School of Rock – Week 7 – Tools, Time, and Rooms

CreativeCommons image Tool Stash by Meena Kadri at Flickr.com

SUMMARY

In this article it will explain all the different things that I learned this week. I listened to a podcast, played my instruments, became a soundtrap expert, and many more things! Read on to find out!

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

When I was in this room, I watch one of Justin Guitar Lessons videos that was teaching me about bar chords. It helped me understand a lot! Because I watched this video, i’ll be trying to learn more songs that have bar chords in them (or I might just substitute). One of the channels I watch and enjoy is a Youtuber Patrick Teaches the World. He has many educational videos that help a lot and he has videos that help with specific songs.

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

Image of Gordon Hempton
Image by Richard Darbonne, © All Rights Reserved.

What I learned from listening to the story Silence and the Presence of Everything by Gordon Hempton was that we should notice all the things around us. We shouldn’t take advantage of all the beautiful sounds everywhere. That is something that easily overlooked and it goes unnoticed. But once we notice, we wish that we had been paying attention more often.

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

In Hooktheroy I watched some tutorial videos that showed me how different parts of this software work.

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY & THE BRAIN)

What I thought about on my walk was deeper into things than how sometimes I think. If my life were a story, I believe my nemesis would be myself. I am my worst critic about everything I do and it seems like whatever I do is never good enough (even though others say it is). I’m not really sure if I am trying to accomplish or win anything. I think I’m trying to just be good enough.

STUDIO (SONGWRITING)

In this room I learned a lot about soundtrap and how to use it which is very helpful! With this new skill it will be a lot easier to create my own songs.

CONTROL ROOM (RECORDING & MIXING)

This is my certificate indicating that I am now a “Certified Soundtrap Expert”!

WEEKLY ACTIVITY EVALUATION

I think that I have learned a lot this week and was able to process and understand all the information thrown my way. I would call this week a success!

Developing Quality Workflow

What is Workflow?

Image Creative Workflow from Behance.com, https://www.behance.net/gallery/27919515/Creative-workflow-GIF

Work•flow /ˈwərkflō/

“The sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.” – lexico.com

What is a quality workflow?  How do we develop it?  Below are elements of the production cycle that most creative people move through as they create something.  First, we must identify the stages of project production. What is each stage and what are the quality checks for each stage.  Read on and find out!

Stages of Creation Development

Inspiration

How do we find ideas to develop?

  • Getting ideas from other people
  • Being open to other ideas and viewpoints
  • Make everything formal but understandable
  • Viewers measure quality

Intention

How do we clarify our specific goal(s) for a project?

  • Putting intentions into writing
  • Pros and cons list or journaling
  • You can measure the quality of your intention by your own standards
  • Each individual should measure their own intentions

Pre-production

How can we brainwrite, brainstorm, storyboard, and plan our ideas at this phase?

  • Group discussions or flowcharts
  • Coordinating discussions and writing down plans
  • Quality should be measured against what the plan is
  • The group who worked on the idea together

Production

How do we communicate with each other and execute our plan for this phase? This is where we actually make the project.

  • Being aware of the role you play in the team
  • Talk things through; make sure everyone understands
  • Feedback from the group
  • The group or team should measure the quality

Post-production

How do we communicate with each other and execute our final stages of the project for this phase? This is where we publish the project.

  • Editing the final product and checking for errors
  • Proof reading everything that is going to be published
  • Getting feedback and opinions from the group
  • The group measures the quality

Presentation/Performance

How do we share our project with our learning community, advisory members, and the world?

  • Zooms, blogs or slideshow presentations
  • Posting on social networks
  • The amount of times the presentation is viewed, liked or commented on
  • The viewers or intended audience

Feedback

How do we conduct a feedback session at the end of the project development cycle?

  • Communication skills
  • Getting together and discussing the outcome of the performance
  • By the audiences reaction
  • The viewers and the group

Recipe for Success: Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl on Retirement Tours, Nirvana Reunion Footage - Rolling Stone
Image of Dave Grohl from rollingstones.com
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/dave-grohl-on-the-foos-tour-classic-rock-retirements-and-lost-nirvana-reunion-footage-666832/

Born: January 14, 1969, Warren Ohio

Personal Success Definition

I define success as a person who creates something that others can connect with or that can help others. Success is also something that is only achieved if you believe it is.

Dave Grohl is successful because he was apart of many bands that become very popular and he was able to create and share amazing music with others and have it change their lives as it changed his.

Skills for Success

To become successful, Dave Grohl needed to know how to write music, produce, and play instruments to get to where he is now. Because he learned how to do all that, he became a famous rock star.

Dave Grohl is 1.) a talented composer, 2.) a music genius and 3.) a nice guy. Dave Grohl started his first band when he was only 10 years old. “After dropping out in his junior year, he joined the Washington, D.C.-based hardcore band, Scream. Grohl appeared on three of the group’s albums and toured with them several times”(biography.com). He then went to Seattle to audition for Nirvana. After Kurt Cobains death, Grohl was in Foo Fighters and to cope with the sadness he was experiencing, he wrote the lyrics for all of the songs of their first album and played most of the instruments. Grohl is known for being a generally nice person and caring about his fans and an extremely talented musician.

How They Used These Skills

Grohl used his incredible music skills for success by being apart of several bands and getting his name known.

Dave Grohl: The Path To Nirvana – DRUM! Magazine
Dave Grohl in the studio for Nirvana
https://drummagazine.com/dave-grohl-the-path-to-nirvana-2/

Dave was completely self taught and started playing a variety of instruments from a very young age. With this talent, he was able to join/form many different bands. Grohl has been apart of 12 different bands, a handful of them were very very successful.

Challenges Overcome

The main challenges that Dave Grohl had to overcome were different things that he had to cope through.

When Grohl was 7, his parents got a divorce and that’s the main reason he started playing guitar in the first place. When Kurt Cobain died, Dave went into a really bad phase of drug abuse for awhile. To cope with the pain he wrote the music for the first album for Foo Fighters. All of these sad things led to his success. Music was his main coping mechanism and it did wonders for him.

Significant Work

Dave Grohl has played with so many random groups for just a song or for a whole album. He joined Cage the Elephant for a little after their drummer’s appendix burst. He played with the Hollywood Vampires for a night when their drummer couldn’t make it. He has even been on Sesame Street. Grohl has done so much for so many different bands and he has just been there for help or for fun… maybe a bit of both.

https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/slash-and-grohl-60279944-f7f7-4d05-bafd-8703c34ad014.jpg?resize=1800,1200&w=1200

Resources

htps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Grohl

https://www.biography.com/musician/dave-grohl#:~:text=Musician%20Dave%20Grohl%20formed%20his,band%20called%20the%20Foo%20Fighters.