Unit 24: Music Project

 Unit 24: Music Project

We have been introduced to it for this unit 24 assignment, and during the preparation we will have opportunities to participate as a performer as well as other roles that are involved when preparing for a live concert or online performance. And, while we are completing the available sessions we have during our college lessons and participating to complete the requirements needed for our roles, we must record these meetings or lessons in any way we see fit. For example, I chose to keep the information from our lessons on blog spot, a software that allows me to complete my logbook for the entire process of preparing this performance from start to finish.

Scenario: I responded to an internet advertisement seeking local musicians to collaborate on a charity event. This concert could take place in a local venue or be broadcast live over the internet from many locations. In addition to rehearsing for our performance, we will join one of the many teams in charge of: selecting a charity, selecting a date and venue or online platform, promoting the event, selling tickets and managing the budget, managing the running order, operating or co-ordinating the live sound, managing and transporting equipment as needed, and any other tasks.

Thursday 6th-27th January 2022:

Thursday 6th January 2022:

We were all given the assignment and told that we needed to start brainstorming potential song choices for the performance, taking into account the technical and vocal talents we could use to assist us get the best grade possible. And we had to decide which character we wanted to play in order to help complete the assignment's criteria. So, when presenting a live event or an online event, our teacher Simon demonstrated which roles are available and required. I chose Marketing Team because I have prior experience from my present position as Social Media & Communication Officer for the student union, which is a group of students who are trying to improve the lifestyle of the college to support the needs of the fellow attending students. Because of my previous expertise, I am able to provide advice and suggestions to the other members of the marketing team, as well as develop an action plan. Which is to create a variety of posters and receive the information needed to put on them in order to encourage students and the general public to attend the venue and raise money for the chosen charity, as well as to meet the ideal goal of how much money we agreed to support the charity and to inform our targeted audience as soon as possible.

Because of my previous expertise, I am able to provide advice and suggestions to the other members of the marketing team, as well as develop an action plan. Which is to create a variety of posters and receive the information needed to put on them in order to encourage students and the general public to attend the venue and raise money for the chosen charity, as well as to meet the ideal goal of how much money we agreed to support the charity and to inform our targeted audience as soon as possible.

Tuesday 11th January 2022:

I opted to keep my attention on attempting to figure out what each department of duties is up to in terms of location, time, and charity choice since I want to make sure that my team has enough time and space to put together a successful attractive poster and advertise the event. So I asked Nathan, who is in charge of fundraising and charity, if they had settled on a charity, and he said that their current options were Grenfell Tower or Alzheimer's. This was useful because it gave us a basic notion of how we might strategically arrange our poster around it, as well as the performance's name. Our team then asked the management team if they had come up with a name for our performance, as this will be crucial for the posters as our headline, but they informed us that they still hadn't been able to come up with one because their priority was communicating with the company about using the venue where our performance will take place. So, after a quick review with each department, our team decided to make a plan for the next session or weeks in case a member is unable to attend the lessons due to personal reasons, and by doing so, we will be able to communicate and inform our members effectively and clearly of our next course of action.

In addition, while working in the marketing department, I spent time researching various songs for our performance and what would be appropriate for my vocal range and methods. I did this using Spotify and YouTube because they easily suggest relatable songs or original artist music, which I find useful because it allows me to broaden my options and discover more choices, as well as strengthen my knowledge of different genres and artists so that I can suggest or assist my fellow classmates, which is something I want to achieve and develop further because it will allow me to achieve a better grade and mental music understanding of exploring the varieties of music.

Target:

• Be able to choose a song which I will prepare and perform for the performance
• Inform the Management team the song I chose so they can get cracking with the order of the song list.
• Start rehearsing my chosen song and complete vocal exercise

Thursday 13th January 2022:

Despite the fact that I was unable to attend today owing to a personal reason. I did a warm-up vocal exercise by Cheryl Porter, a YouTube star and classically trained opera singer, as soon as I got home. She is the #1 vocal coach and vocal education influencer in the world, with over 125 million views on YouTube thanks to her motivational coaching videos and inspirational approach to teaching. She's worked with vocalists who have appeared on shows including The Voice, X-Factor, America's Got Talent, Italy's Got Talent, and Eurovision. She is the sole author of Cheryl Porter Vocal Method and has devised over 300 vocal exercises for beginning and experienced singers to properly target, fix vocal defects, extend vocal range, and substantially improve vocal skills. Her vocal exercises are highly beneficial for me as a singer, and they help me focus my attention on the vocal talents that need to be supported and improved. And I can be confident that I am successfully challenging and warming up my vocal chords by completing and following up with method classes available on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/1XHXezdnL0A

