Study Block 2 by

Prepping for PPW and CPW - Don't Start Now by Dua Lipa (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-21 16:54:35 UTC

Before our lessons started I wanted to ensure I was well-prepared for the upcoming song we would be performing. I was already familiar with Dua Lipa's Don't Start Now therefore my main goal was to learn the lyrics and the structure. I wrote down some keywords for each of the lines to help me remember the full line that I could look back to and wrote out the song structure to help me visualize what parts I was learning.

I then performed some vocal warmups such as lip trills and scale work using my keyboard to aid me in order to warm up my voice. I didn't spend long on these exercises as the song is in my range and not too strenuous. I practiced the song using a karaoke version and eventually took away the lyrics until I could remember them without looking.

SMART goals (LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-21 17:37:41 UTC

My two contrasting SMART goals will focus on different aspects of being a musician- technical ability vs stage presence/performance. My goals are to:

Strengthen my mixed voice.

Appear and become more confident and comfortable on stage (focus on stage presence).

I wanted to take a goal from last term into the new term, which would be continuing to strengthen my mixed voice, as this is a really important goal to me. I wish to expand my vocal styles and challenge myself, so that is why I have set this goal. Another skill that I struggle with is performing and having energy and stage presence, so I've set that as a goal this term to work on. These are two completely different aspects of being a performing singer; however, they are two very important goals to work on.

I plan to find warm-ups to help me strengthen my mixed voice vocal technique, and I plan to engage heavily with the performance workshops in a way that will allow me to make myself more comfortable and confident on stage. Each term I perform, I will be setting a personal target to do something different, whether that be becoming more comfortable with moving the mic around, moving around on stage, or using eye contact to communicate with band members. This should then show a stream of progress as my performances get further on.

Vocal development (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-21 17:52:36 UTC

The second half of our lesson was spent on small performances from each person in our class. I decided to go with the song I sang last term- Tis' Autumn by Nat King Cole as its a song that I have mastered which I think at this point in time best demonstrates my vocal ability and what I am currently capable of, however I hope to look back on this after picking the tracks that I have learnt this term and realise that I have expanded my skillset. Above is a video of said performance.

Production tools (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-21 17:56:36 UTC

Sampling

In this lesson we learned how to sample and implement real life samples into our music. We went around recording voice memos of random noises i.e. I recorded the sound of me tapping on a mirror which was used as a kick drum, and the sound of an air freshener spraying as a high hat to create a very simple beat. We learnt the steps of how to get our samples into Logic and then how to use them to create music. With some more time I could've improved upon it by synchronizing the beats properly as they are a little out of time, but I cropped and pitched up the audio of the air freshener to effectively create the high-hat, and lowered the octave of the tap for the kick drum to make it sound slightly more real.

Pre-production workshop - Don't Start Now by Dua Lipa (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-21 18:30:45 UTC

Before I attended the workshop, I warmed up at home and practiced the song again. I did my usual warm-ups, a bit of stretching along with some fricatives and lip trilling. Going into the rehearsal, I had no creative ideas on how to change the song. As we started to figure it out, there was lots of creative input from Kayleigh (second vocalist) and me, such as the harmonies, the structure of the song itself, and a drum ride at the end. We extended the chorus at the end of the song and asked our drummer to play a drum ride, which would help me to sing an overlapping verse over Kayleigh. I tried to change the melody of the vocal line and the rhythm i.e. dragging or rushing certain phrases, I also suggested we slow down the song as we took some inspiration from Hayley Williams's cover of this song. Overall, it still stays true to the original; however, it isn't a carbon copy, and we've allowed room for creative expression not only from myself and Kayleigh but from the band members who have inserted their own unique touches in the bass line and the drums.

Development entry - My first song choice (LO2 techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-21 18:46:12 UTC

I have started thinking about what two songs I would like to pick for this study block for my two contrasting pieces. As I prefer to work alone, I decided I would use a backing track for my live performance and once again utilise my piano skills to create my own track for my DAW song. This gave me lots of freedom and options to pick for my live version, so I started there. I picked Love by Keyshia Cole as I feel it would help me work on one of my SMART goals- to strengthen my mixed voice. I gave it a go and realised it was challenging enough that I could improve on it over the next ten weeks and also just above my skill level so that I could challenge myself with learning how to sing it. Attached above is a clip of me singing it for the first time. I already know some of the song, but my technique still needs improving, and I will need to learn the rest. I will continue to search for another track for my DAW recording.

Charting Don't Start Now

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-21 18:57:39 UTC

Charting Don't Start Now

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-21 19:01:23 UTC

Live performance workshop - Don't Start Now by Dua Lipa (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-22 16:03:51 UTC

I didn't receive much verbal feedback today. A few minor notes included the fact that Kayleigh's and mine harmonies blended together and that I did a good job in layering up the song However, as I hadn't performed on stage in some time I got incredibly nervous and anxious before this performance which affected my ability to control my breathing which in turn affected my singing. Some notes I feel I sang flatly or ended too early because my voice did not feel stable. It would be wise to go first next time to calm my nerves. Overall, it was a good performance, and I remembered where to land the harmonies; however, my stage presence was lacking.

Study group SMART goals

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-23 12:50:02 UTC

Academic - Go above and beyond with my work this year, try and put in 100% effort, and complete my work to the highest standard.

Technical - Follow vocal SMART goals. My main goals are improving my mixed register/chest-dominant mixed register and pushing my vocal ability.

Performance - Perform with more confidence- something that I have improved on significantly however could still use more work.

Professional - Make sure I always communicate my creative feedback with others.

Preparing for PPW and CPW - The Riverboat Song by Ocean Colour Scheme (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-23 13:21:41 UTC

I started preparing for this song by doing some vocal warm-ups. I started with general body stretching, neck rolls and shoulder rolls then moved on to lip trills, mimicking the sound of a siren and humming scales- some SOVTs that create back pressure in the mouth and on the vocal folds which reduces tension when singing and enhances breath support. I also wrote out some key words of the phrases in the lyrics and the structure of the song as always in order to give me some visual clues when working out the song and began with a karaoke version of The Riverboat Song until I was able to sing it whilst taking the words completely away. I learned the timing and the rhythm of the song and practiced until I felt confident enough to add in vocal riffs and melodic alterations as I thought I could bring this into the pre-production workshop tomorrow.

Vocal development (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-27 14:47:16 UTC

Today we focused on learning vocal techniques and vocabulary. We used a menu/chart to distinguish all the different terminology and stylistic choices, how and when they would be used, how many things are natural elements of vocal production, and other embellishments such as riffs and slides. We then used our newfound terminology to identify what techniques we all used in our singing.

In the performance above, I utilized all registers: head, mixed, and chest. I used vibrato, I used slides, I used a more breathy vocal closure akin to how Billie Eilish does with a mix of her soft consonants, and I used some vocal fry. Techniques I was told I could implement in the future included more melodic variation as a stylistic choice, some ad-libbing of my own, for instance, in the intro, and using riffs on longer vowels.

Skills audit (start of term)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-27 14:54:56 UTC

Skills audit p2 (start of term)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-27 14:55:57 UTC

Pre-production workshop - The Riverboat Song by Ocean Colour Scene (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-27 15:00:13 UTC

Going into this rehearsal, I didn't have any personal creative ideas on how to change the song. However, I had a few creative ideas on how to include melodic variations on the vocal part and how to change the style in which I sang it by elongating the ends of phrases with vibrato. Eventually, after playing through and learning the timing and structure more effectively, we decided to insert some harmonies and split up the song's vocal parts between Mabel and me. As I sang most of the song, I felt it right to give the vocal solo part to Mabel. Our guitarist Joe invented the idea that we should make the song more bluesy- the question was how or where were we going to include that, and after some discussion, I made the suggestion that it should be during the instrumental at the very end. It then became a blues turnaround with solo parts from each person in the group.

