PROJECT EVALUATION

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Your Strengths

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Creative Strengths

Personally, I am very flexible when it comes to vocal techniques. I am able to identify and

apply different vocal techniques to songs when needed or wanted. This is a very useful

skill to me because it allows me to vary my voice to coordinate with the genre of a piece.

An example of this was the switch in my voice between the songs: I Put A Spell On You

and Dead Or Alive. I was able to make my voice cooperate with the songs by using Nina

Simone as inspiration for I Put A Spell On You and Jon Bon Jovi’s rock style vocals in Dead

Or Alive.

I am also confident on stage and can interact well with an audience. For example, in our

set at the gig I was singing to different members of the audience and gave high fives in the

ending of Witchy Woman. This not only gets the audience involved but also eases fellow

band member’s nerves while on stage.

Professional Strengths

Professionally, I am able to act as a leader in a team while respecting other’s opinions and

suggestions. I came up with some very good ideas in terms of stage presence in our set, I

also made sure to pay close attention to every instrument as well as my own when setting

up and in sound checks.

I am also able to manage time efficiently in rehearsals and outside of them. Not only did I

spend time in rehearsals making sure melodies and vocals were to their best standard but

I also efficiently managed time to do coursework outside of sessions. One thing I did was

make sure to collect the videos from the week’s rehearsals to jog my memory, then I

would complete my project diary starting with the challenges we faced.

 

Areas for Development

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Creative Areas for Development

In terms of creative developments, I think I can work on my facial expressions. I do my

best to convey the emotions of the song through my voice and sometimes forget to

control my facial expressions. In the next term, I would like to pay more attention to this

and find ways to make my facial expressions make a difference in the performance.

Another thing I need to work on is vocal improvisation. I very much struggle when improvising vocally over an instrumental section of a song which can often make the song seem boring without vocal improv. I will definitely work on this in the near future as well as learning about vocal riffing in further detail because when I attempt this sometimes the notes blend together like a sliding movement.

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Professional Areas for Development

In my opinion, my time management skills could be improved in order to have my

coursework at it’s best standard. I struggled when writing my project diary and fell behind

on week 5 because I was trying to finish a research task through the week and on the

weekend. For the next project, I aim to complete my project diary by writing about each

rehearsal session on the day instead of waiting so it is fresh in my memory.

I also think that in order to improve leadership skills I should work on delivering criticism

upfront. This is something I struggle with while taking into account other’s reactions and

emotions towards any harsh sounding feedback/ criticism. In the next project I aim to be

more forward and honest when it comes to feedback.

 

What Worked Well when collaborating with others.

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What Went Well Creatively

We added dynamic changes into our set, this worked very well. With our songs being very

similar and relaxed, we decided that dynamic changes and experimenting with these

would be useful in keeping interest from the audience throughout the entire set. An

example of this is in our rendition of I Put A Spell On You ,we started the song very soft

and quiet and slowly built it up until the last verse to really convey the emotions in the

song and make the audience feel the sadness and rage felt in Nina Simone’s version of the

song.

All of the timings in the songs were kept as accurate as possible and any breaks/cut outs

we had added into the songs were executed well and rehearsing them all over again

multiple times definitely paid off. At the beginning of this term, we struggled with the

time signatures in our songs and would occasionally speed up accidentally, however, at

the gig our practice paid off as there was not a point in which any band member seemed

confused as to what was happening.

What Went Well Professionally

One thing that was done very well in our set and throughout the project, was our quick

changes between the three songs. This displayed our time management skills extremely

well because it showed off our ability to keep things tight in terms of our set time being

thirteen minutes to set up and perform. The gig was running slightly overtime until after

the interval. Our set and efficiency managed to keep the gig running smooth and finishing

exactly on time instead of running over.

In rehearsal sessions, our communication as a band was good. We were all aware things

would get repetitive but agreed on any parts that needed work or were missing

something. This helped us progress as a band professionally because it showcased our

teamwork and communication skills which are very important in a professional working

environment. Honesty was a big part of this and relying on one another for that honesty

helped us to ensure we all performed to our best ability.

 

What Did Not Work Well when collaborating with others

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What Did Not Work Well Creatively:

One major thing I took notice of was the lack of stage presence and on stage

communication from our band. Nerves did get to some members of the band, however, I

personally feel that there could have been a lot more effort put into the stage presence of

us as a band. This is because stage presence and the way you are feeling while on stage

can have an affect on the way the music you are playing sounds and the audience will

most definitely notice.

During rehearsals, we found that there was often an issue with the guitar and especially

the guitar settings on the amp. Our guitarist was not familiar with how amp settings very

much affect the sound of any song on guitar, so I found myself often having to help with

this and when it was done independently it was not done very well. This showed at the

gig during Witchy Woman because the electric guitar settings had not been changed from

the last band. Although it was not very noticeable to an audience, it was to a few

musicians in the crowd.

What Did Not Work Well Professionally:

One fault in the band was that after we had learnt the songs fully, we became bored of

them easily and wouldn’t be able to give ourself feedback because we thought it was

“good enough”. This lead to us getting easily distracted and not accomplishing much in

some sessions.

There was conflict between band members. This was because a discussion was had about

changing the guitar amplification into the PA system instead of an amplifier. This made

the acoustic guitar sound much better, however not every member of the band could

agree on this.