Life in the UK:
In the UK we have a lot of freedom compared to other countries, we still have safety rules that might avoid us from doing something stupid and dangerous but for social media like: listening to music, creating music, performing music at a gig, watching films, going out clubbing, going out to watch a west end musical and lots more things we can do in the UK. In the UK music is very involved in the social media, anyone can get a instrument they want to learn play it whenever they want wherever they want, unless it is late at night or somehwere where you need to keep quite then you can play music wherever you want and whenever you want. In the UK you cannot play music loudly after a certain time which is usually around the time 23:00pm and after. If it was in your house and a neighbour can hear your music and complains then your in trouble. But you can play music at late hours if you play it quietly in your room. Another way you would get in trouble is if you are playing music in your house and living with other people like your parents or friends and they are trying to sleep or do something and they can hear your music then it would bother them and tell you to stop or turn it down. In the UK we have so much going on with media. We have loads of varieties of films that are being published and we can go see either online or at the cinema. The films we have published in the UK has no specific genre or is limited, all films in the UK are free and the directors and writers can express themselves and make a film about what ever they want. There are films that can offend some viewers but not a lot will happen to the film only if the government feel it is inapropriate then the film will be taken down from the public. The T.V shows we get to watch on T.V is very free and there is so many different things to watch stuff like: Comedies, drama's, horrors, news, documenteries about litteraly most things that go on in this world and the list goes on. But those genres are briefly what is shown on T.V and movies. The UK has a lot of west end shows showing, these west end shows have long processes to go through such as: hiring a theatre/venue for the amount of time they want to keep the show going, hold auditions so they have the best performers that suit the specific west end show, hire employees to work with either the lights, costume, make-up, stage set up, props, equipment, people at the bar and to guide people around the hired theatre and many more minor jobs that sometimes is not even known about. The music industry is a huge industry in the UK, which involves lots of record labels spaced around the UK, recording studios, venues for artists/bands to play in, college and universities which specify in music, music being taught in primary and secondary school. There is always something going on that is connected to music. Some people these days grow up picking up something they like with music like: getting introduced to a instrument and master how to play the instrument and get graded with the instrument subject and keep it as a hobby and do something with what they mastered. Or people would start singing and realise they like it and learn how to carry the skill and then become really good at it then make it a career if they want to and by that they can: become a singer teacher or a artist, or get connections and sing on peoples tracks and many more things that are being made to this day. There are many things involved with the music industry but for someone in the music industry it all starts from the bottom which could be primary school, secondary school or college or even a after school club. Something that is very common and that has developed through the years and is now the most useful thing in this world is social network. Social network could involve: phone calling, text messaging, emailing, using social network sites on the Internet and generally talking to people face to face. The Internet has become an addiction to everyone not only in the UK in most countries but not all countries. The internet allows you to email people, use social networking sites like the most common 'facebook' and on facebook you can share photos, videos, message people, share statuses and many more things. There is other not very well known social networking sites but 'facebook' is the most known. In the UK the internet and having a phone is very easy access because the government allows it and the government over the years helped to create technology to allow these things to work.
The UK has a lot of freedom in many ways but like in most countries there is limitations but other then that the UK is very relaxed in most occasions and you can be yourself and carry out your career. Even though the UK is fair and you have to go through school and takes exams to be able to reach your career goal. But if you do not work hard enough and appreciate what the government and schools are giving you then they will first let you know and give you a warning but if things stay the same you will either be taken of the course or not take a exam etc.
Life in the UK is very much different from the life in Iran, in Iran the life is much harder they do not have as much freedom like the UK has. In iran life is much more different in a way of how the life in iran is very limited, the social media, music, freedom, religious views, way of life is very limited. In iran they cannot go and watch films in the cinema daily like we do. The internet is very hard to access there you would have to be very rich to be able to use the internet like us in the UK, because in the UK we all use the internet very often we rely on it for work and assignments and school work, so for us it is very common and not hard to access, people still need to pay for internet but it is not like the internet is hard to access. In iran they have to sometimes even try to get internet from other countries or other homes, it is just not a normal option for them. You would think after the revolution in iran the life there would be much easier but in fact the life in iran has gone much more strict and limited. You have to have the same religious views as each other, leaving iran is not a choice for everyone living there. Getting a passport costs millions for people who want to leave iran because the government there is so strict they don't allow much freedom. But you would think music would be allowed there and music is a worldly aspect of life. But in fact in iran they are very strict about what kind of music you play. Having a talk with kaveh who was living in iran and created a band but was not able to freely develop the bands career and be able to play wherever they want and find gigs like bands in the UK do. He told us how him and his bands mates would find secret hiding places where people would not really hear them, they had to wait for neighbours to leave so they could rehearse together. The type of music kaveh's band would play is rock/indie kind of music and in iran the government made this kind of music illegal, they made any music like pop, rock, jazz etc illegal. So the reason why kaveh and his band would hide their rehearsals and have to limit their time of rehearsal is because if someone would hear them and find out what they were doing, the person would report them to the police and the government and they would just get punished to prison or even be killed. So it was very hard for them to have a music career. They tried to go to someone who sells passports so they could leave iran and have a proper free music life but they could not afford it. Somehow they managed to leave iran but it was a very sudden leave and if they would return to iran they would be in huge danger, they found out about this from a friend living in iran. So Kaveh left the band eventually and is living in the UK having a free life with us. His band ended up touring in america and they were starting to develop a really good music career. The reason in iran music is so limited is because of their religious views, the war in iran does not help the situation because of the war life is very hard there, so freedom is not very optional. People in iran still have freedom but only if they live the way the leader and the government of iran want them to. They do play music in iran but it is more religious kind of music to suit their religious views. Religion is a big part of why iran is so limited with freedom and the social media. Because of their religious views they have made so many things illegal so if anyone would be found doing something illegal that for us in The UK is like a daily thing they would be punished badly or killed.
It is very sad knowing they live with such low freedom, knowing my life in the UK is so relaxed and i can go to do a music course in college and play music whenever i want at good early hours where it does not bother the neighbours or my family. Being able to watch any kind of film in the cinema whenever i want, being able to have access to parties and night life's which is countless. Being able to go watch a full musical theatre show makes me think i have a very good life compared to the life in iran, here in the UK we don't have any wars, the only illegal things that i know of in the UK is how films, alcohol, certain musical theatre shows, clubs are age limited. So people have to be the right age for legal preferences. Also in iran the music they play and the films they make is very limited down to story lines and genres that is agreed with the government. The life in iran was at one point free and people could do what they wanted because of the leader at the time was not leading the country so strictly, the leader let iran be a free place and people had freedom. But after the revolution in 1979 a leader who took over made western music illegal and anyone who had access to that music would be sent to jail with no trial just sent to jail straight away. There was the only exception to be able to listen to big artist's like queen and elton john. Now everything is only something religious and they would only be able to do something religious with a religious view. Because the internet is hard to access people in iran have to hack the internet so like in the UK where we download music or films and apps everyday that takes us litterally 2 seconds or more in iran because the internet is hard to access and they hacked the internet if someone wanted to download something like a song or an album or a film etc it would take them days. In iran it is not an option to go to a music shop purchase a instrument and go home and play it, not like in the UK where there is loads of music shops around in most areas and we can go buy an instrument and teach ourselves how to play it or purchase lessons. If people in iran want to access the internet the censorship made one specific website where they put everything people in iran are allowed to access it is not like us in the UK where we can open millions of pages and go on facebook or open our emails and listen to music on youtube, people in iran do not have that access in any form. They are lucky enough to have one website which gives them the music they are allowed to listen to, the films they can watch etc. But knowing how the internet is hacked and is hard to use i guessing people in iran do not usually waste their time with the internet because it is so limited from censorship. This life in iran stops them from knowing what is going on in the outside world, like in the UK we have news about celebrities and news about other countries and just general news from all over the world. We can listen to music from all over the world. We can access films from all over the world. In the UK we all have a lot of freedom with the world and we get to learn the whole history of it. Because iran is run by a leader with religious law that is why iran is so censored, before 1979 when iran was not run by religious law life was much from free and not censored so much.
Friday, 13 December 2013
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Arrangments Of Others (Assignment 3)
What The World Needs Now (Dionne Warwick):
1. Piano
2. Violins
3. Melody/Lyrics
4. Jazz styled Drums
5. Xylophone
6. Choir singing Back up and Ahh's
7. Trumpets
8. Song has a jazz genre
What The World Needs Now (Horlick Singers)
1. Kept the Jazz feel
2. Unison singers with harmonies and mixed female and male singing.
3. Instruments - Piano, Drums.
4. Structure is more simple and shorter then original.
With the original version there is a girl singer singing melody, with a choir singing ahh's in the verses and then singing in unison with the lead singer in the chorus with harmonies involved. There instruments such as: Piano, trumpets, violins, drums, some little bits with the Xylophone. There is a jazz style to this song the way the drums are being played and the way the instruments that are involved are being played together. The main jazz genre feature i can pick out is the the way the trumpets are being played and also the piano.
Comparing the original version to the Horlick singers version i can pick out lots of differences. The arranger has not changed the song and melody around but what the arranger has changed is the people that sing it, it went from a lead girl singer to a full mixed choir singing it together with harmonies. There is only a piano playing to lead the choir to sing along to. Usually choirs sing along to a piano in most cases but there has been other cases and unique cases where a choir could sing a long to a different instrument. But in this case the piano is leading the choir and is playing what the trumpet played in the original track. There is harmonies as soon as they first sing, the big difference is the original is singing a straight melody. And the choir is singing the chorus with harmonies and the mixed voices with female and males gives a completely different sound to the original and gives a obvious choir sound. The instruments in this arrangement are: drums, piano and a bass guitar from what i can hear and see in the video. The drums sound pretty much the same but the drums sound a bit more sharper in this arrangement because of the snare the drummer uses. After the second verse they go an octave higher for the chorus like in the original. In the original there is an instrumental and then the chorus is repeated a few time. With the arrangement version they keep it simple they sing the last chorus and then they end it with a big note accapella finish.
1. Mixed choir singing in unison.
2. Singing a long to a piano.
3. Arrangement is more simple and shorter then the original (more to the point without all the instrumentals like in the original).
