Elements Of a Score

Sir Duke:

A. In this section of the score there's a D quaver note with a natural sign in front of it and because this piece is in the key of B, the D note will be sharpened but because of the natural sign in front of it the player will know he/she will have to play the D note in its natural state.

B. In this section the chord is a F minor 7th chord symbol and the notes in this chord are F, Ab, C and Eb.

C. In music theory, NC stands for 'No Chord' which means the person reading the score does not play a chord in this section of the piece.

D. In music theory, D.C. al Coda stands for 'Da Capo' which in Italian means 'Beginning' and when the player sees it in the score he/she will known they need to play something from the beginning of the music until they encounter a coda then skip to the next coda sign to continue.

Is She Not Passing Fair:

A. In this section of the sections there is a 'Brace' and what it does is to connect two or more musical staves together.

B. In this section there's 'MF' which stands for Mezzo Forte which in Italian means moderately loud but because there is a  crescendo sign, the player will have to play it much louder.

C. This is a slur which means the notes will be played as gesture.

D. This is a tie and what it does it to join notes together which means they have to be played as one note.

E. In this section there's 'PED.' which means the pianist have to use the sustain pedal while playing.

F. Colla parte follows the singer or the soloist, so for example if the singer changes tempo then the player needs to change tempo too.

Solo Performance Evaluation 2

Solo Performance Evaluation

Before I start practising any of my chosen songs, I first organise them so I know in which order I’ll be preforming them. I looked back at some of the songs I played in my first solo performance  and picked the strong ones which were ‘Caged Bird’ and ‘I Want You Here With Me’.
The reason why I picked Caged Bird is because that is one of my original songs that I know confidently with flair and also because from my first solo performance set, that is the only song where I am playing piano and I know I would have no problems with that, the only thing I need to do was to add melody lines to it. With 'I Want You Here With Me' the reason why I picked it for my second solo performance is because that's the only song where there's a backing track and a guitar solo which is what I am doing but most of what I am playing is just me improvising on the top of the backing track.
After deciding which songs from my first solo performance I was going to pick, I added two more songs to my set list which would make up to 18-20mins.
I carefully looked at my set list of songs that I performed and during the half term we had before my final solo performance I on a new set of songs that I wanted to add to the final set list. each day I worked closely on each section of the song so I could get the best of it in time for the concert and play by memory.

Like I said before, from the first solo performance list the songs I decided to play again was Caged Bird and I Wan You Here With Me. I also added to more songs to make it up to 18-20mins and the other two songs I picked was my very own composition which I was working during the week off before the solo performance and another called 'Superhero' which is an original from a friend of mine where I did a Keytar melody line in the original song, so that is why I decided to use it for my solo set performance.

Each day I took time practising my guitar and piano solos slowly to perfect it for the solo performance and by doing that I started by going through each section of each piece where I found it hard to play or wasn't too confident about it. I took the opportunity to go to my guitar teacher and go through some of the pieces i found difficult. my guitar teacher and i have been going through some of the techniques that can really improve some of the passages i find difficult and they have been really useful for me and in general as a musician. One of the useful things that i do to ensure i play correctly in time and in rhythm, i use a metronome to help me play in time.  Also, using a tuner is one of the most important aspects of a musician and i must always be in tune whenever i play any type of genre.

Microphones

1)  As a general guideline, it can be said that dynamic microphones are best suited for live sound work, and that condenser microphones are more suited for use in a recording studio. What do you think? Give technical and practical reasons for why this may, or may not, be a valid statement (include diagrams if necessary). 

Dynamic Microphone

  Dynamic microphones are the most common microphones used in live sound work/live performances. They are made of a Diaphragm, a magnet and a copper wire. The dynamic microphones are good because it can handle loud sounds, and it can be used for hours, it works fine with loud sounds and the Dynamic microphones doesn't need external power for it to work but the Dynamic microphone has to be connected to a pre-amp because it has a low  output level.

