Assignment requires a minimum of 2x audio tracks (using acoustic guitar) and 2x software tracks (using the midi controller keyboard)

19.9.25 class

Downloaded padlet and copied class template.

Issue with no sound from midi controller was due to audio set up to wireless headphones instead of wired headphones. Ellie showed me how to fix this.

Recorded several software tracks.

learned from Scott:

-use of mute [M] button

-remember click [R] on track to hear what is being recorded for that track..and have [R] switched off for other tracks or their sound will be picked up.

26.9.25 practice booth 7

Exploring recording with electric guitar.

Reported practice booth 7 to reception as mac had zero space left and not possible to record or save into Logicpro.

26.9 25 class:

Continuation from last week, trying out electric guitar to understand connections to focusrite and inspection panel on Logicpro.

Learned from Scott:

Click [i] button when recording to hear guitar when playing with background task.

Click [S] for solo track to isolate track want to listen to. Click S button at top to toggle on/off solo for all tracks.

The tuning fork icon to tune the guitar...this is essential to ensure the guitar is perfectly tuned.

New software soundtrack..doesn't always update the name to match the chosen instrument,have to manually double-click on name and update it.

Feedback on guitar was being included in the recording, possibly a faulty lead? Scott tried and no feedback, will try with his guitar and lead next week.

If I want to record piano then change the intro time to get to the piano before the track start...the [1234] button next to the metronome button.

When add new audio track, it defaults to line1, my guitar is plugged into line 2, so made sure to select line2 from the Inspector panel.

My current recording is an exploration of logicPro in class and will be changed to incorporate what has been learned over the last 2 sessions.

I want to learn more about using Logicpro and recording outside class so will install Logicpro and a midi controller at home this weekend and make a plan for project1. Anything I'm stuck with I can check online guides or videos and feedback into my next class if I have further questions.

28/9/25 - 01/10/25

Practising with LogicPro at home. Using acoustic guitar for recording tracks

01/10/25 added software midi tracks

I tended to delete audio tracks rather than record over them and pick the best bits, I need more help in this area. I've given it a go anyway.

the end of the tune, I added fade - eventually, that was a bit tricky. I was trying to add fade to a loop, so took the track back to individual then copied as a repeat, then I was able to do the fading.

I've saved to iMac at home, just have to work out how to get it onto oneDrive ...or will use a pen drive

I did this by first recording the acoustic guitar over several tracks. I found it tricky to keep to tempo (metronome was on, but I was doing my own beat on the guitar).

I thought the recording was ok for a first attempt. I found it a challenge to choose a suitable midi soundtrack, not sure the whistle sound really fits in with the track, but then that is easily muted or removed and replaced with another track.

It's knowing as well when to stop and move away to get better perspective of what sound looking for. Listening to it after a day or two with fresh ears is helpful to check if it's suitable or not. I did that a few times and discarded a lot.

There is so much to learn in LogicPro, I don't know yet what I don't know.... it's good to be in a class and have focus on particular aspects to get started otherwise it could be overwhelming. Youtube videos and class handouts have supported the process and 1:1 help and feedback from Scott has been invaluable.

I found that repeating tracks and playing them back - they were sometimes out of sync. I checked Google and found enable Flex Time fixed it for the selected audio range.

I also realised (later) I could have renamed the 'Audio 1' etc tracks to 'Guitar'

Summary: It was great fun and looking forward to learning lots more. Especially how to create a music score from tracks created on LogicPro

I've bounced the file and created an mp3 file [go me!!]

I listened to it again after a day.... I want the tune to repeat, I can put the mp3 on loop, but it's better to loop in LogicPro before creating the mp3 file? I need help with this.

I also made sure to select 'off' for normalise when creating the mp3.

Today I learned cmd+ makes the waves larger in the recordings so easier to view

Type P on a region or double-click to view the individual notes, can change length of notes, key etc... something I will look at later and experiment.

1. Task is to first watch the movie and take note (notebook) of where sound effects can be added [record timestamp where sound effect can be in the movie]

2. Use voice recorder on phone to create the different sound effects, remember to name them so can be easily recognised.

3. Select all recordings and send to yourself o TEAMS CHAT

LOGIC PRO PART- see Handout from Scott

-Create New Project/Select MIDI option

-Find the movie from Moodle/drag into LogicPro

-Aliign movie with BAR 2

-Open Movie/Extract the audio track [both options selected],click OK

-Use the sample rate of the movie. This Movie is 44.1 kHz, so select this option [LogicPro automatically suggests this anyway

USE ALT G [OPTION G] TO SET GLOBAL TRACK SETTINGS - see screenshot in section below

4. Import recorded soundtracks into LogicPro [just drag and drop]

5. In Logic Pro - play back film and pause to insert each soundtrack where it should go. Do one at a time and expect to adjust and move to pinpoint exactly where it should go. Playback in LogicPro to check in correct position.

If soundtrack is not appropriate eg a sigh is too short or a sound is inappropriate, then re-record and try again.

6. If possible, take photos of how the soundtracks were done and add to the padlet.

7. Review how it went

However, we are not using this for the project, we are creating our own sound effects. The sound effects we create do not have to be the ACTUAL sound... we are being creative making sound effects that can be passed off as the actual sound.

How cool!!

Enjoy :-)

I recorded background noise in the stairwell. I've trimmed out noises of people talking or banging noises and selected areas that create a uniform background noise. I will have to think about how this varies through the movie... for example... when he moves away from the busy office into the room... the background noise will be quieter.

Learning. How to reduce the volume for different parts of the background.

Will come back to this later.

I recorded pressing the spacebar on the Mac keyboard.

Although I wrote down the timings for each event, I'm finding it a lot easier to just watch the movie and move the recording as I'm playing back the movie.

Got it first time - woohoo!

Amazing! I'd recorded a '3-button' press for the photocopier. My timing was a bit out. I wondered if I could amend this in LogicPro, so I double-clicked the recording and could see the sound waves and thought maybe I could move them closer to each other to get a different rhythm so - I highlighted the second wave, moving it slightly closer to the first, and moved the third sound wave slightly closer to the second one.

I listened back to it and it matches better.

I got lucky and learned something new in that I don't have to re-record sounds, I can think about how to amend what I have.

The Track view - eventually found out how to get rid of it... Double-click on the work Track - and it will be hidden

*Drinking from the cup - I just made drinky noises haha

*Reaching through the black hole

I recorded making crumply noises with A4 paper.

* Lifting the paper with the black hole on it - I rustled some paper to match this sound

*Pulling the confectionary from the machine - I used crumpled paper noises

*Eating the confectionary - I had a couple of sweet wrappers I rustled and made chewing noises

*Opening the KEEP OUT door. I recorded opening the door in Practice Booth 8.

As the sound was an 'actual' sound of a door opening - I added a door squeak with my own voice, to keep it original.

*Reaching hand into safe and pulling out the money.

Again I used trimmed sections from a recording I made of rustling a mouse mat.

Quite challenging, I had to break up the recording by trimming it and pulling out sections that matched what he was doing... when reaching for the money and placing it on the pile on the ground.

[If I had just dragged and dropped the file, it was too large and rejected by pallet].

This isn't the finished score... just playing about with it ..to start with ...and highlight what I need help with in the class.

I'm hoping to create a score for solo violin and to include harmonies that can be played by violin 2 or cello or whatever... see what happens.

I'm finding it fun, but I'm not getting exactly the rhythm I'm imagining for my tune, it is close but not quite right.

Maybe I need to record the tune in midi in LogicPro and get the score that way.

I think it is brilliant at helping me understand the rhythm of the notes as there is a cursor that follows the notes as they are played. Pretty cool!!

I will work further on this further ... writing out in pencil the notes, beat and cycles.

Looks like 'feels 2' and 4/4 time signature.

13.11.25

I recorded my idea on keyboard again this time with a metronome 80bpm in the background to force me to keep time, recording is attached lower down

I have found this info really useful.

How did I find this out? The project loaded ok into LogicPro at college - but there were no audio files. Scott checked and confirmed that the 'Package' option has to be selected before saving the project, then copy to OneDrive

Scott also mentioned work he had done with a group matching a film clip with different pop songs and how this can change the whole meaning of a film.. where the same film can be portrayed as intense, funny, sad - depending on the soundtrack chosen. This is a really important point to get across - think about how we use music and how this can impact the meaning of the film... does the music convey the right meaning that we are trying to convey.

Scott did a demo of beat mapping in LogicPro and a helpful summary and overview before we started on our own.

I used this info with the handout and played around with beat mapping - it was fun!

I didn't save it as I wanted to practice on a project with just the movie and not my sound effects [remember I had no audio with my imported project as I forgot the 'package' option]. So I started a new project with just the movie and played around with beat mapping - and also recording a full score across the movie.

I will try both of these options at home and upload soon.

resources you can use to practice the note values names and your rhythm accuracy! through quizzes and games. 

Didn't really follow this ... I found the following links useful

https://youtu.be/p9qynMmBz30?si=Tlall_3JZGGzTKwt

https://youtu.be/Y5_27Gc28ls?si=8lb1s3Wz9XIZWNH-

My tune has 'Feels 2' and 4/4 time

I've taken on board feedback to keep an ongoing Evaluation for each project and will start doing this, with added dates.

30/11/25 Learned about importing movies into LogicPro

Learned how to create original sound effects and recording on the phone. This was fun. I continued the work at home and completed this task

7/11/25 Learned about Beat mapping. This is how we can add music/sound effects to the movie by creating mappings at specific points in LogicPro (that are usually not on specific bar lines) and we can simply point at the mapping and drag to a bar line. This automatically creates a tempo suitable to the movie at this stage - so it is snapped to the exact point in the movie - the down beat is now starting at the start of a bar line [rather than in the middle of it].

I played around with this and found the handouts really useful, I tried individual areas of the movie AND I also tried just playing a background music for the whole movie with added dynamics. I will practice this further at home and upload when done.

11/11/25. Reviewed beat mapping at home. It is important to remember about the mapping being created 'without rounding' - this means selecting the menu option Navigate-> other' create without mapping (rather than just clicking on the mapping button within the ALT-G window. This allows the tempo of the soundtrack to match that of the movie.

It's good to redo work at home as it reinforces the learning after a few days away from the class.

New version of movie with my original soundtracks and midi soundtrack created and uploaded to padlet.

14.11.25. Learned about sampling and stem splitting - my favourite part. Amazing to be able to split a track into the individual components of voice and the different instruments. Excited to learn more about this and introduce this into the movie

16/11/25 - 22/11/25

Enjoyed playing around with sampling and stem splitting in a separate project. I liked separating the individual tracks, switching them on/off to hear how this affected the layering of the tracks. I'd like to try this later with orchestral music to see if there is a way I can use this to help learn violin2 parts.

A few times the original sound effects I did for the movie project were slightly mis-aligned - I hadn't touched them, not sure why this happened, but reset them.

Project 2 is ready to be saved as a final version

• with my sound effects

• with music I created using cinematic option in Logic

• with a couple of samples I made from two mp3 tracks

I would have included more from the sampling but I didn't want the movie to become too busy and cluttered with music - it needs to be specific to the drama/emotion that is occurring. I found a voice clip from Linkin Park that I liked and added that to the end of the movie.

My next query would be about 'copyright' - how does that work for sampling and voice clips?

