230 Live Music Performance Exam 2018

RSL 230: Live Music Performance Exam ‘18

Exam Brief 2017-2018 (A&R Audience)

Performance Brief 2017-2018:

You are booked to play a showcase for local label A&Rs. You have been asked to provide a 10-15 minute performance appropriate to the event.

Your work must be suitable for the audience. If you work as a group each candidate in the group must be able to show their contribution. Each candidate will be assessed individually.

General Instructions:

You must attempt all tasks in order to pass. Use the assessment and grading criteria to make sure you have completed everything.

Talk to your teacher about anything you’re not certain of.

You can work independently or in groups, but all work must be your own.

Once you have completed your work you must sign the candidate declaration sheet your teacher will give to you to declare all your work is your own.

You may use the internet to support your research, but all work must be written in your own words. Include the website address of any information that you used in your research.

Time and Word limits:

Your written work should not exceed 2,000 words in total.

If you upload practice recordings/videos of yourself these should not exceed 12 minutes total in length.

The final live recorded performance should last 10-15 minutes, and should not go beyond 15 minutes.

You can only spend 30 hours on this assessment; this is divided into:

10 hours preparation time (you can work independently away from class)

20 hours controlled conditions, where you are supervised by your teacher in the classroom.

Task 1: Planning - 6 hours

(This is about how you will plan your contribution to the event in the brief. Answer the following questions. Make sure you write in full sentences, and aim for three sentences per answer where suitable.)

1.1/1.2/1.3 My statement of personal aims, production plan 

My candidate number: (Mr Flowers will put this here). My centre number: (Mr Flowers will put this here).

My name is Anya Cantor . The instrument I will be playing for this performance is the piano . The brief requires me to perform a 10-15 minute solo performance.

1.1a) Through my performance, I want to achieve the following personal goals:

1.            Personal Goal 1:  I want this performance to build my confidence up with playing the piano by rehearsing every week until the real thing and by hopefully performing properly and being fully prepared.

2.            Personal Goal 2:  I want to achieve my confidence on a whole with performing by practicing/rehearsing in front of family members before the real thing.

3.            Personal Goal 3: I want to be able to reach the time limit of 10-15 minutes by keeping track of each song im playing and slowing them down so that they will reach the right length of time. I could also replay section of each song to make the performance last longer.

1.1a HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: You can write as many realistic and achievable goals as you like above by aim for at least 3. Make sure your answers relate to your aspirations and expectation of the performance. I have started the following sentences for you below but feel free to change it if you wish “I want improve my confidence with my performance by…”. OR “I want to develop my skills with…” OR “I would like to develop my collaboration skills by…”.

1.1b) To help achieve the above goals, I think I have the following skills that I can use:

1.            Skill 1: My first good skill is i am able at playing songs on the piano in time so that they are  not too fast or too slow. This comes in handy when learning a new song on the piano or key board.

2.            Skill 2: My second good skill is that it is not difficult for me to remember certain chords which comes in handy when practicing.

3.            Skill 3: My third good skill is that i can play by ear so incase i ever did forget a chord i could just find it by remembering the tune.

1.1b HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: Think about what you’re already good at and how this will help you give achieve your goals.

1.1c) I will know if I have achieved my goals at the end of the assessment because i will feel happy and confident with how my performance went. I could watch back my performance to evaluate it and see if i met the expectations or not.

1.1c HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: You could watch back your performance and evaluate it, you could interview some of the audience, ask your teacher etc.

1.1d) The audience I am performing to will be the local label A and Rs . Their expectations will be that i perform confidently and that i am fully prepared, they will want a good solid creative and effective performance. I will meet their expectations by staying in time with the song i am performing, i will also keep track of time so that i don't either finish too early or go over the time limit, i will perform in the style of pop and i will make sure that i am fully prepared and ready to performs the songs to my best abilities.

1.1d HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: Research and find out what a label A&R is and then write what you think they will be expecting from your performance. How will you meet these expectations? Consider repertoire (song choice), quality, length, stage presence etc.

