Task 1: Planning
My candidate number: . My centre number: 17343
My name is Miles O'Shea . The instrument I will be playing for this performance is Vocals . The brief requires me to to do a performance up to 10-15 minutes which is appropriate to the event, the event is that I am booked to play a showcase for label A&Rs.
Through my performance, I want to achieve the following personal goals:
- Personal Goal 1: _To build confidence in myself and in my skills of performance .
- Personal Goal 2: to make a performance that is the best to my ability but good enough to the people i am performing to.
- Personal Goal 3: For my performance, it must be somewhat accurate to my chosen style, it must utilise songs that are in the alternative rock genre, the style in which these songs revolve around must be accurate e.g. stage presence, instruments, volume .
To help achieve the above goals, I think I have the following skills that I can use:
- Skill 1: My first good skill is that i have good organisational within the timing and how long each song in my performance will go on for.
- Skill 2: My second good skill is that i always strive to do my best, if something is not right with my pieces, i'll improve on it.
- Skill 3: My third good skill is respecting the source material, it is good to modify it for your own needs, but still representing what the song's meaning is. Before performing, i always get an understanding first of the songs so you can emphasize the genre on stage, which adds to your stage presence.
I will know if I have achieved my goals at the end of the assessment because the audience would be genuinely impressed and that i've done an entertaining and meaningful performance that would leave a good impression me and the audience themselves.
The audience I am performing to is teachers and some students. Their expectations will be of an examiners and personal level. I will meet their expectations by meeting the exam criteria in performance, im aiming for a distinction so i will fullfill the requirements for it.
I will perform music in the following style/styles folk/guitar rock,Grunge,Britpop,Post-britpop . This is because they all fit under the genre of alternative rock that is my chosen genre .
My personal image for the event will be to emulate the stage presence of the bands who performed these songs e.g. stand up straight, look confident, and to know the meaning of the song so it is properly shown through my movements, if possible, I could wear clothing associated with the genres my songs are based on but I could wear normal school clothing as usual but still give a stage presence of that of a musician of the my songs genre.
My ideas for the performance are to make my voice unique but still close as a voice heard in the genre i'm doing . I will do it by working out my vocal for each song i'm doing so it can sound accurate to each song and as before i will personify my vocals with the genre, Also I will make a hand gesture for my transitions between songs so I will smoothly fade out from one song to the next. Before I start my performance, I will have the backing tracks ready for a fast set up in the sound checks and to decrease the time for me to record my pieces.
The set list I will perform as my given repertoire will contain the following songs:
- Song 1: Artist/Band: The Animals Song title: House of the rising sun Estimated length of song: 2:52 . I have chosen this song because it fits into the alternative rock genre with it being associated with folk and guitar rock .
- Song 2: Artist/Band: Radiohead Song title: No Surprises Estimated length of song: 2:38 . I have chosen this song because it fits with alternative rock as it is a grunge song and links well with the evolution of the style.
- Song 3: Artist/Band: Oasis Song title: Half the world away Estimated length of song: 3:11 . I have chosen this song because half the world away is a "britpop"song, which is an important point in the evolution of alternative rock with it making making it industry mainstream .
- Song 4: Artist/Band:Travis Song title: "Why does it always rain on me?" Estimated length of song: 4:25 . I have chosen this song because it is also apart of the alternative rock gene and marks the return of classic guitar rock to the alt genre and also brought it out to a wider foreign audience.
The total estimated length of my set list will therefore be 12.26 minutes.
I have chosen to play these songs in this order because they follow a chronological order of how alternative rock has evolved .
I have chosen these songs due to their wide ranges between them. For example, House of the rising sun has high and long notes that require the right breathing and test my timing and vocal range, in terms of style, No surprises and why does it always rain on me focus on this a lot. This is due to the more emotive connotations with the song and how the vocalist personifies this, this will test my commitment to the style with vocalising it in the song. Half the world away tests my organisation with it being a slightly repetitive song but requires good timing to hit high notes which rewards with a good performance of the song with it relying on its choruses but it is relatively catchy so people pick it up easier with it being a slow moving song. Most of all, they all forms of alternate rock, i show its evolution through the order im singing(guitar rock/grunge/britpop/post-britpop).
I will not need to involve anyone in my performance. This is because im doing a solo performance and does not require anyone else in it .
I will need the following resources and equipment A mic, mic stand, Amp, Jack lead .
When performing live, I will need to consider the following health and safety issues:
Health & Safety Issue 1: Tripping over wires . How I will make sure I am safe by keeping the wires out of the way of the stage eg. out of the way of feet .
Health & Safety Issue 2: Falling off stage . How I will make sure I am safe by staying away from the edge of the stage and perform in the middle instead .
Health & Safety Issue 3: loss of voice due to sickness or overuse . How I will make sure I am safe By drinking plenty of water and to eat healthily so my voice is in peak condition .
Health & Safety Issue 4: sound problems, Outside problems e.g. knowing where the fire exits are . How I will make sure I am safe By regularly checking the sound to see if its to a suitable and safe standard, and also by following regular procedures of knowing where the fire exits are in case of a fire etc.
I used the following website(s) to help me with my research actsafe.ca,Airsweb.com .
