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Throughout the year I have improved my vocal skills alot as it is my first study but I have also improved on my piano and guitar. I’ve also gained knowledge on musical elements, theory, production and performance. Before starting the course I had almost no knowledge of theory or musical elements and throughout the course I’ve been able to gain an understanding of both, which has helped to improve my musical ability and my understanding of music itself. I have performed twice with two different bands this year and once solo. The more I perform the easier it is for me to be conscious of the actual sound and to have fun with it rather than being anxious while on stage.

For this project I will be performing a 20 minute set with my band which consists of 2 vocalists, 4 guitarists (3 electric 1 acoustic), 1 bassist and 1 drummer. The setlist is a mix of chilled, slower songs and upbeat songs to create a diverse sound. Throughout the past few months we have figured out what sounds work best with the musicians in our band and have clear communication when it comes to musical choices. Three of the songs for our 20 minute setlist at the Mash House we have already performed for our second assessment so we are all very comfortable with them and already have the knowledge of our parts and roles within them; these songs are: Her, The American Dawn / I’d Love to Change the World, The American Dawn / Easy Way to Cry, Sunburst (Our bands Original). When choosing which songs to add to our setlist we made sure to choose varying songs that still had cohesivity in a setlist and we settled on: Hard times, Paramore / The Night we Met, Lord Huron / Mama Said, Cat Clyde. All these songs fit a similar genre to our first 3 songs, especially Mama Said and The Night we Met. We want to create a set list that conveys emotion and a range of skill while also making it fun for the band and audience and musically varied.

As we go throughout the process leading up to the performance there is bound to be changes and musical challenges, but we combat issues like that as a band and vote and changes, making sure nobody is unhappy with what we are doing. As a band we’re aiming to create an effective and enjoyable set that incorporates useful musical elements in the short period of time we have before the gig.

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Our band name is Sunburst. We have 8 members, who all share a love for Indie/Rock music.

Setlist:

The Night We Met - Lord Huron (Indie Rock)

We chose this song as it is a perfect introduction to our bands' style. It is also a very well known song, making it a perfect opener.

Mama Said - Cat Clyde (Country/Folk)

This Cat Clyde song is simple but beautiful - a perfect follow up to The Night We Met. The chord progression remains the same throughout, with pretty layers of guitar and vocal harmonies to keep it interesting.

Her - The American Dawn (Indie)

This chilled song is a great blend between our two previous songs, and the ones that follow. Despite the relaxed feel of the song, the bounce of the bass and drums makes it a bit more punchy.

Original Song ("Easy Way to Cry") (Indie Rock)

This song was based off of a guitar loop our guitarist made, with pretty layers of melodies and chords, allowing for our many instruments to all play a unique part. The blend of indie with a more heavy rock feel at the end makes it a perfect bridge between "Her," and "I'd Love to Change the World."

I'd Love to Change the World - Ten Years After (Soft Rock)

This old rock song from 1973 has the perfect blend of dynamics for our bands' style, starting with simple, pretty acoustic guitar, then later building into a powerful guitar solo at its climax.

Hard Times - Paramore (Rock)

This popular song is the ideal finish to our bands' performance - Paramore are a well known, famous band, and the energy changes and dynamics make this a great song to end the set with, especially since many people will know the words, potentially leading to some fun crowd interaction.

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Huron, L. (2015). Lord Huron - The Night We Met. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtlgYxa6BMU.

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CatClydeVEVO (2016). Cat Clyde - Mama Said (Official Video). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqXdU1IK2JI [Accessed 19 May 2025].

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Ten Years After - Topic (2020). I’d Love to Change the World (2017 Remaster). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUGE8Y07-2k [Accessed 19 May 2025].

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Paramore (2017). Hard Times [OFFICIAL VIDEO]. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEB6ibtdPZc.

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The American Dawn - Topic (2024). Her. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvAGVO_A9ig [Accessed 2 Dec. 2024].

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www.youtube.com. (n.d.). the night we met harmonies. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UxrCexTiltk [Accessed 19 May 2025].

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Vocals (2022). The Night We Met - Lord Huron | Only Vocals (Isolated Acapella). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch7AAlGbW0Q [Accessed 19 May 2025].

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www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Laryngeal Tilt Vocal Exercise - Sing High Notes. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T75UZM6mZow.

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Why Mash House?: It's a cool, unique atmosphere with a rustic feel to it. The small size of the venue makes it perfect for a college performance, big enough for friends and family, but small enough to make the performance intimate and more meaningful.

Location: Guthrie Street - Edinburgh (Close to Legends, Sneaky Pete's, Three Sisters)

Capacity: 350 - club show, 230 - live show

What kind of bands play there?: A wide range of bands, from Indie Rock and Punk to Alternative and Electronic music

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This week as a band we began deciding on what songs to perform at Mash House.

The process of deciding was fairly simple as everyone in the band is easy to work with, and there aren't many powerful personalities.

