LUSONG SA

MMS 172 PROJECT OUTPUT

"Always put yourself in others’ shoes."

A message often said to those in power so they could understand and know how to help.

But how can they put themselves in our shoes if in the first place, we can’t even wear our shoes because of the flood?

It’s ironic how some people pretend to understand our situation while in reality they’re comfortably walking around in their Crocs, detached from the struggles we face every day.

Being wise enough is knowing that our silence can easily become one of those selfish people’s closest allies. That’s why sometimes they can be overly sensitive to just a very simple song, let’s say “Gusto Ko Ng Baboy” by Radioactive Sago Project.

So without further ado, here’s my song with innuendo-filled lyrics about the stagnant flood in my community for my project, or should I say, a song dedicated to that group of incompetent, unfair, money hungry, and fucking wannabe big-timers.

Note:

The song itself isn’t harsh or an obvious call-out like how I sounded in the intro of this blog. I chose to keep it subtle out of respect for my parents and loved ones who will be listening to my song after this semester.

Considering that I mentioned in my pre-production plan that I would figure out during the production stage whether the lyrics would be direct or not, in the end, I decided to keep them indirect. You can read my full pre-production plan here for reference.

I actually finished writing the lyrics of my song soon after a flood control issue was widely discussed online. This is one of the reasons why I love my project output so much because it’s deeply personal to me and unexpectedly very relevant today.

Just as I wasn’t expecting my song’s theme to suddenly align with current events, I also didn’t expect the mix of inconveniences and interesting experiences I would face throughout my production stage all within just a month. The only thing I was certain about even back in pre-production was that a production plan is never meant to be followed rigidly. And my experience proved that to be true.

As you can see, I took full advantage of the extended deadline for this project. This extra time allowed me to make adjustments to satisfy my taste and, hopefully, your ears as well (unless, of course, if you don’t like the genre of my song). But as I promised, I’ll go through every change, decision, and process I made during my production and post-production stages, explaining them as best as I can in a detailed yet clear manner, so it won’t be confusing to follow.

PRODUCTION

SONG INSPIRATION

First things first... is searching for inspiration.

The very first thing I learned when I started my production process is that as a beginner, you really need a song inspiration to guide you. When you’re composing for the first time, it’s difficult to start completely from scratch. However, if you want to be creative, you also can’t rely on just one song as your single source of inspiration. Gifted are those beginners who can still create without any reference at all.

Unlike some songwriters who blatantly copy entire songs like “Selos” by Shaira without giving proper credit, you can still create something original while taking inspiration from multiple tracks. This approach allows you to build your own sound rather than simply imitating someone else’s work.

For this final project, there were several songs I listened to closely as part of my creative process. For instance, I paid attention to how certain guitars were toned or processed with effects, how the drums were played and mixed, and how the dynamics of each track shaped its overall mood. These observations helped me decide how to arrange my own instruments and develop the tone I wanted for my song.

Since the theme of my song is melancholic and mellow, I naturally gravitated toward songs with a similar vibe. Below is a list of tracks that guided me throughout my composition and arrangement process:

CHORD PROGRESSION

Yup, the chord progression came first before the lyrics. After being inspired by those four great mellow songs (by my standards), I was able to create my song’s chord progression with the help of my guitarist through an online meeting.

Since I’m not skilled at playing the guitar, I focused on describing the melody and overall feel I wanted for the song while my guitarist played and interpreted my ideas in real time. Once he played a melody that matched what I had in mind, I took note of the chords he used and recreated them using the Ample Guitar M Lite II plugin in FL Studio 12.

Here’s the chord progression I made set in the key of A major, adding drums that fits tempo of 145 bpm.

Starting with the chord progression first felt more convenient for me. If I had begun with the lyrics, I felt like it might limit my creativity in crafting the melody and dynamics as I would be restricted to fitting words into a structure that wasn’t fully developed yet. By beginning with the chords, I already had a musical foundation that guided me in writing lyrics more freely. This approach also allowed me to experiment with phrasing and word choice. For example, in certain melody lines, using more words with the “ah” vowel sound blended smoothly with the flow, while occasionally adding a word with an “ih” sound gave the lyrics extra dynamics and variation.

Of course, there’s no universal rule about what should come first when composing a song -- some start with lyrics, while others begin with melody or rhythm. It all depends on what works best for you. Personally, this method fits my style and workflow best.

