203 Composing Music Solo

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

Our event at Monk’s Walk School: You must design your programme around the audience – state which community organisations would be invited to your event and explain how your programme relates to the types of people that would be in these organisations.

TASK 1 Planning

My statement of personal aims:

What I want to achieve through my contribution and compositions:

Through my contribution to the event I would like to achieve the following goals: Better confidence in my composition skills by collecting feedback from the audience and using that feedback to build on my current compositions. I also wish to achieve a better understanding in what current music users like to listen to, this will allow me to compose more engaging songs.

The skills I have that I can use:

I think that I have the following skills which I will use to help me achieve these goals: I can use my knowledge of technology as I will know how to use the latest software to assist me in my compositions, making them as creative and engaging as possible.

How I will know if you have achieved it:

I will know if I’ve achieved it because the songs will flow better and the audience will give better feedback of how I have improved. I will know when I have achieved it is when I have created a 15 minute portfolio of compositions which I am happy with.

How I will meet the expectations of the audience:

I will ask other pupils what they think about my compositions and ask them to give me some constructive feedback that I can use to improve my blogs. I will also go round asking the audience questions about what they think during the interval. Some of the questions I will ask are: What did you think about the structure of the composition and do you think it flows well? What genre did you think the composition was in? Do you have any feedback/improvements which I could add to the composition?

Plan of my contribution to the performance (make sure it is related to your personal statement of aims from above)

The requirements of the brief and how I will meet them:

The brief is asking me to compose a soundtrack for an award ceremony for local community organisations. These organisations will be sport organisations such as cricket clubs and other outdoor based sport clubs. I have chosen these organisations because there will be a range of ages and as all of them spend a lot of time outside they will probably enjoy some country music which I have composed, however for the younger ages who will like some contemporary music can enjoy my pop composition. I also have a jazz composition which some of the older ages can enjoy and relate to as they may have been alive when this style of music was popular.

What I intend to do:

I intend to play a wide range of different genres, these include country, jazz and pop. I have chosen songs without lyrics so it is considered more as background music used when the audience is entering, I also intend to make it catchy so people can remember it and notice it when entering.

How I will do it:
I will improve my compositions in areas which I think need improving, then I will ask my teacher to listen to my improved composition and suggest any improvements or development points that I can use to improve my composition.

Who I will need to involve:
I will need to involve my instrumental lesson teacher and my music teacher who can both suggest improvements I can make to my composition. I could ask my peirs to say what they think of the composition and give me some constructive feedback and I could ask some of them to help me with any technical issues I may run into.

The resources I will need: 
I will need Garage band to hold my compositions and allow me to play them, I will need an amp to play my compositions off of, and a two way jack-lead however if the amp has a different connecter I will need an adaptor to make sure the Ipad can be plugged into the amp

The time needed for each song/activity:
I need around 2 hours per each composition where I am playing around with some ideas and experimenting. Then I would like to spend another hour per each composition finalising and touching up my compositions

The health and safety issues for composition writing sessions and the performance of them:
There would be an excess of cables which are a trip hazard and could cause injury. Another health and safety issue is the volume of the music you are listening to, if you are wearing headphones and the volume is loud this could cause some serious permanent damage to your ears.

My set list:

• Country style (Length 4 minutes 49 seconds)
• Dance style (Length 4 minutes 39 seconds)
• Electronic style (Length 4 minutes 7 seconds)
• Classic style (Length 3 minutes 6 seconds)

Total length of composition: 16 minutes 41 seconds. This is over the brief amount for 15 minutes, and so composition 4 (Classic Style) has been edited so that it can be faded out at 15 minutes if needed.

Composition Writing Schedule

Composition Session 1: 6^th March (Controlled Assessment Time)

I started with composing a bass line using a bass guitar and a catchy drum beat which is simple and will go on throughout the song. I extended the composition by 16 bars and made the drum beat play throughout to keep the song consistent but have variation within it from other instruments. This also makes it flow well. I then added a verse composing of layers of different drum beats in electrical style which slowly build up throughout the verse. I then created a chorus of a calmer guitar along with another new drum beat.

Composition Session 2: 13^th March (Controlled Assessment Time)

I felt quite happy with the beginning of my first song last session. I opened a new Garageband project and began composition 2. I started using a synth loop with a continuous pulse about every 5 seconds at the tempo that I chose. This was in the key of C, I then used software instruments to make a chord progression and began to write a bass line for the verses.
  