We decided to keep a couple of songs that we played at our second college performance in the auditorium: "I'd Love to Change the World", and our original song "Easy Way to Cry." These perfectly fit the vibe we are going for, with a nice mix of indie, rock, and even some metal touches.

Our final setlist based off of this week is as follows:

The Night We Met - Lord Huron

Mama Said - Cat Clyde

Her - The American Dawn

Easy Way to Cry - Sunburst

I'd Love to Change the World - Ten Years After

Hard Times - Paramore

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This week we began practicing our setlist, focusing on the new songs, as most of us already had a good grasp on the three from our previous performance.

The songs we spent the most time on were "The Night We Met," "Mama Said," and "Hard Times." This rehearsal went very well, with everyone pulling their weight.

I have began working on the vocal harmonies for The Night We Met with our other singer Jacob.

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This week mainly involved more rehearsing with the band, focusing primarily on our newer songs: "The Night We Met," "Hard Times," and "Mama Said." Out of these three, I have found "Hard Times" to be the most challenging, as it is a high pitch song, fast paced song, which can make it tricky to maintain my stamina while singing. The band rehearsals, along with assistance from my vocal coach Taylor, has meant I have been able to pick up the song very quickly, and deliver the vocal performance necessary, without too much hassle.

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After the Easter break, we all came back a little rusty, having lost some of the progress we had made previously. Our lecturer Nigel has helped us greatly with this, sitting in on practice sessions to listen and provide feedback on problematic areas.

One of our guitarists had bought a new guitar, and the lack of tuning stability led to a few issues when trying to play as a full band. This was helped by Ni, who had no problem pointing out the issues we were facing, meaning the problem was resolved quickly.

This week we decided to drop one of the songs from our setlist, "Her" by the American Dawn. After counting the length of our setlist, keeping this song in made things a little too tight

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This week mainly involved more rehearsing, focusing on playing through our entire setlist.

However, I had a cough this week, making it tricky to perform a couple of the songs, specifically "Hard Times," and "The Night We Met."

I tried my best to take it easy this week, as I didn't want to strain my voice and lead to further problems down the line, especially so close to the final performance.

We also had a couple issues with timing this week, with our drummer and bassist struggling to keep the tempo, especially with the pace of our original song. However, advice from our lecturer Nigel helped our drummer maintain her stamina during the buildup of the song.

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We spent all of our rehearsal time going through our full setlist, trying to achieve a smooth transition between all our songs. We made sure everyone understood the importance of tuning between each song, especially since we would all be amplified at the live gig.

We focused on "Hard Times," as a few of our band members were struggling with the timing and syncopation of the main riff. Nigel came and sat in while we played our full setlist, providing feedback at the end on any areas we could improve on.

This week we also had our bands' music box session. This was a live recording of us performing our original song, "Easy Way to Cry." The session did not go great, for a number of reasons. Some people did not understand the importance of tuning their instrument, and other band members were incapable of listening to the instructions provided to us.

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This was our final rehearsal before the Mash House gig. At this point, our only goal was to get a bit warmed up and ensure we are all comfortable with our setlist. We spent a little time practicing what me and Jacob were going to say to the crowd, trying to keep our setlist feeling light and breezy.

Our instrumentalists spent time ensuring all gear was working as planned.

After a few hours of getting more comfortable, we all went to The Mash House to perform a soundcheck. Nerves were high, but after the soundcheck, and having seen the venue, nerves turned to excitement and we were all keen to get up on stage and play.

The performance went really well, with very few mistakes, and everyone had a great time.

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www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Daily Head Voice Vocal Exercises For Singers. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y_kTxrC1LI.

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In the build up to the gig I posted a screenshot of the Out The Box Fest website on my FaceBook to promote it. Some of our other band members also posted to their social media.

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With my vocal coach Taylor I have lessons every other week. In the buildup to our performance this has been very helpful in allowing me to feel more comfortable while singing, and also helping to avoid straining my voice.

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Here is our bands' full performance at The Mash House.

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This week with my vocal coach Taylor, we worked on breathing techniques, specifically how to effectively manage your breathing, and letting your body do the work. This helps you stay relaxed, while allowing as much air as possible into your lungs, without having to strain yourself.

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This song came together fairly quickly and naturally. Based off of a loop pedal idea made by our lead guitarist Jamie, the song has pretty layers of melodies and chords, creating a relaxed Indie feel to the song.

After a pre-chorus and chorus, the song changes vibe entirely, with a cool, syncopated guitar riff. The rest of the band follows the riff, building up into a final powerful guitar solo to close out the song.

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This week I was working on posture, focusing primarily on keeping my body open, ensuring you're able to get enough airflow while singing. Having the correct posture means you can project your voice better, while still staying comfortable and within your range. These techniques have helped specifically with songs like "Hard Times," by Paramore, where the vocals are fast paced, high in pitch and powerfully belted out, which can be tricky if you don't use the correct technique.

