Music & Society - Censorship In Music (Iran)

Censorship In Music

Different from the law in the UK, places in the Middle East such as Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan etc don’t have the freedom the people in the UK have. The level of censorship in these countries are very high, for example, they can’t play western music or listen to it but there are some people in Iran that listen to it anyway but it needs to be in their private cars, or if they have copied tapes or Cd’s or through the Internet but they need to hack to have access to it. 

In Iran they have their own Internet, and they don’t have access to search for anything or access social medias such as Facebook, Twitter, and some other social media like we do and they even have their own websites where they can check their emails and also websites like YouTube where allow them to watch videos. Because of that, they don’t really know what is going on in the outside world

The reason why they don’t have that freedom is because the government running religious law. They are the ones who controls how their Internet and websites are and what use on it or not, and everything needs to be about Iran. 

Like I’ve mention before, if they want to have the same access we have to the normal version of the websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc they need to hack, but if they get caught hacking to check those websites they will be sent straight to jail with no trial.

It wasn't always like this in Iran. Before the revolution in 1979, the Iranian people had the freedom we have for anything, to listen to any style of music at anytime and anywhere, they have the same access to the normal websites as we do. They could do all of that without worrying about the government or being sent to jail for doing stuff like this.

The Censorship is not all about what websites they can access and what they can watch or not, music in general is very effected in Iran. And all begun after the Revolution because since then Western music has been banned in Iran. Again, for them to have access to Western music they will have to hack into the Internet so they can download the album of the artist they like otherwise they won't know any music out there except from Elton John or Queen and that's because of the Iranian strict law on censorship. 
Because the government runs religious laws, the only style of music allowed to be played around Iran at any time and anywhere is religious music.

While the level of Censorship in Iran is very high, not allowing them to watch what they want, or to listen to the music they want, in the UK we are freely allowed to do anything. On the Internet you have access to any website to listen to music, to watch movies, to have social media to communicate with other, or to websites to know what is going on around the world. 
With music we can do anything, we can download the songs or albums you want from the Internet and will take us about 5 minutes, we don't to hack. If we want to play music with friends you can get your instruments and play in your house, in the park, in your garage and you won't be sent to jail doing that. You don't need to be listening to religious music if you don't like, nothing will happen to you.
if you want to buy any instrument, then you just need to go to any music shop in the UK and buy the instruments you want but in Iran is not like that, there are no places where you can find instruments such as guitars, bass, drums, pianos, keyboards etc for sale.

Arrangement Of Others

Arrangement Of Others

Dionne Warwick - What the World Needs Is Love 

• In the original song there’s the solo female singing the melody, the band repeat the chorus twice in the beginning after the intro and the female singer sings the first part by herself and they the choir joins doing some add libs in the verse. In the verse the Choir also join her but singing ‘Ahh’s’.

• Different from the original version, in the arrangement there are no lead singers. Everyone is singing the same thing but there are two part harmonies, the females voices are doing the soprano and the males are doing the tenor.

• The instrumentation has also changed in the arrangement,. The original version there are horns, drums, piano, acoustic guitar, and violin and on the second one they've taken the horns, the violin, and the acoustic guitar out but they kept the piano, the drums and instead of the acoustic guitar and they used an Electric one and also added bass to it. 

• Because there's no horns on the arrangement, the piano is doing the melody the horns were doing in the original piece.

Whitney Houston - The Greatest Love Of All

The new arrangement on the score shows that the song was specially made for people who are  beginners on the Piano/Keyboard player. It will be easy for beginners to play this new arrangement because with the left hand all you will be playing are two notes only and sometimes just one, you won't be playing the full chord three or four notes and with the right hand you will be playing the melody of the song.

We Three Kings (Arrangements):

Ella Fitzgerald - We Three Kings (Of Orient) 1967

• This version ‘We Three King’ covered by Ella Fitzgerald is in the style of Jazz in 3/4. Different from the others, this version is shorter and slower, it only has Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus which is the ABAB structure.

• In this version you get that Christmas feel, and that is caused by the way the lead female singer is singing the song with the backing vocals which are the choir and what they are doing is singing ‘Ahh’s’ and ‘Ohh’s’ in the verse and then in the chorus they sing the same thing the lead female singer is singing but then they go back to the ‘Ahh’s’ and ‘Ohh’s’. The choir is also adding some harmonies so it makes the chorus stronger. The Christmas feel you get is because in some parts of the verses and chorus the background singers sing louder and that's because Christmas songs are usually sung by a group of people (Choir) when it's Christmas time

• The instruments in this cover are: Harp, Piano, Vocals and Bass. there are some use of seventh chords in this song which make it sound Jazzy because usually in Jazz songs you get these chords, there are also some use of diminished chords. By listening to this version you can tell the style of the piano playing is Jazz, again because of the chords the pianist is using and because of the way he/she is playing to suit the way the singer is singing. What also helps the song to sound more christmassy is the harp in the intro opening the song with the piano and then in the end of the verses and really quiet in the chorus, it gives you that angelic/saintly feel.

Kamelot - We Three Kings

• This version covered by Kamelot is in the style of rock. Different from the other arrangements, this version of 'WeeThree Kings' has no vocals in the whole song, the guitar solos are the main melody. 

