Monday, September 17, 2012

Process Piece: Creating a Song


Process Piece: Creating a Song



Artist's Statement

            The idea is to accurately represent in a couple minutes what goes into creating a song. To do this we chose a band that would be able to show this process. Before the recording session we acquired some audio recording equipment and planned with the band when we would record them. This band has a song they are currently working on, but isn’t completely finished. So we decided we’d record them playing what they do have finished, and also the process of them adding to the song.
            After we acquired the equipment, we set it all up. We had one microphone set in the center of the five-person band that would record everything. This allowed for us to capture all the sound in the room, rather than putting microphones on one or two people. We thought it would be good to record for 30 minutes or so as the band played what they did know, and what they didn’t. We then took notes for those thirty minutes as to what happens when so we could go back and reference those notes to edit it down into a couple minutes in post-production.
            Because we had the detailed reference notes of what was happening at which time, we were able to go through and choose the parts of the recording session that show the creative process of creating a song. The idea is to show good beats/rhythms that the band created, but also show mess-ups and discussion about the song that helped the band create more of the song together. We then took those segments and edited them together into a 2-3 minute piece that shows the creative process a band goes through to create a new song.
            I like Dean Duncan’s documentary piece called “Scripture Study” because scripture study is definitely a process. I don’t think kids remember what they learned in scripture study as much as they remember that is just happened and was part of growing up – and were told it was good. The recording of a musical song is similar in that it too involves a great deal of mess-ups and not so perfect practices. But the idea is that through working through the process, you end up with gold in the end.

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