Introduction 

For this term, we were given the chance to expand our creative skills further then the first term. During our practice sessions, we were given a stimulus for across four weeks, which included certain challenges that we needed to use for each song. The end goal for our performance would be getting the chance to be recorded in a live TV studio, with professional cameras and perform a live stream performance. This was an incredible experience to perform our four new originals in front of cameras instead of a live audience in front of you and in the room. The four songs that we have created in this term we are all really proud off and are confident with how to perform them. This was a new way of performing and it allowed us to compare the different ways of performing as well as the production side and setting up the live cameras and preparing.

Introduction

Throughout this term our practical sessions have been focused on creating original composition. This is definatley an exciting process for me that I wanted to get involved with. Me and my band had to create four completely original pieces of work, these songs also had to follow set stimulus' which was a challenge has we had to limit ourselves with creative ideas, but its really enjoyable to have a challenge and stretch ourselves to our best capabilities.

I think at the end of creating our four originals we were all pleased with the results, but some issues did put us back in some of the four weeks and it reminds us to realize these issues for them to not happen again. During our first week we were all getting used to playing with each other after last term, as I joined another band it was essential for me to learn how everyone else worked and played. The first week was a bit stressful, as I was not in for the first lesson back the guys had to pick a chord progression and turn it into a song as well as follow a set theme for the lyrics. This was stressful for the guys as they could not come up with a melody that they were happy with and felt like they wasted a whole session. I was at home and I thought I would have a look at the chord sheet and have a go by myself to create a riff that I could bring to the group. Overall this turned out to be highly effective and in the end, we chose my progression and we were up and running. This was a mistake that we had to learn to change and adapt to In the future with time management and keeping on track with deadlines. But overall, the song turned out to be really good and we discovered that the song sounded really surf rocky and we liked it.

Another point that went really well, would be how we all can play these songs very confidentially without any major mistakes. This shows our professionalism and how we can successfully work in a group. In a performance as well we are all really good at communicating with one another. For example in song 3 after the bridge, there is a slight pause and then we all come in again. This crucial that we get this on time with one another to make it the most effective, and so far that has been pretty successful and we've got it on the mark. Throughout the four weeks, we have been doing LPWs where we perform in front of our class the originals we have done so far. The idea is to show the progress of growth and become tighter as a group. For me, I've found it really important that I am tight with Josh's tempo and kick drum, as we are the solidarity rhythm section, I think that has been progressing and getting since starting to play together which was at the start of the year. Even though it has been a challenge in places where Josh has had to do an off-beat in song 2, the song turned out the way we wanted and what was on the stimulus.

Me as the bass player and the new member of the band, which was already formed before I joined, I've really enjoyed creating originals with a group ensemble. There are many more positives but I've highlighted the key ones. We as a group want to aim bigger and create some more originals that hopefully could be released to a wider audience.

There are not many problems that came along with the actual performance but more down to us getting prepared and the process we follow to create our originals. One of the main issues throughout the practical sessions would be the lyrics, as I have mentioned in my song blogs. This was an issue in the sense that we all relied on Izzy to produce the lyrics when in fact we all should have been doing our parts and helping her out more than we did. It makes the process for Izzy more stressful as she has had to do it on her own when in fact we all should be giving our ideas. Me and the rest of the group gave her some phrases and lines that could work, but next time we should all try and aim to make a verse or lyrics in order to save time. This is a lesson for us all to do, as we all work well in a group and we are all really close, so it's vital that we keep it that way of course, and give our input.

.Secondly, time management and preparation is a key for us to really get good. I've mentioned beforehand about making sure we make the most out of the sessions we are given. As for the first song, there was a delay in choosing a chord progression, which put us a step back in the week. This was definitely in song 1, but by the end of the four weeks we had gotten the hang of things ultimately we should come up with ideas beforehand and think ahead during the week, so while we were coming to the end of our first song we should of already be thinking what kind of style we wanted to do for the following week.

Therefore, there are a few issues that I have addressed and we are already aware of them as a group. We aim next time for more collaborative teamwork during the creation of the lyrics as well as keeping on track with how long we are coming up with ideas.

On the day of our performance, we were shown our way around the equipment, I found this fascinating. Me, Josh, and I were all on the cameras and Izzy was in the gallery working the desk, on the Tuesday before the TV studio teachers showed us how to use the cameras and the equipment in the gallery. We learned how to pan and tilt the cameras as well as zoom and focus the camera on people's faces and objects. As well for in the gallery suite, this is the area where the sound engineer, vision mixer, and studio director. Each of these roles are extremely important, the vision mixer select what the viewers see on their televisions at home. Sitting next to the studio director in the production gallery, in front of an array of monitors, they cut between the different pictures available in real time. The director of the gallery will communicate with those that are the cameras, asking them to tilt or pan the cameras in order to recieve an interesting shot. I found the set up fascinating and it made me feel more confident about my way around the cameras when the day came.