• The instruments being used in this cover are: two Electric guitar, one is doing the main melody and the other one is adding harmonies, Drum kit, and some strings and an acoustic guitar in the outro. For being the loudest and the one doing the whole melody, the Electric guitars is the main instruments in this arrangement. The rock feel of this song is cause by the Electric guitars and the effect they've chosen in the amps their using. 

• After the break down, you can hear in the background the Choir singing 'Ahh's'.

We Three Kings Of Orient (Sacred Rendition)

• This rendition of ‘We Three Kings’ is a bit similar to the original, slow tempo and it has that more church like style of music. Different from the other versions, this version does not have a lead singer, the only thing it has singing the lyrics of the song is male group choir singing the voice type Tenor and Bass. This version has also a christmas feel because of the way the choir is singing and because of the way all the instruments are being played. The instruments in this version are: The organ, a triangle and some percussion which fits the song.

• This version is more focused on the vocals, that’s why the arranger kept the instruments simple and not playing to loud, so it could focused more on the vocals. Usually is church songs, the choir follows the organ which the same thing happened in this version, the organ is leading the male group choir.

• This version is much longer than the others and the reason why is because of the tempo of the song because this version is slower than the others, and that’s why it is longer.

Music Technology In Performance

Music Technology In Performance
(Keytar/Syntar)

History

Circa 1980 (Syntar)

The first Keytar or ‘Syntar’ (That was the first name given to it) was invented in the 70s called ‘Circa 1980 Syntar’ but the first appearance of it was in a magazine called 'Illianabeat Magazine' after being mentioned to the public through an interview. The very first Keytar for sale in the market was in the 80s by a company called 'Moog Company' and it was called 'The Moog Liberation’.

Moog Liberation (1980)

People still don't know who the inventor of the Keytar/Syntar was, but there was man named Steven Masakowski and he was the one who got the credit for it even though he claims he didn't invent it.

The Keytar is an Electronic Keyboard with or without a build-in synthesiser in it. It has several different voices/sounds in it such as strings, brass and distinctive electronic leads, you can also program your Keytar to sound like an Electric guitars.

The Keytar can also be used as a MIDI Controller to send MIDI sounds to the computer.

The person using a Keytar for their performance can strap it around their body or just put it on top of a keyboard stand.

There were similar instruments in the 70s but they weren't considered as Keytar because they didn't have the neck like a guitar where you can add effect while playing, but you could put a strap on it and wear around the neck.

The only manufacturer that still make the Keytars now is 'Roland' but before after it being invented it was Yamaha, Moog, Roland, and Casio.

Keytar In Performance

One of the first band to show to the public how the keytar sounds like in a performance was the band called 'Devo'. There is another band called 'Frank Goes To Hollywood' and there one of their songs where they use the Keytar sound a lot, and the name of the track is 'Relax'.

One the best Keytarist known is a man called Herbie Hancock who was really famous in the 80s and his song called 'Chameleon' is one of the best examples of Keytar playing because in the song he really shows off his Keytar skills and what he can do on it. There are also other famous solo artist such as Howard Jones, Prince, and Weird Al Yankovi who started using the Keytar on their performance and that helped the instrument to get more popularity. From all this artist I mentioned Prince is the only on who designed his own called Purpleaxxe

Prince's own designed Keytar (Purpleaxxe)

The only problem people had in the 80s with the Keytar, was its weight and that was one of the reasons why most of the artists and bands stopped playing the Keytar after the 80s. 
Artist like James brown had the same problem with the Keytar because of its weight, in one of his performances he had to cut the song shorter because his back was hurting too much. Other artist like Rick Wakeman were sent to the hospital after a performance because of the heavy weight of his Keytar.

from 90s-2000s people kind stopped playing the keytar but 7-8 years later the Keytar made a serious comeback in the music industry, with new designs, less heavy and more modern it started being more played not only in Electronic music but also in other genres such as Pop/R&B, Hip Hop, and Funk. Even Snoop Dogg played the keytar himself in one of his music videos in November, 2007 called 'Sexual Seduction'.

This is just one of Gaga's custom
made Keytar, she has many other
one with different looks.

Matthew Bellamy playing his custom
Keytar in one of his concerts.
The Neck of his Keytar actually
looks like a normal Guitar.

Modern artist such as Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Beyonce,  Will.i.am, Justin Timberlake have played the Keytar while performing and some of them has their own custom made Keytar such as Matthew Bellamy and Lady Gaga.

Moog Liberation (1980)

Throughout the years the Keytar has involved a lot since the creation of the first one which was the 'Moog Liberation' in 1980.

Alesis Vortex (2012-2013)

Since the first one, there are about forty-six Keytar invented and each of the has some different in it, some of their own build in sound and there are some without it which are used to control other synthesisers or sound expanders, vis digital signal which we call it the MIDI Controller/USB or analog signal.
The latest Keytar released is the Alesis Vortex made by Roland

In the video down bellow shows all the Keytar and how different some of them look, the different styles and also their name and where they are from.

