Reflections on the Course so Far

So far, I think my MMS 172 journey’s been.. pretty ok? It’s been steady. I’ve managed to keep up with the lessons and even did the bonuses (feels good checking those off). I missed the introduction which really pushed me to try to do better in class. It was totally my fault to miss it by not rechecking my email and calendar. I've also tried to do the discussions (but yes, the introversion makes it way out sometimes). But anyway, my favorite so far has to be the Bachify activity as it kinda made making music feel possible and accessible for a total noob.

Looking at it first, I thought this course will be fully technical, and while it is technical, I was surprised to find that the Final Project will be our own idea. And not everyone will be judged on the same pedestal. And in a way, that made it harder for me to think of a topic.

As for handling the course:

Me - I think I’m doing fine. I try to follow the timeline project so I won’t fall too behind, though sometimes I forget those timelines exist (oops). so far so good.

Facilitator – Prof Al has been very helpful especially in the discussion forums. I just wish I were closer to Laguna and could’ve attended the F2F.

Fellow Classmates – I hope they’re surviving too. Would love to hear how they’re doing but for now I’m just assuming most are crawling through deadlines, but I've seen some with pretty solid plans and progress so far.

When I checked out my classmates’ pre-prod plans, I really liked the ones that are doing songs. I wish I had the singing skills for that because it’s so cool to me how they can not only sing but also compose. It's a skill I've always wanted to have.

And honestly, I think they’re gonna do great. Some of them have already released songs before so this is basically light work for them. Meanwhile I’m here like, “ok… how do I make my thing not sound like it's recorded from a phone?” but they’re out here with prior audio production experience.

I’m mostly just trying to stay positive. If they show sample projects, I know I won’t be able to match or surpass them, and that’s fine. I’ll still try my best, but I’m not gonna pretend I’m here to outshine anyone. That’s not really my thing.

I kinda hate challenges, to be honest. Like, I get why they exist and they’re supposed to push you and make you level up - but I’d rather make myself the challenge. I’d rather focus on beating my own past work than try to one-up someone else’s. That’s just my personality talking… I’m not a fan of conflicts, competitions, or any situation that feels like I’m being pitted against others.

So for the upcoming lessons and tasks, I guess I’m a mix of excited and anxious? Excited because I wanna see how much I can improve, but anxious because… well, it’s still work and deadline. But yeah, I’ll deal with it one step at a time.

Since starting this course, my respect for producers has gone way up. I watched a producer course on YouTube for almost an hour and already felt like my brain was full. There’s just so much to keep track of and I find myself listening to my favorite songs and wondering how they were mixed.

For the rest of the trimester, I just wanna make something I’m actually proud of. Even if it’s not perfect, I want it to be something where I can look at it later and be satisfied.