Week Six 28/10/14

Work in Lecture

Within this lecture the group focused on how to create an effective adaptation of a song. This benefitted us greatly as it provided us with useful knowledge and assistance in terms of ideas for both our final individual performances and our final group performances.

To begin with we viewed the abstract or aleatoric pieces created in individual groups. Myself, Devin and Jen used our given object as inspiration and incorporated the whole group to use chance and improvisation. We asked the group to select an object in the room and when pointed at, create music with their object. The only stimulus the group was given was the object they selected, we asked them to respond to the egg using their instrument. This means the piece would include personal response. The feedback we received is as follows;

• There was no meaning or aim to the piece so it definitely fit the abstract genre.
• The piece was more chance than abstract. The instrument choice was unknown to us as we did not give a specific focus, we just said a 'random object'. It was also completely unknown what the final outcome/product was going to be.
• There was a strong element of improvisation within the piece in terms of structure. The participants simply responded to what was asked of them. The result of this is that every time the piece is performed it would be completely different which adds a sense of excitement to the performance. This is rather similar to the 'Storm' piece we had previously created.
• We were commended on how well thought out the piece was. Everyone within the group responded to the sound the egg made and really embodied the idea created.

We then focused on arrangements of songs and considered how arrangements are made. Our final performances, both individual and group, can be either an original piece or an arrangement so it was vital that we were educated on the characteristics and stylistic features included;

'An arrangement involves decisions about the choice of instruments and voices, the distribution of the pitches among the various instruments and voices, and the disposition of the diverse sections of the music, along with indications of dynamics, phrasing and so on.' (Shepherd 2003)

Within a group consisting of myself, Jen, Devin, Gil, Sophie and Kirsty we created an adaptation of the song 'Somebody That I Used To Know' by Gotye. The original piece is an adaptation in itself as it includes the classic nursery rhyme 'Ba Ba Black Sheep' played on the glockenspiel. The music video also relates to the meaning of the song by using abstract art. The lyrics within the song communicate that there is no meaning in the relationship anymore. This relates to the 'abstractness' of the video as abstract art also has no meaning. We adapted the piece by removing any instruments used and replaced them with voice. We used voice for the bass line and the melody. The original track and our groups adapted track is displayed below;

Individual Vocal and Instrumental Work

When considering my independent instrumental and vocal work, I feel that this piece has developed my ability to change instruments to vocal and create a whole new sound. The arrangement of this piece really influenced me in terms of my independent work as I now feel a lot more confident when arranging an original piece to make it different. I have now decided that I would feel more comfortable arranging an already existing piece rather than writing and creating an original song. Although I have made this decision, I am still going to work on developing my song writing in terms of both music and lyrics.

I personally really appreciate Billy Joel as a song writer and performer. His style of writing tells stories, evokes emotion in the listening audience and creates an image so vivid that it is imaginable. He is an extremely talented lyricist and song writer who inspires me to write myself;

“I notice that when I wake up in the morning, I’m singing something or humming something,” says Billy Joel. “I have something going on in my head – some music, some kind of theme – just about every day.” (American Songwriter 2014)

I think when I develop my ability to write lyrics I am going to use Billy Joel's work as inspiration. Songs such as 'Tell Her About It' tells a story and has a background to it which makes it relatable;

'Billy Joel talks about when he first started dating Christie Brinkley. He says that she was the first person he could ever just talk to, and they would spent hours just talking - this was the basis for "Tell Her About It."' (Song Facts 2014)

The song such as 'It's Still Rock And Roll To Me' presents ideas and concepts to the listening audience; Billy Joel was making a comment on musical styles and trends. (Song Facts 2014)

I am going to attempt to create lyrics in both of these styles of writing and use Billy Joel as an influence.
 

