Tech Logs

What is it? - RC - 50 Loop Pedal

How Have You Been Using It?

Recording different sounds and phrases to create a full song and a full sound. Laying sounds on top of phrases like a drum beat, main vocal and harmonies and other unique sounds. So we would record a beat boxer performing a kick drum, then some unique beat boxing sounds. Then i would add some ooo's and add libs and then the beat boxer would harmonise with me.

What are the limitations?

The tempo has to be set and once the tempo is set you cannot change the tempo the tempo has to be the same and you have to follow that tempo. Because of this is limits you from changing tempo or trying to experiment with tempo.

How could you use it effectively in performance?

As a guitarist that sings with the guitar, you can record certain phrases with the guitar. you would strum then use the guitar to create a simple drum beat to keep you in time and then you can add some add libs with the vocals and when you start over lapping with guitar sounds and vocals you can then start singing the melody. This gives a full band effect when you over lap with all these sounds it actually sounds like a full band playing but you just recorded everything with your vocals and guitar.

Can you think of any examples of it being used already by other performers?

What is it? Roland GAIA SH-01 Synthesizer

How Have You Been Using It?

The GAIA is a good substitute for a bass, I use the GAIA a lot in most of my songs! In my upbeat electro pop song 'I Want You Here With Me' we used the GAIA to  substitute the bass, the GAIA gave the song a full and heavy sounding sub-bass. The GAIA is a good instrument to use for a techno song, electro song, dance song all genres that have a heavy bass and upbeat feel to them. Because these genres have a lot of heavy bass and heavy synths constantly playing through the song. So if you would want to cover a somg like that the GAIA would give you that strong and heavy bass and strong heavy synth. It would sound a lot like the synths and bass used in these type of songs. The GAIA can be used in other genres of songs as well for synth or bass And in the past year of performing the GAIA has always been turned to if someone needs bass but dont have a bass player they would play it on the GAIA.

What are the Limitations?

One huge limitation with the GAIA is there is so many different settings you can apply to the GAIA to create a specific sound. If you leave the GAIA and someone else uses it! It would be very hard to find the settings you created before because you have to search and play through different settings, turning everything on and off. 

Another limitation is the GAIA is very small and has limited amount if keys so you cant play the GAIA like you would play a piano or keyboard. 

Another limitation is it is a digital instrument so its not human and full of life like a piano, piano has hammers and strings and has a lot of dynamics and the pedals are what give the piano dymamics. So completely opposite to the piano the GAIA is digital and is lifeless because it is all done digitaly and you can hear it sounds limited and not so dynamic.

How could you use it effectively in a performance?

You can use the GAIA effectively in a performance as a strong and heavy bass and to make a synth dance tune sound. So if you decided to cover a dance song for a performance the GAIA would be effective because it would re-create the synth melody of the specific track. The GAIA is effective for a replacement bass, whenever a band does not have a bass player someone who knows how to play the bass plays the bass part on the GAIA. Another reason why the GAIA is a effective in a performance is because it gives a very strong, loud, crunchy and effective bass or synth sound, you can use the GAIA for either a bass or a synth. 