The vocal exercise I warmed up to is linked above; during this time, I was able to improve my intonation because the song I chose to sing in the performance requires that my control of pitch be correct and within the similarity of the pitch used within the melody, which then allows me to work on my vocal ability because working and supporting my control of pitch will allow me to expand and train my vocal and sing songs much more easily. This leads to where I want to go and where I want to go when singing songs, as well as regulating the skill of being able to switch styles, which helps me to increase my vocal power. As I mentioned in my goals from last week, after completing many of Cheryl's vocal exercises, I am confident in my ability to find a song that will help me push myself as a performer and achieve a high grade while also better strengthening my vocal ability so that I can develop throughout my singing journey. I would definitely recommend Cheryl to any singer because it provides many examples vocal exercises that will help further your ability to sing and assist what you can do to help develop it.

Tuesday 18th January 2022:

We were given time in this lesson to catch up and update each other on the process we had each completed so far, which can all be contributed to our marketing promotional content that can be used right away to make the process go more smoothly. Artists can use social media to promote their new song, as well as their aesthetic and personalities, through photos, videos, and skits. It's equally as important for us as musicians to understand what kind of content works best on each channel.

We also wanted to improve our grasp of diverse ways of promotion as a group, and we discovered that podcasts are now essential sources of information and enjoyment on our own. Podcasts are now being listened to by more people than ever before. Many of these podcasts are about music, however musicians must adapt in different ways due to the epidemic and the internet. While some approaches are currently unavailable, artists must recognise that there are still numerous alternatives for music promotion. Musicians can still meet and contact new fans using digital means in order to expand their fanbase in anticipation of the resumption of live events. the activity or process of preparing something for use or service, or of preparing for a performance, since we want to be able to do as many tasks as feasible. Working collaboratively with a group of people to get people to collaborate, using their specific skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal friction between individuals, in order to get the full organisation of what has to be done to fall into place.

Thursday 20th January 2022:

This lesson, we were able to continue refining the poster and gradually begin to develop a more clearer poster of what the performance will entail. As I spent time assisting the management team because I have previous experience managing several events and helping to arrange and find out about the details or requirements needed because it was something they were missing and unsure about, I assisted them in getting in touch with the venue and getting questions or information they needed from us, and I was able to help choose a name alongside both the management and marketing teams, and we wanted something to evoke excitement.

After looking up different definitions or versions of the word inclusiveness, we decided on Panoramic because it means inclusiveness, has a similar ring to pandemic, which is something we are currently facing together, and it has a catchy and eye appealing effect, which is ideal for trying to engage a crowd and make them curious about the chosen name title and want to attend. This provided me with further knowledge about the various variants that are presently available.

Tuesday 25th January 2022:

Even though I wasn't in class today, it gave me the opportunity to take a step back, reevaluate, and see what I can do to improve on what my classmates came up with, such as potential poster ideas and any additional items that were included to assist promote the performance. 

Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up with my team and have a meeting to discuss the plan of action because I want to be able to submit the finalised poster to the management about the charity we chose, which is Grenfell Tower, because of the appalling lack of support and acknowledgement it has received.

But I was able to send the chosen song to the management as I decided to change my first song to the current choice which is ‘Go by Cat Burns’ as there is vocal techniques that are embedded into it that will challenge my vocal range and being able to control the transition between pitches smoothly. I will achieve this by completing more Cheryl Porter vocal exercises as well other methods that I have learnt from previous years.

https://youtu.be/vdyVJwyRtPE

https://youtu.be/omCjQ3s4TwE

The videos of our meeting minutes that I have included above are films of us discussing any changes or what is still in progress for the final performance, as well as what we can do to help each other and move forward in the direction of achieving the specified duties within each team.