During our performance, we were all fully prepared for the live recording performance. The only change to the performance was that it was not a live stream, because there were some technical difficulties on the day. But still, the day was treated like it was being live-streamed on high-quality cameras. The plan for the recording was to be played out, where one group from group A and group B switched positions in the studio recording. My band was the first to go up to do the positioning of cameras and work the gallery, we were all given a rundown of the equipment and how to move the cameras and create interesting and different shots and angles. While the the group A band was setting up and tuning; me, Josh, and Kyran were all on the cameras while Fin was the stage manager and Izzy was in charge of the monitors and changing what the audience would see on the screen. 

Our actual performance went really well, even though it was quite scary being in front of loads of cameras and bright flashing lights, it put us in a professional position. We all knew the songs well; which is a main positive that came out overall. These four songs are the originals that we created in four weeks that we were all really proud of and were excited to get them recorded on a professional TV camera.  As it was a performance we had to discuss what to wear and we chose to keep it colorful as the boys wore Hawaiian shirts and me and Izzy wore bright clothes. This was to match our upbeat set. Also began to play the songs were going really smoothly and I felt confident in myself and what I was playing, but also had slight nerves which I always get. Throughout the performance, we were giving each other cues on when to move on to different parts of the song, which is good to not be triggered in one spot, it is good to look around and interact with on another, which is what we did. For example, I look at Kyran quite a lot, as he is the rhythm guitarist I normally follow his lead when he changes chords or when the bridge comes up in song 3. Below shows our TV studio performance 

There were not many mistakes that happened throughout the performance as we all played well as we normally do. But I think one that we all know about would be our stage presence and our lack of interaction with the audience. Even though it was a live stream and not in front of an actual, it was harder for live reactions, but I think in between songs there should have been a bit more interaction from our lead singer Izzy, and maybe talking a bit more about the song or introducing the band. Stage presence does go for all of us, as this could include looking at each other more and smiling I do feel like I am concentrating so much on what I am playing I forget to look up at everyone else. For myself, I think I need to work on exactly what I previously said but other than that I think I played well because I knew what I was playing and have practiced many times in order to perfect it. Overall the performance for everyone was really solid and I enjoyed the camera environment, but would have been nice to have a little audience in order for reactions. Below is a video of our full television performance.

This is my solo performance evaluation, which I have mainly spoken about in my Project 4, where I speak about how it went and what I could improve in the next time I do a solo performance. I will break down my preparation for performing and what I have done in order to learn the songs I chose.

I think both of my performances went quite well, I did find the songs I chose were quite complex and challenging but that was the whole idea of what I wanted to set myself. My first solo performance was 'Can't Stop' by the Red Hot Chilli Pepper. I chose this song simply because I like the band and the funk elements they bring to their music and I found the track catchy and decided to have a go at playing. My preparation before my performance was following an online tutorial on how to play the bassline, at first I thought the chords looked a bit complicated but as I started playing I got into the rhythm and then I simply just used the track with no bass and I played along over and over again. During my actual performance, I felt like it was going alright, but I was nervous as this was my first performance I wanted to keep going and finish even if I made a small mistake. Overall my first performance went well and I was able to be consistent with the tempo and I did not spread up or slow down.

Next, I performed my second solo performance in March. I knew from my last solo performance I wanted to improve from last time, to do that I knew I had to pick a harder song with a complex bassline. Therefore I prepared and performed Boogie Oogie Oogie by The Taste of Honey and I found I did the best I could do, as my hand began to get tired, so I knew I had to power to the end of the song. I also improved with my finger-playing technique which was a big improvement and made a difference to my playing and the overall feel.  Originally I was not going to do this song instead I wanted to do a punk song and something far different from my last song. But I wanted a challenge and believed that this was a good choice and therefore I did my best to perform in front of the class. 

I believe I am quite hard on myself when it comes to my solo performances as I always focus more on the negatives than the positives. But I think the main ones that were from my first solo performance would be my finger and playing techniques. In the original, it was a well-known song for slap bass which I have not yet mastered and I felt that that was a big part of the song that was left out, so therefore I maybe should have chosen a song that was capable of learning but also a challenge, which can be hard to look for. Another issue that I think led me to being more nervous would be my bass being slightly out of tune at the beginning and I was stopped and needed to tune up. This wasn't too effective but did set me off a little, but I was able to recover and perform the whole of the song. Therefore, there are a few things that I need to work on, such as improving my overall successful finger technique and I very rarely play with my thumb now.

