This mock performance was our first try at something as professional as this, so we were going into new ground. It was interesting and almost strange as the sound quality was hugely improved; we had never heard ourselves in that quality or volume so we could hear everyone else and ourselves (because of the monitor speakers) extremely clearly. What was also strange was the fact we had cameras so close to us, recording everything we did. Even though it was just a mock, this did put me on the spot a little as I felt pressured to make no mistakes!
Group Performance Strengths
Compared to our other rehearsals and performances, both the guitarist and bassist stood up. This shows a lot more confidence because it shows good posture and that they are actually enjoying the performance. I feel like this is important especially when we are still working on our confidence as it infers that we are always improving and by the time we get to the actual performance, we will resonate all that confidence with the audience.
Another thing I picked up on was the fact that we all ended at the same time for all the songs. It may seem like a minor strength however this is very important to ensure the audience will remember our performance. It is known for listeners to remember the end of the song more than anything else as that is the last bit they will be left with. In this case, showing a strong ending is crucial for the audience to remember us. It shows confidence in our own ability, our group’s ability and proof that we have been practising extensively to make sure we get all our songs on point.
As a group, we all thought that the bridge/break in moving to new York was extremely strong. We have been struggling with this part for a while but it seemed to go really well during the mock. This is solely down to us rehearsing together and individually so we know the structure and when the bridge comes in. We struggled as there is no real indication before the break so its hard to tell when it’s going to happen. However, moving into and out of the break fluently shows trust in our own decisions and the group as to when to move to the break and hope that everyone moves with you.
Individual Performance Strengths
In this performance, I tried to Exaggerate my movements a lot more. I decided this would be a vital way to show my confidence and try to engage with the audience as much as I can. As a drummer, engaging with the audience can be very difficult (especially if you are not doing backing vocals) as you can not talk to the audience or move around on the stage. Also, being at the back of the stage means the attention will not be on you for most of the time, implying that you need to look impressive to get the attention you deserve. To make this work, I moved my arms a lot more and made bigger movements in general so the audience would be more impressed with my playing.
During Moving To New York, I played many advanced fills. Some of these were improvised, and some of them were played on the track in which I learnt by ear. As the song is very fast, The semi-quaver fills I do in the song were hard to get up to speed first, but by practising at home by myself to a tempo, I managed to get them very almost perfect! If I was still dragging these fills, the song’s tempo might shift which means we would all become out of sync during my fill. These impressive fills show my skills off well and I feel like they are the best of my ability!
Group Performance Improvements
One thing we must get sorted for the performance is the harmonics in Clocks from Lucy and Meg. During this mock, you can tell from the video that it was off-key and sounded quite strange. However, Meg said this was due to the fact she couldn’t hear Lucy and so didn’t know what key she was singing in. To fix this, the monitor speakers need to be turned up more so we can all hear Lucy, especially Meg. If we have off-key harmonics during the actual performance, the audience will obviously not be impressed! We can fix this by letting just Lucy and Meg sing during the rehearsals with no other instruments so they can figure out what sounds right.
I also noticed looking back at the video that we were rushing quite a lot in Clocks, especially at the start. Even though we all start at the same time when it kicks in, the tempo is a lot sped up from the piano before this. As a result of this, it sounds uncoordinated and and not very fluent. However we can easily fix this for the performance as I can tap the hi-hat pedal during the piano intro and even the solo in the middle to ensure it keeps in the right tempo the whole way through it. This way, we will all start at the same tempo and not have to slow down.
Another thing that should be perfected before the filming is the song transitions. This mock should have all been in one take however because we hadn’t sorted out the fluency between out tracks, we had to film it song by song. The fluency between the songs could be made better by simply having Lucy to say thank you and then introduce the next song. Before we start our set, Lucy should also find a way of introducing us as a band for example our band name; simple things like that! This will then allow us to engage with the virtual audience and show our confidence.
Individual Performance Improvements
In Moving To New York, I need to improve on my timing after the fills. Sometimes, I rush too much and end up hitting the crash ever so slightly at the wrong time. The audience might not even notice this minor problem however, as musicians, we all notice it and it might make us slightly out of sync even though it is such a small thing. As the fills in this song are so impressive, I need to practice them slower and gradually get them up to speed so I can hit the crash on the 1st beat of the next bar; no more, no less.
In my strengths, I wrote that I exaggerated my movements to communicate with the audience and show my confidence. Despite this, I still need to work on my facial expressions a little more to further accentuate this. I will not be wearing a mask during the live performance which means I should show confidence not just through my body language but also through my smiling and jut generally seeming more interested in the performance, which I definitely am!
Targets For Final Performance
-Practice the fluency between songs! The set will be one whole recording so we need to be able to start the next song quickly after the other.
-Improve on our confidence; the bassist and guitarist stood up however there needs to be move movement from them.
-Work on engaging with the audience. Lucy needs to introduce us and speak during song changes to keep the watchers engaged.