I Took a Risk, and I Feel Fine!

Clearly, it's been a while since I last posted. I have had every intention of returning to this blog more routinely, but today is the first day since November that I've felt compelled to do so.

I was tasked to write a protest song for a class that I'm taking, one focused on issues of social justice. Since I've been busy teaching, I wasn't sure that I'd be able to muster the creative energy required; but, after listening to some cheesy music (with some rather sketchy lyrics), I felt a masterpiece bubbling to the surface!

Perplexed by the allure of Nicki Minaj, I felt compelled to use one of her songs, Starships, to write about the civil rights issue of same-sex marriage. Although I'm not a fan of Ms. Minaj, her song's melody makes a great canvas (my daughter and husband might disagree after hearing me rehearse for hours).

I've had students create the most amazing music videos for my classes, but this was my first attempt to do the same. Having gone through the process myself, I have even more admiration for the amount of hard work that song writing and recording takes.

After experimenting with Garage Band and another iPad app called VocalLive, I discovered that doing a voice over is not that easy. I could only get part of the song to upload to Garage Band! I ended up using two computers, my iPad to play the music and Audacity on my PC to create the MP3, as a last resort.

In the end, after hours of work, I am pleased with my final project. I know that my vocals are a little hard on the ears, but the process taught me a lot about the importance of integrating technology. A project like this is a labor of love, even if it's not perfect.