To improve on my second solo performance would be learning the song earlier. I changed my choice quite late with what song I wanted to play and this could have made me more prepared. I spoke more about what I could improve on in my project 4 Task 4 and how I could improve next time when I have to do a solo performance. 

The production side of the course has been really enjoyable this term, as we have delved into recording our music as well as using professional cameras in a TV studio. I will go through what went well and what we could improve on for next time, as this is a new experience for most of us and we all enjoyed the new experience and what we could take from it in our future careers. 

Within our recording sessions, we were able to fully complete a recorded original with mixing, editing, and mastering. We chose to record our first original called 'Alive' where we underwent the process of recording drums, Bass guitar, rhythm guitar, then lead guitar, and finally vocals. The first session went well in fact we were all getting used to the equipment we were using and needed, even though we did not end up using the drum track in the session it was still really helpful to understand what we were meant to be doing and creating a forward plan for the upcoming sessions. The second session was more successful as we completed Josh's drums, and this did take a little while to do because we had to set up a lot of microphones around the kit, but ultimately we did not have to come back to the drums and overall it was a success and we were able to move on to the next session confidently. In the third session, we completed my bass guitar as well as Kyran's rhythm guitar which meant we had the foundation rhythm section completed. We were overall happy with our progress so far in the recording stages and we were starting to get the hang of the setup and how to run things. Finally, in the fourth session, we had the whole song completed with the recordings and we recorded Fin's lead guitar which took a couple of takes but it was important to make sure that he was happy with what he had done, as well for Izzy recording her vocals. There were hardly any negatives with the recording process as we all worked well as a team to everything done to a high standard, which paid off as the overall outcome was also perfect. Therefore, in all of the sessions I have gone through, we have all been proactive with this task to record and this makes it so useful for all of us to take those skills and use them in our careers. 

Then afterward it was the mixing process, and we all individually mixed and edited our instruments to reach the tight sound. I found that I did not need to change much on the bass, as I liked the original recorded sound, but I wanted to add some low frequencies for a fuller sound. Therefore the mixing process did not take long for each of us and we got the sound we wanted and then put it on SoundCloud.

There are not many negatives, but there are a couple that need to be addressed in detail, one of them being organized. We are still learning as a group and doing this recording session showed our vital it is for each session to be made the most out of. This could include making a list of essential things we would like to get done for each session, and therefore this would save precious time to do the actual recording. Additionally, not rushing the recording, when we realized about Josh's drum mistake we all began to panic a little bit that we had wasted a whole session, which was a bit frustrating. This made us all think that we needed to get things done quickly but in fact, we had plenty of time to get the rest of the instruments done. 

Also, there was a problem when I was recording my bass part, that Josh had made the opening much more than it was originally. I speak about this in my blog in task 6, this was not a major problem because I was able to adapt my part but it would have been helpful for him to guide the tempo of the drums. Therefore next time, we should use a metronome or a click track. But ultimately, we quickly adapted from these mistakes and the rest of the sessions were successful and we did complete everything. I have learned a lot with learning the ways to record and I have found it really interesting how producers do record in a professional recording studio. 

This project is a combination of production and performance research. Where I have looked at essential skills and knowledge I will need to know for this term. I have always really liked researching so in this area I was confident to know what to look out for and key websites and videos that can support what I am saying.

On the production side of the blog, I have researched all the different recording equipment that are essential for recording musicians. The different equipment included Microphones, and different DAWS (Digital Audio Stations). This was an important step because since most of us have had a bit of experience in recording, I knew what kind of microphones would be needed for different occasions. Therefore I knew I needed to find articles, websites, etc that could support my points, and even though this process took time a while, I found it was important to get evidence of my points. I also spoke about the mixing, editing, and mastering process and how this is a post-production task, I didn't know as much about mixing and mastering as I did about editing so I knew those two were the essential ones that I needed to find clear definitions to explain what they are. Therefore I found after my research I knew much more then I did beforehand, which is a big step since I am confident on the production side and know specific names for everything, but I am happy about what functions each equipment has that I have talked about and I can further apply this onto my next production task.

Looking back on my work there are a couple of things that I could improve on next time. I think of research a bit more into the equipment and given some more examples on what equipment is essential, but this was due to me minimalizing what to right instead of righting load and not putting in the detail. Also its difficult to see other improvements because I have not got any feedback from my work yet, so therefore there may be some more comments that would be helpful for me. Therefore my production blog has helped me to understand what it takes to put on a recorded session in the future and what I can bring to the session.