Vodun & 2nd Years Review

On Thursday 12th, Vôdûn performed with the second years as their support bands. 

When walking in, the smoke machine and lights were already on with a slide show with animated photos. This created a good atmosphere. However, everyone congregated towards the back of the room. 

The performance by the support bands started. However, they didn't say whether the song they were performing was an original or a cover. One group did face some technical problems but they did continue and manage to end the song all at the same time even though it wasn't the end of the song yet. However, you could see the confusion on some of the singers faces which slightly shows unprofessionalism. 

During some of the performances, they engaged the audience by getting us to clap along. This worked but then started to fade out leaving little pockets of people clapping. I think that this would of been the last resort for the performers to use to get the audience involved and more captivated. However, this just created the opposite effect. 

After the interval, Vôdûn was next to perform. They gave an introduction of who they are and what they would be doing on that night. What I realised was the background video had changed to suit the genre of their music. Also, I realised that the colours used for the lights hadn't change which played a big part in the overall experience. It would of been better if the colours used would of corresponded with either the colours they wore or the paint they used. I liked it when they gave an explanation of the song because it would make me listen to the lyrics more closely and gives me something to think about instead of just listening to the song. They were able to engage my attention just by their stage presence. They were very energetic and it felt like there were performing and not just doing it because they have to. They also got the audience to participate by handing out percussion instruments such as shakers and tambourines. I liked this because it made you feel more involved and made you feel like you was contributing to their song. 

Overall, minus the technical problems, the performances were of high standard and I wouldn't mind to watch another performance by either Vôdûn or the second years. 

RESUBMISSION - Weekly Diary 09.11.15

This week, we didn't have any set targets as it was the first week for the half term holiday. During the holidays, I had practised my groups original song for Song Workshop to change the chords in to inversion to make it easier to play are to change the way it sounds.

On Monday, for band workshop, we hadn't written a bridge for our song which made practice with the group hard as we couldn't do a proper run through. With the chords that I had used for the bridge, I was able to help with the melody line by using the scale of the key that we used. We manage to write the bridge and kept practising it until it was time to perform it. The song was good as it has everything a pop song needs but we could of used our time more productively and to not scrap something every week.

On Friday, I had an instrumental lesson in the morning. In this lesson, we found areas on which I need to work on to make me a better musician/ pianist. We found out that I need to work on my fluidity while playing broken chords. Doing this could help me with songs that I will be doing in Band Workshop because I could be using broken chords. We also went over the beginning of Moonlight Sonata. Even though this doesn't contribute towards the Decades Project, this helps me broaden the type of music I learn and play on piano. 

A Cup of Tea with Jay

Questions;
Who has inspired you the most as a musician?

"Stevie Wonder is one of my favourite artists in the world! It's crazy because one setback made him world famous. His blindness inspired people all over the world, and I would just love to be on the journey of his inspiration by being on tour with him.

Who would you like to be on tour with the most, and why?

Beyoncé because it will be a good experience to show me what I could become one day. She's also a musical icon, as one of the best female vocalist in our generation. I've been a fan of her ever since her  all female band in 07' and playing for her would be such a privilege.

What is planned for the future as a career?

To open up a music school for children aged from 6-18. It would be an excellent opportunity to give back to my community and instead of children nowadays obsessed with technology it'll be better to pick up and instrument as it can open so many doors from such a young age, so I'll be doing this scheme to help the children of our generation.

Other interests?

I like to work with computers and technology, I started my interest with technology when I was young, ever since I was installing softwares in primary school. I also use this interest in photography by editing photos I take with my camera. I like to post them online and receive feedback and recognition from other photographers.

Level 3 Music Performance Evaluation

On Thursday, my group and I performed Billie Jean - Michael Jackson to the rest of Year 1 Performing Arts.

I think the performance went well because we managed to get the whole song without any difficulty. I think all of us had a good stage presence and the way we changed the song made the audience more interested since it is a well known song. 

However, by not being prepared before the performance, it created a delay and also made it slightly awkward. Also, as the song progressed it started to speed up but I didn't realise until the end of the performance. Personally, I think I could of had a better posture.

For next time, I think we could of been more prepared before the performance and to practice thoroughly.