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u32musicperformanceskills · 6 years ago

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Task 1: Rehearsals and Repertoire Development

Tuesday 19th September

One of the first things that we did that would prepare ourselves for the upcoming rehearsals was to choose a variety of songs to learn that we could add to our repertoire, this would help us to have a variety of different material to choose from in the weeks to come and would also give us the opportunity to experiment with different songs that contrasted one another. We discussed as a group songs that would equally benefit each other’s particular instrument and decided that it would be fair if we each chose two songs each. Dan already had a number of different tracks saved onto Spotify in which we went through to identify which songs would be good to learn, we chose simple songs at first in order to build up the repertoire. We decided that we would go away and send our choice of songs through email and once we had chosen, we would provide everyone with chord sheets and lyrics so that they could be learnt at home and come to the next session prepared to rehearse. We decided that for next session we would learn the songs ‘Fade Into You’ by Mazzy Star, ‘Come Away With Me’ by Norah Jones and ‘Crazy Girls’ by Paramore. We then discussed which individual parts everyone would be playing. For Crazy Girls we decided that Jess would sing the lead vocals as she has a voice that is more suited to rock and pop music and I would sing harmonies where needed. We thought this would be a good addition to the song as it would show that we could work together as vocalists and also add vocal layers to make the song sound more full. We also decided that the instrumentation would consist of Piano, played by Esme, another set of keys/strings played by Jake, electric guitar played by Dan, bass guitar played by Dan, bass guitar played by Jack and drums played by Matt. For Fade Into You we would have the same setup but I would be singing the lead vocals, Jess on harmonies if need be but this wasn’t a definite as the song is very sparse and only has one vocal all the way through. Jake would be playing synth on the keys instead of strings. The setup would also be the same for Come Away With Me. The decisions regarding instrumentation where decided by referring to the original as a reference track as well as key and tempo. We decided that the best way to learn these songs without taking up precious rehearsal time would be to identify our own individual parts and going away and learning them at home in our own time, this way we would all come to rehearsal and we could combine what we had learned together to make up the whole song. This proved to be successful.

Because we had discussed all of this prior to the first rehearsal, when the first rehearsal came round we were all prepared with Lyric sheets and Chord sheets which told us which key to play in and the structure of each song and we managed to go through all three songs fairly fast although we did struggle slightly with the timing of ‘Come Away With Me’ as the song is very slow in tempo but sparse in instrumentation and the phrasing is fast so I found it difficult to initiate where to come in as I was relying on the instrumentation for this. We decided that we may have to fasten the tempo on ‘Fade Into You’ as the song is very repetitive and slow and could come across as boring. We ensured that we where tight by going through specific sections of the songs one at a time, especially on the solo on Crazy Girls as it helped Jess know when to start singing again. Before leaving the session, we sat down and discussed which songs we would rehearse next week. We decided that for myself I wanted something a little bit more upbeat as both of my songs this week where slow in tempo and simple. We decided that for next week we would learn the songs ‘Magic Man’ by Heart, ‘Black Tears’ by Imelda May and ‘Beautifully Unconventional’ by Wolf Alice. Jess chose Black Tears to contrast with ‘Crazy Girls’ which is fast and punk/pop where Black Tears is a slow emotional ballad. We decided that both Jess and Myself would sing Beautifully Unconventional as we both wanted to sing the song yet I felt that I would struggle to sing the Chorus and Jess would struggle to sing the verses so we decided that instead of doing harmonies we would section the song up into individual parts. Again, before we went away we came together and listened to the reference tracks and discussed which key we would play in. We decided to play Magic Man in G Minor, Black Tears in A major and Beautifully Unconventional in B Major.