4. Verse in unison and chorus with harmonies.
The reason why the arranger has arranged this song this way is to make it fit for the choir and make it sound like a choir cover. The way the choir sings in unison is the biggest difference from the original because in the original the lead singer is in focus and the backing singers come in in the chorus and do little add libs in the verses. The reason why the arranger made it only piano, drums and bass because with a choir usually choirs sing along to pianos, he kept the drums because it is quite an upbeat song and he made it sound upbeat. And added the bass to give the warmth in the performance.
The Greatest Love Of All (Whitney Houston):
We Three Kings (Ella Fitzgerald):
1. Jazz style
2. Instruments used: piano, harp, very sensitive and quite violin.
3. Backing unison vocals to accompany the lead vocalist
4. Structure is: verse, chorus, verse, chorus.
With this version of We three kings, the arranger has the original christmas song to sound jazzy, with a jazz style. The structure of this song is short compared to the 2 other versions. So the structure is very to the point. Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus. There is a lead singer and there is a mixed vocal choir accompaning the lead vocals with doing ahhs and ooo's and singing in the chorus with harmonies to give it a very full sound. The reason the arranger has the piano playing the certain way is because the way the piano is being played is very jazz style like. Then the arranger added the instruments like the harp and the violin is because it gives a christmas feel because it is a christmas song. But keeping the song in a jazz style the singer and the piano outline that style.
We Three Kings (Kamelot):
1. Changed to rock genre.
2. Arrangement of instrumental accompany changed (some moments sound like a marching band atmosphere).
3. Guitar playing melody, guitars playing with each other playing harmonies.
4. Different instruments used: electric guitar, violins, trumpets or horns, drums (kick drum focused the most throughout), Violin synth, bell synth, acoustic guitar (outro).
5. Song made longer. A lot of instrumentals.
Now comparing this version to the style version sounds way more dramatic, the violins help that effect on the version and the electric guitar outlines that this is a rock version of the christmas song. There is no vocals there is electrics guitars playing the melody and there is electric guitars playing together because there is other electric guitars harmonising with the main melody electric guitar. It then slows down and there is bells playing and something that sounds like a flute, violins, choir vocals just singing ahh this make the song sound very christmasy and holy. Then after this moment there is drums sounding like a marching band. This gives a very dramatic effect on the song. All the instrument used make the song sound very dramatic. Without the help of these extra instruments the song would not sound christmasy because if it was just electric guitars and drums going along to it it would sound pure rock. Rock music can be very dramatic so that is why i think the arranger has put the violins playing that violin line and all the other christmas based instruments such as the bells, trumpets and horns, synths and the acoustic guitar. The way the arranger has made these instruments work together gives a very dramatic effect and the way it slows down and the simple instruments like the acoustic guitar, bells, violins and many others this really calms down the song and sounds christmasy then bringing it back to the dramatic level really gives a strong feel to the song and makes the listener surprised.
We Three Kings (Sacred Rendition)
1. More church like style.
2. Men choir (most focus on the vocals of the men choir)
3. Instruments used: Triangle, Organ, flute, symbol, bell, xylophone, tambourine, alto violins/bass violins.
4. Tempo slowed down.
5. Some things can be off beat, I think the arranger wanted that effect.
This arrangement of the song really sounds traditional and the reason it sounds traditional is because of the male choir singing in unison adding harmonies throughout the song. It starts of with a very deep symbol, then coming in with a organ and trumpets and a one off bell which by that i mean the bell comes in when the choir finishes their line and it comes in off beat sometimes, it is a very random instrument coming in at random times throughout the song. This version is much slower then the other versions. This gives a big effect because it really gives a church feel atmosphere. The reason i think the arranger kept the instrumental very simple is because the arranger wants the focus to be on the choir so the choir would have a strong and loud effect to the song. The choir is following a organ which what really makes this version sound church like and traditional because at traditional churches solos or choirs most of the time sing along to organ's. Another thing i have noticed is the way the male choir is singing it gives a really big obvious effect that because the song is talking kings it makes it traditional and puts you in the christmas mood and really feel the traditional atmosphere. There are very small instrumental breaks before the verses. After the second chorus the tambourine comes in and drums to build up the tension and after this there is 2 verses and on the second verse they go lower so then when they the bells come the bells are defined. Then they go up a octave for the 3rd verse after the second chorus. Then the chorus comes in again. You can really hear the build up because they went an octave higher and with all the drums and the bells then to end it they really enthisise the symbols to great a big suspense so then it ends with them humming.
1. Piano
2. Violins
3. Melody/Lyrics
4. Jazz styled Drums
5. Xylophone
6. Choir singing Back up and Ahh's
7. Trumpets
8. Song has a jazz genre
What The World Needs Now (Horlick Singers)
1. Kept the Jazz feel
2. Unison singers with harmonies and mixed female and male singing.
3. Instruments - Piano, Drums.
4. Structure is more simple and shorter then original.
With the original version there is a girl singer singing melody, with a choir singing ahh's in the verses and then singing in unison with the lead singer in the chorus with harmonies involved. There instruments such as: Piano, trumpets, violins, drums, some little bits with the Xylophone. There is a jazz style to this song the way the drums are being played and the way the instruments that are involved are being played together. The main jazz genre feature i can pick out is the the way the trumpets are being played and also the piano.
Comparing the original version to the Horlick singers version i can pick out lots of differences. The arranger has not changed the song and melody around but what the arranger has changed is the people that sing it, it went from a lead girl singer to a full mixed choir singing it together with harmonies. There is only a piano playing to lead the choir to sing along to. Usually choirs sing along to a piano in most cases but there has been other cases and unique cases where a choir could sing a long to a different instrument. But in this case the piano is leading the choir and is playing what the trumpet played in the original track. There is harmonies as soon as they first sing, the big difference is the original is singing a straight melody. And the choir is singing the chorus with harmonies and the mixed voices with female and males gives a completely different sound to the original and gives a obvious choir sound. The instruments in this arrangement are: drums, piano and a bass guitar from what i can hear and see in the video. The drums sound pretty much the same but the drums sound a bit more sharper in this arrangement because of the snare the drummer uses. After the second verse they go an octave higher for the chorus like in the original. In the original there is an instrumental and then the chorus is repeated a few time. With the arrangement version they keep it simple they sing the last chorus and then they end it with a big note accapella finish.
1. Mixed choir singing in unison.
2. Singing a long to a piano.
3. Arrangement is more simple and shorter then the original (more to the point without all the instrumentals like in the original).
4. Verse in unison and chorus with harmonies.
The reason why the arranger has arranged this song this way is to make it fit for the choir and make it sound like a choir cover. The way the choir sings in unison is the biggest difference from the original because in the original the lead singer is in focus and the backing singers come in in the chorus and do little add libs in the verses. The reason why the arranger made it only piano, drums and bass because with a choir usually choirs sing along to pianos, he kept the drums because it is quite an upbeat song and he made it sound upbeat. And added the bass to give the warmth in the performance.
The Greatest Love Of All (Whitney Houston):
We Three Kings (Ella Fitzgerald):
1. Jazz style
2. Instruments used: piano, harp, very sensitive and quite violin.
3. Backing unison vocals to accompany the lead vocalist
4. Structure is: verse, chorus, verse, chorus.
With this version of We three kings, the arranger has the original christmas song to sound jazzy, with a jazz style. The structure of this song is short compared to the 2 other versions. So the structure is very to the point. Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus. There is a lead singer and there is a mixed vocal choir accompaning the lead vocals with doing ahhs and ooo's and singing in the chorus with harmonies to give it a very full sound. The reason the arranger has the piano playing the certain way is because the way the piano is being played is very jazz style like. Then the arranger added the instruments like the harp and the violin is because it gives a christmas feel because it is a christmas song. But keeping the song in a jazz style the singer and the piano outline that style.
We Three Kings (Kamelot):
1. Changed to rock genre.
2. Arrangement of instrumental accompany changed (some moments sound like a marching band atmosphere).
3. Guitar playing melody, guitars playing with each other playing harmonies.
4. Different instruments used: electric guitar, violins, trumpets or horns, drums (kick drum focused the most throughout), Violin synth, bell synth, acoustic guitar (outro).
5. Song made longer. A lot of instrumentals.
Now comparing this version to the style version sounds way more dramatic, the violins help that effect on the version and the electric guitar outlines that this is a rock version of the christmas song. There is no vocals there is electrics guitars playing the melody and there is electric guitars playing together because there is other electric guitars harmonising with the main melody electric guitar. It then slows down and there is bells playing and something that sounds like a flute, violins, choir vocals just singing ahh this make the song sound very christmasy and holy. Then after this moment there is drums sounding like a marching band. This gives a very dramatic effect on the song. All the instrument used make the song sound very dramatic. Without the help of these extra instruments the song would not sound christmasy because if it was just electric guitars and drums going along to it it would sound pure rock. Rock music can be very dramatic so that is why i think the arranger has put the violins playing that violin line and all the other christmas based instruments such as the bells, trumpets and horns, synths and the acoustic guitar. The way the arranger has made these instruments work together gives a very dramatic effect and the way it slows down and the simple instruments like the acoustic guitar, bells, violins and many others this really calms down the song and sounds christmasy then bringing it back to the dramatic level really gives a strong feel to the song and makes the listener surprised.
We Three Kings (Sacred Rendition)
1. More church like style.
2. Men choir (most focus on the vocals of the men choir)
3. Instruments used: Triangle, Organ, flute, symbol, bell, xylophone, tambourine, alto violins/bass violins.
4. Tempo slowed down.
5. Some things can be off beat, I think the arranger wanted that effect.
This arrangement of the song really sounds traditional and the reason it sounds traditional is because of the male choir singing in unison adding harmonies throughout the song. It starts of with a very deep symbol, then coming in with a organ and trumpets and a one off bell which by that i mean the bell comes in when the choir finishes their line and it comes in off beat sometimes, it is a very random instrument coming in at random times throughout the song. This version is much slower then the other versions. This gives a big effect because it really gives a church feel atmosphere. The reason i think the arranger kept the instrumental very simple is because the arranger wants the focus to be on the choir so the choir would have a strong and loud effect to the song. The choir is following a organ which what really makes this version sound church like and traditional because at traditional churches solos or choirs most of the time sing along to organ's. Another thing i have noticed is the way the male choir is singing it gives a really big obvious effect that because the song is talking kings it makes it traditional and puts you in the christmas mood and really feel the traditional atmosphere. There are very small instrumental breaks before the verses. After the second chorus the tambourine comes in and drums to build up the tension and after this there is 2 verses and on the second verse they go lower so then when they the bells come the bells are defined. Then they go up a octave for the 3rd verse after the second chorus. Then the chorus comes in again. You can really hear the build up because they went an octave higher and with all the drums and the bells then to end it they really enthisise the symbols to great a big suspense so then it ends with them humming.