References:

• Michael Jackson - mp3 -Billie Jean - sourced from Scott- I used a sample of bass guitar

• Linkin Park - mp3- Papercut - sourced from Scott - I used a voice sample at the end of the movie

• Moodle/Handouts from Scott - already attached to this padlet earlier

Still to do...

[1] Bounce completed movie to mp3 and upload to padlet

[2] Save project to OneDrive [EdinburghCollege]

[3] send copy of project to Scott

END OF PROJECT2

7/11/25

Enjoyed learning about rhythm and putting this into practice in the class, this is valuable to me in learning the rhythm of a tune I will be creating.

Rocio has given us a couple of links for homework that will further help with rhythm practice.

I missed rehearsal with permission from Katrina to attend the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at Queens hall 2pm.

Programme. Schuman Mozart and Handel.

It was amazing!

12.11.25 Scots Music Group

7-9pm mixed instruments.

Highland whiskey..a new strathspey

Come by the Hills..practiced with ukulele group.

Highlander Revenge and Tail Toddle.

All practiced for Stramash.

13.11.25

2-4pm went to watch Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Queens Hall

13.12.25

7-9pm Scots Music group -fiddle group

New 2/4 march tune

• Mothers of St Annes and Bussen...practiced with fiddle4 group for Stramash [previous week did with Guitar group too].

• String crossings...2 strings D and A

• D scale 2 octaves.3rd position

• D arpeggio. 3rd position [fingers are closer in 3rd posn]

• Stornoway. 1st and 3rd position [use Full Bows]

• Hector the Hero...[it is a lament.slow. follow rhythm of notes..it's not a jig etc]

• First practice of vibrato. 2nd finger on A string. Arm vibrato..do not flex the wrist keep it straight.

  Go from in-tune note to -x

• We can practice Dvorack at later date

13.11.25

• Use full bows

• Check violin correct on shoulder

• Pay attention to slurs

• Pay attention to correct rhythm in written music

• Practice double stops for tuning

• Always check correct note in 3rd position with open strings.

• First day learning vibrato

27.11.25

Had a look at Far Shores composition

Katrina likes the melody. I need more work on the other harmonies as some chords not right. Need to practice with piano.

Played Stornoway in 1st and 3rd position. My second finger wasn't stretching enough as had previously been playing flat.

Tried vibrato...keep the Bow moving. Keep wrist straight.

Practice vibratobwith silent night.

Katrina to prepare cool version of Deck The Halls fir me to learn

Played Hector the hero with Katrina

Learning:

We listened to each group - answering

1. What is the Feel of the rhythm - is it 2 or 3?

2. What rhythm is each person playing?

The point of the exercise is how can we take all these layers of rhythm into our instruments ..eg what can the drummer be doing, what can the rhythm guitar be doing, like each instrument doing a different rhythm- but to the same 'feel'

The above screenshot shows the handouts.

For example if chose 'Feel of 2' - then it shows the rhythm notes that fit in with this. If each member of the group plays a different rhythm, it creates a layering of the rhythms - and this can then be used to think about how they can be used by the different instruments in a group.

Evaluation: I enjoyed listening to the groups when they played their rhythms and found it really useful - especially thinking about each instrument playing a different rhythm to make up the layering.

I hadn't thought of that before.

A cool exercise!

Navigate->other=>Create marker without rounding

Make sure at the playhead when click the create

There is a shortcut for this control-option-' (apostrophe)

I found this link useful

https://youtu.be/ptVYQtQpe2E?si=PEVjghpG9wYl8MSA

The 2 added sound effects I used are:

1. Cinematic-> Ambient drones-> Milleniums

2. Quick sampler->Arpeggiator>Single Digit Drama

[1] I used for the black hole on the photocopier

[2] I used for

(a)the hand through the paper black hole at the photocopier

(b) the sweet machine and

(c) Approaching the Keep out Door - and keeping the music going on until the end, varying the dynamics

File->Movie->Export

[Enabled] option not selected [so original movie audio is not played]

Copy saved movie to OneDrive [Go into OneDrive and upload the file]

Select OneDrive file ..click on the ... 3 dots to 'share', copy the link -> paste link into padlet

I found this very useful

In the practice booth 8 - I recorded my original tune on keyboard with 'strings' option and metronome to make sure I had a steady rhythm that will be easier to write in a score, hopefully 😀

15 in class.

We looked at highest and lowest notes for each instrument and played those notes ..high notes can be restricted by players ability..e.g. I can't stretch to the highest part of violin but managed a high B.

We talked about Treble [G] clef and Bass [F] clef and importance of drawing on correct position on the stave.

Handouts. 'Stave to piano pitch relationship '

Exercise. Write short melody and write exact notes in scientific notation.

My example had lowest notes D4 and highest note G4.

**I need to check if rhythm is correct**

Difference between Range and register... Range is the whole spectrum from lowest to highest notes of the instrument. Register is the comfortable Range for the instrument e.g for singing..are you singing in your lower, middle or higher Range.

For band or orchestra think about relationship between the instruments..get a balance of sound and diversity in the register you use.

For example don't gave a keyboard and bass guitar playing in the same register , it will sound muddy.

Experiment with register, think about variety.

For example a string Quartet need a differentiation in the instrument 'voices'.

Homework. Given worksheets on note notation to complete before next week, bring to class.

Most people in class chose the 4 range, thus is near middle of keyboard and comfortable to all.

Splitting some vocals and splitting drums

Use ALT-C to choose colours and can set the colour of the Master and the track stack will colour as well. Can then collapse the group just click on the arrow - keep it tidy.

Also learned. In the Quick sampler window can select parts of the sound and assign to specific keys on the keyboard.

Can even for example assign a sound to C1 and also to C4.

In the Quick Sampler - there are 4 options Classic - the whole length of the sound is assigned to each key on the keyboard. Using Slice - better for drums as separates the beats - also learned that the CTrl/Click Select Create Pattern Region - is really for drum beats [doesn't work very well with vocals].

After chatting with Scott I discovered there are so many uses eg separating tracks to learn parts of songs. I was thinking it would be great for learning orchestral music... I could select out the violin 2 part - and hear how it fits in with the rest of the music - currently I cannot do this as it's difficult to separate out the different layers of music.

For this project I will be using the sampler and step sequencer to create some more sound effects and sampling that I will include in the movie... that will be the next step after I've played around a bit more with the method.

Read the [attached] handout from Scott again and view the two YouTube videos Scott has uploaded into moodle.

Here are the links to the videos

[1] How to use stem splitter in Logic

https://youtu.be/zBklwnWgLtE?si=z_2Jo3MDhLLYcIrE√

[2] Logic Pro 10.7 - Loop Slicing with Quick Sampler + Step Sequencer

https://youtu.be/IYf2yteXkCg?si=9Dcj4cueBgMmrOJD

Create new project and work through handout and videos and think about what I can use in the movie. I'm already thinking the end of the movie - I can certainly add something different there to improve it.

*I haven't heard this track before and really like it*

3 hours playing fiddle - brilliant!

Amazing to play along with new people - so many of the tunes I already knew (go me!) - and new ones I've taken a note of that I'm going to learn.

And more practice under the belt for the tunes we are doing at the SMG Stramash in a couple of weeks.

"No music sheets - everyone playing by ear*

I bumped into 2 folk who had also started learning with Sarah Hoy at Fun Fiddle in Portobello - small world!

Also chatted with Alastair Hardie (of Hardie publishing) - and amazing guy - I bought a few of his books last year - on James Scott Skinner - talented man.

https://www.reidconcerts.music.ed.ac.uk/performer/hardie-alastair-1946.html

1. create a new project - just Michael Jackson track and Linkin Park tracks and investigate the music with sampler and stem splitter

2. Keep a note of what would work well with the movie

3. I googled if I could copy samples from one project to another - which I can - I can have projects open next to each other and do copy/paste... so I can open my movie project and copy over the tracks that I want to fit in.

Ctrl right click select -Processing-Stem Splitter

Click apply

How cool!

I have spent WAY TOO LONG playing with this - I want to be a DJ -haha! SUCH FUN!!

It was so interesting, removing the drums, removing the bass, putting them back in - listening to the voice on its own.

I could better understand the layering making up the full track. This is going to be really useful in my music education - this is G*O*L*D !!

This is what I selected

I really like the classic and one shot options the best and got some good sounds in the higher range that I can use in the movie.

I will now move to the movie project and introduce samples into the movie

[I've just realised I can add up to 5 screenshots to the one padlet entry..... everyday a school day :-) ]

Then when I tried to reload a Logic project - it couldn't find some audio files.

I've sorted it now, lesson learned :=)

These samples will be used along with beat mapping to add music to the movie.

ok.... didn't work! The copy bit worked from project-to-project.. BUT.. I thought it would keep the 'quick sampler' knowledge of each sample track.

From the screenshot 3 - the imported tracks are Inst 7, inst8, inst9, inst10 - and not quick sampler tracks

WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?

Any way I can store quick sampler samples into a Library and go fetch what I want from another project I'm in?

************************

I will just drag and drop the original mp3 recordings into the movie project and start from scratch with the sampling again... if there is a better way to do this?

click down arrow to collapse each track set

QUESTION

When I have sample in Quick Sampler and play through midi keyboard 'Classic'option - it is playing the whole track... When I am recording using this quickSampler - I can hear the track playing as I press each key...but the actual recording is just the notes I play - How do I get it to sound the same as what I am hearing... does this make sense?

ANOTHER QUESTION

and this hasn't just happened once....it happened again...

My sound effects from the beginning of the project are slight mis-aligned and I had to move them slightly [later] again -a bit annoying as spent ages trying to line up the noises for the cash being placed down.

seems to be after I add music.

don't know if I can replicate this as it is not always out of line straight after adding music.

[Enabled] option not selected [so original movie audio is not played]

I unselected the tracks not need in the movie

Copy saved movie to OneDrive [Go into OneDrive and upload the file]

Select OneDrive file ..click on the ... 3 dots to 'share', copy the link -> paste link into padlet

Ended up using 'Clarinet solo' to get a decent sound on the midi keyboard. This will cause some short rests in the music score I can remove later.

I then printed to PDF.

I can use this as a start to create the score in Musescore

I think this makes the movie WAY better.

Be impressed how the music stops exactly when he presses the photocopier button - I was!!

I also removed/muted the linking park voice at the end as I didn't like it after listening a few times

I don't know when I stopped using v1, v2, v3 annotation to keep filenames simple.. maybe because it was a boring naming convention or maybe I'm just exploiting the joy of having really long filenames.

Go me ... finished project 2

I am going to use LogicPro to explore creating music scores - and with MuseScore/tutorials etc, I'm hooked!

I first named it 'sunshine', but that name doesn't go with the feel of the tune which is sad and melancholic.

I have tempo of 80 - Must change this in Musescore as it is supposed to be slow, a lament... something to greet to...

[I LATER CHANGED THIS TO 60]

I've been working hard with MuseScore today . going through the tutorials.

I have repeats in the score so I looked at how to introduce that into the music.

I spent HOURS trying to get the rhythm and syncopation right, it's getting there.

So I have a part ! - repeated, second time with a different finishing note to lead into the middle section - which is repeated, then there is an end part which is similar to A part.

I didn't want to repeat A part again, just wanted the tune to resolve itself to end on how it started.

I'm happy with what I've achieved, but MuseScore is quite fiddly in trying to get the right syncopation... when I think oh that's a dotted crotchet.. it ties a note onto the next bar and it's not what I wanted. I've removed some syncopation to keep it simple.

