#capstonethesis

[thoughtsafter3am]

Three semesters. 103 pages. 25,000+ words, and it's finally done. #capstonethesis #honorscollege

[chroniclecapstone]

November Update

My father heard my first November pass and said that it was a "great breakout song for you." And I believe him. Taylor Swift's album, along with some other production ideas from Ingrid Michaelson and Alt-J, have given me some outlook on the importance of synths and instruments other than electric guitar, piano, and acoustics. I started this song with a synthetic string sound as well as looped beats that were included with Garageband. The song itself is my favorite that I've done melodically, with a catchy chorus with a good hook. 

I'm not 100% sure what the song is about yet, but I think it's straddling the line between winter depression and the idea of everything coming together. I found it interesting how I finished many of my college applications, the main source of my stress, at the same time as the onset of winter - my least favorite season. Winter normally provides me with sadness, apathy, and an overwhelming desire to curl up and sleep until spring. However, the end of my college applications and the impressive trimester that I've worked for has given me more optimism for these next few months and beyond.

I think the song is a really good conclusion to the Autumn EP. Honestly, when I first started writing the thing, I thought there would be a lot of acoustic guitars and mandolins, because that's what I always imagine fall songs sounding like. However, after the production of October, the release of Taylor's new album, and the new sound that comes from November, I'm confident that the album is heading into a cool new direction that still contains a lot of my signature aspects.

I still have some work to do -- I will probably re-sing the song and do some underlying vocal work in the background. I also want to build the song a little more and add some acoustic instruments/piano so that it's not all solely electronic music.  

[chroniclecapstone]

1989

The release of Taylor Swift's new album was so exciting for me, not only because she was my main inspiration for writing songs, but also because I've learned so much about production throughout my Capstone and it was really cool to hear all of her production ideas. She has completely changed her sound, going from a sweet country girl, to a country-pop singer, to a full on pop star. And the thing is, it works. I completely love her new music, full of synths and pop beats and catchy melodies. Her lyrics are still wholesome, honest, and captivating; they are just expressed in a whole new way. I've kind of grown up with her, as she's led me through high school and "heartbreak" and drama of sorts, but now, as I approach a new point in my life, she's approaching a new point in hers, too. We always seem to be parallels. 

Her album is a great source of production inspiration and it justifies my idea of playing around with some cool new synth/electronic noises in my songs. I really liked the way synths were used in October and I want to continue including those. One thing that I love about the album is also that the whole album is full of pop songs -- there aren't really any acoustic songs or country songs. It's a pop record. I think that's what I'm worried about with my album; I'm afraid that as I keep getting recording inspiration, the songs will continue to sound more and more different. 

I'm excited to keep listening to her melodies and lyrics to gain more inspiration from her. She was the first singer that actually inspired me to write songs based on my feelings, and I'm so happy that she has achieved all of the success she deserves. She's awesome. Love you taylorswift

[chroniclecapstone]

New Computer & GARAGEBAND!

After days of waiting in boredom and anguish, I finally have a new computer! It's a 13-inch Macbook Pro and is absolutely beautiful. Another beautiful feature is that it comes with the all-new version of Garageband, which is so advanced and beautiful and wonderful and I cannot wait to start using it. I have no idea how to work it, nor do I have nearly all of the cool functions and sounds, but it comes with a drum machine so I can create my own beats that sound really realistic! The drums were very difficult for me to add to my previous songs and hopefully I'll be able to add some really sophisticated beats and effects to the new songs. The application is so advanced and sleek and modern and I know that I will be getting so much amazing use out of it!

I've finished writing the song for August but I'm a little bit nervous about how it will turn out for two reasons. First off, I don't really know how to use this new Garageband and I have only 2 more weeks to record the song so I better figure it out! Secondly, the piano is a little heavy in some parts and I don't know how I'm going to make the song interesting -- I'm worried that it will just sound like me pounding on the piano really, really hard. But hopefully with this new Garageband, which I'm SO excited about, I'll be able to make it sound really cool!

[chroniclecapstone]

Finally Submitted & August Issues

After working mercilessly all afternoon in between field hockey practice, I FINALLY sent in my revised proposal draft. The whole process is very tedious and very, very, formal - I'm kind of taken aback by the formality of it, actually. It was a little bit longer than it should have been, and I don't know how I'm supposed to make it my "best writing", but luckily I still have a week to figure that out! The only worry I have is that I'm not actually going to read the books or follow all the rules that I said I would follow. I know how these projects go, and since I've been making songs okay WITHOUT the books or journaling methods, I wonder if they will help me or slow me down. I'm going to force myself to do it though - I want to make this a really interesting topic and I want it to be proud of it at the end. 

Now, we're moving onto the hard part: trying to write the melody for the August song. I actually wrote the lyrics of this song on my phone while in California, so I have to transfer all of those words to the Capstone Journal! I've been piecing together some melodies and piano riffs, but as of late, it hasn't been coming. I really need to start recording the song as well, but without a new computer there's really nothing I can do except try to write it! Hopefully I can finish the song before school starts, and if it's not done by the end of the month, I'll be seriously behind. I normally start writing the lyrics for the new monthly songs the first week of the month, which may not be a good strategy. I'm always worried that some new inspiration will pop up right as I'm recording the song, so I'm going to try my best to record the songs during the last weeks of the month. 

Hopefully by the time my new computer comes, I'll have a song!

[chroniclecapstone]

The Pilot(?) Post

So this is the first post of hopefully many. I suck at keeping journals and blogs and projects of that nature but I'm hoping that since this is academic and it's important to me, I'll be able to keep up with it. I haven't officially launched this (as in, told people about it), because I haven't actually been approved to do this Capstone Thesis project (even though I started it like, 3 months ago). This post is essentially the test post, the pilot, the trial run if you will. I won't actually get to the deep stuff of this project until I get my new computer, and I really need to start recording the song for August. It's occurring to me that nobody will probably look at this and nobody knows what this project even IS, so hopefully as I keep writing and doing the thing, people will kind of catch on. So here we go. Let's jump in. Face first - that's not allowed at the pool.