Section: Guitar, 2 riffs for the intro to All Apologies By Nirvana
Notes: I spent most of the time fixing tech issues, Le Duc reminded me how to normalize the station, I made sure the sound software i’ve been using (garageband) works and rehearsed the riff I learned last session as practice, later i’m planning on moving onto other riffs, trying to learn a new chord or two, and I might experiment working with soundtrap again since Le Duc Suggested using Soundtrap.
By Jan. 9, as part of Team Solo, I will have evidence of making a cover of All Apologies by Nirvana, by following “All Apologies by Nirvana Guitar Tutorial” by Marin Music Center for Session 3.
PRODUCTION
THE (FILM, SOUND, or GAME)
Audio File Below:
This is an audio recording demonstrates a rough version of the intro riff to my cover of All Apologies by Nirvana.
I was responsible for the whole slideshow and project, due to being a solo music artist.
POST-PRODUCTION
21st CENTURY SKILLS
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
My best practice was creativity by taking my own approach to the music development process, and Innovation by committing myself to learning how to reliably practice daily.
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
My best practice waas communication, this is because During the session i’d regularly help other people with issues involving blogs, assignments, or other “Leducian crud” as we affectionately call it.
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
My best practice was media literacy because I followed a video tutorial throughout the session to help me learn the parts of the song to my cover (linked in smart goal).
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
Career: I practiced discipline via committing myself to practice everyday (which isn’t the type of thing I do very often).
REACTIONS TO THE FINAL VERSION
Since I didn’t present any pieces myself here’s some commentary the advisors gave the class as a whole i’ll comment on:
Coherency was a major point throughout the feedback for most of the project, making sure the whole piece comes together and parts don’t clash with one another is key to making a good project. Next session, since i’ll be working to incorporate more digital music elements into my piece i’ll make coherency a major focus. for now i’ll set a goal to include three separate musical elements that cohesively fit together in one music piece.
SELF-REFLECTION
Action Points:
Set action plans for objectives on each day
Set milestones for progress each week
Review online materials for inspiration and guidence.
GRAMMAR AND SPELLING
I just copied the post into google docs and used the built in spell checker in that.
EDITOR
I asked my mom to review the blog for me and she said it looked good to her.
By Jan. 9, as part of TEAM 3, I will have evidence of leading a game development team in production by following “So you want to be a producer” by Extra Credits for Session 3.
PRODUCTION
THE (FILM, SOUND, or GAME)
We did not complete the game or post anything to itch.io so here’s a link to the GDD we made so you can at least get an idea for what we were working toward: Link
Summary: Planetfall is a Arcade shooter and strategy game that mixes wave based shooting galleries (eg: Space Invaders) with resource management (eg: Civilization: Beyond Earth) and settlement mechanics (eg: Dune: Spice Wars).
For this Project I took on the role as lead producer and writer, I was predominantly in charge of creating the Game Design Document (GDD), core game concept (described in GDD) and I was in charge of task management using Trello to keep track of completed tasks and project progress.
POST-PRODUCTION
21st CENTURY SKILLS
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
I developed in creativity by expressing my ideas using reference imagery, sketches, and written explanation.
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
During this project I reinforced my communication skills, because throughout the project I regularly gave my team members advice, constructive feedback, and guidance as a producer.
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
I practiced my task management skills via the trello board and used reference imagery and sketches to communicate the core game concept to my team.
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
I practiced professionalism via ethical conduct and discipline with my team during the session.
REACTIONS TO THE FINAL VERSION
Because of the fact that our group didn’t have a game to present, i’ll be making some commentary on the feedback some of the other groups got during their presentations (from Nelly, the advisor).
UI elements: During many of the presentations Nelly commented on the ui elements of the games, advising strong communication on the objectives of the game and functions of ui and gameplay elements, for our project next session i’ll be taking inspiration from this advise by including text explanations of core mechanics and enemies, along with a tutorial.
SELF-REFLECTION
Action points.