This melody loop took me two days to complete. At this stage, all the instruments were created using FL Studio 12’s built-in virtual instruments and the Ample Guitar M Lite II plugin since I didn’t have an audio interface available yet for live recording. This loop became the foundation of my song, or like the starting point where I could later build the full arrangement and write the complete lyrics.

The piano track, which admittedly sounds like a karaoke piano, served as a placeholder guide to indicate where the lyrics would be placed later on. It gave me a clear framework for how the vocals would interact with the rest of the instrumentation.

LYRICS

“Sa pag-balik ng dati ay”

This was the very first line I created based on the melody of the first verse. It eventually became the foundation of the entire song’s lyrics. With this opening line, I wanted to establish a theme that plays around with the concept of time like looking back at the past only to realize that nothing has truly changed. This reflects the frustration in our community about the incompetent flood control solutions which have made us feel like no real progress has been made, even after years of supposed efforts.

After completing the melody loop in just two days, and with this first line serving as the lyrical foundation, I spent the next five days working on and finalizing the first draft of the full lyrics and melody. So while collaborating with my guitarist on the chord progression and lyrics, we were able to finalize the song’s structure which follows this sequence:

Intro

First Verse

First Refrain

Chorus

Second Verse

Second Refrain

Chorus

Solo Guitar

Final Chorus (with a few different words)

Outro

Just like I mentioned earlier, everything started with the melody before the lyrics. To help you visualize my process, here’s the step-by-step flow of how I composed the song together with my guitarist:

This cycle continued until we completed the entire structure of the song.

As someone who tends to work with hyperfocus, I often kept working on my song right after finishing other tasks whether personal responsibilities or requirements for my other courses. Once I started working on it, I would sometimes get completely absorbed which made balancing my schedule a challenge. There were days when I couldn’t focus on my other tasks because I was so deep into composing, though at times, it really depended on my mood and energy level.

In total, it took me about a week to compose the full draft of the song and that’s not even the final version yet. The process took longer because of the need to coordinate with my guitarist’s availability which tested my patience and persistence even more.

After a few revisions and refinements, this became the final version of my lyrics :

Verse 1:

Sa pag-balik ng dati ay

‘Di mo ba namamalayan na wala rin

Kahirang tiwala’y maghintay

‘Di pa rin mamamalayan na

Refrain 1:

Wala rin nangyari

Hanggang kailan pa ba?

Sana’y maisip

Habang ako’y nandito pa

Chorus:

Oh di naman kaya

Naibigan mo nang hanggang dito na lang

Wala ka nang ginagawa

Na para bang nasanay nang lumusong sa

Luha

Verse 2:

Sa pag-dating ng araw ay

Sanay nalimot na ang dating ala-ala

Sa pagka-mulat ng mata

‘Di na sana mamalayan na

Refrain 2:

Wala rin nangyari

Oh kailan kaya?

Sana’y maisip

Habang ako’y nandito pa

Chorus:

Oh di naman kaya

Naibigan mo nang hanggang dito na lang

Wala ka nang ginagawa

Na para bang nasanay nang lumusong sa

Luha

Final Chorus:

Oh di naman sana

Naibigan mo na hanggang dito na lang

Sana ay may ginawa

Na para bang ayaw mo nang lumusong sa

Laying Out Key Instruments and Vocals with FL Studio 12

Since the lyrics and chord progression were completed during the first week with my guitarist, I moved on to laying out the key tracks in FL Studio 12. These included the acoustic guitar, drums, and vocals which I built using FL Studio’s plugin instruments to serve as placeholders and guides for the final arrangement.

For transparency, the demo I created at this stage was based on the first draft of the lyrics, melody, and song structure. Its main purpose was to act as a guide and reference point helping me visualize the progress of the project. This initial version ended up running 5 minutes and 49 seconds, which is quite long. Since Prof. Al advised us to keep our final outputs under six minutes, I knew I had to create a shortened version later on.

This shorter arrangement was developed while practicing with my collaborator so there were moments when the composition still overlapped during our jamming. However, this stage was crucial because it allowed me to gather feedback not only from my collaborator but also from my father, who listened and shared his thoughts during our practice sessions.

Here’s the first demo I created, which has not yet been shortened:

Practice with My Collaborators + Getting the PreSonus Audio Interface

During the second week, I asked my two collaborators -- one on electric guitar and the other on bass guitar -- to come over for a one-day practice session at my place. Since my instrument, the drums, would be the hardest to carry if we had to commute, it made the most sense to host the practice at my house.