Creative performance workshop - The Riverboat song by Ocean Colour Scene (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-27 15:00:28 UTC

From my perspective, the song went well. The first take was good except at the end of the song where I didn't have any more parts and stood idly on the stand, I received some feedback that I needed to bring more energy. During the second take, my fellow vocalist Mabel and I took our mics off the stand, and I immediately felt more comfortable. I felt there was better energy between Mabel and me, there was lots of eye contact and interaction between me and my other band members, especially at the end when Mabel and I moved to put the spotlight on the guitarist, bassist, etc. I tried to let go a little bit more so that I could 'dance' a little bit and add some vocal variation of my own during Mabel's solo part at the end, I used improv to come up with some humming and ad-libbing which was nerve-wracking for me to do on the spot but I put myself out there a bit more and generally had a better time the second take round. Overall, I am happy with our collective performance and my personal performance, although I would still like to work on my confidence.

Vocal development style menu

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-27 15:48:53 UTC

Charting The Riverboat Song

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-29 15:22:46 UTC

Development entry

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-29 16:00:08 UTC

Areas for improvement:
I have two areas I want to improve on for my music performance submission this term. The level of difficulty of my live performance. I also want to challenge myself when it comes to my produced song by adding maybe one other instrument and vocal layering i.e. harmonies.

Personal SWOT analysis
Strengths: Time management, drive/motivation, organization.
Weaknesses: Personal conditions i.e. anxiety/health issues, energy levels, communication.
Opportunities: ?
Threats: Personal conditions i.e. anxiety restricting me from networking or making it to lessons.

Musical SWOT analysis
Strengths: Technique, time management, multi-instrumentalist.
Weaknesses: Confidence, personal conditions, communication.
Opportunities: Getting in touch with other bands through music photography.
Threats: Personal conditions.

Improving different areas
Technique: use vocal warm-ups that could specifically guide me toward my vocal SMART goals.
Production: Improve my overall knowledge and learning in this area.
Live performance and presentation: Improving my confidence, and getting on stage more will help this, I could also seek my own personal help in the meantime for my anxiety.

Practice routine (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-01-30 13:25:21 UTC

Monday: Vocal warm-ups specifically aimed towards my vocal SMART goals; 30 minutes - 1 hour.

Tuesday: Practice PPW songs in the mirror and video myself, trying to make myself more confident and more comfortable.

Wednesday: More vocal warm-ups and songs that will help me get further towards my vocal SMART goals.

Thursday: Watch videos dedicated to producing in order to help me with studio song and read up about certain things I could implement.

Weekends: Focus on getting written work completed and learning song for next week.

Vocal development (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-03 19:17:20 UTC

Today in vocal development we focused on identifying vocal techniques that we take inspiration from or 'steal' from our idols. We chose 3 songs that we felt were important to ourselves and our singing journey and identified some techniques used in them and how we use them. I selected Pretty Maids All in a Row by the Eagles, This Masquerade by The Carpenters, and Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai. Below I have listed techniques heard across these songs.

Pretty Maids All in a Row:

Very glottal onset and bright attack
Very twangy/nasally
Use of legato and staccato
Heavy vibrato
Vibrato is sung very drawn out
Mixed/chest register used throughout

This Masquerade:

Very rich and clean tone
Relaxed/easy placement of notes especially when they jump from low to high suddenly
Drawn out rich vibrato
Some slides
Vocal fry placed at the end of phrases

Virtual Insanity:

Has a way of 'speaking' phrases instead of singing them

Heavy use of mixed register
Lots of improvised ad-libbing
Breathier tone on the falsetto notes i.e. in intro
No vibrato at all
Articulation is challenging to understand
not much ornamentation

I would say I have taken the most vocal inspiration from Karen Carpenter's clean, jazzy, and almost effortless vocals. I then went on to perform another verse of a song- I Can't Tell You Why by the Eagles and noted that I was drawing inspiration from Karen Carpenters clean vocals. In the end I received feedback that it was very Carpenters-esque, that I used lots of vibrato and cry/fry at times on the onset or offset of phrases.

Preparing for PPW and CPW - Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-03 19:57:25 UTC

As always, I started by charting the song, working out the structure, and writing out little key phrases to help me practice the lyrics to each verse. I started off with some warm-ups, which included gently stretching and doing tongue swirls in order to help with my articulation. I then moved on to lip trills/siren noises and fricatives, which create the necessary back pressure in my mouth and vocal cords, which are great for warming up the voice, according to Fisher (2014). After I moved onto arpeggios. I have a sore throat, so I struggled during the warm-ups, therefore, it is important to be careful and look after my vocal health, especially at this time. I sing along with the song in order to learn the melodic tune and then use karaoke and slowly take it away to learn the lyrics.

I do have some creative input prepared for the pre-production workshop tomorrow. I decided to take some of the bars down an octave, I wanted to slow down the song and almost sing it with quite a sultry tone. I think the lower octave will really suit this take on the song, and I want to be able to sing it to the best of my ability. I think the lower octave will allow my voice to shine more as it is more in my comfortable range.

Pre-production workshop - Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-03 20:06:56 UTC

We started by getting the structure down, which has remained largely true to the original, and also laid down some harmonies. One difference we have made is taking the song's melody down an octave, singing some lines an octave below and some on the original melody, which has made it more comfortable for both my and my fellow vocalist Beth's voice. We also extended the outro to give Beth and me some creative room for riffing and ad-libbing. In the end, we decided on this riffing off of each other back-and-forth style outro where the ending will be signaled by our drummer- Marcie- slowing down the beat. Overall, I'm happy with how our rendition came out. I feel we could have made greater creative changes, but we were all happy with the final outcome.

Creative performance workshop - Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-04 17:52:46 UTC

Before this performance, I felt quite relaxed and calm as we hadn't made too many changes to the original song, but I was also lacking in energy due to my sickness, which I think impacted the initial performance. It was 'lethargic' as one of our tutors commented. They felt the performance lacked energy, and that the song felt 'unsure' and there needed to be more communication on where the song was going to end. I received some personal feedback from our tutor to open my mouth more when singing to create more resonance in my mouth and, therefore, sing louder and clearer. Also, to add more energy and flavour to my vocal performance. The video above is our second take of the song, which was better than the first. We then received further feedback that our harmonies sounded good, and there was an improvement in our performance the second time. Some points I would like to remember for next week would be to try and bring more energy (depending on the genre and how we change the cover) and set myself a personal goal of something I could do during my performance that would enhance my stage presence.

Development entry - project development plan

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-06 13:17:44 UTC

Project proposal - my aims and objectives

I am hoping to produce two contrasting songs that each demonstrate different vocal styles or abilities.
My personal goals are to challenge myself vocally especially when choosing the songs I will be performing.
Another personal goal is to produce a daw song that has more layering and uses a wider range of production skills.

My two tracks

My anticipated contribution is the entire project as I am working alone again. I find it easier to rely on myself.
Instruments that will be performed and recorded are my vocals and keys. Possibly some other additional ambient instruments like simple percussion.
Technologies to be utilised are logic of course for my DAW recording.
My chosen genres will be jazz and pop.
I’m hoping my tracks will illustrate contrast through tempo, style and genre.
My potential influences are Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald, and a more modern day pop artist such as Chappell Roan

New skills

During this model I will acquire some new skills such as a higher more difficult level of production, better mastering of my vocal techniques, and an expansion in photography for the other part of my assignment- your business strategy. I would also like to work on my overall performance skills and my stage presence. Some current skills I have that I would like to push further are my technical abilities which I believe are competent however I be think that I can challenge myself further.

