Professional Documents
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PILOT NARRATIVE
QUARTER 3
EXHIBITION DATE: 03.30.17
Creating original work with personal intention
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Narrative Essay:
This was my first quarter in the Pilot program and I’m really glad I got the
opportunity to join. I feel like it’s the perfect model for me to be working in. It gives me the
freedom to be learning things that really matter to me, while also maintaining the work
ethic in relation to academics that a traditional path would. It holds a careful balance
between what the student wants to do and what they need to do, in fact the strongest part
of the program is that it doesn’t just hold a balance between the two, it integrates them into
one larger project, making it all the same work.
As far as my overall project, I feel really good about it. I’m on track with my
schedule and so far, still ahead of song deadlines. I like the final products so far and feel
like they’re justified as being finished projects, not just something that I said was over
because the deadline was up.
Two new things coming to my learning plan: One, the establishment of a weekly
Whiteboard Music Theory lesson in which I will go back through my reservoir of Music
Theory knowledge from Semester 1, and review/re-learn what I don’t remember or know
(more in Projects: Personal Whiteboard Lessons on page 3). Two, writing blog reflections
whenever I find something interesting and fascinating in C reativity by Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi, (more in English: Reading on page 5).
I feel a lot of pressure from classes right now and I struggle sometimes to meet
everything at the level I would like to. Not everything is done 100% these days, which is
upsetting, but I am hoping that in Quarter 4, I’ll have more time to get work done if I
prioritize carefully.
I’m looking forward now, as the quarter ends, and I’m excited to throw myself into
the work.
PROJECTS
Portfolio:
Weebly Portfolio Link
PE Timesheet
Tempered Glass
Tempered Glass is a four song EP which is the main focus of my semester work in
the Pilot program. This is a temporary name but it also might stick, I don’t totally know yet.
The basis of this project is a theory from Ancient Greek culture, The Temperaments, that
places people into four different emotional categories: Sanguine, an outgoing and bright
energy, Melancholic, an emotional and deep mentality, Phlegmatic, the soft, gentle and
wise, and Choleric, the strong leader. Each of the four songs is rooted in one of these
temperaments and then grows from there. They all come from a place that I connect to that
Temperament. With Alone, rooted in Phlegmatic, I connected with the feeling of being solo
on my path, and the long trek to my inevitable destination, home. For Broken Melody,
grounded in Melancholic, I came close to my connection with coming out of the closet, and
finding the truth in myself, in who I really am. I feel like this is a really important song for
me specifically because it means a lot to who I am. But I also feel like anybody can find
something in this song, whether or not they are gay, because everyone is on an ever lasting
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journey to discover their own truth. And although I’m far from done that journey, I still feel
like I have something to share about it.
I have worked with Roger Grow more than anyone else on this project because he is
my mentor. I have also worked with Orlando Grant, Noah Witke Mele, Adam Blachly, Olivia
Peltier, and Kieran Verret.
Next for this project, I am writing a song grounded in Sanguine, personally my most
prevalent temperament, and it’s taking the shape of a pop dance track. I’m hoping to start
working on this the first week of Quarter 4, or even earlier if possible.
SUBJECT AREAS:
Student Learning Outcomes
English
I am earning ONE english credit this semester, mostly from writing and producing
my EP, so far comprised of Alone a nd Broken Melody, but also reading from Creativity by
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and an art response to Laurie Anderson’s Heart of a Dog. The final
piece at the end of quarter 4 will be interviewing local artists (one of which I have already
interviewed) and writing a research paper on the process of writing music, probably
connecting my reading of Creativity into that study.
Writing
Alone & Broken Melody-
The two songs from my four song EP, Tempered Glass, are where I have spent lots of time
writing lyrics, and poetry in verse. In Alone I wrote descriptive lyrics for the verses that set
the scene for the environment I’m reacting to, and create an idea within that universe. I
tried to create a summer scene that is lonely, looking backwards, but also informs the ideas
I struggle with right now in the chorus. Broken Melody has more structure and intention
then Alone, and I used that to create a more personal narrative. Five verses that are split
into 3 different important stages of my narrative. The first section, verses 1 and 2, are
where the the subject is first grappling with the fact that they are something other than
what they have been told. The second part, verses 3 and 4, are where the subject starts to
actually entertain the realizations, and actually considers acting on them. This form is
interrupted by a large section of non-lyric music, a storm created by abstract and intrusive
sounds which represent the subject jumping to action, letting the storm pull them. My
favorite moment is a one second sound bite in the middle where the storm stops and you
hear a light sound of the subject realizing they have made the right decision. Then the
storm crashes back down, breaking through the eye of the storm before vaulting into the
final verse which is the calm after the storm, the stronger version if our subject. Through
this narrative, I associated different parts of my experience with the words in the song, and
created a tale that doesn’t only apply to me and my experience of coming out of the closet,
but really represents something anyone can understand from their own personal
experiences.
