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.

Solo Performance Recording

Solo Performance Recording

Stage Box

The first thing I did before the recording was to set up the stage for the performer. To start off I asked the person who was going to perform what she would like to have on stage for her performance. The only things she asked for was a microphone  for herself and the one we used was 'Shure SM58' and also a piano for the accompanist of one of her songs because the other songs were A Capella and a backing track.

After asking the performer what she was going to need, I picked up a jack lead plug for the microphone so I could plug it into the stage box so I could send signal/sound to the mixing desk and record it onto Logic Pro. I made notes on my phone so I could remember which input the mic was in which was in input 1 on the stage box.

Mixing Desk

After completing all the setting up of the stage for the performer I went where the mixing desk and the laptop were and opened Logic pro, created a new file, add four new audio tracks then I saved the new project I was doing so the audio files being recorded would have somewhere to be saved to then I named each of the audio track so I could know which one was what and started setting up the channels for each of them, the vocals were on channel 1, the piano was on channel 9 and the backing track were on channel 15 & 16 and then set up the inputs for all of them.

After setting up all the channels & inputs for the instruments and backing track I pressed the 'Mute' button of the 4 channels being used so I could hear the instruments and vocals, I then turned up the 'Gain' button on the mixing desk to 60db but only for the vocals and the piano because it wasn't sending any sound to the mixing desk and while using the 'Line level channels' to turn up the volume of the instruments and vocals I looked at the meter to make sure both of them was reaching to '0'.

After that I used a stereo plug cable and plugged it into the headphone socket of the performer's phone so we could use the backing track for her performance, I then turned the the 'Line level channel' for the backing track to make sure we could hear it and also to make sure logic was receiving it.

After checking if everything was working perfectly which was, I pressed the 'R' button of each audio track so I could record them, I then asked the performer to sing one of her songs for few minutes so I could just check if Logic Pro was receiving all the sounds and if it was recording properly with enough volume sound and everything was fine. 

Techlog

Roland Gaia SH01 (Synth)

How have you been using it ?

• By pressing different keys you get a variety of different sounds and also effects.
• I've been messing around with the effects you can get from it, such as reverb, distortion, phaser, pitch shifter, delay with panning and tempo sync etc.
• Even though it has less keys than the other synth, with the Gaia you can change octaves with the octave key, you can transpose, you can change the pitch.

What are the limitations ?

With the Gaia you can't record or save sounds in it and different from the other synths, the Roland Gaia has much less keys than the other synthesisers, for example, the Roland Juno-6 or the Roland AX-Synth.

How could you use it effectively in performance ?
The Gaia can be used in any song, because even though it is a small synth it has a lot to offer, it has many songs that can be added in any part of a song and it can be used to add texture.

RC-5 (Loop Station)

How have you been using it ?

I've been using it to record different guitar parts, for example, the rhythm and then the melody. I also used it to record a bass line or even me just tapping/drumming on the guitar.

What are the limitations ?

• With the RC-5 if you record loads of sounds then you can't go back and choose which instruments you want to delete or re-record, you can only delete the previous sound.

• With this loop station you don't have the control of the instruments, if you record guitar, bass and then you tapping on the guitar and then you want to stop one of them, then you can't because you don't have the control of the sounds you are recording.

How could you use it effectively in performance ?
The RC-5 can be very helpful if you are doing a solo performance, for example, if you are guitarist and you are doing a solo performance, in the beginning you can just start by strumming the guitar, then adding a bass line to your song if you want, then do some tapping on the guitar body and then just adding a melody line on top of it. Any other instruments can use it for the same thing,

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.