Within 4 weeks, we had to prepare 3 songs for a solo performance.
The first song, Broken Machine, was the song that I created a backing track for. I chose this indie/rock style song because I enjoyed listening to the song. However it is not a style/genre I would usually sing. Therefore within my first song, I ensured that I made it a unique version to make it different from the original.
I interpret the meaning of the song as being a person being the ‘Broken Machine.’ This meaning that they feel like they cannot do anything anymore as they are ‘broken.’ However they are stilling dreaming and they still believe that they can become something.
When I was creating the backing track on Logic I used various electronic instruments that were played in via a midi keyboard. 
This backing track took a while to produce, therefore to make it easier, I split each section into different colours and worked on them separately. I listened to the original song and a different version that included strings and combined them with more electronic instruments to form this track.
This was the main version that I took inspiration from. I enjoy the sound of the strings with the indie style of the song. As this juxtaposes the melodies from the original and this version.
Online is an original song that I wrote 3 weeks before the solo performance. I decided to write a new song to perform to push myself to create as much original songs as possible at a good enough quality to perform. This song was more of a pop inspired song, as before writing this song I listened to various pop artists to get inspiration on structure, melody and lyrics.
The meaning of this song was about online relationships. Now social media is a big part of everyone’s life as of right now, many people find relationships online as they communicate within the social media platforms. Therefore I took inspiration from this and decided to inspire the lyrics from this. I took a part of a relationship that was bittersweet, this meant that i wrote about the end of a online relationship.
Lyric Analysis
‘Keeping it online’ – This is in the first verse of the song, and presents the whole theme of the song.
‘Until you erase me/Until you reflect me’ – This means that the relationship is coming to an end, by just erasing them offline. ‘Reflecting’ suggests that the other person is following the others actions, therefore they are both erasing each other offline.
‘Falling so slowly…’ – Suggests that it didn’t end suddenly, and they almost expected it to happen, as they can both see the upcoming situation behind both of their screens.
Into the Blue is a song inspired by the sea. It’s both inspired by the movement of the sea and the colour. I decided to chose this song that I wrote a couple of months before the performance because I believe that for an audition it shows both vocal ability, piano ability and songwriting skills. This jazz influenced pop style has a deep emotional connection therefore I also chose to perform it because i enjoy playing the song too.
The meaning behind the song is the fact that I originally composed this song for my Grandma, due to her favourite colour being blue. The actual concept of the piece is therefore based around the colour blue. I wrote the song with the inspiration of the flowing movement of the sea, this meant that I used notes on the piano and played arpeggios to make each chord flow between one another.
Lyric analysis
‘Bright Blue Eyes like the ocean.’ – This sets the main theme of the song, and I ensured that this song was visual. Therefore I wanted to create imagery of bright blue eyes throughout.
‘Floating in the sea of sweet devotion.’ – This is the next lyric within the first verse, which represents further imagery of eyes floating in an ocean of devotion. I therefore wanted to portray eyes looking into a sea and feeling so much love towards the scenery and almost being captured within that moment of being so focused within the memory.
‘What do you mean, when you waved goodbye?’ – This suggests that they are not wanting the wave to disappear, however this also personifies the ocean, and this links into my personal experiences in life of someone waving goodbye when you don’t particularly want them too.
This is my final performance:
Why my performance was successful:
- I performed with confidence within most of the three songs.
- I included a backing track of a different style of music to develop my skills as a musician.
- I played two originals, for auditions, this will be ideal.
- I composed a backing track for my first song.
- I included introductions to each song detailing what they are called and roughly what they are about.
- I enjoyed the performance.
how my performance could be improved:
- I could have performed my first song more confidently. Since I should have practiced this song more to learn the lyrics, this lead to me worrying more about the lyrics rather than the pitch or the melody of the song in some places.
- Both original songs could have also been practiced with a metronome to ensure that my timing was perfected.
- On the first song I could have taken the mic out of the mic stand to include more of a performance rather than standing there unsure with what to do with my body language.
- I could have engaged with the audience more during my last song, however with it being more technical on the piano, this would have been more challenging.