Tuesday 26th September

Again, we all came to the session prepared as we had learned all of our individual parts in order to contribute to the session. This saved so much time as it meant that we could use this time to rehearse instead of learning the lyrics and chords. In order to learn the lyrics at home, I would choose songs that I already knew so this made it easier for me but I would listen to the song on repeat whilst reading along with the lyrics in front of me. Then, after a while I would take the lyrics away and try and sing without them. This rehearsal was a success as we went through all of the songs and we also put them together with the songs we had previously rehearsed. Our goals to work on for the next session where to pick some more songs for next week and I was to learn the middle section of Magic Man as I did not feel comfortable with it, Dan also had some trouble with the solo and this needed to be worked on in order for it to transition into the last part of the song. The songs we decided on for next session where Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson, Something Like Olivia by John Mayer and Right Now by Jeff Beck. We were also informed that we would be helping some students at college and we where also informed that we would be taking part in an external gig at the Black Market to showcase the songs that we have been working on as well as a morning hub stage performance at college which we could use as an opportunity to practice our songs in front of an audience. We questioned whether or not that Dirty Diana should be acoustic but we decided to try both and see which one sounded better. Below are the chord sheets for Dirty Diana and Something Like Olivia, we did not have chords sheets for Right Now as the melody is a sequence made out of riffs. We decided that Jess would sing Right Now and Something Like Olivia and I would sing Dirty Diana based on who chose the songs.

October 10th 2017 - October 17th 2017

In October of 2017 we were asked to perform for an event that occurred on Tuesday mornings called The Hub Stage Live. We performed alongside other music students in order to provide some entertainment and in order to get some practice performing in front of a live audience. We were asked to perform two songs, this meant that me and Jess would perform a song each alongside the rest of the band. As a group, we took into consideration the repertoire we already had available to us and decided which songs would be the most suitable for the event regarding genre and quality of rehearsals. We decided that the two songs that we would be performing where Magic Man and Crazy Girls. We decided that these where the correct choices as they where the tightest instrumentally. Below is a video of the performance.

vimeo

I think that overall, this performance was a success to say it was our first real performance of the year and there was room for improvement. For example, I felt like both vocal performances could have been stronger in terms of diction and projection, this may have been a technical issue. Another way that we could have improved is that we could have given more effort in stage presence but as I said before this was our first performance of the year. As for instrumentation, you can see from the video that the instrumentation is tight but was slightly drowned out by the vocals on some parts. The instrumentalists communicated with each other well by giving subtle gestures to help each other through the song structures.

OXJAM

On the 19th of October we took part in a charity fundraiser for Oxfam in which we performed live at Refined which is the colleges restaurant. In order to prepare for this we used previous rehearsal sessions in order to build up our set list. We decided to use the majority of the songs that we had learned in previous sessions with the exception of ‘Aint it Fun’ which we chose to throw in at the last minute. We where able to do this as Dan had already learned the chord sheets for this and we decided to do an acoustic version. We had already performed and learned this in previous performances so we decided to perform this instead of Mazzy Star as we all agreed that it was too melancholy for the event. We did not capture any videos of recordings of this particular performance but I felt like this performance went well and was a huge improvement from the Hub Stage gig. This was evident as you could tell that we all felt much more confident from the way we projected and how tight the band where instrumentally. Together, we made this performance a success as we met together to create a set list in which we felt would heighten the atmosphere and dynamics of the set. Below is a copy of the set list we came up with.

As you can see, we began the set with ‘Right Now’ which is a heavy rock song, we decided to do this first as we felt it would get the audience’s attention instead of starting with a slow acoustic song which could potentially give a different atmosphere. As you can also see from the set list, we discussed and decided as a group that we should avoid swapping performers on stage as this could potentially increase the chances of accidents and would not seem professional. We kept Beautifully Unconventional after No Other Heart so that Jess could stay on stage and then leave as soon as the song finished so that I could start my set. This also saved time before songs and meant we could begin playing as soon as the previous song finished instead of waiting around for vocalists to come onto the stage. This is ideal when performing gigs, especially if you have a set time limit in which you have to finish your set.

