Friday, 19th September 2025

My initial thoughts are to create an original song, making use of software instruments primarily as I can use the midi keyboard.

*Create a series of posts which include research into the music you will create: Things to think about:

• What type of Music will you use?

• What song if it's a cover?

• Approach to creating music?

• How to record in Logic (use class handouts)

• Videos which have helped?

We had another group rehearsal today at 1:15pm-2:15pm, our vocalists weren't able to make it today so I switched to lead vocals today. I wish I was more prepared (which is a takeaway for the future) in case something like this happens again.

I had fun singing today and I learned a lot about what I need to work on as a singer if I ever want to be a lead vocalist.

I warmed up for 15 minutes before I left to attend rehearsal - which isn't enough I definitely need at least 30 minutes so that I don't strain.

Zombie by The Cranberries is definitely more suited to my voice as I usually sing rock, metal or pop songs.

Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry is definitely out of my comfort zone, but I tried my best. I feel like my vocals aren't powerful or confident enough to sound good in a funk song. Although when they perform it live and in the recorded version it's multiple voices layered so it could be that I'm comparing one vocal to layered vocals.

Scott suggested that I stick to the main melody I created, figuring out which chords I am using and then flesh it out with more tracks, such as percussion and bass.

I triple tracked the right hand piano part to make the melody sound more full, adding reverb to the centrally panned track and a pitch effect to make it sound more exciting.

For the left hand piano part I double tracked it to combine different piano software instruments together.

I'm quite happy with what I made today, I feel like it went a lot better than last week. I feel like the piece is ready to move onto a Part B or C.

I would love to learn and perform Edge of Seventeen but I definitely think I would not have enough time to learn the piano part for this song, as we only have 1 week until the final performance in the auditorium.

The song You Really Got Me, although simple sounding, can be analysed in the sense of it making use of mixolydian keys, with a tonal centre of G. So despite it being simpler to play for some parts compared to Edge of Seventeen, it is more interesting than I initially thought. Mixolydian scales have a flattened 7th, which makes the song sound more relaxed than the tension and release of a major key. The flattened 7th creates a somewhat bluesy or funky sound compared to a regular major scale.

I will try to book a booth or use the production room to continue working on this before submission on Friday.

*I also need to add at least 2 recorded audio tracks into my project*

Scott showed me at the end of class how to use the Global Player and session players within Logic to create chord progressions a lot faster. A good example of using this would be to create a chord progression with a keyboard session player, bass session player and then a drum session player, and then use this to improvise a guitar solo over.

I find that my workflow is very chaotic and I end up struggling trying to piece small compositions together to create an overall piece. To streamline my workflow I will make use of the global and session players next time so that I create a simpler foundation to then build off of.

It will also be amazing to be able to label what chords I am using at the top so I don't need to go into the score of each section to try and remember what notes I had written.

The video was about creating unique chord progressions making use of parallel keys; where you would take 1 chord from your major key and then 1 chord from your parallel key. You could also take 1 chord from your original key and then 2 from your parallel key and then one again from your original key. You can even create different variations of this.

I am also going to sing the backing vocals for the song during our performance.

Switching instruments between songs is a bit more challenging than I anticipated. It is mostly due to the quick song changes that it makes it slightly difficult, because I don't have enough time to set up so I end up feeling rushed. There is also a lot more setup involved, as I need to set up my guitar, microphone and keyboard - so if there are quick changes I don't feel relaxed going into the songs. Due to this, I am more likely to make mistakes.

You Really Got Me by The Kinks

Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry

For our first song in the setlist, Zombie, I am playing one of the rhythm guitar parts.

For You Really Got Me, I am playing the keys part of the song and singing the lower part of the vocal harmonies.

For Play That Funky Music, there isn't a piano part so I have tried to adapt and played a funk rhythm pattern using E9, G9 and A9 chord voicings. Placing emphasis on the 1st beat of every bar by playing octaves with my left hand as suggested by Ni. During the pre-chorus of the song, I added in a harmony to the vocals by playing a major third above the vocal melody, which I felt helped build up to the chorus. During the guitar solo, I thought it would be good to switch to playing the lead guitar riff on keys.

I made a mistake in our first song, Zombie, where the guitar riff was leading into the second verse - I'm not sure what happened but I missed the first two notes. I think it's just a lack of experience with the guitar and I need to play more regularly if I'm going to perform with it more in the future. I'm happy that I tried to keep going and not let it affect the rest of the performance.

