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I really enjoyed conducting and also listening to everyones work. It was an awesome night and everyone nailed it.

After conducting the orchestra there are a couple things I would change, the first thing is the ending, I did like it and it's not like it is terrible, but I do think I could do better and make it a bit more 'grand'. Also, I think the semi-quaver off beat rhythm in section 'F' may need to be re-written. It is written right but it is just a bit difficult to play/read. So I would want to go over that again to see if I could write it in a way that would be a lot easier for the players to read. That way that section could be a lot more 'majestic'. As it was cool but I do think the players were just not quite sure how it went. Which means I should have written it in a slightly easier way to read or my conducting was off (both very real possibilities). I am not sure how I would re-write it, but would love to look into it.

Overall though I am really happy with how it went. I think that was the best I conducted the song as well, as I kept time well (I think) and I didn't mess up the 'F' section and ending! It is a really special feeling hearing your work being played by some great musicians, it was a great night and I am really happy with how it turned out.

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I really enjoyed the end of year showcase, it was awesome to be involved and everybody nailed it! Taylor and I Mc'ed the night which was good fun (I got a free beer from it too which is always a plus!) Then, I also got to conduct my arrangement! This was the first time I have conducted and I feel like I have the bug for it now and would love to do it again!

I think I was fairly valuable, I think if I could I would have loved to conduct a couple more, as I didn't realise how much I would enjoy it. Going to the rehearsal as well was really helpful, as it settled the nerves and also got me thinking on how I will conduct. On the night I was on time and helped out making sure people were there before they were going to go on. I also had the run sheet on me so Taylor and I wouldn't miss anything.

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Bailey Linsey and Kerinza's song, 'Understanding'

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Bailey Linsey and Kerinza's song, 'Understanding'

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Here is the song that Bailey and Kerinza wrote which my arrangement is based off.

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This section however was heavily influenced from Cody Fry's cover of Eleanor Rigby. I really loved the pizzicato section in that song so I put it in my arrangement. I also then put in a off beat semi quaver rhythm in bar 33, which is very Cory Wong esq.

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Honestly did not need to do much research, just asked for help from my tutors and also, occasionally, my brother.

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Honestly did not need to do much research, just asked for help from my tutors and also, occasionally, my brother.

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The original song is really well written. Which was honestly such a good thing. It meant I did not need to add much in the sense of, jazz chords or anything fancy like that. As Bailey's original song were full of them (such a good song!) I honestly could have free reign and just have fun with it, which I really did! I got help from my tutors when I needed it (Nick especially for the A section into verse 1) and then I used my experience from all of the transcriptions that I have worked on this year. I also incorporated a couple little off-beat stabs which was influenced by the Cory Wong, Tower of Power, funk songs that I have been working on this year.

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The end of the song is fine, but I did struggle with how to end it, I went through several ways to end it. I first did a 6/8 bar, but then the vocal melody would have to be changed and it didn't really work, I tried a 12/8 ending but again, the same result, it just didn't feel right. I then thought about swinging it at the end. This idea came from a random big band piece I played at one of my rehearsals, just simply in the piece it says 'straight quavers'. I thought ok, well I'll do the opposite! From straight to swung! Honestly I think this idea could work, but I just ran out of time because of the pressure from other projects. Also, it might be a bit hard for the vocalist to learn on short notice, as it would be a drastic change. Therefore I went for a slightly simple ending but honestly that is the only part of the arrangement where I think it really could have been better.

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One difficult thing about this piece was the rhythm in the 'F' Section. I found it difficult on how to write as I haven't had a lot of experience with that. I actually managed to figure it out first with the help from my brother, as he just overheard it and has heard a similar rhythm before. After I had sorted that out, I really wanted the off-beat notes to be really accented and powerful when hit. So I wrote it so the whole orchestra was playing the same rhythm to try and make it really stand out. At the end of this section I also put in a extra bar with a nice chord progression on each beat to slowly and nicely bring it back into the main chorus.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtQBQDaE4Pg

I really like the staccato at the beginning of the piece, I think I can incorporate something like that into my understanding arrangement. Also, the way the music builds at the start, making you think it is going to swell into a massive thing... then there's that gorgeous small trumpet solo. The strings after that short (but sweet solo) really reminds me of Harry Potter, I assume Cody Fry is a John Williams fan. The pizzicato as well before the big orchestration is also really cool.

I am really looking at strings in this piece, as I think they are arranged incredibly well (the whole piece is outstanding of course) the strings have a lot of things I would love to use in my piece.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m34byl2BT1o

It is sort of a reference track, obviously the horns are incredibly tight and it sounds incredible, but I was more adding this for the 12/8 shuffle feel. This could be in 4/4 or 12/8. I was just listening to this and was thinking how this could be really cool to change this song into 12/8, to change the feel of the song, maybe make it a bit more funky? Having some really tight horns in the arrangement to really sell the change in time signature. I could also switch between 4/4 and 12/8 if I wanted to as well. Have verses in 4/4 and then a subtle switch into 12/8, to have a more shuffle feel in the chorus. Just some ideas.

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I wanted to try and do a new intro for the piece. As I thought it could have a really calm and pretty intro then a massive swell before dropping into the main groove of the song. The start was easy enough as I still used Bailey's chords as they are beautiful and sound great on the violins. I added some 3/4 bars (thank you for the idea Jeff!) as well as I didn't want it to become stagnant. I was then playing around with using a couple of 12/8 bars to create movement into verse 1, similar to a Disney Medley piece I transcribed earlier this year, but it was just not quite what I wanted and seemed too distracting and jarring from the piece. I eventually went away from the idea and just kept it in 4/4 with triplets at the end of each bar to create a feeling of movement. I then got some help from Nick with Chords, as the chords I chose just were not creating the tension I was looking for. The 2/4 bar into verse 1 was something that I tired last year in my original orchestral piece (File below). I thought it could be an interesting way to go into the first verse. Is it completely necessary? Probably not... but I liked it!