Solo Performance Recording

Solo Performance Recording

The first thing we did to set up for darlene's performance was asking what darlene needed. Darlene needed an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, microphone and a backing track.
We did not only have to make the instruments work for the audience to hear in good quality from the speakers, we also had to make the instruments record in logic as if we were recording for a film backing track or album. So the first thing we did was set up the instruments so the audience could hear it from the speakers.
We set up the microphone on a microphone stand, we then got a lead to connect from the microphone  that then connected to the stage box. The stage box was already set up so all we had to do is connect the lead to the input we wanted. We simply connect the dynamic microphone for darlenes vocals in input 1. After that was finished we got the Acoustic guitar connected a lead from the guitar amp to the guitar so it came out through the amp to give a loud and good quality sound. After that we got the DI box connected a lead from the guitar that connected into the input of the guitar and another lead to connect from the output of the DI box to the stage box. After we connected a lead from the amp for the electric guitar to the electric guitar for the audience to hear and then we connected a microphone from the microphone to the stage box which we put in front of the electric guitar amp. The backing track was the last thing to do because it was the easiest thing because all we had to do is connect a jack lead from the mixing desk and the backing track darlene had to apply by either giving us her device so we could connect to the jack lead or she could give us a CD or a USB which we would connect to the laptop connected to the Mixing desk.
So after we set everything up we just had to sort things out on logic so we could record the performance.
First thing on logic we opened a new file and enableing the audio button before you start working on logic, you enable the audio button because we are recording in audio files. After that we made 4 tracks on logic:
1. Acoustic guitar
2. Electric guitar
3. Microphone
4. Backing track.
After that we set the inputs on each track so the acoustic guitar was for input 2 because we put it in input 2 on the stage box, the input on the microphone was input 1 because thats the input we put on the stage box, The electric guitar was input 3 because we put that input on the stage box. The stage box is connected to the mixing desk which is connected to the computer with logic on it.
Once we set up all the inputs the backing track input was already set up to input 15-16 because of how it has been since they set up the laptop and the jack lead to the mixing desk. The instruments had to be on mono output and the backing track had to be on stereo for us able to record it and hear it from logic. We also had to arm the track by clicking all the r buttons on the seperate tracks so we could record it all together all at once.
The last thing we had to do is set things up on the mixing desk for the acoustic guitar to work on logic we had to click the phantom power which is a button that has 48 and a drawing next to it we had to enable this because the DI box only works with phantom power. Then we had to turn up the gain on the mixing desk for logic to be able to hear it and record it on logic. And for the sound to go good and loud in the room we had to control the levels but that does not control anything on logic.
We pressed record and everything recorded fairly good. I think we came out with good results.

Solo Performance 1 Evaluation

In my opinion i thought my first 20 minuet solo performance could of gone much better then it did, there was a lot of things that did not go well and this is because i needed more planning out and more practise. In order for a variety of a 20 minuet performance to work is if you plan it out with the right amount of period of time, choose songs that you think you can handle in the performance and will not be a huge risk or a problem in the performance. This solo performance should define you as a artist and a performer and this performance gives you a chance to show off everything you have to give and giving some risks and trying new stuff, but if the risks are too risky to the point when you get to the performance you get nervous and do not perform full out, make a few mistakes or many mistakes then it will ruin the performance and look very unprofessional because it will look like you were not prepared. This solo performance should show confidence and preparation, all your skills, your personality through the performance and the songs you perform. To be able to achieve all these things in a performance you need a lot of rehearsal and preparation.

To start of my preparation i made a full list of songs i would like to perform and that i would be able to perform, i try out each song whether it is my own song or a cover, if i like the song and i think i am able to perform it then i keep it on the list, if i was not happy with a song i take it off the list, so i then keep trimming the list till i have songs that could be a possible add up to 20 minuets. When i have my final songs it is not always the final songs that i will definitely be performing, throughout my preparation time new songs come up to my head, people suggest me songs and i keep changing the songs, but i give myself a strict amount of time to choose the songs so i could then start working on the songs and perfect them. For this 20 minuet performance i chose a few covers and a few of my own songs. I wanted to have a variety and have people accompanying me with either a guitar or a piano or a full band. I knew i could not do a full band song because people were not available and there was not enough time. I got caitlyn to play the guitar for me for one of my songs, we had a chance to practise and sort it out, but when i tried to book more rehearsal time she was not available so we could not practise enough. I then tried to get garnett or andre to play piano for me but they could not as well so i then tried to do everything myself, i am a beginner at the piano and i can do simple chords but i cannot sing and play the piano at the same time, this would make my performance look weak but i took a risk, i felt like it did not go well i made a few mistakes and i made it too short because i was so nervous. Caitlyn was sick and could not come in so i had to leave the song out, but because this happened i did not know what to do i did not prepare anything else in case so i tried my best to take my time with the songs i already prepared but it still did not reach the full time, i started to freeze and my mood just died in the performance. Now i learnt how much preparation i need and how much socialising i need with other people to be able to have an accompanist. The song i practise with caitlyn i still am very keen to perform for the next performance so this time i have to socialise so much till we both actually meet up and rehearse, if she is not able to rehearse with me i will try to find someone else to play it for me.