I'll have a go at introducing the other parts tomorrow

Sounds better

Violin2 and cello - with help using the midi keyboard

We also discussed creating our own songs and a reminder of the song analysis

I worked more in my tune today, with the piano, working out chords. Also with LogicPro.

I can't rely on the melody from MuseScore as it isn't always accurate.

I will also need to re-record the tune in Logic Pro and also create the different parts I am composing.

This will be a challenge for me - but at the same time I am hoping that it helps me with orchestral scores. Let's see how it goes.

I like the idea of composing music for others to play - and having done the movie/music in LogicPro - I would like to compose music to a movie and have live orchestral playing - how cool would that be!!

I don't imagine for a minute that it will be easy but it will be a journey and fun.

That's the ambitious plan just now - this will tie everything together nicely.

It is a thought just now and ideas will grow as I learn more on the course.

Looking forward to the next projects!

The middleline of the staff is for the C note.

I need to remember this when writing the tune for viola

I took forever in Logic Pro then went to Musescore to import what I had.

I only imported the violin 1 as I couldn't work out how to import both scores. I added violin2 manually.

Also manually added the scores for viola and cello.

I'm anticipating it is still not right but I need feedback to help me progress

The tune is in G minor harmonic

So I need to start asking...what are the chords of G minor harmonic because at the moment there are note clashes.

Hopefully this article will help.

Then look at chord progressions?

Deck the Halls - learning triple-stops - I found this very challenging and didn't manage very well

Silent Night - learning vibrato - just one per bow to get the movement correct.

Hector the Hero - played along with Katrina. I need to be mindful that the piece is in A and therefore has 3 sharps - I need to STRETCH my second finger on the A string

S-T-R-E-T-C-H!!!!!

I showed Katrina my 'Far Shores' composition and got good feedback. I need to be aware of some notes clashing and using octaves on the different instruments - advised this was not best for harmonics.

I checked online for other orchestral pieces written in G minor and see that Mozart uses the octaves on different instruments so I am happy to leave those parts in.

Scott enjoyed listening to my tune and noticed it was in the same key as Autumn Leaves and let me listen to him playing it.

A lovely tune and beautifully played.

Scott suggested I could use my original music as a soundtrack to the Black Hole Movie.

I wondered how I would do this and Scott showed me how easy it was to export my tune in Musescore as a midi file and import to Logic. I would have to import each track. Also in Logic I could play around and change the instruments.

We had a chat about the chords for G minor and this helped me revisit the tune and make some more tweets to get the chords better aligned. We also chatted about putting the chords onto the sheet music.

We chatted about CADENCE - how parts of the music end.. I will find out more info about this.

I added the track to the start of the movie - and now I have (what feels like) a hundred questions for Scott

1. The tempo changes throughout the movie - so where I add my new tune - it is picking up the tempo that is already there through the beat mapping - so no idea how to fix this... I really wanted the tune to be at the same speed as a background track for the whole movie. So I don't have the full track playing, I spliced it at the part where he is reaching into the photocopier and another sound covers that.

I ASKED SCOTT THIS IN CLASS- HE SAID I WOULD NEED TO BOUNCE THE MOVIE I HAD CREATED WITH THE SOUND (keep audio wiith it] - and import this into LOGIC as.a new movie and add my Far Shores score to it.

I'm leaving project 2 here... but I do have further questions and learning about film scoring for sure and hope I get some help.

We are playing Mothers of St Annes, followed by Bussen - we are playing together with the Violin4 class and the guitar class

I also have to upload the template - working on it

And research what Cadence is - working on it

• Violin lesson

• Orchestra practice

• Trad practice

12.11.2 Friday

• Rocio - Musicianship -help with Far Shores chords

• Scott - creative class - reviewing Far Shores composition

15.12.25 Winter Concert

• I attended this

17.12.25 Wednesday

• Auditorium 12noon - I went to watch the HND groups

18.12.25 Thursday

• I attended this

Perfect cadence V->I

Plagal cadence IV -> I

Interrupted (deceptive) cadence V-> vi

Imperfect cadene V -> (doesn't resolve)

I need to look at my composition to see what cadences I use. I've listed below the 2 chords at the end of each section.

Section A.1 [A-D-F-D] -> [D-D-F-F]

Section A.2 [D-B-D-G] -> [D-F-D-G]

Section B.1. [D-A-E-D] -> [A-F-C-F]

Section B.2 [D-A-F-C]->[D-F-A-A]

Section C [C-A-E-C] -> [G-D-E-G]

***this needs updated as chords changed*** 28.12.25

It's a bit like my 'Far Shores' composition- which although has 4 instruments is just the start of 'something' that could have more instruments added e.g. guitar and some cool riffs - even speeded up. The options are endless.

Resource: link to YouTube movie

https://youtu.be/_38JDGnr0vA?si=CCghGtzhl0_id1Xk

I imported movie into Final Cut Pro, removed frames with writing and D. Attenburgh. Imported this edited into Logic and imported my composition into Logic.

It's not perfect but it is the idea I have for Project 4.

Thus version uses classical guitar for violin 1&2 with viola and cello

I can create the movie myself or reach out to students in the film making/sound course. But definitely want it to be ocean/sea based on David Attenburgh

I've since changed the melody [again!] at the end as it didn't sound right -- so there will be changes to the chords again.

Working on it.

Midi Instruments used for this version:

Eastern Synth Guitar. (violin1 section).

Plasma Conduit.(violin2 section)

Plasma Conduit.(viola section)

Dreamscape. (cello section)

I wanted the choice of instruments to reflect the sound of the ocean - and being deep under the water - the Plasma Conduit and Dreamscape sounds seem to fit this perfectly!

This is going to be the coolest project! I have learned so much with my own composition - knowing it is in its early stages and having experimented with midi sounds I have favourites to replicate the sounds in the ocean. A great starting place and will help me with my project4 proposal.

File->Bounce->Regions in Place

'supposed' to convert it to audio track?

What am I doing wrong?

I need to print out and work out the chords again as some will have changed, then I will upload the final version with the song analysis template

27.12.25 Still working on it, The option in musescore for Roman Numeral Analysis doesn't have a shortcut and I'm getting RSI putting in all these texts - it's enough to put you off using musescore - don't ask me to do this again!!

Also getting sidetracked learning about chord inversions - nothing is straight forward and way too much to learn :-)

https://www.pianote.com/blog/piano-chord-inversions/\

And I've removed the note texts in musescore - it doesn't let you toggle them off (but the process described online would make you think so) - so believe it or not - having added note names, if you want to take them off (I do ... because I'm adding chord names and it will get too cluttered) - you have to delete them manually - ONE AT A TIME. Oh my poor hands and fingers.

clicking [I] input monitor to hear your instrument being played. Clicking [R] for recording.

take folders - repeated recordings create new take folders, can choose sections out of each take that you want to keep for the final recording.

Use of flatten - to show final takes

Sounds a bit weird but that's the best from what I have :-)

Project 3 starts w/c 26th January 2026 end due 6th March [week of 9th is a marking week].

There is to be a solo performance from each student

There will be 4 weeks (do not leave til the last week)

w/c 02/02. Performance 1. [Friday06/02 class]

w/c 09/02 Performance 2 [Friday 13/02 class]

<<Then midterm break>>

w/c 23/02 Performance 3 [Friday 27/02 class]

w/c 02/03 Performance 4 [Friday 06/03]

Perform in front of the class. Rehearsal room or Dancing studio can be booked

Be prepared to play one piece on main instrument.

What you perform is up to you. Will be record, uploaded to YouTube for you to put link on padlet.

Write up a reflection on your performance

Rocio mentioned it shouldn't be a song/tune that's been done before eg at school etc as she wants it something we are learning just now so that it is fresh and embracing mistakes etc so we can reflect on the process of learning, difficulties etc.

Rocio would like someone to volunteer for week one

This is a BBC site for music bites

Practising 3rd Postion 'Stornoway' - make sure when sliding to 3rd position that the note is correct. Important to have perfect intonation

Had another look at my composition 'Far Shores'

Deck the Halls - learning triple stops - finding this difficult.

Tutor helped with correct way to hold the bow to get the sound across strings

G open string; D open string and B (on A string)

GD open strings together then open D string with B-on the A string - together

Also use ANGLED BOW (away from nose) to get the chord and to get a good sound.

Practiced 'Hector the Hero' - I am aware that I have difficulties in knowing how much bow to use and where to use slurs on up/down and reading the music notes at the same time. Tutor is going to work with me more on this as when I get it right it will sound SO much better.

3 Marches covered.

1. No Name March [A Dorian] - so Am?

2. Headlands [A Major]

3. Andrew's March [D Major]

[I wasn't in class when these tunes were covered and waiting for the music scores to try and learn them [by myself as we are not taught them]

14.1.26

This week there are 4 new jigs - I listened to a recording of each in a practice booth [for 2 hours] before the class - and found it useful also using the plano keyboard to work out what some of the notes were. I really like the jigs and look forward to learning them....by myself as we are not taught them

Jigs: make up Strip the Willow set

1. Morrisons Jig

2. Mug of Brown Ale

3. Kesh Jig

4. Behind the Haystack

I reviewed the spreadsheet with Rocio in class and I have made a few amendments. For example, first inversions should have 'b' after the roman numeral, and second inversions should have a 'c' [I was making the mistake that first inversions were 'a' and therefore the 'a' wasn't written. Rocio explained that the 'a' is for the ROOT, 'b' for first inversion and 'c' for second inversion. Makes sense when you have it explained vs. reading something online!!

Also the 2nd column of the spreadsheet, I originally named 'ROOT' but learned that I should name it 'lowest note'.

I thought the lowest note was the root, so more learning!!

So many gaps in my knowledge - I'm never going to get bored!!

there are 4 types of cadence - see table above

https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Summary-of-Music-Cadences.png

Had a chat with Rocio in class to understand the cadence of 'Far Shores' as it is shown in the score and this is what we agreed on:

Section A:

II -> V Imperfect cadence [tension]

iio-> v (not quite resolved)

iio -> i (not exactly plagal cadence but has the same effect

Section B:

vi-> v (not common)

iii -> VII (unfinished, doesn't resolve)

Then the ENDING which is similar to section A, but with a different ending has a perfect cadence V-> I - and it resolves the tune to completion.

I've done my best to keep a note of everything as I've gone through the process of writing my first composition.

It has been an enjoyable challenge. I've always wondered how I could write the score for original tunes and having discovered MuseScore I'm excited to find software that helps me do that. I'm teaching myself MuseScore and do find it quite fiddly - I'm sure there are easier ways to do what I want and that's something I'll find out the more I use it.

I thought I would have to enter every single note into MuseScore but discovered I could record and extract a midi file from LogicPro as a starting point. Again, there's maybe an easier way to do this.

I cannot even estimate how long I've spent on this composition [100+ hours] The beginning when I put the melody together seemed to be straightforward. I liked a motif I'd created during a violin lesson in G minor and the tune was built on that. I took time composing 3/4 of the tune and rushed the last 1/4 just to get it finished. On reflection there was an excitement to get it finished but the choice of notes was poor and it just wasn't going anywhere. I realised that a good fit would be to close the tune with a melody replicating the start of the tune, but with a different resolving ending to complete the melody.

To summarise the actions I took to create the composition.