Thursday 27th January 2022:

On this day, I spent my time warming up my vocals to a YouTube video by Cheryl Porter, which I had previously mentioned because I believe it helps to properly exercise my vocal chords, as many of the videos she has uploaded have set focus points within singing, allowing me to focus on each area I want as a vocalist and properly prepare my voice for the performance date. After warming up my voice for 15-20 minutes, I decided to go over the lyrics again because one of my struggles as a vocalist is that I notice I mumble my words when singing, which I want to avoid because I want my audience to understand what I'm singing so they can feel the emotion I'm trying to portray in my performance. Achieving this will enhance the impact of my performance and give me a sense of accomplishment as an artist.

After warming up my voice for 15-20 minutes, I decided to go over the lyrics again because one of my struggles as a vocalist is that I notice I mumble my words when singing, which I want to avoid because I want my audience to understand what I'm singing so they can feel the emotion I'm trying to portray in my performance. Achieving this will enhance the impact of my performance and give me a sense of accomplishment as an artist. What I did to help improve my word pronunciation was to spend time speaking the words so that I could stretch the areas of my mouth to become accustomed, making it easier for me to sing the word in rehearsals. Also, the YouTube videos that were available online were extremely helpful for me because they focused on areas such as avoiding lisps and speaking with clear diction.

https://youtu.be/mhWceQSuXzQ

You'll learn how to synchronise your lips, tongue, and jaw to sing freely and with beautiful diction in this video, which helped me gain even more confidence knowing that I could acquire the perfect diction when I was singing.

Tuesday 1st-24th February 2022:

Tuesday 1st February 2022:

My goals for this month are to learn the lyrics and be able to sing them correctly in my own independent rehearsals and during lessons, because this is my final performance and I want to showcase my vocal and character development, as I have grown as an artist over the last two years at Coulsdon sixth form college. I'll accomplish this by planning how each rehearsal will be divided and what I'll be doing to contribute to the final performance on March 17th. Setting these goals gives me a long-term vision and short-term motivation because it focuses my knowledge acquisition and helps me organise my time and resources so that I can make the most of my lessons to achieve the goals that I will set for this month and next month to keep track of what I have accomplished and what I still need to do.

Another goal I'd like to mention is ensuring a smooth journey in my own role, not only as a performer but also as a member of the marketing team. What I mean by this is organising the arrangements for the posters and allowing enough time for us to promote the performance so that we can have a large number of people purchase tickets for this event. Discussing the job of a member of the marketing campaign team in further depth, It acts as the public face of your company, coordinating and generating all marketing materials. The Marketing Department's job is to communicate with prospects, customers, investors, and/or the general public, all while presenting a positive image of your firm. Which I hope to achieve in the final production because I have enough experience in my current work as a communication and social media officer in college and can hopefully use the abilities I've gained there to the marketing team.

https://youtu.be/TkYbgaJlR4s

https://youtu.be/XxotA8-_vX4

https://youtu.be/3NLJoqZCo14

https://youtu.be/B7b9gI9OQTA

The correct orders of how each video should be played for our meeting minutes where we discussed our progress so far within each team and if there are any additional developments that require the assistance of another team to complete the task needed to help aim towards the product of our performance are listed above.

Thursday 3rd-24th February 2022:

As we near the end of the month, which is when we will be performing, I need to concentrate on the energy, or charisma and appeal, that an artist has when performing in front of others. which requires me to master the craft of playing an instrument, singing, or acting out something meaningful to the audience in a unique way, so that my performance can leave an impression on the audience and become memorable, achieving the goal of expressing the clear development of the emotion shown through this particular song. I plan to polish this by continuing to practise in front of my students and receiving vocal criticism from them, as well as examining what elements of my stage presence I can improve. Stage presence, when paired with technique, experience, and hard effort, may transform "decent" actors into superstars. It's crucial since it makes your performance more entertaining to see. Some people are so brilliant at it that even minor technical defects go unnoticed, which would help calm my anxiety and allow me to cover the areas where I make mistakes throughout my performance.

Through breathing techniques, muscular and throat exercises, and constant vocal practise, I was able to strengthen my vocal support and sing better during rehearsals in lessons. The vocal cords operate as a breath regulator when the voice is in good operating order, and the voice is well-supported by a balance of pressure and resistance. And the reason for the improvement is solely due to the excessive vocal warm-ups I've done in each session in preparation for the practical performance we'd have in front of each member of the class, as this would help me develop my material and expand the different vocal techniques, allowing me to meet the higher grade criteria.

