Week 1

The theme this week was Polly Rhythms which are rhythm’s which make use of two or more different rhythms simultaneously, and Polly Metres which is more or less the same thing but uses different time signatures which overlap each other. In music theory, we watched a couple of different interpretations of polly rhythms, this Inspired me to do some more research because I thought that It was interesting how different countries and cultures view polyrhythms I found theses videos:

Both videos are very different from each other but both are examples of polyrhythms, one video shows the use of polyrhythms purely by instrument, the other shows an example of vocal polyrhythms.

On Wednesday we had our first Music Tech lesson in which we all had a mini studio competence task In which I took some notes :

Line input for jack leads
Signal from mic input goes up into the mixing desk and then you set levels e.g gain and bass
Db (decibel)- measurement of sound
When mic goes into red it goes over 0 Db
Should be peaking at 3 db (decent level)
48 v = phantom power (for dynamic mics, condenser mics, DI’s ect...
Busses are channels

We were then asked to get into groups and create some polyrhythm inspired music to record in the studio.

My group decided to experiment with different percussion instruments to create an interesting polyrhythmic piece. We and then we added a little vocal line on top.

Unfortunately we lost the logic project that we recorded our piece on but I did take a sneaky voice memo just before we took it into the studio. In this Audio you can hear us lose syncopation with each other, we fixed this by recording to click.

Week 2

This week we started to look at different Microphones in Music Tech, we learnt that there are two types of microphones, dynamic mics and condenser mics. Condenser mics need 48v (phantom power) in order to work but dynamic mics are powered by sound waves (kinetic energy) which is picked up from the diaphragm. Many microphones that have a shaped response are less sensitive to low frequencies, which reduces the pickup of both handling noise and the rumble from the stage when the mic is mounted on a stand. A shaped response microphone also typically has a boost in the upper mid-range, usually between 3,000 and 6,000 Hz.

notes made in class-

Pick up patterns- polar patterns range where the mics will pick up the sound waves.

Different mics have different frequency responses, the lowest you can hear is 20hz and the highest is 2000khz. A shure sm58 mic pics up 50hz- 15khz and is used only for vocals.

Cardioid microphones are mics that pick up sound in almost a heart shaped form, hyper cardioid mics have a thin range, they only pick up what is in front of them to avoid spill, they are especially good for picking up a hi-hat on a drum kit.

Omni microphones pick up the sound around it which is why musicians call them room mics, they are good for picking up the overall sound of what you might be recording.

Figure of 8 microphones pick up both sides of the mic and is usually used for backing singers.

With dynamic microphones there is something called a proximities effect which means if you sing really close to the mic it picks up the low end of your vocal which creates a more rounded bass sound mics such as the shure sm58 have this effect.

Condenser microphones will sometimes have a pad which reduces the level of sound coming into the microphone.

When you use a condenser microphone it is important to also use a pop shield to stop your P’s and B’s popping. Dynamic mics already have a foam shield on them.

Our next task as a class was to set up and record a drum kit. We were each given a channel number and a mic and set up. I was given input 4 and mic for a hi- hat. I instantly knew I needed to retrieve a cardioid condenser microphone, one XLR, and mini XLR.

After setting up my mic I added a channel and sent it to input 4 then made sure it was coming through on the desk, we then as a class checked the levels of each drum and cymbal we miked up on the kit.

This task was really beneficial to me as I had never set up a drum kit to be recorded in the studio before and was really proud that I was able to successfully do it. As a class I felt we really worked well together and were able to complete the task quite fast.

I have learnt and taken something away from this lesson which has definitely enhanced my knowledge and will be very useful in the future.

Week 3

This week we worked on recording Autumn leaves in small groups for our music tec project. we set up the studio then got a booth to discuss and find a backing track we all liked to recreate and make our own, we had a little debate on whether to use acoustic slow backing track or the Eric Clapton swing version, we agreed that the Eric Clapton version would be easier and more fun to work on; us vocalists then worked out a three part harmony.

Our next task was to record the backing track into logic and get it ready for the lovely Adam, who agreed to play drums for us. We then mic'd up the kit and recorded drums using the mixing desk, this was really beneficial because it was reflecting back on what we had learnt last lesson.

In vocals tuition we worked on scales to help with our melismas in which we each had a go at singing an ascending and descending chromatic scale. We then looked at a song called ‘The girl from Ipanema’ which was originally written by Antonio Carlos Jobim but has been covered by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Amy Winehouse, each has their own interpretation of the song. In Fridays showcase lesson we all had a go and singing and playing the song, we also added some percussion in which I played the guiro.

