Opening No.1 Evaluation
On the F Sharp Minor 7th chord in nSection A, the bass note played sounds out of key even though it is the root note of the chord, I should’ve found a different note to play that sounds better. In Section B, the guitar part doesn’t sound amazing apart from the muted parts. To fix this, I could’ve tried to find a different guitar sound that fit it better, recorded it in with a real guitar, or played a part that was similar to how a guitar is actually played; as this part is a keyboard part but played on a guitar. The rest of the track is good, and I think it ends really strong. It also matches the description from the script quite well.
Cafe Piece Evaluation
In the bridge part, it would’ve sounded good with a drum fill to lead back into the main part of the song. This track could’ve done with more variation as the only difference is the bridge part. Either a different section or another part like the bridge, where an instrument changes and a different one cuts out would’ve made it more interesting. It does sound like cafe music so it fits with the description from the script quite well.
Orchestral Piece Evaluation
The crescendo part in the song where it is 152 bpm, doesn’t last for long and feels too short, I should’ve made this longer. In the description, it says a minute of the track being at full speed, and it isn’t that long. This track sounds good as a simple song as the speed increasing and decreasing is the changes in the song. However, some variation could’ve sounded good. Some different chords or a different melody or rhythm could’ve made this track better. It does fit the brief well as it speeds up, just not for long enough, and I like how it ends. The ending would’ve sounded good with a fadeout.
In all of these songs, I didn’t do any mixing or mastering on the tracks. This was due to my poor time management. The songs would sound much better with these so they sound professional. Another thing I mentioned in my proposal and never did was recording any of the instruments in live. This would’ve given it a more authentic sound, and would’ve sounded much better. As most parts of the songs were simple, I could’ve recorded it with ease and done most of the recording myself or got the help of some instrumentalists in college. Not everything could’ve been recorded live, such as the orchestral track or the slide guitar as I don’t have access to that equipment. All the songs could’ve done with more evaluation.
Project Evaluation
Using Jasper’s ERA model(2013), I shall evaluate my work.
Overall, this project did not go as planned. The lack of communication really stunted this project on both sides. A big part of my planned project that I haven’t done is syncing the music to the film. I researched how to do this on Logic, however, as the collaboration broke down I never got to see the finished film so I never got to sync my music to it. This was a shame as that was the next step after making the music and it would’ve been good to see the music I made go well with their film. This also meant not incorporating any licensed music into my portfolio, it would’ve been good to pick sand sync songs that fit with the style of my music and the film. In general, the collaboration between me and the filmmakers was poor. On both sides, I tried to collaborate and communicate with them, however, I could’ve tried more to get it going. It’s a shame I didn’t get to do any on-set observation. It would’ve helped my songwriting, and it would’ve been a fun experience. I would’ve loved to have been more involved in the filmmaking process, it would’ve vastly helped my songwriting as I would’ve fully known the creative vision and made music that 100% fit with the film, instead of having to guess from the script. It would’ve been a fun process. My research was lacklustre, as I wasn’t sure what kind of music I was making or what was going to happen. The research I did helped me, but if I did more research and in more detail my finalk product would’ve been better.
All in all this project was a failure compared to what it could’ve been. Collaboration was minimal, both sides are to blame, the music is good yet simple and doesn’t sound professional due to it all being midi and not mixed or mastered, and research. And once again my research and time management let me down, the quality of work would’ve been better if my research was more detailed and I managed my time better. If I was to do this again, I would make sure the people I’m collaborating with are going to be professional throughout, as there’s only so much I can do to keep the collaboration going. I would also try harder to get more involved with the filmmaking process so my creative vision is aligned with theirs. However, it is not something I think I will try again as I am not overly passionate about it, and I had a bad experience working with the filmmakers.