Reflection 2

[Deborah Meyer]

1. What were the musical constraints of working with another student's sound block? It was hard to know what the original thought process was and why they chose those sounds. Then you have to just go with the flow and create something without thinking about those needs to a certain extent. It was interesting to create that muscial story with just pieces. 2. What were the technological constraints of composing in GarageBand? There really weren't any that I came across because I have a good knowledge of the program and thus knew what could and couldn't be done. I guess I created the piece within the constrants of my sounds and the constrants of the program. It made it a little easier so I didn't go crazy with frustration of trying to get a million things done with this. 3. Did those constraints help or hinder you (both?) in creating your composition? see above 4. How was the process of composing an aural sculpture similar to and/or different from the free, additive composing you did the previous class? I think it was different because as I experimented with sounds I came up with my idea of what I needed fairly quickly. Once I find a beat I like I just go from there because the music is already in my head. With this sculpture idea I had to really take apart each detail to figure out what could be done with I had. I think it was a different thought process and work process entirely. 5. Did you find it easier to compose subtractively, as in the aural sculpture project, or was it easier to compose from a blank GarageBand canvas? Why? I think either is easy and difficult. If I already have an idea then it is easier to go from a blank canvas. If I don't have an idea it's good to use what's already there. 6. What do you think students could learn and/or show about their prior understanding of music through this kind of project? Harmony, texture, emotion/mood, timbre, instrumentation, meter, modality