Most of the songs i picked for the previous 20 minuet performance were mostly backing tracks, but i made a variety between them because one song was a musical theatre ballad, the song after it was upbeat, then i brought the tempo down and changed genre of music, then i performed my own song with a backing track, then i went to the grand piano and played my own song then i went back to a backing track to perform a slow electro song, but then when i realised the song with caitlyn was about to be performed i started getting really nervous and i froze and i just ended the performance in a very messy and unprofessional way. To prepare these chose songs which were:

1. Hopelessly Devoted To You (Musical theatre, backing track).
2. What You Gonna Do (Original, Backing Track).
3. Part Of Your World (Disney, Backing Track).
4. Back Stronger (Original Song, Played on grand piano).
5. Silly Boy (Pop/Electro Accompanist Guitar)
6. Don't You Worry Child (Electro, Piano Cover Backing track)

To prepare for Hopelessly devoted to you, i just need to perfect what i was singing because this song i have been singing since i was very young so it was very known to me and i knew the song from the back of my head, and that is why i chose it because i knew it so well and i was very comfortable with it. I had to rehearse my breathing in this song and how i was going to sing it the best i could, i worked on it with my singing teacher and we really broke it down. In this song when it gets to the big notes i halfly belted out and halfly sang with falsetto. In the performance it went very well but could of been better in the performance side and in the chorus because i was holding back. So for this song all the preparation i needed was to rehearse it lots of times.

With the second song which is my first original song that i have written, i usually perform it on the piano but i was not comfortable with that and i got it on a backing track in time for the performance, it went really well in my opinion, it was a song a knew, i performed it to my fullest because it was on a backing track and i could sing it with freedom and expression without worrying about the piano. So the preparation for this song would be the same as the first one, just rehearse the song a lot amount of times and perfect how i sing it.

The third song is another song i have been singing since i was a very young girl, but the difference with this song it is a song that has acting in it and is telling a story, so i had to make sure i had the right expression down and i was performing it the right way with the right expression. Preparation for this song is to know how i will sing it with a microphone because i am moving around and using expression i had to rehearse how i would position myself in front of the microphone.

Back stronger my original song on the piano went really well but i was not performing to my full extend because i was too worried about the piano, this song could of been one of my risks even though i rehearsed this song at home many times with my keyboard and also at the piano in college, but to be able to sing and play piano at the same time, it is a lot of training i have to risk in my own time and get the piano mastered and singing mastered and practise how to put them together. Once i master the both i will be able to achieve a good performance on the piano and me singing at the same time. Another problem i remember was the microphone was not set properly because i was rushing the performance because i was so nervous and i was not 100% sure how to position the microphone so this is why i need to master the piano and be comfortable with it before i perform it. It is good to practise and take on a challenge but you can see that i am very weak at the piano and I'm holding backs with my vocals and very unsure of what to do. Because i rehearsed the song in advance on the piano, i did not mess up too badly, it came across and looked like i prepared which is the pros of this song in the 20 minuet performance.

Silly boy was the song i could not perform so i kind of froze and went on to the other song with the backing track.

With the last song i mixed up the lyrics and nearly forgot the lyrics but i improvised and it looked like part of the performance, this should not be happening i should of gone over the lyrics more when i rehearsed it. Because when i rehearse i usually rehearse with the lyrics in front of me but i should of gone away from that and practised more times without the lyrics in front of me. It is a habit i got into which i should not be doing as a performer.

So i learnt from this previous solo performance how much rehearsal i need to put and how much specific things like practising with a microphone, getting timing right with the backing track and using a good quality backing track.

For my next performance i am going to choose songs that really define me as a artist and that i am really comfortable, i will rehearse every day, prepare exactly how i am going to do the songs, how i will use the microphone, create a mood and a expression to carry out through the song, show confidence and by learning the lyrics and going over the songs without looking at the lyrics in front of me, i will know the song and will not have to think about the lyrics, the only thing i would have to concentrate on is my breathing and the way i sing and the notes i will have to hit, but a performance should be relaxed and smooth so by preparing bit by bit of a song and a song that is truly going to show off my techniques and personality as a performer then the performance will go well.
I will book rehearsal time with caitlyn and be very forward and make sure the rehearsals happen, if it does not work out i will look for someone else to take place. Another thing i would have to rehearse is using the equipment i will be using in the actual performance, getting to know the equipment so i can set up very quickly in the performance, i literally have to be confident with everything in the performance, performing the song, setting up, introducing myself,  talking to the audience to connect with them and make them feel apart of the performance.