For the guitar solo I made sure to turn around and interact with Ellis, who was playing lead guitar, to make sure that we were in time with each other during the solo.

At the start of Zombie I would've preferred to play the intro at a slower tempo but I thought it'd be best to follow the tempo we were given at the start.

For our second song, You Really Got Me, during the introduction it wasn't as strong as I would've liked it to be. I think switching instruments throws me off a little so I wasn't mentally prepared going into the song. It was almost muscle memory for me to go into our third song, Play That Funky Music, so I started playing that by accident. Luckily, I noticed quickly and stopped. It meant that the start of You Really Got Me wasn't as strong as I would've wanted it to be - since my idea was to play the guitar riff on piano too and then stop when the singers come in for the first verse, to make the introduction more impactful.

In terms of singing, I need to make sure when I am singing that I sing directly into the microphone and don't look away. I was trying to interact with the other singers but I need to focus on what I'm doing and not turn away from the microphone and let myself get distracted. You Really Got Me was our third song that we chose for our setlist - so it was the song that had the least preparation. There were some mistakes throughout this song but I did my best to continue and encourage the rest of band to as well.

In terms of stage presence, I could definitely perform more and appear outwardly confident. I can look awkward at times and like I don't know what to do with myself (which is true). I could do some research on how to perform better when you are playing guitar and keyboard. I think it is something that will come with time the more I perform.

In terms of the band as a whole, I feel like it would've been beneficial to try and have more energy for our second and third songs, so that they feel more upbeat and that it appears we are enjoying performing them.

Watching back the recording was very helpful, as it was confirmation that what I do on stage is fine and that I can be more comfortable with myself during future performances. I have a deep lack of self-belief and confidence, I will try not to let it affect me as much in future, even though it is difficult.

I used a dynamic vocal microphone, the SM58 to record flute and clarinet parts. My setup wasn't ideal, since I think I should be using a condenser microphone, such as an SM57, to record acoustic instruments. It worked for today, but I found that I had to increase the gain on the Scarlett Solo to the highest setting in order for the flute and clarinet parts to be audible.

I switched to clarinet for the high notes since I was struggling to play the high notes on flute with good clarity. I think the blend of clarinet brings a warmness to the arrangement that it didn't have before.

I would've liked more time to mix and produce the recorded parts but this was good experience in recording flute and clarinet, since I have not done this before. I have recorded acoustic guitar before in this way but not wind instruments.

Next time, I think it would be good to record some bass clarinet parts since I ended up adding clarinet to the arrangement. I would also like to try recording an upright piano - to see how that sounds compared to software instruments.

I think it would be good to have more of a plan next time, since this was a spontaneous composition. I feel like I would benefit from having a structured workflow as I am prone to getting distracted and wanting to create lots of mini compositions that do not go together. I end up writing myself into a hole, where I am trying to stitch 2 compositions together that weren't intended to be one piece.

For my next project I will try to complete the arrangement before fleshing it out more. I could achieve this by simplifying the structure so that I have a finished piece the next time.

I'm not entirely happy with the mixing, as on other devices the clarinet and flute sound too loud - next time I will try listening to the audio on different headphones and speakers to make sure it sounds good across all devices.

I'm happy with what I've managed to create in a short space of time, considering I find composing and song writing to be one of my weak points.

^{Although, on the positive side, I'm realising I don't need a full size keyboard for band settings due to this. This is helpful, as whatever keyboard I end up getting - it will be easier to transport and be cheaper.}

^{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJb5W4gy2l8}

^{3 Tips For Playing With A Band - Piano Lesson (Pianote)}

^{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NnDq7cdiPU}

^{How to play Keyboard in a Band (1) - Basics}

^{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX_fDVhYJR8}

^{Jordan Rudess Hears "Thunderstruck" For The First Time}

^{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BptR5OZ9zlw}

A mono synth is monophonic meaning that only one note can be played at a time.

_{(Many mono synths are actually duophonic meaning they can play 2 notes with limited articulation at once)}

A poly synth is polyphonic, meaning that they can play more than one note at a time.

Mono synths are suitable for bass sounds and lead sounds.

Poly synths are more suitable for chords and pad sounds, as well as other sounds where overlapping notes are important. Poly synths are more versatile and fun to use.

GREAT BEGINNER SYNTHS — a guide to picking your first synthesizer! (UPDATED for 2025!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3de88ws5_I

We had our third band rehearsal today.