31st October - 6th November

In between this time, we discussed a number of other songs in which we wanted to add to our repertoire. The first song that we discussed was ‘New Perspective’ by Panic At the Disco which was one of Jess’s choices. The reason why it was the vocalists choosing the songs is that we had to choose songs that we felt was suitable for our key and range and it was easier to decide that for ourselves in which case me and Jess had creative control. This meant that we could be more involved in the directing process. For example, because we were doing covers, it was easy for us all to try and replicate the original sound but sometimes we would have to change the style and characteristics which meant we could improvise. The second song we discussed was ‘Girl With One Eye’ by Florence and the Machine which was my song choice. The third song we chose was ‘Naive’ by the Kooks which was also Jess’s choice and finally, ‘Somebody To Love’ by Jefferson Airplane. We felt as a group that these would be good additions to our repertoire as they gave contrast and variety and at this stage, our songs had a huge variety in genre and mood which meant that we could design different types of set lists to fit certain events if need be. Earlier, I mentioned that we may have to change the style of a song to fit a specific event, below is an example of when we had to change the sound of ‘Somebody to Love’ in order to fit a Lounge style. We did this by playing it in a more Jazz style instead of psychedelic.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t1xgvir9cpfxz5r/AADsm6bt2pCDorxgymLqlN3ua?dl=0&preview=Somebody+To+Love.MP4

Again, we used chord sheets for the instrumentalists and chord sheets for the vocalists. Having these ensured that we could have a smooth run through the songs we had chosen before we were confident enough to perform without them.

The rehearsal of the songs mentioned above went well as we all went away and learned our parts in our own time, the only particular problem that we had was tempo during Somebody To Love but this was just a case of speeding it up slightly and also, the beginning of Girl With One Eye needed a guitar strum to give me an idea of when to start singing. As me and Jess both chose songs that we already enjoyed singing and had already practised, this made the rehearsal run smoothly. The only song that we did not get to rehearse was Naive as neither me or Jess had learned the lyrics so we decided we would leave this song for now and come back to it at a later date. Once again, we decided on who would sing this by who chose the song. Our goals for next session where to learn the songs for next session which where for Jess to learn the lyrics for Naive, ‘Closing Time’ by Semisonic and ‘Rhiannon’ by Fleetwood Mac.

Hub Stage - 14.11.17

We took part in another Hub Stage performance in which we were asked to perform another two songs from our repertoire. We decided to choose two songs that we felt where the strongest from our rehearsals. We chose Right Now and Somebody to Love. These two songs where chosen as we felt Right Now got a good reception at the Oxfam gig and I chose Somebody To Love as this was a new song that I wanted to practice and also I thought that it sounded tight both vocally and instrumentally. The link for the video for this hub stage is below.

vimeo

If I were to comment on my own personal performance in this video I would say that my vocal performance has improved in terms of it being much more controlled than the previous hub stage performance. This could be because this song is much less demanding than ‘Magic Man’ and the variety in dynamics makes it hard to stay smooth and controlled in pitch. I feel like this could be improved by warming up before singing in order to warm up the vocals, especially if you have to sing loud or project to large audiences. I feel like I could have improved when it comes to making eye contact to the audience as you can see in the video that I spend a lot of time looking at the ground, this is due to nerves and also I was using my lyrics which makes me look unprofessional. I could change this by learning my lyrics or trying not to use my lyrics in rehearsals.

21st November 2017

In this rehearsal we decided to go over the songs that Dan had emailed to us and that he had discussed in the previous session. We first decided to run through a full band version of Rhiannon to try and make it sound as close to the original as we could although personally I did not feel that it sounded right as in the original there is synth and is upbeat. I communicated with my fellow band members and gave them the idea that we should make it minimal with an acoustic guitar and piano as I wanted my vocals to sound raw and vulnerable to give the song more edge and so that we weren’t just performing a straight cover. We practised it the way I suggested and Esme played chords on the piano and Dan played the main melody on acoustic and electric guitar depending on which one was available. We felt it sounded better this way, therefore we made the song acoustic for the future. We then decided to go through Naive as Jess did not get a chance to do this in the previous session as either of us had learned the lyrics. We decided not to do Semisonic as neither of us had learned the lyrics to that one either, we decided to go through some of the other songs from previous sessions. I also gave myself the goal of trying to warm up before rehearsal sessions as my voice kept breaking during Rhiannon and because this is such a sparse arrangement, my vocals are very exposed.