Bibliography:

http://underscoopfire.com/history-keytar/

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/01/hey-whats-that-sound-keytar

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2013/04/01/the-keytar-grand-a-short-history/

http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Keytar
http://www.vintagesynth.com/moog/liberation.php

Solo Performance Targets

Solo Performance Targets

1. I will speak clearly, without doing anything apart from speaking when introducing a song.
2. I will acknowledge my accompanist.
3. I won't scowl at my accompanist.
4. I will think about if I'm standing or sitting down.
5. I will wait until the end of the piece before standing up.

I will this by Wednesday 4th of december.

S.M.A.R.T Target

S.M.A.R.T Target

20th November 2013

• To record myself with a video camera playing one or more of my original songs or covers and upload them onto my youtube page. I want to get all the recording done after Christmas or before that if possible.

• I will also make an EP with some original and covers songs. All the recording of the songs and the instruments will be done by the end of the term.

Choosing Your Repertoire

You need to be careful when doing a performance of an hour set, and what I mean by being careful is because of the songs you are going to have in your set. Is very important when choosing the songs for your set because they need to be songs with different tempos, different genres and varieties or if most of them are the same genre, make them sound different. When choosing the songs make sure they are songs you know and songs you enjoy playing.

1. BGryff - Caged Bird (5:00) - A Capella

(https://soundcloud.com/bgryffmusic/bianca-santos-ft-donavon-king)

I've chosen this song to be the first one because it is an original song composed by me and a friend and because I know the song very well. I am guitar player but this is the first song I learnt on the piano. For this song I wouldn't use a full band, a backing track or a accompanist because it is a piano song and having all this, I wouldn't have the audience attention on me, so I would definitely do an A Capella performance.

For being the first full song I know how to play on the piano, 'Caged bird' is the best song choice for me to show off my piano skills, because there is a lot going on the piano, specially if I am doing an A Capella performance because I would have to play the chords and also make the piano sing the melody of the song as I don't have a accompanist with me because this would make the audience focus on the singer and not on the piano.

Caged Bird is about 5 minutes.

2. Bon Jovi - Living On A Prayer (4:10) - Backing Track

For my second performance I would perform on the electric guitar 'Living On a Prayer'. For being my favourite 80s song, 'Livin' On A Prayer' would be the best song to show off my guitar skills because there's so much going on in this piece, specially with the guitar because there is the picking solo in the begging, then the use of power chords in the verses  and  then when comes to the middle 8 of this piece there's a guitar solo. Different from the first track, in this song I would use a backing track because like I said there's so much going on in this piece that if I decided to do an A Capella or have a accompanist would sound boring, special because it is a rock song. Everybody knows this songs so it is impossible to listen to it and not enjoy it.

Living on a prayer is 4 minutes and 10 seconds.

3. Dar Williams - I Want You Here With Me (3:20) - Backing Track

(https://soundcloud.com/dar-abbi/i-want-you-here-with)

For my third performance I decided to perform of one my friend's song, and that is because this is the only song from my list where there's no strumming going on on the guitar and the reason why is because there's so much going on already with the other instruments (synthesizer, the keytar and the drums kit) so I will be doing something to show off my guitar skills and I will be using a backing track for this song. To understand the song and know what to do on stage so I can perform it with confidence, was to just listen to it and create some melodic passages, some improvisations on the guitar. This piece is different from the other songs because this is a electronic song, fast tempo and performing it would be good and that's because I would get people's attention with the improvisation on the guitar through the whole song.

I want you here with me is about 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

4. BGryff - Heart Attack (4:00) - Backing track

(https://soundcloud.com/bgryffmusic/bgryff-ft-danielle-grant-heart)

This is another original song composed by me and a friend and it is another piece where I will be playing the piano. For this song I will be using a backing track which contains electric guitar, drums kit, bass guitar. This is not a piano song but on my performance I will be playing piano and that's because the piano is the main instrument in this piece. Different from the other songs 'Heart Attack' is an Pop Ballad song. Because I will be using a backing track, I will make sure people are focused on me and on the piano because I can't just play the chords of the song, I will also make the piano sing the melody of the song and also do some improvisations to show off my piano skills.

Heart attack is about 4 minutes.

5. One Republic - Counting Starts (4:43) - Backing Track

For my fifth performance I've chosen to play 'Counting starts' and the reason why is because this song is fun specially if I'm using a backing track which will contain electric guitar, synthesizer  drums kit and bass guitar and that's because of the fast tempo of it and the good feeling when listening to it. Songs like this definitely entertain people.
The beginning of the song starts with the chorus in a slow tempo but then after few seconds comes the intro but in the original tempo of the piece. As a rhythm guitarist, pop rock songs are my favourites and for being my favourite genre it makes me feel comfortable on stage when playing then, specially this one with the easy chords it gives me space in between to show off my guitar skills.
Counting starts is 4 minutes and 44 seconds.

6. Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River (4:51) - Accompanist

Because I've performed 'Cry Me A River' before but in a band, being confident on stage, learning the structure and the chords for this song wouldn't be a problem because I know all the major, minor and seventh chords of it and for knowing the song very well, it gives space to add some more picking/plucking to give more effect to the piece, for example, using different sounds on the amp or using a looper effect pedals on the guitar. For this song I will be having an accompanist playing the piano for me. Something I will be doing on this performance is to make the guitar sing the melody of the verse or the chorus so I wouldn't just be playing chords and I would have people focused on me and entertained with what I am doing. This is song is different from the others because it is the only song from my list where I am playing seventh chords. Cry me a river is 4 minutes and 51 seconds.