 

Work in Lecture

The group task for Week 7 includes creating our own arrangement of a section of an original song lasting between one and two minutes. The piece is to be performed rather than recorded and within the group we must try and make the piece our own. Myself, Devin and Jen had the idea of using the song 'Stand By Me' by Ben E King. We are planning to make the piece acoustic and tranform the instruments to vocals to create a whole new dynamic. For example, using our voices to create a baseline as well as using vocal to create the tune. We thought it might be effective to vary who sings which section; base, tune or lyrics, in order to add diversity to the piece as well as challenge ourselves vocally. The original song is displayed below;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTCfQ6Bb8QE

(Riahsha 2013)

Week Five 21/10/14

Work in Lecture

Within this lecture we focused on both abstract music and aleatoric music. This followed on perfectly from the previous session as this style of music relates to improvisation and chance writing.

Our groups idea from last week was based on the stimulus we were provided with as shown in Fig.12;

 

Fig.12

Rather than creating an abstract piece, we took something visual and made it literal by creating a concept. We thought that the image resembled a heart monitor so we thought it would be effective to use a heartbeat as the underlying bass line. The concept we created was based on 'life' meaning that we could feature either human sounds or everyday sounds such as cars and busy streets. The lines on the page may resemble life progressing; starting at birth, then increasing in size to show the increase in age and then finally ending on a straight line symbolising death. We got inspiration from a piece named Raindrop Prelude;

 

The recurring raindrop is similar to the idea we want to create with a heartbeat sound. We were asked to consider five questions when evaluating performances;

1. Would you class this as a musical performance?
2. What do you think the composer/performance was trying to communicate?
3. Do you think the group approached the task in the right way?
4. What would you have done differently?
5. Is this their work or the composers?

I believe that our groups idea, when fully devised and created will be a very musical performance with a powerful meaning. The way we create the piece will be extremely effective in terms of what we are trying to communicate. I do not necessarily think that our ideas were the same as the composers as it is a very abstract image and our piece has context, but it is a different way to look at it and create something new. Our group definitely approached the task in the right way but unfortunately we were unable to create the final devised piece due to the fact that it would not be solely our work, we would need to use recorded sounds and organise them to create the piece. If we carried out the task again, I think we could of approached the image in a more abstract manor and simply created what was on the page rather than thinking too deeply into meaning and concept. I have researched into the sound effects we could potentially use within the devised piece. We can use this basis to develop our initial idea further in the future to create a more abstract piece;

Heartbeat sound effect

To symbolise the heartbeat within life. This sound is used as the bass.

 

Baby Crying sound effect

To symbolise birth and the start of the piece.

 

Children Playing Sound Effect

To symbolise life progression into childhood.

 

Traffic Sound Effect.

To symbolise further progression in life and portray how life develops.

 

Conversation Sound Effect.

To again symbolise progression in life.

 

Mobile Phone Sound Effect.

To symbolise the progression of society and life in terms of technology.

 

Heart Monitor Flat Line Sound Effect.

To symbolise the end of life within the piece.

When considering abstract music and its origins, art is the greatest influence; abstract art came first and abstract pieces of music followed. Abstract art and music is thought of as being unusual and different; artists think outside of the box. Within abstract music, there are usually no words or lyrics, as words assign meaning and the pieces do not require any meaning. Pieces are unrepresentational, unique and different with no repetition or recurring themes. This type of music forces the audience to question their thoughts as they are provided with nothing; they need to think and create their own concept behind the music. Musical artists want their audience to appreciate their music and create their own meaning;

'Music seems more abstract than other art forms because it represents emotional states, symmetry and repetition, and other intangibles. But just because you can’t see or touch these things, doesn’t make them any less real. In preliterate societies, music was probably one of the best methods for storing and conveying complex stories and information.' (Ethan Hein 2011)

One very powerful musical example was created by Boris Blatcher in 1953. He devised a German non-verbal opera without a story which involved only very simple movement. A more modern version of abstract music includes computer music with digital sound. Electronic music is now popular in the modern day which shows that the art is still very much alive. An effective example of the development is Maelstrom by Steinvord in 2012.  

Boris Blacher's piece

 

 

 Steinvord's piece

 

 

Aleatoric music is a sub-genre of abstract music which also links to what we looked at last week (chance writing).

