WC 13.06.2016 - World Skills

We came in to rehearse on Monday ready for the Gig on Tuesday in Newcastle.

I think rehearsal went well we just needed to work on stage presence.

On Tuesday we performed and I thought it went well but the keyboard was really out of time and we all needed more stage presence. Unfortunately we didn't get named in the top three bands but it was great to see all the other bands and learn from them however this does mean we can't get through to the final heat. All of the performances have been once again sent of to a board.

For the rest of the week we are just getting on with course work as the end of the year is coming up quickly and we need to get all of our work completed.

WC 6.06.2016 - World Skills Update

This week we also found out that we were through to the second heat of the World Skills competition so we had to choose two songs but they were not allowed to be on the list that was given previously. So we chose to do an original called 'Where did it all go wrong?' and a mash up of  'Seven nation army/sweet dreams'.

For these songs we made them contrasting and added harmonies to make them more interesting again we gave the song dynamics and changed the tone in places to make the song sound full and interesting. We have a week to rehearse this so we rehearsed all week to be ready for the gig which will be held in Gateshead in newcastle.

WC 6.06.2016 - Gig Week

Today is the day of the gig so the whole band came in early to rehears, we rehearsed our set a few times which we got told would be 3 songs so our set list was
-No More
-Hymn for the weekend
-Leave it all behind

Then when we were happy we were all ready for the gig.

We all was waiting bad stage and we closed the show, it went well we were al in time and in tune and we played well as a unit. We interacted with the audience but we still need to work on our stage craft because we don't use the whole stage.  Overall the gig went well and we got some good feedback from people at the end, however i did feel like I was flat.

WC 30.05.2016 - Absent

We were not in college due to half term.

WC 23.05.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we didn't rehearse because I had tonsillitis and a swollen trachea, so i couldn't sing as I didn't want to make it any worse because I wanted to be better for the gig.

WC 16.05.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we added a cover to our set list. We did Hymn for the weekend by Coldplay but changed up the genre to pop punk, it was only a short two minute cover but we added it as extra material for our set for the gig to make it more interesting.

We just carried on rehearsing all of the songs until we knew them off by heart because the gig is now only in 3 weeks!

Next week we will just rehearse again as its our last week for rehearsal.

WC 9.05.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we just rehearsed all of our material from our original band because there is only 5 more weeks until the gig!

We came up with an instrumental but we decided we wasn't going to worry about it too much because we had enough songs to play at the gig.

This week we all played well as a band and rehearsed non stop to get our songs gig ready. This meant we rehearsed the songs to death but we had to do it so we would be ready and we'd remember all of our songs.

Next week we will be rehearsing all of theses songs again.

WC 02.05.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we carried on rehearsing for Word Skills and got it all recording so we just did the same as last week, next week we will be rehearsing again in our original bands.

So next week we need to run through the songs to get them bad in our memory.

WC 25.04.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we just rehearsed in our World skills bands because we only have a week and a half to have the song ready to be submitted to the board.

So this week we just rehearsed the song over and over until we had nailed it, we added in a harmony to make it more interesting and we changed up the tone and the dynamics in played to layer up the song so it had different layers and it was a bit more exciting. The song was only allowed to last for 2 minutes so we also had to trim down the song to fit the criteria.

Next week we need to rehearse it a few more times to get t ready to be recorded.

WC 18.04.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we found out we were taking part in a competition called World Skills so we got put into new bands for this project.
In my band was:
Luke - Drums
Jess - Guitar
Elisha - Bass
Ebony - Vocals
Me - Vocals
Katie - Keyboard

We had to choose a song from the following list to change up into a different genre.
Lucas Graham - 7 years
Rihanna ft Drake - Work
Jonas Blue ft Dekota - Fast car
Pillowtalk - Zayn Malik
Love Yourself - Justin Bieber
Lush Life - Zara Larsen
Stitches - Shawn Mendes
Secret Love Song - Little mix ft Jason Derulo
Sorry - Justin Bieber
Hymn for the weekend - Coldplay
I took a pill in Ibiza - Mike Posner
Girls Like - Tinie Tempah ft Zara Larsen
Light it up - Major laser ft nyla
Work from home - Fifth harmony ft  TY Dolla Sign
Say you do - Sigala ft Imani & DJ Fresh
Cheap Thrills  - SIA ft Sean Paul
Faded -Alan Walker
One Dance - Drake ft Wiz Kid & Kyla
Cake by the ocean  - DNCE

We chose Cheap Thrills and changed it to be less Dancey and a bit more acoustic pop.