Streamline pre-production process to focus on tasks that are most relevant to the project that will establish the requirements for MVP.
One of our biggest delays in this session was with how long pre-production took for us so reducing pre-production should massively help with next session.
Establish Contingency Team Roles so for example if the lead producer/scrum master (me, April Hines) is missing someone else can efficiently take on that/those role(s) to avoid production deficiency.
One of my potential concerns for the future is that i’ve been the one “carrying the team” and that any absences could delay the project a lot without guidence and direction from me to the team so I want to train them to be more self-sufficient to take on roles in my absence and be generally more productive.
Continue to and do more stand up meetings, establishing clear goals for each day to make progress on the game.
Another major problem during the project there was a lack of clear direction on what to work on each day which slowed down the production process so establishing clear daily goals and doing more consistent stand up meetings should improve our productivity.
GRAMMAR AND SPELLING
All of the spell checkers were blocked online so I just went into google docs and used the standard spell checker included in that application.
This document is a formal review of our recent performance project. Its purpose is to facilitate collective learning by analyzing the process, celebrating successes, and identifying key areas for improvement in future performances.
Project Title: April’s All Apologies Cover
Band/Group Name: Shocktrap
Project Duration: 3 weeks
Performance Date: Jan 9th 2026
I. Band Analysis and Collaboration
This section analyzes the structure, communication, and performance of the band.
Roles and Responsibilities
Team Member
Primary Role
Key Responsibilities
NA (NA = Not Applicible)
Drums
Setting the tempo, maintaining feel, and arranging rhythmic hits.
NA
Bass
Locking in with the drummer, creating melodic foundation/grooves.
April Hines
Guitar
Rhythm/Lead parts, tone shaping (pedals/amp settings).
NA
Keyboards
Harmony/Pad textures, specific solo or hook parts.
Reflect on how the team worked together across the project timeline.
Communication:
“How often did the band communicate about the song parts outside of class?”
For this project I was working solo so I didn’t need to communicate to anyone.
What tools (e.g., shared sheet music, recordings, chat) were used?
Trelloboard, email, Slideshows, Blog.
What worked well (e.g., clear section leaders), and what was missing (e.g., not enough feedback on volume balance)?
I was able to keep a pretty reliable practice schedule but I forgot to record anything until like the morning before presentations and ran out of time to export my recording to the project tracking sheet but this project wasn’t the type of thing that required expert feedback since I was just focusing on developing skills so I think things were overall fine, but I think for the future i’ll make sure to do more recording and uploading.
Task Integration (Arrangement Flow):
How smoothly did the individual parts fit together during rehearsal?
Everyday I worked on the part of the piece that needed the most work and put parts together as I went along (instead of trying to play the whole song at once i’d practice sections to the point of proficiency before moving onto the next section), in the end I think I was able to successfully finish the intro section of the full piece which was probably the best I could hope for within my limitations.
Individual/Team Lessons Learned
Identify specific, actionable takeaways about the rehearsal process.
Time Estimation & Rehearsal Efficiency:
Which parts of the song (e.g., the bridge, the drum solo, the vocal harmony) took significantly longer to perfect than expected?
I honestly think with my level of skill and experience combined with the complexity of the project that things progressed about as much as I expected, with each section of the song taking about a few days of practice to learn.
What changes should the band make to its warm-ups or time management next time? (e.g., “We must spend the first 15 minutes checking everyone’s tone/levels.”)
Finding ways of speeding up the learning process like sleeping/self care to support natural learning reinforcement and setting clearer goals on each days objectives (eg: by this day i’ll fully learn this section, where previously during this session I was just going along at my own pace without worrying about goals).
Skills Development:
What new musical skills did individuals learn (e.g., advanced strumming pattern, better microphone technique, using a new keyboard patch)?
I learned how to switch between chords much faster, and improved my rhythm/pacing.
