COMPOSING MUSIC SOLO EXTERNAL CORE

Brief:

Your school is hosting a showcase for parents and governors. You have been asked to compose a 15 minute soundtrack appropriate to the opening of the event.

Your work: Must be suitable for the audience

TASK 1 Planning

My statement of personal aims:

Through my contribution of a 15minute set of compositions to the event i would like to be able to make all my tracks have their own individual style in grime. I can do this by listening to a range of different grime tracks and picking out key features from each track and then working out how to use these in my own tracks. I believe this will help me improve my composition skills and also be useful for me in the future. Another one of my goals is to have more confidence to let my tracks be played in public places. Because it is parents and governors, I think this will be a good opportunity to show them a style of music that they may not previously have heard. I can show them how each track can be different while still being in the same style.

The following skills I will use to help me achieve these goals. 

I am very creative which means i can put things together even if they are the complete opposite. It is my creativity and my ability to create songs relatively quickly. Grime is my passion and because of this I will be able to write music quickly, I have a lot of ideas.

I will know if I have achieved my first goal about developing my composing skills by making different grime tracks with their own style and individuality


I will know if I’ve achieved my second goal about confidence because after hearing the response of the crowd I will feel more confident allowing my songs to be played to larger audiences.

I will meet the expectations of the audience by making sure the quality of my tracks are near enough perfect and sound professional. I will also meet the expectations of the audience by making sure there are different styles shown in each track so everything does not sound the same and keeps the audience engaged. I will make sure that my set is at least 15 minutes long to fit with the required length for the event.

Plan of my contribution to the performance:

The requirements of the brief are to compose a 15 minute soundtrack suitable for an audience of parents and governors. I will meet these requirements by making sure that my compositions fit the time frame and I will make it suitable for the audience by using clean lyrics, showing a new genre of music and how I can write for different instruments.

I intend to use the compositions I have written on Garage band that i can have played in front of an audience for final piece i have created my own songs i am going to play T1 first, T2 second, T3 third, T4 fourth, T5 fifth, T6 sixth. I chose to play T1 first because I believe it appeals to the majority of the audience because it has a variety of instruments so it is interesting to listen to and hear the layers. I need to add more layers and make sure that each track is fully completed. 

How I will you do it:

In my lessons with Mr Gower I will learn how to quantise and use different functions on Garageband.

On my own I will learn how to add riffs and extend different parts.

I will make my set good to listen to by having a variety of different sounds in the compositions.

I will need to involve the following people....

Sound crew - To sort out all the technical aspects of my performance

Mr Gower to help me learn music software functions

My fellow peers to listen to my compositions and give feedback

The resources I will need are:

I will need an Ipad with the software garage band and i will need a mic and a quiet space to be able to record vocals. I will need speakers and and a PA system set up with a mixing desk to play my music to the audience.

The time needed for each song/ activity:

My performance has to be a minimum of 15 minutes long, all of my songs on average are 3minutes. I will maximise my writing time each week by arriving early and having my compositions loaded up the iPad ready to start. 

Health and safety issues:

I need to reduce the amount of cables i use because it may become a safety hazard, for example too many cables could become wound up and damaged or they could be affected by water which could make it dangerous. They will need to be tucked away so that noone can trip on them and I will check the stage before they are played so that I know that everything is safe. I also need to check if any of the audience have hearing problems that would require the increasing or decreasing of the sound levels. Must make sure that the speakers are not too loud

My set list: 

T - this is the first composition played

T1 - this is the 2nd composition played

T2 - this is the third composition played

T3- this is the fourth composition played

T4 - this is the 5th composition played

Total length of compositions:

15:54 approx

Own preparation time (I will be working on my music with my instrumental teacher in weekly 30 minute sessions totalling 2.5 hours)

Composition Writing Schedule

Composition Session 1: 23rd March (Controlled Assessment Time)
Today I started working on my 15 minute composition . I started my first track by creating a beat and quantising it. Next week I will learn how to add a bass line.

Composition Session 2: 30^th March (Controlled Assessment Time)

Today I learnt how to add a bass line to the first track of my composition. I found it quite hard so i will continue next week.


EASTER HOLIDAYS (Own preparation time - 7.5 hours)

Composition Session 3: 20th April (Controlled Assessment Time)

Today i managed to complete a bass line for the first track in my composition and I also managed to start a second track for my composition.

Composition Session 4: 27th April (ARD - COMPLETE 2 HOURs OF TIME IN MUSIC) Controlled Assessment Time

Today i had a very successful day i managed to finish the second track for my composition and third track. Next week i aim to start and finish my fourth track if possible.

Composition Session 5: 3rd May (Controlled Assessment Time)

I have completed my fourth track today and I am very proud of my fourth track because i used a wide range of instruments that i would not usually have used.

Composition Session 6: 4th May (Controlled Assessment Time)
Today i cleaned up my tracks and perfected them to the best they can be I did this by creating more rhythms and adding more riffs.

Composition Session 7: 8th May (Controlled Assessment Time)

Today I made sure my 15m composition was ready for the controlled assessment and made sure there was no problems with any of the tracks and that all parts were recorded in properly. I had to rerecord in a couple of parts as there was a timing issue.

Composition Session: 9th May (Controlled Assessment Time) 2 Hours

Today I checked through my recordings for the sound quality and length and then uploaded them.

