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I thought this performance went well and the transitions between the different sections flowed smoothly. I thought the intro with the bass sounded great and the build up in the intro and the prechorus sounded good too. Also, the chorus itself worked like we wanted as it had impact due to the effective overlapping of vocals. However, I wish Nathan (the bassist) had a microphone for this section so we could hear his part in the chorus as I felt it was lost sometimes. The ska breakdown/bridge could've done with a bit more practising as we weren't that confident on when to come in with the lyrics and how long it will last for however overall it went well.

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QS17 3  FUSION & WORKSHOP  OWN STIMULI ROOM 3

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Uploaded by lawrence stewart on 2017-10-30.

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We decided to help the transition between the chorus to the bridge we'd use the main lyric "He brought the house down" but elongate the end with heavy vibrato and also a fall in pitch to help with the slowing of the tempo and the change of notes. I think this worked successfully however the vocals during the bridge need improvement. Firstly, we need to work on the timing because we weren't confident on when to come in. Secondly, the lyric we were singing didn't fit with the tempo we were singing it at so we need to increase the speed for it to sound better. Another thing we needed to improve was the fact that we didn't slow the tempo of the song enough during the bridge so it didn't have the full, reggae effect that we wanted but it still did have a reggae feel due to the prominent bass line and the counterpoint between the drum beat and the staccato guitar. I also think the build up of the harmonised vocals and the progression from guitar notes to chords worked effectively to build the song up for the final chorus.

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I think this is the best bridge idea we had as the bass is heavier and more prominent than the last idea which fits better with the reggae influence we had. Also the tempo is slower than the last idea. We decided to bring out the drums completely for this idea so we didn't have to struggle with hearing the bass line. However this meant it was difficult for the guitar to stay syncopated (which we needed to fit with the reggae theme). Therefore, we decided for the guitar to play staccato styled notes and chords still but have them on the beat and instead have the walking bass line to be syncopated so it still has the bouncy and infectious reggae feel. I also prefer this idea as we have more of a build up as the guitar goes from playing single notes to full chords which works then with the layered vocals we add to this section. This build up also fits with the stimulus that I explained in the brainstorm section below. However, I do think we need drums in this section still just not as heavy as they were in idea 1 so that's something we need to add and improve.

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I liked this version as the staccato, syncopated guitar chords are really strong and give the bridge a strong reggae and ska feel. The tempo isn't that much slower than the rest of the song which would be a problem as the whole idea we had for the bridge was to slow the tempo down and make it a lot heavier on the bass to therefore give it a thick, reggae style. The drums are also a bit too loud and intricate for the bridge and they overpower the bass too much so it might've been better to cut the drums out for this section or to have a quieter, shuffle beat with the lighter sounding cymbals rather than the lower drums like the toms.

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The introduction worked really well to just have the bass as reggae is one of the main influences of the instrumentation and the bass is one of the main instruments used in this style. Also, the speed of the bass starts the song off at a tempo which means we can get slower for a heavy ska/reggae breakdown during the bridge. Also, the slight shuffle beat used at the beginning on the high-hat worked really well for the build-up in the introduction and relates to the blues influence that's in the music. In the vocal aspect of the song, I think the lyrics fit really and the melody sounds good with the music. As well as that, the vibrato we've added works well and the layered and harmonised chorus works but we do need to figure out how long the chorus will last for because we kept the music going on for a while and because there are two singers we didn't know when to stop so we just kept going. We also need to decide what we're going to do for the bridge and how we're going to transition into the bridge because we're planning on slowing the tempo so it's going to take a lot of thought. Another section that worked well was the prechorus and the build-up with the layering of the instruments and vocals. I think lyrically it adds to the comedic and ironic tone we've set as in the last line of the verse we're criticising how the person we're talking about keeps repeating the same thing and how "it starts to get boring". The ironic and humorous thing is that for the prechorus we keep repeating that line "it starts to get boring" and then we repeat the line "it's really annoying" so we're doing what we criticised and therefore being funny and hypocritical, which keeps with our stimulus.

