Category: Extended Project

Solent Sound, Battle of the bands, Wednesday the 4th of March 2020

Yesterday, we were part of the semi-final for the Solent Sound Competition and it was a battle of the bands based thing. All three bands of the bands from my year group competed for the audience’s votes which were crucial when it came to what band progressed to the next stage. We each had to perform three songs, as a band we played‘Don’t Start Now’ by Dua Lipa, ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince, and ‘Juice’ by Lizzo.

Leading up to this event we have been working with dancers, which is was a strange addition to myself in the first place but I guess it works, we are taking inspiration from Lizzo, she has dancers with her when she performs live and each song has its own choreography. The video we did with them for promotional purposes for the college went incredibly well because of how many times we went over it, but when it came to the dance for ‘Don’t Start Now’ it fell to pieces when the new dancer was introduced to our set list. She was a bit late when it came to learning this routine I’d say.

We went ahead with the set and the dancers regardless, I hoped that the music would be a uplift it needed to take the attention away from them for the one song. After getting feedback from the audience and our lecture it seemed as though that they definitely added to the performance but it took away the traction from the band and the music.

Whenever I looked up I would have someones bottom in my face and it was something special especially when I tried to keep a poker face on when I play in front of any audience, all I focus on is looking cool and sounding better than everybody else.

Up until this point we have been rehearsing as a band with our keys player, primarily focussing on our new tracks. But with ‘Purple Rain’ we have been playing this song since the start of the second year which is quite along time to me. We couldn’t be any tighter when playing this song, because we now know all of its ins and outs. This was the first time we performed live with our keys player and he has definitely added something to when we play texturally which helps all of the songs we choose to play.

Our first song was ‘Don’t Start Now’ which is a laid back bass driven track, it is the first thing that makes any listeners ears perk up as it is very dominant amongst all of the other instruments within this arrangement. Onstage the bass amp decided to play up but the audience could hear it perfectly so it was a bit hard to keep in time as it was incredibly confusing.

We somehow managed to get through it in the end and the audience enjoyed it regardless as the dancers drew some of the attention away from the bands confusion. Now that we sussed out the problem was the onstage sound we carried on until the next song which was ‘Purple Rain’.

This song is always a crowd pleaser, our vocalist gets to show off her capabilities and so do I which is fun, when we go through it within rehearsal it does get a bit boring due to repetition… I extended my solo to repeat a section again which rounds it all off and eventually brings the song to a close. The synth behind me whilst soloing gives me confidence as it doesn’t sound too empty which is a big bonus, having a keys player is very beneficial.

Our final song was called ‘Juice’ by Lizzo, this is a song we are all confident on as it revolves around a simple progression with a simple, fun and funky groove which makes anyone want to dance around and be playful. We kept it till last for many reasons, one of which is because it is the strongest wrong for the dancers and it is a way to end it on a high note which is something we’d hope get us more votes than we did.

After the final count it turned out that we did not get enough votes to allow our band to progress further within the competition which didn’t bother me as I now don’t have to worry about all the extra rehearsal when I have enough on my plate already. The Fever won, and they primarily played Rock which is fairly popular as it is a very common thing for most bands to play, because it is easy to play loud and stick to simple riffs… There stage presence was definitely there but at times I thought it was a bit over the top, and the singer was straining her self and you could see it was hurting her to be so loud, etc. I wish them luck within their journey to the final event.

Wednesday the 4th of March 2020

Over the weekend, it was decided that the people over at the Ashcroft are being very awkward when it came to private hire for our year group so I have decided to contact The Lounge and ask if they have a evening free in May.

The person in charge there is nice, and very quick when it comes to responses, last years second years played there it was cheap and all round a great venue. I sent a email today and hopefully I shall hear back from them soon then I will hold another meeting so everyone can get on with there job roles.

Here is the email I sent below.

We went through our set this morning with the dancers one last time before the battle of the bands, I will go into much more detail tomorrow as I am sure a lot more will go on than meets the eye. After the it finished, I headed over to my guitar lesson because it is my priority leading up to the exam and the Final Major Project.

Our First FMP Meeting, Thursday the 27th of February 2020

Last night I sent out the agenda to everyone within my class so they had a vague idea of what is going to be spoken about during this session. You can see the following document below;

When everyone arrived we started roughly ten minutes, it was hard to grasp everyone attention, because it was the first time we have ever had something ran by a student rather than a lecturer. To make this process a lot easier the first time round they all came in to help, ask questions and to discuss the points on the agenda.

Here are the minutes taken from this meeting, everything that happened within order is below.

Project 3 Task 2 – Performance (Research and Action Plan)

Research

The choice of pop music such as ‘Lizzo’ and ‘Dua Lipa’ will easily get the audience involved as it is mainstream music which they’ll instantly recognise. To explore and support this we will need evidence, last year ‘Lizzo’ performed at Glastonbury on the main stage which we have been drawing most of our ideas from such as the dancers, the use of purple (which we can link back to ‘Prince’) and the liveliness within all of her tracks. I will be looking into Lizzo’s early and late live performances such as the “NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert” she did in August 2019 and one of her early performances “Live At SXSW 2017”. We will be drawing inspiration from all of these performances and reviews as it is all available online so I can watch all of her gigs from the comfort of my bed!

