(Photo Credit: Author)

THE CAS PROJECT – MIXTAPE

After having engaged in CAS for two years, it all ended with a musical project that was a mixtape of multiple songs, with diverse genres and styles. This was a collaboration with Chathil and Andrian, and we used Logic Pro X to produce our music. We used a mixture of software instruments and live recorded instruments to create our final product. Our final product was a mixtape known as “Sounds of the World” published on soundcloud. We learned a wide range of skills in the production of this product, for instance how to layer and mix instruments, and how to masterpieces better. We gathered during lunch breaks and free blocks to work on the project, and to finalize each individual track.  We wanted a diverse range of tracks, so each track explores a unique genre or idea that we feel is interesting. While it was hard to commit to and persevere throughout the process, we managed to do so in the end.

LO2: Overcoming challenges. With no proper knowledge of theory or music production, it was a hard process to overcome this challenge. However, internet resources and YouTube became incredibly useful here as I used them as a reference to better learn how to produce proper music. I learned the value of mixing and mastering piece, and how to make each individual track of the song sound good together. This was challenging at first, but once you practice you learn how to do it better. I also created new tunes just by piecing together what sounded good to my ear rather than learning proper theory. I, however, learned some essential chord combinations and how to write a guitar riff.

LO4: Show commitment. This was the hardest component of the CAS project, as we all had different views on when we wanted to come together to produce a track and we had different schedules. However, Chathil, Andrian and I finally managed to get together during lunch break to compose a new beat. We motivated each other and wanted to see the completion of the project all the way through, so we managed to commit. We changed the idea slightly as well sometimes, by reducing the amount of tracks or changing the core tune of a track. In the end, we ended up with seven tracks, three produced by Chathil and four by me.

LO5: Collaboration. This was the largest component of the project, as music is all about collaborative work. I learned how to better merge my own ideas with the ideas of Chat and Andrian, and so we came to an agreement on how we wanted a track to sound. I became better at communicating my own ideas while being considerate of the ideas of others and taking their value into account. This is useful in music, as this is a highly collaborative field.

Overall, the CAS project has been fun but challenging to commit to and stay focused on at times. However, this was a challenge we all overcame in order to commit to something we were all passionate about seeing to the end. I have also learned valuable music production skills such as mixing and mistering, which were more important than I previously thought.