 

'Simply speaking, aleatoric music is any music that has certain elements left to chance. Leaving something to chance is not the same thing as making a mistake or creating a new interpretation of an established piece. In aleatoric music, the ensemble, dynamics, rhythm, pitch, or form are randomly generated and performed.' (uremusic 2014)

 

This type of music can be created in three ways;

1. Use of random procedures to produce a determinate, fixed score
2. Mobile Form
3. Indeterminate notation, including graphic notation and texts

Although I struggled to understand the concept of abstract music at the beginning of the lecture, after listening to various different examples and gaining more knowledge on the technique, I feel like I understand the music a lot more. I feel that I am now able to question the music's merits and appreciate other ways that music can be created. In terms of my final performance, I think I may struggle to create a piece that does not necessarily have a narrative. Although learning about this style was extremely interesting, I think I will find it very difficult to create something within this genre myself so I think I will try to avoid it.

Next weeks task involves small groups creating a piece influenced by this session; the piece created needs to be either abstract or aleatoric. We were provided with a stimulus as a starting point. The object we selected was an egg shape with a smaller round object inside which created sound when shaken. Within my group we are going to try to think outside the box and not go for the obvious option; we want our piece to fit the abstract criteria and be interesting for our listening audience. We recorded a short extract of the sound the object makes to inspire our ideas for the piece;

Individual Vocal Work

When working on my individual work, I focused on developing my vocal skills in terms of increasing my range. As a performer I really want to improve so that I am able to sing a wider range of songs and make me more versatile as a vocalist. Two exercises I have used are displayed below;

 

This exercise challenged me in terms of the range used but it helped me to focus not only on the starting and ending notes, but the notes in between. It has assisted me to strengthen my voice and be more confident when reaching more demanding notes within a song.

 

 



 

These exercises also helped me to develop my vocal range, even more effectively than the previous video. You are provided with very in-depth instructions so you are fully aware of what to do and what not to do to ensure that the exercises are carried out correctly. The video then provides music to rehearse the exercise to which I felt was extremely beneficial.  

 



Week Four 14/10/14

Work in Lecture

The main focus in this weeks lecture was on the musical technique of improvisation. Instantly there was a mental block within the group because people were not confident with not having a structure or lyrics to follow but with improvisation, there is no right or wrong answer; everything you do is creative. Bobby McFerrin, an extremely famous and talented improvisation artist, said in an interview in 2011 that 'The first thing you must learn how to do is to open your mouth and sing, and keep going. That's it. And anybody can do that' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIIVoVRx1tA) The technique of improvising is simply an on the spot response to something else that is happening. It can be present in all three areas of the arts; dance, drama and music. It also occurs in every day life as conversations are improvised; people respond on the spot to what someone else has said or done. There are three areas that must be considered within a successful improvised piece:

1. A collective goal or a central idea
2. A pre-discussed set of rules for the piece
3. Suitable 'space' for the improvisation to happen

The genre of jazz is very well known for the use of improvisation. One example is performer Lois Armstrong, as displayed in Fig.8;
 

'Armstrong was the first great innovator in jazz. He was responsible for the increased prominence of improvisation and he developed the concept of an extended improvised solo (i.e., chorus) based on the chord changes of a song, always shaping his extemporized melodic lines with an innate sense of proportion and growth.' (Cooke 2013)

                                                                                                               Fig.8

 

Another example from the genre of jazz is Ella Fitzgerald. Her ability to scat sing over music is breath-taking to watch. In the clip displayed below there are absolutely no words used within her improvisation, just sounds, jumping around in both pitch and tempo to keep the piece interesting and energetic;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekmwIStfR0o

Even though there was evident structure within the performance, the whole thing was completely improvised. As a jazz performer, she will be familiar with the layout of a 12 bar blues melody and is therefore able to do whatever she desires over the top of the music. After analysing the piece, it is clear that a lot of repetition is used. She plays around with sounds, even mimicking the musical instruments playing, and then returns to a repeated section. I personally thought it was extremely effective to use scat singing as words would not be as impressive.