Composition Session 3: 20^th March (Controlled Assessment Time)

In rehearsal 3 I added an electric drum beat to composition 2. I needed to look back at composition 1 and extended the structure. I need each composition to last around 4 minutes. I experimented with an ABA structure (Verse, Chorus, Verse). I wanted to use a key change in composition 1, but found this very difficult to do using iOS Garageband. I wanted to Google how to do it, but the school Wifi was down.

Composition Session 4: 27^th March (Controlled Assessment Time)

In rehearsal 4 I aimed to finish composition 1, 2 and start 3, I researched how to use a key change and implemented that into my choruses in composition 1. In composition 2 then developed another bass line using a classic guitar for my choruses and made a transition between the two base lines. I then added a piano melody for a bridge into the third verse after the second chorus.

   
*EASTER HOLIDAYS* - NO LESSONS FOR 3 WEEKS

Composition Session 5: 24^th April (Controlled Assessment Time)

In rehearsal 5 I went back to composition 2 and  extended the structure and added an outro to make it around 4-5 minutes. I then finished composition 3 by repeating sections with different bass lines and drum beats behind them. I then added an outro by copying the intro in reverse order and slowly took out each instrument to leave a drum beat that faded out at the end.

Composition Session 6 – AFTER SCHOOL: 2^nd May (Controlled Assessment Time)

In rehearsal 6 I started composition 4 and developed some chords for the piano to make up most of the song's structure, I then created a melody with a guitar and the piano chords. I then used a synth loop as an intro to the song and to lead into the piano and the guitar melody. I then changed the key to a key of D and made a piano chord progression to a different set of chords.

Composition Session 7 - DRESS REHEARSAL: 3^rd May (Controlled Assessment Time) 2-3 Hours
In rehearsal 7 I worked on composition 4, firstly I added a drum beat which fades in a few bars after the piano chord progression starts. I then made this run all through the song. I added a bass line using a liverpool bass guitar, I used the same chords as I did for the piano intro. I turned down the sound to a soft bass line and created a melody between the piano and bass, the drum beat in the background complements the melody between the piano and guitar. I then reused parts of the song and chorus to create an ABA structure to the song. I created an intro by fading out each instrument 1 by 1 to then finally leave the drum beat to fade out last.

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

Received feedback from peers and made slight changes to clashing notes in melody, bass and chords in composition 2 and 4. 

Composition Session 9 – LIVE PERFORMANCE: 10^th May (Controlled Assessment Time) 2-3 Hours

Extended all 4 compositions to around 4 minutes in length and adjusted volume balance for all comps.

TASK 2 – THE FINISHED PORTFOLIO OF COMPOSITIONS

UPLOADED LINKS OR YOUTUBE LINKS TO YOUR COMPOSITIONS:

Access all the screenshots and MP3s in one folder here: Download Compositions and Screenshots

Composition 1:

Listen to Song 1 by clicking here.

https://monkswalkhertssch-my.sharepoint.com/personal/anflowe_monkswalk_herts_sch_uk/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?docid=0bc5fd918279049c6b2986272877a50ec&authkey=AZwD1eZ3WSfYaNEi7TrsLxU

Composition 2:

Listen to Song 2 by clicking here.

https://monkswalkhertssch-my.sharepoint.com/personal/anflowe_monkswalk_herts_sch_uk/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?docid=0c219f59cae84456c944022a7f3215b94&authkey=ARGejlexFoC15S_Dercmj64

Composition 3:

Listen to Song 3 by clicking here.

https://monkswalkhertssch-my.sharepoint.com/personal/anflowe_monkswalk_herts_sch_uk/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?docid=088f933ebf1344a6da3be2d64155f0880&authkey=AawyMgxfZlnwN2e0kSXzD68

Composition 4:

Listen to Song 4 by clicking here.

https://monkswalkhertssch-my.sharepoint.com/personal/anflowe_monkswalk_herts_sch_uk/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?docid=0c22b270aa75c46db801cc77b9b319f2d&authkey=AWQBCuilma29eZsOIVwLoCE

TASK 3 Evaluation 

1. What went well when you were composing?

I found using the application garage band very easy to use and understand how to control every aspect of my compositions and a good tool to make complex and interesting sounding compositions.