TASK 2 – THE FINISHED PORTFOLIO OF COMPOSITIONS

FINAL RECORDINGS OF 15 MINUTE COMPOSITION SET:

 

TASK 3 Evaluation

Strengths Reflection:

I found making rhythms very easy and writing lyrics very easy also found adding the instruments quite easy and creating beats on them quite simple i also found looping and quantising the different sections of the compositions okay and because of this i was making weekly progress on my compositions and am pleased with the end result. 

I think my compositions show that I have really developed my composing skills. My rhythm and timing has been good in all of my compositions and I have used a variety of instruments, beat and sounds. When I started writing I had only made beats and never created melodies or riffs which I now know how to do. 

I think that my compositions show the audience how grime instrumentals can vary and show them my range of composing skills. 

Composition 1 - T: In this composition i feel the way i structured it went well because everything in this composition fitted properly. It was my first composition and so I wanted to to be recognisably grime and I think that the slow moving riffs combine well and show the style. The hand claps are very typical of grime and so is the pulsing bass line which make the piece. I then use a drum and bass type change and rhythm which makes the audience sit up and listen and change the instruments so that the riffs are clearer. I have an echo effects throughout which works well to create a good mood.

Composition 2 - T1: In this composition i feel the baseline went well. It is quite atmospheric and hopefully would get the audience wondering what was coming next. I like the use of the crash in this composition to add a surprise to the atmospheric backing and the ending drifts off nicely which would help it link into the next composition.

Composition 3 - T2: In this composition i feel the tempo of it was what made it go well because it created a very slow and unusual sound. I really like the bass line and how it combines with the other parts and the unusual synth sound at the beginning, really gets the audiences attention. I think it would appeal to more audience members because of the different instruments form other genres, like the guitars. The structure is clear and you can hear where the changes should be which also makes it work. Other than the quick ending, I think this is a really good composition.

Composition 4 - T3: In this composition i feel the instruments i used went well because it made the composition more interesting. I have added some interesting effects in this one so that the instrumental really develops. It makes it sound fuller with parts overlapping and is interesting to listen to.

Composition 5: In this composition i feel the instruments i used made it very good because its not the usual type of sound i would normally create with strings and piano. The guitar part is much longer than I usually write and shows a different skills. This piece is the most repetitive with the beat which is why I put it at the end, so that I could fade it out and would make good music as the audience leave. I thought credits could go up on the screen while this was playing. 

Improvement Reflection:

I would change some of the instruments i used because some of the instruments i used slightly affected the way i would have preferred some of my compositions to sound for example in T2 that is not usual instruments i would have used. The instrument sounds a little bit Arabian and this might confuse a grime listener.

In 'T' the first half of the composition stays the same for quite a while and this happens in a few of my tracks. If I were to work on these again, I would make sure that there was some kind of change every 8 bars for interest, even if it was just a small change. I think an audience would enjoy listening to this more then.

T2 has a very sudden ending which is not ideal. Other than this thought I think it is a successful piece. I would either fade out or extend the ending if I could improve it.

T3 is too repetitive towards the end and I could add effects to this one or another instrument part of change the rhythm to make it more interesting.

Some of my pieces would be better with a big change, a drop, new chords and a change of mood like my T composition has. I think that T4 and T1 should have had this as it makes it more exciting and changes up the structure.  

Areas for Development:

Skill 1: My knowledge of using Garageband and keys and chords so that I can make my music more complex - there is always more to learn with using music software and if I knew more about music theory and keys and chords I would be able to make bigger changes in my compositions and take the music higher. 

Skill 2: My music mind for example creating more complex rhythms and melodies

Skill 3: My ability to make more complex pieces of music using different structures and vocals.

Strategy for improvements:

Improvement #1: Make my compositions more complex

I will talk with my music teacher about theory lessons but I can teach myself the basics with online tutorials and then experiment with improvising with new keys and chords. 

On Garageband I could make this improvement by adding a wider variety of instruments to my compositions. 

Improvement #2: Make more suitable melodies which will fit my chosen chords

I could make this improvement by listening to my compositions using headphones over and over again to make sure that the chords fit and use   my theory knowledge to help me make sure that my melodies fit my chords. 

Improvement #3: Using vocals and more complex structures, making sure the style of music is clear.

I could make this improvement by speaking with singers about the songs that they sing and working with them so that they listen to my instrumentals and talk about the type of tune that they could add in. I need to collaborate to do this improvement. If I work with a singer they could talk about changing the structure of my music so that it is more verse, chorus or has solo sections. If I use instruments from different genres I need to listen to these genres so that I can make the style clearer.

Feedback from others:

That i should show more individuality in my compositions and make the melodies give an insight into what type of sound i'm trying to give off, so match the melody to the genres of music that I am trying to include.

I was also asked why there was no vocals in my music and told that the favourite composition was the one with the drum and bass part. 

How this feedback helped me with my evaluation:

It helped me to realise i didn't really show enough individuality in any of my compositions and that I should think more about what genre I am writing in. This is where I got the idea to work with a vocalist and collaborate so that I could make the style clearer.

Conclusion:

My compositions were suitable for the event because i made sure my compositions appealed to the audience and i showed them to and did not bore them. I also made sure that my compositions had a variety of melodies to show that i can  make my music suitable for any audience and I included a variety of instruments to show my skills and make it interesting. I think my music really introduces parents and governors to grime and shows the development in my skills.