History Of Electronic Music
Introduction:
Dj'ing has been around for a long time, many years back Dj'ing was created and from that day to today Dj'ing developed hugely, it developed with techniques, equipment, style, performance skills, software, music etc. The first few years when Dj'ing was created Dj's used equipment like vinyls to play the songs, they would have gaps between songs which was so different from how Dj'ing is performed in the modern days, in the modern days vinyl is hardly used and is not so simple to get and use, the modern Dj's use much more advanced decks that have mini vinyls on them and they have all sorts of specific software's on their laptops that helps them mix the songs into one another smoothly. In the olden days they would have two vinyl decks so if they would change songs they had to change the vinyl disk so it was much more manual in those days, now in the modern generation they have all the songs on the software and all they have to do is drag the songs into the right place and use the deck to mix the songs together smoothly.
Dj'ing also requires the right audience, because the audience need to enjoy the music the DJ is playing so a DJ could play for people that like house music or to other people that like pop/hip-hop music. Even though in most events or parties dj's tend to mix the genres to give dynamic to the set.
Start Of DJ:
In the year 1857 Leon Scott created a device called the Phonoautograph which was the first device to be able to record sound. After this a device called the Phonogaphic Cylinder was able to playback recorded sounds, this device was made by Thomas Edison. After this in 1906 there was a audio radio broadcast. At the year 1910 radio broadcasting was a normal part of life. In 1943 the first DJ party was thrown by Jimmy Savile, in this DJ party Jimmy Savile played jazz record for the guests. A few years after this DJ party happened Savile started using turntables so the music would play continuously, savile was the first man in DJ history to use turntables. So around this time this is where discoteque started happening and the first discoteque was opened in Paris in 1947.
1950's - 1960's:
In the 1950's in Kingston, Jamaica, promoters that called themselves DJ''s threw dance parties that were huge and these parties were in the streets, and the DJ''s would use huge PA systems to blast their tunes. Throughout the united states and Europe, discoteques were viral and were a big deal and everyone would get involved in one. The market got a new equipment which was known as the mixer and this mixer allowed DJ's to control their tunes. In 1969 Francis Grasso popularised beat matching and he would mix his songs so the dancing would never stop.
1970's - 1980's:
In 1973 DJ Kool Herc named himself the father of hip-hop and he would play jams at the huge block parties. DJ kool herc was the one that mixed two identical tracks together and at the same time, the technique was called 'break'. Around this time turntablism really grew in the DJ business and instead of DJ's picking songs and playing them they became artist's and musicians. They got influenced by other songs to create their own beats so people would enjoy. The disco era that came in 1970's was brought by hip-hop and electronic music being blended together. In 1975 the scratching technique was accidentally discovered by DJ Grand Wizard Theodore. Scratching is when the DJ moves the record up and down on the needle so it allows the sound to be warped.
House music was created in the 1980's at the warehouse club which was based in Chicago, house music was created by DJ's creating their own sound and experimenting. House music was disco inspired and also inspired by heavy electronic music. House music is a simple 4/4 beat which involves drum machines, samplers and a heavy bass line being used. Then a pure electronic noise known as techno was created by detroit. In 1985 theres was a huge event called the Winter Music Conference which involved all sorts of DJ's with all different styles coming together and comparing their techniques. From this event till now there is weekly ongoing parties which is known as the two day Ultra Music Festival which is held in miami.
1990's:
The scene in the early 1990's was raving and the choice of dance music was acid house. The popularity of these raves made DJ's famous and DJ's became well-known so they would have to perform/work in loads of different raves because raves became such a big deal and is now still an ongoing deal. At this time the equipment became more modern and digital so DJ's started using CD's and CD's became really popular and useful in the 1990's. The CD's helped with the creation of the MP3 format, another thing that developed was that electronic music transformed into other genres and new genres that were being made. Because of the huge development of equipment in time a new program was released this program was called Final Scrath this program allowed DJ's to use MP3 files on their turntables using special and more digital form of vinyl.
2000's:
In 2004 a program called serato was made and it hit the live stage. This program was made so DJ's could blend music together smoothly with MP3 formats. In 2006 the program had a mixer made for it so the process would be smoother. So now in the 2000's DJ's use MP3 formats on it's own and Djing is much more smoother with these programs and turntables, and vinyl disc became less used because of these programs being created to make the process for a DJ much easier. DJ's can still use Vinyls but it is expensive to get hold of them and harder then now in the 2000's.
In the new mixers created in the 2000's there is options to add effects and to change EQ'S which goes down to how the DJ want their set to sound like or how they want a specific song to sound like.
Here is an example of Old skills and how it used to sound like and the atmosphere of it.
This is DJ craze in 1999 you can see in the atmosphere and quality of this video that is was in the olden times only about 13 years ago but from 13 years ago a lot has changed and developed. You can see he is using the old techniques of djing by using 2 vinyls and on the vinyls you can see he put white stickers on them for his Que points and in middle of both of the vinyls there is a EQ desk to control the sound and quality of it and adding effects to the sound. You can see in this video how he is changing loads of different vinyl records to change song or to a different sound and spoken word. And you can hear which vinyl is being played by the way he is mixing it and with his techniques you can hear when he stops one track and the other track from the other vinyl is being played. This technique of djing looks much more complicated because of all the changes of vinyl records being made and when he scratches is when its going back to certain Que points etc. This DJ set sounds more like DJ craze showing off his techniques from the start slowly bringing in the beat then 2:50 he brings the beat in and uses a lot of scratching skills to make the warped sound and to stop the beat and bring it back in. With the EQ mixer in the middle of both vinyls you can see and hear in this video that it controls the volume and that is how some of the techniques he is showing is able to be used.
Here is an example of a DJ set in the modern days.
Here is the same DJ from the previous video DJ craze using traktor a program made for DJ's the difference from his other DJ performance is in this video you can see the mixer's are different, more digital and improved, there is a laptop where he has all the tracks loaded up and on the screen of the video you can see what is going on in the program, you can see he is using 2 of the same tracks but he set up the Que points in advance and set up the samples so he had an idea and a brief of what he wanted to achieve from the performance. He kept to his scratching but the scratching is not with vinyl is with the program tracktor which gives the same effect like vinyl. You can also see there are more buttons on the mixer on his right and our left and those buttons control the ques and overlaps the ques if set to either 1,2,4,6,8,16 or even to -1, -2 etc. When you set it to one of these settings of numbers it overlaps a certain point of the song your act and depending on the number you set it to it will overlap a short amount of the Que or a longer amount. In the middle there is the EQ mixer which did the same job like in the older performance but obviously more digital and easier to use.
There is one way to DJ but from the years it started with 2 vinyl records and a EQ mixer to a mixer with digital vinyls and EQ mixer and Que point mixer that comes with a program that is controlled with a laptop and on the laptop there is all your tracks. The difference between the two is with the vinyl techniques all the songs,samples, sounds were on separate vinyl records so the DJ's had to keep changing the records and put stickers on the records to know where their ques are. Now in the modern days through the years they created MP3 formats which could be transferred to a computer or laptop so now with a modern DJ they would load up all their tracks onto their laptop and they download a program then get a mixer that comes with the program so the mixer allows them to control their ques and EQ's, volume, effects, frequencies and had a digital version of vinyl so they could scratch and rewind and forward the tracks.
So if you would ask me i never experienced vinyl records but from learning from the 2 techniques i prefer the new modern DJ sets because it is more simple because of the tracks on the laptop all in one place safe and then using the mixer to change the EQ's and ques etc. So i would not want to use the vinyl technique because now a days it would be expensive to get all different songs on different vinyl records and having to change each record after another and finding the ques by putting stickers on the vinyl records to me that is too complicated. I strongly feel that Djing has become stronger and smoother because with the new programs and mixers the mixing through songs is smooth and controlled if known how to do it. But with the old techniques with vinyl's there would be a few stop and starts because of changing records all the time so it would not be as smooth. Also the quality would be better in the modern days because over the years equipment got stronger and better quality and the quality is still being improved now to this day. The life of a DJ is constantly improving and djing is well known and is very useful because of parties mostly but could be used for other events with music involved.
Now that I have talked you through about how DJ's started and developed through the years from when it started I will now talk about how through the years from when it started performance involves in DJ sets and how through the years performance in DJ sets developed and changed.
So meaning when DJ sets started they started off very simple and nothing like what DJ sets are like now, I have already explained how DJ sets techniques were shown in the years when DJ started but how was performance shown? DJ sets started off as radio broadcasting so the performance shown was the way they apply the music with the DJ sets they used at the time and how they would talk through the songs and radio broadcasting involved talking and then playing music which was very entertaining at the time and radio broadcasting still goes on now. Only problem is I don't have any evidence of what radio broadcasting was like in the olden times because it was many years back and people in the modern days probably do not even have any footage of it, but I can sense it was not as advanced as radio broadcasting in these days. I'm guessing it was much more simple then now and included the same simple techniques now such as introducing the broadcast, talking a bit then playing a song. Now a days radio broadcasting is very smooth due to the new advanced DJ equipment they use, in the olden days the equipment was limited and they could not do as much as they do now.
What i want to focus more on is DJ sets and how they got into parties because partying has always been a way of life which everyone gets involved in and there can not be a party without music. In the really old days they would live bands and then in the 1900's they created this equipment which is how DJ sets were made. When the first few parties were created DJ sets would be very sectioned due to the vinyl records they used so they had to keep changing the vinyl record to change song.
Here is an example of David Rudigan performing his DJ set in 1997.
