I am almost done with the entire project. This week, I thought of ideas that I could use for my short presentation. First, I plan on explaining why I did a concerto. I'll show the process that I had to go through to succeed. For example, I'll talk about where my inspiration came from and what I learned about music along the way. Likewise, I'll show pictures in my presentation that are of real significance. I might show a picture of any minor details that I used as well as a picture of Mozart's concerto to emphasize where part of my inspiration came from. Near the end, I'll show a hazard sign and ask what this makes the audience think of. I'll tell the audience it means contagious, which is part of the name of my song. I'll explain how my song is named The Contagious Melody as well as its significance. At the end, I will play a portion of my song if I have time. Overall, I have been planning out my presentation. For the rest of the week and next week, I will practice my presentation so that I can get through it fluently and quickly.

This week has gone pretty well. Right now I am trying to figure out how to present my project. I have an idea of how to present the progress that I made throughout the project, but I am not exactly sure how to put it all together. For example, I want to talk about how my years of experience on clarinet allowed me to make a song even though it was very difficult to create. I would like to mention how I originally decided to use Finale to present my music to my audience but then decided to play a portion of my music and show the final draft of my music to my audience. Overall, I need to show the progress that I made in my song. I might even compare the rough draft of my song to the final draft to emphasize the edits that I had to make on my song. Additionally, I played my entire song this week to work out any difficult parts and to determine how long it is. I found out that the whole song is about 6 minutes and 30 seconds. Based on this, I will probably play about a 2 minute portion of my song in my presentation. Next week, I need to put my ideas together into a presentation. I am hoping to have all my plans mapped out after the week is over.

This week I feel alright about my project. I was going to play my song for my mentor, but unfortunately my clarinet is getting repaired this week. However, I plan on playing it in the future for my mentor so that I can get his opinion. Likewise, I have thought of an idea of how to present my project. First, I will talk about the complicated process of writing my song, and how long it took just to make something that sounds reasonably good to an audience. I will talk about how important it is to know music theory. I would like to show pictures of my drafting and I will probably show some of the sources that I used that helped me get started on my song.  I will tell my classmates that listening to other popular clarinet concertos gave me an idea of what I could write for my song. Additionally, I still need to figure out how I could record the song. I need to find something high quality that sounds like a live performance. Otherwise, I might play an portion of my piece so that my classmates get an idea of what it sounds like. Either option would work well. Next week, I need to find some time to play my song for my mentor and possibly record it.

This week I have not had much time to work on my project because of the Hamlet Essay and a Economics project. Despite this, I was able to add some minor edits to my project. For example, I finally created a title for my song. I called it "The Contagious Melody" because the main melody can be heard throughout the song. Basically, the melody "spreads" throughout the song. Moreover, the four movements of the song are named after synonyms for contagious. For example, the 2nd movement is called "Allegro Pestilence", the 3rd movement is called "Infectious Rondo" and the last movement is called "Malignant Finale". Overall, my project is going very well. I have finished my song, and now I must figure out how to record and present it. When I get the chance, I need to talk to my mentor about my song and possibly play it for them. Also, I need to figure out the best way to record my song.

This week I have not been able to work much on my 20% Time due to projects in my economics class as well as a blog assignment for Literature. Despite this, I have noticed that I am right on track for my project. I have finished the written final draft of my song. Additionally, I was able to make it longer than five minutes in all. The song as a whole flows and sounds good, but I might have to add a few minor edits in the final weeks of this project. Overall, I did not make changes to my song this week. Although I am done with the written final draft, I have not decided what I should use to record the song. I could use Finale, but it would take a a lot of work and time. On typical weeks, I only get to go to the music tech lab 2 times a week, and I need more time this. I need to research the best way to record my song. Also, I need to show my band directors my song and play it for them. I could learn important details from them that I could use to make my song sound better. If they tell me my song needs major edits, I will create a second written final draft. I have accomplished a lot so far, but I still need to figure out how I am going to present my concerto.

This week has gone very well. Right now I am writing the final draft of my song. I finished writing the final draft and the 1st movement and I am currently writing the final draft to the 2nd movement. Based on what I have written, the 1st and 2nd movements are the best movements of the song. They sound good and their are little to no problematic areas in terms of musical flow. Any final edits that I will do tomorrow, Friday, and next week will be in the 3rd and 4th movement. In these movements, there are areas where I added notes just so the song could continue on. I need to change these areas and think of something that would cause the song to flow better and make more sense. Additionally, I was able to finalize certain parts to add into my song. For example, I added some measures to the 2nd movement to make it end in a more interesting way. I added more music to the 3rd movement as well. Next week I will finish any edits that need to be made. I will play through my song to see its length as well. In the end, I want my song to at least last 5 minutes. Additionally, I will ask my mentor how I should record my song.

This week I feel good about my project, but it is getting tougher to do. Since I am now done with a draft of the concerto, I have been adding crucial edits to the song. For example,  I added some music to the 2nd and 3rd movement that would allow the song to flow better. I tried to add more of the melody into certain areas of the song so that it could be heard more often. Despite this, it is very difficult to go back into a song and change anything that needs to be changed. I often have to play a part of the song to see whether it will fit into the entirety of the song or not. Sometime next week, I will start going back to the music tech lab. In the lab, I will use Finale in order to write any music that I have not yet done. Additionally, I will start writing a final draft of my song on paper. To do this, I need to research what type of paper I should use, and how I can get it. I will talk to my mentor in order to get important tips that I can use to make my song sound better as well. Overall, I have accomplished a lot, but I still have some work to do.