https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke various updates on what I've been doing en-us 2021-09-30 10:42:17 UTC 2024-12-13 17:13:09 UTC hello@padlet.com jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1829809864 I have decided that for my formative assessment i will perform a solo fingerstyle piece on acoustic guitar. this will be presented as a live performance video. I have elected to do cover but will leave room in my performance for improvisation and personal interpretation. some challenges i am likely to face are: setting up the shot so the film looks good, recording decent sound (potentially recording from a separate microphone and syncing to the video in post) and playing well in front of the camera (having the confidence to overcome red light syndrome). I hope that in completing my formative assignment i shall gain 'some' confidence and also a greater knowledge of using a camera. perhaps looking at the content creation module on canvas could help. ]]> 2021-10-20 09:12:37 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1829809864 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1829838167 Hopefully the process of producing my formative assessment will be relatively straightforward. it's mainly a matter of setting up the and filming it. I'm considering making the video black and white in post as a have a fondness for black and white films (I always think they look better) and think it could be a fairly easy way to make my video look a little more interesting. in terms of things taught in class that could be beneficial to my project. i attended the get shit done club and learned some useful things about time management, . I'm very interested in being productive at the moment but in all honesty I'm not doing nearly as good a job of it as i would like. it's definitely something i need to work on. I have ordered a copy of "how to be a productivity ninja" on the recommendation of Rob Town in my music industry lesson. as far as weaknesses go there are plenty of things i want to work on, paralysis by analysis, the ability to actually get things done and between you and me i have been struggling with motivation lately. but I truly hope that will change soon. I have started keeping a regular (paper) practice journal as well as employing to do lists and urgent important matrices.]]> 2021-10-20 09:28:56 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1829838167 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1848547696 For my formative assessment i decided to play Anji it's a tune that is close to my heart and one i am relatively comfortable playing. that being said i am not particularly happy with how it went . My Playing while not terrible was far from my best and the recording was done with a phone. this was because i left it to the last minute and hadn't  prepared enough. that being said , looking at it objectively it wasn't as bad as i may have initially thought visually i thought the lighting was ok though i perhaps could have taken a little more care in arranging the background, i also thought the black and white looked nice. some ways i can improve are practicing the piece more ahead of time and recording the audio with separate mic for better sound quality. 

               having performed a risk assessment on my project there are no obvious hazards that i can see (I'm not dealing with heavy machinery hazardous materials hot surfaces etc..) but there are certainly some steps i can take in order to ensure safe working practices.  

        To start with, I always warm up before i play the guitar (and to lesser extent when i type on a keyboard) i start by moving a little to warm up my whole body and to get my blood circulating. I then massage my arms and finger and do some gentle dynamic stretching after than i play slowly for ten minutes or so before gradually increasing the tempo. i also tend to play in blocks of 30 mins to an hour. with a ten min break between this is in order to give myself a rest. lastly  every night before bed i stretch out my wrists and fingers for around 30 secs each stretch (i don't warm up with static stretching as i have read that contrary to popular belief stretching before exercise can actually be conducive to injury (Impact of Static Stretching on Performance, n.d.)) There are also some risks with regards to stress and general mental and physical health i've been struggling a little in this regard particularly on the the mental health front. i'm trying to make sure i get enough sleep and if necessary i take a nap during the day where possible which i have read is actually helpful when learning as it allows your brain to process the information and thus retain it better (Can a Nap Boost Brain Health?, n.d.) with regards to mental health i am doing my best to take full advantage of all the support being offered at waterbear I'm currently having difficulty but i hope i'm on the right track. just need to keep working at it. I keep myself physically fit to the point that i am actually worried ai am doing to much exercise as I find it takes time away from other activities both social and work related i'm also worried that frequent strenuous exercise could result in an injury particularly to my hands one thing i do to mitigate this is to take a 'de-load week' roughly every 3 weeks in order to let my body and central nervous system recover. it definitely remains a concern though particularly in regards to my weekly martial arts practice where there is a definite risk of injury though i always warm up and wrap my hands.]]> 2021-10-27 15:06:07 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1848547696 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1848604844 at the start of waterbear i was very nervous but also exited about what's in store]]> 2021-10-27 15:22:34 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1848604844 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1848629450 a definite weakness of mine is production and recording myself, so I think it would behove me to research simple ways that I can record at home applying a rough form of Gibbs reflective cycle to my classes this week I am feeling very overwhelmed and worried I am not doing well enough but I also know i need to go easy on my self in some aspects as I have been feeling very burnt out lately. above all else I want to practice and get much better at playing and singing but am finding time management very difficult right now. looking objectively I know that if I apply myself I can accomplish the tasks I have been given and that there is help available to me. to that end I have booked a wellbeing session this week and will also book an academic support session for this coming Monday if possible,]]> 2021-10-27 15:29:58 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1848629450 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1865146367 2021-11-03 15:57:30 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1865146367 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1871420842 2021-11-06 11:10:25 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1871420842 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1872559259 i haven't done much in the way or research for my music performance assessment so far. i have been researching my case studies and am compiling a couple of bibliographies one for each using Harvard referencing. I've started listening to more music again (something i haven't been doing for quite a while) which is nice. slowly dipping my toe back in the art world. I've been listening to a lot of jazz. Chet baker in particular which led me down a rabbit whole of reading an interview with Elliott smith (my pre 2000s case study) when I notice there was a similar oeuvre (oeuvre. There's a Word you use when you're trying too hard) to their music even if it was stylistically quite  different. sure enough Chet baker was one of Elliott's heroes. there was also some really interesting quotes in the interview about public perception and how you can be branded as one thing when we are all far more complicated than that. (Mulvey, 2013) as far as last weeks lessons go and what I found helpful. I found my mentoring with Sam really helpful in helping me allow myself to access more of my creative side and attending George's Get shit done club I learnt some really useful things (that I haven't quite started implementing yet) that will help me manage my week and also figure out what i want/need to spend my time on as time Management and Goal setting are two big weaknesses of mine.]]> 2021-11-07 11:15:24 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1872559259 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1891287603 I got my feedback back for my for formative assessment. it was more positive than i had expected and was quite complimentary in places one piece of feedback I was given was to create a multi media development diary. to that end I will attempt to add more pictures, videos and voice notes on padlet. for my summative assessment I have decided to perform one of my own songs I've only written a couple which is as shame as writing songs and having a catalogue of my own material is something very important to me (I'm even thinking of asking to move on to the songwriters course) I haven't decided whether to film the live performance myself or at the waterbear venue but for the recorded portion I have a friend who has a home recorded studio that I can use I intend to keep it relatively simple just guitar and vocals although, listening to Laura marling and Larkin Poe lately has tempted me to add ambient noise like wind and also slide guitar for some colour and texture, something that creates a sense of being in a space like the sound of wind at the start of Blackberry Stone (Marling, 2010) the former is a little out of my comfort zone though. I have continued to attend the get shit done club with George Donahue and have found it very helpful I have been given a method to try and plan my days. I haven't quite got round to planning out my whole week yet but hopefully that will be the next step. one of my biggest challenges is balancing the written uni work with my actual practice and writing, this is causing me quite a bit of stress as though I understand the importance of the written work I came to waterbear to become a better musician and actually developing takes precedent to me personally a lot of this comes down to me learning to effectively manage my time and achieve things I need to. I am currently panicking as I haven't made any great inroads on either my written or practical assessments frankly as of right now I'm not sure what to do I'm afraid my mental health has not been too good lately and I'm letting a lot of things slip and it feels a little like it's reaching a crisis point. everyone here is extremely supportive and I have been offered some counselling sessions. I really hope they help.