We collectively agreed that we wanted to change our second song, This Love by Maroon 5. Personally, I felt the song was a bit repetitive and that it would be better to choose a song that is a bit more difficult. Nadz, one of our vocalists, also wanted to be more involved in choosing which songs we are going to cover, as she wasn't well last week and wasn't at our second rehearsal.

We agreed to continue with Star Girl by McFly as our first song. It isn't a song I would choose to cover personally, but the song has grown on me over the last week. There is a lot that we could do with the song to develop it further - we are working on ideas on how to flesh out the vocal harmonies and backing vocals further. We are lucky to have 5 vocalists and 3 strong lead vocalists.

It is difficult to make decisions as a group when not all band members are present, to help with this, we will make more use of our online group chat before finalising decisions.

We had our second band rehearsal today - my first as I wasn't well the previous week. We discussed as a group ideas for cover songs that we could play. Jacob suggested Star Girl by McFly - another one of our band members agreed with the suggestion. We first listened to the track together and then tried to play along, figuring things out by ear or by using chord sheets that we found online.

Maysen, one of our vocalists, suggested Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts, which is featured on the Cars movie soundtrack. The song was written by Tom Cochrane, and was also originally performed by him too. Our group as a whole seemed to like this suggestion, we listened to it together and began trying to play along with the recorded track.

The song This Love by Maroon 5 was also suggested, initially I liked this song suggestion. We rehearsed this song together as well.

For future, I think it would be a better idea to try and come to a decision regarding song choices before band rehearsals, as the time we are given in the rehearsal rooms is not being used effectively.

Rehearsal went well, we worked on the transitions between pieces today. I need to work on these pieces, as the tempo is very fast and the pieces are in difficult keys. Particularly the end of McNab Sound and Roxburgh Jig.

We had our fourth band rehearsal today.

We practiced playing both of our cover songs - Star Girl by McFly and Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra.

Towards the end of our rehearsal, we were working on how we can transition from Star Girl to Mr. Blue Sky.

Today's rehearsal was productive and the time was spent well. For next week, I will suggest we work on the bridge for Star Girl and the interlude section. Evan suggested that they would like to play the cornet at the same time as the drums. The brass part has two parts, with one part playing an octave above the other. I have borrowed the soprano saxophone from college and have been practicing with it the last couple of days (this is also because I wanted to try the soprano saxophone, as it would be a good fit for Street Mash), and will work out with Evan what part they'd like to play. I think it would be better for the soprano sax to play the higher part, as I believe that it's easier to play from middle C to upper G on a cornet compared to high notes. I will check in with Evan to see how they are getting on with the part and which they'd prefer to play.

Myself and Evan ended up not playing the brass Interlude parts as Jacob knew the Interlude part on guitar and was playing it well - so, I took a step back. I did start learning the part on soprano saxophone, so it was good experience regardless. Oliver, also created a harmony to play alongside Jacob and it sounded full and was executed well. So whilst the different timbre of brass and woodwind would have been a welcome addition it would have required a lot of additional preparation.

It would have also been, not completely impractical, but difficult to switch to soprano saxophone. Soprano saxophone is a very difficult instrument to play in tune as is, due to the smaller mouthpiece and more delicate embouchure that is required, so for the instrument to also not be warmed up would make it difficult to play well and in tune.

In hindsight, if I were to have played this - I could have left the guitarists to play the bridge and prepared the soprano sax in a timely manner. If I am going to play additional instruments during a song, I need to think carefully about the execution of how I will actually achieve this during a live performance and weigh up the pros and cons of whether it is worthwhile doing.

I leaned on my previous experience of the first band's performance during Project 1 to help decide what I think our look as a band could be on stage. In my previous band we agreed to wear a mix of black, pink and white - which looked good but I think it made it so we blended into the stage too much. Instead of wearing black, I felt it would look better to wear more colour. Even though I love wearing black!

I thought about the theming of all of our songs, Miss Moonlight, Star Girl and Mr. Blue Sky. I felt that the obvious answer was to wear blue because of the ELO song that we are covering. I also felt that it tied in with our other songs, Miss Moonlight and Star Girl - except a darker blue, to portray the feeling of night. I felt an accent colour of yellow or orange would look great, and tie in with the themes of the sun and stars that our songs touch on.

