Arranging Continued

I'm in the process right now that I am arranging the piece. It is defiantly harder than I would have ever thought. Finale Notepad is a great program, but it takes a lot of time to put the notes in. It is extremely tedious. It may  just be because I am new at the program that it is tedious hopefully with time, I'll become a pro. It seems to take me close to an hour to do about a page of music. As hard as it is, it is satisfying at the same time. When I finish the amount of music I have planned out to do a certain night, I get to play it back and listen to the awesome creation I just did. It is amazing how much I am enjoying the tedious process.

Wise Conference

So one week ago I attended the wise conference. It was a great experience. To see people that are so devoted to wise in the same room is just so great. It was nice to hear some of the other student's wise project. It was surprising to hear that one kid is sky diving for his wise project. Just to think all the cool things any one can do for there wise project is amazing. I also enjoyed hearing past wise alumni talk about there wise project and the struggles they went through. They talked about how to deal with procrastination and just how to get your project finished. The thing that made the conference the best was asking Vic the founder of wise if he would like to come to my project. He said he would try his best to be there. It would be great to have the founder of wise at my project, it would just put the icing on the cake. All though we only stayed for two hours the conference was great. It just reminds me how great of a program I am involved in and how lucky I am to have it be at Somers.

Step 3: Start Arranging

Its time to dive in and start arranging. I think instead of planning it out I'm just going to do it. Some of the best things are made by accident. So hopefully just going for it will just make better.

I Found a Program

After an hour of searching the Internet, I found a program. Finale Notepad is a free program that fits all my needs. First of all Finale is a top music program company out there. They have programs that cost $600. I can put lyrics in Finale Notepad and it is just a real easy program to use. At least the second time was the charm.

I Need a New Program

All though MuseScore was free it doesn't have what I need. The song has lyrics and I can't enter in lyrics on MuseScore, I'm going to have to find a new program that supports everything I need.

Step 2: Find a Program

In this modern day of technology every thing is computerized even music. There are thousands of programs that you can compose and play music on. Some programs are really easy and some are so complicated that you have to learn them in a college classroom to use it properly. I want to find a program that is easy and has all the features I need to arrange this piece. The other thing about music programs is that they can cost up to $400. I would like to find one that is free too. I have used a program called MuseScore before that is free so I'm going to try it out and see if it fits my needs.

Another Version

My friend showed me this video. Hearing "Dog Days are Over" different ways helps me think of different things I can do in my version.

My Inspiration For This Song

With the musical coming up I'm going to have limited time so, I thought I would post versions of dog days are over and how people made it there own. This first one is of Vicci Martinez who was a contestant on the voice and this is how I got introduced to this song. This is my favorite version of this song.

My Mentor

My Mentor is Mrs. Ferraro. I know Mrs. Ferraro from taking four years of choir and one year of AP music theory. She is so amazing at music. I can show her a piece of music and she can tell me what is wrong with it and what I should I change to make it better. It is amazing. I couldn't think of anyone I could have as my mentor for my wise project.

Dog Days Are Over- Could This Work?

Yes. This is the perfect song for me. I like that it has three different parts, this way it allows me to do three different things. I feel as the more things I can do with a song the better it will sound with the choir. It is also a three chord progression song so it is easy to work with. I can't wait to get started on it.

Fast Car- Could This Work?

Nope. It is a long song that feels long. I do not care if the song is short or long, I want the song to feel timeless. This song does not feel timeless.

Chicago- Could This Work?

Nope. It is to repetitive and I almost get bored while listening to it. I also do not think it will sound that good with a choir.

Step One : Pick a Song

To arrange a song, you need a song. I have to pick out a song. I cannot just pick out my favorite song, I have to pick a song that can work for a choir. I will be posting a couple songs that could possibly work.

WELCOME!

WELCOME TO MY BLOG FOR WISE 2012! For my wise project, I am taking a song and arranging it for a choir. I have such a love of music and I cannot see myself doing my wise project on anything else besides music. I hope you enjoy seeing me go through the process of arranging music. I know it is going to be a long tedious process and I might have gray hair at the end, but the I know the reward is going to be sweet.