12th December 2017

This session was spent concentrating on our chosen set list for The Black Market gig on the 19th, we met in the Live Room where our rehearsals take place and we wrote down our set list on the board and went through it in order to make sure that the order was creatively correct in terms of dynamics and stage management such as coming on and off stage. The rehearsal went well as we where performing songs that we had been rehearsing over a number of weeks. My own personal goal for the gig was to try and beat the nerves that where causing me to need my lyrics. We agreed that we were going to have a dress rehearsal of the entire set this coming Friday to ensure that the set run smoothly.

BLACK MARKET

For the Black Market gig we had to perform a half an hour set bringing together our best songs from our rehearsal sessions and also songs that would fit with the atmosphere of the gig venue itself. As the Black Market is a pub and also a live music venue, we chose to provide a set that consisted of full band performances and we decided this as a group in our rehearsal session that morning. We worked together to produce a set list in the order that we thought would be best, we decided that Jess would perform first as her songs where the most upbeat and full band and we wanted to give a good impression right from the start.

Below is the link to the recording of our set at the Black Market:

https://moodle.wnc.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/185663/mod_resource/content/0/HND%20Music%20Black%20Market%20191217.mp3

18th - 23rd January 2018

In between this time we were informed that we had been invited to perform for the Hotel Takeover that the college was being involved in, we used our first rehearsal after Christmas to discuss what kind of music the clients wanted. They specified that they want something along the lines of ‘Mad Hatters Tea Party’ which we took as a live lounge type of genre. We came together as a band and discussed which songs out of our previous rehearsals we could change into this type of genre. We agreed that for myself, we would change ‘Somebody To Love’ into a jazzy, swung version, below was our attempt at this.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t1xgvir9cpfxz5r/AADsm6bt2pCDorxgymLqlN3ua?dl=0&preview=Somebody+To+Love.MP4

We then came up with a few songs that we could interpret into this type of theme and the songs we came up with where ‘Aint No Mountain’ by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrel, ‘Be The One’ Dua Lipa’, ‘Havana’ by Camilla Cabello, ‘Be My Baby’ by The Ronnettes and ‘Toxic’ by Melanie Martinez. The reason I chose ‘Be The One’ is because we wanted something that was recognisable to the younger audience and Dua Lipa was very popular at the time. We changed all of these songs into acoustic, lounge covers by communicating with each other and directing each other. We did this by listening to reference tracks improvisation. Below is Jess’s cover of ‘Toxic’ which we felt was very relevant to what the client asked for.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t1xgvir9cpfxz5r/AADsm6bt2pCDorxgymLqlN3ua?dl=0&preview=Toxic.MP4

Our goals for next session where to practice the songs from today and also, Dan decided that we should learn 5 songs a week instead of 3, which we felt was doable as we had been learning songs at a fast rate so far.

In this session we also gave Dan a list of other songs we would like to add to our repertoire. The songs we chose were ‘This Love’ by Maroon 5, ‘Cosmic Love’ by Florence and the Machine, ‘Dangerous Woman’ by Ariana Grande, ‘Roxanne’ by Sting and Can’t Take My Eyes of You by Andy Williams. our goal for next session was to learn these songs by using lyric sheets and chord sheets provided by Dan and add these to our repertoire. These where songs that would also add to our set list for the Hotel Takeover as these would work as lounge type songs.

6th February 2018

In this rehearsal we went over the songs that we were assigned. First we went through ‘Aint No Mountain’ in which we decided to split the song up into two sections as the song has a male and female vocal. We decided that I would sing the female vocals and Jess would sing the male as her voice is capable of a lower range than mine. This song was going well until we got to the middle as I was unsure of where to come in but with the help of my band members, we used subtle signals to on another to signal me in. This proves that we can work together to create a smooth performance and it also gave me the opportunity to practice critical listening as I had to listen out for the specific part in which I had to come in, even if it meant repeating a bar. We decided not to do Can’t Take My Eyes Off You as I was struggling to stay in key, even after changing it. We decided we would change this song for something else. We also discussed adding ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None The Richer, ‘Anywhere’ by Rita Ora, ‘Gypsy’ by Fleetwood Mac and ‘Glorybox’ by Portishead. Our goals for next session where to review the chords and lyric sheets in order to be prepared before hand.