I also had to think practically about what all of us had already and could afford should anyone choose to buy something. I brought up the question during one of our extra rehearsals - asking what people would like to wear. I put forward the idea of a dark blue and some people agreed with this. I found it kind of difficult to come to an agreement initially with everyone because we all have different styles and what we have available to us currently. Jacob and Ethan were suggesting flannels and converse looking shoes/trainers. I agreed with this as it matches with the genre of our songs, which are a mix of rock, pop, funk and prog rock. I also suggested jeans/denim skirts as they are blue and most of us have those.

In the auditorium, there is a projector behind where we perform - it would add a lot visually if we had a video that could play visuals whilst we are performing. My idea would be to have a mix of B-roll footage of the sky and clouds for Mr. Blue Sky, then galaxy kind of footage and the night sky for Star Girl, and then for our original song switch between the night sky, for our verses, and then the sun for our chorus.

I did not have time to implement the idea for this project, unfortunately.

Depending on what I choose for my final project - I will definitely take this idea forward. Although, it also depends on the venue whether this would be possible or not.

When I was using my SM58 microphone, I didn't have a stand to use for it, so I was having to hold the microphone with my hand or hang it off of the edge of the desk. You can hear me handling the microphone in some of the sounds I have recorded the previous week. The condenser microphone also picks up quieter sounds, so it has been very helpful for recording clarinet, bass clarinet and paper sounds.

Now that I know the college has this, I will use it in future projects for recording instruments, such as clarinet, flute, acoustic guitar and possibly piano as well.

Name of Band: S3xwax

Who Was Present: Nadz, Maysen, Jacob, Ellie, Oliver, Aidian, Ethan, Jackson and Evan

Which Song(s) You Worked On: Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra and Star Girl by McFly

We had our fifth band rehearsal today.

We practiced playing both of our cover songs - Star Girl by McFly and Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra.

We rehearsed the transition between Star Girl and Mr. Blue Sky, the guitarists and keys play an Eb major chord (which is the ending chord for Star Girl), to an E major chord (for one beat) and then to F major, which how Mr. Blue Sky begins. This is what the band decided to do to transition between the songs without stopping. Usually, I prefer to have a break and solid ending between songs, but I think that it works well in this case. Especially as during our final band performance we've to play the songs one after the other without a break.

Andy suggested that we all try to get to the point where we don't have to look at our sheet music, song structure or chord sheets to play through the songs - and to challenge ourselves without them to see how far we can get. I definitely over rely on my sheet music when it comes to playing keys in a band, as I am used to working with singers and accompanying them only, so if they missed a bar or came in late I could check to see where they were. When it comes to solo piano I don't have an issue playing without sheet music, but I am not used to doing it in a band situation.

I felt more confident today doing my backing vocals, particularly in the Star Girl chorus. Although I am finding it difficult to pitch myself correctly in loud rehearsal environments. I think because I haven't been singing as much recently I have lost a lot of confidence in that area.

I found rehearsal quite a struggle today as I was extremely tired. I used it as an opportunity to listen to the band more as a whole though, and the band is sounding cohesive. Oliver's guitar solos in Mr. Blue Sky are sounding great, the tone he gets out of the guitar is suitable for the song, the solos are executed very accurately and with excellent timing and technique. Andy suggested that when our guitarists are playing solos they need to increase the volume of their guitars substantially.

Evan's drumming is excellent and always strong rhythmically.

I am adding final touches to my project - my main priority is balancing the sound levels a bit more. I felt for the end scene where the main character gets stuck in the black hole, it was far too loud compared to the rest of the short movie. So, I have moved that onto a separate track so I can lower the volume a bit.

I am rewatching my project and adjusting the volume levels bit by bit as I feel necessary.

I am grateful that I have previous experience in using other software as such Photoshop and Illustrator, as I have transferred my way of working over into Logic. I have tried to edit in non-destructive ways, similar in the way you would work for creating illustrations or editing photographs, by working in multiple layers, or tracks in this case. I have tried to name the tracks as I have gone along to keep them organized, so that it is easier to go back in and edit sound levels or add effects.

I also used the Expander audio effect to increase the volume of some of my recorded sounds that needed a boost. I think this was to do with using the SM58 to record sounds before switching over to a condenser microphone.

I have used a condenser microphone for the first time during this project as well, which I now know is available to use for future projects too.

I got more familiar with the automation feature which is something that I will definitely use more in future.

I wanted to create some music for the credits but I didn't have enough time to do so. Although, without the music I feel like it makes the ending feel more dramatic. Making the knocks from the inside of vault more impactful.

