Final evaluation:
For this project, our aim was to have 3/4 complete original songs using different stimuli's provide. We had roughly 2-3 months to complete this task while also having recording sessions to record one of our songs that best shows our own individual musical skills and that also shows the stimulus clearly through the song. A goal i had in mind for this task was to get a better understanding at producing lyrics for our songs and working on my communication skills with others and working with others on a whole. For the production side of this project, we has to create a research blog into the different equipment we would use such as microphones, D.I. box, and amps etc. to give us more insight on the equipment we would use while recording our song. Furthermore, we also had to research mic-ing techniques such as the 'Glyn johns" technique used to mic up drums. We also learnt about editing techniques such as mixing and panning which we used to edit our song to come out with a final version. We had to do a performance blog as well, I looked into things such as equipment used when performing such as a PA system, and live streaming. Other factors in the performance blog are things such as stage presences and how it can impact a performance and how the performance is perceived by an audience.
Live streamed performance:
For a live streamed performance to be deemed as successful, I would suggest the idea that all band members would need to look engaged and having a good stage presence, i.e. engaging with other band members, and the audience (or cameras). They would also need to be playing the correct parts, and if any mess ups happen, to keep playing with confidence. For our performance, I would say we had some stage presences, with Vinny looking at other members and me (singer) also looking at other specially when solos, or breakdowns happen in the song. I feel we reflected of each other well, with a good end result. Everyone played confidently seeming to be relaxed showing how they aren't stressed or worried. I did mess up some lyrics however I did carry on without straying leading to the mess ups being minimal and hard to detect.
Before the performance, we had a group discussion on our third song since I hadn't heard it since changes had happen to the second verse. We agreed I would still sing the second verse but I changed up the melody, slowing it down and having it more melodic and flowy. I had changed the lighting to green to correspond with our second song, Medusa, with that song being our strong point since it was the main song we all felt confident in. We kept the song in the order of the stimuli's we got given, with one being our destination song and the most upbeat. The second and third song corresponded well together as the vibe of the songs were more 'darker'. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome, we communicated as much as we could with liminal ability to practise.
The best features of our performance would be how smoothly we pulled of our performance knowing two of the songs we had never played together as a full band. Also our stage presence was also something I would point our, as we all looked at each other not staying still or being emotionless. Especially Vinny stood out as he moved around the most, and made the most eye contact with the other band members, coming across more confident and seemingly in his (zone?).
On the second song, I did mess up the lyrics going into the verse. I had a state on blankness leading me to forget the lyrics. Also I lacked confidence going into the first song leaving my voice to come across a bit weak. Otherwise the performance went seemingly well.
From doing this performance, I learnt how to work the camera's in the studio, and the different movements such as panning- turning the camera left or right while staying in a fixed position, tracking- moving the camera/stand forwards or backwards, crabbing- moving the camera/stand left or right I also learnt about job roles such as camera operator- they control the camera's such as zoom and focusing on the band or certain members, a floor manger- they count the band in for when we go live and makes sure everything goes smoothly, Vision mixer (VM)- who changes the camera shown on a live stream using the panel to do so ETC. I also gained the idea of how a studio work and what its like performing in a studio to cameras rather than a live audience in front of me.
Skills I have developed through this experience would be how to work in a busy fast moving environment through things such as taking on the VM job role, keeping up with changing the cameras when told to do so. And the pressure of performing in front of multiple cameras, at first it didn't seem so scary but when I went up to perform it became more real, I gain more confidence when doing so. The atmosphere was very different to performing to visible audience, I felt there was less room for error and you can't stop the performance so any mistakes would be ignore and you would have to carry on. These skills will be useful to me in later project if I were to ever want to stream a performance or use the type of equipment used in the studios. Also communication skills, as you had to talk to other to keep the stream moving with a good pace and minimal mess ups.
Doing these types of performances helps give a perception of what it would be like if you were to do it for a different studio, or go out into the world and stream music. Such as places like BBC Studio. It also helps give the understand of working in a high pressured, fast moving atmosphere so if you were to go work in a studio you would have a better understanding of how quickly things work. It's also good for adapting to communicating with others as communication is a big part of working in a live streaming studio.
Overall, I would say this performance was successful as we completed our original songs having them kept to the tasks we were given and we was able to perform them all with minimal to no mistakes. A issue we had on the overall experience would be communication, but we pulled through having a group discussion before the performance and having a solution to the problem about song 3
This is our final performance in the TV studio where we performed our 3 original songs.
Performance evaluation:
A successful original song writing performance project would be 3/4 complete songs (depending on what we are told) to high standards, using the stimuli's we were given. And having those song fully showcase each members skills in each and own way.