WC 11.04.2016 - Reflective Dairy

We were back this week from our Easter break. So we just rehearsed past material to get it back in our minds because we haven't rehearsed for three weeks.  So we didn't really achieve our target that was set before because we decided that we wouldn't start anything new because we just wanted to beth the songs back in our heads.

We forgot some parts but we communicated as a band and we sorted them out so that we all knew what we were doing again.

I think this week we really worked well as band to help each other remember what we all had to do within the songs and where we had to come in because we had forgotten some parts due to us being off college for a while.

Next week i think we are going to start something new and rehearse the songs we already have.

WC 04.04.2016 - Absent

We were off for the Easter break.

WC 28.03.2016 - Absent

We were also off this week for Easter.

WC 21.03.2016 - Absent

We were off this week for Easter.

WC 14.03.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we were all doing assignments due to dead lines coming up so we decided not to rehearse  this week as we would rather focus on getting our work done and handed in on time, so next week we need to refresh our memories and rehearse previous material and maybe try and start something new.

WC 7.03.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we decided we would rehearse as we didn't last week due to everyone focusing on assignments.

We didn't start anything new this week we just rehearsed our previous material so it was still fresh in our memories because we don't want to forget any of our songs because our gig is coming up fast. Because of this we just kept going over the songs we had and we just kept going over them until we were happy.

I think we worked well as a band to get the songs to a point were we were all happy with why we were doing. I think that we achieved our target that we set last week as we did rehearse all of our material and we got it to a point we were more comfortable with.

Next week I think we are working on assignments again as we have more hand in dates coming up.

WC 29.02.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we didn't rehearse as we were all doing assignments as there was a hand in date coming up, so everyone was just focused on getting the assignments done.

This means we didn't achieve our target so our target next week is to rehearse our previous material to keep it fresh in our minds.

WC 22.02.2016 -Reflective Diary

This week George was back so we put a lead guitar part to Closer, and we rehearsed it until we all knew it and it all fit properly.  This mens that we achieved the target we had set last week for ourselves.

We all communicated as a band to show and explain to George what we already had for this song so he could put a lead guitar part in that fit with the rest of the song. I'm really pleased with how this song turned out, i think it's my favourite out of all the songs we have written so far. This is because it is a different style to the songs we have previously written.

I think we did really well this week and we got the song completed so I'm really happy with the progress we have made as a band. I think next week we need to rehearse our other material next week to keep all the songs fresh in our mind so we can nail them at the gig.

WC 15.02.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we rehearsed our previous material ready for the gig we have coming up. This is so when we play at the gig we sound well rehearsed and tight as a band. Also if we all know what we are doing then we won't be panicking when it comes to the gig because we know the songs from memory.
We also worked more on Jayden's song Closer. We added parts for the two rythm guitars from the chords Jayden and I write the lyrics too. Then Jayden added a drum beat to the songs and we sang it through with my singing the lyrics. We left it there at that point as George wasn't in rehearsal so all we had left to add was a lead guitar part.

The song we've written is called Closer -

We communicated well by working together to put the song Closer together. This included me, Jayden, Bailey and Jordan working together to get the song nearly completed. We had to make decisons on what sounded best for the song, we decided that the two rythm guitars would do the same thing to add more volume to the song and make it fuller.

I think we worked well as a team and achieved last weeks target because we got everything done that we wanted to. I think we need to add a lead guitar next week so that is our target ready for next weeks rehearsals.  

WC 08.02.2016 - Reflective diary

This week we Jayden came in with a new song he had started to write. He had already made up the chord progression and he had some ideas for the lyrics that we sat and added to and rearranged. We decided to name the song 'Closer'

The song structure is -
Verse
Chorus
Verse
Chorus
Verse
Chorus

My contribution this week was to sit down and help Jayden re-write his lyrics because they needed adding to and they needed some more work.

I think that me and Jayden worked well together because we communitcated well and we gave each other our honest opinion on the lyrics we were both coming up with, making us create a catchy and lyrically good song.  

I think one of our biggest strengths of this week was being able to work well together to create a catchy song, that we all liked to play. I think we all work well as a team because we all communicate and give each other constructive criticism, which helps us to improve as a band.

I think we can improve by being a bit more inventive with our structure of songs because all of our songs are structured the same.

Next week I think we need to work on putting the whole of Closer together, so we have another song to add to our set ready for the gig. We also need to rehearse past material so that we are ready for the gig.

WC 01.02.2016 - Reflective Diary

In this weeks session we completed our third song and started on our fourth song. We have changed our third songs name to 'No More' so it has a shorter title.