Hub Stage Live

The Hub Stage Live performance was a live show that we took part in at college to support our fellow students. For this performance, we decided that I would perform the same songs from The Black Market gig with the exception of Magic Man as I expressed to the group that I did not think it was received well and also that it did not add to our repertoire in a positive way. We swapped this song for Be My Baby, which was a song we had not performed yet. This performance would prepare us for our next upcoming gig at The Diamond and give us chance to test out new material. Below is the Links to my performance.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t1xgvir9cpfxz5r/AADsm6bt2pCDorxgymLqlN3ua?dl=0&preview=Girl+With+One+-+Be+My+Baby+(Hub+8th+Feb).MP4

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t1xgvir9cpfxz5r/AADsm6bt2pCDorxgymLqlN3ua?dl=0&preview=Rhiannon+-+Somebody+To+Love+(Hub+8th+Feb).MP4

Below is also the sound that was recorded on the laptop:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t1xgvir9cpfxz5r/AADsm6bt2pCDorxgymLqlN3ua?dl=0&preview=HND+Music+Hub+Stage+8th+Feb+2018.mp3

As a group we learned from this performance that we needed to stop taking so long to get set up and try and start the next song straight after the previous as you can hear and see from the video, there are long pauses in the middle of songs while we find our lyrics and wait for everyone to be ready. Not only does this look unprofessional but it wastes time.

13th February - 2018

In this session we rehearsed the songs from last session and also began rehearsing the songs given to us at the end of last session. We began the rehearsal by attempting ‘Gypsy’ in which he had to change the key as it was too low for me in the verse, although in the chorus it sounded tight. I also rehearsed ‘Kiss Me’ which was shorter than we originally thought, we got this right in one go but we decided that we would include the full band so that it did not sound so empty as the original song had harmonies.

The Diamond - 15th March 2018

In order to prepare ourselves for The Black Market gig we got together as a band and reviewed the repertoire that we had developed so far. The set list that we came up with was designed with all of our input and was determined by the mood of the songs. We had to do an acoustic set this time as we were missing some of our band members but this turned out as an advantage in the end the songs that we chose where complimented by the acoustic set up.

From here on our rehearsal sessions where building up our repertoire with a variety of different songs in which would prepare for us for any upcoming gigs, for example, we repeated some of our sets for the Refined gig and also performances in the atrium where we had a stand in drummer. We also used our Hotel Takeover set for the careers fair in the atrium as this particular event was cancelled. We worked together to produce an acoustic set for this using old material.

The last set of songs that we added to our repertoire where songs that we wanted to add for the second Diamond gig as this time our set would be longer. We decided as a group that we wanted to add some more up tempo songs that would compliment our repertoire but also show variety in genre. The songs we chose where ‘Youngblood’ by 5 Seconds of Summer, ‘One Way or Another’ by Blondie, ‘Teenager in Love’ by Madison Beer, ‘Unfortunate Souls’ by Kailee Morgue and ‘Holy Diver’ by DIO. We used the rest of our rehearsal sessions to perfect these to the best we could. Jess’s songs went smoothly in rehearsal but I struggled in the chorus with the phrasing of One Way or Another so we decided to add Dreams by Fleetwood Mac at the last minute as I knew I could sing this song without any mistakes and it would save us time. We decided to keep Dreams acoustic. Holy Diver was a success and the only thing I had to take away to learn was the lyrics and the instrumentalists needed to learn the solo as they had improvised in rehearsal. This was an advantage because it is typical of the genre for solos to be improvised. As this song has a long introduction and is repetitive, it is easy for performers to get confused with how many bars they’ve played so we used signals to one another to que in when the vocals start. I also helped the instrumentalists know when to come in by singing ooo’s at the beginning. We used chord sheets and lyric sheets in order to perform the song correctly.