The goal of this session was simple:

Hear the full arrangement of the song with all the actual instruments playing together for the first time.
Check if all the instruments and gear were working properly before the actual recording.
Allow everyone, especially my collaborators, to familiarize themselves with the song’s structure and flow.

Fortunately, everyone was available that day, including my father who played the acoustic guitar for the song. This is also the reason why I prepared a demo beforehand so he could follow along and have a clear reference. Honestly, I regret not taking better pictures of the session because I was so focused on the practice itself and on entertaining everyone at home. This is literally the only picture I managed to take while we were still setting up.

Everything is cluttered, I know. I’m sorry ;-;

You might be wondering why we used a mixer. I’ll be explaining that later in the updated signal flow.

Throughout our practice, this is where all the changes started.

Like, why am I not the one singing?

Jermaine is Not the Vocalist

Simply put, I’m not really a singer even though I tried my best to be one.

Yes, I prepared myself when it came to proper mic positioning for recording vocals that I even took time to study techniques through online tutorials. In fact, I initially recorded my own vocals, confident that I could handle it since the song has a mellow style which I thought would be easier to sing.

But there was one crucial thing I underestimated... singing on key.

During our practice session, it became painfully clear that I was off-key most of the time and honestly, it sounded really bad. If you know how Anne Curtis sing, it's like that ;-; One of my collaborators even spent time teaching me how to sing on key, especially on how to lower my pitch because I kept hitting the higher ones unintentionally.

After spending half a day trying to fix my vocals, I realized that forcing myself to continue would only bring down the quality of the overall project. The instrumental parts were shaping up well and I didn’t want all that effort to go to waste because of my weak vocal performance. So, I made the decision to pass the role of vocalist to someone more capable. And if you guessed it right, the collaborator who coached me on singing eventually became the one to perform the final vocal track for the song.

A Valuable Realization

From this experience, it reminded me of Ely Buendia of Eraserheads. Even though many people criticize him for having a “bad voice,” he still knows how to sing on key and how to play with his voice making his singing style iconic. Along with his band’s songwriting, this turned them into legends of Philippine music.

So when creating a song, the ability to stay on key and use one’s unique vocal tone effectively is just as important as writing good lyrics or producing a strong instrumental arrangement.

From FL Studio 12 to FL Studio 21

When we were able to borrow the PreSonus interface and use it during our instrument testing, the first problem I had was that FL Studio 12 couldn’t detect the interface in the audio settings.

At first, the tutorials I followed were about registering the hardware interface on the PreSonus website, but I wasn’t able to register it because of some information I couldn’t input like when the hardware was bought. So, the alternative solution I did which was recommended by one of my friends was to upgrade my FL Studio to version 21. Gladly, it worked!

I think the problem was maybe because of a software compatibility issue where FL Studio 21 has better support for newer ASIO drivers. But the important thing is it worked now, right?

From 5:49 Minutes to 4:45 Minutes

While we were practicing the 5:49-minute version of the song, I was also working on shortening its duration and receiving suggestions from my collaborators.

To help you imagine our roles during practice:

1. I played the drums and did the vocals
2. My father played the acoustic guitar
3. One collaborator handled the electric guitar
4. Other played the bass guitar

At first, my two collaborators (electric guitar and bass) were freestyling, experimenting with different riffs and patterns. Then, we started exchanging ideas about what the final notes should be and, of course, discussing how to shorten the overall duration of the song.

Throughout this process, the crossed-out parts below are the sections we decided to cut:

Guitar Intro

Verse 1

Refrain 1

Chorus

Guitar Intro

Verse 1

Refrain 1

Chorus

Guitar Solo

Chorus

Final Chorus

Outro

First to Record (Acoustic Guitar Track)

After finalizing the composition and finishing our practice sessions, the first thing we recorded was the acoustic guitar track using my dad’s guitar.

The reason for this was practical -- I wouldn’t be able to bring the acoustic guitar to another location to record again since I’d be staying at my friend’s house which is closer to where my collaborators live. For context, the distance between my house and theirs is around 13 km, and commuting is very difficult and slow because of the flooded areas and rough roads we have to pass through. If you remember what I mentioned in my pre-production plan, I said that I would be the one to adjust and travel to their place to record their electric guitar and bass tracks. Because of this, it made the most sense to record the acoustic guitar first, followed by the drum track.