7. Nickelback - Someday (3:27) - Backing track or accompanist

For my seventh performance I will be playing 'Someday' by Nickelback. That is a lot gong on in this piece with the instruments because it has electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums kit and the vocals. For this song  would use a backing track which will have to contain the same instruments from the original piece or I could also instead of using a backing track I would have a accompanist, and I would probably do an acoustic version of it using a piano and a acoustic guitar. For either options I would use a acoustic guitar, if I am playing it with a accompanist the  while the piano is playing the chords of the song I would make the guitar sing the melody of it and for the backing tracking, I would have to use an amplifier and in some parts of the song I would change the sound of the acoustic guitar, for example  in the beginning of the song which is the verse I would use an clean sound on the guitar, and when it's the chorus and the middle 8 of the song I would use a rocky sound on it. Because it is a rock song and because I like the song, I can't just be standing on stage I need to show the audience how much I enjoy the song. This piece is 3 minutes and 27 seconds.

8. Roxette - Listen To Your Heart (4:44) - Accompanist

For the next performance I will be playing on the guitar and singing 'Listen to your heart' with a accompanist on the piano. In this piece, the vocals and the piano are the main instruments, I will be playing the guitar just to give some support to me and to the piano by just playing the bass chords the piano is playing. Because this is the first song from my set where I will be singing I need to make sure my voice is ready for it, doing some warm ups before the performance and making sure I don't forget what key the song is in are helpful. This song is 4 minutes and 44 seconds.

9. Bonnie McKee - American Girl (4:00) - Accompanist/Vocals

For the next performance I will be doing an acoustic version of 'American Girl' and again I will be playing the acoustic guitar but I would also have two accompanists, one playing the piano and another one singing the song with me. This song is different from the others because people wouldn't just be focused on the instrumentation, they would be focused on the vocals too. Because it is my performance I will be singing most of the song and I will also doing a guitar solo after the middle 8 before coming back into the final chorus. The acoustic version of American girl with the guitar solo will about 4 minutes.

10. Nickelback - Photograph (4:22) - Accompanist

For my next performance I will be doing Photograph by Nickelback which is another alternative rock song by them. For this song I will be using an Accompanist playing the piano for me and I will be playing the acoustic guitar so I will be the an acoustic version of this song changing the arranging of it, using the the chords and key of the song but changing the tempo of it to a slower version. This is another song by Nickelback which is very popular so people are familiar with it and because the song played many times on the radio and other places people know the song, so having the people's attention won't be a problem. This is another song from my set list where I will just have the piano there to give me support because I will doing a lot on the acoustic guitar, for example, using the amplifier to give some effect to the song on the chorus and with the clean sound I will be playing the melody of the song because the use of the accompanist will be just to play the bass chords and to give me support.

this song is 4 minutes and 22 seconds.

11. Zedd - Clarity (5:00) - Accompanist

Different from the original version on this song I will be doing an acoustic version of it, having me on the acoustic guitar and singing and having another guitarist but on the electric guitar and someone to play the piano for me. The idea of having another guitar which is the electric, is just to play the same chords the piano will be playing in the chorus just to give more power when playing the chorus because there will be the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar, the piano and vocal.

Because I will be singing the song, I will have the audience's attention on me and also in the end of the song there is going to be a guitar solo, while the piano and the electric guitar is just playing the chords I will be doing some improvisation on the acoustic guitar to show off my guitar skills.

The acoustic version will be around 5 minutes.

12. Nickelback - Savin' Me (3:39)

13.The Calling - Wherever You Will go (3:27)

Because this two songs are very similar but in different genres, I will be doing an A Capella performance, just me and the guitar supporting each other. The intro of both songs has the guitar picking in the beginning so after doing that, for the verse and chorus of the songs I will just be making the guitar singing the melody of the songs. Because the chords are not hard, I can do some improvisations in the middle 8 instead of just playing the simple chords.

I know both songs very well, the chords, the structure and I know what I will be doing. The are great songs to show off my guitar skills, because the chords are not hard so doing some improvisations wouldn't be a problem.

Because I will be doing some improvisations change the song a bit, they would be around 3 minutes and 50 seconds for 'Savin Me' and 3 minutes 40/50 minutes for 'Wherever you will go'.

Photo References

Photo Shoot

I'd like to do a sunset photoshoot like the pictures below where there are trees, with a cloudy sky or something like that and the reason why is because I think it suits my music and my style and because it looks really nice, specially if It's taken with a high quality camera and a good photographer. But I'd have a acoustic guitar with me to show that my main instrument is the acoustic guitar.

Aural Perception Skills

First Song: Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah"

1. Identify the chords in this song from 1:00 to 1:45.

• C major- A minor - C major - A minor

• F major - G major - C major - G major -C major -F major - G major - A minor - F major - G minor - A minor - F major - A minor - G major - C major

2. Explain how these chords help to convey the meaning of the words of the song.

The reason why the song sounds sad is because it is in a minor key.

3. There is a chord (under the word "composing) that could be named in two different ways. Name both ways and explain which you prefer, giving reasons for your answer.