1. A motif/hook I liked when practicing Bb scale in a Violin lesson created the first 6 notes of the tune.

2. Played around with the idea on both violin and piano, used phone to record options and thought about what fits well.

3. Found out how I could create a music score - Rocio suggested MuseScore.

4. I installed MuseScore at home and played around with it, watching Youtube videos

5. I found out from Scott that I could record keyboard in Logic and the Score would be displayed. Then I could export this as a midi file and import to MuseScore.

   LOGIC CREATES A SCORE!!!

6. So I practiced in Logic (with a metronome, best tip ever!) and created a melody score that I exported to a midi file and imported to MuseScore.

7. In MuseScore I found out how to add other instruments and chose Violin1, Violin2, Viola and Cello. My experience in the student orchestra was invaluable as I wanted to create a version for strings.

8. I started first with Violin1 and Violin2 and later added Viola and then Cello.

9. MuseScore has the ability to mute each instrument as required and to start/stop playing the score. It also has a mixer I found useful so I could make Violin1 slightly louder than Violin2 - basically playing about with it until it sounded good (to me).

10. Then I was asked to add chords to the score. It was then I hit a huge gap in my knowledge - so what was the chord being played when each instrument played a note at the same time? I discovered some of the chords just didn't work or had clashing.

11. So a lot of time was spent tip-toeing through the score, listening to each chord and asking - did it sound good - did it fit in - did it give the music the feel I was looking for?

12. I found that if I left the score alone for few days and went back to it I had a better idea of changes I wanted to make. I also recorded each version on my phone so I could listen and get used to it and identify the bits that 'annoyed' me and just didn't feel right (although sometimes I didn't know why it didn't sound right - until I analysed the chord and found a better choice).

13. To help me understand the chords and roman numerals for the score, I created a spreadsheet - noting the lowest note and the actual notes for each instrument that made up each score. To be honest I'm not sure if it has helped me understand any better - but I know this is a gap in my knowledge so I now know what I don't know!! When I started the course I didn't know what I didn't know, but now I am beginning to find out - haha!!

14. I also created a tune analysis document and that has been included in previous notes.

15. I'm learning so much from this composition that I will keep working on it and plan to use it in Project 4 as a soundtrack to a film. The tune will change without a doubt as I learn more and see it as an ongoing 'work-in-progress' changing as I learn more.

I'm looking forward to see how the tune matures over time.

Mug of Brown Ale

Kesh Jig

Behind the Haystack

I used the time to review my chords spreadsheet and Far Shores score with Rocio.

I updated the reviewed information into padlet and added a summary evaluation

Then following week is a Marking week 9-13th March. No classes, but probably ensemble class.

Final Project4 starts w/c 16th March.

There will be a NEW padlet template with 4 sections

1. Research

2. Practical skills

3. Evaluation

4. Proposal

https://www.thequeenshall.net

"Young string players from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland take to the stage in a powerful collaboration with musicians from Scottish Ensemble. This electrifying performance will be the culmination of a week-long creative residency, where mentorship meets music-making in its most dynamic form.  

Supporting the next generation of performers is at the heart of what the Scottish Ensemble does. Through its Young Artists programme, emerging musicians don't just rehearse – they dive headfirst into the world of professional performance, learning the craft from the inside out and bringing fresh energy to the stage.  

Presented by Scottish Ensemble"

Can't wait to see this, I have a front seat!

IT WAS AMAZING!!!

This HAS to be one of the BEST concerts I have been to.

I loved that everyone was standing ...apart from cello players.

I've always believed that standing gives a better energy to playing.

There were 20 players on stage, 4 from Scottish ensemble and the rest from CONSERVATOIRE in Glasgow.

They always play the concert in Glasgow, this is first time in Edinburgh.

I spoke to one of the violinists in the Scottish ensemble and they said the residency was a week, 6 hours a day...wait til you see the programme..see how much they learned in a week!

I played today in the Music group - we covered about 20 tunes. Only one tune I had learned from SMG - However, I was able to play along with quite a few even although I had never seen the music before. Slower tunes were easier for me.

I also stopped looking at the music for a couple of tunes and tried to freestyle harmonise - sometimes successful.

I do notice a massive improvement in my ability to read music and enjoyed the session. It is a really relaxed group age group 15- 80s.

We always have a 20min break in the middle for a cup of tea, cake and a blether.

There are 30 tunes in the booklet and we work our way through them until the summer, then we put together a new summer booklet.

There were 16 attending today, fiddles, tenor mandolin, guitars, dulcimer, harp, accordion, whistle.

We created beautiful music today :-)

Rip it up and start again.....I said Rip it up, Rip it up...

I got all this info from the really good video tutorials that come with musescore

Reference: https://youtu.be/jZtlJ57AheA?si=KSYqaV66ecOJb3ws

... that I'm guessing I wouldn't have chosen half those notes - for 4 guitars - why are they playing so many of the same notes - what a waste of melody and harmony

SO MUCH TO LEARN - look how different guitar TAB looks to musical notes - how much easier it is to see what looks good or not.

And when I play it back through musescore - I can hear where the chords don't sound quite right. Also there is too much SPACE - I would have a lot of finger-picking from the other guitars - look where this is going....

To be honest.. I would keep the melody - and scrap the rest and learn how to do it properly with guitars, that's how it looks like right now - and THEN - if it was to be played by strings I would have more confidence that it would fit together better

Section B - part a, part b is identical to a - but changes the last 2 bars

It's important to know the structure of the music when learning by ear as motifs and repetitions reduce the amount that needs to be learned.

we learned by ear

Ye Banks and Braes and Red red Rose and linking them together.

Next week we will add a third tune to the set

From what I've learned in SMG for 2 years and know it works.

1. Listen to the music - slow version - so say 0.5 of original tune

2. Note any patterns, repeats etc - often there are just a few patterns to learn as they can be repeated with different endings for the tunes

3. know what the key signature and tempo is, what note it starts on .. any leading notes?

4. What is the FORM of the music eg AABB. ABA etc

5. Learn phrase by phrase. A phrase could be as short as a bar - typically it's where it makes sense - how much can you remember at once - it's not a competition - choose something easy.

6. Important - REPETITIVE playing on loop on the PHRASE you are learning. We are not learning a whole section at once with just once through - this would not go into longterm memory

7. Do just Phrase 1 repeat x4

   Learn phrase 2 repeat x4

   Repeat phrase 1 with 2 until comfortable

   Learn phrase 3, repeat x4

   Repeat phrase 1 with phrase 2 with phrase 3 until comfortable. And keep repeating. This isn't rushed - it's done at a SLOW pace.

8. This is the pattern... learning each phrase, repeating and building up your knowledge until completing the section.

9. Repeat this process with the next section... building it onto the previous section

10. KEY POINT IS THIS IS ALL DONE SLOW.... speed increases gradually as you are learning and comfortable with the tune

11. We can usually figure out a tune this way in 1- 2 hours, depending on the complexity of the tune. Yes, one tune. We will forget bits of it.... go over them again.

12. We then continually listen to a recording of the tune (0.5 to 0.75 of original speed) and practice all week. The following week we play again in the group. We then get given the music so we can see what we have been playing. We may look at the music to visibly see its structure and perhaps some notes we weren't too sure about.

13. THAT's IT! It is now committed to long-term memory - we don't need the music.

EC doesn't teach by ear and offers no support to students that learn by ear.

I'n fed up asking. I keep getting told I'm unique, this just means they don't know how to teach me. I'm missing out on so much and disappointed. I'm not sure I've learned anything in the last 6 months, yet I am successfully taught 2 new songs by ear every week at night classes I pay for.

I thought I would be taught tunes by ear at college, not just given sheet music to teach myself..I struggle to read music notes. And not one tune at a time but multiple tunes...bits of each. It's like reading 3 different books a few sentences from each. I need to be taught one complete tune at a time, all the way through until I know it ... not jumping between unfinished tunes, what a crazy way to learn. It doesn't work for me and I am being proactively excluded through a teaching style that is a bad fit for my learning process.

I managed it all by ear.

I've heard it before sung by Fairground Attraction (a great version).

We then practiced joining it onto the end of Red Rose. Then we played all 3 tunes in the set.

At the end of the class we played around with half the class playing the root note of the chords for Jack O'Hazeldean and the other half playing the melody. Then swapping over. This was great fun!

I managed the whole set and the root playing by ear. Another great night.

The tutor is recording her voice/AI convert to text to capture details of the lesson.

B FLAT MAJOR SCALE - starting from B-Flat on the G-String

I've to learn more challenging scales that are fit for grade 4/5

B. Flat Major scale

'gaps for two strings, gap gap close' This is a way to remember the pattern of placing the fingers. So on the first 2 strings there are gaps between the fingers, on the 3rd string there is a GAP, then a GAP - then the 4th finger is close (The Eb on the A string)

When it comes to the E-string - we are playing F natural (not sharp)

The key signature of B flat major is B flat and E flat 

Prepare the first note by playing G on the G string, a first finger (not a flat), then second finger B flat (not natural)

E major scale - in fourth position

Second new scale today. E Major.

Prepare by playing DE01.. not E flat.

[playing the E note on the D string]
Play GAB on G string. 012.
Slide on second finger from B up to the E. Then the same pattern applies as for B flat major. Gaps for two strings, gap gap close.
For reference, this is in fourth position. Your hand position should be similar to 1st.

Note: I found playing this scale difficult. First time doing 4th position - I have not long started 3rd position.

We also practiced Hector the Hero - the tune I will be doing as my solo.

Again, I have to ANTICIPATE and STRETCH to get the C# properly on the A string. I tend to place my finger too low and slide it a little. I wasn't aware I was doing this, so I have to make sure this is part of my practice regime.

I have to 'do it properly'

I also have to pay attention to where the up and down bows are placed - this has been written on the music sheet so I know exactly what to do.

Practice.... practice....practice

I am improving and able to play the tunes at 0.5 speed comfortably.

we started the first tune a bit slower than before [although still very fast... for me] - but I made a good job of it. So I am getting more comfortable with the first tune and will practice going up to -.75.

The other tunes will come with time I'm sure.

It would be good to have all the tunes played a lot slower in a first run through so I could at least join in, then they can speed up.

The plan template for Project4 is in Moodle under the UAL3 box. This wasn't on my screen view [I wondered where it had disappeared!!] and Scott showed me how to get it displayed.

Today [30.1.26] , Scott presented the 'Glasses Mix' audio to the class and demonstrated mixing of the tracks. This is a song he wrote with his band 5 years ago. I really liked the song - catchy tune with great guitar introduction, amazing vocals and wonderful harmonies.

I'm always interested in how tunes come together and Scott said he created the lyrics first and the music was added afterwards.

In the class Scott demonstrated 'Panning' by asking us to close our eyes and listen to where his voice came from . He varied his position from centre room, right of room and outside the door. This made us more aware of paying attention to where sound is coming from and understand panning better. Scott told us that the track we listened to is 'FLAT' - ie no effects or volume added, a perfect baseline for us to add our own mixing. Thanks Scott!

I took notes as I listened to the audio in class. I liked the intro from the guitar and thought it moved more into the background when the singer started.

• I would probably increase the volume or panning of the guitar - why - because it's the intro and backbone of the song and I don't want it lost to the singing - it's about getting the ballance right - hear the guitar and the singing.

• When I heard the harmonies I thought they were all the same volume and that the volume of the individual singers could be changed and panning introduced.