In this example you see they are playing their own to sets and in this form of DJ David Rodigan form of performance is talking a lot and talking about the other DJ and having a bit of a joke with him, then getting the crowd excited by talking about what he is about to play and when he plays the track referring to cricket with a beat sounding similar to cricket and in this song there is more talking in the song talking about cricket and David Rodigan himself. He plays the cricket track on the vinyl on his left and shows some emotion by dancing a little and rocking to the beat, connecting with the audience to get them excited because it would not be the same if the DJ would just stand there not doing anything, it is good that he dances with his set to enjoy the set with his audience. He also does a cricket action to act upon the track because in the track the guy is talking about cricket. You see he gets ready for the next song by putting in a vinyl on his right and our left, then the track changes to a more jamaican style song and meaning he is in a event full of jamaicans and black based people he obviously played the song to get the crowd excited because they would like it and he starts dancing along to it and putting his hands up gesturing to the audience he is enjoying the song and gesturing to dance along with them and kind of give them a boost of happiness. He also starts chanting which really makes the crowd go crazy and you can see the crowd start putting their hands up when he gestured to so this action really connects with the audience and makes them feel comfortable and makes the audience connect with DJ Rodigan. It is very important in any sort of performance you show confidence, connect with the audience, show that you know what you are doing and showing your enjoying what you are doing depending on what is your doing. Meaning Rodigan is in some some of jamaican event with music and dancing he has to show he is enjoying himself and connecting with the audience by dancing along to the music and chanting to create a exciting atmosphere. When he starts chanting it is like he is saying with a chant come on lets go crazy it sounds wierd but if you think about it you would understand why. In the songs rodigan is playing the person talking or singing mentions his name a lot, this gives an effect that Rodigan's track is original by the sense of making it his own and mentioning his name in the songs, and it also gives an effect that he wants the audience to remember his name and get them talking about him. Because mentioning his name in the songs which the audience seem to really enjoy would give a huge effect for publicity and would attract the audience so they would remember him and want to see him again. It pretty much stays the same he stops the track starts talking and talking about what is going to happen soon in the event and then starts playing a track then dancing along to it.
This was Rodigan's technique of djing, his techniques are to talk, talk about something related to the event and the audience and then playing the song one by one. The songs have talking in them as well which Rogidan made himself or mixed it it is very hard to tell but either of them options was applied to the songs and the set. Dancing along with the set to make the audience comfortable and connect with him and have a good time with them.
This was one technique of Djing in the olden times but that was basically how djing was in the olden days, they would use the vinyl records and in Rodigans performance he would dance along to the song, talk to relate to the song and event and just simply play one song at a time and change things up on the mixer and EQ.
There was other performances and techniques of DJ sets such as scratching with the vinyls.
Here is an example:
Even though this was this year in april it is very rare to find DJ these days using vinyl's so DJ Marky's skills of Djing is scratching and he kept that side of him and his DJ sets going on. As you can see in this video he is making a song out of scratching and scratching to the simple beat he has in the background. What scratching does is it gives the warped sound you can hear, and because DJ Marky makes himself known for scratching he goes to extreme and start flipping over the vinyl desk and doing extreme scratching, this got the audience and media who is recording him going crazy and thinking what in the world is he doing? and you can see this reaction when people in the audience start cheering and chanting 'woahh' and 'ahh' and everyone stops and gets their phones out and records him and the media gets right in front of him and are really trying to get a close up of this crazy scratching technique Marky is showing. The advantages this technique puts in DJ marky's DJ set is he is making himself look unique and making people excited and people get excited when they experience something new and different and the audience in this event really did draw into the performance and film it and the fact everyone is filming it this would get DJ Marky a lot of new fans from the audience showing everyone what they just experienced and when they show their friends and family that were not there this would make those friends and family want to see DJ Marky perform and hope he does the scratching skill when they come to see him. Not only does it attract the audience and make them amazed it also gives a unique sound to the DJ set.
In the modern days DJ sets are more advanced and more smooth.
Here is an example:
This is a perfect example of the new generation of DJ sets that olden time DJ sets could not do. You can see there is a laptop where is where all his tracks are from and he using the traktor program and the traktor desk to create the effects and delays he is doing, he is showing most of the possible effects traktor can give you and the new DJ generation can give you. The performance side of this generation of DJ sets is the way they mix all different songs together and they can mix different genres but only if they do it right with the program. Usually there is local parties that have a general style of music so it wont be one specific genre of music it would be mixed so using this program and doing what this video shows you the certain DJ can mix from house to hip-hop or from funk to dubstep etc. At first i never thought DJ sets would be considered as a form of performance but really studying it and looking more deeply into the history of DJing i discovered performing in DJ sets can be how the DJ dances or rocks along to the set basically feeling the music. Connects with the audience by talking to them and giving them a boost of excitement. Using scratching skills like marky which gives his set a unique sound and gets the audience going crazy, this gives DJ marky a unique and independent reputation for his DJ skills. Performance can also be the music the DJ plays because depending on the party and the style of the party the DJ has to play certain type of songs to match with the event and the people that showed up for the event. DJ's can just simply play songs from one after another but there is other DJ's that mix 2 songs together and people would never even realise it most of the times but when the people do realise it, it gives the DJ good reputation in being themselves and showing of their own skills.
Bibliography:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall09/bein_k/history.html
http://wkcphilrobinson.blogspot.co.uk/
Dj'ing has been around for a long time, many years back Dj'ing was created and from that day to today Dj'ing developed hugely, it developed with techniques, equipment, style, performance skills, software, music etc. The first few years when Dj'ing was created Dj's used equipment like vinyls to play the songs, they would have gaps between songs which was so different from how Dj'ing is performed in the modern days, in the modern days vinyl is hardly used and is not so simple to get and use, the modern Dj's use much more advanced decks that have mini vinyls on them and they have all sorts of specific software's on their laptops that helps them mix the songs into one another smoothly. In the olden days they would have two vinyl decks so if they would change songs they had to change the vinyl disk so it was much more manual in those days, now in the modern generation they have all the songs on the software and all they have to do is drag the songs into the right place and use the deck to mix the songs together smoothly.
Dj'ing also requires the right audience, because the audience need to enjoy the music the DJ is playing so a DJ could play for people that like house music or to other people that like pop/hip-hop music. Even though in most events or parties dj's tend to mix the genres to give dynamic to the set.
Start Of DJ:
In the year 1857 Leon Scott created a device called the Phonoautograph which was the first device to be able to record sound. After this a device called the Phonogaphic Cylinder was able to playback recorded sounds, this device was made by Thomas Edison. After this in 1906 there was a audio radio broadcast. At the year 1910 radio broadcasting was a normal part of life. In 1943 the first DJ party was thrown by Jimmy Savile, in this DJ party Jimmy Savile played jazz record for the guests. A few years after this DJ party happened Savile started using turntables so the music would play continuously, savile was the first man in DJ history to use turntables. So around this time this is where discoteque started happening and the first discoteque was opened in Paris in 1947.
1950's - 1960's:
In the 1950's in Kingston, Jamaica, promoters that called themselves DJ''s threw dance parties that were huge and these parties were in the streets, and the DJ''s would use huge PA systems to blast their tunes. Throughout the united states and Europe, discoteques were viral and were a big deal and everyone would get involved in one. The market got a new equipment which was known as the mixer and this mixer allowed DJ's to control their tunes. In 1969 Francis Grasso popularised beat matching and he would mix his songs so the dancing would never stop.
1970's - 1980's:
In 1973 DJ Kool Herc named himself the father of hip-hop and he would play jams at the huge block parties. DJ kool herc was the one that mixed two identical tracks together and at the same time, the technique was called 'break'. Around this time turntablism really grew in the DJ business and instead of DJ's picking songs and playing them they became artist's and musicians. They got influenced by other songs to create their own beats so people would enjoy. The disco era that came in 1970's was brought by hip-hop and electronic music being blended together. In 1975 the scratching technique was accidentally discovered by DJ Grand Wizard Theodore. Scratching is when the DJ moves the record up and down on the needle so it allows the sound to be warped.
House music was created in the 1980's at the warehouse club which was based in Chicago, house music was created by DJ's creating their own sound and experimenting. House music was disco inspired and also inspired by heavy electronic music. House music is a simple 4/4 beat which involves drum machines, samplers and a heavy bass line being used. Then a pure electronic noise known as techno was created by detroit. In 1985 theres was a huge event called the Winter Music Conference which involved all sorts of DJ's with all different styles coming together and comparing their techniques. From this event till now there is weekly ongoing parties which is known as the two day Ultra Music Festival which is held in miami.
1990's:
The scene in the early 1990's was raving and the choice of dance music was acid house. The popularity of these raves made DJ's famous and DJ's became well-known so they would have to perform/work in loads of different raves because raves became such a big deal and is now still an ongoing deal. At this time the equipment became more modern and digital so DJ's started using CD's and CD's became really popular and useful in the 1990's. The CD's helped with the creation of the MP3 format, another thing that developed was that electronic music transformed into other genres and new genres that were being made. Because of the huge development of equipment in time a new program was released this program was called Final Scrath this program allowed DJ's to use MP3 files on their turntables using special and more digital form of vinyl.
2000's:
In 2004 a program called serato was made and it hit the live stage. This program was made so DJ's could blend music together smoothly with MP3 formats. In 2006 the program had a mixer made for it so the process would be smoother. So now in the 2000's DJ's use MP3 formats on it's own and Djing is much more smoother with these programs and turntables, and vinyl disc became less used because of these programs being created to make the process for a DJ much easier. DJ's can still use Vinyls but it is expensive to get hold of them and harder then now in the 2000's.
In the new mixers created in the 2000's there is options to add effects and to change EQ'S which goes down to how the DJ want their set to sound like or how they want a specific song to sound like.
Here is an example of Old skills and how it used to sound like and the atmosphere of it.
Here is an example of a DJ set in the modern days.
There is one way to DJ but from the years it started with 2 vinyl records and a EQ mixer to a mixer with digital vinyls and EQ mixer and Que point mixer that comes with a program that is controlled with a laptop and on the laptop there is all your tracks. The difference between the two is with the vinyl techniques all the songs,samples, sounds were on separate vinyl records so the DJ's had to keep changing the records and put stickers on the records to know where their ques are. Now in the modern days through the years they created MP3 formats which could be transferred to a computer or laptop so now with a modern DJ they would load up all their tracks onto their laptop and they download a program then get a mixer that comes with the program so the mixer allows them to control their ques and EQ's, volume, effects, frequencies and had a digital version of vinyl so they could scratch and rewind and forward the tracks.