Problem Solving

To be able to recreate this crisp, modern sound we have had to introduce some tech of our own this includes the introduction of a sample pad, alongside the vast amount of effects pedals which I have on my end. At the beginning of the term we have lost one of our band members but luckily we got another one back. After a week or so we found a keys player which helps massively to fill in the void within these arrangements, even if it is a sustained chord…
Our bassist left which has opened up this new opportunity for us push ourselves further than we could have ever done before with him still being with us.This is the exact reason as to why we want to propel ourselves away from the other bands with modern pop, as it requires us to come up with our own arrangements to these songs so we are able then able perform them to a live audience without it sounding to scarce.

Planning and Production

At this current moment in time it is hard to say if and when we will be able to put on a gig, because of this global pandemic (COVID-19). It is going to be challenge within itself for everything to go to plan, the government have banned public gatherings so there is no way we can practice as band. Having chosen our set weeks prior to this outbreak we all know what songs we need to practice at home. As a band we have already discussed the order of our set, it will start off with a modern track which is then followed up by a older one so there is a contrast throughout our set. Another aspect we are focussing is finding the appropriate costumes for us and our dancers. They’ll be bold and vibrant to represent the era that these songs have came from, this may be the most difficult aspect to fulfil, due to the global pandemic we have seen all clothing shops closed, and online retailers only providing the essentials.

Practical Skills

If we are going to be able to successfully recreate this modern sound and look, as a band we’ll have to dive into the mainstream market and see what everyone is going after in the long run. In most modern pop songs there is a catchy vocal melody followed up by a strong backbeat which you can just slap on at anytime. In the background of these tracks you’ll find plenty of effects going on in the background, there is never a second where it is dull. As a band we are quite tight and know when to lay off when someones part has to stick out, for this genre it would have to be the drums and the vocals. I have to embrace that I am merely filling in behind the vocal melody so it hits the audience just that bit more. Our previous sets have been very guitar heavy, so I have been trying to gage the audiences attention, but now I’ll take a step back and let our singer show off more. I will be focusing around these simple chord structures, so I will spice things up with some different voicings along side my unique playing style which has been moulded by many genres throughout my time in college.

Evaluation and Reflection

Throughout this project I am aiming to reflect and evaluate on how effective my methods are weekly upon my musicians blog. By having this platform it makes it easier to track my rehearsal diaries, as well as videos of me playing and photos of theory work I may have completed or struggling with. We are all surrounded by technology, so by being able to document all of the following this will be a key asset for my progression as a musician. I will be able to see my mistakes, and hear them as well, so I can constantly improve upon my technique and expand my theory knowledge. Once we have performed at our final gig, I will be writing an evaluation where I am going to be assessing my own ups and downs during, along with my whole bands performance. This will consist of how effect our set was, and what things I would have changed if we were to have an opportunity like this again. By being aware of mistakes that this enables us to look for ways to improve ourselves as a band and individually.

Presentation

We are planning to present our ideas within our proposal to other bands in our class, and then accordingly receive their feedback. If this is not a possible option anymore, as a band we will criticise each other and look over our progress individually and all together. All of my progress will be published upon my musicians blog for everyone to see, this will include evaluations and self reflection. There will be SMART targets set every week for me to follow, and there will be a review at the end of the week going through what I have achieved and what I have not yet got the hang of. With all of the following documented properly there will be a timeline where I can follow my work from the very beginning to the end.

Project Action Timetable

Bibliography/References

  1. Pollard, A., 2019. Lizzo’s Playful Glastonbury Set Incited One Of The Most Frenzied Reactions Of The Festival So Far. [online] The Independent. Available at: <https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/lizzo-review-glastonbury-friday-performance-stream-watch-setlist-album-a8980866.html&gt; [Accessed 27 February 2020].
  2. YouTube. 2017. Lizzo: Live At SXSW 2017 — FULL CONCERT | NPR Music. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agzv-FXS3Fo&t=1353s&gt; [Accessed 27 February 2020].
  3. YouTube. 2019. Lizzo: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFiLdByWIDY&gt; [Accessed 27 February 2020].
  4. YouTube. 2019. Lizzo – Juice (Glastonbury 2019). [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9CTs1NsZRI&gt; [Accessed 27 February 2020].

Project 3 Task 1 – Project Proposal

Band: The Preachers

Members: Ellie Thornton, Millie Grace and Lucy Uttley.

As a band for our final unit, we have decided to mould ourselves towards the pop genre, with modern artists such as ‘Dua Lipa’ and ‘Lizzo’. We will also draw from icons we have previous artists we have covered such as ‘Lenny Kravitz’ and ‘Prince’. From all of the previous units I studied, I gathered a lot of information on many different genres and their specific characteristics which benefits me when it comes to playing them. This genre will be drawing us all away from the comfort zone of rock which we have all grown up playing with ease, and we will also be pushing ourselves by bringing in our own elements to these scarce arrangements within modern music. Not only will this be a challenge for the whole band but it will be great to see how an audience will react to real instruments playing these digital arrangements, most modern pop music is built up around samples and a few chords… Personally, it will challenge me more than previous units, I will organise all of my equipment, like effects pedals, when it comes to practising I will be doing it more than usual to build up my tolerance when it comes to playing these simple songs, over playing will definitely be a threat to me. The main focus in these pop songs are the lyrics and the vocal melody, so we all have to be careful to take a step back and support our vocalist as much as we can throughout rehearsals, and when we perform. Our overall concept will be to draw from the music we have previously played in the other units, most of these songs are pre-2000’s and most of the tracks are by ‘Prince’, and then we’ll be contrasting them with a new era of music which is heavily reliant upon technology.

The video below is from our original project proposal, because of COVID 19 we are unable to record another video together as of yet but we will be sure to complete this when it is safe for us to do so.

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