While recording the acoustic guitar, we used a backing track to serve as a tempo guide for the guitarist, ensuring that the performance stayed on time and consistent with the rest of the arrangement.

Ample Guitar M Lite II Plug-In

At first, we tried recording the acoustic guitar by plugging it directly into the PreSonus interface. It worked but I wasn’t satisfied with the sound quality. It felt too electric and plain while what I really wanted was a natural, warm acoustic feel.

Surprisingly, I felt that the Ample Guitar M Lite II (AGML II) plug-in actually produced a more natural sound. With AGML II, you can still feel and hear the woodiness of the guitar tone, which was missing when we recorded using the actual acoustic guitar directly through the interface.

We didn’t get the chance to try recording the acoustic guitar through a microphone as an alternative mainly because of time constraints. Traveling from Macabebe to San Simon is long and exhausting due to the flooded and rough roads, so I had to take that into consideration for my collaborators’ time and energy. Because of this, I decided to use the AGML II plug-in for the acoustic guitar track. It wasn’t too bad and I planned to enhance and polish the sound further during the mastering stage to make it blend more naturally with the rest of the mix.

Ample Guitar M Lite II (AGML II)

Second to Record (Drum Track)

There wasn’t really a huge problem when we started recording the drum track especially since this wasn’t my first time doing drum recordings. The only difference now was that I finally had an audio interface.

BUT, I made a huge and unexpected decision to push myself creatively and meet my personal standard for drum dynamics and sound quality. That decision was to use FL Studio’s drum instruments instead of our Alesis Crimson II Electronic Drum Kit.

Here are the three main reasons why I chose to go with FL Studio’s drums:

1. Panning for Realistic Placement

As of now, I’m still figuring out how to configure our Alesis drum kit so that each component can have proper stereo placement. For example, in a typical drum setup, the hi-hat is heard slightly on the right side, the ride cymbal on the left, and the snare positioned close to the hi-hat in the mix. To achieve this effect, proper panning and volume balancing are essential. Using FL Studio allowed me to fully control these elements, accurately representing the physical positions of each drum component and giving the listener the feeling of sitting in front of a real drum kit.

2. Adding Ghost Notes for Subtle Dynamics

Since I relied heavily on song inspirations as a guide for my project, I paid attention to the creative drum techniques used in those tracks. One thing I really wanted to incorporate was ghost notes. It is a very soft, subtle hits played between the main backbeats on the snare drum, or sometimes on other components. Ghost notes add texture, groove, and subtle dynamics to a rhythm. Especially in a mellow song like mine, they can transform a basic beat into something more expressive and emotional.

Unfortunately, the snare sensor on our Alesis kit couldn’t pick up low-velocity strikes accurately. I believe this is because the mesh heads are worn out as the kit is already three years old and was bought second-hand. If I had stuck with the Alesis kit, I would have been forced to overplay ghost notes ruining their intended subtlety, or worse, leave them out completely. Since I really wanted to include ghost notes in this mellow song, I decided to opt for FL Studio’s drums where I could precisely program these delicate touches.

3. Comparable Sound Quality

In terms of sound quality, both the Alesis e-drums and FL Studio’s drum instruments are inherently digital-sounding. With the right sound design and drum variations in FL Studio, I realized I could achieve a tone very similar to what the Alesis kit provides. Since I don’t have enough microphones to record an acoustic drum set, weighing my options led me to the conclusion that FL Studio was the better choice. It provided similar sound quality to e-drums while giving me more control and flexibility during production.

The only real challenge with this decision was having to manually compose the entire drum track inside FL Studio. But in the end, it was worth it for the level of precision and creative freedom it offered.

Drum patterns and components of intro in FL Studio 21 for the project output

Drum patterns and components of outro in FL Studio 21 for the project output

Bass Guitar and Electric Guitar

Just like what I mentioned before, during practice, I let my bass guitarist and e-guitarist freestyle until we exchanged ideas on what the final notes for the song would be. Then, after that one-day practice with the group, I set another schedule for them based on their availability for when we were going to record the final bass and e-guitar tracks.

Using a 4-string bass guitar while the other is a Clifton Stratocaster (Pioneer Series) electric guitar, there were no problems during the recording.

Take note: Before recording the e-guitar, we played around with the effects section to achieve the tone that we wanted.