The Diamond Gig - 22nd May

Our final gig was made up of the repertoire that we had been building as a group for the past year, we managed to fit in many different varieties of genre and style in order to demonstrate the creative process of preparing for a live group performance and how versatile we are are musicians. We relied on chord sheets and lyric sheets and each other in order to create a live performance that was tight and professional and we also used these things to produce cover arrangements and even some originals. Our final set list was made up of both full band pieces and acoustic pieces and was as follows:

Dreams

Valerie

Toxic

Be My Baby

Somebody To Love

Holy Diver

Girl With One Eye

Right Now

Homewrecker

Unfortunate Souls

Afraid

Young Blood

Teenager In Love

Don’t Look Back In Anger

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u32musicperformanceskills · 6 years ago

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Task 3: Portfolio of Evaluations

Rhiannon - The Diamond 1

The first live performance that I will be evaluating is my cover of ‘Rhiannon’ by Fleetwood Mac which our band performed at The Diamond on the 15th of March in 2018. This arrangement consisted of three musicians who were myself on vocals, Daniel Woodward on acoustic guitar and Esme Racey on the keyboard. The first thing I am going to be commenting on is my individual technique, control, accuracy and improvisation as a solo. As you can hear from the link in the previous log, you can hear that my vocals start off shaky and the pitch and the key of the words ‘Rhiannon rings’ sound like they are not very well controlled but as the vocals progress you can hear that they strengthen and become smoother and much more controlled as the song progresses. This small disadvantage is probably due to either two things which are not warming up before I began to sing. Warming up is important as it helps the vocals become prepared for a performance. This can be helped by trying not to sing on an empty stomach or drink room temperature water before hand. The key and pitch and accuracy throughout the remainder of the song is consistent and I feel like I offered a warm, smooth performance. The transitions between the high notes on words such as ‘all your life’ where controlled by going into my head voice, which gives me more control and makes the vocals sound softer. I think I could have offered more control if I had used microphone techniques such as moving further away from the microphone where the vocals are more powerful to decrease the chances of the audience hearing my breathing or the popping sounds of some syllables. I managed to sing through the whole of the song without making a mistake which shows that my performance was accurate as I did not use my lyrics which made it sound and look professional. The band communication went smoothly because of how many times we had performed this song in the past both at the Black Market gig and also events at college and in rehearsals in which we worked together to map out the structure and also gave subtle signals such as nodding our head at one another when it was time for a specific thing such as vocals coming in or the end of a solo. This song did not really need any of these things as it came naturally with practice and work, sometimes I would even improvise and the instrumentalists would pick up on it. At one point in the song you can see that I look at Esme to let her know that there was a bridge. Because ‘Rhiannon’ is the same four chords all the way through it was easy to know when to come in. We thought that this particular song added to our repertoire as it can either be played acoustic or full band and complimented the style of our repertoire. It also added variety as acoustic has such a different atmosphere and mood than full band. I felt as an individual, my performance was a success as I looked and sounded confident and also had no use of my lyrics, you can see from the video that the whole band is really engrossed in their own personal part. I felt like my stage presence suited the song as the song is very emotional and slow in tempo and is quite raw in sound which was our own personal flare on the song as originally the song is very upbeat. We worked as a group to add our own influence to the song. For example, the song’s instrumentation is very stripped back in this performance with simple back and forth strums and sustained piano chord accompanied by warm, smooth vocals that fill in the space. I think that I could develop more personally when it comes to warming up my voice as it is quite common in my performances that my voice will break and then I find it difficult to regain control. Apart from this, I think this performance was a success.

