A bit of a recap because I was too busy working to write a post every day.
Wednesday 28, Day 9: Worked 10-5 and then 9-11 on scoring “The Wasp and the Spider” and practicing a bit. It’s turning into a longer song than I realized. Wrote more lyrics too. 9 hours of work.
Thursday 29, Day 10: Finished scoring “The Wasp and the Spider” and scored “Shut Up.” 11-5 and 8-9 for 7 hours of work.
Friday 30, Day 11: Met with sponsor, also worked 8-5 on drum tracks for “The Wasp and the Spider” and “Dyschronometria.” 9 hours of work.
Saturday 31, Day 12: Finally started recording. Did bass and a bit of toy piano for “The Wasp and the Spider.” Lots of fiddling with a finicky USB Mixer. 11-5 and 7-8 for 7 hours of work.
Sunday June 1, Day 13: Had a ton of fun recording keyboards for “Shut Up” and a bit of extra material. Also did more bass and some of the accordion bits. 9-6 (really intense) plus some more drumwork for “The Wasp and the Spider” from 9-10 for a sum of 10 hours and a 5-day total of 42 hours. Added to the total of 57.5 and I have 99.5 out of 100 hours.
In summary, an album of material and two music videos in 2.5 weeks is the definition of “biting off more than one can chew.” My Thursday presentation goals have been revised to an EP of 4 songs, “with plans to extend it into an album over the summer.” Working with other people is also difficult. I will eventually get “Title Track” together with Alex. I will not hinge the deadline of this project on it, however.
Secondly, not having recorded things in a while makes me rusty with the software. Now, it’s in the forefront of my mind, but it took some dusting. Finally getting the soundcard to recognize the USB Mixer, frustratedly working with a headset that needs to be sent back under warranty, getting multiple programs to simultaneously cooperate with JACK. I’m happy with the content, not so much with the amount of time I have to produce it; then again, of all the people in the room on Senior Project Night, I’ll be the authority in the media and the genre, so as long as they’re happy I can rest easy. I have much higher personal standards for my work than are really expected of me, so it’s a learning experience in how to show them what they want when they want it and not being too concerned with what you want, even if it’s your passion.
It’s a lot of fun, make no mistake, but it’s still work, and has to be treated with the same diligence and urgency.