Anticipated problems

I have some anticipated issues that in my written work. I received some feedback on my critical analysis last time and I would like to improve on the focus of my work and its contents by sticking to the learning objectives and how my work may be marked, as well as researching further into what a critical analysis at this level may look like or what it really even means.

Planning and timeline

Monday 9:45am-11:15am vocal development.
Development diary write up and use vocal warm-ups in line with my vocal smart goals to work on my skillset and then finalise my learning of this weeks song through the use of karaoke.
Tuesday 9:45am-11:15am production tools, 1:30pm-3:00pm pre-production workshop
Development diary write up and practice of my chosen songs.
Wednesday 11:30am-1:00pm creative performance workshop
Development diary write-up and possibly studio time (to be planned or booked yet), in the evening.
Thursday 9:45am-11:15am your strategy, 12:00pm-2:00pm study group
Development diary write up and this Thursday I am attending a rehearsal at small pond to give myself a space to choose what songs I would like to do and a Mac suite booking to work on my other assignment- music photography for my business strategy.

Friday day off.

Saturday and Sunday start learning next weeks song and practicing my own choices. Use chosen vocal warm-ups to work on my goals before I start.

Week by week plan (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-06 13:52:09 UTC

Week 1 - 2

involved getting back on my feet, brainstorming a list of song choices, setting my goals and targets and completing my development diary entries.
Learned and performed Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa and The Riverboat Song by Ocean Colour Scene.

Week 3 (current)

Coordinated with a venue organiser to photograph musicians playing live at the WaterBear venue.
Performed Chain Chain Chain by Aretha Franklin.
Start working towards my smart goals, especially my vocal and production ones using warm-ups and at home learning.

Week 4

Start laying the foundations for my songs, practice my vocals as well as the keys for the DAW track.
Make progress on my music business strategy report.
Learn Black Dog by Led Zeppelin.
Continued work towards my smart goals, especially my vocal and production ones using warm-ups and at home learning.

Weeks 5 - 6

Continued progression with my live performance and development diaries as usual.
Continued work towards my smart goals, especially my vocal and production ones using warm-ups and at home learning.
Go back to the WaterBear venue to possibly get more photographs as well evidence for my business strategy.
Learn Rehab by Amy Winehouse and Always on the Run by Lenny Kravitz.

Weeks 7 - 8

First studio recording for my DAW track.
First level of mixing for my DAW track and continued practice of my live performance.
Learn Hard Times by Paramore and Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder.
Continued work towards my smart goals, especially my vocal and production ones using warm-ups and at home learning.

Weeks 9 - 10

Mixing my studio track.
Practicing for my final performance of my chosen song.

Preparing for PPW and CPW - Black Dog by Led Zeppelin (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-10 19:18:31 UTC

As always, I started warming up with lip trills. My vocal health hasn't been great, so I warmed up for a while to exert myself less when singing. I transitioned to scales and arpeggios to get myself ready to sing. I also had a shower before practice, and I think the steam helped moisten my vocal cords and helped ease my voice, which is evidenced by the Atlanta Institute of Music and Media (2018). To start with, I charted the song, then wrote on a separate page the words or phrases that were emphasized most on each line so I could reread this and jog my memory on the lyrics. I began by singing the original song to figure out the melody. Once I had it figured out, I switched to karaoke. and took away the screen, relying solely on my written notes to jog my memory until I didn't need them.

Afterward, I collaborated with some other musicians through text messages on how to change the song, and we came up with a jazz cover inspired by one we found on the platform YouTube, shown above. While it would be nice to take inspiration from this cover, it's slightly too low for my comfortable range; therefore, I would likely sing in the original octave or take the original octave down until it becomes comfortable and lower.

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-10 19:19:59 UTC

Development entry - Changing my first song choice and evaluating their contrast (LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-10 19:30:26 UTC

After some review, I decided that I could not sing Love by Keyshia Cole comfortably in my natural range, and I felt like I was negatively impacting my voice by trying to do so. Instead, I decided on something also challenging, however more healthy for my voice and where I am at in my vocal skill level. The song is Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys. This song will still provide me with challenges, for example, during the chorus where Keys employs a healthy chest dominant mix to reach those higher notes. She also uses riffs across the verses, which is a skill I would like to work on.

The second song I have decided on is You've Changed by Billie Holiday. This song will allow me to demonstrate my current vocal ability while challenging me to apply some of the feedback I received on my last assessment, which was to use more emotion in my singing. The cover from which I am taking inspiration also uses lots of mixed register, which is one of my goals.

I believe that the songs are contrasting in genre, style, and era. You've Changed is a jazz song from 1958. Ain't Got You is a pop hit from 2003. Billie Holiday's song being a jazz song means I can naturally use a very clean tone and lots of vocal resonance. This can be done by altering tongue and jaw placement and widening the mouth- something which I have been consistently advised to work on. Ain't Got You employs a very full chest voice during the choruses and uses a softer, breathy tone during the verses. Alicia Keys has a lot of raw vocal power that makes her songs sound very emotive. The topics of both songs may be similar- longing for something or someone although one is more about a heartbreak; however, the genre and the vocal styles in each song are quite different. This is why I believe these two to be my best contrasting picks.

References

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-10 19:30:47 UTC

Boon, L. (2023). How to do SOVT exercises. [online] Laura Boon Voice - Singing Lessons. Available at: https://www.lauraboonvoice.co.uk/blog/how-to-do-sovt-exercises.

Cole, K. (2006). Love. Greg Curtis. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/track/0W4NhJhcqKCqEP2GIpDCDq?si=7c2723123b634576.

Fisher, J. (2014b). Vocal Warm ups - Vocal Process. [online] Vocal Process. Available at: https://vocalprocess.co.uk/vocal-warm-ups/.

Holiday, B. (1958). You’ve Changed. Irving Townsend. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/track/6pyIYkI6eckBahwLKnAfHG?si=6df290e6a34141fb.

Keys, A. (2004). If I Ain’t Got You. Alicia Keys. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/track/3XVBdLihbNbxUwZosxcGuJ?si=1930ef9bdcd743a3.

NHS Foundation Trust. (2022, July, 03). Practical Voice Care. https://www.wsh.nhs.uk/CMS-Documents/Patient-leaflets/SpeechandLanguageTherapyServices/6534-1-Practical-voice-care.pdf

Power, K. (2022). How To Find Your Mixed Voice Using 2 Simple Exercises - Sing Without Limits. [online] Sing without Limits. Available at: https://singwithoutlimits.com/how-to-find-your-mixed-voice-using-2-simple-exercises/.

Songbird Studios (2019). Songbird Singing Tips: Riff Better • Songbird Studios. [online] Songbird Studios. Available at: https://songbirdsf.com/riff-better/.

Team, A. (2018). To Steam, or Not To Steam? - Strategies for Vocalists. [online] Aimm.edu. Available at: https://aimm.edu/blog/to-steam-or-not-to-steam-your-vocal-chords.

www.simplymixing.com. (2021). Audio Compressor Types Explained: VCA, FET, Optical & Vari-mu. [online] Available at: https://www.simplymixing.com/blog/audio-compressor-types.

This assignment was grammatically edited and corrected with the use of Grammarly.

Development entry - My second song choice (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-10 19:36:25 UTC

I have decided that my second song will be 'You've Changed' by Billie Holiday. This is a realistic target for me as I would like to work on this assignment alone and can provide the vocals as well as the piano backing track. I am taking major inspiration from this cover version of the song, above I have attached a snippet. I really like the singer's phrasing and vowel placement which provide this cover of the song with a very cutting yet warm vocal tone. I have found a version of the sheet music online which I will be using and have transposed it to match the key of this cover. I also think this song will let some of my strengths shine, such as my pitch accuracy, vocal tone, vibrato, and breath control when using a 'headier' mix.