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One of the genres that influenced the music was the Blues. We mainly made this style sound prominent by making the electric guitar sound very raw and metallic by using the amps effects to alter the tone. We also made sure that the bass line was very prominent and had a lot of variation throughout the song with the walking bass lines as most blues songs have a lot of improvisation and variation. We also made the tempo quite upbeat and fast as blues music was used as a form of entertainment, especially when it became more westernised and evolved into rock music. As well as being inspired by Blues music, we were also inspired by reggae and ska for the instrumentation. The walking bass line and the fast tempo also links to ska music as those elements gave our song a bouncy feel that makes you want to dance which is also commonly found in ska music. We wanted to really include the reggae influence during the bridge section of the song so we slowed down the tempo of the song and made the guitar softer/quieter so we could make the bass more prominent like it is in reggae songs. Also, we made the guitar and the keys play staccato styled chords that were syncopated to the drum beat much like how they're played in reggae songs

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We were inspired by traditional Celtic and folk music to tell a story through our lyrics and song so a lot of the lyrics we wrote are literal. As well as that, we liked the idea of keeping the chorus very simple and having call and response sections in it and also using the fact that we have more that one vocalist to our advantage and having layered lines (which is all inspired by traditional Celtic and folk music). Even though most Celtic music has ornamentation only in the instrumentation, we decided to have it in the vocals by using techniques such as vibrato which are also commonly used in Middle Eastern music. The other main genre that influenced our song was the Blues and we carried that influence into our lyrics by talking about love and the whole unrequited relationship story. However, instead of the lyrics having more of a negative tone (like they did in traditional Blues songs due to the fact that they were sung by African slaves so most of the lyrics were from a sad point of view and about love and loneliness) we wanted them to be funny and that's why we told them from a 3rd person's view/someone who isn't involved in the relationship and is instead witnessing the rejection from one person to another. Blues lyrics also often used slang or phrases that had double meanings to hide the subliminal messages of what they were singing about so that the people singing them (African slaves) wouldn't get into trouble for singing about how they truly felt and so the songs could have a happy mood and keep the morale up. Therefore, we decided to use a lot of lyrics that have double meanings as the story is something me and Jessica are basing off of a real life scenario so we can use this technique well. This also helped us keep the lyrics funny as we used abnormal words and phrases that sounded funny yet they actually have sassy and subliminal messages behind them. For the chorus, we decided to use contrasting lines with one that had a compliment ("He brought the house down") and the other that had a negative remark ("All my friends know that he's in the friendzone"). Layering these lines adds a contrast that is funny yet also keeps up the Celtic influence as we're harmonising and layering the vocals.

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Our group had a very similar taste in style of music and decided to play to our strengths by creating an indie rock songs with elements inspired from other cultures. For example, we knew we wanted a reggae/ska instrumental breakdown and wanted to include some Celtic and folk style vocals and lyrics. Therefore, we decided we wanted to tell a story in this song much like how traditional folk music was used to tell stories. However, to give it a modern twist, we wanted it to be comedic and from an ironic point of view. Me and Jessica (the vocalists who took on the role of writing the lyrics) therefore decided our stimulus was going to be an unrequited relationship/rejection but to make it funny and less sad it's going to be told from a 3rd person's perspective. This is something we can relate to as it's something me and Jessica witnessed when we were together outside of college once so that makes it easy to create lyrics for and to sing with passion. For the music, we decided we wanted it to have a lot of layering with the instruments as well as a lot of build up and moments when we strip the sound down. We thought this would help us to easily add in different genres and styles so we can use as many different influences from other cultures as possible. As well as that, it fits well with the stimulus and story we're trying to portray as the constant changes and ups and downs reflect how the unrequited relationship was also going through many ups and downs.

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Jessica Tinker (vocals), Georgia Bué-Smith (me, vocals), Jade Marvin (keyboard + vocals), Nathan Whalley (bass guitar), Will Szmydt (guitar), Jack Hose (drums) and Daniel Goodwin (guitar).