully we will design a layout. I was inspired to embrace my talent of singing at Proctor; therefore, I have decided to name my album "Embrace." This collection of Christian/World songs is finally coming together, and I am very excited to show everyone what I have done. I did not come back to the recording studio until 12:00pm this afternoon and only stayed for a bit to hear Matt Lohan record his amazing multi-instrumental piece. Tomorrow will be a day of great but tough work as I will not be recording again until Monday. I think I am going to take some pictures tomorrow to put up so that everyone can see the process of what I am doing....hours today: 2

Week Two: Day 6

After a tiring weekend full of athletics, I came into the recording studio ready to work. I arrived at 9:15am and practiced by myself while Bill set up for his assembly. I worked on "You Raise Me Up" and "Here's Where I Stand." After assembly, we recorded the piano of "You Raise Me Up" and then I recorded the vocals. This song is almost finished, just a couple more edits. After spending about an hour and a half working on that song, I went to lunch. Because of my lacrosse game today and Bill's dish duty, we only had about a half hour to work after lunch. After setting up the sound system, we finally put down another song (Here's Where I Stand). The piano recording is finished, but I will have to redo the vocals a bunch of times this week to make it perfect. Tomorrow I am going to spend a full day in the studio, trying to put down another song. I am also going to shoot my album cover tomorrow if the weather turns out nice. Bill will not be working with me on Thursday and Friday because he will be out of town, so I am going to have to work really hard these next two days to put myself in a good position for the final week of Senior Project. (hours today = 5)

Week One Reflection

Although this week was full of practice and becoming more comfortable with the recording process, I found that I have put myself in a good position for the second week of my senior project. I have basically learned all of the songs that I plan to put on my CD and the fundamentals of recording. Therefore, my general goals for this week have been met. I adjusted to my difficulties of having a hoarse voice by changing my warm up routine. I also was able to find half of the background music to the songs I have chosen, which is a big step in my process of recording.

I absolutely loved this first week of senior project, which is great because it is hard to sing well when you do not love song, environment, and people around. Now that I have practiced the songs many times, I can delve deeper into the emotions of each song. Through emphasizing higher notes and making sure that each song flows, the work becomes easier.

Coming into the recording studio with basically no experience on a microphone or with the genre of music I selected, I believe my work this week has been excellent. I did not know how I would approach the practicing and recording this first week, so I did not expect much from the beginning. I was surprised as to how much time this process needs and will adjust my scheduling next week so that I can comfortably complete this project. I will finish recording by the end of next week, which means that I need to buckle down everyday and work very hard. This week’s activities will benefit my comfort for the studio and working with Bill; therefore, I will be able to gracefully complete my tasks and goals for next week. I completed 18.5 hours this week, averaging 3.7 hours a day.

Day 5

Wow...I cannot believe the first week of my senior project is already over! Today was by far my most productive day. This morning Bill and I started at 8:15am with warming up my voice with onsets. I found that over the past days I have been in the studio, my voice has been a little hoarse due to the lack of warming up I have done. We used "You Raise Me Up" as warm up song, going over it a couple times. It is coming out very nicely and I am excited to see how it turns out. We then went straight to my favorite song, "Here's Where I Stand." We do not have background music for these songs yet, but they are both beautiful pieces that Bill has quickly picked up and played for me. As Bill worked with other students, I let my voice rest and then headed to assembly. I then went back into the studio and found myself working on "Amazing Grace." I had originally decided to do this song A Capella, but today my mind changed. The song is great with no instrumentalists, but Matt Lohan (another student recording for his senior project) gladly offered to play along with me on his guitar. I owe a big thanks and shout out to him for helping me today. He is very musically talented and easily picked up the chords for "Amazing Grace." As the song came to the third verse, he joined me in vocals. The song sounded great all together, so we practiced it a couple times and then went to lunch. Following lunch, we recorded "Amazing Grace." We spent about an hour, singing the song many times. We began in the open room, recording side by side. Then Bill put Matt in another room to record the guitar so I would faintly hear it and go at my own tempo. After working with that for a while, Bill put the "reverb" on to help me keep the song at a steady beat. It was amazing how much that helped. I then sat in the control room with Bill while Matt recorded the two last verses. Although the song is not final, progress has been made. I am happy with the work I did today and cannot wait to start back up again on Monday. I received a total of 4.5 hours of work today. Off the write my weekly reflection...