The chords under the word "composing" are G# or Ab, and the one I prefer is the Ab chord and the reason why is because I'm familiar with that chord or flats chords because I always add flat chords in my songs.

Second Song: Pink Floyd - "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"

1. At 3:56, a 4-note motif is played on the guitar. Name the 4 notes and the 3 intervals formed by them.

Bb - F - G - E

The three intervals formed by them are:

2. The first three notes suggest a chord - What is this?

With the notes G - Bb - D make the minor chord G.

3. After a while, the chord underneath the notes changes. To what?

It changes to C major 

St. Paul's Suite IV.Finale (The Dargasson)

1. What is the time signature?

This piece is in 2/4

2. Notate or describe the rhythm of the main theme (the theme is made up of a rhythmic motif that keeps repeating, you need only describe it once.

It moves quickly to the second beat.

3. Another tune comes in after about a minute. How has the composer combined the different speed/rhythm of the two tunes? (You may describe it or notate it.)

There's not much going on, it's simple yet poise, accompanied by the fast melody.

Business Plan (EP)

Business Plan for releasing an EP

Releasing an EP is not like a full album because it does not have the same amount of tracks, an EP has less tracks than an full album and you will spend less money if you decide release an EP instead of a full album, so that's one of the reasons why I wanna release an EP, because it will costs me less money and because I want people to know about me, to know about my music and the songs I write, to know about my style and to know what I am capable of as an musician.

• Like I said before, an EP has less tracks than a full album, it has a total of 5 songs in it. So the first thing I will do is to write more Pop/R&B songs if I need, pick the best ones that I feel like the audience will connect with them, then get into a recording studio and record the 5 songs I wrote. After recording my 5 five songs as MP3 I will upload them onto Bandcamp, because it is a great worldwide website where you can share all your songs and also because you can make money through Bandcamp.

• The 5 songs I will be picking for my EP will have to connect with the audience, it needs to be songs that people like, that people enjoy listening to and they need to be in different tempos, not just slow songs or fast songs, it need to be in different tempos and styles, for example, the songs I would pick for my EP would be fast tempo such as Electro or Pop/Ballad and it would be good time songs, and and the slow tempo ones would be Pop/R&B. Writing songs in difference styles and tempos will call attention to your music because people will see that you are not stuck in just one music genre.

• Even though releasing an EP will costs less money than a full album, you still need to think how much you are going to spend with it, because if you want your EP to contain good quality then you will have to spend a little more money but it is worth though because releasing an EP is one of the best ways to connect you to the public but the public needs to have a good first impression of your work, so it means the quality of the sound of your music needs to be good by doing that you will show the public you're professional and that you work hard to make your music sound good. If you want to release an EP it means you will need money and to have money you will need a job and if you have a job then you can save up to buy the stuff you need, for example, I'm saving up to buy a Mac book pro so then I can buy from apple store Logic Pro 9. It is good if you know how to use software like 'Logic Pro' because you won't have to spend money booking up a recording studio so you can record your music. As it says on the Logic Pro website 'Whether you’re a professional or play in your garage, Logic Pro 9 gives you everything you need to write, record, edit and mix music.' PLUS if you have friends that are producers like me you won't need to spend any money to edit and mix your music.

• After spending all this time writing songs, picking the best ones, and then recording them in a good quality for the public, you will have to think and focus on the artwork. What you will need for this will be a photographer and a digital designer. Making friends with people who works with music will help you a lot because you won't have to spend to much money, for example, I have have friends that are producers, that have music studio and also some friends that are photographers and for this part of the artwork he would definitely help me and because of that I won't spend much money or maybe I won't spend any money at all and all I need to do is contact my photographer friend and hire him to help me with the EPs artwork.

•  I've already chosen the 5 songs I want for my EP, they are already recorded in a good quality, edited and mixed and the artwork is done, so it means that the final step of releasing an EP will be promoting it. After doing all this you can set a official release date so then people know when your EP is going to be released, a good smart thing do to post onto your social networks the release date such as facebook, twitter, instagram or sharing with friends and asking them to share with other people or what you can also do is to upload on soundcloud or youtube a demo of 15 seconds of your some of the 5 songs you've chosen for your EP. Social networking such as Twitter or instagram where you can hashtag can help you to get to know about you, your music and specially you listen to your EP after the release date. Best places to get people to listen to your stuff are in open mics or live performances at gigs, it is also good people will not just listen to your singing they will also see what you are like as a performer as a musician.

• After releasing your EP a great thing to do is to start uploading videos on youtube of your songs, making music videos or working with other artists that plays the same music as you because their fans you will start listening to your music and you will get more audience and it will purchase your work getting more people to listen to it. After performing in open mics or live performances at gigs, start selling your stuff outside the gig so then people can still listen to your music, also, make an official website where you can put all the links for your social networking, where people can listen to your songs, see photos and videos, merch and performance dates with the time and place of where you're going to be performing, you should also show the performance dates on your facebook, twitter and other social network account to get more poeple to see you and your work.

Finding Faults

The Beatles - Yer Blues

 

• At 2:21 the vocalist sings 'Oh girl you know the reason why' he doesn't come in time.

 

• When listening to this song with a headphones you can notice that the sound of the drums go more to the left ear than the right one.

• The guitar solo at the end is off beat, not playing in time with the drums.

