When we met in the band room, we gave each other feedback on our completed demos. We were given a paper with feedback guidelines and questions that could help us give the best comments to help improve our songs. On the paper, it gave space to share what was great about it, what didn’t work, and what could be changed for an even better song. By doing this, Dr. K and Mr. Howard wanted to help us give better feedback than just “I like it” or “This sucks.” They also asked us to swap songs with two people; one who we were friendly with, and one person we didn’t talk to. My second person’s song helped me understand the importance of this exercise. I wouldn’t have originally wanted to listen to his song, but when asked to leave my comfort zone in terms of feedback, I was able to hear a creative and funny song.
We started our day off by completing the song demos we began on Tuesday. As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, we wrote lyrics containing four verses, a refrain, and a bridge then created an instrumental track utilizing music software like Soundation, Garageband, and others. Today, we finalized these songs by completing the tracks and adding our vocals, making demos for us to share with our peers and receive feedback. I spent some time in Dr. K’s room and used a keyboard to finish my background track and then added the vocals to create a spoken word song, which took me until the afternoon.
When we met in the band room, we gave each other feedback on our completed demos. We were given a paper with feedback guidelines and questions that could help us give the best comments to help improve our songs. On the paper, it gave space to share what was great about it, what didn’t work, and what could be changed for an even better song. By doing this, Dr. K and Mr. Howard wanted to help us give better feedback than just “I like it” or “This sucks.” They also asked us to swap songs with two people; one who we were friendly with, and one person we didn’t talk to. My second person’s song helped me understand the importance of this exercise. I wouldn’t have originally wanted to listen to his song, but when asked to leave my comfort zone in terms of feedback, I was able to hear a creative and funny song.
After connecting with our peers, we took a lunch break until 1:00. When 1:00 came, we met at the Fox Den with the Folk Art IL group led by Dr. Z and Mr. Newman for a cookout. They had spent part of the day preparing for the cookout. They prepped squash, zucchini, corn, a salad, onion, and other snacks, most of which were being grilled. Burgers and hot dogs were also on the grill, which a few of us were able to eat before leaving for our next activity. We ate snacks and drinks and chatted with the other IL group. They told us a bit about what they’ve been doing this week, such as dyeing and cutting fabric, going to a museum, and creating art with lower schoolers. Since we’ve mainly just been hanging out with our own IL group this week, it was super fun to see our friends and learn what other people have been doing!
After lunch, Mr. Howard introduced his childhood best friend through a Zoom call, Dave Grow, a successful L.A. recording artist, songwriter, and producer who has been deeply involved with the music industry. He started his career with a music-related degree in college and branched out his career through his many connections with other musicians like Mr. Howard, and grew his career through his passion for writing songs. Grow has toured the U.S. as an artist and has spent his career on radios, playing in bands, getting signed with record labels, and creating his own small music company called Howling Music with an award-winning music library. He gave us good insight into the music industry and overall business, as well as his own experiences and the opportunities he was given early on in his career. We learned more about publishing deals, the obstacles many musicians face in their careers, and he taught us that “commitment and persistence are a necessary ingredient” when it comes to the music industry.
After sharing some of his story, we had a short Q&A session to end our time together, with students asking business-related questions such as, “Do you need to get signed with a label to be successful?” and other personal questions to learn more about his journey. Overall, it was an engaging and interesting conference that provided a strong conclusion to our day.