Creative Strengths

One creative strength of mine is through my use of fills amongst each song within the

performance. After learning each song thoroughly, I decided to make some sections more

interesting by adding unique fills throughout. This is specifically highlighted through the

song, “Hysteria,” by Muse, in which I frequently included fills, in the chorus and

everywhere in between. I feel this ultimately contributed to my confidence within the

performance, as I was fully aware of what I was playing, increasing the overall quality of

this section of the gig.

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Another creative strength of mine is through my research, specifically my essay, as I

produced detailed written work about my chosen genre. I wrote about different aspects

within video game music, including: key characteristics, background of the genre and two

key composers who made a significant difference in video game music. These composers

were, Daniel Rosenfeld, also known as C418, who created music for Minecraft and Koji

Kondo, who created music for Super Mario Bros and the Legend of Zelda. I was able to

write a variety of unique paragraphs, where I successfully explained each aspect that I

chose, with research that can back up my statements, becoming a noticeable strength

within my project.

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Professional Strengths

One professional strength of mine is that I am open to working in a team, which is evident

throughout the practical aspects within my project. I took part in a variety of group

discussions, which will help with future projects, alongside further aspects in my life,

including University and Jobs. Working in a team also increased my confidence, as each

person strongly supported the other before and during the performance. This also made

me feel more comfortable with the band, allowing me to perform to the best of my

ability.

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Another professional strength of mine is that I am willing to try new things, whether that

be learning about a new genre, or artist, or a song I have never heard before. This also

helps with theory work, as I am open to learning more about genres I am unfamiliar with.

For example, the songs, “Reptilia,” by The Strokes and, “Easier,” by Soft Launch were

songs that I was completely unfamiliar with, but through dedication to the project, and

my enjoyment of learning new things, I successfully rehearsed and performed each song. I

feel that this experience will help me with further aspects in life, such as University, future

bands and jobs.

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Creative Areas for Development

One creative area for development is through my composition. I feel I need to increase

my knowledge in music theory, to give me better ideas and a clear structure within my

piece. I know my composition could have been of a higher quality if I was familiar with

more aspects. Having a greater understanding would help me in further aspects of the

course, as I plan on writing a composition for my Final Major Project. This would also be

useful to know for University and potentially jobs in the near future.

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Another creative area for development was through some mistakes made throughout the

final performance in the Studio, specifically in the song, “Reptilia,” by The Strokes. This

was an issue for a while, as I frequently forgot that I was to continue playing in this

section. This section was during the guitar solo, when the hi hat was completely closed,

with a less frequent snare drum. This confused me slightly when rehearsing and

performing, which was an issue for the overall performance. I will work on remembering

past mistakes, to ensure they do not happen during final performances.

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Professional Areas for Development

One professional area for development was through my job role, as a Roadie. I feel I could

have done more in my job but was worried of moving and changing things that should not

be touched. I feel this held me back when setting up for the performance. I ensured the

drum kit was prepared, bringing spare sticks in case there were none available, but the kit

already had four sticks in a container that was attached to the Hi Hat. I feel like my stress

was in the way of my success as a Roadie. I will work on improving this and make myself

more aware of what needs changing and what does not.

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Another professional area for development is that I often get anxious when rehearsing,

more so performing. This means that I may not play to the best of my ability as I am

worried of overpowering other instrumentalists and vocalists. I feel this has decreased my

overall confidence throughout the overall project, specifically during rehearsals. Before

the performance, it was discussed amongst the band that I should not worry about this

and to perform to the best of my ability, reducing my overall anxiety for the final gig.

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What Went Well Creatively

One aspect that worked well throughout the project, was mine and the bands’ ability to adapt to a range of different genres, which included, Indie, Rock, Psychedelic and Metal. This variety highlighted the objective of the project, while giving us experience with five different songs of these genres. In past projects, the genres of each song have been relatively similar, while this was a new awakening for us, which will help in future aspects in life, and help us to build creativity as musicians, which ultimately worked well for us.

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Another aspect that worked well throughout the project, was the stage presence from the

band during the final performance. This was a successful aspect that was highlighted

within the performance, specifically through the clapping section in, “Easier,” by Soft

Launch, as this is where me and the other instrumentalists clapped along to the vocals, to

intrigue the audience to join in. This was also highlighted generally, throughout the whole

performance, making it interesting and ultimately successful.

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What Went Well Professionally

One aspect that went well professionally, was our use of time keeping within the project.

Being limited to the college performance room was difficult, but did not prevent the band

from working to the best of our ability. We used our time, and space to rehearse and

improve on the chosen songs throughout. I feel this did not hold us back as musicians,

and we were able to give a high-quality final performance. This also worked well

alongside theory work, as I was also able to produce my Project Log, Essay and Annotated

Bibliography in good time, which is another successful example of good time keeping

within this project.

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Another aspect that went well professionally was through my ability to learn new skills in

a short period of time. For example, the overall drum rhythm of,” Hysteria,” by Muse

requires my feet to move at different time, while being half time on the hi hat. This was

tiring for my feet, but I eventually found a better solution to this. When I began learning

this song, I was worried that I was not able to do this. However, after dedication and

much needed rehearsals, I was able to successfully perform this song, and in the final

performance, I think this was the highest quality.

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What Did Not Work Well Creatively

One aspect that did not work creatively, was the timing of, “Reptilia,” by The Strokes. In

the majority of rehearsals that included this song, I noticed the band increasing the tempo

of this song. I did bring this up to the band, as I know this is an issue when performing,

which resulted in a slight change. However, this was still an issue in the final performance.

I noticed the tempo decreasing when we decided to change the vocalist, which positively

impacted this song, but it was not steady enough in the final performance. I feel with

more time, we would have been able to solve this issue completely, which I will work on

for future performances.

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Another aspect that did not work well creatively, was the introduction of, “Easier,” by Soft Launch. This was the overall vocal section, as this is harmonised, in which we used 3 – 4 vocalists. We required help from the tutor to give us a better understanding of this, alongside rehearsing this song a lot. One of the vocalists went higher pitched during the performance, unlike the majority of times we rehearsed this. I feel this did not sound as successful as previous times, and may have resulted in a lower quality entrance to our performance.

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What Did Not Work Well Professionally

One aspect that did not work well professionally was the amount of time that some

members within the band became distracted by things such as playing songs that were

not relevant to the project. For example, we spent a while learning, “Carry on my

Wayward Son,” by Kansas, which we were not going to be performing for the project, but

I learnt as I thought we were. I feel that if we had an idea of the songs sooner, we could

have been more prepared, and some mistakes made throughout, could have been

avoided, highlighting the importance of not becoming distracted.

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Another aspect that did not work well professionally was the lack of time we had to

rehearse. I feel like we prioritised the Christmas Gig for too long, meaning we could not

spend as much time as necessary on the Genres Gig. I feel that if we spent more time on

this instead of the previous performance, it could have been of a higher quality. We could

have had more time working on mistakes that were made throughout rehearsals, to

ensure complete confidence during the performance. I also feel the band could have

rehearsed more outside from college sessions, as we would have gained more rehearsal

time.