Listening
Interviewing Local Artists for HAWC-
[March 26 blog entry] “Today I interviewed Ben Roy, a musician and songwriter I had
gotten in contact with from Amy Koenigbauer, and we had a great conversation about
songwriting and what it means to be creative. Something really profound that he had to say
was that everything is about love. It doesn’t matter what the name of the song is, or the
purpose, it is inevitably about love or the lack thereof. It was interesting because this is
certainly an idea that I have felt pretty acquainted with before and it reminded me of when,
in Acting class last year, we read Audition by Michael Shurtleff, and how, one of his
guideposts was that every scene is a love scene. This really struck home for me the idea
that love is what grounds everything in this world, and that it is the ultimate driver of
everything. That its role is always massive, influential and immeasurable.”
Reading
The Story behind the Song By Richard Barnet-
I read one song analysis from this book, Video Killed the Radio Star, and I learned that this
book will not help me in my study at all.
Creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi-
This book is kind of crazy. I have picked it up twice, and both times have read incredible
profound and interesting things. When I first started talking about this book with Chris
Blackburn, he mentioned that I wasn’t going to be able to just pick up the book and read
something incredibly interesting, but that seems to be what has happened. Here are the two
things I feel are very important that I have read.
Setting the Stage: One. Attention and Creativity-
Csikszentmihalyi writes that because we have limited time on earth, we can only spend so
much time learning things, yet there are so many things to learn, so we could never learn
them all. He says that because of that, more and more, specialized knowledge on one topic
is more respected than general knowledge on many topics, because if you spread your time
among many things, you won’t ever know enough to be the best. He also writes that
because of our limited time, people that are specialized in one specific area, and are very
passionate about it, often come off as rude or pretentious. Because of the limited amount of
time that we have, if you truly want to be good at something, you need to focus most of
your time into it, so because you are investing less time in the people around you, and more
time in your study, you come off as rude and self involved. And by nature, this will continue
as long as people are specialized.
The Flow of Creativity: Five: Programmed for Creativity-
In this section, Csikszentmihalyi asserts that certain people enjoy discovery more than
others, and that it is these people that are the most creative. He says, “The tendencies
toward conserving energy as well as using it constructively are simultaneously part of our
inheritance” and that everyone can choose to relax or discover, but that certain people are
more likely to enjoy discovery because of “genetic makeup but also presumably on our early
experiences.” He offers that we are raised to think a certain way, and that without these
people, culture, science and the human race as a whole cannot advance through evolution,
but that because of that opportunity, historically, we have.
Those are two incredible things I have learned just from picking this book up and
arbitrarily reading what appeals to me from the index behind the cover page, so I am
clearly excited about reading more. I have found that because of the density of knowledge,
I can only read so much at a time as I have to process it, but as I do continue reading into
the final quarter, when I find such interesting things, I will put them in a blog post like I’m
about to do with these.
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Speaking
Singing-
I think that the singing I have been doing in this project falls under the category of
Speaking because what I think this goal is really trying to encompass is the activity of
sharing. Vocally expressing important things that deserve to be in the world, and creating
an atmosphere with specific words, phrases and emphasis. I have done that through my
lyrics which I have sung, and communicated to another singer how to sing.
Exhibition-
The Quarter 3 Exhibition is certainly a test of my speaking skills. I have to defend all the
work I have been doing this quarter and it’s through this test that I make all of my work
worth anything. Every time that I meet with Chris Blackburn, every time I meet with Roger
Grow, I am using my speaking skills to defend what I’m doing, and this exhibition is the
ultimate version of that, making all this work matter on an academic transcript.
Art
I am earning ONE a
rt credit this semester through the writing and p roduction of my
EP, Tempered Glass, and a lso an art response to Laurie Anderson’s Heart of a Dog.
Developing Craft
Song Writing skill-
This is the central focus of my project this year, and I feel like, more than any other time in
my life, I have really developed this skill. What I really like about this project is that I am
creating very specific worlds within boundaries that I am setting for myself. I feel like this
allows me to find specificity in my work, and continue honing my craft, and that next year,
when I expand to a bigger album, and bigger ideas, I’ll be better equipped to tackle that
goal.
Software Limitations/Advancements-
Writing songs is a skill that I have been focusing lots of attention on in my study, but just as
much focus has been on learning what I can actually do with the software, and how that
affects my music. There are both advantages and limitations in this learning curve, the
negative being that sometimes the software just isn’t capable of doing what I want it to.
The positive though is that I have created a really good understanding of what the software
can and can’t do through this study, and usually it is a very powerful tool in achieving the
specific sound that I want.