I also used a distortion audio effect to make the sound a bit more jarring. I was going to use both of the audio tracks I recorded as they are a semitone apart but I preferred how it sounded with just one note.

*I was speaking to Francesco from another year during a Street Mash event and he said that this is a Spotting sheet if I put this in Excel.

Date: Wednesday, 10th December 2025

Name of Band: S3xwax

Who Was Present: Nadz, Maysen, Jacob, Ellie, Oliver, Aidian, Ethan, Jackson and Evan

Which Song(s) You Worked On: Original Song

We had our sixth band rehearsal today.

We managed to write a verse for our original song today and a pre-chorus section. Our guitarists composed the chord structure and funk rhythm of our song. Nadz, Maysen and myself worked on the vocal melodies and lyrics. We used a combination of Nadz's lyrics and my own which we had prepared before rehearsal.

I found the environment quite difficult today as it felt quite chaotic. I would have preferred if we split into smaller groups. Due to this, I tried to take on a more editorial role - listening to what each band member was doing and give suggestions as to how to develop the melody or chord structure further.

We got stuck in a cycle of playing the verse over and over and then after a while the song stopped developing. It would have been better to stop and discuss as a group where we would like the song to go, figuring out different rhythms, chords, dynamics and arrangements we could try.

Name of Band: Sex Wax

Who Was Present: Ethan, Jacob, Evan and Aidian

Who Was Missing: Ellie, Nadz, Maysen, Jackson & Oliver

Which Song(s) You Worked On: Original Song, Mr. Blue Sky and Star Girl

It was the eighth band rehearsal today.

I wasn't feeling well, so I did not attend this rehearsal.

I spoke to Jacob and he said that they did a run-through of all of our songs, including our original song, and that he rewrote the verse to fit with the chorus that we had created the previous rehearsal.

We are going to have an additional rehearsal on Friday which I will attend and another one on Monday and Tuesday.

Scott said that it should be D sharp and not E flat, and this is just a passing chord from the parallel key. Kiss from a Rose is a song he recommended I listen to as it uses borrowed chords a lot.

I am researching different sound effects that I could be used for our original song.

Name of Band: S3xwax

Who Was Present: Oliver, Ethan, Jacob, Jackson and Ellie

Which Song(s) You Worked On: Original Song

We had our seventh band rehearsal today.

We were asked to finish our original song today - we already had a verse and pre-chorus which we had written as a group the previous week. Today, we wrote the chorus, lyrics, a bridge and then found a way for the song to finish.

It felt really rewarding to write together today, since we had a smaller group - I found it a lot easier to work in this setting. Ethan and Oliver worked together to create most of the chord structure, then myself and Jacob worked on how the melody for the chorus should go. I said that I felt 'Feel the Sun' was working for the chorus, then Jacob fleshed out the rest of the melody and lyrics for the chorus.

Throughout the process I was making sure to keep track of what the structure of the song was. I made sure to communicate with our guitarists so that I knew what chords they were playing and I made sure to write them down as we went along.

Ni suggested different kind of drum beats we could try with the chorus, and not to leave gaps at the end, adding different fills between the last chord changes so that the song doesn't feel disjointed and flows better. Jacob was playing drums today.

After rehearsal today, I stayed in the rehearsal room longer and spent an hour and a half working on my vocals. It has helped a lot with my confidence, as Ni pointed out when I was singing the microphone wasn't picking it up because I wasn't close enough. I didn't realise how close you need to be to the microphone - but spending that time after rehearsal on my own practicing was very beneficial. I am going to do this more to continue building my confidence with singing.

I have also been refining my ensemble skills, attending Trad Band, Street Band and Choir. I have been in various concert bands regularly since I was around 13 or 14, but I hadn't been in any ensembles for about a year since I moved away from Dundee a few years ago. I have really enjoyed playing in the ensembles and started playing clarinet again regularly, and have been enjoying it a lot. Before college I hadn't played clarinet for over a year.

This is also the first time I have ever been in a choir. I have been singing the female alto parts and have found that this has helped my ability to sing harmonies tremendously.

Name of Band: Sex Wax

Which Song(s) You Worked On: Original Song, Mr. Blue Sky and Star Girl

I booked a rehearsal room for 12:15pm-1:15pm today for people who couldn't make yesterday's additional rehearsal or Friday's extra rehearsal.