Be My Baby - The Diamond 1

The second live performance that I will be evaluating is my cover of ‘Be My Baby’ by The Ronettes which our band performed at The Diamond on the 15th of March in 2018. This arrangement consisted of four musicians who were myself singing lead vocals, Jessica Hutson singing backing vocals, Daniel Woodward on acoustic guitar and Esme Racey on keyboard. As you can hear from the video in the previous log, my vocal technique in this song has good control in both pitch and accuracy apart from one section that stood out to me and this is in the first verse when I sing the words ‘every place we go’ you can hear that when I sing ‘go’ I lose some control when I descend the note. This could have been also because of lack of warm up, this was the second song after ‘Rhiannon’ which explains why this vocal performance is stronger and this is because Rhiannon warmed up my vocals. You can also hear towards the outro when I’m singing the ‘Oh’ phrase that my voice breaks ever so slightly. You can hear the tone of my vocals have become much warmer and smoother than ‘Rhiannon. I feel like I had good control over the ascending high notes and add libs at the end of each note as I feel the vibrato in my voice is well controlled and natural. I feel like Jess’s backing vocals complimented as a call and response and I relied on her as my band member as I knew when to come in by using critical listening and listening for her vocals as I sing as she says the word ‘baby’. If I could do anything differently, I would again warm up before hand or pull away from the microphone. As a band, it was important that Jess and myself had to communicate with each other in the chorus and you can also see us communicating in the small solo as I was waiting for Jess to sing and give me the signal to come back in. Esme and Dan communicated with each other by each of them listening to what each other are playing and me and Jess listen to what both of them are playing in order to know what to sing. If we could do this better I feel like we could improve our stage presence by walking around the stage or interacting with each other and the audience more. This song was an advantage to our repertoire as we did not have many songs in which Jess and I could perform together, this gave us the chance to practice this and also experiment with different vocal techniques. This was another song that we had practised a lot which meant we managed to get through the whole set without any mistakes and it was tight in instrumentation. Overall I think that this performance was a success.

Girl With One Eye - The Diamond 2

The next live performance that I will be evaluating is my cover of ‘Girl With One Eye’ by Florence and the Machine which our band performed at The Diamond on the 22nd of May in 2018. This arrangement consisted of five musicians who were myself on lead vocal, Daniel Woodward on electric guitar, Esme Racey on keyboard, Jack Derbyshire on bass guitar and Matt Noone on the drums. As you can hear from the video, the sound quality is not great so I have included the sound that was recorded on the laptop in order to listen to a clearer sound so I will split this evaluation into two sections, the stage presence and the sound itself. The first thing I noticed in this video is that I am using lyrics, but fortunately this did not effect my performance, they where more there for support in case I forgot. As a solo and an individual I feel like my body language suits the feel of the song which is almost sultry and psychedelic. You can see that I am swaying slightly and moving my head and body to the rhythm of the guitar and bass. Also, as you can see Jack is communicating with Matt in order to know when to come in with the bass as it does not come in until the chorus. I think that Jack could have changed his body language whilst waiting to play as he looks a bit lost. As a group we all showed that we could use critical listening in order to contribute to the set as all of the instruments played off each other well. I felt that we have worked hard as a group to make this song tight and it has improved every time we have played it in both full band and acoustic form. As a solo performance, my vocals where well controlled and I think that this song showcases how well my control is better than any other because of the different ranges of pitch and note changes and also ad libs as well which where improvised. My vocal technique was accurate and was very similar to the original, which weeks of rehearsals helped to develop. We decided to leave this song until last in my set list as it was the most demanding song so the songs previous where acting as a warm up. I especially showed good control during towards the end of the song when i had to keep a number of notes prolonged for a period of time as it is quite hard to do this and keep complete control but I feel like I did this well as my voice did not noticeably falter. I feel like this was a good addition to our repertoire as it added variety of genre and also style which was slightly jazzy and swung which we had not really done before. This song went so well because of weeks of repetitive rehearsals and we kept it in most of our set lists because it got a good reception.

