Session 5 Production Project

Summary

 

Role

My role in the session is the rapper or the person in charge of the melody. 

 

Intention

The specific skill I am trying to learn is creating a more harmonic and pleasant sounding song compared to the session before. I could measure this by the feedback that I get from my peers. I believe this goal is achievable because I am going to put the work in and practice to work on these skills. Why I am setting this goal right now is because this is the skill I need to work on the most if I want to be a good sounding rapper. The deadline for learning this skill is February 24 because that is when advisors are coming into the class to give feedback on our work.

 

PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY

 

Leaders in the Field

Starting with one of my favorite r&b hip hop rappers, G-Eazy is one of the most awarded and popular singers out there. On Billboards website ( a trusted and well-known website that shows different songs places on the chart or top 100 songs ) shows that some of his songs that have gained real traction. For example, G-Eazy’s song “No limit” stayed on the chart for 29 weeks and peeked to position 4 and his song “Me, Myself, and I” ( which is one of my favorite songs ) stayed on the chart for 37 weeks and peeked to the 7th spot. There is no doubt that G-Eazy is one of the most accomplished r&b hip hop rappers. 

https://www.billboard.com/music/g-eazy

 

The second rapper that I really enjoy is Drake. An article by Business Insider states that Drake has a net worth of 150 million dollars making him the 5th richest rapper out there. One of the ways he got there was from his song “God’s Plan” which had 5 Grammy nominations and won 1 of them. Drake has made more than anyone could ever imagine spending making him one of the biggest rappers in the game. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpVfcZ0ZcFM&list=RDq6rHwumFsYg&index=12

https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-drake-net-worth-real-estate-music-business-2019-9

 

Training Sources

The video I used to take notes on how to become a rapper was How to Start Rapping in 10 Easy Steps

Here are some of my notes: 

1. Set goals for rapping, go in with a plan and set goals for skills to become a better rapper. 0:57

 

2. Practice your rapping skills by writing 16 bars of lyrics a day 2:03

 

3. Set a topic about what you’re writing about 3:14

 

4. Add a chorus to each topic of your rap. 4:14

 

5. Focus on rhyming words at the end of your bars 5:38

 

6. Rap the bars you write down to give you practice 7:07

 

7. “16 for 16” practice writing 16 bars a day for sixteen days to get good at writing and then add a beat. ( I don’t have that many days to work on the song so I don’t think I will do this ) 8:35

 

8. Learn basic flows for raps before you go to more complex rhythms and beats 10:15

 

9. Start rapping in front of others to build up your confidence in your rapping 11:49

 

10. Get feedback on your rapping, if you’re ready to start working on bigger things like beats or maybe your first gig then you will get a positive reaction from others on your rapping. 12:47

 

Project Timeline 

1. think of a topic for a song to think about while writing your bars.
2. come up with a catchy chorus to go with the rap.  
3. write bars that go with the topic and select only the best of rhymes to go in your song 
4. start putting together your song.
5. practice the song that you wrote
6. record your rough draft song for review
7. ask Mr. LeDuc for feedback on your song 
8. Carefully listen to his feedback and take notes on what he said
9. Improve on your lyrics from the feedback
10. Practice the final song with the feedback you got from Mr. LeDuc
11. Take multiple recordings of the song 
12. wait for the engineer to finish the song.

PRODUCTION-ACTION

 

POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION

 

21st Century Skills

This project was really fun, but I had to use some skill to get is done. One skill that I used when thinking during the creation of the song was the mindset of “I have this to do, what is the most efficient way to get it done.” Another skill that I used to get the work done was time management. I thought out how long everything is going to take me to get done and what I need to do to get it done. A third skill I used was finding tools around me to be more efficient in my work such as Soundtrap because I can use that anywhere. The last skill I used in ways of living in the world was communication. I constantly talked to my friend about what needed to get done so that it got done ether that is in person or over Snapchat.

 

Reactions to the Final Version

Some of the reaction I got from the advisor members was good and constructive. Brian F said that I should consider a hook. Brian H said, “I really enjoyed your production.” And Mr. Herinckx said that he would like to see me rap part of the song.

 

Self-Evaluation of Final Version

Overall I thought the production was good. One thing I think needs some work is my singing. I could annunciate my words a little bit better. Another thing I think I need to work on is song structure. I feel like, after some of the feedback from the advisors, the song could much better with some rap verses and a better hook or chorus. One thing I really liked about the song is that I have improved greatly since the last few sessions. Not only are the lyrics better but so is the singing. The last thing I really enjoyed about the final version was the beat. My friend Jordan did a really good job on the beat.

 

What I Learned and Problems I Solved. 

In the past few weeks, I have learned a lot. One thing I learned was how to sing better. As I was working on the project I studied some of my favorite artists and how they sing. I still have a lot of work to do but it is getting much better. Another thing I learned was to mix in Soundtrap. This actually leads me to one of the problems I solved. When I was working on the final master in Soundtrap I didn’t know at all about how to add reverb or EQ, how I learned though was looking up how to do it on youtube. Overall I have learned a lot from this session and have improved drastically but I still have a lot more to learn and I have a lot more room to improve.