So if you would ask me i never experienced vinyl records but from learning from the 2 techniques i prefer the new modern DJ sets because it is more simple because of the tracks on the laptop all in one place safe and then using the mixer to change the EQ's and ques etc. So i would not want to use the vinyl technique because now a days it would be expensive to get all different songs on different vinyl records and having to change each record after another and finding the ques by putting stickers on the vinyl records to me that is too complicated. I strongly feel that Djing has become stronger and smoother because with the new programs and mixers the mixing through songs is smooth and controlled if known how to do it. But with the old techniques with vinyl's there would be a few stop and starts because of changing records all the time so it would not be as smooth. Also the quality would be better in the modern days because over the years equipment got stronger and better quality and the quality is still being improved now to this day. The life of a DJ is constantly improving and djing is well known and is very useful because of parties mostly but could be used for other events with music involved.
Now that I have talked you through about how DJ's started and developed through the years from when it started I will now talk about how through the years from when it started performance involves in DJ sets and how through the years performance in DJ sets developed and changed.
So meaning when DJ sets started they started off very simple and nothing like what DJ sets are like now, I have already explained how DJ sets techniques were shown in the years when DJ started but how was performance shown? DJ sets started off as radio broadcasting so the performance shown was the way they apply the music with the DJ sets they used at the time and how they would talk through the songs and radio broadcasting involved talking and then playing music which was very entertaining at the time and radio broadcasting still goes on now. Only problem is I don't have any evidence of what radio broadcasting was like in the olden times because it was many years back and people in the modern days probably do not even have any footage of it, but I can sense it was not as advanced as radio broadcasting in these days. I'm guessing it was much more simple then now and included the same simple techniques now such as introducing the broadcast, talking a bit then playing a song. Now a days radio broadcasting is very smooth due to the new advanced DJ equipment they use, in the olden days the equipment was limited and they could not do as much as they do now.
What i want to focus more on is DJ sets and how they got into parties because partying has always been a way of life which everyone gets involved in and there can not be a party without music. In the really old days they would live bands and then in the 1900's they created this equipment which is how DJ sets were made. When the first few parties were created DJ sets would be very sectioned due to the vinyl records they used so they had to keep changing the vinyl record to change song.
Here is an example of David Rudigan performing his DJ set in 1997.
This was Rodigan's technique of djing, his techniques are to talk, talk about something related to the event and the audience and then playing the song one by one. The songs have talking in them as well which Rogidan made himself or mixed it it is very hard to tell but either of them options was applied to the songs and the set. Dancing along with the set to make the audience comfortable and connect with him and have a good time with them.
This was one technique of Djing in the olden times but that was basically how djing was in the olden days, they would use the vinyl records and in Rodigans performance he would dance along to the song, talk to relate to the song and event and just simply play one song at a time and change things up on the mixer and EQ.
There was other performances and techniques of DJ sets such as scratching with the vinyls.
Here is an example:
In the modern days DJ sets are more advanced and more smooth.
Here is an example:
Bibliography:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall09/bein_k/history.html
http://wkcphilrobinson.blogspot.co.uk/
Monday, 9 December 2013
History Of DJ Equipment
Introduction:
Dj'ing has been around for a long time, many years back Dj'ing was created and from that day to today Dj'ing developed hugely, it developed with techniques, equipment, style, performance skills, software, music etc. The first few years when Dj'ing was created Dj's used equipment like vinyls to play the songs, they would have gaps between songs which was so different from how Dj'ing is performed in the modern days, in the modern days vinyl is hardly used and is not so simple to get and use, the modern Dj's use much more advanced decks that have mini vinyls on them and they have all sorts of specific software's on their laptops that helps them mix the songs into one another smoothly. In the olden days they would have two vinyl decks so if they would change songs they had to change the vinyl disk so it was much more manual in those days, now in the modern generation they have all the songs on the software and all they have to do is drag the songs into the right place and use the deck to mix the songs together smoothly.
Dj'ing also requires the right audience, because the audience need to enjoy the music the DJ is playing so a DJ could play for people that like house music or to other people that like pop/hip-hop music. Even though in most events or parties dj's tend to mix the genres to give dynamic to the set.
Start Of DJ:
In the year 1857 Leon Scott created a device called the Phonoautograph which was the first device to be able to record sound. After this a device called the Phonogaphic Cylinder was able to playback recorded sounds, this device was made by Thomas Edison. After this in 1906 there was a audio radio broadcast. At the year 1910 radio broadcasting was a normal part of life. In 1943 the first DJ party was thrown by Jimmy Savile, in this DJ party Jimmy Savile played jazz record for the guests. A few years after this DJ party happened Savile started using turntables so the music would play continuously, savile was the first man in DJ history to use turntables. So around this time this is where discoteque started happening and the first discoteque was opened in Paris in 1947.
1950's - 1960's:
In the 1950's in Kingston, Jamaica, promoters that called themselves DJ''s threw dance parties that were huge and these parties were in the streets, and the DJ''s would use huge PA systems to blast their tunes. Throughout the united states and Europe, discoteques were viral and were a big deal and everyone would get involved in one. The market got a new equipment which was known as the mixer and this mixer allowed DJ's to control their tunes. In 1969 Francis Grasso popularised beat matching and he would mix his songs so the dancing would never stop.
1970's - 1980's:
In 1973 DJ Kool Herc named himself the father of hip-hop and he would play jams at the huge block parties. DJ kool herc was the one that mixed two identical tracks together and at the same time, the technique was called 'break'. Around this time turntablism really grew in the DJ business and instead of DJ's picking songs and playing them they became artist's and musicians. They got influenced by other songs to create their own beats so people would enjoy. The disco era that came in 1970's was brought by hip-hop and electronic music being blended together. In 1975 the scratching technique was accidentally discovered by DJ Grand Wizard Theodore. Scratching is when the DJ moves the record up and down on the needle so it allows the sound to be warped.
House music was created in the 1980's at the warehouse club which was based in Chicago, house music was created by DJ's creating their own sound and experimenting. House music was disco inspired and also inspired by heavy electronic music. House music is a simple 4/4 beat which involves drum machines, samplers and a heavy bass line being used. Then a pure electronic noise known as techno was created by detroit. In 1985 theres was a huge event called the Winter Music Conference which involved all sorts of DJ's with all different styles coming together and comparing their techniques. From this event till now there is weekly ongoing parties which is known as the two day Ultra Music Festival which is held in miami.
1990's:
The scene in the early 1990's was raving and the choice of dance music was acid house. The popularity of these raves made DJ's famous and DJ's became well-known so they would have to perform/work in loads of different raves because raves became such a big deal and is now still an ongoing deal. At this time the equipment became more modern and digital so DJ's started using CD's and CD's became really popular and useful in the 1990's. The CD's helped with the creation of the MP3 format, another thing that developed was that electronic music transformed into other genres and new genres that were being made. Because of the huge development of equipment in time a new program was released this program was called Final Scrath this program allowed DJ's to use MP3 files on their turntables using special and more digital form of vinyl.
2000's:
In 2004 a program called serato was made and it hit the live stage. This program was made so DJ's could blend music together smoothly with MP3 formats. In 2006 the program had a mixer made for it so the process would be smoother. So now in the 2000's DJ's use MP3 formats on it's own and Djing is much more smoother with these programs and turntables, and vinyl disc became less used because of these programs being created to make the process for a DJ much easier. DJ's can still use Vinyls but it is expensive to get hold of them and harder then now in the 2000's.
In the new mixers created in the 2000's there is options to add effects and to change EQ'S which goes down to how the DJ want their set to sound like or how they want a specific song to sound like.
Here is an example of Old skills and how it used to sound like and the atmosphere of it.
This is DJ craze in 1999 you can see in the atmosphere and quality of this video that is was in the olden times only about 13 years ago but from 13 years ago a lot has changed and developed. You can see he is using the old techniques of djing by using 2 vinyls and on the vinyls you can see he put white stickers on them for his Que points and in middle of both of the vinyls there is a EQ desk to control the sound and quality of it and adding effects to the sound. You can see in this video how he is changing loads of different vinyl records to change song or to a different sound and spoken word. And you can hear which vinyl is being played by the way he is mixing it and with his techniques you can hear when he stops one track and the other track from the other vinyl is being played. This technique of djing looks much more complicated because of all the changes of vinyl records being made and when he scratches is when its going back to certain Que points etc. This DJ set sounds more like DJ craze showing off his techniques from the start slowly bringing in the beat then 2:50 he brings the beat in and uses a lot of scratching skills to make the warped sound and to stop the beat and bring it back in. With the EQ mixer in the middle of both vinyls you can see and hear in this video that it controls the volume and that is how some of the techniques he is showing is able to be used.
Here is an example of a DJ set in the modern days.
Here is the same DJ from the previous video DJ craze using traktor a program made for DJ's the difference from his other DJ performance is in this video you can see the mixer's are different, more digital and improved, there is a laptop where he has all the tracks loaded up and on the screen of the video you can see what is going on in the program, you can see he is using 2 of the same tracks but he set up the Que points in advance and set up the samples so he had an idea and a brief of what he wanted to achieve from the performance. He kept to his scratching but the scratching is not with vinyl is with the program tracktor which gives the same effect like vinyl. You can also see there are more buttons on the mixer on his right and our left and those buttons control the ques and overlaps the ques if set to either 1,2,4,6,8,16 or even to -1, -2 etc. When you set it to one of these settings of numbers it overlaps a certain point of the song your act and depending on the number you set it to it will overlap a short amount of the Que or a longer amount. In the middle there is the EQ mixer which did the same job like in the older performance but obviously more digital and easier to use.
There is one way to DJ but from the years it started with 2 vinyl records and a EQ mixer to a mixer with digital vinyls and EQ mixer and Que point mixer that comes with a program that is controlled with a laptop and on the laptop there is all your tracks. The difference between the two is with the vinyl techniques all the songs,samples, sounds were on separate vinyl records so the DJ's had to keep changing the records and put stickers on the records to know where their ques are. Now in the modern days through the years they created MP3 formats which could be transferred to a computer or laptop so now with a modern DJ they would load up all their tracks onto their laptop and they download a program then get a mixer that comes with the program so the mixer allows them to control their ques and EQ's, volume, effects, frequencies and had a digital version of vinyl so they could scratch and rewind and forward the tracks.
