Back to my routine of blogging on a Friday and with just over 6 weeks of college remaining the title is not far wrong as the heat is on!!!
Again I started off the week with composing sessions with the new band and as we work on our 5 songs in turn I am hearing a vast difference in how they are layered and structured in comparison to the previous band. I think the venture into the new has brought about motivation for all the band members and this should see us through until we are ready to perform this material live.
On Tuesday I spent the day tying up loose ends from college assignments and also planning out my last 6 weeks of college work. I have looked at all the deadlines I have and also the size of each task and have drawn up an action plan to best suite my routine and also the demands of my tutors. I have already managed to complete certain smaller assignments and now have more free time for the projects that require more of my attention.
The first day back at college started with band practice and although we were missing our drummer we did well to jam over 3 covers we have chosen and also start work on our original composition leaving just 2 more tracks to be worked on before the live performance which apparently has been scheduled for the 19th May 2010.
My first study went well despite my absence and I now have all the songs I need for final assessment as well as starting work on the Grade 8 piece I must perform in an audition for degree entry next year. I think this new batch of songs will be more impressive as evidence in my portfolio as they have more relevance to musical theatre.
Composition class was cancelled which left me waiting around for 5 hours for Rocky rehearsals to start in the evening. I made the most of this time by completing 3 reports on recording sessions for my session skills class. Rocky rehearsal felt really long as we were running through Act 2 without scripts which required a lot of prompting and re-starting of scenes. I did feel quite tired afterward but felt better rehearsed as we go into the last 2 weeks before show night.
The next day I was recording vocals in a recording session for session skills and after waiting a while on the brass section completing their parts it was my turn to record. I had one take to find my volume levels and stance and then done another take to ensure better quality. This is the 3rd session I have been involved in and feel that I now communicate with the sound engineers better which contributes towards a more successful session.
In DAW/ICT a worked across my various outcomes for assessment and am now confident that in the next 2 weeks I will be finished all the work for the class again giving me more time for other projects. I have 2 small reports to complete regarding the research and design involved in making my own website. This is a trivial task for me as I have been working on these things within my own record label and have quite a bit of experience in this area.
For the articulation assessment I have decided to chose "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" as performed by Elton John and have now set about scoring this piece by ear as well as transcribing the piece and also offering my own created graphical representation. I have been more concerned about this assessment than any other and have deliberately freed up some extra time for me to cope with the demands.
All in all a very productive week back at college and with half of my final assessments done I am confident I can push on in the remaining weeks and finish off any remaining projects with quality and hopefully increase my chances of getting that "A" grade
Until next week,
I'm still Daniel.
Friday 30 April 2010
Sunday 25 April 2010
Dearly Departed.
First of all I would like to apologies for not making an entry on Friday as promised however this week has been tainted by the death of a close Uncle which has changed my week as well as my perspective on how much control I have over the things that I do on a daily basis. It is evident that you can plan to perfection and still obstacles can present themselves in your path.
I did not spend the whole week in limbo however as I spent Monday night practising with a new band I am working with at the moment. After the extensive work done with Fuzzy Buck we have decided to reform as a new band with a different sound and image which has yet to be decided. We have written about 5 songs and will continue writing together until we have a good amount of material to perform live.
I also managed to review my action plan for my graded unit and have been working on my portfolio and presentation. The evidence I need to prove my worth as a West End singer needs to be collated quickly as I look to incorporate it into these projects. I have also looked at the goals and targets I set myself and have been quite pleased that I have managed to achieve all but one of my targets so far and look to completing the remaining target or provide some relevant compensation as well as an explanation.
I have managed to rid myself of small tasks with later deadlines in order to free up more of my time for the bulkier assignments. This sort of time management is essential when running in a show and I hope to display these and other skills within my portfolio and presentation.
Nothing more to add as the rest of the week was spent tending to my family and attending my uncle's funeral which all went quite smoothly despite the circumstances.
I shall return next Friday with a clear head and the motivation to hit everything I need to head on!
Peace and love, Daniel.
I did not spend the whole week in limbo however as I spent Monday night practising with a new band I am working with at the moment. After the extensive work done with Fuzzy Buck we have decided to reform as a new band with a different sound and image which has yet to be decided. We have written about 5 songs and will continue writing together until we have a good amount of material to perform live.
I also managed to review my action plan for my graded unit and have been working on my portfolio and presentation. The evidence I need to prove my worth as a West End singer needs to be collated quickly as I look to incorporate it into these projects. I have also looked at the goals and targets I set myself and have been quite pleased that I have managed to achieve all but one of my targets so far and look to completing the remaining target or provide some relevant compensation as well as an explanation.
I have managed to rid myself of small tasks with later deadlines in order to free up more of my time for the bulkier assignments. This sort of time management is essential when running in a show and I hope to display these and other skills within my portfolio and presentation.
Nothing more to add as the rest of the week was spent tending to my family and attending my uncle's funeral which all went quite smoothly despite the circumstances.
I shall return next Friday with a clear head and the motivation to hit everything I need to head on!
Peace and love, Daniel.
Friday 16 April 2010
No Looking Back!
As promised I'm back and on time with my weekly log of events on the road to successfully gaining employment as a west end singer.
I enjoyed the rest I had during the spring break and am now feeling refreshed and ready to go as I look forward to the last 9 weeks of college which is not to be taken lightly. During the holidays I managed to organise a lot of the research I have been doing for different modules and am now in a position to go on and complete the main body of the work required. I also managed to overhaul my PC system at home and with hardware and software upgrades I now have more efficient and relevant tools to work with. I also had the pleasure of performing live at a couple of acoustic nights in Dundee city centre, which I felt went better than previous performances which was mainly due to the changes I made to my practice schedule to ensure I do enough rehearsals before performing live.