1.1e) I will perform music in the following style pop. This is because i have always been interested in pop and have always favored the music genre, i believe that with pop you can express absolutely anything in a catchy song with great music. Throughout the years pop has changed its style and improved the quality of music used in each and every song which personally i find fascinating. Over all this is why i decided to perform my five songs in the style of pop.

1.1f) My personal image for the event will be wearing something bright and bold so that the audience can automatically see the link between what style i am performing and what i am wearing which is ofcourse the music genre pop. The entire genre of pop i represented by bright outstanding colours, this is the way it has always been with pop music and has always been the style of pop singers 1.1f HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: Describe your personal style and image for the event. What will you wear? Does it fit in with a style of music? Make sure you justify your choices (is it appropriate for the audience?)

1.2a) My ideas for the performance are that we make sure we have everything prepared and ready, and  as i am going to be doing a solo performance i will find a soundtrack to perform with so that its not just the piano on its own ( i.e use an instrumental to perform along with) . I intend to be fully organised and well prepared with the set up for the performance. I will do it by getting everything sorted out before the performance so that i am fully prepared and don't have to rush to get everything ready on the day .

1.2a HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: write down your initial ideas of what you think will be good for the event. How will you make sure it runs smoothly, organisation, anything extra you need and how will you get it? This should be a paragraph.

1.1g and 1.3a) The set list I will perform as my given repertoire will contain the following songs:

1.            Song 1: Artist/Band: Adele Song title: Hello Estimated length of song: 3 minutes . I have chosen this song because it's a very dramatic and effective song that i believe will be a good opening and will hopefully catch the audience's attention. Its also a very well known song so it will most likely be something the audience are familiar with. 

2.            Song 2:  Artist/Band:  The Chainsmokers ft halsey Song title: Closer Estimated length of song: 3 minutes . I have chosen this song because its also a very catchy song and its a pure definition of how pop has changed and what pop is like in our days, with catches onto the main genre of this performance.

3.            Song 3: Artist/Band: ed sheeran Song title: shape of you Estimated length of song:  2 minutes . I have chosen this song because its a well known song and is also an example of pop today it isn't as long as the other songs i am performing which is why i am perfromaning it in the middle of the performance, the song very upbeat and fast so hopefully the audience won't fall asleep and instead will be woken up by this fast beat song.

4.            Song 4: Artist/Band: 21 pilots Song title: heathens Estimated length of song: 2 minutes . I have chosen this song because it shows a different style of pop it is a very popular song but is different because the whole song sticks to the same beat which i found very interesting and unique to play .

5.            Song 5: Artist/Band: Zed ft Troye Sivan Song title: Papercut Estimated length of song: 2 minutes . I have chosen this song because its a very complexed song that i hope to straight away captivate the audience with, i left this song to last because i believe out of the 5 songs i will be performing it shows of my skills the best because its very technical although it isn't a well known song its still a very catchy song and instead of being more upbeat its more of a beautiful slow tune that gradually speeds up.  .

The total estimated length of my set list will therefore be 12 minutes. (Make sure this is between 10-15 minutes)

I have chosen to play these songs in this order because both the first and the last songs are the songs which i believe show off my skills the best and i hope  will captivate the audience's attention straight away whereas the other song arent as complex to play and aren't as skillful however are extremely catchy tunes and will keep the audience's attention throughout the performance instead of catching the attention.

1.1g/1.3a HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: Remember to say why each song is suitable, it might be because is shows off your skills, is widely known, is a catchy song to get their interest. Why should your last song be your best one?

1.3b) I will need to involve the following people in my performance  . This is because 

1.3b HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: think about any band mates, your teachers and instrument teachers, your classmates, concert crew etc. How can each one help you? 
My teacher will be involved recording the whole performance. However because i am doing a solo i won't need many people involved. 

1.3c) I will need the following resources and equipment  a keyboard/piano and an instrumental backing track to go with the instrument this way it won't just be the piano on its own and it makes it more effective if the i'm playing the piano along to the backing track
. 