MIDI Keyboard for Hammond Organ

When I borrowed the MIDI keyboard, I found out that its brand and model is M-Audio KeyStation 61 MK3.

Taking inspiration from different mellow songs by my favorite bands, I observed how they used a Hammond organ to complement the overall sound. The Hammond organ’s sustained tones help fill the space between decaying sounds, creating a smooth and continuous layer. It serves more of a textural and emotional purpose rather than acting as a lead instrument, subtly shaping the mood and depth of the song without drawing too much attention to itself.

For the melancholic mood of my song, I decided to include the Hammond organ from CollaB3 Version 2 for the Final Chorus in a way that enhances the emotion without becoming overly dramatic. It adds a human, old-soul quality to the track giving it a timeless feel rather than making it sound overly polished or modern.

Hammond organ from CollaB3 Version 2

Vocals and Vocal Harmonies

Since the vocals would mostly take the center stage of this song, they became the last element to record. I realized that once all the instruments were completely laid out, the dynamics and mood of the song were already established too. This gives the vocalist an emotional guide and motivation, helping him pour his feelings into his performance. Do you get what I mean? By having the full arrangement ready, the vocalist could feel the song’s atmosphere making his delivery more authentic and expressive.

For the recording, we used the Fifine AmpliTank K688 microphone and recorded at my collaborator’s house. The vocalist performed in the key of A major. For mic placement, we followed the tutorial from Unit 2 of our course to ensure proper positioning and sound capture.

During the session, we didn’t record the entire song in one take. Instead, we recorded section by section, allowing the vocalist to rest and rehearse before each part. This approach minimized errors, made it easier to redo specific lines, and ensured a consistent mood and energy level throughout the recording. Although my song inspirations didn’t originally have vocal harmonies, I decided to add harmonies in the chorus, some parts of the second refrain, and the final chorus to give the song more depth and emotional impact.

The only downside was the microphone itself. The one I purchased isn’t ideal for recording songs as it’s designed primarily for podcasts. However, the most important thing for me was that the vocals remained clear and recognizable which I was able to achieve despite this limitation.

No Ambient Soundtrack

Originally, I was inspired by the intros of Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd and Champagne Supernova by Oasis. My plan was to create a similar vibe by recording the sound of the flood in my community to use as an ambient background layer for the song’s intro. However, the microphone I have wasn’t able to capture the natural sound quality I was aiming for. Just like I said, it's for podcast. I also considered taking flood sound effects from the internet but the difference in audio quality would have made it clash with the rest of my recording.

Because of these limitations, I decided not to include an ambient soundtrack in the final version. While it would have added a unique touch, I realized it was better to keep the production clean rather than compromise the overall quality of the song.

Updated Signal Flow

The signal flow mostly remained the same from my pre-production plan with only a slight change. We added a mixer to the guitar tracks so we could adjust the bass, middle, treble, and presence of the instruments during recording.

Signal Inflow

Signal Outflow

POST-PRODUCTION

Mixing

The tracks are recorded in FL Studio 21 recording feature. These are then put on the main mixing playlist interface. The tracks are synchronized altogether and assigned in their respective track channels for uniformity.

The guitar tracks used multiple channels to disperse different panning styles for each part. The audio of the guitar instrument is not just kept in a single track, but multiple audio tracks are made for different parts of the song such as the intro, verse, refrain, chorus, and the solo. Since we didn't use an actual physical guitar amplifiers and pedals, the effects and tone of the guitar are adjusted through the help of ToneX Amplitube, a plug-in and digital amplifier mostly used by digital recording guitarists. You can access the plug-in in this link : ToneX Amplitube. Since there are lot of guitar tracks and parts that were recorded, we decided to make them diverse through panning. Some parts are heard plating on the right side of a stereo sound system, some are heard at left only, and some are played running around because of the creative panning applied through automation.

ToneX Amplitube is also the digital amplifier used for the set tone of the bass guitar. Actually, it was the easiest instrument that we have recorded since it did not require too much adjustments and effects to be applied. It was just a raw tone coming brewed in the digital amplifier then it is mixed with the other tracks with the right level of volume that enhances the soul of the song into a deeper one.

On the other hand, we know that MIDI-played instruments rely on the digital amplifier or DAW that we use. In our case, we used the mentioned plug in above, CollaB3 Hammond organ. It has a built-in equalizer that can be used in order to lessen the work when it comes to mixing with the other tracks. Low level of volumes are applied on the tracks of the organ to make it feel like the ambience and atmosphere of the song.