Another example which I found particularly interesting, within a completely different genre, is the pop artist Freddie Mercury. He used improvisation to connect with his viewing audience and get a response from them. In the video displayed below he used various sounds and scats to encourage the viewing audience to repeat him;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjh3-JE0S-A

Improvisation can be used for numerous aspects and develop a number of techniques in a performer as shown in Fig.9;

Fig.9

An exercise we carried out as a whole group was named the 'Vocal Circle'. This is illustrated in Fig.10;

Fig.10

The group were requested to lay on the floor with their legs straight and palms facing upward in order to be completely open. We used breathing and making sounds to create a piece that sounded harmonious. The recording of the group is displayed below;

We also carried out a task which involved us tuning into each other via improvisation using instruments. We were given a motif to follow which was called 'Storm' and created our piece using this idea within the collaborative composition. We created a set of 'pre-discussed' rules which included which musician started and how the piece ended, in between that was purely improvised. We decided that it would be most effective to have the instruments come in as the music progressed, creating a crescendo effect similar to how a storm progresses. The instruments featured within the group reflected the sounds of the storm we wanted to create. For example, drums for thunder and symbols and bells for rainfall. After having very negative feelings towards the task, we were pleasantly surprised at how well the end product turned out;

We also looked at and explored a very different and abstract mode of writing within the lecture; chance procedures. As I personally struggle with writing music myself, I found this extremely interesting. Although there is an element of pre-planning when it comes to chance writing, all decisions within the music are left simply to chance. For example, if you cannot make a decision when writing, roll dice to decide for you. Another example which I thought was a really compelling idea was to use a puzzle such as a Sudoku. The numbers could be used as notes as well as them deciding how long each note should be played for. John Cage is a very good example of a chance writer. He uses household objects to create sound as well as using books such as an ancient Chinese text named 'I Ching' to decide what to create. His pieces are particularly abstract and rather strange-sounding but extremely clever. He believed that the music was not all that important, the concept of the music was the main thing to focus on. As well as this 'It has been stated on various occasions by various authorities that Cage was more a philosopher than a composer, that his ideas were more interesting than his music.' (Pritchett 1993)

After this lecture, I feel a lot more open and prepared to improvise and use chance writing. These methods may help when creating my own piece if I am ever struggling to create music or lyrics. By the end of the session, rather than feeling afraid to improvise, I felt that I had the freedom to do what I wanted using improvisation because the improvisors do not feel tied even to any set units of pitch or time; there is not any scale or regular beat to which they play (Small 1999: Page 306). This technique provides more room for creativity and the opportunity for a trial and error system; if something works, keep it, if something does not work, do not use it again.

 

Fig.11  

 

Individual Vocal and Instrumental Work

 

When focusing on my independent instrumental and vocal development, I gave myself three points to work on and improve;

1. Working on knowledge when it comes to the theory of music. I was advised to potentially pair up with Devin as she also wants to work on her theory knowledge.
2. Learn to play the piano and develop my skills on this instrument. This could be paired up with learning theory as I will be able to understand the instrument I am learning a lot more and be able to successfully play the instrument by following a theory book.
3. Develop my ability to write songs. I could listen to artists that inspire me musically and take note of what I like about their music as inspiration to write music myself.

As the weeks progress I am hoping to develop my skills and improve generally as a performer and a musician. The more knowledge I have, the more my skills will develop which will contribute to my final group and individual performances.

 



Week Three 07/10/14

Work in Lecture

In this lecture, the group were required to perform their devised pieces created throughout the previous week. I felt that this task has assisted us in terms of preparing for our final performance as I personally have discovered what works and does not work within a created piece. As well as this it has been helpful to have the opportunity to provide both positive and constructive feedback to other groups performances as well as receiving it ourselves. The assessment criteria we created as a whole group for this task included:

• Musicality
• Timing
• Context/Meaning of the piece
• Use of music/Use of voice
• Structure
• Quality
• Ability to make the piece interesting/engaging
• Vocal devices used e.g. harmony, riffs, trills
• Other devices used e.g. dynamics, tempo, melody, lyrics
• Is the piece fitting to the chosen genre
• Emotional connection with audience

The criteria which intrigued me the most was the idea of 'musicality'. This term involves numerous aspects to make music music and to make a performer musical. Greg Howlett said in his 2011 blog named 'How to develop musicality' that Musicality means different things to different people, but to me, musicality is the ability to rise above the technical aspects of a piece of music and communicate at a deeper level (Greg Howlett 2013).