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-11 18:39:14 UTC

Production (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-11 18:40:50 UTC

Synthesisers

- In this lesson, we learned about synthesis, synthesizers, and synths. We learned about the 4 types of synthesis waves, which are sine, square, triangle, and saw, and how they change how the synth wave sounds. We also learned that low-frequency waves have a lower pitch and that a wave with more frequent waves is higher in pitch.

- I also learned the types of synthesis, which are FM, granular, additive, and subtractive, and involve combining waves to shape what we are hearing. I also learned some other key terms such as envelope, which is the attack, decay, sustain, and release of a wave. What filters do- shape the wave sound and what an LFO is- an oscillator used to change the shape of the wave.

- To apply our knowledge, we were then given stems for a Depeche Mode song in logic and told to play around with finding synths for each part of the song. I did so and then started fine-tuning the settings of each synthesis. I also duplicated the bassline and gave the duplication a more edgy sawtooth sound to give the bassline more depth. I chose very rounded out and basic synths for the bassline and picked a high-pitched synth for the top line or melody and played around with giving it vibrato and combing a square and triangle wave type.

Pre-production workshop - Black Dog by Led Zeppelin (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-11 18:41:21 UTC

This session was difficult. I entered the room with an ambitious idea: to turn this track into jazz. We changed the key so that it was a whole tone down, making it more comfortable for me to sing without having to belt. Our guitarist and drummer colluded to work out how to make the transitions between each section work and what exactly to play rather than the power chords/how to rework the lead guitar line. We went for a more swing-style drum and split the vocal parts up so that Beth and I alternated between taking lines. In the end, this is what we came up with, and it strays quite far from the original. We also decided to cut the song short, skipping the last verse as we spent a lot of time ironing out our timing and transitions. We still didn't get it to the cleanest point we could have however, I am happy with our overall creative contributions and how we altered the genre/style of the song.

Practice video / current development - Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-11 18:42:40 UTC

In this take, I felt my placement during the chorus had improved as I started to get more comfortable with how to place my voice, again still using what felt akin to chest register except I was placing it in my face and head rather than my throat, my larynx was higher than if I was singing in chest register at a more comfortable range but it was light and breathy like my head/falsetto register.

My main notes on this are to continue working through the song, learning the lyrics, and also to hit those higher notes during the chorus, i.e., on the word 'just' or 'don't' using a mix rather than switching into head voice. During the later part of the song, I will need to focus more on breath control and stabilizing this vocal placement because the chorus repeats, which I imagine is going to be difficult to sing twice in a row. On the other hand, I have also begun learning the melody to 'You've Changed' by following along with the aforementioned cover. Once I have learned this, I will work on the piano part to accompany my studio recording.

Practice video / current development - Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-11 18:55:02 UTC

I have been listening to the song on repeat as a way for me to learn the melody and lyrics. To warm up, I started with lip trills and doing 'nya nya nyas' up and down scales to try and access my mixed voice and find a place comfortable between my chest register and head register as suggested by Power, Katti (2022). The whole time I was trying to think of the resonance of my notes as being placed far forward in my face/nose, I found this helped because when it worked, it felt like I was putting less tension/strain on my vocal cords while still producing a loud and powerful sound during the chorus. In this take of my practice, it's still very much a bit wobbly- I find that when I don't use enough breath support or start to think about what my throat is doing too much, it starts to strain, and I lose my placement.

This is something I will keep developing. The verses have been fairly simple so far. I have found that the riffs are coming quite easily to me; accessing that lower part of my range has been slightly challenging, but as I practice the song more,e I believe it will improve.

Preparing for PPW and CPW - Rehab by Amy Winehouse + trying a new vocal warm-up (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-13 17:06:44 UTC

I started with my usual warm-ups. I began with lip trills in a siren sound, then lip trills up and down scales, and tried a new vocal warm-up I found on the social media platform TikTok by vocal coach Cheryl Porter called the 'noom noom noom' exercise. It involves riffing up and down and back up a scale using ah and eh vowels and then returning with a 'noom' repeated 5 times. This exercise was fun to do and should help with vocal agility and dictation because of the shape of the mouth when saying 'noom' repeatedly.

Afterward, I watched a lyric video for rehab and started learning the phrasing and timing of some of the lines. When I felt confident with it, I charted the structure and the keywords on every line to help me practice when I switched to karaoke. I switched to karaoke and occasionally needed to refer back to the original to help with some of the timing; however, I decided to creatively change a couple of things, i.e,. melody or timing to help me sing it more comfortably.

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-13 17:09:20 UTC

Practice video / current development - Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-13 17:13:21 UTC

Today, I used lip trills and the 'noom noom noom' exercise to warm up my voice. I also did some tongue rolls and pulled some faces to encourage my mouth to open wider during areas where I am using a mixed register and more of a belt. Today, my goal was to hit some of those higher notes during the chorus and see how easily/comfortably I could do so. I also managed to work more on my general mixed/belting technique by opening my mouth more to help with resonance and ease the strain on my vocal cords. Next time, I need to work on my general timing and keep working on reaching those high notes in mix.

'Noom noom noom' vocal warm-up example video

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-13 17:20:02 UTC

Vocal development

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-17 10:49:45 UTC

Learning about vocal health

Various factors can impact our vocal health, they can be sorted into bio, psycho, social categories or physical, mental, and environmental.

Physical:

Hydration
Medication
Digestive
Pains and aches

Mental:

Stress
Medication
Looking after mental health
Difficulty sleeping

Environmental:

Travel
Living conditions
Lifestyle
Touring demands
Also sleep

Things to remember to have good vocal health:

Hydration
Avoiding irritants
Proper technique
Vocal rest
Warm-up and cool-down exercises
Vocal hygiene
Seeking professional help

This week we were considering vocal health and when to seek help- a general rule was that after 2 weeks of hoarseness or a change in the voice, you should bring it to the attention of your GP.

If it lasts longer than 4 weeks you should see a specialist or ENT for a full examination of the vocal folds.

Vocal nodules:

What: scar tissue or small callous-like growths that form on the vocal folds due to trauma.

Sounds like: hoarseness, rough or breathy voice and difficulty projecting your voice.
How: when you strain your voice by speaking or singing frequently.
Management: pre-nodes can be corrected with proper vocal technique and later will be with surgery.

Vocal polyps:

What: another kind of growth but only occurs on one side of the vocal folds.

Sounds like: can lead to hoarseness, breathless and the feeling of a lump in your throat.
How: accrue trauma or a single instance of vocal abuse i.e. yelling ir screaming.
Management: stage dependant.

Laryngitis:

What: vocal folds becoming inflamed and swollen.
Sounds like: raspy or hoarse voice/temporary loss of voice.
How: infection of irritation.
Management: resting your voice and staying hydrated.

Reflux laryngitis:

What: vocal folds becoming inflamed or swollen.
Sounds like: hoarseness, chronic throat clearing and difficulty swallowing.
How: chronic acid reflux- stomach acid backs up into your throat and irritates the vocal folds.
Management: managing reflux through dietary changes, medication, and lifestyle modification.

Treating vocal injuries depends on:

Age
Medical history and overall health
How sick you are
Ability to handle specific medicines and procedures
How long the condition will last
Your own opinion

How to treat vocal injuries:

Resting the voice
Stopping the behaviour that caused the vocal injury
Referral to a speech language therapist
Medicine
Surgery to remove growths

Production (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-18 10:32:54 UTC

Parallel processing/routing/automation

Parallel processing is the process of using buses to send certain effects to certain channels without individually creating tracks to use these effects and having the signals then interfere with each other.
Automation is a process that allows you to alter your tracks individually in terms of panning, reverb, volume, and other effects. It gives you the freedom to precisely choose where said effects happen on the track, i.e., emphasising the reverb on certain words.