Thie finished lyrics are:
Verse 1
I can't take this anymore
I'm sick of feeling so insecure
I'm sick and tired of the shit you say
I wish this pain would all just fade away
Chorus
I don't want to be here
I want to spread my wings and fly
I just want to leave here
And tell my family goodbye
Verse 2 
Now I'm standing on the edge
I am sick of this life pledge
Why can't things change, it's always the same
My pitiful life is always so lame
Chorus 
I don't want to be here
I want to spread my wings and fly
I just want to leave here
And tell my family goodbye
Bridge and solo
Chorus
I don't want to be here
I want to spread my wings and fly
I just want to leave here
And tell my family goodbye

I think the bands main strength was song writing this week as we've finished the song and written music for it and now the song is complete. We have communicated really well in order to finish this song because we have all helped each other and given our opinions about what sounds good. We have had good feedback on the guitar rid in the verse as Seonaid said the guar part gave her goosebumps and she really liked it.  Now we just need to just keep practicing the song so we know it for when we have to perform it. So next weeks target is to practice our set list so far.

WC 25.01.2016 - Reflective Diary

This week we we're set on finishing the lyrics to the new song. We did actually finish writing the lyrics for the new song. The only thing that's left to write on the new song is to sort out the other two guitar parts.

Here are the lyrics and the structure of the song:

Intro

Verse 1-

I can't take this anymore
I'm sick of feeling so insecure
I'm sick and tired of the shit you say
I wish this pain would all just fade away

Chorus

I don't want to be here
I want to spread my wings and fly
I just want to leave here
And tell my family goodbye

Verse 2

Now I'm standing on the edge
I'm sick of this life pledge
Why can't things change, it's always the same
my pitiful life is always so lame

Chorus

I don't want to be here
I want to speed my wings and fly
I just want to leave here
And tell my family goodbye

Bridge

Solo

Chorus

I don't want to be here
I want to speed my wings and fly
I just want to leave here
And tell my family goodbye

Outro

We have decided to set up a band Facebook page and a band twitter account for Kodimoor

https://www.facebook.com/Kodimoor-330732857051175/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

https://twitter.com/kodimooroffial

I think the band has developed and we are more productive. We have written a full new song and set up pages to promote our music and our band. We have communicated better this week as everyone listened to what we had to say, this means we achieved last weeks target.

This week I wrote the rest of the lyrics with Jayden's help while the others worked on writing a bridge and trying to figure out the other two guitar parts. 

Next weeks target is to try and write the two other guitar parts to go with the new song.

WC 18.01.2016 - Reflective Diary

This weeks reflective diary 

This week we started creating a new song. George came up with a verse and then Elisha picked up the bass line then we got to work writing lyrics. Me Jayden and Elisha started writing the lyrics and we wrote the first verse. We also came up with a chord progression for a chorus but we haven't got lyrics for that yet.

When the band start writing a new song we all turn down and sit and come up with a guitar part before we add any thing else so there's something for everyone to go off. Turning down and not playing over each other helps us to communicate and talk to each other.  Luckily we all liked the guitar part that George made up, in my opinion it sounds like the same style as 'three days of grace' and I quite like that band. We started talking about the structure of the band and we decided that the intro and the verse would be quite acoustic like, in the way that it will just be the guitar and vocals and then everyone would come in the chorus.

I think our bands biggest strength is communicating. However i feel like this week we haven't been as colaberative as we normally are because we wasn't really working together as a team to write the new lyrics.

Next week I think we need to work better as a team in order to write these lyrics effectively, this means we have to turn all the instruments down when we start rioting lyrics and communicate and all contribute ideas, so the song sounds how we want it to.

The lyrics so far are

Verse 1 -

I can't take this anymore
I'm sick of feeling so insecure
I'm sick and tired of the shit you say
I wish this pain would all just fade away

Chorus-

I don't want to be here
I want to spread my wings and fly
I just want to leave here
And tell my family goodbye

WC 30.11.2015 - Reflective Diary & Objectives

The Venue

The Christmas gig is going to be held in the Grimsby Institute's theatre. This is a fairly big venue to be playing if you haven't played in front of many people before, as the theatre seats around 250 people,. Also the theatre has a big stage so the whole band will be quite spread out which can be really unusual when you are used to rehearsing in quite a small rehearsal room. The theatre is a great place to hold a gig due to the amount of people the theatre can seat making it a very suitable place to hold the Christmas gig. Also it's a great place to hold a gig as the equipment at the back of the theatre allows a technician to control the volumes and the sound that are coming from the vocalist and the bands instruments. However the downside to performing in a venue such as the theatre is, you really struggle to hear yourself on stage, so you can't hear what you sound like to the audience, even though the technician has the volumes under control, it is still a horrible feeling. 