• From 2:29 till the end of the song, the sound of the drums still on the left ear and the guitar solo sound goes more to the right ear while the bass stays in the middle.

• In my opinion the instruments are a bit louder than the vocals.

 

Love - You Set The Scene

 

• You will notice that you can only hear the guitar in one ear which is on the right ear and the sound of the bass and drums goes to the left ear.

• The vocals can be heard in both ears so the sound it is in the middle.

• At 1:56 when the guitar is doing semi quavers there is part of it that sounds like the guitarist forgot to play the last note.

•  In my opinion the vocals are low for this song.

• The drums and bass are a bit loud and it seems tlike they are the main instruments in this piece.

• When listening to this song using the earphones/headphones there is a distortion on the right ear.

I Live In A Dream - Weird War

• In this pieces the vocals harmonies are not in tune.

• The instruments are louder than the vocals and because of that it's a bit hard to hear the vocals.

 



Term 3 - Song Analysis

The Veronicas - Untouched

This is the song I will be talking about which is Untouched by The Veronicas and in my opinion this song is all about the instruments and what each of them are doing.

Instrumentation:

• Cellos
• Violins
• Electric Guitar
• Electric Bass
• Drums Kit
• Vocals

About the Song

The Instruments opening the song are the Cellos and the Violins, both instruments are playing the same thing at the same time. The chords they are playing lasts for 2 seconds but then when they play the chords there are a reverberation going on which lasts for 3 seconds till they repeat the chords again.

Then the instruments joining the intro are the Electric Drums kit and the Synth and they come in in the intro at the same time. What the Synth is doing is just playing single notes which are:

C#-G-G#-G-C#

C-G-G#-G-C

D#-G-G#-G-C#

C#-G-G#-G-G#-G-C#

The synth keep playing that same counter melody in some of the parts of the song, for example, in the intro, verses and middle 8. In the middle 8, the Synth gains a solo part which lasts for few seconds and what it is doing is just playing the same counter melody till the end of the middle 8.

The beats of the drums and the counter melody of the Synth gives the intro a different feel to it because before when there were just the strings (Cellos and Violins) playing you feel like it's going to be a goth song because of the style of the music video, but after the Drums and Synth joins it, the song starts changing and sounding more Electropop specially seconds later when the electric instruments such as Electric guitar and Electric bass joins it to give more feel to it.

At 0:33 the vocals are added to the song and that's when the verse starts. Listening to the vocals you will notice that there's a bit of echo in it which makes the song sound more interesting, specially because it is a Electropop song because in Electro songs most of the artists and bands add effect to their vocals to fit with the music they are playing.

In the end of the verse they add a effect to it which I can't explain what it is but it makes the vocals and the instruments sound more clear and the effect focus more on the vocals which puts it in the front of the instruments.

In chorus of the song there is not much to say because there isn't any effect in the vocals or in the instruments.

Things you will notice in the song are: 
• from the Intro of the song to the last chorus the electric drums kit does not change what he is playing, so he keeps playing the same things all the way through.

• The Electric guitar and the Electric don't change what the playing, they just keep repeating the same chords in the chorus the only time they change is in the Outro which is just the instruments.

In my opinion the song is more about the instrumentation than the lyrics and that is because of the counter melody coming from the Synth which is really important in the song because if they didn't have it, the song would just sound boring so it makes a difference, also the Cellos and Violins are very important in this music piece because of the melody phrase in the intro, they keep repeating it in some parts of they song which fills in the empty spaces.

Royalties

 What are Royalties?

Royalties are how most of the Artist, composers and songwriters get most of their money. Royalties are paid when a artist's track or composer's track are played on TV, commercials, films, public performances, played on the radio, broadcast, etc.

There are some people that believe that if you have re-mixed another artist's track you will be paid the same amount as the others but it is not true, what happen is, if you have re-mixed another artist's track you will just be paid a pre-arranged one-off sum.

The only way you find to collect your royalties is by signing up to a collection agency. In the music industry there are three different types of collection agencies and they are called PPL, PRS and MCPS.

Phonographic Performance Limited - PPL

What PPL does is to collect royalties from performances/broadcast of recordings, for example, if you have a guitar/piano/bass session in a song which means you will have to play something on the recording of that song they're working on, will get royalties from the PPL because you had a session player on that recording, but if you do not perform on the recording then you won't get anything from PLL.

If you wan to join PPL, just go on the website http://www.ppluk.com/, you don't need to worry if you have to pay for it because it is free. PPL also collect royalties from other countries in can be in America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Performing Right Society - PRS

What PRS does is to collect royalties from the performance of the music to the writer of music best known as songwriter.

If you perform on a piece of music written by someone else, you won't be paid any royalties by PRS because you only performed on the song you didn't help with the lyrics giving ideas etc, so only the person who wrote the song will get paid because he/she is the actual writer of the song.

Different from PPL, you will have to pay if you want to join PRS and it only costs £10 for life and the money £10 you will spend joinning PRS will be deduced from your first payment.

On this collection agency the payments are made in April, July, October and December but that is only going to happen if you have made a minimum of £30 with PRS and this rule by PRS was introduced in the music industry in October 2006 and that is because they want to save administration costs which lowered payments.