1.3c HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: think about staging and equipment needs. What equipment do you need and why? What are the staging requirements? e.g. space needed, placement of equipment etc.

1.4) When performing live, I will need to consider the following health and safety issues:

Health & Safety Issue 1: sound/noise. How I will make sure I am safe by making sure that the backing track isn't too loud and that i am playing the piano at the right sound so that its not too loud to damage mine of the audiences hearing .

Health & Safety Issue 2: Cables  . How I will make sure I am safe  Just incase i use a keyboard i will make sure that the cables aren't all over the place for someone to trip on which can be dangerous and is a trip hazard.

Health & Safety Issue 3:access and exit i will make sure i am safe by making a clear space for the audience to walk in and out so that they don't accidently trip on anything important needed for the performance.

Health & Safety Issue 4: lights  incase i do decide to use lights i will make sure that they aren't too bright so that they don't harm my eyesight and the audiences while performing.

I used the following website(s) to help me with my research https://www.airsweb.com/blog/posts/2014/health-and-safety-in-the-music-events-industry/

1.4 HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: research things like noise levels, trip hazards, lighting, fire exits etc. and write about them and how you will make sure to avoid those issues in your performance.

1.3d) I will need to spend 20 hours at school preparing, performing and evaluating the event. I will spend my time by doing  i will spend most of the hours for example say 10 hours practicing to make sure that i am on point with the songs and that i am fully prepared to actually perform the songs. i will spend an hour or two recording so that i am able to record my performance to its best ability. i will try to spend about 6 to 7 hours on preparing for the dress rehearsal so that i am fully organised for the proper performance and ready for it. Last but not not least 3 or two hours fro the actual performance which i help will go as planned and that i will be confident and happy with how i have done.

1.3d HINTS/TIPS/SENTENCE STARTERS: think about how many of the 20 hours you will spend rehearsing, recording, preparing for the dress rehearsal, playing for the actual performance, and evaluating your performance on your blog.

1.3e I will rehearse on the following dates and I will work on the following at each rehearsal:

Week 19 Monday 15/01/18 & Tuesday 15/01/18 (2 hours):

Plan: i will work on playing all the songs in time with each other to make sure they're all in time and played how they're meant to be played.

What went well:  i can play the closer heathens and shape of you in time because they all have a strong beat to them with strong chords .

What needs work:  I need to work on playing the first song hello in time and paper cut the last song in time because they're the opening and closing of my performance because they're complex songs to play is more difficult to keep them in time with the tune.

Week 20 Monday 22/01/18 & Tuesday 23/01/18 (2 hours):

Plan: i need to focus on keeping hello and papercut in time with the tunes of the songs .

What went well: i have been able to practice them with the right timing by recording them and playing them back to see how the timing is .

What needs work: i need more practice on playing the songs with the soundtracks .

Week 21 Monday 29/01/18 & Tuesday 30/01/18 (2 hours):

Plan: to practice the songs with the instrumental backing tracks.

What went well:  i managed to practice playing hello and closer with the sound tracks and think i with a little more practice will get the hang of it .

What needs work: I still need to practice rehearsing the instrumental soundtracks with the other songs.

Week 22 Monday 05/02/18 & Tuesday 06/02/18 (2 hours):

Plan: practice rehearsing heathens, shape of you and papercut with the sound tracks as well as hello and closer .

What went well:  i've got the hang of playing the backing track instrumentals with all of the songs expect papercut as it is a very complex song which makes it hard to keep it in time with the music .

What needs work: playing the sound track instrumental with paper cut .

Week 24 Monday 26/02/18 & Tuesday 27/02/18 (2 hours):

Plan:I practiced rehearsing the songs with the backing tracks and with a little more rehearsal will be able to hopefully play the piano confidently with the instrumentals .

What went well:  I found it not as hard as i imagined to rehearse the songs with the instrumentals .

What needs work: I still need to practice playing the piano with the backing tracks to make sure i am fully prepared to performance the songs with them.

Week 25 Monday 05/03/18 & Tuesday 06/03/18 (2 hours):

Plan: I practiced playing all 5 songs together but paced out properly to make sure they aren't too fast or too slow .