2. What did you do well for each specific composition? Make specific references to parts of your compositions, e.g. drums, bassline, melody writing, structure, chord progression etc.

Composition 1: For this composition I am pleased with the harmonious acoustic guitar and drum solo I have created as the 

Composition 2: For this composition I am pleased with the section with the two house drum machines working together to create a melody along with only the drums and the different chords i implemented into them.

Composition 3: For this composition I am pleased with the synth solo with the backing drums and the pulsing synth that runs through the whole song, and how this solo leads into the next piano verse along with the new drum beat.

Composition 4: For this composition I am pleased with the piano and helix melody I have created and the simplistic instruments used to create the song. I am also pleased with the bass guitar section and how I integrated it into the rest of the instruments

Improvement Reflection:

3. What could have been done better if you were to compose these songs again or for making more compositions in the future? Think about specific parts of each composition (e.g. structure, melody, instrumentation, chord progressions, drums).
If I were to compose the songs again I would use a more complex song structure rather than ABA with a bridge in between one of the verses and choruses. I would also experiment or use other instruments I didn't use such as violins, wind in

4. Define your areas of development (e.g. what skills do you need to improve to make you a better composer?)

Skill 1: To be able to use other instruments and understand where and how they would be best used.

Skill 2: To be able to layer music to create more interesting pieces of music.

Skill 3: To be able to confidently use all of the sound editing tools to make my piece of music sound the best it can with the instruments and techniques I used.

5. Now write what you need to improve in your compositions and write a strategy of what you will do to make that improvement (e.g. write more suitable melodies that fit your chosen chords. Then you should write how you could learn to write more suitable melodies, what you would need to do, and what effect it would have on your compositions).

Improvement #1: Improve the melodies I have used in my compositions.

Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: Experiment with different chords with instruments that are not used primarily in the song such as guitars, against the chords I have used with the instruments that make up the body of the song. This will create better and more interesting melodies in my compositions.

Improvement #2: Use more complex song structures rather than ABA.

Strategy: How could you make that improvement?:  I could use an AABA song structure, this structure was commonly used in both jazz and early to mid-twentieth century pop music.

Improvement #3: Use a wider variety of instruments in my compositions to create interesting melodies and harmonies.

Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: I could create a new composition called 'experiment' to test and experiment with different instruments and how and where I can implement them in my actual exam compositions.

Feedback from others:

6. What was the feedback your received from your teacher, other group members and members of the audience?

• Excellent range of genres - country, rock and electronic music.
• Good song structures - these often followed a nice ABA or ABCABA structure. This kept interest.
• Good mixing of instruments - no sharp spikes in dynamics.
• Interesting development in the songs - they kept evolving and introduced new elements or reintroduced previously used elements.
• Begin to use a richer texture and blend of instruments.
• Explore key changes in different sections of your songs.
• Make more use of basslines to support your chord progressions.

7. How did this feedback help with your evaluation of the performance? e.g. what did they notice and comment on that you didn’t realise/know/think about?
One of the comments left was saying that I need to begin to use a richer texture and blend of instruments meaning my songs lacked the harmonious

Conclusion:

8. Write a brief summary/conclusion of your compositions and how they were suitable for the event brief (a concert at an awards ceremony for local community organisations).
My compositions meet the brief because non of them have any inappropriate references or lyrics in them which is suitable for parents and governors . Also the audience I am performing to probably will not find anything too contemporary such as rap or bass music, this is another reason why my music I have composed is appropriate for the audience and their age.

Evaluation: (what have you found easy/ hard)

In this assignment what I found hard was creating 15 minutes of music, because I kept focusing on too smaller details for too long. For example I could happily spend an entire hour long lesson on just editing a single section of the composition. What I also found challenging was transitioning from one instrument to another in the change between verse and chorus and trying to make the change sound natural. Furthermore I found implementing and embedding loops into my compositions challenging as well because they don't have a slow build up to when they start playing so I had to create my own slow build ups to the loops playing in my song. However what I fund easy was creating a tune for my composition to start off of, for example in my country style composition I found it very easy to use the guitars and drums in harmony to create a basis for the rest of my composition to build upon. What I also found easy was the intro to the composition and I also experimented with different types of intros such as a slow build up or a slow quite beat leading to a lot of instruments all coming in together.