Today, we were taken through a tutorial on how to use these processes in our own work and then given stems to be able to start using these ideas ourselves. I used buses to send a reverb and an EQ setting to several channels and then used automation to time when an echo would come into more effect in a certain area, as shown above. I also used automation to create dynamic variations on the right guitar mic, as shown in the above section.

Production

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-18 16:09:44 UTC

Pre-production workshop - Rehab by Amy Winehouse (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-18 16:13:13 UTC

I entered today's session with no solid groundwork for any creative ideas except being inspired to try a bluesy style cover of Amy Winehouse's Rehab. We all felt confident about the song's structure, so we went over it once, and then our drummer, Sophie, suggested a slower cover with more space to give room for the vocals. We only started with a guitarist, which was the reason for this suggestion; we initially went in an acoustic direction. This then turned into a jazz cover where our drummer swapped to jazz sticks and created a swingy jazz drum beat, our bassist did a jazz walk, and our guitarist came up with a more rhythmic staccato strumming pattern.

I decided to alter some phrases during the chorus melodically and changed the timing until the phrasing felt more comfortable with the swing feel of the song. We decided to lose instruments during the second pre-chorus to build up the dynamics going back into the chorus and give me the spotlight. I also included some slides on certain words, i.e., the word rehab to try and contribute to the jazz style of the song. I also sang with an overall very clean tone. Overall, I am very happy with the outcome of this cover.

Live-performance workshop - Rehab by Amy Winehouse (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-02-19 15:31:48 UTC

I didn't get to perform last week, and I had aimed to set myself something to do to enhance my performance on stage. This time around, I decided to do something bold that would fit with the genre and did a seated performance, which gave it a very live lounge feel. The only negative takeaway I had was during our first take, I forgot some of the lyrics. However, I was happy with my performance.

A classmate commented that this style of performance and this genre are hard to pull off as it can be quite exposing- the music is quite stripped back, and flaws may be more noticeable; however, I pulled it off. I received many positive comments, for example, that my style of vocals did justice to the song and that the vocal part was the part that stood out the most. My overall technique was complemented; another classmate commented that I had a very clean tone, my vibrato was good, and I incorporated slides on some words, i.e., the word 'rehab'.

My teacher commented that my choice of notes and melodic changes were good and interesting. I received some feedback that I could try and use more facial expressions, which I did try to do in our second take; however, I could've pushed the expressiveness a bit more, and I could have included further stylistic changes, i.e., whispering and bringing the dynamics right down during the pre-chorus. My expression during singing is still something that I would like to continue working on, but that will come with growing my confidence.

Production (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-04 17:15:05 UTC

Gain scaling

Gain scaling is a method of recording your tracks at a certain volume to allow for headroom within the music. It is a way of controlling how loud certain tracks are and how loud the overall song is. It is important to reduce clipping, distortion, and overall maintain the clarity of the audio.

Today we were given a track to gain scale and play around with its components. First I sorted each instrument into folders, then I set the gain of every track to -14.0db, I then used parallel processing to send the lead and backing vocals to a bus with hall reverb. I used the faders to control how much of the added effect I wanted on said tracks. I also used it to send the lead guitar to a bus with delay and began working on my own midi track with an experimentative organ melody. In addition, I used EQ to adjust the sound of the lead vocals and backing vocals by giving them different effects i.e. on the backing vocals giving them increased attack.

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-04 17:15:42 UTC

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-04 17:16:09 UTC

Preparing for PPW and CPW - Always on the Run by Lenny Kravitz (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-04 17:18:44 UTC

I skipped warming up this time as I wanted to feel some natural grit in my voice, which would make it easier to utilise that growl that Lenny Kravitz uses when he sings. The melody is also in my range, which made it less challenging overall. The harder parts of this vocal performance are going to be stage presence and lyrics. The lyrics are very repetitive and same-y. Initially, I started with singing along to the original, then charted the lyrics and focused on each line individually before moving on to the karaoke version. I practiced stage presence by getting up and performing in front of a mirror to help with facial expressions while maintaining the bit of energy necessary for this song. My ideas for the rehearsal tomorrow include maybe making the song slightly heavier and leaning into that growly/gritty feel. Because the lyrics are same-y, I feel it’s going to be easier to change the melody, and there should be room in the song to do so.

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-04 17:32:33 UTC

Pre-production workshop - Always on the Run by Lenny Kravitz (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-04 17:42:43 UTC

Fellow vocalist Kyrst and I decided on an ABAB split of the lines in the song. We played through the original once, then came to a joint agreement that we should do a heavier style cover- opting for a more punk riff on the guitar and drums. Kyrst and I decided to explore changing the melody of the lines to match the high energy of the instrumental. We also implemented a different kind of guitar solo to Slash's original and changed the tone of the lead guitar to fit in with the style of the genre more. Other than that, Kyrst and I still kept a lot of inspiration from the original vocals while just adding extra power and punch behind them. I got more comfortable and confident towards the end of this session, which will help with my stage presence tomorrow. If I can allow myself to enjoy the performance and have a good time, it will show on stage.

Live performance workshop (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-05 17:07:39 UTC

This performance generally went well; the main medals I received were on my vocal style and the growl that I implemented. After the first take, I received feedback that there were two different energies on stage between the vocalists and the rest of the band, where the audience felt like we could have been more expressive or energetic to match the high-energy instrumental. I also received a remark on my overall expressionism: sing with more exaggerated facial expressions and own the stage a bit more. Overall, the main points of contention were my stage presence and my energy on stage. The second time around, I attempted to implement that feedback by pushing my singing a bit more to try and match the instrumental. My teacher remarked that he felt I had added more grit the second time around and that the overall energy of everyone on stage felt more cohesive and more exciting. My overall takeaway from this performance was that, generally, I actually really enjoyed singing and performing something out of my comfort zone and I got some great insight about improving stage presence from one of my tutors, which I would like to take into future performances.

Preparing for PPW and CPW - Hard Times by Paramore (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-10 21:14:36 UTC

I am already very familiar with this track, so I started warming up with some lip trills and humming scales. It will be very important for me to warm up ahead of the real performance as this song requires me to hit some high notes in the mix. I moved on to practicing this song in the mirror to work on stage presence and tried to imagine the whole time that I was performing to a crowd and tried to let loose a little more by dancing and having fun while singing the song.

I rehearsed the karaoke version many times, working on lines where it was difficult for me to land notes without being flat. I tried a callout technique, imagining that I was yelling to somebody across the room when singing some lines, i.e., 'Tell me that I'm alright', to give myself the necessary stability and breath support to land them without using head voice. For other lines in the chorus, such as 'Gonna take you down and laugh when you cry', I widened my mouth and changed the vowel sounds, specifically on the word 'cry', so it sounded more like 'crah' to make it easier for me to mix belt on that word. Hayley Williams has great stage presence and energy when singing, which I would like to remember this week.

Pre-production workshop - Hard Times by Paramore (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-11 20:22:50 UTC

I led today's rehearsal by suggesting the main change in our song- I wanted to keep the genre and the song itself mostly the same; however, I suggested that during the breakdown part, we slow it down, make it roomier and swampier, almost psychedelic-like as our tutor commented. Me and our other vocalist, Mabel, and I freestyled some melodic humming and oohing over that specific part before we built it back up into the chorus. We swapped the guitar pattern for a slow strum whilst our other guitarist played the synthy wavy part from the original track. We also subbed in a much more stripped-back drum beat.