• My plan is to isolate each singer and play about with separating the vocals through volume and panning changes.

I've attached a screenshot of the tracks in their original form showing the mixer, so I can compare this to changes I make

Task list summary - to make sure I cover everything

• Download Glasses Mix audio into LogicPro and listened to the track - done

• Explore Volume -done

• Explore panning - done

• Explore EQ [equaliser] -working on it

NEXT WEEK we will look at compression reverb and delay - this is still part of TASK 1

I realised Chris's singing was louder - so I changed the panning for this and made it further out to the sides than Brian's singing so I could here Brian more - and could get a better balance of the two voices singing together

I've also lowered the volume of Chris in the chorus with Brian and the AccoPoco section.

Now to look at applying EQ - equaliser.

To do this click the selection from the relevant AudioFx box and select EQ->Channel EQ.

To be continued at home...

2x violin

2x violin2

2x viola

2 cellos

1 Double bass

No microphones or speakers (wonderful to the ears and no need for sound engineers..sometimes less is more.

They played 1 hour10

I loved it, it was so similar to the type of music I make up. I am so interested in film soundtracks, that is what I'd like to specialise in composing.

Professional standard of playing from all players..it was Magical!

What tips did I take away?

I noticed in one tune how the cellos would come in and play the main melody, with the violins stepping back and then the violins coming back in with the main melody. This worked really well adding more texture and depth to the tune.

[NOTES TO BE ADDED - and LINK TO SLIDES]

3.4.26 slides not available yet

My notes:

TUNE - no set length of grade. What you have been learning in lessons.

1. You will be recorded in front of class.

2. Recording will be uploaded to YouTube

3. Upload YouTube link to padlet

4. REFLECT

• WHAT

• SO WHAT

• NOW WHAT

• Always end with a plan for improvement

FEEDBACK - Feedback will be done in class from 2 students chosen before - to give verbal feedback after the performance - it will be from someone who plays your instrument.

PROVIDING FEEDBACK

Be specific. Be supportive.

e.g. Timing was really good. Presence on stage

use words like 'I wish....you could do slower, faster etc' 'From my point of view...'

Give one piece of advice for improvement

Introduce your tune/song - keep it brief!

Key, year, style,

Talk about technical challenges (we discussed this further in class, notes will be below for violin)

On stage 17.45 to 18.35

Ive seen Callum first at Queens Hall then Usher Hall. I missed his gig at ovo hydro but heard it was amazing.

He puts on a great gig and always uplifting crowd singing along. He has great stage presence and never disappoints. Always a privilege to see an artist back in a small venue after seeing them grow their fan base from small to large venues. Its a great system Assai records hasn't promote artists through in-shop performance and small venues to promote their new albums. £20 for the album and the gig is amazing value for money and supports the artist and keeps them active in the charts.

More new tunes I hadn't heard before and managed to pick out quite a few of the tunes first time reading the music, I'd say 75% success. And improvising with root note drones and harmonies from ear.

This will be interesting

Genre Country/Bluegrass

Fiddle

Mandolin

Guitar

Doublebass

FEEDBACK

This was unexpectedly brilliant!!

I didn't think I liked cajun.bluegrass fiddle - but it was amazing. The speed they play at!!

I need to get tips on how to play faster [I can just hear my tutor saying that I have to play properly first!!]

AND the harmonies - wow wow wow!!!

I didn't know this gig was on and I got tickets from my cousin who couldn't go. So it was a surprise gig and I wasn't sure what to expect. What a delight!

My music genre knowledge is expanding!

https://cultureedinburgh.com/events/transatlantic-sessions

Transatlantic Sessions returns for 2026, continuing to explore and celebrate the rich musical traditions that connect Scotland, Ireland and the US. With its roots as an award-winning TV series and an annual focal point of Celtic Connections, the exclusive line-up combines guest singers and a stellar house band, inviting them to interweave original material with age-old tunes and songs as they explore shared roots and find new common ground between today’s finest Celtic and Americana musicians. “The ultimate back-porch session”.

Featured vocalists include Grammy-winning Country, Bluegrass, and Folk music star Kathy Mattea, hailed by The Washington Post as “one of Nashville’s finest song interpreters”, Darrell Scott, Nashville’s finest multi-instrumentalist / singer-songwriter and recent Lifetime Achievement Award inductee at the Americana Music Association’s Awards 2025; Scotland’s own extraordinary folk singer Karine Polwart, fast becoming a national treasure with her recent body of work that includes Looking for the Thread, her 2025 collaborative album with Grammy Award winning US artist, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Julie Fowlis; massed participative choir initiatives, and Spell Songs, a multi-artist lyrical, musical and artistic response to environmental loss.

Joining them, from West Kerry in Ireland is the spellbinding voice of multi-award singer Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, described by The Irish Times as “One of the earthiest and most distinctive voices, not just in traditional circles, but anywhere”.

The show's seasoned house band, guided as ever by Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas, features renowned Celtic and Americana roots musicians John Doyle, Michael McGoldrick, Tatiana Hargreaves & Allison de Groot, John McCusker, Donald Shaw, James Mackintosh, and Daniel Kimbro.

I imported this file - it has all 4 instruments included

FARSHORES.V9-11CHORDS-IVsMIDI.mid

I now have to listen back and decide which instruments on Logic Pro sound good.

For example the Violin1 part is set to Classical Ensemble - I will change this.

I want to get a good copy of orchestral sound.

Then LATER I can experiment again with the different sound effects from LOGIC that can be used with a movie.

I like that LOGIC creates its own score - this would be useful for having a piano playing along.

Write down the chord letters and also show them as a fretboard diagram

So plan is

1. List the notes of each chord

2. Show where these notes are on the fretboard

I have paper copies of chord shapes and will add the note names in coloured pen - use it as an exercise to work out the note and compare it to the guitar fretboard diagram (below)

Highlight for me was Ally Bain playing Hector's Hero - a lament to Hector McDonald, written by John Scott Skinner. This is the tune I will be playing for my solo performance

He mentioned that Hector McDonald was a very popular General and is buried in the Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh - and 13 thousand people attended his funeral. I need to find out more for a background of the music so I can share this information with the class. It really does add more to know the background of a tune.

List techniques of your instrument

1. What specific techniques are related to violin

2. List 3 method books you use

3. Artist Educators on your instrument

1. I found a few useful websites describing this - there are SO many techniques for the violin

   attach examples here

2. Books I use

   Essential Elements for Strings

   Team Strings

   Suzuki Method - along with YouTube videos relating to the chapters

   ABRSM books

   I have so many books!!

3. I subscribe to a lot of YouTube channels to get tips on violin playing, typically VIOLIN LOUNGE, Online Violin and piano tutor

I only know a couple

• Legato – Smooth, connected bow strokes

• Detaché – Separate, even strokes

• Staccato – Short, clearly separated notes

• Spiccato – Light bouncing bow off the string

• Sautillé – Fast, natural bouncing stroke

• Martelé – Strong, hammered accents

• Collé – Pinched, short strokes using fingers

• Ricochet – One bow stroke bouncing multiple notes

• Tremolo – Rapid small back-and-forth bow motion

• Sul ponticello – Bowing near the bridge for a glassy sound

• Sul tasto – Bowing over the fingerboard for a soft tone

• Flautando – Very light, flute-like bowing

• Col legno – Playing with the wood of the bow

• Jeté – Thrown bow stroke producing several rapid notes

• Portato – Slightly separated but connected strokes

• 
  

• Vibrato – Controlled oscillation of pitch

• Shifting/Position Changes – Moving the hand up and down the fingerboard

• Double Stops – Playing two strings at once

• Triple Stops / Quadruple Stops – Three or four strings together

• Trills – Rapid alternation between two notes

• Turns and Mordents – Ornamentation figures

• Glissando – Sliding between notes

• Harmonics (Natural and Artificial) – Bell-like overtone sounds

• Left-Hand Pizzicato – Plucking with fingers of the left hand

• Fingered Octaves – Playing octaves using 1–4 or 1–3 fingering

• Extensions – Stretching fingers for wide intervals

• Portamento – Expressive slide between notes

• Accents – Emphasized notes

• Tenuto – Held, sustained articulation

• Dynamics Control – Crescendo, diminuendo, etc.

• Rubato – Flexible timing for expression

• Color Changes – Adjusting contact point, speed, and pressure

• Pizzicato – Plucking the string with the right hand

• Snap pizzicato (Bartók pizz) – String snapped against the fingerboard

• Guitar-style pizzicato – Strumming multiple strings

• Scordatura – Alternate tunings

• Prepared violin effects – Using objects to alter sound

• Microtones – Playing pitches between standard notes

• Tapping on the body – Percussive effects

• Bow behind the bridge – High, eerie tones

• Scales and arpeggios

• Etude techniques (Kreutzer, Ševčík, Dont, etc.)

• Intonation drills

• Rhythmic bow control

• String crossings

• Chordal playing

In particular I'd like to learn how to play faster so I can join in with the Trad group. I'm currently playing at 05x speed but can't play at the speed they play at.

BEGINNER LEVEL

Core Fundamentals

Bowing

• Detaché (basic separate strokes)

• Legato

• Simple string crossings

• Basic dynamics (loud/soft control)

Left Hand

• First position fingering

• Simple shifting to 3rd position

• Basic intonation control

• Open-string bow control

• Simple slurs

• Basic pizzicato (right hand)

Articulation

• Staccato (simple, on-the-string)

• Accents

• Tenuto

Essential Skills

• Scales in 1st position

• Simple rhythms

• Reading in first position

• Straight bow control

🟡 EARLY INTERMEDIATE

Building Control

Bowing Techniques

• Martelé

• Portato

• Basic spiccato (slow)

• Tremolo

• Slurred string crossings

• Sul tasto

• Sul ponticello

Left Hand

• Clean shifting (1st–3rd position)

• Vibrato (basic arm vibrato)

• Simple double stops (open string + fingered note)

• Trills

• Grace notes

• Extensions (low 1, high 3, etc.)

Pizzicato

• Faster pizzicato passages

• Left-hand pizzicato (simple)

Practice Skills

• 2–3 octave scales

• Arpeggios

• Basic ornaments

🟠 INTERMEDIATE

More Coordination and Speed

Bowing

• Controlled spiccato

• Sautillé (slow)

• Collé

• Ricochet (simple)

• Jeté (basic)

• String crossings at speed**I need to learn this

• Bow distribution control

Left Hand

• 1st–5th position shifting

• Double stops: thirds and sixths

• Basic harmonics (natural)

• Glissando

• Fingered octaves (basic)

• More advanced vibrato control

Special Sounds

• Col legno

• Pizzicato chords

Technical Work

• Three-octave scales

• More complex études (Kreutzer level)

🔴 ADVANCED

Professional-Level Techniques

Bowing

• Fast sautillé

• Flying spiccato

• Ricochet across strings

• Advanced martelé

• Complex mixed bowings

• Flautando

• Extreme sul ponticello / sul tasto color changes

Left Hand

• Artificial harmonics

• Double-stop trills

• Triple and quadruple stops

• Rapid shifts to high positions

• Fingered octaves at speed

• Tenths and complex double stops

• Microtonal playing

Virtuosic Effects

• Snap pizzicato (Bartók pizz)

• Scordatura

• Left-hand pizzicato combined with arco

• Extended techniques (bow behind bridge, tapping, etc.)

