MMS172 - Assignment 1: Pre-production 

Project Concept Statement

Growing up as an only child, I grew close to the musicians I listened to on the internet, they somehow sufficed my need for a close friend. One of which was Dodie. She became famous for the songs she wrote and played on the ukulele. I was inspired and eventually my first musical instrument at the age of 12 was a ukulele! And then as the years went by, I was able to convince my parents to buy me a guitar, and a keyboard piano. No one really was able to teach me how to play, it was all self-taught. 

I’d soon write my own songs, and play them only in front of my friends and family. Scared that I wasn’t that good enough, I didn’t have the guts to ever upload any of them online –well, only a few! And it’s on my YouTube channel (shameless plug, lol!). And so when I heard about this project, I figured that maybe it’s time to take things to a different level! 

And so my aim for this project is: To produce an original acoustic cozy song using Audacity. 

Project Goals 

• Write an original song in English

• Use the songwriting techniques of Dodie as inspiration 

  • Dodie’s songs usually start with one instrument and her singing voice, and then she’d gradually add more audio tracks, like piano melodies and another voice, creating a very cozy and warm atmosphere. 

  • She would also use claps as a way to add rhythms to her songs, but I am planning to incorporate this to my audio tracks when all the major instruments are laid out. 

• Record four distinct audio tracks

  • My voice, acoustic guitar, ukulele, and a keyboard piano. 

• To form a main chord progression, and a melody that comes along with it. 

  • Add reverb and other effects if deemed necessary. 

• Utilize backtracking voices and rhythmic beats using claps if possible. 

• Compile all audio tracks to be able to produce one song using Audacity.

Possible challenges that I may encounter and solutions 

• I might take a little bit more time recording each instrument because I have to prep my equipment and my placements to make sure that it captures the tunes well.  For example, my piano does not have a working stand, so I have to figure out how to place it near my microphone using a make-shift table. My guitar on the other hand has a long fretboard and when I play sitting in front of my PC set-up, I feel cramped, so I have to adjust that as well. 

• My microphone is a little too sensitive when it comes to background noise, and the built in noise suppression mode is not that nice. When I have to record my audio tracks, I have to make sure that my electric fans are turned off, and that there are no dogs around me. 

• My earphones are not high quality ones, so in case I feel like something lacks especially when I am mixing and mastering, I will just have to borrow the JBL headphones of my cousin, he lives just right next door so it wouldn't really be a problem at all. 

• I haven’t played the piano in a while because I have been so busy with school, so I have to practice my fingers beforehand. Though, my skills in playing Valorant might suffice to this need! Lol! 

• I am already expecting that this process is time consuming and that I will require a great deal of discipline because I cannot just rush a whole song in one night, and I obviously do not wanna do that! I'm aiming to stick closely to my time table. 

• I live in a place that’s sometimes a little loud and chaotic, the houses where I am in are very close to one another and I live with 4 dogs who bark at anything they see outside. This is a struggle but I am planning to just record maybe at late night, or very early in the morning.

Self-reflection 

I've recorded a few of my original songs before but none of them really had a well-thought plan, they just happened so sudden like I'd have an idea in mind, and then I'd write it down, think of chord progressions, and then record myself in front of the camera and microphone singing. It was just that! but honestly, I think that if I did a thorough project plan like this, I'd have more time and opportunity to make my songs sound better, though to be safe, I did mention they were just song demos at the title LOL. 

I really wanted to pursue songwriting because I enjoy playing instruments and experimenting with different melodies and musical styles, I just really find them fun. For this project, I'm really hoping that I get to finish strong, and that I can meet my own project goals because I really believe that if you are disciplined and passionate with what you are working on, you will be able to achieve great things. I'm not really expecting a super awesome output, because I might be limited by my equipment since I'm only recording straight to the microphone, and I don't really have instruments that can be inserted to an audio interface, but knowing this, maybe I'd add that to my wish list. But nonetheless, I don't want these limitations to stop me from trying my best and from pursuing my potential, because I have enough time and I just have to really pour my heart and soul into making this project come through. I'm a firm believer that equipment sometimes doesn't matter if you only have the determination, and talent of course.

I'm excited for the weeks to come, I pray that this output is one for the books!