Both the bass and guitar video share the same audio, but different video as to show both being played clearly.
What was successful?
I accurately played the bass to the song ‘Need You Tonight’ by INXS along to the steady tempo of the original song’s isolated drum track. I performed the guitar section to some accuracy with a similar tone to the original. My plucking technique follows an alternating pattern and my fingers brush across the top of the strings, making the timbre warm opposed to harsh and strained. The finger placement on the fretboard was tidy and effective, allowing movement to be minimal and quick (although I did a bad job of showing this clearly on camera.) Generally, the guitar section was mediocre but turned out reasonably on beat. My time management was reasonable, all recording was done across a day and a half and syncing audio to video was completed within 2 hours.
I chose this piece for two reasons:
I knew I couldn’t record something I didn’t have fun with as an initial assessment. I didn’t want to stress too much about perfection and instead wanted to see what I could do while enjoying it.
This song is a different style than what I normally enjoy learning, and as such is a challenge and a lesson as to what 80s funk rock might look like. What I was looking to achieve was experience with funk guitar for future composition and performance.
What wasn’t as successful?
The tone of the bass definitely wasn’t as clean or as close to the original as I would have liked. I would like to work on my timing a bit more, and performance confidence in front of a camera. I know my live performances turn out better on average due to experience. The guitar recording wasn’t as accurate as I had hoped as I stray off beat too often and the chords I played sounded harsh or rung out for too long. The first chord on guitar is, quite honestly, painful to hear due to how harsh it is.
What could I do better next time?
I could choose a simpler song to start with, as to not waste a whole day trying to record something too difficult. I could gain more experience with recording audio as to learn how to correctly portray tone and become more comfortable with being in front of a camera / microphone. I would like to build up dexterity as to perform both bass and guitar with more ease and develop more interesting techniques (Slapping, popping, sweep picking) to express emotion more freely in my playing. It would be ideal to record a full cover opposed to just a minute and a half.
Overall, I’m happy with the outcome of the bass recording and dissatisfied with the guitar recording outcome.
Practical skill improvement:
I plan to explore three different genres of music (or completely contrasting songs from one genre) in order to expand my knowledge and choose a song from each genre to record both a bass and guitar cover. By doing this, I aim to develop my confidence in a range of musical styles and understand the importance of tone and specific technique to individual styles. I also imagine recording multiple songs will develop my production skills and familiarise me with the software I use (DaVinci Resolve, Ableton Live 11 Lite). I’d like to complete these three songs before Christmas break as this time duration allows me to practice and perform all three songs to a high standard as well as learn how to use specific software effectively and with confidence.
Songs I wish to cover: https://youtu.be/cWJUk65EnQM?list=RDMHtRJRiPCBk https://youtu.be/nwtSuLvxqeU https://youtu.be/O519-EbXyLw
Evaluation improvement:
I believe using subcategories to discuss tempo, dynamics, specific technique and such would be useful to fully evaluate a recorded performance. In order to do this in future, I will carry out a detailed study of musical elements, documented on digitalspace and apply my study to my own recording of Green Day’s ‘Last Ride In’. I believe applying my work to a recording provides sufficient evidence of my understanding and allows me to create an effective format for future performance evaluations. I will do this by the beginning of our second term.
General improvement:
I would like to perform frequently external from college. I plan to do so with a band, covering mostly punk and rock songs as to maintain our theme. I believe doing this will gain me experience and confidence in performing, as well as grow as a band using the music course as guidance. Any evidence of these performances will be posted on digitalspace.