Repertoire-Level Skills

• Paganini-style passagework

• Fast bariolage

• Chordal polyphony

• Virtuosic ornamentation

How This Progression Is Typically Used

• Suzuki Books 1–3: Beginner

• Books 4–5: Early Intermediate

• Books 6–7 / Kreutzer Etudes: Intermediate

• Rode, Dont Op. 35, Paganini: Advanced

1, Advice on 'How to provide feedback'

2. Aspects before the performance on your own instrument

3. Person giving feedback (who plays the same instrument) give 1 general and 1 specific

4. Feedback structure and what you say first, second

Look at a few articles - just as a few bullet points for your own guid to provide feedback.

In class - I copied the logicPro project to the desktop and then moved it to OneDrive - and checked it was there before closing the Mac.

Now - at home.. I go to the OneDrive folder I created - it is a ZIP FOLDER with no contents. Even using Upenwith-Archive Utility - it just creates another folder with the zip folder in it, and no files

I will take a pen drive to college and copy the project down that way.

Anyway - it will give me more experience to do it all again.

Out of interest.....At home, I copied a file to one drive from my desktop - then logged in with my laptop - and couldn't see the file

1. Research Mixing for the following:

Volume, Panning,EQ, compression and reverb

For each mixing type - discuss what I'm doing and support it with screenshots - and when finished each mixing type- bounce it to a track.

Reason: I want to start with a bounced track of the FLAT track as a reference - and as I make changes to the mixing of the track - I want to record those changes so that I have something tangible to deliver.

I can then see how the track is progressing as I continue with the mix - and this will be invaluable when I do my evaluation.

1. Bounced FLAT TRACK

2. Bounced Track with Panning changes

3. Bounced Track with Volume changes

4. Bounced Track with EQ changes

5. Bounced Track with compression changes

6. Reverb and delay changes

Each bounced file will hold info from the previous bounced file i.e. the files are adding new mixing updates to the previous file.

Include in the evaluation comparison of the bounced tracks.

Note: I will be using stereo headphones during the mixing as mixing effects will be more noticeable

Volume, panning, EQ, compression, reverb, delay

I downloaded this guide and find it really useful for this assignment. I have printed it to have as a guide while I work on the assignment. There is good information on panning that will help understand the best panning parameters to use.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/158671/downloads/c6cae10-a517-0238-e3b6-513eed23b3_6-Step_PRO_MIX_Checklist_-_Logic_Edition_-_The_Band_Guide.pdf

I've updated this info into a word doc as part of my research and will do the same for the other types of mixes - so I have info at hand to do the mixing.

7 different ways to change the Audio volume in LogicPro

1. Volume faders

2. Region Inspector

3. MIDI velocity values

4. Track and Region volume automation

5. Gain Plugins

6. In-built plugin output controls

7. Master Volume slider

Keu points:

Balance” by default, but you can change it to “Stereo Pan.” There’s also a “Binaural Panner”

Changing the pan/balance knob to Binaural Panning allows you to reposition the source of your signal in a three-dimensional space.

https://youtu.be/3aK4Evo8bew?si=uKVd7xV0thyF2nzb

Key points

• click on automation symbol or 'A' on keyboard

• EWQ automation

• Volume automation

• Pan Automation

• Reverb Automation

Automate volume, eq, reverb, panning.

Instead of having volume same throughout song, can automate to change throughout.

Latch and Touch. Latch, can vary volume etc whole listening to the track. Automates in real time whereas read mode you xan make all the changes without track running.

Touch..returns to zero when release the mouse; latch stays at level it was stopped at when release the mouse

I actually found this article too advanced didn't know a lot of what it was referring to. I will look for another article.

Key points:

• Basics of EQ - filters that control the frequencies of sounds that they are applied to

• Single band EQs - apply changes to ONE frequency band [types include lowcut, high cut, lowpass, highpass, shelving, parametric]

• Multi band EQs - combines several filters in one unit. This is Channel EQ in Logic. Allows indepenent setting of frequency, bandwidth and Q factor of each spectrum - allow precision editing and tone-shaping of the sound source.

• Channel EQ- versatile multi band EQ-89 colour-coded frequency bands [highpass, lowpass filters, low and high shelving and 4 flexible parameter bands. Has built-in Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) Analyzer

• Channel EQ's Graphic Display

• 
  

Basic level video for using EQ in Logic Pro

https://youtu.be/_WyLOp48rFE?si=83LY-WjqNxaPL1UB

What frequencies do I want to come through unchanged and what frequencies do I want to change by raising (boosting) or lowering (cutting).

We are using Channel EQ in class.

Don't use Reverb too early in the mix

This festival is for primary and secondary classes across Fife.

It covers orchestras, Strings, Percussion,Voice. Groups and solo performances.

The performances are judged by adjudicators and the pupils get certificates with feedback and grading.

IT IS AN AMAZING FESTIVAL AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE OTHER STUDENTS TO ATTEND.

My two nieces performed at this festival and did well with 'Very Good' in intermediate violin. They also performed in a ceilidh band.

This festival was a great opportunity for me to watch the performances, looking at stage presence, and the judging process. I have learned a lot.

I was blown away by the talent of a primary 5 pupil playing 'Violin Concerto I A minor BWV 1041, I Allegro [J.S. Bach] and 'Fishermen's song at Eventide [GuoguanLi].

Seeing such performances motivate me to practice more and perfect my playing.

I also attended the final performance for Young Musician of 2026 - the level of talent was outstanding!!! The judges commented on how everyone did well and their stage presence was exceptional. From audience view I felt everyone was comfortable and prepared on the stage.

The 2 adjuciators both agreed on who they thought was the best performer.

Interesting, although the primary 5 pupil and another pupil were outstanding on the violin, the winner was Rory a 5th year [exeptional guitar player] - who did a solo on stage with guitar pedals and advanced techniques on the guitar. He was very comfortable on stage and put on an outstanding performance.

FEEDBACK FROM ADJUDICATORS

I found the feedback to be very kind - for example 'I can see you are playing vibrato well and I would encourage you to continue bringing this into your music to add more dynamics'.

A beginner violinist was encouraged with suggestion to stretch the finger a bit more on the E-string. This resonated with me as I need to focus on stretching my 2nd finger on the A-string when playing my solo tune.

Clicking on different <> _<> icons along the top.

Also learned about using presets. Logic stores typical EQ freq graphs for different instruments, this will be really useful.

Key point with EQ is to identify frequencies in the music we want to remove..eg low/high end hissing. Listen to the track while changing the frequency..does lowering the frequency make it muddy, does raising it make it too sharp...get the balance just right. The band of the freq can be narrowed to be more specific in what we want to increase or decrease.

Turn Auto Gain off

File->Bounce->Project or Section

[note: before selecting bounce I clicked the top bar (turns yellow) - [see screen 4 ] this ensures only the track is bounced and that there is no extra space after the track - I learned that trick from Scott in class]

Recommendation from this source, is to get the sound as close to what you want as your final mix - by just using volume and panning.

The idea here is to find the loudest part of the song and set it to loop. Then bring all the volume faders all the way down, with all the pans set to the centre.

Then bring each track up in order of importance and loudness

I've included it at the end of the assignment to compare with the other files that will be created.

1. volume can be adjusted in the track header area or from the faders in the mixer (under the panning area) where all channel strips can be viewed and volumes changed while reading the exact dB levels. screen 1

2. Region Inspector (Screen 2) by adjusting the gain [not used here]

3. MIDI velocity values [not used here]

4. Track and Region volume automation [not used here]

5. Gain Plugins [not used here]

6. In-built plugin output controls [not used here]

7. Master Volume slider [not used here]

There is another option for panning that basically places the instruments or sounds in a 3D space

How to get that option:

Ctrl and left click of mouse on the Pan knob - shows the Binaural Panner option

The pan knob can be double-clicked to insert an actual value, or the knob can be moved to the left or right to simulate sound coming from the left or right area and adjusted as required.

Increase guitar volume

Don't have chorus/harmonies at same volume, sounds muddy. Vary the volumes, get a better balance

Listening to the sound as I pan it around in 3D.

Now... here's the thing.

Look at the AccaPocco section.

Although there are two tracks each for Chris and Brian, their second track is slightly longer...

At first I panned the first track of each to the left... and the second track to the right. But because the second track of each played on its own for a bit longer - the sound was all coming from the right-side.

So I swapped for Chris, making the first track pan to the left and the second track pan to the right. When the second track of each is played the ending has them playing through left and right balanced.

Using binaural panning - the sound isn't just left and right, it is in 3D space and I had to make sure that the tracks weren't all panning in the same plane. So I have a mix of High, low, left, right.

I googled a fix:

CMD +1. AND IT FIXED IT!

I think because I was doing a lot of screenshots, I've clicked a combination that caused this result. good that there is a fix.

So learning from the duplicate tracks for the vocals to split panning, I thought I could do this with the guitar too. So I have duplicated it X3 - so there are 4 guitar tracks - see screenshot above.

I have then set up binaural panning for each. What a difference!! I will bounce this track too.

All tracks will be collated at the end for the evaluation.

I really want to add dynamics, i.e. increasing decreasing sound throughout the song - I believe we are doing Automation next, so that will be interesting to try.

https://logicxx.com/blogs/news/back-to-basics-eq-in-logic-pro

EQ is there to reduce any harshness or muddiness in the tune - [I did notice some in the Brian part of AccaPocco section] AND to highlight what is good, creating more space and clarity in the mix.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/158671/downloads/c6cae10-a517-0238-e3b6-513eed23b3_6-Step_PRO_MIX_Checklist_-_Logic_Edition_-_The_Band_Guide.pdf

I have done this for all the tracks and varied the EQ for duplicated tracks - just to see what it sounds like.

Is an automatic volume fader

Threshold - When it gets too loud the compressor will turn it down

Attack Time – How quick it turns down affects how it sounds

Slow to turn the volume down – extra punchy

Fast to turn the volume down – it will make it smoother and less punchy

Release Time  - how quickly it turns the volume back up [it determines how much the quieter parts are impacted]

Make up gain- use this to balance the volume

Compressing louder bits makes the quieter bits louder

Tip: TURN OFF AUTO GAIN ON THE LOGIC COMPRESSOR

Info from LogicPro User Guide

Compressor tightens up your audio by reducing sounds that exceed a certain threshold level, smoothing out the dynamics and increasing the overall volume—the perceived loudness.

Compression helps bring the key parts of a track or mix into focus, while preventing softer parts from becoming inaudible.

It is probably the most versatile and widely used sound-shaping tool in mixing, next to EQ.

You can use Compressor with individual tracks, including vocal, instrumental, and effects tracks, as well as on the overall mix. Usually you insert Compressor directly into a channel strip, but it can be used on aux channels or elsewhere in the signal path.

To add Compressor to your project, choose Dynamics > Compressor in a channel strip Audio Effect plug-in menu.

I've notice the panning is not quite right (this seemed to happen after the EQ part] - seems to be mostly in the right ear with harmonies on the left] I will see if changing panning will help.

Had a look at.delay - It is horrible lol

I'm happy with what I have.

My favourite was the Binaural Panner.

I was ok with the EQ - I could do with more practice.

The Compressor and Reverb - I need more expert help and hands-on with this to understand it better.

I am really happy with the final bounce for MIX1 assignment.

I have bounced to mp3 all the stages I have done.... see below

I liked the EQ presets.

I didn't like that Logic removed all the EQ graphings after I had done compression, so I had to add them back in.

