Developmental Diary by Raffi Leece

Developmental Diary by Raffi Leece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk en-us 2021-09-22 14:24:09 UTC 2025-11-23 15:42:15 UTC hello@padlet.com week one raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1760243491 Vocal techniques class- We were going over things from last term that went well and then creating SMART goals for this term. In terms of my voice I decided that I wanted to get better at breath support as my voice can sound slightly shaky when belting. And I decided I would measure it by singing the song 'With You' once a week as that requires a lot of support. For a general goal I wanted to improve my timing in songs.

Pre-production class- we were working on ' The Riverboat Song' . I learnt after watching the weeks video and reading the information that I needed to focus on was attack, timing, synchronicity, range, articulation and breathing. I was fine with breathing , range and articulation so I spent most of the lesson timing to perfect the timing.

Live Performance- I have improved since last term in regards to timing but is still my main goal for this term as well. This song was difficult as it is in 6/8 but definitely made my really practice.

]]> 2021-09-22 14:36:09 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1760243491 week two raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1778142886 Vocal techniques class- We were focusing on vocal techniques and effects. some vocab we learnt was- breathy voice, belting, falsetto, vibrato, vocal fry, grit, creek, growl, screaming.
I can do- breathy voice, belting, falsetto and vibrato.
I need to work on- vocal fry, grit, creek, grit, growl and scream.

Pre-production class- We were working on 'Hold Back the River' by James Bay. This song is much closer to the genre of music I am used to singing. We decided to try and change it slightly and give it more of a jazz feel. There was a few problems however for example it stated of that the group was just me and a guitarist (which was going well) but as people started coming in late they were put into our group and although they liked the original idea it everyone had different ideas on how they wanted to alter it and no one was really in control of the room. Hannah came in and helped out. She taught me a lot about taking control of situations and making decisions.

Live Performance- It went quite well. My stage presence is getting quite a lot better. Maybe it's due to working in the Prince Albert? Because of the mess on Wednesday and also various people showing up on the Friday we went back to the original. I enjoyed it and it proved to me that I have got much better at adapting to sudden changes as I probably wouldn't have been able to do that in the first term.

]]> 2021-09-29 13:58:16 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1778142886 week four raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1813990072 Vocal techniques class- We did a lesson focused on vocal effects and emotive singing. None of the effects we tried really suited (nor could I do them very well) but also I don't think that they are very applicable to the style of music I am interested in performing. On the other hand emotive singing is very applicable and I need to work on being more confident on stage so I can be more naturally expressive.

Pre-production- We were doing 'Cocoon' by Catfish and the Bottlemen. We developed it so it was more my style. I enjoyed being more creative and I had learnt a lot from week 2 and we didn't try to change it too much and we all tried to be clear at the beginning about what we wanted to do. ]]> 2021-10-13 13:49:06 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1813990072 week five raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1830438596 Vocal techniques- We were working on the top end of our voices. This is one of the parts of my voices that I am most confident with. I worked on it quite a lot with my singing teacher and a lot of church songs are very high in my register. I was looking to smooth my break so I focused on that and did some warmups that smoothed the transition.

Pre-production- We did 'Black Dog' by Led Zeppelin. I used this song to help me develop my timing which was one of my SMART targets for the year. I love how the verses gives more control to the vocalists. It definitely pushed me vocally and I had to really focus on keeping the strength in my voice towards the end as I am not used to singing songs that vocally demanding.

Performing- I sang both on my own and with someone else and I am getting better at having confidence on my own, however singing with someone else really helps me not think at all about nerves.

]]> 2021-10-20 13:55:13 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1830438596 lyrics raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1830475231 Communicate brain

Help me stay sane

Times have changed

I need you to claim

All of the memories you made me last year

Emotional perspective is needed in here

Calm down

Come around

Showers and gasoline for the rainbow road

Sand in the shell give me hope

Pearls and diamonds

My life’s character trope

Capsizing rays

Hurt by mid day

Find my mistakes

I’ll tell you one day

All of things I felt I did wrong break

Dwelling resentment stayed far too long

Calm down

Come around

Showers and gasoline for the rainbow road

Sand in the shell give me hope

Pearls and diamonds

My life’s character trope

The petulant progeny

Cursed by empathy

Silk strings on her legs

Allowing her to breath

Showers and gasoline for the rainbow road

Sand in the shell give me hope

Pearls and diamonds

My life’s character trope

Pearls and diamonds

My life’s character trope

Verse- Am F C G

Chorus- Am F G C

Bridge-

C Bb F G C Bb F G Am

]]> 2021-10-20 14:04:42 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1830475231 week three raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1836386168 Vocal techniques class- We did a lesson focusing on vibrato. I am quite confident using vibrato as growing up performing church songs, there's lots of opportunity to include it. I wanted to work on implementing it when it wasn't already on the recorded track. This was because when I get onto stage I often go straight to what I know and I want to use vibrato as a way to try and slowly include some improvisation.