General Takeaways:
What advice would you give a new band starting this project? (e.g., “Define the instrumental dynamics first,” “Record yourself every practice.”)
Set more goals on when to learn each section of the song, take care of yourself to reinforce learning (sleep, hydration, satiation, stress management, ect).
II. Performance Analysis & Review
This section reviews the final performance against the initial musical goals.
Project Goals vs. Final Outcome
List the major goals set at the beginning of the project and assess their completion.
Goal (e.g., Maintain consistent tempo, Execute the Guitar Solo perfectly, Nail the dynamics)
Status (Achieved/Partial/Failed)
Explanation
Practice daily, preferably up to 15 minutes, at least 5 minutes.
Achieved
I kept a strong schedule throughout the session of practice.
FInish All pre-production tasks
Achieved
Pretty self explanatory in that I completed all the tasks of setting composition intentions (achieved via blog goals) and fibbinaci sequencing the tasks.
Learn intro riff to the song All Apologies by Nirvana.
Achieved
By the end of the session I was able to play the entire “intro-riff” to the song, which I even recorded in garageband (but haven’t uploaded yet.
Overall Assessment of Arrangement Scope: Record a cover of All Apologies by Nirvana
Partial
I finished the intro riff to the song (Basically making up half of the song due to sections repeating similiar elements) but failed to complete other sections and include other elements.
What Went Right (Successes)
Identify the most successful elements of the performance—the things that should be repeated in the future.
Core Musicality / Feel:
What specific section (e.g., the second verse, the final chorus) felt the most tight, energetic, or musically solid?
The Intro section, since it’s what I practiced the most and completed.
Why did it work? (e.g., The drummer and bassist were perfectly “locked in.”)
I continiously practiced, that’s pretty much it.
Tone, Dynamics, or Stage Presence:
Which visual or auditory elements looked/sounded professional (e.g., the guitarist’s clean tone, the lead vocalist’s confidence, the band’s use of dynamics)?
I didn’t get to the point of production to include additional elements aside from the intro guitar section, I think I kept the transitions between sections relatively smooth.
Why was this area successful?
Practice.
What Went Wrong (Challenges)
Analyze the major problems and roadblocks encountered during the rehearsal and performance.
Scope Creep or Arrangement Flaws:
Did the song arrangement get too complex?
No, I just ran out of time to learn the rest of the song and add additional digitally based elements.
“Did a core musical idea not work out once we played it live?”
I spent the whole time learning the basic chords and (I don’t know what to call it) line progression for the intro that I didn’t have the time to build off of it into something more impactful and artistic.
“Explain the impact (e.g., it felt rushed, it confused the audience) and what content was cut or simplified.”
It was just undeveloped due to the state of progression with the project, it was in a very foundational and early development, I wasn’t able to include the correct tuning due to not having time to learn or skill to implement it properly and due to time limitations and learned development only learned the intro section with the rest of the song being left out.
Technical Issues (Gear/Sound):
Describe the single hardest gear issue or sound problem (e.g., microphone feedback, a specific patch stopped working, unable to hear the click track).
I wasn’t able to learn the proper tuning element of the song due to lack of skill, and I had trouble exporting the poroject due to experience.
How much time was lost fixing it?
none, I didn’t bother fixing anything.
Part Consistency Issues:
Did missing or poorly organized parts cause confusion or errors during the live performance (e.g., the backing vocalist forgot the entrance, the guitarist misread the chart)?
Not really, the whole piece was cohesive for what it was, just underdeveloped.
Key Design Takeaways
Provide advice for the next band project, based on what went well.
Focus Area
Future Best Practice (Specific Actionable Advice)
Arrangement
Set goals for learning elements of the arrangement through out the week.
Rehearsal
Improve rehearsal learning efficiency (learn sections of song faster
DELETE ANY TEXT THAT HAS THESE BRACKETS [stuff inside these brackets]
This document is a formal review of the game development project. Its purpose is to facilitate collective learning by analyzing the process, celebrating successes, and identifying key areas for improvement in future projects.