The YouTuber, Rooben, suggests that the song, despite its many different sections and styles, is tied together by its strong 4/4 rhythm (4 crotchets to a bar) - which is played on all instruments at one point or another throughout the song - despite its diverse song structure and different styles in each section. I agree with this take - that the rhythm is what ties the whole song together despite its multiple styles and arrangements.

An interesting detail is that the percussive bell sound that occurs prior to each verse was actually a fire extinguisher being hit and that was recorded and added into the song, during some live performances they brought this on the stage to be played live.

Ideally, I would have all of the songs memorised but I can work towards this more for the next performance. I have the chorus memorised (which is why I haven't written the chords down) so I am halfway there. Next time, when I am learning a new song - I will create a song structure sheet a lot earlier as this will likely help me memorise songs faster.

Name of Band: Sex Wax

Who Was Present: Ellie, Evan, Aidian, Ethan, Nadz, Jacob and Maysen

Which Songs We Worked On: Miss Moonlight, Mr. Blue Sky and Star Girl

I am glad that I attended this extra rehearsal as I felt extremely rusty in my playing. I had not been well recently so I had not been working on the songs we are playing as much as I would have liked to.

I'm happy with how this rehearsal went, it was productive and helped us begin getting our setlist up to a good standard again after the winter break.

Since this video - I moved where I was playing up an octave as it suited the song better and made it so I wasn't competing with the guitars or bass parts as much or where the vocals are pitch wise. Instead of playing heavy octaves on my left hand I used it to play the triads and then used my right hand to extend the chord and create more interesting voicings, as well as adding in minimal fills before the singers come back in. During the verses we are moving from D major 7 to B minor 7.

Jacob had put a lot of work into reworking the lyrics and melody of the verses and pre-chorus of our original song. This was to help match the chorus we made in our last rehearsal before the winter break.

Andy and Ni asked that we prepare something to bring to tomorrow's rehearsal as we are going to start writing our original song as a group. I decided to write lyrics as we have a lot of guitarists that were writing the chord structures.

I tried to tie the song in with our two other cover songs. I thought it would be interesting to do the opposite of Mr. Blue Sky but also tie it in with Star Girl. Thematically, I think that all of our songs are tied together by the different states of the sky, so the stars, the moon and the sun.

I was feeling kind of low because of the winter, so my lyrics were tied to the notion of it being difficult to cope with reduced daylight - and how it isn't even close to the darkest day yet.

Name of Band: Sex Wax

Who Was Present: Nadz, Ellie, Ethan

Which Song(s) You Worked On: Original Song, Mr. Blue Sky and Star Girl

Nadz asked if we could rehearse today, Ethan booked a rehearsal room for the evening and we had an extra rehearsal.

General Thoughts

_____________________

I believe that our performance as a group overall was strong, as we had good tuning between string instruments, we were cohesive and we listened to each other whilst we were playing.

I am the keys player within my band and I also help with backing vocals with Jacob. Initially we had 4 lead vocalists, which then reduced to 2 over the course of Project 2, so I believe it adds a lot to the overall sound of the band and opens up more harmonic possibilities. I attend Ni's singing classes in addition to my piano lessons with Katrina on Wednesday mornings to develop my vocals further. Oliver, Ethan, Jacob, Aidian and Jackson are great at adding different voicings to the chords of our songs, so I believe I can contribute a bit more if I also help with backing vocals.

It would be ideal to eventually buy a synth or keyboard that can fill out the sound of the band more, especially string and brass sounds.

My own stage presence wasn't very good during this performance. I should have my chords memorised so that I can engage with the audience more. I will work on that for my next performance. I wanted to stand up whilst playing as I find myself a bit limited sitting down, our sound technician suggested that we can do that the next time if I let him know in advance.

I believe that the start to each song in our setlist could've been a lot stronger. The transition between our first and second song needed to be rehearsed as it was a last minute addition to add the talking segment between song 1 and song 2.

Miss Moonlight by Sex Wax

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I believe our song that was executed the best during our performance was our original song. Ethan's introduction to the song worked well because the song then slowly built up from there, adding more layers and textures gradually as more of the band started playing. When we were setting up the band looked unsure before starting, which impacted how strong the start of song 1 could've been.

I believe that the contrast of the verses and chorus was very effective. The moody, relaxed feel of the jazz chords (D7 and Bm7) suit the theming of the verse and then the chorus has a different colour due to the 3 major chords (E, B/D# and D) after the F#m used at the end of each line.

