Week 5

Week 5 

This week I started to transcribe the bass line of Lingus. I started with the bass line because I thought it was the most prominent instrument that I could hear and easily transcribe by ear. I haven't yet chosen the exact part of the song that I want to use but I know that I would want to include that part that I have transcribed. I did have some difficulty so I went online and used a score that someone else had transcribe and had cross checked what I had transcribed to what was online. This helped in some ways because I was able to join what I had heard to the score. 

 https://musescore.com/user/346036/scores/686076 ​

Case Study - Outlier

Case Study 

The in-depth analysis of the harmonic melodic and rhythmic elements of Outlier as seen through the roles of individual instruments. 

In Outlier, there are 4 main motifs that get repeated more than once. 1st Motif 0:00 | 2nd Motif 1:07 | 3rd Motif 2:00| 4th Motif 5:53| 

Structure 

Intro | A | B | A1 | C | A2 | B2 | C2 | D 

Horns - In Outlier, the horns section is one of the key features along with the guitar and the synth keys. They play a pre written solo in section 

Keys -  The keys doesn't have many leading lines like other instruments. It mainly plays the chord structure which enables other instruments to have lead roles.  

Guitar - the guitar carries the riff that happens throughout most of the song, which also gives the same role as chords on a keyboard. It gives the harmony and aids the chord structure which comes in later on. The guitar also take some lead roles, for example there are riffs/ counter melodies that correspond with some of the horn and synth lines. (0:40)

Bass - the bass is played on a moog keybass but still give that sound of a bass but with added effects. The bass line follows the guitar line which gives that repeating phrase  

Drums and Percussion - Provides crucial fills to indicate the next section. The complexity changes the the feel of that sections. For example, during the sax solo, the drums are only there to keep the pulse with the added pushes to express the phrasing. 

Literature Review

Arranging Music for the Real World - Vince Corozine

In this book, Corozine explains that arrangement differs due to the difference in orchestration because of the different compositional skills used from each person. He goes on to say that arrangement is giving music the variety that it doesn't already have. It's also taught me that when arranging, you should be able to "combine elements of harmony, counterpoint and musical form ". This tells me that you need to have a range of skills and knowledge be be able to add different elements to the music correctly. This book has helped me because it has given me a real definition of arrangement  

Week 4

This week I worked on the rhythmic aspects of Outlier.  I worked out that Outlier is composed in 3/4 but is played in a bar of 5. Playing in this time signature would be straightforward until the sax solo when certain notes are either pushed or pulled.




This is me counting over the original to show where each count lies in that solo.

Week 3

Week 3, Progress Report 

My aim was to come up with 5 songs that I would like to include into the medley and to think about how I would go about arranging it.  They all come from the album We Like It Here, apart from Celebrity which is from Bring Us The Bright.




I picked these songs based on;
- the instruments that were used and if I would be have enough musicians to fill these roles
-the complexity of the song
-whether or not each song is feasible with in the time frame. 

The songs I would like to include are;



Lingus - I chose Lingus because it is one of their most famous songs and the song I usually think of when Snarky Puppy comes to mind. I found that the melodies were simple for example, the bass line and horn line. However, the song is composed in 5/4 which then changes into 4/4 which would be challenging since it's not a common time signature. 

Celebrity -  This song was chosen because of its simple but complex groove due to the 7/4 time signature. The melodies were also simple. I also liked the fact that there was a synth and sax solo throughout the song. I thought that this would fit well because of the simplicity compared to the other songs I would want to include. 

                                                            
Shofukan - I feel like out all five that this song has the most dynamics. It does include stringed instruments such as a cello which I wouldn't be able to have for my performance, so I will include a section thats doesn't include a cello. 

Outlier - I picked Outlier because of its time signature. It's in 3/4 and is played in a bar of 5 this make it rhythmically complex, especially when it gets to the sax solo. Its also one of my favourite songs from the album which I think will help me transcribe and play since I'm very familiar with the song. 

                                                           
What About Me? - I mainly liked that the guitars were the leading instrument in this song which was different from the rest of my choices. 

I downloaded the audio of every song and transferred them to Logic. I felt that using Logic would be the best software to use as a transcription device because I would be able to manipulate the audio to make it easy for me e.g. change to tempo so I would be able to distinguish every note. This particularly comes in handy went working out this horns or bass line. 

EXP Proposal

EXP Proposal 

My Aim - To arrange a medley of 5 Snarky Puppy songs which will be performed at the end of year gig. 

For my project, I will be putting together a medley of 5 Snarky Puppy songs. I will be exploring how modern technology affects arrangements. My aim is to successfully arrange these songs and perform it live in the final performance. 

 I have chosen to focus on this area because I feel like this will be able to extend my knowledge in arrangement and in transcription skills. I picked arrangement because I was Interested in the way songs were structured. I have got my interest from steel pans and from band rehearsals. 
I feel that this is relevant because when working in a band and covering songs you need to have some skills in arrangement to make these songs different and individual to the groups sound. I also think that needing transcription skills is relevant because it will become helpful when needing to know what is being played.

- Areas of research 

My areas of research are how modern technology affects arrangement and transcription skills. I would find this research from doing practical research such as band practices or individual practices and also online and in books.

- Methodology 

My overall aim is to perform my arrangement. I will do this by either;

Do pre production on Logic - transcribe and arrange first then learn from the logic file I would of given the musicians beforehand.

Live arrangement - transcribe everything first on logic then to do a live arrangements during practices so this would mean that I would give the players the music beforehand and make the arrangement as I go along

Create a sound world with instruments - i would create the exact sound on each individual instrument that I would want to use then learn the songs by ear during practices 

- Timeline 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
WEEK 1   27th Feb – 6th March	Proposal
WEEK 2   6th March – 10th March	Transcribing Lingus				Possibly teach some content
WEEK 3   13th March – 17th March	Transcribing Outlier
WEEK 4   20th March – 24th March	Transcribing Celebrity
WEEK 5   27th March – 31st March	MARKING WEEK  Transcribing  Shofukan	MARKING WEEK	MARKING WEEK	East Kent College/ ICMP Visit	MARKING WEEK
WEEK 6   3rd April – 7th April	SPRING BREAK  Transcribing What About Me	SPRING BREAK	SPRING BREAK	SPRING BREAK	SPRING BREAK
WEEK  7  10th April – 14th April	SPRING BREAK  Reaserch	SPRING BREAK	SPRING BREAK	SPRING BREAK	SPRING BREAK
WEEK 8   17th April – 21st April	SPRING BREAK  Make the arrangement	SPRING BREAK
WEEK 9  24th April – 28th April	Give the logic files/ scores to each musician
WEEK 10   1st May - 5th  May	BANK HOLIDAY		Rehearsal of Lingus		Rehearsal of What About Me
WEEK 11   8th May - 12th  May		Rehearsal of Celebrity		Rehearsal of Shofukan	Rehearsal of Outlier
WEEK 12  15th May - 19th  May			PRO SHOWS	PRO SHOWS	Run through
WEEK 13  22nd May - 26 th  May		L2 MUSIC SHOW	L3 YR1 MUSIC SHOW	L3 YR2 MUSIC SHOW