EVALUATION

I think that we did a great job in performing our songs yesterday. I have asked some of my friends that have been watching and they said that we did a great job in performing three of the songs we chose.
I do think that there are some parts that we did in the practice really well, but when we performed it it didn't go as planned.

Reflection:
This music class have been really fun, educational and useful for us since we have been collaborating in the process of our project. I really wish that we can do this again some time. This activity brought out my collaborative skills, thinking skills, and my capability in playing music.
We have learned through each other how a good collaboration must work; by listening to each other's opinion, respecting each other's decision and helping one another through difficult times.

BREAK-A-LEG >> NOT LITERALLY

Today, we had a run through with all our songs. I must say that I will be looking forward to our performance! The run through was great! 

We have set up all the instruments accordingly.

--- The kolintangs will be placed in the middle (order: melody in the front row, alto 1/2 and contra in the second row, the tener in the last row.)

--- The singers will be placed on the front of the stage (harmonies also)

--- The rest of the instruments will be placed on the front right corner.

Review of Hey Jude:

We did well. We have managed to finish the song with to the very end. Except, there is just one problem; the singers need to be much louder.

Review of Superstition:

These past view practices, we have been playing superstition pretty well. I think that the thing we are most worried about is the beat of the song, since it changes constantly.

Review of Thriller:

We managed to do the whole song! The backup track cannot be heard by the musicians though in order for us to keep the tempo on track.

The Process

So this term, we went through the 'Design Cycle' process.

Firstly, we went through the investigation process - where we broke down the song topics and choosing what kinds of music (genre, period of time) and what kind of instruments are we going to be using to perform them.
We made this decision by voting fairly so that each student will put their preference. We picked our most voted songs and investigate it - what musical instruments are we going to be using, who are able to play it, how long will it take it, and so on. If we think that we cannot fulfill the whole idea, we will have to change it into an easier one.

Secondly, we went through the planning process - where we decide on the date of performance, the layout of performance, and videos or music notes that we may need.
We used both videos and music notes in order to learn the piece, since some of us are not able to read music notes very well and tend to listen by ear.

Thirdly, we went through the creating process - we learned the music pieces bit by bit.
We decided who are going to play in each song and those people will be finding the music notes and lyrics to practice on. Each song has a person in charge, who is in charge of pretty much everything; the musicians (to keep them on track), and the song(put in advices).

Lastly, we evaluate our project. This will be done after the actual performance on the 4th of December - we reflect on our performance, what to improve on and we respond to other people's feedbacks.

What are we lacking on.

Soo.... We have only one lesson, or two (including the d-day performance practice), and I think that we are lacking off. We need to be working much, much harder to get the performance ready.
So far, we have practiced all three songs.

Hey Jude, we still need improvements from the harmony singers (thats me) and for the singers to be louder.
Superstitious, we still have tempo problems by the drummer, being that it is not consistent.
For Thriller, we haven't practiced the whole song yet.

We only have a full period to correct every single one of problems we have.

Decision

For our music project, we have decided to use 3 songs from different decades; Hey Jude(The Beatles), Superstitious(Stevie Wonder) and Thriller(Michael Jackson).

We are going to be combining traditional and modern type of musical instruments.

Keyboard - Phoebe

Bass Guitar - Michael

Guitar(s) - Amyra, Alysa

Drums - George, Keizar

Kolintang - Rest

Tambourine - Jennie, George

Vocals - Rest

We have planned to create a powerpoint about each song that can be played before or during the performance.

POSITIONS OF INSTRUMENTS

Michael - Bass
Amyra/Alysa - Guitar
Phoebe - Keys
George/Johan - Drums
(Rest of students) - Singing/Kolintang

(Find out chords(music sheet), instruments, background)

The Beatles – Hey Jude

Instruments: acoustic and electric guitar, drum kit, bass, keyboard, kolintang, African drums, singer(s), tambourine,

Set: kolintang in the centre, singers and/or extra players (e.g. tambourine) player off to the side opposite to percussion and strings.

Jackson 5 – I want you back

Instruments: keyboard, bass, electric guitar, drum kit, small drum kit, singer(s), dj/electronic kit

ABBA – Dancing Queen

Instruments- trumpets(if not keyboard), kolintang, guitar, drum kit.

Stevie W – Superstition

Bon Jovi – It’s my life

Instruments – Electric guitar, drum kit, keyboard, kolintang, singer(s)

Set: kolintang in the centre, singers and/or extra players (e.g. tambourine) player off to the side opposite to percussion and strings.

Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal

Instruments – kolintang, electric guitar, bass, DJ/electronic kit, singer(s), dancer

Set – kolintang a little to the back, dj off to the left side of the stage(audience point of view), singer near the dj, dancer up front, guitar&drums&bass off to the right side.

Guns n Roses – Sweet Child o Mine

Instruments – electric guitar, kolintang, keyboard, drum kit, electronic kit

Set: kolintang in the centre, singers and/or extra players (e.g. tambourine) with DJ off to the side opposite to percussion and strings.

U2