To close out the ending, we decided one of us would take the almost robotic sounding lyrics and one of us would riff on top until the ending where the song finishes the same as the original. Overall, I am happy with our cover as I wanted to sing it quite closely to the original- I didn't want it to lose too much energy by changing the genre to something slower or more stripped back. I also thought that taking the riffing part would allow me to shine a little more on stage and bring the energy, which will be nerve-wracking but a good challenge for me.

Live performance workshop - Hard Times by Paramore (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-12 16:28:44 UTC

Today went really well. I was overall pleased with my personal performance. I received much positive feedback, for instance, that I had a very similar tone to Hayley Williams and how she sings on the track, that a different, more confident side to my voice was heard today, and that I am overall a very versatile singer as I have done justice to many different genres now. The audience felt like I brought more energy to this song and that I had improved my stage presence. Some feedback I was given included performing to match Mabel's level of energy and communicating with the band. While I am working to improve my stage presence and comfortability when performing, it hasn't quite reached the level that some others perform at yet. My final thoughts and opinions are that I am very pleased with how I tackled this performance and improved some of my performing skills- it was very fun to let go and have fun with this song.

Vocal development

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-17 09:59:52 UTC

Harmony

What is it? It occurs in music when two or more pitches are sounded together at the same time. Harmony can be added in the form of canons, drones, chords, parallel melodies, calls and responses, etc.

Blending is the art of making two voices blend together so the separation is undeterminable, as singers it means matching: tone, intensity, vocal fold closure, vowel, and onset/offset.

Common harmonic intervals: major 3rd, minor 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th.

We also visited certain songs that you could use to figure out certain harmonies, i.e. the first two lyrics of 'All the Small Things' by Blink 182 being a major 3rd when combined. We also went into some practical work, harmonizing as a group on songs such as 'Bella Mama' and 'Die with a Smile'.

Development entry / practice video - reverting my choice of 'If I Ain't Got You' back to 'Love' (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-17 17:52:42 UTC

After receiving my formative feedback on my chosen song- 'If I Ain't Got You' by Alicia Keys, and revisiting singing the song, I decided that this song was not the best choice. I thought that if I practiced this song enough, eventually I would be able to use mix on those very high notes, however I realize that may not have been a realistic goal within my set time frame. I did visit the idea of taking the key down however, the verses would be too low for me to sing. Therefore, I am revisiting my initial choice- Love by Keyshia Cole. I can't sing this song comfortably in the original key, which I believe is demonstrated in my first visitation of this song where I struggled a lot during the chorus. This is why I have decided to pitch the song down by 2 semitones, which is still going to be a difficult performance due to the necessary breath control you must have and the notes that are still quite high for me personally.

Above is a video of me singing this song. As you can see, I still have lyrics to work on, and I don't have the 3rd verse melody down just yet. I will also need to work on the riff on the word 'found' in the chorus, but overall, this song is much more achievable for me to sing, and I feel more confident with it.

Preparing for PPW and CPW - Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-17 19:03:58 UTC

I kept listening to this song a few weeks prior to this week therefore I started my practice very familiar with the lyrics and the melody. I came home and practiced right after having done some vocal warmups today during technical development. I followed the same steps I usually do, singing to the melody of the song, then the karaoke, then taking away the lyrics. All day I kept repeating the verses in my head to make sure I had them down. Tomorrow I want to challenge myself by really putting some character and energy into my vocal performance as Stevie Wonder is a very expressive performer. The melody line is fairly straight forward so I would like to challenge myself in other areas. I also learnt the backing vocals just in case this was necessary, unfortunately I don’t have any creative ideas on how to rework the song to take with me tomorrow as I really like the original.

Pre-production workshop - Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-19 16:06:05 UTC

Going into this rehearsal, I felt confident on my part but lacked any creative ideas on how to change the song. Luckily, our guitarist had many ideas and wanted to make the song heavier. It ended up turning into a Fall Out Boy pop-punk-esque remix of the original. I was given much creative freedom with the vocals, so I tried to embrace a Hayley Williams-esque style of singing. I tried to include lots of cry during the chorus and overenunciated my vowels reminiscent of pop-punk. Tommi directed our other guitarist, who subbed in as a bassist to place emphasis on the stop and starts during the chorus, and asked our drummer to stab in certain places. He also directed us as to when we should dynamically shift. Mabel, our other vocalist, arrived late to this lesson, but we ended up splitting the lyrics ABAB style and designating the harmonies to Mabel while I carried on singing the chorus during the outro. Everybody got their own solo moment in our arrangement, and I have actually found that I really enjoy this style of singing and this genre a lot.

Tomorrow, I will use the mic on the stand; however, I want to make my performance feel more emotive in my style of singing. In addition, I want to feel and look more comfortable with how I handle the mic and the mic stand.

Live performance workshop - Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-19 16:06:50 UTC

I was very pleased with how much performance went today. As our class size was a bit smaller than usual, we got to do 3 takes of the song. Mabel, our other vocalist, also didn't make it today, so I had to take the whole song, which was nerve-wracking but gave me a chance to put myself in the spotlight. I mixed up the lyrics twice, I felt let down by this a little; however, my teacher noted that I recovered well. After our second take, some feedback I received was that my vowels and phrasing pair really well with the son,g i.e. how I say 'you' when going into the choruses. Someone commented that it was also nice to see me do a solo song again and step into the spotlight and that the vocals cut through the instruments really well.

One mission I received was to take the mic off the stand towards the end of the song, which I more or less nailed in the third take, and we also added an extra build-up around when I was supposed to take the mic off the stand. Overall, I really enjoyed this performance, which was challenging in many different ways- having to remember all the lyrics, needing energy for the song, and singing in the style of the genre. However, overall, I feel I executed this well and have made lots of progress in my performance skills and overall stage presence since some of my first performances, especially in some of the last few performances. I also feel a lot more comfortable on stage also.

Recording session - You've Changed by Billie Holiday (LO2 Techniques + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-19 16:07:24 UTC

Today I had my recording studio session to lay down the base for my mixing. We used a Yamaha keyboard at Bond Street studio, plugged into the Mac computer which was then plugging MIDI into Ableton which was the software that the in-house engineer decided to use. I decided to use a keyboard this time instead of a classical piano as the keyboard gives the track a more polished feel by eliminating background noise that would be picked up from a mic recording a classical piano. This time around I am aiming to achieve better quality than the last track I recorded and mixed last term. I set up my sheet music on the Mac's screen and played in time to the score which has a line moving over the bars to show the tempo. I did 4 takes and decided that my second take was the best take without needing to comp in parts from my other takes. We then used a tube microphone plugged into a tube box which was going into a WA273 preamp and out of that and into the Mac and onto Ableton. We also used a reflection filter attached to the microphone stand as there is a slight bit of reverb in this studio, the filter was called the Aston Halo. I decided to use a tube microphone as it's best for recording warm vocals which I thought would compliment this jazz track. I did 3 takes of vocals. I didn't get time to decide which was my favorite however I took away the basis of my track to start mixing it in the Mac suite on Thursday.

Practice video / current development - You've Changed by Billie Holiday (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-19 16:08:07 UTC

My recording session is in a few days time, and since my last practice video, I have practiced the song's whole structure and moved onto the other half of the song following the cover I was inspired by. I have changed some notes to fit with the piano arrangement I found online, so it isn't a 1-1 recreation of the cover I chose to follow. I am pleased with my progress and my performance. Next week in the studio, I would like to deliver a more emotive performance and really exaggerate my vowels and phrasing to also draw inspiration from Billie Holiday.

Practice video / current development - You've Changed by Billie Holiday (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-19 16:26:16 UTC

I have learned this piano arrangement very quickly as the sheet music is not too challenging, and my skill level definitely qualifies me to play it. However, there was one specific bar I was having trouble mastering as it uses a C flat (which is just a B natural) and other notes like this, which are difficult to remember because they aren't so commonly used in sheet music. I was also having some trouble figuring out the tempo of this bar as it uses many quavers and semiquavers. This practice here shows me eventually playing the right notes and chords in this bar at the end, and the second video next to this post shows how I could play it completely correct afterward. Listening to the sheet music's playback feature helped me to master the tempo.