Dreams - The Diamond 2

The next live performance that I will be evaluating is my cover of ‘Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac which our band performed at The Diamond on 22nd of May in 2018. This arrangement consisted of three musicians who were myself on lead vocal, Daniel Woodward on acoustic guitar and Esme Racey on keyboard. As you can hear from the video in the previous log, the sound quality is not to a good standard therefore I have added the sound that was recorded through the laptop to accompany this. As an individual and a soloist my technique and control throughout the performance was accurate in terms of pitch, as this was the first song of my set my voice was not warmed up so you can hear that my voice does break slightly in the first half of the song but it gradually improves as the song progresses. I worked in a group with Dan and Esme and used critical listening in order to listen out for when I was to come in again during the chorus and the second verse. I feel that my vocals are strongest during the chorus as I have to put more power into my voice than on the verse to give emphasis. I used the technique of moving away from the microphone on the stronger vocal parts such as when I say the words ‘players’ to ensure that the audience could not hear the popping as this is a mistake I have commonly used in the past. I also tried to use the technique of not pronouncing these types of words properly so I will be softer on the ‘p’. If I could improve my performance as an individual regarding this performance I would have tried to have a warm up before hand in order to avoid any cracking of the voice and also it would have helped me stay in key a little more as there are some parts were I go flat but it isn’t really noticeable. I could also fix this by possibly studying scales a little more and practising theory in order to understand more about key scales so that I can identify and train my ear to know when I am out of key. The band controlled the tempo of the song well by playing off one another. This song was a success even though it was one of the last songs we were to rehearse and this was also the first time performing this in front of a live audience. In rehearsals that morning we had decided to add or own artists flare and perform it as an acoustic. Overall, this song was a success as we worked together, referring back to our rehearsals and mirroring what we had practised in the sessions.

Kiss Me - The Diamond 1

The next live performance that I will be evaluating is my cover of ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None the Richer which our band performed at The Diamond on 15th of March in 2018. This arrangement consisted of three musicians who were myself on lead vocal, Daniel Woodward on acoustic guitar and Esme Racey on keyboard. As you can tell right from the start of the video, we are using band communication and critical listening in order for me to know when to begin singing, this is determined on what Dan plays as you can hear him go through a couple of bars before I come in. This gives me the opportunity to begin singing whenever I feel comfortable and also ensure that I am coming in at the right time as Dan is just repeating the melody. I think that my vocals are well controlled in terms of pitch and key but you can hear that my vocals drown out the instruments slightly at the start. This could have been avoided by using vocal techniques such as moving away from the microphone or even singing a little quieter. At 1:02 you can also hear that Dan hits a wrong string/note, it is only noticeable because I am not singing at the time of this happening but it is pulled back almost instantly. Overall I think that this song could have been made better if we had included the rest of the band but they were unavailable, also I think that we should have included Jess in on the vocals to offer some harmonies, this would have made it sound less sparse and more engaging and also would have shown more team work. Towards the end of the song I communicated with Dan through critical listening as I had to sing ‘kiss me’ repeatedly but I had to listen out for him to play 2 bars of the song before I sang it again. This was also improvisation as this does not happen on the original. This also helped Esme and Dan know when to finish the song as I would sing the words ‘Kiss me’ and let it ring out. This song was a good addition to our repertoire as it was a popular 90′s pop song in which we were lacking in our sets, this gave variety and style. We even added our own spin on it by changing it to an acoustic especially for the circumstances.

Toxic - The Diamond 2

The next live performance that I will be evaluating is my cover of ‘Toxic’ by Melanie Martinez which our band performed at The Diamond on 22nd of May in 2018. This arrangement consisted of three musicians who were myself on lead vocal, Daniel Woodward on acoustic guitar and Esme Racey on keyboard. As you can tell from the video and the sound clip provided in the previous log we used band communication between Dan, Esme and myself as we discussed in rehearsals that they would both repeat the same bar until I was ready to come in, this was easy as they were the same throughout until the song progresses. My individual vocal technique in this song is smooth with a shaky start as you can hear my voice breaks and I have to go into my head voice in order to better control the high notes. The vocal dynamics in this particular song vary and I am mostly improvising while referring to Jess’s former performance of this song which shows that I used critical listening in order to learn this song as I did not use a reference track of the original I just studied Jess’s performance. I also showed stylistic conventions as I used the lounge style which is slow and sultry. I also tried to phrase words by prolonging notes and then speeding them up. Towards the end of the song you can see that I look at Dan in order to signal the outro of the song. As an individual performance I feel like it was a success as I performed the song without any mistakes and was accurate both lyrically and regarding technique and control.

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