Furthermore, the beat is made of the drum kits that are packed by FL Studio 21 itself. Just like I explained before, the panning of each drum instrument are imagined to be placed like the usual set up of a drum set, the hi-hats on the left portion, ride cymbal on the right, snare and kick at almost middle portion of the panning section. While making the beat bold and clear is one of the most important part in our mixing session as it is the one that stand as the backbone of the song (as per my preference).

Then final phase of the mixing process was the assessment of the vocal tracks. These tracks are the main character of this sound set and song, as we all know. The tracks that must be the most clear and bold among them all. During mixing, I used Fruity Loop Equalizer as the main device to adjust the stereo separation for the main vocal tracks. While the backing vocal tracks are adjusted and brewed with merging the stereo separation into mono and some are well stereo-separated to make the sound like different people singing in sync. The vocal tracks are recorded continuously so we had to make an automations for the level of the volume on the parts where it sounds too noisy over the proper level.

Then harmonies are mixed with the help of synchronization and multiple repetition to reach the perfection of the proper panning, levels, and gain in order ofr them to be compromised with the main vocal track.

Screenshot of the Playlist of "Lumusong Sa"in FL Studio 21

Screenshot of the Mixer of "Lumusong Sa"in FL Studio 21

Mastering

After the mixing and application of effects to different audio tracks, we proceeded to the mastering phase. We used the Master Volume knob of FL Studio 21 on its default level which is in 100% (125% as the maximum; 5.6db higher than the proper leveling) in order to avoid the exceeding the proper volume limit. It was omit the unwanted noises like scratches and cracks. The Master Pitch knob is set to -39 cents, the setting we followed along the recording process as we try to achieve a mellow vibe for the song. We decided and tested different pitch levels to achieve a down-sided felt vibe and we ended up playing 39 cents below the proper pitch level. It was also to avoid bright tones and high-treble features made by different instruments.

The final sound track is exported with an MP3 bitrate of 192kbps in stereo system. It is resampled at a 32-point sinc for the full potential of high equality plug-ins. The maximum polyphony is disabled and the dithering is left off. The final length came up with 173 bars in the 145bpm within the 4 minute and 45 second duration of the Full-track song.

Screenshot of the Export Settings window in FL Studio 21

The Result

Updated Timetable

OVERALL REFLECTION

Looking back at this whole process, the first word that comes to mind is “overwhelming.” At the start, I honestly didn’t know how I would pull this project off as there were so many things to consider from the technical aspects to the creative decisions. But I realized that even though the process was hard, it also became interesting and entertaining once I finally got a grip on how everything worked.

I really did my best to apply everything I learned in our course to this project, and considering that this is my first serious attempt at songwriting and production, I think the final output isn’t too bad for a beginner. Along the way, I learned that it’s okay to change plans when a new idea or learning sparks inspiration. My original plan evolved so many times as I combined lessons from our course with my observations from great songs that inspired me.

I also want to appreciate my collaborators for their time, feedback, suggestions, and the skills they brought to this project. Without their help, this song wouldn’t have come to life the way it did as they also gave me fresh perspectives and pushed me to make better creative choices.

Most especially, to be completely honest, this project opened my eyes to how truly great and creative my favorite musicians are. Going through the process of writing, arranging, recording, and mixing made me realize how much effort goes into creating something new, iconic, and influential. It’s humbling to think about how artists have done this for decades. In fact, I even learned that some legendary bands, like Eagles, used to record their instruments and vocals all at once in a single take unlike the usual method today where everything is tracked one by one. I can only imagine the level of skill and precision they needed to pull that off with almost no room for error.

Finally, this whole experience also reminded me of something we discussed at the very start of this course where audio is such an underrated media element. Most people don’t realize how powerful it is until they go through a process like this and see how much it shapes the mood, story, and impact of a piece. Overall, the topic of my song reflects this power of audio.

Music can be political, a way to give voice to people’s struggles and express what they feel but cannot always say outright.

Through this project, even though it's not a direct call-out, I’ve come to appreciate not just the technical side of audio production but also its role in helping us be heard, literally and metaphorically.

If you have any feedback whether advice for improvement, positive or constructive comments on my project output, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out by clicking through any of the following.