License

If places like concert venues, pubs, clubs, bars, or any other place where live music is played, play live music to get people to come to their place, they'll have to pay the PRS for the license to play the songs they are using.

Mechanical Copyright Protection Society - MCPS

What MCPS does is to collect royalties from the sales of recordings to the owners of the copyright for that recording.

Unpublished composers can also get MCPS royalties.

If you have a publishing deal working for you, your publisher will collect it for you if you only perform on a recording you can't have royalties from MCPS.

What about TV & Films?

When any of your songs are used in a film, or on TV (commercials, novels, adverts etc), it earns you money and you will be paid for that because people are using your stuff.

the publishers will allow the other company which is the company who wants to use your stuff, to license your song for a synchronisation fee.

Bibliography:

• https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8F-sfxQHEyCSTMxczFObnJGbUk/edit?usp=sharing
• http://www.venturenavigator.co.uk/content/499
• http://www.ppluk.com/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/music-rights

Textures and Acoustic Environment

Textures and Acoustic Environment

 

 

(Track 1)

Pitt State Marching Band - Gangnam Style

 

1. Are the stands having any impact on the music/sound? If so, what?

Yes, the stands are having an impact on the music/sound because if there weren't any stands in the stadium the sound coming from the brass instruments wouldn't hit the stands and then bounce back and people wouldn't hear properly what is being played.

There are some reverb/echo on this track and that is because of the place where they are performing which is big and outdoor, the sound can travels everywhere in this atmosphere but because of the stands in both sides of the stadium the sound waves is bouncing off the walls to the other side which is making the slight hearing of reverb/echo.

2. Why do marching bands have so many instruments, and loud ones!

The reason why Marching bands have so many loud instruments is because the places where they usually perform are open air places, stadiums, big environments and for people to hear clearly what they are playing they need instruments where you don't need to use an amp to make it louder, for example, there's no electric guitar in a marching bands because the only way for you to hear an electric guitar in open place is if you use the amp to plug it in, so that's why they have loud instruments, so that's why they have a lot of loud instruments because if not then people would struggle to hear what is being played.

3. Is this music suitable for the acoustic environment? Why?

Yes, the music is suitable for the acoustic environment and the reason why is because in marching bands there aren't only 5 people or less, there are loads of people and they need big places to fit them all together.

The music they are playing is 'Gangnam Style' and it is up lifting which means that people when listen to it they feel like singing along, happy, want to dance and is good for marching bands to play in stadium because the energy and the mood of the people who are watching are happy and energetic and will support them.

 

 

(Track 2)

Phoenix - Lisztomania (Live at 89.3 The Current)

 

4. Can you hear any reverberation. Do you think that comes from the room or might there be some digital reverb? Give reasons for your answer.

Yes, there is reverberation,it is not digital it is naturally coming from the room and what is causing the reverb is the vocals because the studio where they are has a lot of room, the distance from one wall to another is long and also the ceiling and because of that the sound of the vocals is going around the room and bounces off the surfaces around and you can hear it when the guitars stop playing for a bit and only the piano and vocals are playing.

5. Do you think the guitars are recorded through a mic or down a line?

The guitar is being recorded through a mic, but in my opinion because there are not much things going on and there are no drums or bass on this track and they don't necessarily need to use the mics to catch the sound of the acoustic guitar because the guitar itself has your natural acoustic sound witch comes from the sound hole of it.

6. Describe the texture of the music. Does the acoustic environment suit the music?

The acoustic environment suits the music because the music itself doesn't have much things going on and the only instruments are acoustic guitar, keyboard and vocals and because the environment where they are is quite well for them and don't have that much thing in it the sound coming from the instruments and the vocals are clean, maybe because of the quality of the mics they are using and because the acoustic guitar and keyboard are not too loud or to quite, they are all with the right volume where you can hear all clearly and what they are doing.

 

 

(Track 3)

Allegri: Miserere - Choir of St Paul's Cathedral - Jeremy Budd, Soprano

Describe the texture of the music (it is not the same throughout so mention where it changes.

Is the music suitable for the space / is the space suitable for the music?

The are a lot of things going on in this track , the beginning of it is homophonic because there are loads of people singing the same lines but in different pitch and the different harmonies, then the texture of this piece changes because in the middle of it there are only two people singing it which is called polyphonic and then it goes back to all the people singing together.

Because the place where they are is a church which is a place where there are loads of spaces between the walls and the ceiling to the floor there will be reverberation.

The harmony of the choirs singing are very rich and very together. the way they sing is almost very slurred and in unison among each other voices and i think the slurring gives the whole song life and full of contrast. There are a lot of dynamics that go on in this song, during the middle of the piece there is a slight change of singing where the male voices sing in unison while the female vocals come in slowly (crescendo in - quiet to loud)

Roles & Contracts (Live Performance - Tour Manager & Booking Agent)

Tour Manager

What do they do?

In the music industry the tour manager is the person who is going to take care of the band or artist, be their mom/dad and take care of everything for them during their tour, be in charge of all the details during the tour. For example, they will have to sort out the transports and hotels, booking crew, make sure the artist is at the venue on time for their performance and spend a lot of time on the phone.

