Reflecting on my research so far, I think that my progress is coming along nicely. I’ve found a lot of helpful resources related my project including research on cultural identity, Chinese traditional music, and Chinese Philosophy. On the topic of cultural identity, I’ve found a that the theory of cultural adaptation and biculturalism is particularly insightful in helping me think through my project and I’m very happy with the resources I have covering this topic. I’d like to find more resources on how Chinese philosophy impacts and influences elements in traditional Chinese music which will be the next step in my research process.
On the production side of things, I’ve made a lot of progress on learning mixing, recording, and composition techniques through LinkedIn learning. These skills will be extremely helpful within the production process and help my work sound professional. My meeting with Jack Klotz also helped a lot with my project vision. Rather than creating multiple tracks, he suggested that I focus on creating one meaningful and detailed composition. I think that this was a good idea since composing, recording, mixing, and mastering multiple tracks may be too time consuming and difficult to manage. While I have a handle on composing, recording, and mixing, I’d like to learn more about mastering which will be the next step in my production process.
The development of my research is playing a big role in influencing my approach to the creation of this composition. It’s interesting to think about how I can incorporate theoretical ideas such as cultural frame switching into my composition. This can be manifested in various ways including contrast in sections or composition techniques such as call and response. One section can sound stylistically more Chinese while the other can reflect mainstream music replicating the idea of cultural frame switching in a musical form. As I continue research for my project, I hope to develop similar ideas where I can manifest theoretical ideas in a musical form and incorporate them into my composition.
Beginning the second half of the semester, I’m most looking forward to working on the initial creation of my project. As the initial media and proof of concept assignments are coming up, I’d like to finally start creating and work on initial ideas that can act as starting points for my project. I’m also looking forward to connecting with local musicians who play traditional Chinese instruments. This will be a fun networking process that will connect me with people who share similar interests as me and I hope to form new friends and connections in the process.