When assessing others and being assessed myself, the idea of 'musicality' really stuck out to me so this was my main focus. The final recording of our original devised piece is displayed below:

We strayed slightly from our original ideas as we only included one section of the speech as lyrics. We further developed the idea of layering the piece by introducing instruments one by one which increased the dynamic and made the music a lot more interesting. We received both positive and constructive feedback about our piece. The more negative feedback was essential and will most definitely help us in the future when considering our final practical performance. I feel that our group had challenged ourselves the most by choosing such a difficult genre that we were not familiar with, but all of he groups did exceptionally well with such a difficult task. Our feedback is displayed below:

Positive

• Original
• Rhythmically synchronised
• Fitting to the African style/genre
• Good use of rhythm
• Great use of instruments and the build up of instruments
• Really imaginative piece
• Good use of vocal tone (tone matched the upbeat nature of the instruments used)

Negative

• Slightly repetitive at times
• More/varied piano chords could of been featured
• More lyrics could of been written and performed
• Try to be more consistent with timing so everything is perfect throughout

After this lecture, I am even more passionate about wanting to learn to play an instrument within this module; either piano or guitar. As we have started to look at more in depth theory, I will be able to understand more musical terms. For example knowing and being aware of the different scales and chords as seen in Fig.6:

Fig.6

The first chord learnt was the C Major chord. I now know that within a chord, only the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes are used, as displayed in Fig.7.

Fig.7

 

I also learnt that to build harmony, vocalists simply sing a note within the chord. This was extremely helpful for me as I also struggle with harmonies when singing. As well as learning to play an instrument, I am also learning how to develop my vocals. I am hoping to develop my knowledge and skills further as the module progresses using theory sessions as well as teaching myself in my own time. Hopefully I will progress and gain more confidence in terms of playing an instrument as I would love to be able to accompany myself when singing.

Week Two 30/09/14

Work in Lecture

Within this session, I learnt a lot more about myself as a performer via the task we have been assigned to prepare for Week 3. We were provided with words, either from a poem or another form of literature to use creatively within our own devised piece. The task has provided us with the opportunity to really show what we are capable of as performers. Within my group, we were given this section of text;

'I've been to the mountain top. I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land'.

We wanted our devised piece to make our listening audience question society. The text is a short extract from an extremely famous Martin Luther King, Jr. speech titled 'I've Been to the Mountaintop'. Our group decided to challenge ourselves musically and create an African themed piece. Using 'Grasslands Chant' from the musical The Lion King as inspiration (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0xW6xtEmdw), we decided to create a song using some of  the provided section of the speech as well as potentially incorporating other sections; http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm.

Last week we discovered that various different cultures and genres come together through music so we thought this performance would be effective; especially with the meaning behind the speech. African music is often used as a celebration and a communication of hope; this aspect  is reflected within the speech. Even in the darkest of times in history, there is always hope, and we want the piece to reflect this. African music expresses the mood of the people and evokes emotion. The beat of the African drum is the “heartbeat of the community” and its rhythm is what holds the dancers together (http://www.victoriafalls-guide.net/african-traditions.html). Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech brought people together, similar to the way African music does.

We learnt last week that 'music is organized sound' (Levitin 2008: Page 14) so the fact that the group have created a concept and given the piece context gives us the chance to develop the organised sound into music with meaning.