Development entry - Creating an arrangement for 'You've Changed' by Billie Holiday (LO2 Techniques + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-19 16:43:01 UTC

I have started learning this song by singing along to the cover version and memorizing the melody and lyrics. I also realize that their arrangement of this song differs slightly from the original therefore I have somewhat mixed them, taking the most inspiration from the cover however stealing some melody lines here and there from the original. Their version is also much shorter as they don't sing the full song which I plan to. I have therefore spent some time figuring out how to create an arrangement of this song and the best way to practice it.

My plan of action is to record the piano and vocals separately of course therefore I don't need to learn how to do both at the same time however there wasn't a karaoke version of this song that mimics how I will be playing it therefore I found this sheet music on SheetMusicDirect.com and used its interactive features to turn off the vocal melody and use the piano arrangement to sing along to. I also slowed it down to 88% speed and transposed it 2 semitones down, from C major to Bb major which is the key that the cover version uses and I can sing most comfortably in.

Practice video / current development - Love by Keyshia Cole (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-19 16:49:26 UTC

I included some of my warm-up at the start of this video to show how I usually do it as opposed to writing about it. I then sang Love by Keyshia Cole in its entirety; however, I have moved the key down by another semitone as I was still struggling before on the high notes, so the key of this song is now in D major instead of F major. This song requires a lot of stamina and breath control, which are the parts I'm finding most challenging. I think with more practice I will figure out where to place my breaths more efficiently. I am also having trouble with the riffs on the word 'found' in the chorus, which is another thing I want to improve on in order to deliver a strong performance. I may try and find some exercises to help me with this when I practice next. Overall I know the melody and lyrics of this song well now so I just need to fine-tune the details and work towards delivering the best vocal performance I possibly can.

Risk assessment

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-19 17:50:29 UTC

It is always to refer to a risk assessment when doing live performances, therefore I have conducted a risk assessment. I looked at the 4 categories below and assessed several different potential hazards.

The hazard

Tripping hazard on stage due to cables.
Fire/spark or electrical hazard.
Falling off stage.
Manual handling.
Noise levels.

Who may be harmed

Performers.
Everyone inside of venue.
Performers.
Venue staff or performers.
Everyone inside of venue.

The risk/likeliness of said hazard

1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5

How to control/prevent the hazard

Use duct tape or on hand stage tape to keep wires/cables out of the way and taped to the stage. Ensure a general level of organisation with performers setting up equipment to reduce tripping hazards.
Ensure all electrical outlets are secured to walls and are safe and make sure plugs are PAT tested and that their testing date isn't expired. In the case of a fire make sure all fire exits are clearly labelled and that others are made aware of the general procedure/exits.
Make sure performers are generally aware of how close to the edge of the stage it is safe to stand. This may be mid-low risk anyways as stage monitors generally line the edge of the stage, making it more difficult to accidentally fall off.
Leave manual handling to those capable of handling it, i.e. event staff there to specifically help or performers who have brought their own equipment and know how to lift/handle it. Do not let any injured persons or those with disabilities who are incapable of helping attempt to do so.
Ensure earplugs are handed out to all audience members and performers to protect their hearing better. Qualified sound engineer to control general volume output of instruments on stage.

Video demonstrating what vocal warm-ups I use (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-19 18:12:06 UTC

I wanted to put this video into my diary to show the kind of vocal warm-ups I do instead of just writing about it. This video includes me using lip trills, fricatives, and other SOVTs to make sure my voice is healthy and ready for singing. These warm-ups exercise my vocal cords, cushioning them to prevent effortful voicing, building vocal stamina, and generally helping me to access high pitches and improve mixed register, which is evidenced by Boon, Laura (2023).

The contrast between 'Love' by Keyshia Cole and 'You've changed' by Billie Holiday (LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-19 18:36:27 UTC

As I have decided to revert my song choice, I felt it was necessary to detail why these two songs are still contrasting and to achieve the aim of this assignment. Love is a pop/R&B 2000s hit, You've Changed is, of course, classically a jazz song, whilst Billie Holiday's version is more easy listening and vocal. The version I'm taking inspiration from is a cover by a band that I discovered on the social media platform TikTok. Their version has more melody than the Billie Holiday arrangement; however, they are still inspired by her version. As I previously stated, the cover which I am taking inspiration from uses lots of mixed register. I believe that these songs are contrasting in genre, style, and era. You've Changed is a jazz song originally from the 40s-50s. I am using lots of jazz techniques, such as singing with a rounder and fuller tone while simultaneously sounding clean, using more apparent phrasing, and placing the vowel sounds further back in my throat to make them sound fuller. I want Love to sound brighter and more vocally powerful- I am going to use lots of chest register, longer, more drawn-out vibrato, and melismas, which will create that iconic R&B sound. They have similar tempos, with You've Changed sitting at around 129bpm while I have slowed it down even further and Love sitting at 117bpm. Overall, these two songs have many contrasting elements, their genres differ, their vocal techniques differ quite a lot as mentioned above, meaning I will be able to demonstrate a range of vocal techniques, and the instrumentals also differ, with my cover of You've Changed offering a simple piano track while the backing track for Love includes a range of instruments i.e. piano, guitar, bass, drums, and strings.

Contents of diary

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-20 12:34:47 UTC

SMART goals for this module
Skills audit before and after
Personal practice routine
SWOT analysis
Project development plan
Week by week plan
Risk assessment
Live performance videos + evaluations
Warm-up video
Technical development / progress videos
Production evidence
Development entries (my songs and how they contrast, my personal progress and planning)

Mixing and mastering - My buses

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 17:08:22 UTC

Mixing and mastering - Automation (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 17:08:40 UTC

The last thing I decided to do was use automation to fade out the ending of the track as I found it was finishing quite abruptly, especially my held note at the end.

Mixing and mastering - Comping and adding other instruments (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 17:09:04 UTC

I left my recording session last Tuesday with just the building blocks of my song. I started this session by deciding which vocal take I wanted to use. In the end, I decided I liked certain bars from vocal takes 2 and 3, so I comped them together. I did so using the marquee tool to draw which parts of the takes I wanted and then muting what I didn't want.

I came back to my track the next day and realised I wanted to add some more life and character to this track, therefore, I decided to add a brush sound and a gentle highhat throughout the whole track. I did so by selecting a software instrument with these features, I then played the brush sound once and looped it over the whole thing, turning it down to make sure it's not too overpowering but brings a gentle ambience to the background, I played the highhat myself all the way through so I could get the timing completely spot on. I cut out the highhat during moments where there were short, piano-only bars to make more room for the piano, and at the end of the track I switched to a washier cymbal to give it a little finishing flair, albeit both the brush and the highhat are quiet additions as I didn't want to take away from the vocals.

Mixing and mastering - Compressors (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 17:09:21 UTC

The attack on my vocals was set to about 15ms and the release to 75ms. I used the help of Simply Mixing (2021) to help determine what type of compressors to use and ended up with a studio FET on my piano, which made it sound warmer and more colourful, and a studio VCA on my vocals to make them sound cleaner and smoother.

Mixing and mastering - Compressors (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 17:09:42 UTC

I then moved on to compression. Having learned from the last track I created, I realised that my compression needn't be as heavy on a jazz track. I used a compressor on both my piano and vocal track, set to a threshold of about -20db, my ratio was set fairly low at about 3:1, Attack and release for the compression of my piano were were dialed in a little heavier around 30ms on the attack, 150ms on release, this was done to negate some of the sudden changes in dynamics where keys may have been pressed too hard too quickly.

