https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0 Term 4. Due: en-us 2017-10-08 12:07:03 UTC 2023-05-28 20:57:32 UTC hello@padlet.com elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/196051867 2017-10-11 14:42:12 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/196051867 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/196059836
In my first rehearsal session, I worked on 'She Used To Be Mine'. I used a piano backing track but I will eventually play the song myself on the piano.

When practising in this session, I focused mainly on the belted high notes towards the end of the song, making sure that I was properly warmed up to hit them. This is something that I still need to work on as I felt like the notes were a bit shaky during my performance.

I also worked on conveying emotion through my performance. When rehearsing, I asked a few people what they thought I was trying to say through the song to see if I was conveying the right emotions. 

Furthermore, I completed a SWOT analysis during this session to keep the things I need to overcome fresh in my mind. This included keeping my anxiety at bay during performances, particularly when engaging with the audience in between songs. 

My feedback was very positive overall. However, I think that I should add a little more acting techniques to allow me to really get across the story and emotion behind the song. I also definitely need to work on my nerves. One comment was about how I lost my nerves as the song went on, so I need to work on calming those nerves from the very start of the performance. 

]]> 2017-10-11 14:57:11 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/196059836 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214131274                             Setlist:



'You've Got Time' by Regina Spektor

'Waving Through A Window' from DEH

'When' by dodie

'Another Day of Sun' from La La Land

'She Used To Be Mine' from Waitress




]]> 2017-12-07 14:40:40 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214131274 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214642522 My original idea for my setlist was to perform songs from musicals and put my own spin on each one. I would play about with the emotional intent of the song, the dynamics, the instrumentation, etc. In the end, 3 out of my 5 songs were done with this idea in mind. 

I ended up scrapping the idea because I didn't want all of my set to sound very similar, so I included some more modern, upbeat songs to differentiate from the others. 

While there is no story behind the order of my set, I do feel like the songs take the audience on a little bit of journey. I begin with 'You've Got Time', which establishes the feel of the whole set. It's very laidback but still upbeat. I then move into 'Waving Through A Window' which is from a musical where the protagonist suffers from anxiety, something that definitely comes through in this particular song. I feel like it is on-edge, the opposite of the previous laidback song, which would shake up the listener. Then, the tone shifts completely again as I play 'When'. Musically, it is very chilled out, but the lyrics are a completely different story, referencing panic and anxiety again. 'Another Day Of Sun' is a song that I massively changed from the original. I played it as a calm, jazzy, piano piece as opposed to with a huge instrumentation, and very upbeat tone. My set ends with a huge song from a musical that is very close to the original, 'She Used To Be Mine'. I chose to end with this song because it was the most technically difficult and also the most emotional of all of my songs. 

The whole set has a similar theme and feel. This is important because I wanted to play towards my strengths, and showcase what I'm good at. I tried my best to vary my songs so it wouldn't be boring or feel like I was just playing basically the same song over and over for 20 minutes. ]]> 2017-12-08 20:12:56 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214642522 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214646747 2017-12-08 20:27:48 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214646747 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214648272 2017-12-08 20:34:51 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214648272 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214648299 2017-12-08 20:35:00 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214648299 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214648343 2017-12-08 20:35:14 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214648343 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214648379 2017-12-08 20:35:24 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214648379 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214648416 2017-12-08 20:35:34 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214648416 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214649684 - lyrics by songwriting duo, Pasek and Paul for the musical, Dear Evan Hansen.
- first performed in 2015.

]]> 2017-12-08 20:41:58 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214649684 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214649744 - written by singer-songwriter, dodie.
- released in 2016.


]]> 2017-12-08 20:42:19 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214649744 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214650232 - composed by Justin Huritz, and lyrics by Pasek and Paul. 
- released in 2016.


]]> 2017-12-08 20:44:10 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214650232 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214650457 - written by Sara Barielles for the musical, Waitress.
- released in 2015.


]]> 2017-12-08 20:45:38 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214650457 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214650640 - written by Regina Spektor, specifically for the opening of the show 'Orange Is The New Black'.
- released in 2013.]]> 2017-12-08 20:46:46 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214650640 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214652633 This song is not very technically difficult, hence why I put this at the beginning of my set. However, the high notes in the chorus were somewhat challenging at first, specifically when trying to make them flow and sound normal with the rest of the song. 