Autumn leaves-

Anisha, Jacob and I decided to record a little version of autumn leaves before our lesson on friday, we worked out a 3 part harmony which was quite a challenge as not every harmony we tried worked and blended, we then found a backing track and recorded it into logic. Unfortunately we lost the logic file but we took a little video just incase. Next time I need to engage with my diaphragm more as I am singing very quietly in this video.I really love the call and response that's happening between Anisha and Jacob and I, I think it is really adds to the song.

Week 4

This week the lovely Jude recorded guitar on our Autumn leaves cover and added an amazing solo at the end. Unfortunately that was all we were able to do that lesson as we had a few issues with logic and the mic we used for the guitar amp that picked up the sound of our voices talking about what we should do next, which was a silly mistake that we made as we did not realise that our conversation would have an affect on the recording.

In Tuesdays vocal tuition we worked on David Cash's Jazzy version of ‘Swing me round’ which has a challenging three part harmony but because us vocalists are all pros we managed to pick up the harmony's quite fast, and have fun with it by getting into small groups and performing to each other. We also swapped round harmonies to make sure we could all sing each one.

My keys player Finn and I had a songwriting session in which we looked at a song we both started to write in the summer. We are hoping to now add production to it and also experiment with different key sounds and effects, at the moment we are having trouble picturing which direction the song is going in as it is very different from anything we have written together before.

Next week Finn and I will start our rehearsal for the gig on the 5th November, we are both quite excited because this will be the first time we perform a Jazz standard together and we can't quite believe that we haven't thought about adding a some standards to our sets before but this will be a challenge for both of us as we have a short space of time to learn 3 new songs.

Week 5

On Wednesday I was unfortunately on vocal rest due to tonsillitis so Rosie and Francesca recorded vocals, and on friday Josh recorded bass to the Autumn leaves track. I will add my vocals next week and then we will be ready to have a go at mixing the track.

Being a vocalist has taught me that vocal health is really important. I always make sure to warmup starting with breathing technique and then moving to my voice, using exercises that start from the bottom of my register and slowly work towards the top in order to avoid straining my vocal chords, and to smoothen/blend my transition from chest to head voice.

I then work on vocal placing and tone usually by going through a song I am working on to make sure that I am engaging with my diaphragm and not singing through my throat or nose ( singing though my nose only for stylistic purposes), this is the routine I try my best to keep to and I hope that it will help me improve my technique and look after my voice for the long run.

After college on Friday my tonsillitis began to clear so I had a 30 minute warmup and met with my keys player, we started to rehearse for the Jazz gig on the 5th of November. We have picked 4 songs which we both feel will fit the jazz theme perfectly: Al green’s Let's stay together, Dream a little dream, Misty, and my original song "under your spell" which we both hope to take into the studio soon to record. In our rehearsal we debated about which keys we should perform the songs in, we are also unsure whether to do misty as we couldn’t quite agree on which version to work on.

Week 6

In music tech we recorded my vocals onto Autumn leaves, as Rosie recorded lead vocals I wanted to leave space for her so I recorded some backing vocals harmonising with her in a few sections, Chessie had done the same and I definitely feel that our BVs really complimented rosie's vocals and gave the song quite an angelic twist. My vocals took longer to record than we thought because we completely forgot to turn our phones on airplane mode and it affected the recording massively and was unfixable, so I had to redo them but luckily it didn’t take too long and we managed to get a good takes. Next week we will be mixing and tweaking the track.

Gig Rehearsals

In rehearsals this week we came to the conclusion that although Misty is an incredible song, it just wasn't really working for me and Finn, so we decided to hunt for a new song in which we found 'Moon River' by Audrey Hepburn and both agreed that we could do a great rendition of the song as it is so short, so we thought a key change and build up would work quite nicely to give the song a climax.

'Dream A little Dream' is also coming together nicely. The song has been covered by quite a few artists so we decided to take elements from each version.

In Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrongs rendition there is a key change in the 2nd bridge which we have agreed to add to our version although there wasn't much more we could recreate vocally as it is call and response but both of us really love how Ellas and Louis version ends.

We will also be Performing 'Lets Stay Together' by Al Green which isn't particularly a Jazz song but it is a song that shows my vocal range and Finns technique.

We have performed this song once before and have made a few changes since then that we will test at the gig.

There are some challenging octave jumps in the song that I hope to perfect and master before the gig.