Health and Safety

Health and safety has to be taken into consideration, there a number of things that need to be considered when playing a gig. One of the main things is the wires and cables involved when playing gigs, the wires tend to be taped down to stop them becoming tripping hazards for the performers and technicians that may be accessing the stage. This is because tripping over wires could damage equipment, seriously hurt someone or even if it doesn't hurt anyone it's just embarrassing and it can knock your confidence right before having to play. The cables from the guitar amps need to be fairly neat and the performers need to be aware of where they are to again prevent them from being a tripping hazard. Another thing to take into account while you are performing is the sound levels because if the sound levels are too hight it could seriously damage someone's ears, and in a worst case scenario, it could deafen somebody, however this one will be taken care of by a technician at the Christmas gig. 

Equipment 

For a big gig like this thee is a only a few things the band needs to bring their selves.

Vocalists just need to make sure they have a bottle of water.

Guitarists and bassists need to make sure they have their guitar/ bass and picks. They do not need to bring guitar leads because of how many bands there are swapping and changing on and off stage, so everyone is just using the same cable. They also do not need an amp because all the amps that are to be used are all set at the right volume and they have been set with the right settings. 

Drummers just need to take their drum sticks because the drum is already being set up on stage. 

And anyone that plays the keyboard, doesn't need to bring anything as the keyboards will be set up already. 

Reflective Diary

Once again my individual contribution was to give 100% effort into rehearsals so we could get a true feel to how we will sound at the Christmas gig, and I'm still listening out for mistakes so we can make the performance as solid as possible.

The band also listens out for mistakes and we communicate with each other to make sure we can fix them straight away. If the same mistake comes up a few times then we have to communicate and really narrow in on the mistake to find the problem and fix it.  If we can't fix it we communicate in order to make a decision of what to do next.

I think because the band is so good at communicating with each other and it's one of our biggest srenghts it's really allowed us to work well and really develop the two songs we will be performing at the Christmas gig which are very nearly ready!

Next weeks target is to carry on rhea rehearsing the two songs for the Christmas gig and stay focussed to get together a strong set, as it is the last week of rehearsals until the gig!

WC 23.11.2015 - Reflective Diary & Audience Expectation

We need to make our performance different to everybody else's, in order to do this one of the main ways we can do this is by performing two original songs instead of performing covers. This will make us stand out in comparison to some of the other bands because some of the other bands are doing covers and to say we will be performing two original songs, we have taken time to write and compose and rehears is more impressive than just leaning a song and rehearsing it. A thing that will set us apart from the other bands is the fact both of our original songs contrast, one of them is slow whereas the second one is upbeat and more energetic. This will make the overall performance quite different to the others.

The audience is likely to expect something different as our two songs contrast and clash genres a little bit which is quite unusual for a band as normally a band sticks to one genre. They can also expect a well rehearsed set, as we have worked really hard on polishing our songs so they are ready to gig.
In my opinion the minimum standard for a good solid performance, is for it to be rehearsed so there is no need for pieces of paper on stage as it makes the performance look unprepared and messy. Also all ten performers on stage should be putting in as much effort as they can to sound the best they could possibly sound. Also all the performers should know what they're doing even if thee has been a last minute change of plan or a performer missing, there should be back up plans set into place.
To ensure that my bands performance is suitable we first need to check who our audience will be, in this case it was some secondary school children, college students and university students, this meant it was okay to keep the 1 swear word (we have in our second song) into the performance. However if we were performing to a younger audience we would change the word 'fucked' to 'messed' in order to make our performance suitable and taylored to the audience.

Once again my individual contribution was to give 100% effort into rehearsals so we could get a true feel to how we will sound at the Christmas gig, and I'm still listening out for mistakes so we can make the performance as solid as possible.

The band also listens out for mistakes and we communicate with each other to make sure we can fix them straight away. If the same mistake comes up a few times then we have to communicate and really narrow in on the mistake to find the problem and fix it.  If we can't fix it we communicate in order to make a decision of what to do next.

I think because the band is so good at communicating with each other and it's one of our biggest srenghts it's really allowed us to work well and really develop the two songs we will be performing at the Christmas gig!

Next weeks target is to carry on rehearsing the two songs for the Christmas gig and stay focussed to get together a strong set.

