As you know, I have 5 stories to complete for each record. Given this was my first record of the exercise and bearing in mind this was Father’s Day weekend … I didn’t get to all 5 stories. But that’s ok. The goal here is to keep working with what we got and turn in what we have.

And on that note … enjoy!

Analysis

Normally I will publish my actual analyses here but in this first week case, I wasn’t taking notes. I will circle back one day and put a pen to my thoughts at some point - just hang tight while I get this thing going!

  • Ke$ha’s Kiss and Tell
  • Avril Lavigne’s Sk8ter Boi

Core

You will note that there are three distinct parts, the verse, the lift and the chorus. The music is intentionally plonky as I’m trying my hardest not to get distracted with much of any sound production. I love to do it but it eats up time like nobodies business so I must learn to control it. Part of this is lowering the bar personally for the final core product. This also allows me to get used to hearing things in very raw form. Should I one day write hits, I hope to be able to hear them in renditions not unlike the one I’ve posted here.

Arrangement

This step saw the greatest leap in polish. I’m not quite sure how to represent the vocal line yet (I am not a singer). This is one thing I need to get better at. I think the sounds I eventually used may not convey the melody exactly as I hear it but I was happy with the general outcome nevertheless. Auto-tune here I come :-)

I do think the flow sounds somewhat rigid and amateurish - something I need to work on in the Production phase. I also think the mix leaves much to be desired. While it sounds much hotter than the original, plonky idea - it’s not really mixed at all and relies heavily on the effects in the native sounds themselves.

Lyrics

Ran out of time! Will have to double back.

Production

Ran out of time! Will have to double back.

Final

I’ve uploaded the latest version of the track to Sound Cloud so take a listen and let me know what you think. I’d certainly appreciate the feedback.