How I thought the project went
I really enjoyed being part of a tribute band and both preparing for and playing the gig at the end of term. Personally I thought that we played a successful gig as we went through our set list with no major faults and we brought a good energy to the stage. I think that visually we could have been much better, If we had had more time we could have decided on a look for our band and maybe made some props or stage adjustments to give us a better aesthetic, therefore for next time I know that we should spend more time creating an organised plan of how we would like the gig to look before starting to learn the music or doing this alongside learning our music.
Overall I felt that we could have been more organised in general with this project, however it was a new experience for everyone being in a band that big and I think the fact that there were 11 members would make it hard to organise any band of a similar size who were quite new to working with each other in this setting .
Personally I thought that I played quite well in the performance, and generally organised myself in a decent way during the project. I learnt a lot of new skills during the project both working on my own and working in a group. It was nice to see the group gel a bit more and gradually improve as the project went on. One of the major criticisms that could be aimed at me is that originally in Bob Marley’s band there was no saxophonist in the lineup and even when he did tour with one later on, it didn’t play main riffs but instead little backing riffs. However I felt that it created a nice contrast in sound and in such a large band in which there was a huge amount going on at once cut through the sound and emboldened some of Bob Marley’s famous riffs. A minor criticism I would aim at myself is that I didn’t stick on one instrument for the entire performance , however I felt that by doing this it created a nice contrast in sound to our set by forging a different atmosphere with the two songs turn your lights down low and “jammin’ ” before finishing with the vibrant song that is “Three Little Birds”.
Practical skills
During this challenge the main task I had to overcome was that of implementing a saxophone into a band that didn’t originally use one in their main lineup. This therefore meant that I had to transpose and transcribe music from guitar and vocal parts onto the saxophone. I really enjoyed doing this task and working out complimentary melodic lines by ear. Although my listening skills aren’t the best, this has encouraged me to continue practising and experimenting with learning music by ear.
Another skill I improved was working in a group setting, although a musician can get by as a solo musician, collaborating and working with different people is a huge side of the music business and is a key part of success, during this project I got to work with a lovely group of people whom have very diverse music tastes which was a lot of fun and gave me some good ideas for future projects.
In terms of live sound, before coming into this project I had never used a sound desk, however by the end of it I felt quite confident in setting up a bands sound, although there is still much more practice to be done. Therefore I’ll look into doing some work placements and work experience for this in the near future.
The main critique of myself and our bands approach to this project is our lack of organisation and progression throughout the project. I think that due to it being spread out over quite a long period of time, we didn’t implement a very good rehearsal structure and generally I think we all took a very relaxed approach to begin with with this project which meant that our overall progress was limited. This for me has outlined the importance for balancing a relaxed and fun approach with an element of self discipline and organisation. For example, If this was our job then we would have to hit deadlines and maintain a good level of musicianship at all times which would require a lot of practice, however as it would be a job you would also want to enjoy it to have the motivation to achieve great things.
Therefore for a future project such as this I know to set up a structured approach in order to constantly progress and grow throughout the process.
In terms of portfolio work, I believe I have done quite a decent job of researching and evidencing my work throughout this project, however for future projects I have learnt the trick of Harvard referencing which I will now begin to implement.
Another skill I could improve for future project portfolios is documenting my progress in a much clearer way as well as tasks I completed in order to get to my final goal. For example , next project I will look to use sound clips, videoclips and photographs which will massively help me evidence my work.