There is no DELAY option as I didn't think it added any value.

What have I learned:

There is a preferred way to do mixing.

Do Volume and Panning first.

Then do EQ and compression.

Do not do REVERB early in the process, leave it to the end - and keep the AUTO GAIN switched off in REVERB.

Better to record in mono - and then duplicate the tracks in Logic so that the sounds can be separated through panning.

I was happy with the output after EQ. But I can see compression and reverb did improve it. I'm wondering how much more I could have improved it if I knew more.

I'd like to hear how other students got on and what tips they found along the way.

Overall I really enjoyed the process and can hear how mixing has made a big difference to the final sound output.

Going forward I will also learn about automation as I'd like to manage individual parts of a track adding dynamics to make a more polished finish.

-END OF MIXING ASSIGNMENT FOR PROJECT 3

I originally did compression on all tracks - better to do it on what is called a 'summary track' - ie all the tracks are summed into one and the compression is done on that one track...below shows how to do this

1. Highlight 2 tracks [Jason1, Jason2]

2. RightClick- select 'Create track stack'

   [choose summary track as folder is rarely used because can't edit with plugins, whereas summary track allows editing with plugins].

3. Result- creates a separate 'summary track' - can rename this 'Jason vocals' - and THIS is the track to do the compression on rather than the individual tracks.

   This is amazing because before I had to do compression on individual [duplicated] tracks - and I did think it was a long way round to do things!.

   It will be interesting to compare this sum track compression with what I did before.

   Key point: Mix duplicated tracks together using summary stacks

4. Compression is about levelling out the sound signal. For example, Jason vocals range from -2 to -11

5. THRESHOLD - want the needle to be about -5

6. RATIO 4:1 for vocals

7. Can use the COMPARE button to set the compression on and off - to compare what it sounds like,

8. Experiment with the THRESHOLD. Turn up the MAKEUP

9. Use the Graph option in the compressor - see where the white line is - it should be reducing the high signals - making more level.

An added note - EQ is ok to do on individual tracks

A Am Am A7

C Cm Cm7 C7

D Dm Dm7 D7

E Em Em7 E7

F Fm Fm7 F7

G Gm Gm7 G7

For the sixths scale, it is really important that you check it sounds beautiful for each pair because it’s easy to simply place the fingers in just off the wrong place. The bow pattern here with two notes in a slur and then two together is difficult to achieve so take time.

SCALES

Use open strings please as you go up a scale and if possible, use a fourth finger instead of open on the way down. This is because we are putting the Sun to bed

ALSO.. CHECK WRITTEN STAFF NOTES FOR EXERCISES...ADD PHOTO HERE.

Playing from spring booklet, 25 tunes

Playing from spring booklet, 20 tunes

Looking forward to this performance., front row!

Notes from Queens Hall website

EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF THE CELLO UNLEASHED IN DVOŘÁK’S LANDMARK  CELLO CONCERTO, AND THE ERUPTION OF NATURE IN MAHLER’S FIRST SYMPHONY, ‘TITAN’.

Oscillating between potent moments of light and dark, Antonín Dvořák’s cello concerto reflects a tumultuous time in the composer’s life. Having moved to America several years earlier, Dvořák had become somewhat of a celebrity in the ‘New World’, touring the entire country and writing some of his most renowned compositions. However, his triumphs were shadowed by an insatiable yearning for his Czech homeland, and the news that his beloved sister-in-law, Josefina, had fallen ill and that her health was rapidly declining. From these uncertain times, his cello concerto was born.

To bring to life this impassioned work is cellist Ayla Mascarenhas. A former student of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Mascarenhas is a versatile musician who has occupied a number of roles in professional orchestras and chamber ensembles in London where she currently resides.

Mahler’s earliest symphony, originally conceived as a tone poem, is home to a universe of colourful expressions, ranging from the opaque to the obvious. Opening with an impressive and eerie sound “as if from nature itself”, Mahler conjures up vivid images from offstage hunting parties to singing clarinet ‘cuckoos’, whilst also maintaining a vivid spirit of mystery that drives the music to its triumphant and fiery finale.

Peter Le Tissier, Conductor

Presented by Edinburgh City Orchestra

We have 5 rehearsals to plan for this performance.

I am looking forward to it, a combination of playing and singing.

It went really well and th day centre want us back!!

**To add recording of the session

Well done Ayla and the orchestra!!

Sunday 2-4pm

Rehearsal went well. Instrumental and singing. A few changes to be done for next Rehearsal

Comments

My niece us performing with her Orchestra.

Outstanding performance by the school students

We made a video too.

Points to note.

• 2 start notes - start at bow tip - both notes to one bow. Go faster

• BOW Tip to middle - lower arm

• BOW middle to heal of bow - upper arm

• Use the whole bow

• Pay attention to the WRIST position

• Make sure last note on down bow - lift bow from violin just at end.

• and SMILE :-)

'HECTOR THE HERO'

Composed by James Scott Skinner in 1903

More info found here:

https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1965-02-195-2

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_MacDonald

Major-General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald, KCB, DSO, also known as Fighting MacHector was a a Major-General was a friend of James Scott Skinner - who composed this tune in his memory.

Hector died in 1903 at the age of 50. He committed suicide after accusations and charges against him

.

Hector is buried in Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh.

• Liked my introduction with a background to the compostion as it added to the performance.

• Enjoyed the performance

• It was a really emotional tune

• Good posture and positioning of wrist and being relaxed when playing.

• Liked how I made the sound emotional

• I kept good rhythm throughout

• The pace of the tune was reflective of it being a lament

• It went well with the piano and keeping in time with each other

1:1 Lessons

I have worked with Katrina on the tune during 1:1 lessons and feedback has made a big difference on how I play it.

In particular, use long bowing for better sound and check the correct wrist position of the left hand. Katrina routinely makes small changes to how I hold the violin and how I hold the bow - and this makes a difference too.

Typically we would stay on the one bar until I had practiced it well. There is always the urge to want to play through a whole tune in one go. But it is important to not introduce errors into playing and to 'do it properly'. Sometimes the difficulty for me is that I play at night classes and they are less strict and I am allowing bad habits to creep in [I know!].

How I thought My performance went

I arrived early for my performance and helped set up the room with chairs and arranged where I would stand with the music stand.

I tuned the violin and had 20 minutes warmup. I then had a quick rehearsal with Laurie on piano before the other students arrived.

I went second in the list of performers.

I asked Laurie to play a short introduction to the piece, rather than me starting with the violin, this worked well.

I introduced the music before playing it and started after the piano introduction.

I was reading the music and also focussing on all the areas of improvement we had studied in the 1:1 lessons.

I did feel nervous at the beginning but settled as I was doing the second part of the tune.

I thought I played ok [although I know I could have played a lot better!] and enjoyed the experience. In particular I need to focus on better intonation.

Rocio gave us the following model to follow for self-reflection

SELF-REFLECTION 

The Driscoll Model ...

1️⃣    What?

• What did you do in your practice or performance

  Hector the Hero - composed by James Scott Skinner

• Did anything go well? Did anything feel difficult? 

  Working together with the piano accompaniment went well. We only had a brief practice beforehand.

  Difficult getting bow direction correct all of the time (ok most of the time).

  Intonation...hitting the exact note needs to improve. When listening to the recording I could hear the parts that were not quite perfect pitch...and this annoys me.

  Violins have no frets so the player has to be precise with finger placement.

2️⃣   So What?

• What did you learn from what happened? 

I learned that turning up early and practicing before the performance helps prepare well.

• How did you feel while playing?

  I felt slightly nervous while playing but stayed focused on the music score - there was a lot of detail - e.g. when to do up/down bows and to keep wrist in the correct position.

3️⃣    Now What?

• What will you do differently next time?

  Next time I would focus more on intonation, correct use of bow

This will require more practice at hitting correct notes.

• What will you practice more? 

  I will practice intonation and the correct bowing as I do find this a challenge, using the correct amount of bow and the correct direction of the bow.

• What strategies can you try to improve?

  I always practice tunes slowly at the beginning, especially if they are faster tunes.

  I chose a lament for this performance as the speed suited my (slower) playing and I was comfortable with the speed I played at.

FURTHER NOTES

I also enjoyed listening to the other students that were performing and can see a wide variety of musical styles.

We talked about the class doing more performances and there is a chance we will do another class like this near the end of term, I hope we do as it was fun.

VENUE

The dance studio is a really good venue, I prefer it to the auditorium when it is a small class size.

Practiced with A C G G

2 x violin,1 x guitar

note from Katrina

Please begin every practice session by doing the double stops written out on the manuscript paper today. There is no point doing these unless they’re exactly in tune and you’re using the full bow . Can you please practice the slides that we have done being sure to land exactly on the note. Do not neglect the scales I would like B-flat major in sixth and ordinary style next week.Thank Vibrato practice. can you play D on the a string in third position with the first finger, having first relaxed your hand by waving, and practice very carefully going from X2X -1 back to X by pulling the arm as if with a scarf – do not not not just stick the wrist out . Better do three notes secure and slow slowly. Thank you.

play the first 3 lines.

Kat says not to worry about the fingering.

• My Home Town

• Dark Lowers the night

I've booked onto an 8 week intermediate Guitar course at SMG.

THURSDAY 7-9 at James Gillespie High School. 23rd April.

It is term 3 so it will interesting in that the class will already have done 2 terms, so I expect this to be suitably challenging.

The best part is it will be taught by ear, chord charts and TAB.

I need to learn TAB so this is a great opportunity.

Chords I need to know

C A G E D

Am Em Dm

A7 E7 D7

B7

So with the tutor we were a quartet.

I've atached our recording and thought it went well.

1 30pm to 2 30pm rehearsal for day centre in April

3pm to 5pm music group practice. work through 30 tunes in tune book.

My goal is a constructive solution not a confrontation.

This is about my learning and not about what is right or wrong.

Lessons feel rushed and stressful and I am unable to learn effectively.

The situation is not my fault or the tutors fault - it's the combination of her very rigid, micro-correction teaching style, constant rushing mindset and my ear-based learning style.

All of this creates an environment that feels chaotic, exhausting, and demoralising, especially for someone who needs flow and listening time.

I learn strongly by ear and struggle with extremely rigid lesson structures.

When I learn by ear at night class there is more listening and phrasing and I improve very quickly.

The difficulty I'm feeling with college violin lessons is a mismatch between how I process music and how the tutor teaches it.

Constant stop and start interruptions make it hard to hear what I am playing or adjust by ear.

If a note is not exact, perfect ..I have to start again. I can't play a bar or phrase without being stopped.

This affects my learning and wellbeing.

I am not complaining just to be difficult, I am describing how this teaching style affects my learning and wellbeing.

I'm sharing my experience as a student and what I need to learn effectively.

I am not disputing my tutor's expertise, I'm explaining what helps me learn and why I cannot continue with her.

Constant interruptions, corrections and urgency make it very hard to learn in the way that works for me, I cant practice flow. Because of this I feel stressed and exhausted after lessons.

The stop-and-start teaching style, where I'm interrupted constantly, makes it difficult for me to hear what I'm playing or adjust by ear. I feel rushed and pressured throughout, and it's affecting how I learn and impacting my college experience.

As I learn by ear I need a moment to hear the mistake, a chance to adjust naturally and a sense of musical flow.

When every note is stopped instantly, the ear never gets the chance to correct itself.

