In my case, I am passionate about many things, whether it be hiking, travel, philosophy, religious studies, geography among many other things. However, I am not particularly good at building or making things. One thing I do make, actively and currently, is music. It takes much of my (rare) free time and over the past 6 years I would estimated I have spent at least 5,000 hours working on songwriting and music production. When I write a song I do it on my computer in a DAW (digital audio workstation) and compose it, arrange it, mix it and usually give it a basic mastering, though in some cases I have it mastered by a professional. By the end, it is a complete song that is ready to be played, though in most cases it is instrumental EDM, trance, house or other electronic genres. I have had some small successes, such as getting one my songs played on a nationally syndicated radio show (500+ stations) and nearly getting a vocal song signed to a medium sized record label. In the end, as is common in music, my track was not signed. When I heard about the 20% project, music production came to mind almost immediately. It certainly can be fun at times, although, in the quest for perfection, most serious producers face many setbacks and frustrations. There are innumerable things to learn about the art and craft of songwriting and music production, and thinking of goals and targets to strive for improvement is something most of us do on a daily basis. When I began to think of a goal for my project, my experience of nearly completing and having signed my first original vocal song came to mind quick. I am already in discussion with several vocalists at the moment, so why not track my progress, in something I am already doing, for the 20% project? I think my first choice for this project would be to complete an original vocal song, and to raise the bar further, get a YES from a professional label this time around. Of course, there is a lot of room for failure in this goal. Though I regularly complete instrumental songs, adding vocals is a whole other set of skills. Further, getting it signed to a label with a real fanbase is a very difficult achievement. In the end, this goal, is the one that makes the most sense for me to pursue for this project.
2 Comments
Your project seems well thought out. Aiming for a signed song seems a little high, however since you have had success in the past with song writing it might be the perfect project.
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2/18/2015 04:40:47 pm
Awesome idea! With regard to getting the music out there, a major label might be setting the bar a bit high. One thing I've found interesting is that services like iTunes and Spotify have made music distribution way more democratic. You might be able to get your music out there without having to deal with the hoop-jumping of the major industry labels.
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