While performing in this production, I was also handling the role of marketing team, as marketing defines the nature of a company's product manufacturing and distribution channels. Marketing is concerned with increasing sales through advertising, public relations, and promotions. The most basic benefit of marketing to a company is that it aids in the development of its reputation. We were able to collect the details needed to finish editing the poster, which we subsequently shared to our audience members so they knew a future performance was on the way and being organised, which was an improvement or development compared to this month and last month. The videos embedded throughout the logbook are evidence of the group meetings we had to catch up with each other and discuss the progress that each team had made toward contributing to this finale performance as a group, which I found helpful because it allowed everyone to put forward their own ideas that could help speed up the process of getting everything ready for this performance to ensure that everything goes smoothly.

Tuesday 1st-17th March 2022:

Tuesday 1st-17th  March 2022:

The different feelings and sensations of live performance that you expose yourself to, learn to go with, and even use to your benefit are the performance skills that you expose yourself to. Practice allows you to focus more on your talents; it allows you to better understand your craft and gives you time to dwell on your flaws so that you can improve them over time. When learning a new skill, it's critical not to lose sight of your goal. Visualize an audience when performing a run-through, and play or sing your heart out. Simultaneously, practise specific skills. If you find yourself stiffening on stage, for example, work on releasing tension and radiating warmth. Use a video recorder to experiment with different motions to liven up your stage appearance.

The importance of rehearsing a lot for these weeks is crucial because it's almost time to perform the songs we chose in front of an audience, and the way I'll help prepare myself for this performance is by simply taking the extra time to rehearse independently and with other classmates to get any last minute errors I might need to polish in order for this song to run smoothly, so spending the time on practising those vocal techniques would be beneficial as well. What matters most is the performance itself, as well as the performer's enthusiasm and passion. It's never about being flawless; it's always about feeling. Keep in mind that your audience is there to have a good time. Don't allow your mistakes defeat you; instead, learn from them. By honing your performance skills, you expose yourself to, learn to cope with, and even exploit the various feelings and sensations of live performance to your benefit.

https://youtu.be/WR5-5CwLMBI

https://youtu.be/mUmOzZ8q_rU

https://youtu.be/zvPX4gtEdVs

Evaluation of the performance:

WWW:

The performance went really well, we were able to get through the entire set list without much interruption, and the marketing for the performance went exceptionally well, we were able to get enough tickets for an audience because of the amount of posters and spread of posts throughout social media, which was very nice to see that your hard work of creating and finalising the poster design was a success. Moving on to the primary reason, my performance of Cat Burns' "Go," I was able to sing the full song without any breaks or letting the overwhelming feeling of anxiousness ruin the moment I felt on stage. I was able to stay in key throughout the song and get my audience to feel the sense of heartbreak emotion I was trying to convey through my stage presence, and seeing that this was working during my performance gave me confidence to sing the vocal techniques used during my performance and be able to isolate the development I have gone through during my two years of taking this music course at this college.

EBI:

- Develop variation of vocal techniques: Because you give them a chance to loosen up and relax by warming up before you start singing. Reduce your chances of hurting your voice by releasing tension in your body and voice. You'll be better prepared to sing in other genres or registers if you stretch your vocal cords, and I'll be able to achieve my aim of growing my materials as a singer and therefore constructing a foundation on which I can build further in the future to become a more successful singer.

-Change location of event: Because your guests or attendees will be travelling to where the event will be held, the right venue ensures that your event will be executed to any specifications and that guests will be surprised and delighted by their experience, resulting in a favourable view of your company or the clients you represent, as location is one of the most important points on this list. The place should be easily accessible and centrally located, as well as easily visible, clean, and secure. An event held at a well-known location can provide comfort and legitimacy. It would also make us feel more at ease as performers knowing that the audience members are safe and enjoying the show from where they are seated.

- Have every together for meetings: Perhaps creating more scheduled time effectively, making definite agreement within the group that we are going forth with the dated meetings. And giving a gentle reminder that we have these meetings occurring, by setting example and being positive and encouraging and punctual would help the flow of the performance run more smoother. 

NEXT STEP:

Overall, what I would take from this for future performances, I would schedule and make a organised system to help direct on who would be focusing on what and how long we have and how we can make it effective for everyone including ourselves.