Job Description:

 

Duties

The responsibilities of the tour managers when they are on tour with their artist/band are:

• Deals with promoters, managers, ticket agents
• Look after the band/artist 24 hours when they're on tour.
• Confirm shows
• Make sure the artist is on that for their concerts.
• Sort out the transport for when the band/artist arrives at the venue and for when they leave.
• Prepare band and crew schedule sheets for the next day.

Skills

The skills you will needed to be a tour manager are:

• Speaking skills: That's the most important skill you will need, because you will be contacting and talking to people all the time.
• Listening skills
• Be able to work with other people because in the music industry you can work by yourself there will always be someone you will have to work with and sometimes is someone you don't like, and if you can't then music is not for you.
• Business skills.
• If working abroad, then it's good if you can speak more than just your own language.

Salary/Hours/Working Environment

The salary of a tour manager variates, if you are just starting out on the business then your salary will be around £500 per week, if you are an well-established tour manager you will receive around £1,000 per week and if you are successful then your salary will be £2,000 per week.

Tour manager works 24 hours per day, because he needs to be always available for their artist/band, and also to organise and sort out things.

A tour manager doesn't have a working environment, he/she is always on the road and on the phone managing their artist band stuff.

 

Working conditions/Appearance

Tour managers will deal with long hours of work and need to travel long miles, Periods of time away from home may have an impact on your personal life but that's the tour manager and he/she needs to be physically fit and health because when they're on tour they won't stop, that's the life of an tour manager, and he/she will spend more time working and sleeping in differences hotels.

Tour managers will be in every single show of their artist/band to support them and look smart because there might be people at the venue to talk to about the artist or something.

Pros

If you are a well experienced tour manager then you will get a high salary because of your experience you had working  with other artists.

Tour managers spend most of their time away from home, because they need to take care of the band when they are on tour and because he will be travelling long miles for work but even though  it is tough, who doesn't enjoy travelling to new cities you've never been before, so for the tour manager may be fun visiting new cities all the time.

Cons

One of the disadvantages of being a tour manager is that you will be responsible for everything that happens during the tour and everyone who's part of it, which means if something during the tour or to the artist/band or the performance, the first person to be blamed will be the tour manager. Another disadvantages which was mentioned before, was the tour manager being away from their family for months because they need to travel and be with their artist all the time during their tour taking care of everything for them.

Contract
Tour managers contract are usually freelance or fixed-term contracts, but most of them are freelance (they are self-employed) and work on short-term contracs, and the contracts usually lasts the whole summer season but sometimes tour managers can work all year round.
For the tour manager be working in the summer seasons is great because that's when they just started and they will have work to do, because when the winter season comes they will have much less work to do.
During winter season, tour managers should  maintain a full-time working career such as teach English so they can make some money when they are not on tour with their artists.

 

Booking Agent

 

What do they do?

 Booking Agents are the people who connect the artist/band with their fans by setting the artists or band's date at the appropriate place where they perform which is the venues, they locate gigs for their artists. When a new band or solo artist decides it's their time to go on a tour, they will hire a booking agent to hep them with the schedule shows in the cities they will be visiting/performing.

The booking agents also works with other areas such as promoters and record labels to make sure that the artist or band they are working with are being shown to the public in the correct way so the people will know who the artist is and to listen to their work.

Job Description:

Duties

The responsibilities of the booking agent are:

• Discussing about how much the artist is going to earn from the venue.
• They'll be in the charge of organising and booking press releases.
• They look out for new talents, by going to where they usually perform to see if they're good or not.
• They try get as many bands as they can, to get larger fees and more profits.

Skills

The skills you will needed to be a booking agent are:

• Be able to work under pressure because you will have to be prepared if the gig doesn't work as planned.
• Be able to work for long hours.
• Have excellent communication skills because most of the time you will be on the phone trying to sign one contract.
• Marking abilities, because as a booking agent you will be trying to sell your artist or band.
• Your negotiation skills have to be excellent, specially when you are working with promoters and venues, because you will spend time negotiating to try to get the best deal for paying for your artist's performances.
• Be able to manage well your own imes and the time of others (Bands/Artists).

 

Salary/Hours/Working Environment

The salary of a booking agent per year is between £13,000 to £39,000 but it variates, booking agents can earn more than that, it depends on how many gigs their artist is doing and how well paid they are.

Booking agents working hours would be between 7-9 hours of work, because they spend a lot of time on the phone negotiationg something or out looking for new artist by watching bands or solo artist non stop.

Their working environment is on the office talking on the phone or scouting for new artist/bands.

 

Pros

One of the good things of being a booking agent is that because will be going around, scouting for new talents, you have the opportunity to watch & attending live gigs all the time to see how the artist are and through their music learn about them.

Booking agents don't just work with booking agents, they also work with promoters, managers, the aritsts, and with all of them the booking agent needs to have a good relationship with because all of them has the same goal which is make the artist known worldwide so people know his/her music.

 

Cons

One of the disadvantages of being a booking agent working independently is that you will be working between 7-9 hours and you won't get much money and sometimes you won't receive any more at all but as I said that is only going to happen if you are working independently.

Some people have the courage of starting from the beginning and working independently, but it's best for you if you start working in a large talent agency because the opportunities you will have working in a large talent agency people know is that working hard and focused you can get a big opportunity to start dealing with major artist.