So if you would ask me i never experienced vinyl records but from learning from the 2 techniques i prefer the new modern DJ sets because it is more simple because of the tracks on the laptop all in one place safe and then using the mixer to change the EQ's and ques etc. So i would not want to use the vinyl technique because now a days it would be expensive to get all different songs on different vinyl records and having to change each record after another and finding the ques by putting stickers on the vinyl records to me that is too complicated. I strongly feel that Djing has become stronger and smoother because with the new programs and mixers the mixing through songs is smooth and controlled if known how to do it. But with the old techniques with vinyl's there would be a few stop and starts because of changing records all the time so it would not be as smooth. Also the quality would be better in the modern days because over the years equipment got stronger and better quality and the quality is still being improved now to this day. The life of a DJ is constantly improving and djing is well known and is very useful because of parties mostly but could be used for other events with music involved.
Bibliography:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall09/bein_k/history.html
http://wkcphilrobinson.blogspot.co.uk/
Dj'ing has been around for a long time, many years back Dj'ing was created and from that day to today Dj'ing developed hugely, it developed with techniques, equipment, style, performance skills, software, music etc. The first few years when Dj'ing was created Dj's used equipment like vinyls to play the songs, they would have gaps between songs which was so different from how Dj'ing is performed in the modern days, in the modern days vinyl is hardly used and is not so simple to get and use, the modern Dj's use much more advanced decks that have mini vinyls on them and they have all sorts of specific software's on their laptops that helps them mix the songs into one another smoothly. In the olden days they would have two vinyl decks so if they would change songs they had to change the vinyl disk so it was much more manual in those days, now in the modern generation they have all the songs on the software and all they have to do is drag the songs into the right place and use the deck to mix the songs together smoothly.
Dj'ing also requires the right audience, because the audience need to enjoy the music the DJ is playing so a DJ could play for people that like house music or to other people that like pop/hip-hop music. Even though in most events or parties dj's tend to mix the genres to give dynamic to the set.
Start Of DJ:
In the year 1857 Leon Scott created a device called the Phonoautograph which was the first device to be able to record sound. After this a device called the Phonogaphic Cylinder was able to playback recorded sounds, this device was made by Thomas Edison. After this in 1906 there was a audio radio broadcast. At the year 1910 radio broadcasting was a normal part of life. In 1943 the first DJ party was thrown by Jimmy Savile, in this DJ party Jimmy Savile played jazz record for the guests. A few years after this DJ party happened Savile started using turntables so the music would play continuously, savile was the first man in DJ history to use turntables. So around this time this is where discoteque started happening and the first discoteque was opened in Paris in 1947.
1950's - 1960's:
In the 1950's in Kingston, Jamaica, promoters that called themselves DJ''s threw dance parties that were huge and these parties were in the streets, and the DJ''s would use huge PA systems to blast their tunes. Throughout the united states and Europe, discoteques were viral and were a big deal and everyone would get involved in one. The market got a new equipment which was known as the mixer and this mixer allowed DJ's to control their tunes. In 1969 Francis Grasso popularised beat matching and he would mix his songs so the dancing would never stop.
1970's - 1980's:
In 1973 DJ Kool Herc named himself the father of hip-hop and he would play jams at the huge block parties. DJ kool herc was the one that mixed two identical tracks together and at the same time, the technique was called 'break'. Around this time turntablism really grew in the DJ business and instead of DJ's picking songs and playing them they became artist's and musicians. They got influenced by other songs to create their own beats so people would enjoy. The disco era that came in 1970's was brought by hip-hop and electronic music being blended together. In 1975 the scratching technique was accidentally discovered by DJ Grand Wizard Theodore. Scratching is when the DJ moves the record up and down on the needle so it allows the sound to be warped.
House music was created in the 1980's at the warehouse club which was based in Chicago, house music was created by DJ's creating their own sound and experimenting. House music was disco inspired and also inspired by heavy electronic music. House music is a simple 4/4 beat which involves drum machines, samplers and a heavy bass line being used. Then a pure electronic noise known as techno was created by detroit. In 1985 theres was a huge event called the Winter Music Conference which involved all sorts of DJ's with all different styles coming together and comparing their techniques. From this event till now there is weekly ongoing parties which is known as the two day Ultra Music Festival which is held in miami.
1990's:
The scene in the early 1990's was raving and the choice of dance music was acid house. The popularity of these raves made DJ's famous and DJ's became well-known so they would have to perform/work in loads of different raves because raves became such a big deal and is now still an ongoing deal. At this time the equipment became more modern and digital so DJ's started using CD's and CD's became really popular and useful in the 1990's. The CD's helped with the creation of the MP3 format, another thing that developed was that electronic music transformed into other genres and new genres that were being made. Because of the huge development of equipment in time a new program was released this program was called Final Scrath this program allowed DJ's to use MP3 files on their turntables using special and more digital form of vinyl.
2000's:
In 2004 a program called serato was made and it hit the live stage. This program was made so DJ's could blend music together smoothly with MP3 formats. In 2006 the program had a mixer made for it so the process would be smoother. So now in the 2000's DJ's use MP3 formats on it's own and Djing is much more smoother with these programs and turntables, and vinyl disc became less used because of these programs being created to make the process for a DJ much easier. DJ's can still use Vinyls but it is expensive to get hold of them and harder then now in the 2000's.
In the new mixers created in the 2000's there is options to add effects and to change EQ'S which goes down to how the DJ want their set to sound like or how they want a specific song to sound like.
Here is an example of Old skills and how it used to sound like and the atmosphere of it.
Here is an example of a DJ set in the modern days.
There is one way to DJ but from the years it started with 2 vinyl records and a EQ mixer to a mixer with digital vinyls and EQ mixer and Que point mixer that comes with a program that is controlled with a laptop and on the laptop there is all your tracks. The difference between the two is with the vinyl techniques all the songs,samples, sounds were on separate vinyl records so the DJ's had to keep changing the records and put stickers on the records to know where their ques are. Now in the modern days through the years they created MP3 formats which could be transferred to a computer or laptop so now with a modern DJ they would load up all their tracks onto their laptop and they download a program then get a mixer that comes with the program so the mixer allows them to control their ques and EQ's, volume, effects, frequencies and had a digital version of vinyl so they could scratch and rewind and forward the tracks.
So if you would ask me i never experienced vinyl records but from learning from the 2 techniques i prefer the new modern DJ sets because it is more simple because of the tracks on the laptop all in one place safe and then using the mixer to change the EQ's and ques etc. So i would not want to use the vinyl technique because now a days it would be expensive to get all different songs on different vinyl records and having to change each record after another and finding the ques by putting stickers on the vinyl records to me that is too complicated. I strongly feel that Djing has become stronger and smoother because with the new programs and mixers the mixing through songs is smooth and controlled if known how to do it. But with the old techniques with vinyl's there would be a few stop and starts because of changing records all the time so it would not be as smooth. Also the quality would be better in the modern days because over the years equipment got stronger and better quality and the quality is still being improved now to this day. The life of a DJ is constantly improving and djing is well known and is very useful because of parties mostly but could be used for other events with music involved.
Bibliography:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall09/bein_k/history.html
http://wkcphilrobinson.blogspot.co.uk/
Wednesday, 4 December 2013
S.M.A.R.T Targets
N20th November 2013 - Record a finished and mastered version of 'What You Gonna Do' by the end of the term. ASAP. (My end goal).
20th November 2013 - Gather a cast for music video for the song by end of this term.
20th November 2013 - Gather a cast for music video for the song by end of this term.
27th November 2013 - I did a session for what you gonna do and recorded it professionally and detailed so it is the best it could be. I had many producers helping and editing it. Now i have make a plan for the music video.
5th Febuary 2014 - My target now is to start getting the cast together and film my music video for what you gonna do. I am aiming to film it by the end of febuary.
5th Febuary 2014 - My target now is to start getting the cast together and film my music video for what you gonna do. I am aiming to film it by the end of febuary.
5th Febuary 2014 - For this month my target is to write a new song, with a lot of thought and effort. I have to consider changing up my style and not write the song sounding exactly like my old songs and have the same style as them. I have to change it up.
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Choosing Your Repertoire
For my solo repertoire i am dividing the repertoire into 3 sets, so in the future if i ever have to perform a 20 minuet set or perform less then 10 songs i could just choose from one of these 3 sets.
I balanced the program into 3 sets of 20 minuets so it would be easier for me to add up to 60 minuets of songs, and also by having 3 sets it gives me more variety and easier to look at.
For each set i have varied the tempo of the songs, the genre, the accompany and how the song would be played.
The way i balanced these sets is very straight forward and i made it simple for myself and suitable for my skills in performing. I have mixed up varieties in different genres, tempo and from someone either playing guitar or piano for me, to a full band to a backing track and to me accompanying myself.
I will talk through these 3 sets and every important aspects of them and why certain things are important and what i need to look out for.
SET 1:
1.Mama Do (Full Band) - UPBEAT, POP (2:00)
2.Blame It On The Boogie (Full Band) - Upbeat, DISCO,FUNK (2:41)
3.The Only Exception (Acoustic - Guitar) - SLOW, POP ROCK (4:25)
4.You Got The Love (Backing Track) - UPBEAT, INDIE ROCK (2:51)
5.Take A Breath (Original) (Piano) - SLOW,POP (2:24)
6.The Way You Make Me Feel (Acoustic) - UPBEAT, R&B (3:30)
7.Under The Bridge (Acoustic - Guitar) - UPBEAT, ROCK (3:19)
TOTAL: 19.9
'Mama Do': - I started set 1 with mama do because it is an upbeat song and it will give a upbeat, groovy atmosphere and in my opinion would get people interested because this song would allow me to be joyful, would give a smile on my face and hopefully would pass the atmosphere and mutual feeling to the audience, i would perform this set in front of students from college and most students are in there teenage years, and this song is very modern and well known so people will attract to the song and be interested to hear and see how the performance of the specific song choice would go and just have a natural interest to come and watch. I chose this song because I have had a lot of experience with singing it and i am very comfortable with the song and i feel it suits my vocal range. I decided to perform this song with a band because this song needs a drum beat to groove to, and other instrumental elements to make the song sound full and lively. For this song i would need a drummer (drum kit), bass player (bass guitar), pianist (keyboard), and the singer myself (Microphone). So to be able to perform this song successfully i would need to book rehearsal time in a suitable rehearsal space with the band and practice enough times to be able to be comfortable to perform as a band. I would need to print out the song chart with the chords and lyrics for the song and give to the band members in the band rehearsal so they can follow the song chart and get started quickly, if i would not think about printing out the song chart the band would waste a lot of time trying to get Internet to find the chords and lyrics and etc. I would need to find someone to sort out the sound system because this song is going to be performed as a band and we would need a sound engineer to make sure the drums, bass, piano and the vocals all can be heard and the equipment is all plugged in properly.