Project Title:
Planetfall
Development Team:
April, Erica, Adrian, Jordan.
Development Duration:
3 Weeks
Engine/Software Used:
Godot
Date Completed:
Jan 9th
I. Team Analysis
This section analyzes the structure, communication, and performance of the development team.
Roles and Responsibilities
Team Member
Primary Role (e.g., Lead Programmer, Artist)
Key Responsibilities
April Hines
Producer and Writer
Team management, time tracking, task management.
Erica
Artist
Making assets and asset integration.
Jordan
Level Builder/Programmer
Coding, World elements, importing files
Adrian
Sound Designer
Making Sound assets and integrating sound
Collaboration Effectiveness
Reflect on how the team worked together across the entire development cycle.
Communication: How often did the team communicate?
Everyday we regularly checked in with eachother on our progress via stand up meetings and one to one conversations between producer and members.
What tools (e.g., chat, in-person) were used?
Trello Board, Email, Slideshows, concept art.
What worked well, and what was missing?
Communication overall went well, clearly establishing daily work objectives.
Conflict Resolution: Describe any disagreements or creative differences that arose.
There weren’t any major disagreements during the production but miscommunication and lack of clearity was the main problem.
How were they resolved, and was that process effective?
Consistent conversations and clarification.
Task Integration: How smoothly did assets (art, sound) and code merge together?
We had a lot of issues with getting assets to work for the project: Files didn’t load properly, porting files into the engine wasn’t working, inability to share project slowed things down, our lack of experience with the engine.
What challenges arose when one person’s work depended on another’s?
Asset integration problems heavily slowed the project down.
Highlight any issues with version control.
We didn’t have issues version control.
Individual/Team Lessons Learned
Identify specific, actionable takeaways about the process of making the game.
Project Management & Time Estimation: Which tasks took significantly longer than expected?
Loading in files/asset integration due to tech issues, pre-production tasks took way longer than expected aswell.
Which took less time?
Art document, background sprites, prototypes and concept art.
What changes should the team make to its scheduling/timeline next time? (e.g., “We must double our estimate for UI polish.”)
Reduce pre-production tasks and set cleared goals for progress each day.
Skills Development: What new technical skills did individuals learn (e.g., advanced scripting, animation techniques)
Erica learned how to do pixel art and that file implementation is hard, Jordan learned that he didn’t like background art, Adrian learned how to use obs, April reinforced her team management skills.
General Teamwork Takeaways: What advice would you give a new team starting this project? (e.g., “Define the core mechanic first,” “Don’t ignore documentation.”)
Reduce pre-production tasks significantly, establish daily goals much quicker, Improve on file integration.
II. Game Analysis & Review
This section reviews the final product against the initial design vision.
Project Goals vs. Final Outcome
Goals: Movable player with shooting mechanic, movable enemies that attack player and colony bases, colony bases that if destroyed cause lose condition, win condition for eliminating all enemies
List the major goals set at the beginning of the project and assess their completion status.
Guidelines (delete this before submission, if anyone but april or an editor is reading this, sorry!)
Design Portfolio
Applicants to the BA in Game Design program are required to submit a portfolio focused on two tasks: writing a response to our writing prompt and providing two examples of previously created works with written explanations on the processes used to create them. Your entire portfolio must have a total of three written works.
Design Writing Prompt
Design requires thoughtful considerations of your audience and how those considerations apply to the goals of your project. For this prompt, please outline how and why you would use park benches to change people’s experience to make the park more social. Consider the materials, placements, and other aspects of the benches. Be sure to explain your design choices.
Your answer to the prompt should be at least one paragraph in length. Spelling, grammar, and sentence structure are all considered. Proofread your response carefully.
Creative Examples
Your two examples of previously created works may be in any medium or platform and are not limited to games. Sample work can include board or video game content, costuming, musical performance, poetry or prose, artwork, or other created works.