The result of our performance work this term would be the three/four original songs we created using different genres such as grunge, funk and psych rock (ish) all using own our knowledge and musical skills to create the songs working together. On a whole, I don't have a clear idea on who influenced Vinny and Joseph when they created the songs, I do get some ideas of Radiohead in that genre. For lyrical use, like our first song, I got inspiration from bands such as wild cherry and their song 'play that funky music'.
A decision I made through rehearsals was to try and include our drummer more and Vinny and Joseph took control more for the songs leaving little say for the drummer. I spoke up about letting Tyler have a say in ideas to include. This seemed to help his involvement more in the later songs.
The best features of our song-writing and rehearsed performance would be it showcases our individual skills, and shows also how we worked together as a band seeming to all get along and communicate well. I personally contributed through writing all the lyrics for our bands songs.
Flaws/ issues our set/songs/performance had would be the lack of communication leading to me not knowing one of the song before our final performance, I had previously asked the other members for a structure or video of the song to which they did not provide. We eventually had a group discussion where I listened to the song and added some lyrics over it before we performed. I feel like our third song could've been better if it wasn't for this lack of communication.
New knowledge I have gained through this project would be learning new song-writing techniques, as well as how to come up with lyrics fit to a certain stimuli and how to add melodies to a instrumental then adding lyrics on top of that.
New skills I have gained would be again song writing, and coming up with original material to use. Also improved on communication and confidence when in this band since I felt more secure with our end results.
I think the point of doing this project was to gain an understanding of creating original stuff while working with others as you may run into issues such as not agreeing on certain aspects of a song, i.e. structure, or rhythm. It helps give that proper understanding on how to create something original even when you have certain things (stimuli's) to include. It also helps give that idea of having limited time to achieve something making the situation more realistic and likely to happen in a real world scenario. If I could do this project again, I would have focus on time management a bit more, so focusing on other songs more when one is complete and only going over that certain song every so often as we did waste some time performing a song over and over even when it was fully done.
I would say this project was successful as we ran into minimal problems and if we did we sorted them, and had three complete songs and performed them with minimal mistakes.
Production evaluation:
A successful music production project would be having researched into different equipment that would be used in a studio and expanding your knowledge on what equipment is used for what stage of recording, i.e. types of mics. And knowing how to work in a studio.
The outcome of this project was to have one of our original songs fully recorded, we accomplished that however I was off sick when we did the mixing lessons meaning I don't have an edited version of our song.
In the process of recording our song in the studio, we decided to do drums and rhythm guitar together for timing purpose and as they bounce off each other it made the most sense. We then added the bass then lead guitar leaving the vocals to last. This worked out very well for our band leaving the end result something I am pleased with, However I feel I held myself back with the vocals and didn't use my full potential.
The best features of our track would be that all the instruments worked well together leaving a nice balance between the drums, bass, rhythm guitar and lead guitar. It all blended nicely together. I did most the recording for the boys, setting them up for recording and discussing ideas they had and telling them about if we need any retakes etc.
One flaw our track did have was the second verse was an extra 4 bars longer than normal and we didn't realise until I went to add vocals onto the track. This led to a section of the songs sounding a bit off/ empty. The drummer had said the verse was longer than normal, I feel this could've been prevented if we listened and I sang to myself as they played, or did a test run with vocals after they recorded.
New knowledge I have gained through this experience is the different equipment used in a studio, and how to use them correctly. I also learnt about re-takes but overlaying them on a previous take instead of constantly doing a new one each time. I also learnt the different factors that come into producing a song such as how much time it can take, errors you can run into and the different job roles that come into the process.
New skills I learnt would be how to record different instruments and the different set up of microphones such as the 'Glyn Johns' method for drums. I also learnt skills such as expanding my skills on logic and the process of recording a song/ the set up (getting prepared to record)
The point in this project would be to get an understanding of how a studio works and the process in recording a song, also seeing what its like working with others in recording the song while learning the different aspects that goes into the process. It also gives us an insight on how it would be like to work in a studio in future projects and a simple understanding of how things work such as setting up or recording certain instruments.
I would say this project was a success as we completed a full recording of our song 'Medusa', and worked our way around any errors we came into. I also learnt a lot about production skills and how certain things work. I feel like we could've made the recording a bit better like not adding an extra few bars, however due to losing the work and time we had to re do the whole song again. So the final result is very pleasing for how much time we actually had.
If I were to do this project again I don't think there is much I would change except my vocal power, I feel like I lacked a lot in the singing area maybe pulling the song down from its full potential.
I did the 'producer' role the most, recording the boys and suggesting what could be different or any slight changes that could be needed. I would also tell them about re-takes and if they were needed or not. We always did roughly 3 re-takes to be sure of ourselves.