So the lesson becomes about reacting to the tutor rather than listening to the violin.

It feels chaotic because I never get time to actually hear what I'm doing and the constant talking over the playing means my brain loses the auditory feedback it needs. It feels like a nightmare rather than just strict teaching.

The teaching style is like a hyper-analytical correction stvle isolating tiny pieces, stopping immediately to correct verbally and to instantly restart (with a hurry up).

I'm sure this approach works better for students who learn mainly through visual analysis, technical instructions and step-by-step correction.

As I learn primarily through listening, it can feel challenging because I never get time to actually hear what I'm doing.

My brain processes music by listening to pitch relationships, hearing phrases internally and adjusting sound as I play so I need a bit of continuous playing to hear the line and self- correct. With constant interruptions it breaks the feedback loop needed to progress.

The tutor's teaching style is the opposite approach so not a good fit for me.

I am worn down by constant micro-criticism and this is impacting my learning and enjoyment of music.

It has impacted my college work as I pause to try and process, unpack what is subtly being implied.

I sent one message.

All I am hearing is that I should be grateful for 'extra' time that is the choice of the tutor and thrown back at me.

I have clearly used up all my allocation for lessons....which should only be 15minutes..but why am I scheduled for 30min and some students 45minutes?

The only regret I have is not finding a solution to this 6 months ago. I have tried but repeatedly told I am unique.

Sorry, this means the college doesn't support students that learn by ear and I have to accept this as a shortcoming of the college but wish it had been transparent from the start.

I am trying to find a solution and have suggested that an option could be that I switch to learn guitar instead.

Again it would be a teaching style that matched my learning style.

I have asked to move to pop and requested that any group I am added to is more jazz,soul and without drums as I am sensitive to loud noise that affects me playing by ear. (And drums cause migraines).

I'm requesting this upfront to invite clear communication and options that mean I will learn and enjoy music.

Having shared this information it would be useful to know if these options are available for me to progress to HND.

The stool of repentance

We are playing with another fiddle class and a guitar class

1. The Lea Rigg..fiddles first time, then guitars join in for 2nd time.

2. Then guitars play a tune on their own

3. Then fiddles and guitars play together The Golden Stud twice through.

Note pause at end before last note

Practiced with A C G G

Practice with other chords

Listen to strumming patterns in different tunes.

About 120 participants

1. Thumb on root note with down strum

   Practice thus changing chords

2. Play 3rd note with the first finger [down stroke], practice with changing chords. I found this tricky.

Video of Scott showing what to practice

It is perfect for finding the TAB for Trad tunes and will be useful when I start the Trad flat picking course in a couple of weeks.

Front Row Middle Circle, block J

Great seat.

What a performance...wow!

IT WAS AMAZING....WHAT A GIG...WHAT A PERFORMER.

The guy sitting next to me spilled 2 beers under the seats...do I moved..to a front seat...what a view!!

Ive been again.plated Fisherman blues with band and added blues fiddle to last tune. Went really well.

It's free.

For early learning, primary school teachers of music.

It is relevant as I am looking for ideas to teach music

It is at Glasgow Royal concert hall all day

Thursday 21st May

Scarce o tatties

Campbells farewell to Redcastle

Sleep soon ida mornin

Da Lounge Bar

And joined in with a few I didn't know

Did a solo of The Atom of Delight in front of 20 players and public audience

***To add recordings from session

It was another great riff.

I do instrumentsal..

Everybody Hurts

Living on a prayer

Mad world

We played Fishernan blues and I was learning Heaven ...Bryan Adams, they liked that tune and wanted to learn it for the open mic session.

I hadn't taken any music along so I played some tunes I knew and Bruce joined in with Gill on percussion

29/4/26
13/5/26
27/5/26
10/6/26

*** I have 2hour guitar lesson at SMG TOMORROW NIGHT ***

Tutor.

Graeme Armstrong

Graeme Armstrong, a singer and guitarist from the Scottish Borders, has been performing at world leading festivals including, Cambridge Folk Fesitval, Denmark’s Tønder, WOMAD UK, Chile and Las Palmas, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Celtic Colours, Milwaukee Irish Festival and 4 successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections with the band Talisk. Since joining, in 2017, they have gone on to be crowned 2017 Folk band of the year, at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, and only a year later, winners of the Belhaven Bursary Award at the same awards netting them a 25,000 pounds’ cash prize. In 2019 the band’s second album ‘Beyond’ was shortlisted in the Album of the Year category and was given multiple 5* reviews and picked up “top of the world album’ by Songlines, this stamping Graeme’s authority onto the UK’s trad scene as one of its leading artists. 

As skilled collaborator he has also appeared on various albums, including being a co founder of the award wining Rachel Hamer Band. Their debut album ‘Hard Ground’ was given a 4* review in “music republic magazine”. 

During the Covid Pandemic Graeme embarked on making his debut solo album which which was released in April 2022. It’s an album that gives the lister an insight

into a period of his life. The album is an in-depth snapshot into the artist and what makes him tick. A very personal, moving, yet exciting and forward-thinking piece of work. His use of instrumentation and artists to create intertwining arrangements that sooth and hit hard when needed. You are Free is an album not to be missed.  

“Exceptional” - Folking 

“Formidable Sound”- The Hearld 

“Brilliant fresh sound”- Folk Radio UK

Graeme Armstrong

Graeme Armstrong, a singer and guitarist from the Scottish Borders, has been performing at world leading festivals including, Cambridge Folk Fesitval, Denmark’s Tønder, WOMAD UK, Chile and Las Palmas, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Celtic Colours, Milwaukee Irish Festival and 4 successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections with the band Talisk. Since joining, in 2017, they have gone on to be crowned 2017 Folk band of the year, at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, and only a year later, winners of the Belhaven Bursary Award at the same awards netting them a 25,000 pounds’ cash prize. In 2019 the band’s second album ‘Beyond’ was shortlisted in the Album of the Year category and was given multiple 5* reviews and picked up “top of the world album’ by Songlines, this stamping Graeme’s authority onto the UK’s trad scene as one of its leading artists. 

As skilled collaborator he has also appeared on various albums, including being a co founder of the award wining Rachel Hamer Band. Their debut album ‘Hard Ground’ was given a 4* review in “music republic magazine”. 

During the Covid Pandemic Graeme embarked on making his debut solo album which which was released in April 2022. It’s an album that gives the lister an insight

into a period of his life. The album is an in-depth snapshot into the artist and what makes him tick. A very personal, moving, yet exciting and forward-thinking piece of work. His use of instrumentation and artists to create intertwining arrangements that sooth and hit hard when needed. You are Free is an album not to be missed.  

“Exceptional” - Folking 

“Formidable Sound”- The Hearld 

“Brilliant fresh sound”- Folk Radio UK

We started with a strumming pattern like a slap on a downbeat after an upbeat.

D D U D* U D U D

First D on base note

Second D on rest of strings

U accented.

New to everyone. I struggled.

We followed the chords in diagram with this strun pattern. Too difficult for me but I tried. I found out all the chords and best finger positions.

Then we learnt the A part finger picking of another tune. I did really well here and quite chuffed!

Graeme will send Dropbox link with videos, tab, chord charts, strumming patterns ...so lots if support. I like the class.

Wow..this is just amazing, all videos chords tab for tunes

Strumming, hitting root note with thumb [D]

and first finger hitting the 3rd note.

[I noted that this was STRUMMING and not finger picking. I have to keep the strumming hand moving. I am stopping it sometimes because I'm concentrating on what to do next, but that will come with practice].

Tried different rhythms.

Next time - to practice with the thumb pick.

WE GOT DAVID FRANCIS!!!!!

An amazing master class.

We covered, playing by ear, Ye Banks and Braes. The melody first, then going through the simple major chords

Basically 3 chords. G D C

We went through numerous interations, looking at extending the chords and which minor chords we could replace the major chords with.

I learned many new chords and shift patterns, I need to practice for sure.

David gave handouts at the end with all the chords, and i have screenshots of the some of the chord seqences we used.

It was a really interesting class and I learned a lot.

**To upload screenshots and recording of Part1 and Part2 of the lesson.

Ye banks and braes

Starting with open chirds

The chord substitution and chord extension.

Really good class

Also rearranged where line ends were so easier to see repetition.

Working on this just now.

Trying to do smooth chird changes and get the rhythm right.

But we also went over Waiting for the Feds...quite tricky, lots of new chords

Learning to use thumbpick

Playing base note with thumb

C-chord, alternating fret 3 on string 4 and 5

Base note .. higher note... different base note... higher note.

Pradtice the pattern for a minute. slowly

Then introduce the pinky. left hand. keep it simple. keep the rhythm

Also experiment with MuseScore. Add the base notes and create your own melody.

Lots of screenshots of musescore dialog boxes and options to choose, this works well for me learning.

I found out how to create the melody and then link a TAB stave. I originally tried to create a TAB from scratch and realised as it was so difficult there HAD to be an easier way - and I found it out.

Great thing is I can play back the musescore score at different speeds to practice.

Once I have the idea sorted, I can change the chords and change the melody, but one thing at a time in the learning process,.

Note my first attempt I had a G instead of an E (2nd fret on D string), Scott pointed this out.

Note from Scott:

The Bass part is playing the root, 3rd, 5th and third again of the C chord. Everything else is fine! 

So C. E. G E. repeated.

C chord

C. E. G. E

D7 chord

D. F#. A. F#

G chord

G. B. D. B

Do chord progression

C. D7. G. C

3. F#

5. A. [Note A on string 3 AND string 5]

3. F#

Then back to Root D and repeat

3. B (open string 2)

5. D (open string 4)

3. B (open string 2)

back to Root G and repeat

https://acousticguitar.com/6-ways-to-play-d7-chord-by-chord/

NOTES FROM THE WEBSITE

Now let’s create D7 chords from various D voicings, first with the open D chord. As shown in Example 3, to change it to D7, all you have to do is replace the D on string 2 with the C (the flatted seventh) on the same string.

Example 4 shows some barred voicings. These chords are often played on just strings 2–5. You might also try them with fingerpicking, using your thumb on string 5 and index, middle, and ring fingers on strings 3, 2, and 1, respectively.

In Example 5 we have a less common D voicing, which can be modified to make a more common D7 shape. Example 6a takes you up to a barre chord in tenth position. All you have to do to get to a D7 chord from the D is remove your fourth finger. A variation on Ex. 6a is shown in Example 6b. This D7 shape is the same, but by adding your fourth finger to string 2, fret 13, you are doubling the flatted seventh that is also played an octave lower, on string 4, fret 10.

Example 7 is identical to Ex. 3, but with each fretted note moved up an octave (12 frets), for a more dramatic sound—a voicing that will be more difficult to play if you’re on a guitar with a 12th-fret neck junction.

The Result

If you’ve done the work, now you know how a D7 chord is constructed and how to change various D shapes to D7. Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” is a well-known song that makes use of a D7 chord, as well as a handful of others that you should already know. Stay tuned for next time, when you’ll learn a bunch of G7 shapes.

Kate Koenig

A master class in syncing mysic with video.

What he created is a masterpiece. He lectures in America, lucky students.

He wants to bring his compositions and videos with full orchestra next time, cannot wait!

The man is a genius ahead of his time.

His mashed of 80s tunes was seamless, mixed with tech,live,it was all there, blown away!

They released some tickets today, block J, front row ..Excellent!!

REM - Everybody hurts