The design of the dynamic microphone is really simple but it has a really strong material because if you drop it, it wont completely break into pieces. Dynamic microphones are usually cardioid or hyper cardioid which means they will only capture sounds from on specific direction.

Condenser Microphone

Condenser microphones are usually found in recording studios and different front the dynamic microphones, they are more sensitive, have a higher output level than the dynamic and have greater high frequency response giving a clear sound for the recording. Different from the dynamic microphone, the condenser microphone  requires external power (phantom power) so that's why this type of mics are usually found in recording studios, because using them in a live performance would not be a good idea.

One of the bad things about the condenser microphone is that they are not ship at all and they are fragile and can break easily so that’t why you need to be careful when setting it up and while using it. 

2)  What are the three main polar patterns found on microphones?

 Describe the differences and give examples of how each could be used (based on your own experiences if possible). 

There are three different main polar patterns found on microphones and three of them, captures the sound in different ways, and they are:

Omni - The Omni is very different from the cardoid and the Bi-Direction, and the reason why is because it captures sound from all directions, front, back and sides. One good example of this microphone being used is when there's a group of singers performing together, best known as choir because not everybody can have their one microphone to sing on it so the Omni will be the best choice, because it will pick up all the choir singers and instruments.

Uni-Directional (Cardoid) - The cardoid which has the shape of a heart can only capture sounds from on direction, so something like a vocal line because the singer only sings in one direction which will be where the mic is. They'd be found in recording studios.

Bi-Directional - The Bi-directional which has the shape of an 8 can capture sounds from both front and back of its diaphragm and captures two focused sounds with some ambiance. This polar pattern is not really used like the other two. They can be found in a recording studio or while someones having an interview, because we'd capture both voices.

3)  Dynamic and condenser microphones are the two most commonly used type of microphone found in the studio. Can you name any other types? Include their basic technical features and how, or why, they might be used. 

Shotgun Microphone - The shotgun is a different microphone and usually used in films, interview, TV stuff and video production. They are really good to capture the frequencies the human voice produces. Different from the other mics, this microphone has a different shape because it is a long, cylindrical microphone and with microphones people normal hold them with their hands but this one will be attached to a long metal pole and the person holding it will have to follow the actor/actress if it's being used in a movie or just staying still if it's in a interview, the person holding it can't be more than three feet away or the audio will sound distant and they need to hold it high above the person's head where it doesn't appear on the cameras.
With this microphone, you won't have problems capturing the sound you need if you're outside and for example it is windy, because you can still capture the sound you need and the reason why is because this mic has a special fur material which preventing the wind, rain, etc from intruding the sounds/audio you want to capture.

4)  Give suggestions as to what you might use the following microphones for and explain your answer: 

Audix D6

The Audix D6 is the most common microphone used in recording studios or live recording environments. The D6 is used to pick up the bass drum on a drum kit, it picks up a clean attack sound of the kick drum. The D6 has also a Uni-directional pick up pattern which means that the mic will only pick up a focused sound, so you need to put it in the right place so it picks up the right sound.

SE Electronics Titan

The SE Electronics Titan are the most large-diaphragm condenser microphones which are great choices if they are being used in a recording studio to record a singer or an acoustic guitar. The Titan provides a clear sounds of vocals, it doesn’t distort and it will pick up any sound, it doesn't matter if the singer sings high or low.

Microtech Gefell M300 

The Microtech Gefell M300 are the best choices for recording instruments, for example, if you use it to record an acoustic guitar and put one of the mics pointing directly at the neck of the guitar and another one pointing directly at the body of the guitar you will get the sounds effects of the guitar when is being strummed or the fingers moving up and down. The M300 can be used in recording studios and also in live performances.

5)  When using microphones, why is a mic pre-amp necessary? What features would you expect to find on a professional pre-amp (either standalone or as a part of a mixing desk)? 

A pre-amp is necessary for a microphone because it gives to it a boost, because the output of a microphone is very low and without the use of the pre-amp, the microphone can't be heard. On a pre-amp, you can add reverb, it can add tone, change the EQ and change the gain.