https://padlet.com/lydiashepherd27/9ugnolhk7c5h en-us 2017-01-21 17:07:07 UTC 2017-02-04 12:15:39 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Beartoy.png lydiashepherd27 https://padlet.com/lydiashepherd27/9ugnolhk7c5h/wish/148655745
This week was my first week at magnet this term. I was in a group alongside Pixie, Rueben, Beth and Matt. I missed a week last week as I was off ill, so didn't get a chance to input in the preliminary planning of this song. The lyrics we used were written by Pixie; she was the lead vocalist, Matt took lead guitar, Beth on backing vocals, Rueben on the keys and I played the ukulele for the first part of the rehearsal. We used the ukulele and other acoustic instruments such as the electric guitar because we were trying to accentuate the folk music revival of the 60s. Folk music uses lots of acoustic instrumentation, such as banjos and tin whistles. Songwriters such as Donovan inspired the contemporary folk revival of the 60s, with songs such as "Song for John" and "Celtic Rock." 

Traditional folk music lyrics are usually focussed around story telling and moments from history. Inspired by this, Pixie's lyrics are written as a story telling point of view, detailing some tough times she has experienced.

]]> 2017-01-23 10:06:11 UTC https://padlet.com/lydiashepherd27/9ugnolhk7c5h/wish/148655745 lydiashepherd27 https://padlet.com/lydiashepherd27/9ugnolhk7c5h/wish/150036904 This week, I was in a group with Otis, Simran and Callum. Today we were exploring 70s and 80s songs.

As we had a keyboard and Simran's lovely jazz like vocal technique, we decided to create a song inspired by the icon herself, Aretha Franklin, who produced such 70s hits as "Son of a Preacher Man". We also had a keyboard and Simran's skills to out advantage, so we were able to use this to enhance our Aretha Franklin inspired vocals.

The lyrics Simran and I chose to write were based on love and romantic relationships, as classic 80s songs mostly are. Our chorus line: "when I wake up, you're the one I think of" was inspired by Aretha Franklin's song "Say a Little Prayer for You" - the first line is "when I wake up, before I put on my make up, I say a little prayer for you". Our aim was to keep the vocals simple, so we were able to focus more on soulful expression, inspired by 70s/80s artists such as Stevie Wonder. During this time most lyrics and choruses were catchy and simple, to enhance the power of the soulful vocals.

We didn't have many instruments available to us, and during the first part of the session, we started to lean towards the idea of using a guitar part which had a reggae feel; Bob Marley's music during the 80s stimulated this idea. One of the songs that inspired use to make use of reggae style guitar vibes was his song "Could You Be Loved". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr-yQaMbQ3o. The lyrics for this song are also based around the idea of love. We also had a keyboard to use, and instead of just the basic grand piano preset, we decided that to accentuate further the 80s vibes, we would use an electric piano setting, as many bands and artists during this time period would use synth piano melodies/bass chords. A popular 80s song which makes use of synth piano is "Africa" by Toto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTQbiNvZqaY&list=PL59A0983A5B618302. Similar to our song, the electric piano plays bass chords underneath the guitar melody. ]]> 2017-01-28 14:13:02 UTC https://padlet.com/lydiashepherd27/9ugnolhk7c5h/wish/150036904 lydiashepherd27 https://padlet.com/lydiashepherd27/9ugnolhk7c5h/wish/150869208 As last week's session was mostly spent figuring out which vibes we were aiming for. After we had finally settled on a soulful, R&b inspiration, we had time to rehearse and make our song perfect. To add variation and excitement into our piece, we decided to add a tempo changes the chorus, to ensure it was more upbeat and catchy, like most traditional 80s songs. We also decided to make use of a cajon, a Spanish drum played with the hands, to provide us with a steady beat so we were all able to stay in time with one another.

Overall, our performance went really well. We were very well rehearsed and made little to no mistakes; the ones we did make were hardly noticeable and did not detract from there performance. I think we worked very well together as a group: all ideas were shared confidently, and incorporated as best as possible. To improve my personal performance, I would make sure that I am thoroughly warmed up, and that I'm breathing correctly, so I managed to hit all the high notes well, and sometimes I struggled with this. Overall, my performing skills were good, but I could have been more confident, I believe that this will come with time and practice. ]]> 2017-02-01 15:41:55 UTC https://padlet.com/lydiashepherd27/9ugnolhk7c5h/wish/150869208