WC 16.11.2015 - Reflective Diary & Team Work

There are lots of skills you have to use in able to work effectively in a team. The skills I aim to use when working with others is to be understanding. You need to be understanding when you're working with others because different people have different lives and things to deal with.  To go along with this you need to be understanding when working with other musicians because writing songs can get personal and emotional for different people, so being understanding and caring is a must as it takes someone who can be sensitive towards other people's lives and issues. Also it is important to work with each other and put your ideas together to make a strong song.

In last weeks session, it was basically the same as week because we as still preparing for the Christmas gig. So my individual contribution has still been going into rehearsals and giving 100% effort into them to get an accurate feel of how it's going to  sound when we actually perform the songs at the Christmas gig.  Also I am still listening out for mistakes so we can fix them straight away instead of making them a habit.

We haven't composed anymore songs due to just rehearsing for the Christmas gig as we want to make the two songs we will be performing as crisp as possible so we can give the best performance we can.  Also we because of this we haven't had to make any decisions regarding the songs as they've already been written and composed to how we want them.

I think the bands strength this week has definitely been the ability to adapt as Bailey hasn't been here to rehearse with us so we have had to adapt around it and change some parts, however there hasn't been much to change as Bailey joined the band after these two songs were written before Bailey joined.  I think we still need to work on polishing the songs and we need to come up with a plan for if Bailey can not make the gig.

So a target I am setting for next week is to come up with an action plan of what we are going to do if Bailey can not make the gig because if we make a plan we are going to be more prepared for the gig in the long run, and we are going to sound more rehearsed as we have thought about what we will do if a band member has to miss the gig.

WC 02.11.2015 - Reflective Diary

In rehearsals we have have been rehearsing for the upcoming Christmas gig.
Now that both of our songs have been written, all that's left to do is rehearse them and make the last little changes where they are needed. So each rehearsal we have gone in to rehearsals with set things we need to get done which has been to polish both of the songs ready to perform.

My individual contribution to this has been rehearsing to the beat of my ability in each rehearsal in order to get the best idea of what we're going to sound like when we perform at the Christmas gig. Also to help contribute I will point out if something is not quite right which will help out set become more polished if we can point out our mistakes as soon as we make them and put them right straight away.

When me and the band are writing new songs we communicate and come up with a topic and then make a mind map, and then we can kind of track through a story and come up with a structure for the song. Then we come up with lines to go with the topic and pick out words to rhyme to create the next line, as we write in a A,A,B,B rhyme scheme most of the time.

As a band we are good at communicating to each other, so we all have an effective and equal part in all of the song writing and rehearsing process, which I would consider our biggest strength. This is because we are able to work together and work off each other in a way that's effective and that works for us.

I think something we still need to develop is being focussed as there are times where as a band or individually we get distraction which can sometimes slow the rehearsal down, which means we are not getting 100% out of our time rehearsing as a band.

Next week we need to carry on getting both of the songs polished and ready for the gig and we all need to be completely focussed so we are as rehearsed as possible for the Christmas gig!

WC 09.11.2015 - Gig Evaluation

Main Individual achievements 

In the half term gig I feel that my main achievements  were actually performing in front of people as i get stage fright, so performing alone was an achievement in its self. Also I struggle to remember lyrics under pressure so I think I did well, as I remembered all the words to are first song 'Song One'.  Performig inrontof people is a big deal to me especially people who I know. So for me to be able to stand up and perorm a song infront of people on the music course was a huge acheivment for me.

As a perormer I don't feel like I have many strenghts as a peformer, however I feel that my biggest strength is my ability to push myself so my vocals sound the best they can in any performance I give.  

There is a lot of things I think i need to improve on in termsof performance. I don't have any stage presence at all because I am not confident on stage. I feel that because I have no stage presence, the performance then becomes boring to the audience because there is not much energy coming from me on the stage.  Another thing I need to develop is having faith in myself because when I get on stage/ perform I always panic thinking i'm going to forget the words to the next line and I freeze a little bit on stage.  However I don't think I ca develop these in time for the Christmas gig as I  think that these are things that are going to take time because they are to do with anxiety and confidence and this is something I will be working on over time.

For the christmas gig my target is to learn the words to 'Song One' and 'Leave it all behind' ready to perform them for the christmas gig this is because it will look very shabby and unrehersed if I take my lyrics on stage with me so I need to learn the words so I know them off by heart. To ensure this target is forfilled I will be going ito rehersals without using my lyrics so I will not become reliant upon them. Therefore this is the SMART target I am setting myself for the christmas gig