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This week me and Taylor were working on "vocal tilts." Vocal tilt is the slight change in the position of your vocal cords, allowing you to create more sounds and tones, and change where you are singing from, ie. switching from using your head voice to chest. With head voice, you are able to sing at a higher pitch - this can be very effective in allowing you to sing slightly out of your vocal range, while still remaining comfortable and achieving the correct pitch.

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To help with my delivery of our Mash House performance, this week me and Taylor worked on my stage presence. Specifically things like avoiding staring at one spot (e.g. the floor or ceiling). A poor stage presence makes the performance less enjoyable for the crowd - appearing awkward or uncomfortable makes those watching feel the same; whereas a good performer is able to convey their emotions, while also keeping the crowd engaged and having fun.

This is especially important as a vocalist, as I will be in the front of the stage, where there is nowhere to hide, and any awkwardness will be very apparent.

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My main point of pride throughout this project has been the performance I gave at Mash House. Despite my nerves, I was able to step up to the occasion and deliver my parts to the best of my ability. Also, even though I didn't take a leadership role in the band, I made sure to make my feelings heard.

Despite some shakiness in the band, we all gave our best on the night, and I am very proud of how everyone performed.

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As previously mentioned, the music box session could have gone a lot better, especially if we had chosen to play an easier song.

For "The Night We Met," I was very nervous as it was our first song, and starts off on a very difficult high note. Due to this, I felt that I didn't deliver the song as well as I had in rehearsal, but by the second song the nerves had worn off and my performance improved. I felt that I strained myself a little too hard in the previous songs as by the time we got to the last song in our setlist, which is the most vocally difficult song on our setlist, my voice wasn't at it's best. Despite this, I know that I tried my best and gave it my all on the night.

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www.youtube.com. (n.d.). How To Overcome Performance Anxiety EASILY. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byMjHHFLR94.

I've found that the best way to overcome stage anxiety and face my fear is to "fake it till you make it," or by acting like someone who is confident. This video has also helped, with the idea that your nerves and anxiety is actually just excitement, and if you can convince yourself of that, it becomes so much easier to do what you need to do.

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The music box sessions, kindly run by the college, are an excellent way to promote a band. These sessions are a live recording of a band, including footage of the recording taking place.

Our bands' session did not go entirely to plan. The lack of listening skills and communication made the process far more arduous than it needed to be, and as a result we were only able to get one decent take.

We chose to do our original song, "Easy Way to Cry." I feel that this was a poor decision, and that we should've chosen an easier song that we were all more comfortable with, like "Mama Said." Many of the band insisted that the original would be a better showcase of our skills, but in the end we came out of it looking less professional than we desired.

I was quite frustrated by this, and it's made me realise that I should've taken on more of a leadership role within the band.

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Going into this project, I didn't have any expectations on how it would go. I have just been pushing myself to be the best I can, and enjoying the ride while I do.

I was initially excited to perform and rehearse with new people, and experience what it's like to be part of a band. I was also very keen to get into the music scene, and spend more time around people that share my passion for music.

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During our preparations for our final gig, we had to make some changes. An example of this was dropping "Her" from our setlist. A lot of our band had issues with this song, and despite it fitting well in the setlist, I believe it was a good decision to scrap it.

One thing I wish I'd done differently during the process is: being more involved in the composing of our original song. I would have enjoyed having my own lyrics and story told. I also think the melodic direction we went with the lyrics could have been more intricate, and it could have been a more sonically interesting song, especially in regard to the vocals. In addition, the chorus of the song was quite boring, and we definitely could have done more with it.

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Looking back on the whole experience, I feel that it has really made me feel more sure of myself within the path I have chosen to take. I have always loved music, but this whole journey has really felt like a huge step forward for me, and definitely put me outside my comfort zone. I am really happy that I decided to pursue an education in music, and I look forward to see how much more I improve in the coming years.

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To prepare for this project I mainly used YouTube and Spotify, primarily to listen to our songs, or to hear isolated vocals of each tune.

I also spent a good portion of time focusing on vocal warm ups and exercises, to maintain my singing ability and stamina in the build up to the performance.

My vocal coach also provided a lot of support and feedback that massively helped my skill and confidence.

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Harmony ideas for "I'd Love to Change the World"

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Harmony ideas for "I'd Love to Change the World"

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How have I improved throughout the project?

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How have I improved throughout the project?

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At the start of this project I wasn't comfortable in my vocal abilities or stage presence due to my lack of experience performing in the last few years. However, as we've progressed and I've gotten comfortable working with my band I've gained confidence not just in my vocal ability but in my ability to work with other musicians aswell. By the time we got to the Mash House gig I'd had several sessions with Taylor, trying to work on my stage anxiety and presence and I think compared to the start both have greatly improved and I'm confident I will continue to improve on this.