Passion Project: Progress Posts
May 6, 2019
Music Production is a lot more difficult than I imagined.
Learning Ableton Live 10 is a lot more difficult than I imagined.
The application is very unique when it comes to music DAWs (Digital Audio Workstation). The workflow and recording methods are rather different. There is a traditional view (pictured above), and a more unique view optimized for live performances. While I currently understand how to use most of the functionality of Ableton Live 10, a lack of practical knowledge makes it difficult to implement any ideas I have. But as I explore my DAW I plan on beginning to write out the lyrics for my track.
Best,
Aaron Susantin
May 8, 2019
Recently two of my close friends had an altercation. For the sake of their privacy I won’t disclose any information but it was very emotionally taxing. Now this got me thinking about a recent article in Vanity Fair, where Kendrick Lamar, one of my many inspirations, talked about his writing process. I was specifically thinking about a quote.
“ ‘Execution’ is my favorite word. I spend 80 percent of my time thinking about how I’m going to execute, and that might be a whole year of constantly jotting down ideas, figuring out how I’m going to convey these words to a person to connect to it. What is this word that means this, how did it get here and why did it go there and how can I bring it back there? Then, the lyrics are easy.”
Now this quote made me think, what would the core idea of my song be? I haven’t really came up with a core ideal yet, but I want to ground my song in my life. What would the core ideal of this song be? How would I convey that ideal to listeners. What would be the “why?” Who is the song for? I’ve bounced around several ideas but the only thing that I’ve got concrete is that I want to make something that matters to me.
May 17, 2019
Inspiration is difficult to capture and turn into a solid product. I recently discovered this. I was repeatedly beset by an onslaught of ideas that I would very much like to turn into lyrics and beats. Yet filling in the little spots in between the big ideas and turning it all into one coherent product is very difficult. I’ve had verses and beats come to me out of nowhere. I would rush to write them down or make them reality in my mixing station. Yet once I had it down I struggled to create a complete product. All of these ideas were thematically different so connecting them together was a forgone conclusion. I think that’s where I personally struggle the most. It is difficult for me to turn inspiration into a solid product.
May 31, 2019
Short of living atop a mountain devoid of life, music is inescapable. Radio stations and other streaming services allow access to music at the press of a button. Listening to is an integral part of life for many people, this is true for me. But after listening to music for awhile I eventually became interested in the process of creating music, but I never really seemed to have the time. The passion project changed that. For my passion project I set out to produce my own piece of hip-hop music. My process started with learning how a use a DAW or a digital audio workstation. My DAW of choice was Ableton Live 10, and let me tell you learning how to use it was crazy. (show picture and wait for audience reaction). Yeah my task was to learn how to proficiently learn how to use this.(point) I set a high a bar and ultimately fell short. I came out of this with ultimately nothing to show for it. But I did learn a few lessons about what music can do for people. Music, and by extension art, allows people connect with others and become more emotionally aware.
Music allows people to connect with each other, which lets people form connections that they may have never made. What does that mean? Let me tell you a story. There’s a person who I’m now friends with. For their privacy I won’t disclose any details, but we never had any real chemistry. We occasionally made small talk and we are pretty good at working as a team, but we weren’t really anything more than tertiary friends who only interacted at school. Yet after starting to learn about music production and its intricacies I found something I could use to connect to another person. We had something to bond over, a shared interest. I found myself interacting with him outside of school. We would text about our various music projects and he would help me through some of the stumblings of a new music producer. Now you might say, “Hey Aaron one case of this happening isn’t really proof of music’s ability to allow people to connect with each other. ” And you would be right. But I have a several other stories to tell. Find me later if you want to hear some. But I digress.
Along with allowing people to form connections music enables people to become more emotionally aware. Recently a few of my friends had an altercation. To avoid bringing unnecessary stress upon them I will maintain their anonymity. During this event I wanted to be there to support my friends but I lacked to ability to empathize with them due to not being intimately familiar with what they were feeling in the aftermath of their fallout. So I turned to music to help me find the tools to connect to my friends. The song that did it for me was
“Nights” by Frank Ocean. This song helped identify and empathize with the specific feeling of mournful defiance that my friends were feeling at the time. Now again you might be thinking ”Aaron that isn’t really exact science.” And I would tell you actually it is. In an article published by Psychology Today written by PHD Shahram Heshmat, he goes into detail about Emotional Contagion, a phenomenon where perceiving an emotion can sometimes induce the same emotion. Being able to experience emotions through music allows people to widen their perspectives and empathize with more people.
Music allows for personal growth, through allowing people to experience a greater breadth of emotions and as a method for connecting to others. Imagine what music could do for you if you used it as a tool for self growth.
And as a final note I want to just say how much I enjoyed doing this project. Thanks Ms. Casey.