Mixing and mastering - EQ (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 17:09:57 UTC

I then used the channel EQ on my vocal takes to bring out the mids and the high end using an EQ setting called 'improve thin sounds'. The piano that I chose already had an EQ setting applied, so I left it as it was.

Mixing and mastering - Reverb (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 17:10:18 UTC

Once I had a solid vocal take, I then moved onto the piano, I wanted to change the type of piano used from the one we selected in Ableton in my studio session. I then moved on to adding reverb. I used a bus to direct both vocal takes to a channel with Chromaverb which was set to vocal hall to give my vocals more room. I put my wet slider all the way up and used the main volume slider for this channel to mix in my reverb. I added quite a bit because of the fact that I only did vocal takes in front of the mic and didn't have any room mics set up. I then used a bus to send my piano take to a channel with reverb set to concert hall to make my piano sound roomier as it was originally recorded straight into midi on Ableton.

Practice video / current development - You've Changed by Billie Holiday (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 17:46:00 UTC

Practice video / current development - You've Changed by Billie Holiday (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 17:47:22 UTC

I have been listening to the cover that I was inspired by to try and get the melody down. This involves just sitting on my bed and repeating the lines until I have them memorised. This take is after having learned the first half of the song. I recognise that I am straining a bit coming into the intro, and my pitch could be corrected more. I also feel that my head voice could be further supported so it doesn't sound as light and airy and instead sounds like the wonderful singer from the cover. I have been focusing on her enunciation and phrasing, which is very forward, and her words are very clearly sung. This is something I could better incorporate into my next practice. So far, I have made good progress on learning the basics of the song.

Practice video / current development - You've Changed by Billie Holiday (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 17:47:56 UTC

Since my last video practicing this song, I feel I have improved my technique. My voice is straining less in the intro, my vowels are clearer, and the melody is more certain. Next week I need to learn the second half of the song and start fine-tuning the details. There aren't any new skills for me to learn or incorporate, as jazz is a very natural singing style for me. I just need to adjust how I use current techniques such as head register and supporting that with my diaphragm so it sounds fuller, warmer, and more inspired by a jazz vocal tone.

Development entry - Second half of the cover I will be inspired by

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-25 19:41:53 UTC

Mixing and mastering - Automation (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-27 17:18:15 UTC

I went back and finetuned the levels of each instrument until they were more in balance, in turn the highhat started to feel a little too loud in some places so I added some dynamic variation through automation, making it quieter in areas where I wanted to bring it down, and louder in areas where the general volume was coming up.

Mixing and mastering - EQ (LO2 Techniques)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-27 17:19:23 UTC

I felt that in the original mix I created last week, the vocals and the piano weren't quite balanced, the piano felt too warm and dark, and the vocals too bright and clean. To balance them out, I first changed the piano I was using on Logic to one that was a little bit thinner. I then used EQ settings to bring out the mids and highs because it was a little too thin. I wanted my vocals to sound warmer, so I used the EQ on my vocals to really bring out the mids and the lower end. In the end, I felt these were more balanced with each other.

I have additionally put in two videos to show examples of the differences.

Mixing and mastering - EQ

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-27 17:24:57 UTC

Mixing and mastering - Sample of You’ve Changed original mix

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-27 17:39:24 UTC

Mixing and mastering - Sample of You’ve Changed final mix

amberjohnston7 — 2025-03-27 17:40:15 UTC

Skills audit comparison

amberjohnston7 — 2025-04-02 16:45:21 UTC

Compared to the start of this study block, the skills which I have improved the most are production, recording, and performance skills. Quite a few of my skills went up. Improving my performance skills was one of my contrasting SMART goals, and improving my DAW proficiency was one of my personal SMART goals. I will expand on my improvement in these areas in my final reflection however these charts provide a visual comparison, down to how many points each skill went up.

Final performance (LO2 techniques + LO3 performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-04-02 16:45:28 UTC

I started my morning by making sure I was warmed up for my performance. First, I made a bowl of boiling water to steam my vocal cords as it can have many benefits, such as putting moisture into the throat area, relieving tension from the overuse of your voice, and increasing flexibility, according to the NHS Foundation Trust (2022). After letting my voice cool down, I moved on to vocal warm-ups, starting with lip trills, as they are gentle and easy on my vocal cords, rather than going straight into singing. I then moved on to humming and then singing scales with various vowels to help with my diction. I repeated these and then moved onto singing the song, which I did only a handful of times so as not to overexert my voice before the final performance.

The take I chose was my 3rd take, as I feel it is when I felt the most comfortable and more at ease, which improved my stage presence and my overall vocal performance; however, I will touch on what went well and what I could do better in my reflection.

Performance feedback session (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance + LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-04-02 16:53:42 UTC

Since my last recorded video, I feel I have really improved my overall technique. I used an article created by Songbird Studio (2017) to help me practice the riff run on the word 'found'. This involved singing variations of scales and getting faster each time at doing them. This helped warm up my vocal agility. I also went through the song and marked where I wanted to take breaths, as this song is quite constant with little to no breaks between each section. This, in turn, helped me with stabilising my vocals to properly engage my diaphragm and prepare my lungs with the correct amount of air needed to sing certain bars.

The above video is the second take from this session. My tutor complimented my melismas, tone, vibrato, and particularly the blend between my head and chest register, which shows I have improved on one of my SMART goals- to improve my mixed register. Some feedback I received was to overencuiate and focus on my diction, specifically to smile when coming onto the word 'love' in the chorus. My second point of critique was to focus more on bringing character to the song now that I have the technical aspects locked down. I was advised to get my arms more involved in the performance and to bring more dynamics to the double chorus at the end. She also advised taking the mic off the stand just before the second chorus to improve my overall performance, which I did in the video above, and I plan to practice the smoothness of it.

Rehearsal session at small pond - implementing feedback (LO2 Techniques + LO3 Performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-04-02 18:08:53 UTC

After my summative feedback session, I booked myself a rehearsal room to practice with a microphone and a stand for how I will perform on stage, as I don't have a mic stand at home. I watched Keyshia Cole's performance of this song in the studio and paid attention to how she gestured, her facial expressions, etc., while still keeping it my own and focusing on vocal control.

I decided that I was going to keep the energy of the song down in the beginning and slowly build it up to where I take the microphone off the stand. At the double chorus, I was going to try to give it my all and perform not only vocally but also visually. This is something that hasn't ever come naturally to me. I will keep practicing this song, trying to add more energy and character each time to make sure I bring the necessary passion and energy that it needs.

Overall, I believe this is an improvement from my last performance, and the addition of being able to practice with a microphone stand on how I will choreograph this performance has also really helped.

Skills audit comparison

amberjohnston7 — 2025-04-02 18:26:22 UTC

Reflecting on SMART goals (LO7 Communication)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-04-11 16:58:57 UTC

My contrasting SMART goals were to strengthen my mixed voice and appear as well as become more confident and comfortable on stage. I feel I have worked on these well over this term. My final performance demonstrates a strong use of mixed voice, which I find comes more easily to me now, having used a variety of vocal warmups to work on this technique and choosing 2 contrasting songs which heavily make use of this technique.

My stage presence has improved since the earliest days, when I was visibly very anxious on stage, to now where I at least look more comfortable. I wasn't comfortable approaching a microphone stand or singing without lyrics, wasn't comfortable moving around or dancing on stage, and now can do all of those things. I think I could work on my energy on stage, as well as strengthen my mixed register technique; however, both goals have come a very long way. I will insert clips of one of my first performances to show my progression.

Treasure by Bruno Mars (early performance)

amberjohnston7 — 2025-04-11 17:09:34 UTC