Intro
To cap off our senior year at Freestyle, we were asked to create our Zenith Project. The Zenith is a self planned production, which is meant to apply all the skills learned during our time here at Freestyle.
My Zenith Proposal
For my Zenith project, I decided to create a full song, except the vocals, which meant I was in charge of the instrumental, mixing, mastering, and cover art. In addition, I wanted to try making music in a genre I never had much experience in, so I decided to make an R&B track. I also collaborated with design student Amara Lin as she would be the vocal component to my song. She would also end being the main subject of my cover art.
This project is a new challenge for me because it has me applying all my skills across multiple programs such as Ableton Live, Logic Pro X, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop. This project also forces me to make sure each step is done exactly how I wanted because a minor mistake could lead to problems in the mixing and mastering process.
I will incorporate skills that I have learned in Design into my cover art by creating a mood board that will provide as a foundation for what I want the cover to look like. In addition, I will use my knowledge of color schemes, spacing, and the principles of art to help me plan my cover.
Production Process
Up above are pictures of my production process. This includes my instrumentals in Ableton Live, Amara’s raw vocals in Garageband, final mix of the song in Logic Pro X, and the cover art in Adobe Illustrator.
Completed Project
Zenith Reflection
What I chose to do for my Zenith project was to release a full fledged R&B song in regards to the production side, which meant I would be responsible for the creation of the beat, mixing, mastering, and the cover art. I chose to do this for my Zenith because I have been wanting to do something like this, but never really fully committed to it, so I decided it would be a fun way to end the year. In addition, I hadn’t had too much experience with making R&B music, so I decided to challenge myself even more. I especially did this for my Zenith because I was able to apply all the skills I have learned during my two years in Freestyle into this one project. I was able to implement the music techniques that I learned in Digital Media and combine them with the techniques I learned in Design to help make the song and the cover. In order to draw inspiration for my Zenith, I did lots of research on R&B music and covers. I learned the music theory behind the instrumentals and applied the knowledge I learned into the music I was making. In addition to that, I went through many R&B cover arts from throughout the years, in an effort to help me find a solid foundation for what I wanted my own cover to look like. The research that I did proved to be one of the most important steps of my project. Since I did not do the vocals for my song, one step of my process included someone that was willing to send me their raw acapella to work with. Initially I tried to look for local artists, but later figured that collaborating with someone I knew would be more reliable. I asked fellow design student Amara Lin if she would be my vocalist and she happily agreed. Overall the collaboration went really well because her voice fit nicely with the instrumental I had made for her. Communication with Amara was always quick and easy so there was always a clear idea between the two of us. Although I was very satisfied with the final product I came out with, if there was one thing I would do differently if I had the chance to start over, it would be to not be as stingy as I was with picking the instrumentals I made. When I began making the instrumentals that I would later choose from, I feel like I was way too picky with which beat I wanted to go with. If I had just been set on one, and later refined it, I believe I would have had more time to perfect the production. Some skills that I had significantly improved upon during the production of my project was my ability to research and then apply the knowledge I had gained into something I wanted to create. However, I felt like I could’ve improved upon my critical thinking skills a bit more because as I mentioned above, I often scratched beats I didn’t like and started new ones, instead of continuing on with the idea. After my Zenith, I was given more motivation to collaborate with others in the future. Since Amara and I had never really had too much experience with R&B before, having each other to learn from really made the process more enjoyable. After finishing production, I feel that I had been able to ignite my passion even further and improve my skills and experiences, regarding music and design, which I am really proud of.