]]> 2021-11-15 13:47:26 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1891287603 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1917941957 with regards to the nature of my target audience, it's a tricky one for me. I play and write in a wide variety of genre (something i hope to expand on on the future) and i don't like the idea personally of staying in a box. i think this is a good thing but i can certainly see how it could make finding a specific target audience (or keeping them) but i think the think to do is not worry about it too much and remain true to myself and trust that i will find people who are into what i do even if that's only a relatively small number. I Think that, within reason, artists shouldn't let an audience dictate what they do. that's not to say you shouldn't try to make things an audience would enjoy but more that you should'nt do things you don't want want to do purely for the sake of pleasing a demographic. i think that if you create something that is true to who you are you will find an audience and they will appreciate that far more than you being false. 

On a related note I always think a band that did a great job of experimenting and not staying in a box or genre was the Beatles. and it seemed to work for them :)]]> 2021-11-29 13:57:24 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1917941957 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1938591918 2021-12-09 16:04:09 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1938591918 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1938594616 2021-12-09 16:05:12 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1938594616 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1938598191 2021-12-09 16:06:45 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1938598191 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940133964 2021-12-10 11:19:24 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940133964 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940135381 2021-12-10 11:20:47 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940135381 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940145163 2021-12-10 11:29:32 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940145163 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940147935 2021-12-10 11:32:03 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940147935 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940164463 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xn2hkORCk_oRQbk_A86EXvFum-LeX8BQ/view?usp=sharing  

Here's an earlier recording of the song that I filmed for the royal blood scholarship]]> 2021-12-10 11:46:30 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940164463 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940198991 2021-12-10 12:14:23 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940198991 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940200817 2021-12-10 12:15:58 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940200817 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940203635 2021-12-10 12:18:03 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940203635 jamesmccluskymusic https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940667289 initially i was hard pressed to think of the immediate influences on my song but the more i though about it the more influences comes to mind. its in mood it draws heavily on Nick drake as well as in its use of altered tunings something drake was a huge exponent of (Nick Drake Guitar Tunings, n.d.) another huge influence on me in general is Elliott smith especially in the general mood of the piece. one unusual influence is the song sex and candy by Marcy Playground as there is a section in the middle where the guitar melody follows the vocals in a way that is very reminiscent of that piece (Sex And Candy, 1997). the piece is called left behind it is a is a fingerstyle piece using an alternating bass not pattern reminiscent of Travis picking (Hamburger, 2021) or Piedmont picking (Piedmont Blues: Cracking the Piedmont Picking Code | BGI Lessons, n.d.) the piece is a relatively slow tempo. the structure of the piece is Five verse separated by instrumental sections. there is no chorus. One final surprising influence on the piece is the computer game The Last Of Us. the trailer for the sequel featured the protagonist of the story playing a piece that was fairly similar in style and tone (The Last Of Us 2 Official Trailer, n.d.) and the game also featured a DLC called left behind, which is more of a coincidence than a deliberate naming choice on my part but I still find it interesting the story and emotional content of that game have had a big influence on my creative output and and my outlook on life in general.]]> 2021-12-10 16:16:55 UTC https://padlet.com/jamesmccluskymusic/gmzpwqgic1dmy1ke/wish/1940667289