Creating an EP about Teenage Issues

As a teenager, these past few years have not been perfect. For the past 3 years, I have dealt with many problems, whether it would be personal, social, or mental problems. Music is one of the most popular ways of coping with dark and emotions. The music they listen to can soothe their mind and can make a person relax because the lyrics of the songs they listen to are relatable. The artist who makes the music has gone through similar experiences that teenagers went through, and they use these experiences and memories to tell stories and feelings through music. I have played around with Digital Audio Workstation (D.A.W) such as FL studio which is one of the most popular Digital Audio Workstations that can be used in a computer, many producers use this computer program to create popular songs. I have only made one complete song in grade 9, for my music final exam. It has been a while since I have properly used a DAW and I am not sure if I can still use a DAW on my own. I want to be able to create a complete musical project using D.A.W (Digital Audio Workstation) specifically an EP, which is a musical project consisting of 3-7 songs.

When I listen to my favorite albums, I am so amazed at how creative and talented some artists can be, whether it would be the choice of instruments, the singing, the production, etc. I would sometimes imagine myself recreating or covering the songs, and with this Personal Project I can make this happen, I can finally have a reason to create a full musical project. Although I have used a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) in the past, this will probably be a very new experience for me. In the past year, I took a great interest in rock music, because of the instruments and subject matter some bands tackle and I want to try to do the same which motivated me to form my personal project goal. I decided that my personal project would be; To research common issues and challenges teenagers face through surveys and lyrics found in albums, then plan and produce a 5-6 rock song Extended Play. I will try to make most of the songs using a guitar for most of the lead melodies which is something I have never done before with DAW.

I have a lot of room to grow with my skills of composing music in DAW, having only made one full song last year and I would rarely use my vocals when I’m using FL studio. I could not write meaningful lyrics about teenage problems without research from various sources. This makes my project very difficult because this would be the first time I would be writing lyrics and singing on my own project, which I have yet to acquire. All in all, I have to train myself and do the research to prove that I can make an EP that will appeal to the target audience. The necessary instruments and songwriting is something I don’t have prior experience. Learning how to sing the lyrics in a way that satisfies my expectations would be hard to do.

Global Context

The Global Context that my project reflects the most is Personal and Cultural Expression because of the subject matter the Extended Play will tackle. Not only will the project talk about general problems that teenagers face but also personal problems that I will face. I will express the themes of my project through the lyrics of each song. Writing the lyrics requires an exploration of my thoughts and feelings, which I hope can connect to the targeted demographic.

Product

I am pretty pleased with how the final product turned out. I completed the goal of finishing 5 songs, and I think I achieved a somewhat high score in my rubric specification. Each of the five songs has its own chord progression, has a fitting drum beat, and catchy guitar leads and melodies. Each song has a simple song structure which is usually verse, chorus, verse, chorus and ranges from 1-3 minutes each. My product can tackle the global context strand ‘identities’ because of the lyrical content that I tried to create.

Listen to my music below!

Reflection

While creating the product, I think I gained new skills and improved the skills I already have. An example of a skill that I improved was managing time efficiently. Before this personal project, I would usually work until the last few days of a big assignment for motivation to do the work but in this case, it is different and I had to keep motivating myself doing this project for long periods. My communication skills also improved in the process as I started talking with people about my product, etc. The new skills that I learned when creating the product were my artistic skills by creating melodies, chord progressions, and lyrics for each song.

After I finished my personal project I did not expect to learn as much as I did. While doing this project, more about the Global Context that I chose which is Personal and Cultural Expression, I discovered my artistic skills, expressing my feelings and ideas. It has deepened my understanding of composing and creating songs and how much time and effort is put into creating music by the artist.

IB Learner Reflection

As a 15-year-old IB learner, I am still learning and developing new skills from the learner profile. While I did use all of the learner profiles through the personal project process, some of the notable ones were, risk-taker, inquirer, and knowledgeable. Discussing difficult and intimate topics I wouldn’t normally talk about in my lyrics shows that I was a risk-taker in that process. By singing and creating all of the instrumentals by myself makes me a risk-taker because I have never created structured instrumentals like that and I was stepping out of my comfort zone by singing the songs. I took risks in this project to attempt to fulfill my goal and create a product that I can be proud of. For my project to succeed, I need to gain more information about what my product should be. I needed to learn technical and creative skills for my project to be successful. The process of this project also helped me become a more knowledgeable person about the Global Context, Personal and Cultural Expression, the process of songwriting, a deeper understanding of certain instruments. It has deepened my perception of how artists create the music that everyone listens to everyday.