When creating the piece, we decided that we needed a starting point to work from. We planned which instruments to use after carrying out research into the chosen genre as well as considering what is on offer within University facilities (African Treasures 2014). Many instruments included within traditional African music fall under the percussion category, resulting in us deciding to use drums within our piece. We have also decided to incorporate a piano or keyboard so that we can put a modern twist on tradition and provide a melody for the vocals to follow. African music includes a lot of repetition and layering so we thought it may be effective to repeat certain sections of the speech. We could introduce each section separately to create numerous layers and add texture to the piece. As well as lead vocals singing the chosen sections of the speech, we are also layering the piece using backing vocals chanting.

Using Audacity software, we are able to record all of the separate parts and put them together to create our original song. As a group we have thought about and planned which order the instruments will enter, to keep our audience interested. We have also discussed including everyday objects to give the piece more depth and add personality. For example, using tables as drums etc. We are going to record the piece and play it in Week Three's lecture to the rest of the group and hopefully what we have imagined will come to life and be successful.

Screenshots of the music we created (without vocals) to portray our planning and progression are seen in Fig.2, 3, 4 and 5 displayed below:

Piano Chords
Fig.2

Percussion
Fig.3

Percussion
Fig.4



Drums
Fig.5

 

Week One 23/09/14

Work in Lecture

What Is Music? (Levitin 2008: Page 13) This question was the main focus of today's lecture. We explored and considered our own personal opinions on what music is, how music affects our own lives and how music is used within society, both past and present. In daily life, music is all around us; whether it be on the radio, on the television or during a live concert performance. Music is an extremely personal attribute to each individual and is a very influential tool. My personal opinion is that music is a release; an escape from everyday life. A quote we received that I felt applied to me is;

'A young man walks down a city street, his Walkman clamped across his ears, isolating him from his surroundings. Inside his head is an infinite space charged with music only he can hear.'

This quote perfectly demonstrates my own appreciation of music. I prefer to listen to my own choice of music and shut out the outside world and all of the problems within it; music is my own personal escape. I choose to listen to music to either change my mood completely by listening to something different or deepen my mood by listening to something similar to how I am feeling. I use music to forget about everything else currently occurring, whether it be goof or bad;

'We consciously choose to play music that compliments the way we feel. There is a song that hits every emotion on key and allows melodies to eclipse our thoughts, even if it’s only momentary. Music is something that we not only hear, it’s something we feel. Each syllable is strung together with the instrumental track accompanying it to create a connection with the listener.' (The State Times 2014)

The definition of music is 'vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion' (Oxford Dictionaries 2014). I discovered in this lecture that music is everywhere in daily life, and it brings people together without them even being aware of it. An example that particularly appealed to me was in a supermarket environment. Quiet background music playing in store connects the customers and workers subconsciously. Music can also be used influentially in a supermarket; popular and catchy songs are played in stores to keep the consumer for longer, resulting in them purchasing more items. This example was particularly interesting because it was not something I expected, I simply assumed music was played to fill the silence.

Music is viewed and appreciated differently by different people. It has developed a lot over time, as has its consumers and listeners. It is a timeless aspect of life and is constantly evolving; it is only a matter of time before something new comes along and is the new big thing in music. I discovered that each individual sees music differently and has their own personal taste, it is free and open to interpretation;

'To many, "music", can only mean great masters - Beethoven, Debussy, and Mozart. To others, "music" is Busta Rhymes, Dr. Dre, and Moby.' (Levitin 2008: Page 13)


Fig.1

Each lecture is going to include a different aspect of music which will provide us with ideas of what we can incorporate within our final performances, both within a group and as an individual. Before selecting one option and sticking to that for my individual performance, I am going to analyse each lecture in great depth. I want to see which style would be best for me to perform in, in order to showcase what I am capable of successfully as well as ensuring that I am challenging myself. My thorough analysis will be included within my blog, as well as my own personal development in terms of performance. I am hoping to have made my decisions on what my performances are going to include so I can begin to plan while leaving myself with plenty of time to develop my ideas and improve. I am going to consider the idea that music is influential when thinking about my final performance. It is important to create new music and try to ensure it influences audiences.