'Blame It On The Boogie': - as the previous song mama do is an upbeat song performed with a band i decided to carry on the upbeat and fun atmosphere with the band and perform 'blame it on the boogie', this song is a very well known song by michael jackson so once people hear this song playing after 'mama do' it will get them excited and make them want to stay and listen more and it would drag them into the performance. I chose this song because i find it fun to sing a long to and it is one of my favourite songs so i would show the love for the song in my performance and the joy i put through the performance. It also suits my vocal range, especially because this song hits high notes so it will show off my soprano vocal range. I decided to contrast from modern to the older days and change the genre from pop to disco,funk, but keep the upbeat tempo and even make the tempo faster because this song is faster in tempo then mama do. When i would rehearse as a band for 'mama do' i would also bring song charts for blame it on the boogie so we all as a band can practice them both and practice flowing from mama do to blame it on the boogie. We would need the same instruments but also adding a synthesiser keyboard to add the effects added in the actual song, but it does not have to sound identical. The sound engineer would be doing the same job as for the previous song. So for rehearsals the sound engineer would need to be there so they know what sound the band wants.
This is how i would want 'Blame it on the boogie' to sound like.
'The Only Exception': - i decided to choose this song next because i want to calm things down and slow it down from the funky groove, and bring it back to the modern 2000's and take away the band and just have a guitarist playing for me, this gives a big dynamic and contrast change to the performance because i just finished performing with a full band a full on funk song so then if i perform this calm slow rock song it will calm people down and show a different side to me, because i want to show different sides of me and that i am able to perform slow songs and fast songs and different genre songs. This song is pop rock and is originally played with guitar, simple drums in certain bits and some sort of synth or instrument from a electric keyboard. But i wanted to make it acoustic and simple and use a guitar and i found a guitar version i would want my guitarist to play the song similar to. I also chose this song because the melody the girl singer is singing in this song really suits my voice because my voice is thin and my range is soprano so the singer is similar to mine and i thought i would give it a try and i also really like this song, i like the instrumental i have a special groove to it, the lyrics in the song is telling a story and i can relate to them in some bits of the song so because i relate to the lyrics and i like the melody it will come out in the performance and the emotion would come through in my voice, my face and my general performance, and emotion is very important in a performance.
I would need to print out the song chart with the chords for myself and the guitarist and arrange rehearsal times and a rehearsal space for me and the guitarist to practice and make sure it is perfect. I would need at least 1 week of practice before the performance and depending on the guitarist and their timing 2 weeks but it all depends on when me and the guitarist are available.
I would need a sound engineer to put reverb on microphone, and to sort out the guitar and connect the guitar to the amps and make sure we blend in together and no one is louder then the other.
This is the guitar version of the song i would like the guitarist to play similar to:
'You Got The Love': So now that i relaxed the mood i decided to bring the groove back and perform with a backing track 'you got the love', this is a cover of a old song that was released but i like this version. This song is indie rock so i changed the genre again from the previous song which was pop rock, both rock but have a different groove and atmosphere to their songs. This song is upbeat so i decided to liven things up after i perform the slow song. I chose this song because it is a very catchy and well known song that has been in the charts so everyone would know it, I also chose this song because the melody is in a soprano range and i am able to sing it and show off my range, towards the end of the song the singer belts and that would show off my skills in singing and show i can belt out really high notes and usually when singers sing high notes and belt out people find that amusing and good. I also chose this song because it has a good groove and as an artist i like to groove on stage and move around the stage and have fun on stage in the sense of dancing or moving about so this song could allow me to do that, but to a certain extent.
I am going to use a backing track for this song and that shows variety in my technical side of performance because so far i am using a full band, guitarist and now a backing track it shows i can perform with different accompaniment's. The good thing about using a backing track i can practise is in my own time everyday before the show but i need to make sure i have it on a usb or my laptop to connect to the sound system so on the performance i would just press play but before the performance i would have a sound check with my sound engineer and make sure the backing track is even with my vocals through the microphone and this is why i need to make sure i have a trust worthy sound engineer where the sound engineer will known what sounds good, so in advance i need to find a sound engineer to work for my performance and before the performance he will get to know the sounds i like and the way i like everything and what i am comfortable with.
This is the backing track i will be using:
'Take A Breath' (Original): the next song i decided to come after this upbeat song is my original song, which is slow and has a lot of meaning and emotion to it, i would get someone to play piano for me, because this song is a slow piano song, so once again i have changed a lot of variety in the speed and accompaniment. I chose this song because the lyrics in the song has a lot of meaning to me and i really get into the song when i perform it and to share it with the audience who i know can relate to this song, i wrote this song to inspire people and to lift their moods if they get what the song is about then it would definitely lift their mood. Because it is my original song it suits my voice because i made the melody while i wrote it so naturally it suits me because it is my song and i wrote it to suit my comfort.
Because it is a piano song and i need a experience pianist i would need to arrange a lot of practise time before the performance because one of the chords in the song is quite complicated and when i once gave a pianist to play it he did not like the certain chord and took him a few times to practise to get used to. So i would need a lot of practise time with the pianist also for the speed of the song.
For the performance i would need a keyboard and a microphone and probably a song chart so the pianist can follow just incase they forget the chords and forget the structure of the song. I would need a sound engineer to balance the keyboard and my voice from the microphone.
'The Way You Make Me Feel': So now i decided to speed things up in the set and bring the olden days 80's back, i decided to do this upbeat, feel good song by michael jackson but an acoustic version, a guitar version with 2 guitars and a simple drum beat. I chose this song because it is one of my favourite songs by michael jackson, i can relate to the lyrics and i love to dance to it and groove to it, so when i perform it i will be confident and have a smile on my face, get people clapping and grooving with me, it is a very groovy song that a lot of people are fond of because this song became a hit and i do not know one person who did not like this song. I also chose this song because the melody is in soprano and there is a lot of belting out notes so i would show of my vocal range a lot in this song, and also this song would just pick up the sad and emotional song and make the mood brighter and the atmosphere brighter and people would really relate to this song because most people love it and would groove to it.
I would need 2 guitarist's, a drummer and a lot of practise time because the guitarist's need to get the exact groove i need and the right rhythm,and the drummer would need to keep the rhythm going and also because the 2 guitars harmonise with each other i would show the guitarist's and the drummer the video i want them to relate to and try to play similar to and print us song charts with lyrics and chords so we know the structure and be able to follow each other.
On the performance i would need 2 guitar's, drums and a microphone and the sound engineer would need to balance the guitar's and vocals And importantly make sure the guitar's are not distorted.
This is the version i want to do:
'Under The Bridge': so i decided to keep the same paste going but change the genre and the feel of the atmosphere and performance, this song is a rock song and is a very calm upbeat song, i would need a guitarist to play for me because only a guitar would suit best for this song in my interest and opinion. I chose this song because i can relate to the lyrics and the lyrics have a good story to tell and i can really relate to the story, also the melody is mixed with normal mid range then goes soprano range so it will show of my vocals from all different ranges. I would need a guitarist and 2 weeks advance of practise to get the rhythm right and the right groove going, to get the right pitch i want so i can sing it where it comfortable and is not to high or low for my range, so it is exact right. I would bring printed song charts to the rehearsals so we both know the structure i want and be able to follow each other.
On the performance i would need a guitar and a microphone, the sound engineer would need to do the same simple job and make sure both the guitar and vocals are balanced and sound even and smooth. I also chose this song because this is my last song and you need a good feel good song and a song to show of your skills and just a good song with a lot of confidence.
This is the version i am going to do:
SET 2:
8.Hopelessly Devoted To You (Backing Track) - Slow, Pop (3:06)
9.What You Gonna Do (Original) (Backing Track) - MIDDLE, POP (3:00)
10.No One (Full Band) - Upbeat, R&B (4:00)
11.Poker Face (Piano) - UPBEAT, POP (2:40)
12.Get Me Out Of This Misery - (Guitar) - Slow, POP. (2:51)
13.Silly Boy - (Guitar) - Upbeat, ELECTRO (3.26)
14.Don't You Worry Child - (Backing Track) - Upbeat House (2:35)
TOTAL: 20:58
'Hopelessly Devoted To You': So i ended set 1 with under the bridge a rock mellow song. To start my second set i chose the song 'Hopelessly Devoted To You', from set 1 i started with a full band pop cover of 'mama do', so i decided to start my second set with a backing track and a musical film song which was based in the 70's, this song is a slow emotional song from the musical Grease a hugely well known movie which involves musical numbers including this song. In this song the girl is singing about getting her heart broken by the guy she likes and how she cannot help but fall in love with him and she cannot let go, also how embarrassed she is because the guy has pushed her love aside and treated her like dirt. I chose this song because it suits my vocal range hugely and suits my specific tone in singing, this song has very high notes that people tend to feel are hard to hit so i like to give myself a challenge and show people how good i am and show people that i can do such a tricky song, it is not that tricky but the high notes the women sings not everyone can hit them. I have had a lot of experience with singing this song so i am 100% comfortable with singing this song, i have no worries and the performance will come out comfortably, i just have to practise the tricky notes and make sure i will not fail on the performance. I also chose this song because of the lyrics the character in the movie is singing, every girl can relate to what this women is talking about in this song in the specific scene in the movie, so again i would show a lot of emotion and confidence. I chose to start this set of with this song because it is different and not from the modern days music so it would get peoples attention and because it is a well known song they would want to see if i do a good job in singing the song.
I would need to download a backing track and practise with the same backing track every day and make sure i have access to the backing track in easy places where i could connect to the sound system at the performance. I would need the backing track on a USB or laptop, on this case i would have the backing track on my laptop, all my backing tracks will be kept on my laptop, so on the day of my performance i would have to remember my laptop, connect a jack lead to the sound system and press play. Although i would need my sound engineer to make sure the sound from the laptop will come out of the main speakers and that the backing track and vocals through the microphone will be even and the backing track will not be louder then the vocals or the other way round.
