Freestyle Academy proudly presents
The song I chose for the Parody Project is “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver. I wanted my project to be based on a song that had a mellow, calm, serene feel to it, and I liked that it had a clear, simple melody and chorus that I could put my own lyrics into.
I grew a lot from this project. I don’t come from a musical background, and have never made music or listened to my own singing voice so much before. I now have knowledge of how to record your voice, add reverb, echo, and effects, change the volume of different tracks, and pan the sound so that it all goes to one ear and then the other. In the future, if I am ever in need of music, want to remix a song, or want to make my own music, I will be able to edit it myself in Adobe Audition.
This project really forced me to come out of my shell and give my best shot at something new that I’ve never tried before. I had to overcome shyness and embarrassment about hearing myself sing and other people hearing me sing. Now, I feel comfortable knowing that most people don’t care if I am a terrible singer or not.
At first, I found it difficult to find the rhythm of the instrumental track. I couldn’t tell when the chorus began, when I should start singing, and when I should stop. I had to go back to the original song and see at what second the chorus starts there, and count up the beats to that moment. While working on the project, I became very familiar with the instrumental track from hearing it so much and counting the beats, it became natural to know when each verse starts and ends.
If I could change the parody song that I made, I would add more harmonies and background voices. I only had one singing track, and I think the song would benefit from more layers of sound to add to the effect.
This project taught me that not all art has to be serious. I was hesitant to take the risk and make a song that was ridiculous and funny, but watching my peers’ work made me realize that in some instances you have to take risks to make great work. You have to dive in and go for it, instead of holding yourself back with worries about other people’s opinions.