Pre-production class- We were working on 'Chain of Fools' by Aretha Franklin. I worked on my confidence and harmonies. I wanted to make sure I knew the words so I could feel more confident on the Friday.

Performance- I really enjoyed singing with someone else again as it always gives me more confidence. I also loved singing the the backing vocals and harmonies. I am really trying to work on my stage presence and I am definitely getting better at interacting with the audience but I need to try and figure out how I can move more on stage when the songs are more upbeat and require that as I'm not used to that.]]> 2021-10-22 14:06:39 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1836386168 week six raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1864907934 Vocal techniques- We were learning about 'belting'. I really enjoyed working on this as I wanted to work on strength my belt this year. I performed 'You've got the love' by Florence and the Machine which I know really well and just wanted to improve the belt section but my voice was really drained that week (I think from the previous weeks song) and I had to stop halfway through.

Pre-Production- We were doing the song Ex's and Oh's by Elle King. Before the lesson me and Brad had already decided that we wanted to do a different version by Ashley Tisdale. I have learnt that if you want to change the song creatively then you really do need to start deciding before the lesson.

Live Performance- I was good at doing the harmonies and did them on both mine and Brad's performance and Maddie's.]]> 2021-11-03 14:50:51 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1864907934 week seven raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1864941596 Vocal techniques- We were practicing vocal runs and melismas. I find them easy to do if they are written into the song but I find it difficult to improvise them. I may make improvisation my SMART target for the summer.

Pre-Production- We are doing 'Always on the Run' by Lenny Kravitz this week. I wanted to follow on from the success of the week before and so I worked really hard before the lesson counting through the song and made sure that I knew exactly when to come in. This increased my confidence massively today and also allowed me to help others who weren't as confident.

Live performance- Due to me working on this one so much I was feeling much calmer on stage. I have definitely started moving towards the end of my SMART target.]]> 2021-11-03 15:00:36 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1864941596 week eight raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1917606016 Vocal techniques- We were doing vocal harmonies. I used some of the time to try and think of some for the weeks song. I was good at coming up with harmonies in the 3rd and 5th above but it was interesting trying out some less obvious ones and I'm going to practice with some other songs.

Pre-production- We did 'Ship to Wreck' by Florence and the Machine. Because I already knew this song quite well it was a good week to change it up and so we did a stripped back version which went quite well but as I knew it so well as the original track I was struggling with timings without the other instruments. I just spent the first bit of the lesson really going through it and counting.

Performance- I sang backing for Maddie and did some harmonies I'd worked out on the Monday. Then when it came to my turn it went quite well but Liam suggested redoing it without the mic- fully acoustic, and it was so much better. ]]> 2021-11-29 10:51:58 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1917606016 raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1940099307 vocals performance- for the end of year vocals performance I sang 'Strange' by Celeste (as I knew I was doing it for my assignment so I wanted to practice) and 'I Can't Remember Love' by Anna Hauss. I really saw how I had developed from the start of the year to now. I was much more confident. I had more stage presence, even though these songs were very laid back and so I just stood still I thought about where I wanted my hands to be, how I should be placed and whether the mic should be on or off the stand. ]]> 2021-12-10 10:47:14 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/1940099307 first voice note of character trope raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/2141482008 2022-04-12 21:08:35 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/2141482008 2nd voice note- changed melody slightly raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/2141483647 2022-04-12 21:10:24 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/2141483647 The bridge raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/2141483973 2022-04-12 21:10:47 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/2141483973 recording raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/2141487115 my cousin helped me with the original recording and now I'm editing parts like the main vocal line and harmonies.]]> 2022-04-12 21:13:52 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/2141487115 Risk Assessment raffileece https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/2141570610 I am recording at my cousins home studio.

Trip hazards- make sure that all objects are packed away and if any wires do need to be laid across the room make sure they're colourful. (likely)

Objects falling- make sure heavy objects, if high up, are secured to the wall. (unlikely)

Cuts- make sure any sharp or splintered objects are removed from the recording space.

]]> 2022-04-12 23:06:22 UTC https://padlet.com/raffileece/n6ine6kuizpj9ofk/wish/2141570610