'What You Gonna Do' (Original): The song i decided to follow onto after the grease song is my original song, this song is in a medium speed and i will be using a backing track to represent the song. The song is originally a piano song but i found it too simple so i got a producer to produce the song and make it sound fuller and liver and in the performance it will give a strong and full sound and effect. This song is about drugs and how people think their cool by doing drugs when they are throwing their life away and making mistakes and etc. This song is very emotional and has a very strong meaning to the song so this is why i am using a backing track to make the song sound strong and full. I also chose to use a backing track because i wanted to keep the same level of tech from the first grease song, because after this song i will change the accompaniment and show variety like i am doing with all my sets. I also chose this song because the melody in this song is very varied and changes pitch and range all the time and the way i wrote it i made it sound very interesting and not a simple straight line of melody, so this allows me to show off my variety of skills to be able to change from one pitch to another quickly and change from high to low, i also added some riffs and unique add libs so this song will hugely show off my vocal skills and ranges. Because this song is being used after grease i would not need to change any setting just click on the track on my laptop, and i would just have to trust my sound engineer to change the volumes and frequency's to make the song and performance sound good. I would need to practise with the exact same backing track and make sure i am following the timing of the track so then i would get used to it and it will go naturally in the performance. Because this song has a very high pitched note in the chorus i would need to practise to sing those high notes away from the microphone because when you sing high belted notes to the microphone it would create a horrible distorted, forced sound so i would need to practise with maybe a microphone or a bottle, to basically make a action routine and work out where to go and how to move when i sing certain notes, like learning a dance.
'No One': So now that i have performed 2 backing track pieces i will move away from that and bring back the full band and perform a different genre i have not performed yet, an 'R&B' song and a very well known song that was a big hit in the charts and is by a very huge and well known artist, the song is very well known and i'm sure people would be very happy to hear the intro for the song and probably start singing a long with me, and performing as a full band would just make a very lively and happy atmosphere. I chose this song because again the lyrics really touch me and i can really relate to the lyrics when i sing to it, the song has high pitched notes which i could hit comfortably and because there is high pitched notes and the lyrics are really emotional and strong, by belting out these big notes while singing these lyrics, there would be a very strong emotion and confidence going through the song and the power of my voice and pain, even though this song is half happy and half emotional. To be able to get a succesful lively, full and strong atmosphere and sound with the full band, the full band would need to have rehearsal time very often and very few times so the whole band gets used to it and because of all the practice the band would trust each other and get used to each other and the song would come out natural, strong and confident. For rehearsal's with the full band i would need to print out song charts with the lyrics and chords and the specific structure because we might want to change it and we would need to follow the song chart so the whole band is on the same page and everyone is fully comfortable and knows what their doing. On these song charts i would highlight who in the band is doing what so it would avoid to many questions and waste time.
On the day of the performance the band would need a soundcheck with the sound engineer to make sure everything is evened out and everything sounds like how we want to sound, and give the sound engineer infortamtion about how the band wants to have a strong and full atmosphere and sound. We would need a keyboard, drum set, microphone, synthesiser, bass guitar. We would need the right amps and wires to be able to connect all this equipment.
This is the backing track i would want to follow with the band and try to make our version sound like this:
'Poker Face': So now that we have played a calm and upbeat song, i have decided to now calm things down but keep the same speed of song but play an acoustic piano version of poker face by lady gaga. This song is fairly upbeat but has a very different and unique feel. I chose this song because i like how lady gaga has made a original electro simple song into an acoustic and more complicated song but still has that upbeat feel to it. I generally do not understand what lady gaga is talking about, but i like the melody of the song and i like the way in this version of the song it starts all low and then for the pre chorus gets higher, then to the chorus belted notes. I like the way it varies and goes from low to high and does not just stay on one level. I also chose this song because i am confident with how i sing it and i am confident with my range being able to reach the standards in this song. I would need to practice a lot with my pianist and make sure the pianist gets the same groove and rhythm as lady gaga is playing. I would have to print us both song charts with the structure, lyrics and chords.
At the performance we would both need a keyboard or grand piano, and a microphone and a sound engineer to balance everything out.
This is the version i would want to work with but shorten it because of the amount of time i have:
'Get Me Out Of This Misery' (Original): Now for my next song i decided to bring the tempo down, slow things down and show of my original song. I only know how to play piano so all my songs are piano songs but i want to experiment and get a guitarist to play this song. I chose this song because this song is very meaningful and relates to everyone and when i wrote this song i was in a very emotional place and i just have a very special feeling to this song that i don't have with my other songs. So i chose this song because i want to share it with my audience and i know my audience would relate to the song because the audience are teenagers and teenager have all felt like way i have felt, well obviously not everyone. I would need a lot of practice with the guitar player because this song cannot be ruined and has to be performed perfectly and with a god feeling, so i would get the song chart for both of us, with the lyrics and chords and care fully go over every detail and make sure the guitar knows what feeling i want for the song with the guitar. At the performance we would both need a acoustic guitar and a microphone and a sound engineer to make the magic happen and make the sound sound beautiful.
'Silly Boy': This song is not every known so this is why i chose the song to be different and stand out and not do what everyone else is doing. The previous song was emotional and slow but this song is emotional but way more upbeat and has a different feel to it. i chose this song because the lyrics is a good way to tell a guy its stupid to mess with a girl and how its their loss for letting the girl go because they would not find another. I want a guitarist to play this for me even though this song is originally a electro synesiser song. Because in the previous song were using a guitar i like to stay there for one more song and carry on that atmosphere for the guitar, but only just change the tempo and feel. To be able to pull this off i would need a lot of practice with the guitar, because the timing is different and needs to be looked at in order to nail the way the version of this song is being played. In rehearsals we would need a guitar and a song chart to follow each other and keep on the same track. As for the same for other songs the sound engineer would need to balance the guitar and microphone and i would need to trust he will make sure it all sounds decent.
'Don't You Worry Child': So now were slowing down but also using a song that is originally a house upbeat song which is very well known. I am going to use a backing track because there is only a backing track of exactly the version i want of the song. I chose this song because it is a big hit, it is a very nice song to sing and is a perfect song to end the set because it is a big hit which everyone knows about. I also chose this song because of the range of the melody and because i love the delicate piano backing track i found of the song. I would simply have to practice with a backing track and on this performance of the set just walk to the laptop and press play, and i would have to trust the sound engineer to make sure the right equipment is being heard and everything is balanced out.
Here is the version i found:
SET 3:
14.Fields Of Gold (Guitar + Electric Guitar) - Slow, (1.35)
15.Back Stronger (Original) (Piano) - Middle Tempo (3:35)
16.Black Parade - (Full Band) - Upbeat, Rock (5:10)
17.Girl On Fire - (Backing Track) - Upbeat, (3:48)
18.Keep On Believing - (Backing Track) - Middle Tempo (3:30)
19.I Turn To You - (Guitar) - Slow (4:05)
TOTAL: 21:03
'Fields Of Gold': i decided to start the third set with a simple intro to show off my tone and range of my voice. I will cut it short because i just want it to be an intro and to show off my vocal range and tone of my vocals. I would make this a guitar piece because this song is played with a acoustic guitar. I would need to practice for a week before the performance with the guitarist even though it is short and very simple and not something hard to play. I would have to provide the rhythm i am looking to perform in and the song chart with the lyrics and chords. In the performance i would need an acoustic guitar, sound engineer and microphone.
This is the version:
'Back Stronger': After the short intro i decided to move on to my original song, but this song i would acompany myself but problem is i only like to play this song on a grand piano, so if i was to pick this set i would have to make sure there is a grant piano in the room or venue of the performance. This song is in a moderate speed to kinds of speeds up after the intro because the intro is slow. I chose this song because i play the piano very good with this song and i can sing at the same time, so this would show i am very skillfull and i can multy task. So this will show my skillfull side and hopefully would impress people. Because i am acompaning myself i would need to practice a huge amount so i do not make any mistake at the performance and hesitate. At the performance i would either have to use a keyboard or if im lucky a grand piano. But if i play with the grand piano i would desperatly need my sound engineer to place the mircrophone in a secure and comfortable place where i could play piano and sing at the same time. Because with the grand piano there is no space for the microphone stand to be put infront just at the side so you have to take some time to adjust it. But with a keyboard the keyboard is smalls so you can just put the microphone stand infront of the keyboard and the job would be done easily and you would be able to sing comfortably.
'Black Parade': I would then speed things up and rock things up by playing this song with a band, from the previous song, this song is a very strong, powerful song so i would need a full band to help me full fill that success. This is why myself and the full band would need an awfully lot of practise time to make this song work. I chose this song because this song has an awfully lot of changes in the song and the changes has a very big effective strong impact in the song, these changes are in speed, melody and everything you can think off so i would really experiment myself and gain me a new experience and technique. I also chose this song because of the range in this song, i have a high range and i love to belt out notes and this song has a perfect example of belting out and showing a lot of high notes. The full band would need to look up the instrumental of this song i have in mind and really explore it. But in rehearsals we would most defanent need song charts because the structure of this song changes so much. In this song we would need a electric guitar, piano keyboard, drums, bass guitar, syhnesiser.
'Girl On Fire': For the next song i decided to slow things down and change style from rock to R&B/pop, this song is very delicate and soft and i chose this song because of the range of the melody is very high and suits my voice and tone. I like to sing a lot of songs to show off my high vocal range. This song i will perform with a backing track so after all the madness with the full band from this crazy and strong rock song i will just go and press play on my laptop and calm down the atmosphere and mood. The preperation i would need is to learn the lyrics and practice with the backing track to get used the rhythm of the backing track. And like usual i would have to trust my sound engineer to balance the backing track and the vocals.
'Keep On Believing': I then decided to slow it even more down and keep the backing track flow and perform my original song with a backing track so there would not be a lot of change only, because i announce it is an original song it will attract people and make them wonder how the song will go. i chose this song because it is a very uplifting song and it is towards the end of the set so it is a good song to go towards the end to lift the mood and inspire people.
'I Turn To You': To end the set i decided to pick a very tricky song and end the set with an amazement, this song is a christina aguilera song and most her songs are very tricky and involve very high belted notes. So that is why i chose this song to show of my vocal range and be able to show that i have enough vocal range to be able to sing a christina aguilera. This song would be the most to remember so people would be talking and would be amazed, but only if i succeed with the song. I want to do a guitar version of it because this song is a piano song so changing it up will make it different and unique and looks like i made a lot of effort and people would be impressed and even more interested to watch. In the performance i would need an acoustic guitar and an sound engineer, because this is a very challenging song and the quality of the sound the balance of the sound needs to be on point.
TOTAL OF 61:51
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