I will need to spend 20 hours at school preparing, performing and evaluating the event. I will spend my time by doing Regular singing practise of my song, Analysis of the styles of my songs so it fits in my criteria, as well practising on stage for the real thing so i am confident that it will look good for the latter .
I will rehearse on the following dates and I will work on the following at each rehearsal:
Week 19 Thursday 18th January 2018 (2 hours):
Plan: _Practise first two songs for 10-15 minute piece and establish stoppage times to fill time slot .
What went well: established times for two songs, songs will be soon ready for performance.
What needs work: more active practise e.g. try doing one of my pieces on stage in A block .
Week 20 Thursday 25th January 2018 (2 hours):
Plan: Practise third and fourth song for 10-15 minute piece and establish stoppage times to fill time slot .
What went well: Established times for 3rd and 4th songs, continued practise required for all 4 songs .
What needs work: More active practise again for songs, i need the stage or practise room free (preferrably the stage) for good practise.
Week 21 Thursday 1st February 2018 (2 hours):
Plan: Practise 1st song fully with set stoppage time to test timing and organisation .
What went well: 1st song completed with set stoppage time, will continue to be ready for final performance .
What needs work: Have to try and pronounce all of my letters in a word while singing so it doesn't sound like i'm slurring them as much as it might sound stylish .
Week 22 Thursday 8th February 2018 (2 hours):
Plan: Practise 2nd song fully with established time like last week .
What went well: 2nd song completed with set time, will be ready for performance .
What needs work: Breathing at the right times, this song has long notes and requires good timing of breathing to make notes last .
Week 24 Thursday 22nd February 2018 (2 hours):
Plan: Practise 3rd song fully with established time like last week .
What went well: My 3rd song is completed fully, will be fully ready for performance .
What needs work: I have been practising this song for 2 years now, so i have perfected every weakness i have with it, due to my confidence i did slip up with it, but when i'm comfortable it sounds good .
Week 25 Thursday 1st March (2 hours):
Plan: Practise 4th song fully with established time.
What went well: this i have decided to do all the way through, so there is no stopping time i have set so it stops at the regular end time of the track .
What needs work: This song has many high notes that i am hindered with, i will need to focus on breathing to get the high note right or go down an octave for that specific bit so .
Week 25 Thursday 08/03/18 Dress Rehearsal Performance (2 hours):
Plan: Do Practise performance with all 4 songs with the times i set .
What went well: my first 3 songs went well, no problems with the performances of these, just my confidence in starting the 10-15 minute piece was the hardest part of the three .
What needs work: my 4th song i had complications with doing the high notes again, i can't get this note, will try to do my best to perfect this til im good or ill have to think of something else .
Week 26 Wednesday 14/03/18 Final Live Performance (2 hours):
Plan: Final performance, will try best to do a good performance .
What went well: was much more nervous (well who wouldn't be) but all 4 came out well, i instead went down an octave for the high notes and it managed to blend in well with the 4th song .
What needs work: My confidence let me down with my vocals sometimes, but this was minimal due to a technique i learnt from my music tutor which is to personify the song, so its not me who sings it in a way, and also it helps my stage presence with my movements being like the style but only some minimal problems that are only due to confidence .
Task 3: Evaluation
Strengths Reflection:
My vocals where where in the right octave s well as my rhythm and pitch which helped me transition well for other songs and also that it was in tone with the style of the song which helps me personify my voice of the genre which all round helps my stage presence and ultimately my performance as a whole which i felt when doing it.
Improvement Reflection:
I would of liked to been more confident and if I was I would of done a lot better, as my stage presence would be more relaxed and more confident and would of made me feel more comfortable with singing solo, and in terms of personifying my style, I would be able to more confidently do it which would further boost my stage presence.
Improvement #1:
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: For my 2nd song, it was more melancholy style, so I was slurring my words for some bits so they couldn't hear what words I was saying, so I must improve on pronouncing the words even if it is meant for style, so on that I must go through it again but with a more confident tone.
Improvement #2:
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: Also for my 2nd song, I had problems with the intro because I was coming in early, but after a couple of try's I got it in the end, to prevent this from happening I will continue to work on the intro so I will always ready to begin the song.
Improvement #3:
Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: For my 4th song, it had many high notes that I was going to attempt doing them but instead I went down an octave for those bits in my final performance, if I am going to try this song again, I'm going experiment with my voice to find a suitable octave and tone so it sounds high but does not strain my voice so it does sound like the original, as well as sounding much better in a higher octave.
Feedback from others:
Your vocals are excellent, with good accuracy of rhythm and pitch and excellent intonation. Your voice carries beautifully and has a lovely tone, and excellent dynamics.
Areas to Focus on:
1. Confidence, confidence, confidence!!! If you are unsure of your lyrics or you think you might forget, prepare by printing your lyrics so you can have them on stage on a stand.
2. Try to articulate your words as much as you can - try to pronounce each word as clearly as you can as the microphone sometimes makes the words quite muddy.
I didn't realise that my voice carries well as the many times I stuttered e.g. coming in for a verse, but for the rest I understood fully when I completed my performance as my song choices had styles that didn't articulate words properly and also due to my very low confidence.
Conclusion:
My performance went well, I followed through every song without messing up majorly, I knew my lyrics and stoppage times, and according to my feedback from my teacher, my voice was good and from my dynamics, I did well to emulate the style of the songs I was doing as well keeping in tune. So all around I did well.
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