Michael Crossley

Today we started project 2 and I’m in a band with Liam (Guitar) Ellie (bass) Jemma (vocals) Oliver (guitar) Dess (vocals).

Our first practice went alright we have a good idea on the song now. We can play a simple version of the song all the way through , but when I go home I’m gonna practice the fills and where the crashes and stops are. I struggled on the fill at first because it was in triplets but I think ill be able to get it down for next practice.

Liam learnt the chords and the song pretty much instantly so now he’s changing it a bit and adding his own twist on it.

I think the song works for Jemma’s range she just needs to learn the lyrics , it’ll be easier for her to know the timings once I know where all the extra drum stuff is such as fills so it’ll give her a cue on when to come in.

The practice went alright we started to get the song down but I really need to tighten up the triplet fill as well as the crashes during the bridge. During the recording I messed up completely twice and going out of time sometimes mainly in the fills and bridge.

I think this is the best recording we got this project of this song however I still really need to get the triplet fill tight. I did get told by my drum teacher to play shuffle on it but I wasn’t confident with doing that live so I stuck to playing it as a quarter note beat.

I wasn’t here during this practice sadly I was ill quite a bit of this project.

once again ill. (Ty Evan for filling in for me)

I think that’s Eric on drums.

This is us practicing blitzkrieg bop isn’t the best recording as this song killed all of our arms we definitely played it better before hitting record. I can hear quite a few slip ups from me sometimes missing some kicks. The timing is alright not perfect ,I think we need more energy while playing this song to match the Romones energetic fast punk energy.

We didn’t take many recordings since it wasn’t the main part of this project and when I came back from being ill we had all the songs down as I practiced the songs at home. The one part I struggled with the most for the songs were the Christmas song baby please come home on the triplet fill , however I had a drum lesson on it and during the lesson I had it down instantly so I hope it was alright for the gig too.

Simon my drum teacher when I had a lesson with him helped me get my triplet fill tighter as well as telling me to play it on the toms 2 triplets on rag and 2 on the floor tom. He also said if I wanted to I could play it in a shuffle which would’ve sounded better but I wasn’t confident enough to do so for thee gig as when I first started practicing shuffle it was really awkward for me and coming back into shuffle from a beat makes me lose it so ive been practicing doing a shuffle then fill back to shuffle.

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Christmas Baby Please Come Home is a pop song originally sung by Darlene Love and included on the 1963 compilation album A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records(later renamed A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector). The song was written by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector.

Upon release, the song did not find commercial success, but in later years it has gone on to become a Christmas standard. It charted for the first time on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 2018 and has since peaked at number 15.

Drum Tabs

The drums are quite simple mainly playing on the floor tomb and snare , the bits I need to remember and learn are the triplets fill and where the crashes and stops are.

Guitar and Lyrics

Capo III *
 
C  Em  F  G
 
 C     C                            Em    Em
(Christmas) The snow's comin' down (Christmas)
                      F     F
I'm watchin' it fall (Christmas)
                       G     G
Lots of people around (Christmas)
 
Baby, please come home
 
 C     C                              Em    Em
(Christmas) The church bells in town (Christmas)
                        F     F
They're ringin' a song (Christmas)
                    G     G
What a happy sound (Christmas)
 
Baby, please come home
 
C
 They're singin' 'deck the halls'
Am
 But it's not like Christmas at all
F
 I remember when you were here
G
 And all the fun we had last year 
 
 C     C                               Em    Em
(Christmas) Pretty lights on the tree (Christmas)
                        F     F
I'm watchin' 'em shine (Christmas)
                            G     G
You should be here with me (Christmas)
 
Baby, please come home
 
C Em F G
 
C
 They're singin' 'deck the halls'
Am
 But it's not like Christmas at all
F
 I remember when you were here
G
 And all the fun we had last year 
 
 C     C                        Em    Em
(Christmas) If there was a way (Christmas)
                           F     F
I'd hold back these tears (Christmas)
                        G     G
But it's Christmas day (Christmas)
 
Please, please, please, please, please
                  C
Baby, please come home
                  Am
Baby, please come home
                  F
Baby, please come home
                  G
Baby, please come home
 
         C Em F G . . .
Christmas...
 
* Alternates:
 
Capo I
 
C  = D
Em = F#m
F  = G
G  = A
Am = Bm
 
Open (These chords are not in the original key)
 
C  = A
Em = C#m
F  = D
G  = E
Am = F#m
 
Open (These chords are not in the original key)
 
C  = G
Em = Bm
F  = C
G  = D
Am = Em
 
Set8
X

The guitar consist of the chords C, E minor, F, and G, and a basic strumming pattern, often down down up up down up. The verse uses a repeating progression of C, E minor, F, and G, while the chorus has a different chord set.

Me and Bradley decided to work together me on drums him on guitar. He had a guitar part that he wanted to tearn into a song and wanted drums so the aim of the project is to turn his idea into a song. We decided to go with the genre of rock and plan to change the guitar a little bit and think of the drum parts and sections.

Celebrity skin

We had to slow down this song as the singer was a bit nervous and stubbles her words so we played it slower. This as well as not having Caleb’s vocals too caused the song to lose energy and be more of a mess such as timing.

The drum kit was very low down for my liking and I didn’t adjust enough before we played so my hi hat foot felt wrong and I accidentally closed it without meaning to. I need to move the drum kit and raise the throne.

I also couldn’t really hear any vocals until the closed hi hat bit of the song and the pauses (this shouldn’t be a problem when Caleb does vocals do.)

After our vocalist stumbled her words I thought it might make me get lost on the next parts but I remembered where they were.

Fell in love with a girl

We also played this song a bit slow and it didn’t have as much energy as it did when we practiced. I need to learn the tempo better and Caleb will also have more energy live.

We need to interact with each over and the crowed and have more stage presence.We can do this by practicing implementing our stage presence while we practice.

I also need to perfect my timing during both songs which I will try to get down this week before the gig by practicing the songs and other drum exercises to keep time.

SMART TARGETS

I need to improve my timing mainly on celebrity skin , I can achieve this by practicing the songs with a metronome. I need to also practice my sub divisions to a metronome. I can measure this by when playing with the metronome I’m not playing before or after the beep. I have 3 days till the gig to work on this.

I also need to work on my stage presence while playing. I can do this by practice playing with more stage presence and look at other drummers for inspiration. I can see if my stage presence is getting better by recording myself playing and looking back.

Next time I need to move the kit to feel more comfortable while playing. While the other band members are setting up I will move it to my preference. I also need to ask for more volume in my monitors as last time I couldn’t hear vocals and maybe more guitar too.

I also can book practice rooms more often to practice playing the songs with a metronome.

I should also warm up before playing next time as well as listening to the song. This will help be ready for the performance.

Welcome to Bradford College Digital Space. This is your first post. Edit or delete it.