Star Girl by McFly

_____________________

After watching our performance video, I believe that this was our weakest song of the setlist. I relistened to previous recordings during our Wednesday rehearsals and think that we have performed it a lot better. I believe it is because the last time we were all together as a band was only the Friday before our performance, so the winter break definitely affected how confidently we were performing it.

During Star Girl, I believe that the countdown into the interlude that I did was strong, but I feel like it was too low because usually all of the vocalists sing it together there. I could've backed away from the microphone a bit as well, it was too loud.

I believe that I could have come up with something more interesting to do in the bridge of the song where it switches to B major 7 and G sharp minor. After watching the video back - I noticed that some of the lead vocals could have been altered to suit our lead vocalists better. To remedy this, we could have changed the key of the song to suit our vocalists range better. The bridge definitely needed more work. I believe what our guitarists were playing was very well played and helped carry that section forward. I was not confident in that section myself and definitely needed to study the section more and come up with solutions to improve how I was playing. In hindsight, if I played some legato arpeggios with sustain on keys, that could've really worked for that section and made it sound more dramatic, and contrast more with the verse and chorus even more. The transition to the interlude from the bridge was strong due to the strong straight rhythm being reintroduced during the major chords.

I believe that my backing vocals were sufficient, but they could've been a lot stronger at the end of the choruses. Myself and Jacob were singing the root note of each chord on an 'Oo' vowel, I feel like my pitch wasn't great during the first note and I was having to find it before moving onto the next two notes. I rehearsed it a lot at home but I find it difficult to pitch it exactly with the whole band due to the noise level. This is something I will continue to work on.

The vocals during the start of the chorus, the 'Oo' melody prior to the start of the lead vocal line, could've sounded better. I believe these parts needed to be split between vocalists, for example if myself and Jacob sang the 'oo' vowels it would've been cleaner and give space for the lead vocalists to sing the chorus.

I thought that Oliver's harmony that he did with Jacob's guitar solo during the interlude worked extremely well, and that his guitar could've been a lot louder.

Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra

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The transition between songs worked very well. To link the songs we played an E♭ chord, to E and then to F. We realised that the songs were close in key, so Oliver suggested we move chromatically into the key of our next song, it worked very well in my opinion and helped to maintain the energy and flow of our setlist.

During the start of Mr. Blue Sky, the vocals were not very audible. I did my best to figure out where in the song that we were so that the chords are in the correct place with the vocals.

The high notes during the 'So Long' could've been a lot better on my part - I needed to practice them more as I did not feel confident in them. Ni suggested during our soundcheck to go for it regardless, which I did. I would've liked to help more with the vocal harmonies in Mr. Blue Sky but what I was playing on keys was more difficult than our other songs.

Last Thoughts

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I would've liked to tighten up the vocal harmonies more but it's difficult when not everyone is at rehearsal at the same time.

There were also a lot of last minute changes on the day, which I try to avoid as it can cause mistakes when you're on stage.

Watching back the recording was very helpful, I feel like the time that it took us to get started could've been a lot shorter, but our communication prior to starting was good. It doesn't take me long to set up, so in future I will try to help others get ready to speed up the time it takes for us to start.

*I spoke to Andy and Ni after this and asked what I should do during set-up and soundcheck. They suggested that if you have less to set up and can just walk on you are better waiting at the sides and then walking on when you are about to start. So, for myself I can go on later as I don't have much I have to set up and the vocalists could walk on when we are ready to start, as this also signals to the audience that we are about to begin.

In terms of song choice - I do think that our songs go well together and I also think that the order our setlist in was very good, as the tempo initially was slow and then increased with each song.

Idea 2: Out of the Box Fest

Idea 3: Life as a session musician

Idea 4: Making an original music video

^{**weigh out pros and cons of each proposal idea, as Scott said to not let what you perceive to be your weaknesses decide what your final project will be, for example the music video idea (I believe composition and songwriting to be one of my weaknesses).}

Pros:

Idea 2: I wouldn't be overworking myself as much because I was good at documenting our journey as a band in Project 2, I also have lots of ideas for band identity, visuals and have a good idea now of all of our band members strengths and music taste.

Idea 3: Could work in with YouTube content to begin working on social media presence. This would sharpen my skills in terms of videography, video editing and confidence with talking and appearing on camera.

I already have a student subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud and I am familiar with Photoshop, Illustrator, Premier and some experience with After Effects, so I have excellent resources to work with, as well as all of the recording equipment in the college and Logic Pro, which I now know how to use at a basic level.