Connecting
The Temperaments to Music-
How this entire project got started was that I was thinking about the Temperaments one
day and considering the implications that they lie down. What it means, how it affects you,
does it even mean anything? And I started really thinking about the atmosphere that they
each create, if every Temperament has a little planet to itself, how would that look? How
would I fit into that world? How does that world fit into me? I made a connection between
my music, and this theory that I was already conscious of, and brought it all together under
the lense of self exploration.
Responding
NYC Trip-
After I got back from my trip in NYC (February 17-20) I reflected on and responded to the
trip in a blog post. I reflected on all the workshops I participated in and responded to the
three shows I saw, Skin of Our Teeth, YEN, and Hamilton: An American Musical. These can
be found in the blog post, NEW YORK CITY is the CENTER OF THE WORLD published on
3.17.17
Art Response to Heart of a Dog by Laurie Anderson-
I wrote an art response to Heart of a Dog by Laurie Anderson on my blog.
PE
I am earning ONE PE credit this semester through these goals and objectives. Most
of the credit is focused on Cry Baby and Dance 32, but also on other general welfare needs
and practices.
walking hrs. Then, for my clean living/work space I have before and
after pictures which document me cleaning.
can increase that. I only count walking if I have walked
for 15 minutes or more at a time.
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
Engaged Citizenship
Perseverance
I struggled with both meditation and regular blog posts this quarter. Meditation is
really hard to work into my day as it’s been the last thing I think of, but I keep doing it
when I get the chance. I did a better job of keeping up with my blog posts, but I still
certainly fell behind sometimes. The trick I have found is to leave the blog tab open, and
make it second nature to write a blog if something new happens with my Pilot work.
Inquiry
I started to work on my project HAWC by doing an interview with a local artist at the
very end of this quarter, but this project will be mostly completed in quarter 4.
I think that this is a skill that I will use more in quarter 4, but I did Inquire while
reading Creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I explored Creativity and Work flow, how we
create art, and why.
Time Management
My biggest failure on this front is my lack of Meditation time. I have always wanted
to be doing more meditation, but this is always hard for me and at the bottom of my list of
things to remember in my brain.
My biggest successes though, far outweigh this drawback. I have spent an immense
amount of time preparing for Cry Baby, and rehearsing for Dance 32. Dance 32 already paid
off in February when we had a wonderful performance in which I choreographed one piece,
was in the ensemble for three others, and had a principle dancing role in a fourth piece. Cry
Baby is really starting to heat up and, as the rehearsals get longer and longer, I get more
and more excited. As of Sunday, 3.26.17 I have rehearsed 27 logged hours.
The second time management thing I am proud of is that my main project,
Tempered Glass, is still on schedule.
Accountability
I’ve been really good about scheduling appointments, and making sure I’m there on
time. I have also scheduled interviews with local artists, and am learning more about the
music community in central VT.
Demonstration
I think that the nature of my project lends itself towards success in this goal, as
everything I am doing has a tangible end product that proves I have worked hard. For
music and English, I have Tempered Glass which has an audible end product and for my PE
credit, come see Stage 32's Spring Musical, Cry Baby, April 7-9!
Something that doesn’t work as well is that in Garageband, you can’t save different
versions of a song so I only have the finished product once I go in to record. Something that
I have done to counter this problem is save the original recordings of me playing it while
writing it, so I have the original sounds contrast with the final recording.
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Self Advocacy
I think that academically I can have trouble in general, and being clear about what I
need with myself and my advisors/mentors, can be really hard. So advocating for my
academic needs is difficult... Help Chris!
On the other hand, every week when I meet with Chris I make good use of that
time, and I've started spending all my meeting time with Roger, actually working on music
with him and getting insight on what I'm doing and how I can improve my work and craft,
and getting help where I actually need it.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barnet, Richard D., et al. The Story behind the Song: 150 Songs That Chronicle
the 20th Century. Westport, Greenwood Press, 2004.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and
Invention. New York, HarperPerennial, 1997.
Fredrick, Robin. Webster. Learn How To Write a Song, WordPress, 2016,
robinfrederick.com/learn-how-to-write-a-song/#title. Accessed 26 Jan. 2017.
Hunter, J. Paul. The Norton Introduction to Poetry. 7th ed., New York [etc.],
W.W. Norton and Company, 1999.
Roy, Ben. Interview. March 26, 2017. Capitol Grounds, Montpelier, VT
Anderson, Laurie. Heart of a Dog, Nonesuch Records, Inc, 2015. Album.
Roger Grow
Chris Blackburn
Amy Koenigbauer
Orlando Grant
Noah Witke Mele
Adam Blachly
Olivia Peltier
Kieran Verret