Day 4

Today was the fourth day of my senior project. I gave my voice a rest this morning and hummed every one of my songs and then did a warm up (10:00am to 12:00pm). After lunch, Bill and I met up in the recording studio (1:15pm). We went straight to recording "Only Hope" and then decided to work on "Hero." After practicing a couple times, Bill mentioned that I cannot mess up the pitches a tiny bit when recording because the microphone will pick it up. On that note, I realized that I need to step up my confidence and thoroughly practice these songs. We recorded "Hero" all the way through, twice. The second track came out much better than the first, showing my improvement. I am becoming more comfortable with the songs and the recording process. Last night I bought a bunch of CDs and cases for the final product. I also am hoping to sing one of these songs at Commencement, to show everyone what I have been up to. This week is almost coming to a close, but I glad that we are moving along and everything is going well!! (Total hours of today: 3)

Day 3

Today was the third day of my senior project, I started at 9:30am practicing on my own and then met up with Bill around 10:00am. Since it was a half day, I did not spend a lot of time working with Bill - but the time was well spent when working with him. He transposed "You Raise Me Up," so that it would be in my key. The song jumps around a lot, so we practiced shifting tempos and becoming more comfortable with the range. We tried to record the song so that Bill would be able to later record the piano with my tempo, but we had technical difficulties. We spent the last twenty minutes working on "Here's Where I Stand," which is my favorite piece from the six I have chosen. The song has a lot of emotion and is very fun to sing. Tiffany Taylor is the artist, so I have very big shoes to fill. My goal for the end of the week is to work very hard on each song, perfecting tempos and higher notes. I am enjoying my work thus far and cannot wait to record!! I just posted my goals for this project, so they should be the post under this if anyone would like to check them out!

My Goals

Marion Smith

Goal #1: Learn how to record, vocals

Activities:

1. Meet or communicate with a JOSA recording artist for guidance
2. Learn 6 Christian/World songs. (research artists and review sheet music)
3. Work with instrumentalists. (people playing background music)

Goal #2: Record

Activities:

1. Instruments record separately.
2. I listen to their tracks and record. (instruments tracks)
3. Do multiple takes of each song to perfect the end product.

Goal #3: Edit/Produce

Activities:

1. Review outcome.
2. Work on editing. (protools)
3. Create CD with cover and design.

Today was the second day of my senior project. I woke up early to get to the recording studio around 8:15am. I fortunately found a great online site to download background music from. I quickly downloaded "Hero" and it has been put in my file with "Only Hope." I spent the majority of my morning practicing in a practice room, focusing on "Amazing Grace" and "Here's Where I Stand." From 11:45am to 12:45pm I worked with Bill on each song, practicing the tempos and mixing up the keys. We decided to make "Amazing Grace" a capella, in a Leeann Rimes version. Bill is going to work on getting music for "Here's Where I Stand" and "I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." I will continue to practice each song and will hopefully start recording soon. I left the recording studio around 12:45pm, giving me a total of 4 hours of work today. Tomorrow I hope to explore more of "Amazing Grace" and "Hero." This project is moving at a very good rate and I am excited to show everyone what I will have accomplished at the conclusion of next week.

Day 1

Today was the first day of my senior project. I began at 9:00am in the recording studio, reviewing the songs that I choose for my CD. I recorded my first track, a couple lines of "Only Hope," as a test to become more comfortable with the head piece and microphone. I then went over "You Raise Me Up" with Bill to make sure that it was in the right key. From 11:00am to 12:30pm I used a practice room to go over "Amazing Grace" and "You Raise Me Up." We are still trying to find background music for my songs, but I believe that I will be able to find a guitarist for "Amazing Grace." After lunch, I returned to the recording studio (1:45pm to 3:15pm) to use the loud microphone on all of my songs. Bill and I spent a great deal of time on "And I am Telling You I'm Not Going." It is a very hard song to learn, and will be the most difficult for me in this project. I learned a lot today about recording and time you need to spend in order to complete different parts of the final product. I spent a total of five hours in the studio today, the exact amount of the time I need to spend in order to fulfill my requirements.

My Songs

1. Here's Where I Stand

2. Amazing Grace

3. You Raise Me Up

4. Hero

5. And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going

6. Only Hope