What went well:  i started off with a good pace with the songs Hello and Closer  .

What needs work: i still struggled with playing at the same pace throughout the whole rehearsal when it got to songs such as shape of you i speed up a little more than i needed so i definitely need to work on keeping all the songs in time with each other.

Week 25 Thursday 08/03/18 Dress Rehearsal Performance (2 hours):

Plan: too play all 5 songs together and   play them in time with each other  .

What went well:  I played them in time with each other and didn't mess up much .

What needs work: i still need to play them all slower even though they were in time with each other because i didn't reach the proper time limit.

Week 26 Monday 12/03/18 & Tuesday 13/03/18 (2 hours):

Plan: to rehearse all songs together and make sure i play them slower so that they all at least reach 10 minutes

What went well:  i reached up to 12 minutes which was better than the last time i practice recorded all the songs together .

What needs work: I need to work on slowing down the fast songs such as closer and shape of you so that they go in time with all the other songs too.

Week 26 Wednesday 14/03/18 Final Live Performance (2 hours):

Plan:To play all 5 songs together in one performance hopefully properly without any mistakes and in time. .

What went well: I played the songs in time with each other and believe i didn't make as many mistakes playing as i thought i would have. .

What needs work: I think i should have played them longer so that i could have at least reached 13 or 14 minutes by playing some of the songs chorus's twice maybe that way it would at least extended the recording  a bit.

Week 27 Evaluation Time (2 hours)

See evaluation below.

Task 2: My Performance

(Mr Flowers will upload a recording of your final performance here).

Task 3: Evaluation of my performance

Strengths Reflection:

1). What did YOU do well during the performance? Write about the strengths of your individual contribution: I believe that the strengths of my  performance were that i was able to perform most of the songs in time with each other and i was very grateful that i didn't make as many mistakes as i thought i would . I thankfully didn't forget any of the chords when it came to the the complicated songs paper cut and hello which was definitely a surprise.

Improvement Reflection:

3. What could have been done better if you were to perform again? Both as a whole group and your individual contribution.
 If i were to perform again i would have played all the songs a bit slower so that i could add on a few more minutes so that i could have reached at least 13 or 14 minutes however i only reached 10 and believe i could have tried harder to reach the proper time limit. I also believe i could put more effort into making the songs like shape of you more effective and complexed.

4. Now write what you need to improve and write a strategy of what you will do to make those improvements:
Improvement #1: play the songs slower .

Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: By being relaxed and playing the songs that were meant to be slow in time and not making mistakes like speeding up by accident which unfortunately i did a couple times.

Improvement #2: repeating the chorus of a song to make the performance longer .

Strategy: How could you make that improvement? By repeating short songs like shape of you or closer just by repeating the chorus a couple of times i could have extended the performance time .

Improvement #3: instead of going straight into the next song i could have made a little transition into each song.

Strategy: How could you make that improvement?: I could have made a transition into each song so that it would sound like i go straight into a completely different tune it would have made the whole performance sound more effective. .

Feedback from others:

5. What was the feedback your received from your teacher, other group members and members of the audience?  My dad told told that he thought that i performed quite confidently and that there weren't many mistakes overall. He also said that he thought my performance was quite organised and in time. He did however say that i sped up a little at the end of the performance which made the song sound faster than it was in the rehearsals

6. How did this feedback help with your evaluation of the performance? e.g. what did they notice and comment on that you didn’t realise/know/think about? This feedback helped with my evaluation because i didn't think i performed confidently and didn't really think about it until i heard it from someone else which was good to hear i also didn't exactly think about the ending of the performance i focused on the beginning and didn't notice that i sped up at the end which was a shame.

Conclusion:

7. Write a brief summary/conclusion of your performance: To conclude the whole performance i believe that overall it wasn't bad i think i did quite a good job keeping the songs in time and was grateful for not making too many mistakes. Of Course if i had the chance to do it again i would have tried to slow down a touch at the end but overall am confident with what iv'e done.