My first day back at college started with the first practice of our new band and we have all decided to choose the Monterey Pop Festival 1967 as our basis of reference for completing this final musicianship assignment. We have already picked out some sings to cover and despite being 2 men down we played on and managed to work roughly over 3 of the songs.
In first study I started looking over a few new songs as I look to perfect a set of 6 songs from which I will be assessed on 4 of them. I had already been working on 3 and feel quite comfortable with them so I can now focus on working on the other 3 songs I need.
I finished off this college day with composition class and after hearing a presentation on writing for guitar I have some new ideas for my composition which is almost half complete. I am due to give a presentation myself on aspects of composing for voice which shouldn't be too difficult given all the research I have been doing lately.
After college I had Rocky rehearsals and have been quite pleased with my commitment to this project which will help me prove my flexibility and loyalty within my personal portfolio. We started to run through Act 2 which gives me more dialogue and performing in comparison to Act 1. I felt the rehearsal went quite well and I see a lot of potential in this production and hope that everyone works hard to ensure we all enjoy the experience and deliver an enjoyable experience for the audience. The date of the show has been set and we are unleashed on the public on the 18th May 2010 in Perth.
The next day of college started out with our graded unit class where we discussed the development of the later stages of our portfolio and presentation and also picked names out of a bag to decide upon the schedule of interviews. Guess who's name came out first? That's right "Daniel". 13th May 2010 @ 9 am! Never mind I will remain professional and deal with the situation. I am confident in the work I have already done and have mainly been organising the layout and order of my portfolio and presentation.
Next up was music history and another deadline! This time for the final essay based on Adorno which is due for submission on the 21st May 2010. I have already started this assignment and feel confident I will be ready for submission with time to spare.
In session skills I didn't have much to do as we were beginning a new session and vocals tend to be left until last. I did hang around to learn more about the different processes for each instrument and performer and learnt quite a lot which will help me develop in my home studio.
Finally in DAW/ICT I started and almost finished the design of my own website due to doubling up these classes this week. I came into college early Friday morning and joined another class to learn more about this topic that I have fell behind in. I design my own websites at home however the process for college assignment is considerably different so I had to put in some extra work to manage the adjustments.
I struggle on in Articulation class and although I enjoy and understand the study and analysis of the music we have been listening to I seem to have a little fear about my own assignment. I hope to overcome this with a little tutor assistance in the coming weeks.
A little big blog for you all this week since we've been apart for so long. I will return to my weekly time slot from now til the end of the academic year, so until next Friday, ciao! Daniel
I enjoyed the rest I had during the spring break and am now feeling refreshed and ready to go as I look forward to the last 9 weeks of college which is not to be taken lightly. During the holidays I managed to organise a lot of the research I have been doing for different modules and am now in a position to go on and complete the main body of the work required. I also managed to overhaul my PC system at home and with hardware and software upgrades I now have more efficient and relevant tools to work with. I also had the pleasure of performing live at a couple of acoustic nights in Dundee city centre, which I felt went better than previous performances which was mainly due to the changes I made to my practice schedule to ensure I do enough rehearsals before performing live.
My first day back at college started with the first practice of our new band and we have all decided to choose the Monterey Pop Festival 1967 as our basis of reference for completing this final musicianship assignment. We have already picked out some sings to cover and despite being 2 men down we played on and managed to work roughly over 3 of the songs.
In first study I started looking over a few new songs as I look to perfect a set of 6 songs from which I will be assessed on 4 of them. I had already been working on 3 and feel quite comfortable with them so I can now focus on working on the other 3 songs I need.
I finished off this college day with composition class and after hearing a presentation on writing for guitar I have some new ideas for my composition which is almost half complete. I am due to give a presentation myself on aspects of composing for voice which shouldn't be too difficult given all the research I have been doing lately.
After college I had Rocky rehearsals and have been quite pleased with my commitment to this project which will help me prove my flexibility and loyalty within my personal portfolio. We started to run through Act 2 which gives me more dialogue and performing in comparison to Act 1. I felt the rehearsal went quite well and I see a lot of potential in this production and hope that everyone works hard to ensure we all enjoy the experience and deliver an enjoyable experience for the audience. The date of the show has been set and we are unleashed on the public on the 18th May 2010 in Perth.
The next day of college started out with our graded unit class where we discussed the development of the later stages of our portfolio and presentation and also picked names out of a bag to decide upon the schedule of interviews. Guess who's name came out first? That's right "Daniel". 13th May 2010 @ 9 am! Never mind I will remain professional and deal with the situation. I am confident in the work I have already done and have mainly been organising the layout and order of my portfolio and presentation.
Next up was music history and another deadline! This time for the final essay based on Adorno which is due for submission on the 21st May 2010. I have already started this assignment and feel confident I will be ready for submission with time to spare.
In session skills I didn't have much to do as we were beginning a new session and vocals tend to be left until last. I did hang around to learn more about the different processes for each instrument and performer and learnt quite a lot which will help me develop in my home studio.
Finally in DAW/ICT I started and almost finished the design of my own website due to doubling up these classes this week. I came into college early Friday morning and joined another class to learn more about this topic that I have fell behind in. I design my own websites at home however the process for college assignment is considerably different so I had to put in some extra work to manage the adjustments.
I struggle on in Articulation class and although I enjoy and understand the study and analysis of the music we have been listening to I seem to have a little fear about my own assignment. I hope to overcome this with a little tutor assistance in the coming weeks.
A little big blog for you all this week since we've been apart for so long. I will return to my weekly time slot from now til the end of the academic year, so until next Friday, ciao! Daniel
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