7. So close to victory

I am enjoying the genius project thoroughly, but I am starting to feel nervous that I will not finish in time to meet the deadline. I don’t think that I will be able to turn it in by Sunday June 5th because I still have a lot of blog posts to do. Right now I have about 3 blog posts left to do. I really regret not doing them in time because the work is starting to catch up to me now. I need to finish them by June 8th because that is my last day to complete late work to pass 10th grade. I think I will be able to do it by then if I really stay focused and on task. It is a lot of work but if I buckle down and dive into it I am sure that I am going to finish. Other than my blog posts I have done everything else for the Genius Project and the Year. I have also done the final product and the presentation for the Genius Project. For my final product I made a mixtape of my original songs and uploaded it to Soundcloud. I did this because anyone who has internet connection can hear it no matter where they are in the world through Soundcloud. Soundcloud is also absolutely free to stream music from. For my final presentation I did a Prezi that is describing my project. It will tell the audience what I learned, how I learned it, and what the outcome was. I also gave the link to my mixtape if anyone watching wanted to listen. Hopefully I can teach the audience about producing music and what it takes. This project gave me a deeper understanding of how long and how frustrating it is to create a radio quality beat. It also taught me how to use software that I probably would have never used if it wasn’t for this project. The Genius Project also gave me a new passion for producing Music. I really would like to continue doing it after the project ends. The only thing I did not like about the project is how it sounded like it would be less educational and school orientated. I should have expect it to be like that though because it has to have a certain level of educational value or curriculum to be considered a school project. Below I have linked my mixtape on Soundcloud so you could hear if you want. Feel free to leave me feedback on my songs by commenting on Soundcloud. See you in the next blog post!

https://soundcloud.com/neal-brick/sets/brick-daddy-back-in-style

4.Switching Software

So far so good it has been fun but exhausting making beats. The biggest change I have made in my plan is changing to Logic Pro X. Logic pro X is just way more refined and beginner friendly than FL. While FL is good, it also can be hassle sometimes. The main problem is that since I was using the free version of FL I could not save my projects. If I have paid for FL then I could have been able to save and reopen projects. The reason why this is a hassle is because if I want to make a beat, it has to all be in one sitting or without shutting off the computer. I found this to be a problem because once I had a melody and bassline that sounded great, but I accidentally closed the tab and it was lost forever. This made me angry and frustrated because I had worked for over 2 hours to perfect those sounds and with one mis-click is was deleted. I had gotten a macbook recently and I heard about a music making software called Logic Pro X. I knew that the pros used it and it was relatively cheap for what its is. I looked into the pros and cons between buying Logic Pro X and FL Studio, and Logic seemed to win on all levels. The main factor that made me choose Logic Pro was the fact that it is one hundred dollars cheaper than the paid version of FL. I went to the apple store and bought a version of Logic Pro for around $199. This may sound like lot of money to pay for software to make music, although a producer knows that good software is the starting point of a musical genius. Professional producers use Logic Pro X because of all the features is has to offer. The only problem I face now is trying to learn a new software. In some aspects the interface is similar, but since Logic Pro is for mac many of the function keys are non existent. For example in FL I could use the function keys delete or rewind a bar. Other than that my project has been going pretty smoothly. I think that I will be able to finish in time to pass 10th grade. I just need to be able to keep on track to finish my blog posts in time. Below is a screenshot of what Logic Pro X looks like if you wanted to see what the interface is. See you in the next post!