Carefully read the full requirements for your creative example. Your submission should include:
Written documentation for each creative work. Your response must include:
One paragraph that describes the work and provides background information.
One paragraph describing your role in creating the work. Classwork is permitted. Team projects are permitted as long as details on your specific role in the team and the tasks for which you were responsible are provided.
One or more paragraphs describing your process for making the work in detail; this should also explain the reasons behind design choices.
(Optional) Up to three supplemental digital files for each work. These digital files should help illustrate your processes and help evaluators understand what you reference in your essays. These digital files may include the work itself or other media representative of the work. Do not submit web links or executable files.
Please note that the portfolio will be reviewed and scored based solely on the documentation about the work and process, not on the quality of the work itself or any external content.
Students are encouraged to display a diverse portfolio demonstrating their process across a variety of different media and audiences.
Writing Prompt: Usage of benches to improve public parks.
“How can park benches change people’s experience to make parks more social? Consider the materials, placements, and other aspects of the benches. Be sure to explain your design choices.“
1st Creative Example: 2022-2023 freshman year game design project “Robant”
Paragraph 1. Work and background info:
Paragraph 2. Role and Responsibilites: Lead World-Builder and Producer, Designing world elements and oraganizing team efforts.
I did best practices, my best practice was career (skills), because I stayed on task, followed my practice regimene, ect.
1-6
Finished learning the intro riff to the song
40 minutes
My best practice was media literacy because I followed along with an opnline tutorial for the song and took inspiration from one of the live recordings to evaluate my ability to play the song.
1-7
Practiced intro riff again and copied slideshow into project tracking sheet.
20 minutes
My best practice was career communication because I was practicing career skills by staying on task and communicating my work by filling out the slideshow.
1-8
Working on slideshow and practiced for like 5 minutes
40 minutes
My first best practice was creativity by experiment with different chord progressions and practicing my version of the riff for my cover.
1-9
Updating blog post and slideshow.
40 minutes
My best practices were communication because I talked to le duc about staying early before school on monday to finish recording my evidence for the slideshow and by helping other students with problems.
Personal Reflection on the Week
I forgot to record what I practiced before the due date because I thought i’d have more time to record before the due date and I kinda forgot the goal entirely, but If I were to rewrite my goal into being “Practicing the full intro to All Apologies to the point I can fully play it” then I would’ve succeeded, but for getting it recorded (currently) I kinda failed.
Most Proud of…
How unlike previous projects I was able to learn a full song section and I think i’ve gotten much better at chord switching.
A clear, specific, MEASURABLE, realistic goal related to your production role:
By the end of the session (1/9/26) as producer I’m going to establish contingency roles within the team, make notes on team accomplishments and challenges everyday, and finish the GDD.
Drawing a full design sketch for what MVP should look like.
40 minutes
My best practice aws creativity, I used artistic skills. to make an illustration that communicated my idea for what MVP for the game should look like.
1-6
Updating trello board with completed tasks, established contingency roles, communicated with teammates about art directiom.
40 minutes
My best practices were communication and career, I demonstraited communication skills by communicating with my teammates on their progress with the game, and I demonstrated career skills by organizing tasks in trello.
1-7
Problem Solving how files in Godot works.
30 minutes
My best practices was problem solving, I spent the majority of my time today figuring out hot to import files into godot.
1-8
Update trello board and project tracking sheet, work on team project slideshow
40 minutes
My best practice was coordination because I worked with my teammates.
1-9
Improving slideshow, updating trello board, reviewing production tasks, and other things.
40 minutes
my best practice was career because I practiced career skills by staying on task, and communication by communicating with my team about our objectives for the day and for the rest of the project.
Personal Reflection on the Week
Did you achieve your weekly goal? What was the biggest issue or problem you overcame this week? How did you overcome this issue or problem? Be specific.
I accomplished the weekly
Most Proud of…
Describe in complete sentences what you are most proud of after completing this week’s work.
DELETE MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