]]> 2017-12-08 20:56:09 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214652633 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214652904 This song was pretty difficult for me to play and sing at the same time. The piano accompaniment was the most challenging out of all my songs, and the vocals were also difficult. The melody moves around a lot, quite quickly which makes it a struggle to change your voice in time. This can be specifically heard at the very end of the song. There are several belted high notes, followed immediately by notes that are much lower. Since there is very little time to breathe between these, these low notes are actually the hardest notes to hit. ]]> 2017-12-08 20:57:33 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214652904 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214653615 The piano accompaniment in 'When' is fairly easy. The right hand just plays the same two notes throughout the whole song. The vocal part however, is quite high, and I often struggle with finding the right dynamics to sing this with so that it isn't too soft and quiet, but also not overpowering. 








]]> 2017-12-08 21:00:57 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214653615 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214653932 This song was played with my own piano arrangement. The chords are not just your typical triads; there's a lot of major 7's and inversions going on. Vocally, the song is fairly easy. 












]]> 2017-12-08 21:02:38 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214653932 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214654132 This song is the most vocally challenging for me. There is a lot of belting and a lot of sustained notes. The piano part, however, is fairly simple. For me, the most challenging part of this song is getting the dynamic changes right to express the right emotion. 









]]> 2017-12-08 21:03:47 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214654132 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214654629 2017-12-08 21:06:37 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214654629 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214661609 2017-12-08 21:49:47 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214661609 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214661791 2017-12-08 21:51:03 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214661791 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214662958 Overall, I am proud of my Live Lounge performance. I think that my set worked well as it was all ]]> 2017-12-08 21:59:53 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214662958 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214663804 2017-12-08 22:07:26 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214663804 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214663911 2017-12-08 22:08:19 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214663911 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214664329 In this rehearsal session, I worked on I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables. I mainly focused on hitting the belted high notes. I also worked on the piano part, trying to memorize the 'but the tigers come at night' part.

I thought it was important to work on some dynamic changes in the song. I completely brought everything down right after the 'as they turn your dreams to shame' part. This line is belted, and I think dropping the volume there is really effective and unexpected. 

The feedback I received for this performance was very positive. One said that they appreciated the way that I changed the song and made it different, while still keeping the same emotion as the original which was something that I initially thought I had messed up. I think that I need to feel the emotion more because that will help me to convey it across to the audience. I didn't really feel like I was in the right headspace to really get across the emotion. But the feedback suggests otherwise. 

(In the end, I took this song out of my setlist to avoid all of my songs sounding similar.)]]> 2017-12-08 22:11:58 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214664329 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214665867 2017-12-08 22:27:17 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214665867 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214665894 2017-12-08 22:27:39 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214665894 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214666005 2017-12-08 22:28:25 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214666005 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214666181
During my sessions rehearsing this song, I really tried to focus on getting the dynamics right. I struggled a lot with this. Working out where to build the song up, how to start it, how to end it, was all a challenge for me. 

Since the right-hand piano part is just two notes going back and forth, I wanted to make sure that it didn't sound too repetitive and that it didn't stick out too much. Having a touch-sensitive keyboard definitely helped with this issue. I made the chorus build dynamically and then had it drop during the verses. There is also a bridge section where I added some bass notes on the keyboard to try and build up some texture. 

While I didn't perform this to the whole group, I did perform to some peers in the room and was told that there was a lot of emotion and that the piano part was nicely balanced with the quiet, soft vocals. 

]]> 2017-12-08 22:29:28 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214666181 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214666805 2017-12-08 22:35:26 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214666805 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214666905
I already had the piano arrangement as I've worked on this song before, so I didn't need to work on it more technically. Therefore, I spent a lot of my rehearsal time working on performance techniques for this song, as well as the rest of my set. For this song, in particular, I tried to add a bit of personality to my performance - I tried to tell a little bit of story. Since the song is about unfulfilled dreams and goals yet still being motivated to go on, I played about with some feelings about that. There are some moments where I'll chuckle to myself mid-song, or I'll slow everything down to really get a point across (like the line, 'He'll see my face and think of how he used to know me'.)