8.It has come to a finish....Finally

I have finally finished the Genius Project. After working hard for over 2 months the project has finally reached the ending. I feel very happy to know that the Genius Project was the last project of the year. It feels as if a ton of weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I was able to create my mixtape of original and trendy beats for my final presentation. I also accompanied the mixtape with a prezi to teach the audience what I did to make the music. I tried to make each one of the four beats have a different genre of rap. For example I made the first one a kind of underground rap beat like something that Logic would rap over. The second one was more of a chill beat that someone like Lil Yachty would rap over. The third beat was more of a 90’s Gfunk beat. That is a genre that someone like Tupac would have rapped over. The final beat I made was a Legend of Zelda remix. I doubt that anyone would rap over this beat, but rappers are always changing genres and surprising fans nowadays. I found this project to be frustrating because it was hard keeping up with the blog posts. Writing 400 meaningful words in 30 minutes is kind of hard for me to do. The Genius hour teacher expected me to do this so I struggled in class. Because I am not the fastest writer, I had a lot of blog posts to catch up on. Since I did not do all of the writing in class it really started piling up. About a couple of days ago I had 5-6 blog posts I had to do because I was very slow and procrastinated. It is a huge relief to know that I am done with the year. It is one of the best feelings you can have in school. I would recommend to the freshmen who are going to do the Genius project next year to be on track for blog posting. I would also tell them to stay focused in class and write as much as you can. I would want them to know this simple saying “The more you write in class, the less you have to write outside of class”. I put an emoji that to me represents being thankful that something has ended. This has been a fun experience, although it has also been very nerve racking and frustrating.

3. Off to a great start!

I am feeling very excited and and ready to take this project on. I want to do a good job in general but more specifically the final product. I want my mixtape to be heard by hundreds of people so I can get my name out as an excellent producer. I am most excited to start making beats using the new software I got. I recently downloaded FL Studio and I hope to produce beats that sound like a high budget production. High Budget production beats are most of the time radio quality. What this means is that most rap beats have the potential to be on the radio, it is just the hook is not catchy enough or the artist is not well known. I want to create radio quality beats using free software. I think that doing this would prove that you don’t need the best equipment to become a producer. Many people looking into producing always get detoured because software and recording peripherals can quickly add up. Professional Studios have thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. This is because of all the foam padding on the walls, mics, stands, mixers, computers, speakers, software, and MIDIs. So far I just have a macbook and free software to start producing beats. I hope to eventually buy a MIDI and mic once I get the money. So far I am enjoying making beats and I could see myself getting into it more seriously in the future. I think that during summer when I have more free time, I am going to start producing more often. I am looking forward to also collaborating with other producers like Blas, Marcos, or Andres. All three of them are very talented already, and I hope to be as good as them soon enough. I am hoping that either one of the the of them would teach me how to use FL and a MIDI. This project still seems very fun and interesting to me. I hope that I chose a good topic that I won’t get bored of easily. I have faith that I picked a topic that will keep me engaged throughout the whole project. Below I have inserted a picture of a rapper named Meechy Darko. He is one of the rappers in a group called Flatbush Zombies. They are know for having unique lyrics and beats. I used this picture because he is giving a thumbs up. A thumbs up represents how I feel about the Genius Project at this moment.

6. Legend of Zelda?

After creating my new song (a legend of zelda remix), I started thinking about what other types of rap beats I should try to make or remix. I sampled part of the the title screen music for the original Legend Of Zelda. The Legend of Zelda remix will be called “Link’s revenge”. I want to name my track this because the main character in the Legend Of Zelda series is called Link. He is the main protagonist that tries to save the princes from the villain Ganondorf. I also want to add revenge to the title because it makes the name sound more appealing if someone were to scroll by it or stumble upon it. After all, the more views I am able to get on my soundcloud page, the more followers and fans I will be able to get. I want to get a loyal fanbase because then if I ever wanted to sell my beats then I would already have customers willing to purchase my tracks. Selling original beats and productions can make some talented producers large amounts of money. Some popular producers sell tracks and instrumentals on websites like BeatStars for anywhere from one dollar to forty dollars. Although I am not into making beats for money, it is nice to know that I have the talent to sell my beats if I ever want to in the future. I enjoy producing music because it is very hands on and creative. It also is a way for me to express my emotions by turning it into music. I have continued to use Logic Pro X because it has proven to be the superior software. It not only is easier to use than Fl Studio, but it also has more built in instruments I can use. I am not going to go too in detail about Logic Pro X in this blogpost, although if you would like to learn more about the software then you can look at my earlier posts. Anyways, I am looking forward to finish this project and having the year come to an end. This is the last project I have to do before I finish 10th grade. Is that not a crazy thought? Hopefully the audience likes my mixtape and wants more of my original beats. Below is an image of Link playing the spirit flute from The Legend Of Zelda. I will use different pictures for all of my tracks in order to help people differentiate which track is which. Thank you for your time and see you in the next blog post!