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I wish I balanced the different modules of Project 2 a bit better so that I had more time to analyse and fully understand what is happening with the chord sequences. I wanted to challenge myself by analysing a more difficult song from our setlist but I didn't give myself enough time to delve deep enough.

I tried cutting that part of the recording and fading it out but it made the harmonies lose the thicker sound quality. So, I think it is best to duplicate the other recording.

I removed the duplicate tracks for now to make it easier for myself initially - once I have finished trimming out all of the background noises in the vocals and harmonies I will add them back in and experiment with panning them and try binaural panning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGCdxH-wB3A

^{Watching this has been extremely helpful - he shows stride playing with your left hand halfway through the video, and I was able to pause the video and see what fingering he is using for the left hand second inversion triads. He uses 5, 2 and 1 to play a second inversion C major chord. From watching other pianists playing ragtime music, I had already seen that when jumping from the octave to the chord, is that you usually use inversions - but it is helpful to see which inversion and what fingering can be used.}

Scott recommended that we download stems from the Cambridge Music Technology website or record our own vocals to experiment with the compressor audio effect in Logic.

Compression should be used before any wet effects - such as reverb and delay. Scott recommended that we turn Auto Gain off.

The ratios typically used in songs are 2:1 or 4:1.

Scott mentioned that in music from the 70s and 80s, compression wasn't used as much as it is today. In current music people generally prefer listening to compressed music.

I'm beginning to understand what some of the different terms mean within compressors, such as ratio and make up, attack and release. I need to watch some more explanations of what the threshold does to understand it better.

Common metal guitar techniques:

Palm muting;

Pinch harmonics;

Tapping; and

Sweep picking.

This was very interesting to see the different ways you can record a snare and then options for how to layer them in a mix professionally. I liked the sound of the snare when the SM57 was placed a couple of inches from underneath the snare and then the recording from the room, it made the snare sound bigger and more impactful. The producer in the video would also layer a sample on top of the recording to make the attack of the snare sharper. He showed the different options for how to add reverb and what it sounds like when you layer the different recorded audios. Typically he uses 4 audio tracks for the snare, one mic above, one mic underneath and then a different mic to pick up the sound of the room and then stack a sample on top before adding a compressor and playing with reverb and audio effects.

Practice at a speed where you can hit 99% of the notes correctly.

When you are sight-reading you should be scanning ahead.

He suggested to analyse the piece before playing it, looking for patterns in the left hand or the melody.

Alberti bass - a pattern of the bass, bottom note, top note, middle note, top note and then repeat.

I also listened to the chorus and the bassline changes slightly, with variations from how it is played during the verses which I found interesting.

Listening back to this I think that the organ accents are missing and it would be nice to add this into our version of the song, whether it be on guitar or myself playing it.

In bar 45 where there is an ascending scale, I could’ve made the rit. smoother as I think I made it sound disjointed, I also don’t think I slowed down enough. This is the part of the piece that I had to work the most on because I found the fingering difficult, so I might have just been trying to play it correctly instead of expressively. I hit a couple of wrong notes at the end of the section but I tried not to let it impact how I played the rest of the piece.

I learned that I should take a little more time to make sure I am comfortable before I begin playing so that I don’t rush or make mistakes. I could practice walking over to the piano, setting up and starting the piece on my own so that I get more comfortable with it. I only gave myself 30 seconds to prepare when I could have given myself longer. When I was on stage the 30 seconds felt much longer so I felt like I needed to just get started. I felt very nervous when I was playing because I haven’t played piano on my own in front of people much. I get very nervous compared to when I play other instruments just because I feel like the margin for error is a lot smaller.

After watching my performance back – I think that I could sit further away from the piano so that I don’t need to move as much when I am playing. I should also be putting more of my weight on my feet, especially my left foot so that I am more stable when I am playing and can lean over to the lower notes and be supported. I also need to move the piano stool further back and sit on the edge of the stool so that my weight is supported more by my feet so that there is less tension on my back.

I think the thing I need to practice the most is playing in front of people more. I think what impacted my performance the most is how nervous I was. I could practice this by doing recordings where I am not allowed to start over and playing the piece for other people.

I will work on my posture and technique when I am playing so that it is easier to play the different sections of the piece without moving on the stool. I will also practice playing softly so that the dynamics have even more contrast.

Andy suggested the previous week that transitioning back to Bad for the final chorus would give a complete feel to the set.