MUSICIANSHIP EVALUATION
Throughout this semester I think that I have improved so
much compared to where I was at the start of the year back in September. Not only
has my piano skills grown, but I have learnt how to use music software such as ‘Pro
Tools’, my confidence has grown and I have actually performed in front of an
live audience playing the keyboard and also singing as a group.
When creating my individual piece I originally wanted to
try and write my own song; however, when sitting down and trying to write some
lyrics I couldn't put pen to paper even with a theme. I found this task really
hard for myself so I decided that writing a song was not the best idea for me.
I then decided to sit in front of the keyboard and play
around with different chords and recorded what I thought sounded really well. After
recording some chords I went on to use a music programme called ‘Pro Tools’
which is a music software were you can create music using different kind of
instruments and also edit your own music.
This software is very new to me so trying to put
together other instruments was very tough for me. Once I had got the hang of it
I started to created different pieces using the piano on the software with the
midi keyboard. I also added in a little bit of guitar to my piece to make it
sound different.
When creating my piece I found it much easier to create
a piece of music by having a story. My story was about my journey in my first
year of university doing music. By having my story I was able to put my
emotions into the piece and also create the uplifting melody at the end of my
piece to show that I had achieved something this year.
When listening back to my piece you can hear that there
is some gaps in my piece, this was due to putting recordings into my piece and
using copy and paste for my repeated parts. To improve this I would listen back
more carefully when making my music so I can prevent this and I could also get
someone else to listen to my work.
To make my piece sound better I would use more piano
techniques which I did not consider as much. One technique that I can use to
help improve my piece was ‘split chords’. This is when the sustain pedal is
used to let the note last longer when playing; however, the sustain pedal does
not stay down at all times it is pressed after every note to stop all of the
notes building up, if this is prevented you get a lovely flow of notes. I also
looked at using the sustain pedal on the keyboard to help me create a soft flow
in the music and also when to use it.
My piece was based on the style minimalism which I think
I matched it really well because I had influences from artists such as Philip
Glass and also Ludovico Einaudi who are both amazing artists who show off their
work so well.
Bibliography
·
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWyhy220FsQ
(split chords) – accessed on 31/5/15
·
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg2K8BIfF1I
(using the sustain pedal) – accessed on 31/5/15
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