The arrangement is completely different from the original. The original is very upbeat and I feel like it masks the true meaning of the song very well. It sounds incredibly happy, uplifting if you just listen to the music. But when you take the time to read through the lyrics, you realise that it's really about the ending of a relationship, the uncertainty of Hollywood dreams. I wanted to put this meaning right front and centre, with no distractions as to what it's really about. I wanted you to just hear the piano and the lyrics and recognise the sadness there. 

]]> 2017-12-08 22:36:02 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214666905 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214667586 2017-12-08 22:43:08 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214667586 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214667600
I worked on this song during the same session as Another Day Of Sun because they were both close to being finished. For this song, I focused on the high belts at the end that transition very quickly into some low notes. For me, this is the most difficult part of the song, and it is the part that I worked on the most. 

For the ending, you have to belt 3 consecutive high notes, and then immediately transition to a lower register for the final few notes. In order to be able to do this, I had to warm up really well before performing it. I also took the key of the song down from a B/Csharp to a Bflat/B to make it easier to hit the notes. ]]> 2017-12-08 22:43:21 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214667600 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214667973 2017-12-08 22:48:40 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214667973 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214667991
You've Got Time was a very last minute addition to my set, adding to bring a more modern, pop feel. The piano arrangement is very simple and so is the vocal part so I didn't have to work too hard on it. In the session, I played through my whole set, placing this song at the beginning to see how it would all feel together. I felt much better about using this song that I did when I was using I Dreamed A Dream. ]]> 2017-12-08 22:48:58 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214667991 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214668176 2017-12-08 22:51:38 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214668176 elliemaybrown https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214668234 Overall, I am happy with how my Live Lounge performance went. A lot of the technical mistakes that I made during my dress rehearsal did not occur, such as my voice cracking at the end of Waving Through A Window. 

The whole process of creating a set and performing it was very challenging for me. I feel like I've had a lot of obstacles to overcome and while I in no way believe that I managed it perfectly, I think I've taken some very important steps of improvement. Before the start of this project, I would have said that there's no way I could say more than three words to my audience during a live set, but I managed to introduce each song and in some cases say a little bit about it. I am happy with the way that I managed to convey different emotions to the audience and have them pick up on it so strongly. I am proud of what I have achieved technically, consistently hitting high notes throughout the whole 20 minutes. 

In relation to choosing my setlist, I am happy with how I branched out to some more upbeat songs like You've Got Time and Waving Through A Window. My comfort zone is very much so with the slow, soft piano ballads so it was good for me to break out of that. 

However, in some ways, I feel like the dress rehearsal went better than my actual Live Lounge performance. One of the reasons I feel like this is because I didn't get to use a touch-sensitive keyboard. This meant that When didn't sound as good, the right hand repeating phrase sounding like it was too loud and important. This also meant that I missed a few notes because I am so used to hitting keys softly if I want them to be quiet, that the keyboard didn't even pick it up when I did this. It made it harder to play with emotion, and get into my performances because I was constantly worrying that the keyboard wasn't reacting the way I needed it to. As my set went on, however, I got the hang of playing like this and missed fewer notes. I would move to higher octaves when I wanted to be quieter because it was naturally softer to play up there. 

I think that I managed to keep my nerves down for the performance though. I felt a little bit more comfortable talking in between my songs since I couldn't see any of the people listening to me. But this did feel a little awkward when there was no applause after each song; I didn't really know what to say in that space or how long to leave it before I introduced the next song. 

If I could do all of this again, I would like to also include my ukulele. I feel like that would be a welcome change from the piano and would add a new feel to the set. I would also continue to work on my confidence and try to engage with the audience more, although admittedly, that is always going to be difficult when you can't see them. I think that my set would also benefit from a change in tone, maybe halfway through. I think it would keep the audience interested and make it so they wouldn't get too comfortable and would never know what was coming next. 

But, overall, I'm proud of what I've achieved and happy to be able to learn from this whole process. ]]> 2017-12-08 22:52:27 UTC https://padlet.com/elliemaybrown/z74b5aa9c8j0/wish/214668234