16/10/12- THE PERFORMANCE

It was our gig tonight and I think over all it went really well, and it was such a good night. After college finished I stayed in college til we had to go down to Magoo's to set up in there with all the equipment. We had to situate everything in the right place due to it being quite small we had to really think about space and where people would stand and if there would be enough room for things. I didn't really feel I got a lot of chance to give it a go to try do these things myself but hopefully next time I'll get a chance because it's something that's important and we all need to learn. 

I think my performances went really well, I done two songs which were both by 'Daughter', one was called Youth and the other called Candles. I think the second song I done was performed much better than the first because by this point I was much more relaxed and comfortable. I even enjoyed speaking to the audience this made me feel less pressured. 

What I would have done differently:

• Listened to the guitar more 
• Connected with the audience more- more eye contact 
• Not looked at the floor as much- this will make me look more confident 

Overall I was really happy with my performances and think I at least definitely tried to do my best. Al though it was quite nerve wrecking I handled my nerves fine and can't wait to do it again. 

15/10/12

Today was our last chance to rehearse properly before the gig which is tomorrow. We've been doing rehearsals with the microphone's which has made me feel much more confident. I've also been performing in front of people which makes me feel much better about it. 

Today I also learnt how to use a mixer, we need to learn this so on the night we can all have a go at doing the sound for each other's performances, this will be great practice and something we need to get used to using, I was really surprised on how easy it was to use.

We've also been learning how to set up microphones and what leads we need, I've been trying to get as much practice as I can.

12/10/12

I really enjoyed today's lesson I got to record in the studio and it was so much fun. The A level students used the technical side, and I also could see how it was done which was really interesting and can't wait to learn more about it. 

I recorded the song I'm doing in the gig at Magoo's with my class. Charlie (who is playing guitar for me) put down the recording of that, then I went into the studio after and that got played back to me through head phones and I then sang over it which was really good. There was a bit of feed back so we are hoping to do it again just so it sounds a little better. 

I think next time we will be able to make it much better because we then all know what we are doing, as today was the first time we had all used the studio. 

09/10/12

Today we went into the live room as a class and rehearsed our group performance, which will be the final song playing in our gig. We're doing 'Bob Dylan- Knocking on heavens door'. We first had to set everyting up, including the icrophones, instruments, get everyone into their positions and wejust ran it a few times to see what needed improving/changing. We realised that we needed to sort out the structure more and we have now cleared that up so everyone now knows what they're doing. We realised to day that it was quite messy and some parts out of tune and some people was looking a bit unsure of what they had to do. We then set targets of what we needed to have done for next lesson. This was sorting out the harmonies, that was the main part that really needed cleaning up.

2/10/12

Today we practiced for the group performance which we are doing as the finale for the Open Mic. The vocalists went into a practice room to work on harmonies and sorting the lyrics out. Whilst the band went into the live room to work on getting the backing music. It was quite difficult to work out the harmonies, but we ended up sorting it out in the end. Then we went into the live room to try it out with the band, it sounded really good for the first time we had done it and I think it will sound really good for the finale of the whole performance.

29/09/12

Today we performed what we had so far, performing regular to the class really helps improve your confidence. I think my performance went well but I really need to improve the way I hold myself when performing, so I think I need to sit up more and actually look out to the audience more, I find this quite difficult as I do get quite nervous. 

What I think could have gone better with my performance:

• Present myself better, hold myself up-this will make my voice project more and be clearer 
• Not look down 
• Try make my voice a little louder, not too loud so it sounds like I'm straining 
• Connect with the audience more 
• Have more confidence 
• Feel more confident with the words

I'm going to try and improve all of these things for next time when I show to the class. This will make my over all performance on the night so much better and hopefully get a good mark. 

28/09/12

Today was a really productive lesson, I think I got a lot out of today's lesson. I went into a practice room with Charlie, who will be doing the guitar for me on the Open Mic night. We went through the song a few times, I showed it to a few friends too so I could get feed back on how to improve my performance. This really helped so I knew what I needed to do to make it better. The feed back I got was really good, just that I need to project my voice a bit more to the audience, and perhaps have a bit more confidence in looking at the audience which will make them connect with me more. I listened to a few people's songs also and I'm really excited for the night now because I think it's going to be really good. I think something that may help me sing up a bit more is if the guitar is played a bit more loudly then I'll have to be louder in order for my voice to be heard, but I think that with a microphone it will much better.