Process Journal #11

   Alright, so last week was Thanksgiving break, and on top of that I had no homework. I finally got to enjoy a stress-free week. However, this kind of also means that I didn't work as much as I planned to on my Personal Project...

   I'm having a big dilemma right now with myself on this project. I've been working on my composition, but I am starting to not like how it sounds anymore. This is pretty bad because I'm starting to run out of time before this project is due. I also need to start drafting my report soon, so I really need to step it up. Honestly, I really tried to work on it over break, but I just didn't have any inspiration! I tried to come up with melodies and rhythms that I liked, but my mind just wouldn't cooperate. I'm starting to really stress out about this. 

   I really hope to have a good piano song by the end of this, and if I actually get around to it, I also want to add strings in the background to make it more interesting to listen to. Of course, this would only work if I really started working on my project. It doesn't help that I'm starting to dislike what I have so far. 

   I really hope that I can find inspiration somewhere, and soon, to help me get my song done. I really just want to get this over with, but I'm totally stuck right now. Hopefully I'll think of an idea  this week, and then be able to finally accomplish something.

Process Journal #10

I have come to another realization; I have terrible time management skills. Usually the only time I can really work on my project is on the weekends, but these past two weekends haven't been as productive as I hoped they would be. I definitely need to step it up, so I am going to physically write it in my calendar that I have to work on composing.

On a different note, I think I'm starting to change what kind of a song I want. I think that I'm just going to play improvisations and record them. Then afterwards I can go back and listen to what I played and choose what I like and what I don't like. It'll hopefully give me even more inspiration and ideas. Usually my problem is that I play something, but then I next day I forget what it was. This way I'll be able to stay more organized with my composing. :)

Process Journal #9

So after listening some more to Dax Johnson's compositions I realized that I've been taking a wrong approach towards this whole project. Previously, I kept thinking that I had to have a defined intro, middle, and ending to my composition, but I now believe that that doesn't have to be the case. I know I've been posting a lot songs, but hey, it's inspiration right? :)

This is the song that made me realize what I just talked about above. It mostly consists of moving lines and phrases that seamlessly blend together. I think I'm going to take a similar approach to my song as I continue with my song-writing. I feel that what I have so far isn't moving enough yet.

Process Journal #8

I always wish that I could come up with something that doesn't seem "cheesy". Art is always interpreted differently through everyones eyes, so I'm just worried that I'm being held back with my composing due to fear of being considered weird for what I come up with. I know that it's a pretty lame reason, but I am trying to work on not worrying about what other people think about me, and just do what I want to. I believe that music is a way of expressing oneself, so I should just compose what I want. I hadn't really deeply thought about this before, but I am currently listening to a composition by Dax Johnson that is helping me concentrate more on the important parts of this project. I guess this kind of contributes to my inquiry question, "How does mood affect what kind of music a person listens to?"

This is the song that I was listening while writing this post. It's quite mysterious, right?

Process Journal #7

Why hello there again! It's been quite a while due to the fact that I've been pretty busy again in the past few weeks. However I have still been thinking about my personal project, and even though I haven't been able to get as much done as I hoped, I still have an idea to what I want to do.

Recently I was browsing YouTube and came across a piano cover of a k-pop song entitled 'Janus'. Usually piano covers of songs that have vocals are not very moving and intricate because they're lacking the main melody. This one however caught my attention because it sounds very good as a piano piece.

I really like the melody in this piece, and it's given me quite a few ideas for runs and notes I can use for the left hand in my composition.