I chose to write a song that had the playful pessimism of a Wombats song, remaining upbeat while actually singing about sad topics (much like their song 'Here Comes the Anxiety', for instance). I found the lyric writing process quite easy because it is always something that has come quite naturally to me, perhaps from writing so many poems as a child.

I wanted to create a song that had a wide variant of dynamics. I wanted it to start quietly, with just keys and vocals, then launch into an up-beat, catchy indie rock kind of track. I also knew I wanted a guitar solo, and as for drums, something relatively simple in 4/4, hi-hat for verses, ride for choruses, and a half time breakdown for the bridge (classic).

I pretty much ticked all of my own boxes in my final piece, and ended up merging the half time breakdown and solo into one, introduced by just a keyboard and vocals to echo of the start of the song, which builds with a bassline that I wrote, and a guitar build up to the solo.

I was aware upon writing the song that the general melody was quite repetitive, so this is why I included such a change of pace with the guitar solo.

My contribution to the performance of this piece was the drumming, firstly on an electric kit to establish the timing and structure, then on an acoustic kit in a studio to flesh it out more and give it a more real sound. 
I also wrote, sung and produced the song myself, and booked the Small Pond studio sessions for recording. Doing all of this myself was such a great learning opportunity for me, and I will definitely be creating more songs in the coming summer months.

If I was to do the entire Summative again, I firstly would have booked more Black Dog rehearsals earlier on in the term so that by the time of the performance it was engrained into my muscle memory, and I also would've concentrated more on small parts that needed more attention. This would have made the performance smoother and I would have probably been a bit less nervous. I would have also put more work into the dynamics of the Black Dog piece, because I think there are some uses of dynamics that would have  improved the song, such as ghost notes on the snare to add dimention.

Also, upon watching my Summative performance I noticed that I still don't have the stage presence I know I'm capable of, so I will put more effort into the way I present myself on stage, such as band interaction and general enthusiasm.

As an artist, I have learnt how much pleasure I take in contributing many elements to a song, which makes me want to learn more instruments such as guitar so I can contribute even more, and get better at production so I can start to make my projects sound professional.

Overall, I am pleased with my Summative performance and my audio track, as I didn't expect to be able to write, mix, drum and sing on my own track this early on. 

One thing I want to improve on for next term is my understanding of Logic Pro, as I seem to be finding out something new about it every time I use it, so I feel there must be a lot to learn.

Another goal I have for next term is to do more singing and start learning guitar.

And from a drumming standpoint, my goal for the summer and next term is to practice often, particularly different time signatures, ghost notes and dynamics.