FMP Development Log Week 1.
- Jack Badby
- Mar 24, 2021
- 9 min read
Updated: May 28, 2021
Introduction.
In the next few weeks I'll be describing my experience learning and preparing for the FMP performance going in detail about what I focus on learning in the week, how I plan on using what i learned in future and what the next particular goal is for the following week, I'll also be trying a new format for personally monitoring my work so please enjoy.
Monday - As a session musician!
Today started with a bit of ambiguity since I was meant to organise being in a band with a group of people on the course and though I did organise a band prior consisting of Nat, Stuart and Kelson this band didn't come into play since we all had different ideas for what we wanted to do and though we still plan on working together this will only occur as a side project and unrelated to the FMP in general, so following this I organised with Josh a band were we'd try to get others on board for a eventual FMP band but this didn't occur.
First steps.
With the register Nick essentially asked us to line up in our respected bands so we did, Nick did look kind of disappointed with the fact that some people had decided to go in duos and not in fully fledged bands so these people were put into the studio to work and the bigger bands got the pods. This was initially a bad thing since me and Josh didn't really have a plan other than playing a song by Elton John called 'I'm still standing' but other than that we were unorganised, until Nick suggested session work since I wasn't particularly interested In working with some suggested band full time so I left Josh in the studio so I could ask each band if they'd be interested in my assistance with playing the drums for them and this is what they said.
Pod 1.
Consisting of Kelson, Alfie, Munashe, Lola and Amber I decided to offer my hand to play for them if they needed me for any song they didn't feel like playing on the drums, at first they did say they weren't looking for me to join them but they did keep it in mind so while I when around the music department Pod 1 had already found a song they didn't have a drummer for and Munashe quickly provided me with the opportunity to play for them. The song they asked me to play was called 'Doo wop' by Lauryn Hill a R&B song at 4/4 time signature simple but incredibly memorable and was definitely my favourite song to play to cover, though I didn't acquire footage of this rehearsal I was suggested by Munashe to learn a drumming Technique called the
Studio 3.
Consisting of Holly and Francine and though there isn't much to discuss I do believe this is relevant since they gave me a song to learn in my spare time this song is called 'Prom dress' by mxmtoon they played the song and I agreed to play it with them for the final major project.
Pod 6
Consisting of Ben, Stuart and Jack they offered me the chance to play Chop suey with them and also to help develop a original and knowing my role I only played the way Ben asked me to play so I wouldn't mess with the bands vision of the original, here is some footage of rehearsing the original.
A overall Summary of Monday!
Though the day at college ended well with me happy and optimistic about what I'd done and how I'd write about the day in my weekly development I was surprised to get a call from Toby on behalf of his a band asking me to replace Jacobs position as the drummer of pod 2! Though I was sceptical and had so many questions on why the band made such a crazy decision so early Toby provided me with all the info in a phone call on the way home explaining that Jacobs play style wouldn't change regardless of Genre or what drums were used in the song It's like singing the Back in black lyrics over songs like Sunny afternoon and Upside down It just didn't fit.
So to conclude If tomorrow Nick decides we can't change the pre established bands the format of my development log will stay the same but if I am allowed to Join pod 2 the format will change and mainly be focused on band development and less personal development.
Tuesday - In a band.
So yesterday I was given a opportunity to join Pod 2 as a their main drummer at the expense of replacing Jacob as Pod 2's drummer and this obviously agreeing wasn't a easy choice make. I had to take into consideration that regardless of if I said Yes or No the band would remove Jacob regardless so I thought it would best if we swapped places by him taking my place as a session musician and possibly finding a good band that fitted his playstyle better since Pod 2 didn't seem too impressed with his leaning process.
Joining Pod 2.
though I'm familiar with all the member of the band in Pod 2 If anything I only really talk regularly with Toby but settling in with the band wasn't hard cause we had all worked together before at some point or have talked in group chats and in person at certain points during the year so chemistry wasn't a problem.
Since the band had already been working together a day they had a few songs to drop onto me very quickly these songs are 'Sweet & Sour' by Elli Ingram, 'Peaches' by Justin Biezber, 'crown' by Stromzy and 'feeling good' by Nina Simone which is a decent setlist for a band since it's already been a day.
Songs I'm learning In pod 2.
The songs were improvised like all of the others yesterday since the songs were just dropped on me early today when it was confirmed I was I the band so other than getting a small glimpse of how the songs go yesterday. maybe 30 seconds of how these songs were truly played so I'll try my best to explain how I improvised the following songs.
Crown.
A grime song by Stormzy and other than faintly hearing these songs in my spare time through friends singing it or my brother blasting it through his speakers I'd never really heard the song before but I was familiar with Stormzy's work in the past so learning this song wasn't anything too new since the drums weren't too prominent I didn't need to spent a lot of thinking time into this song so I quickly caught onto the simple playstyle of the song.
Peaches
Being a Pop song by Justin Bieber and a very catchy one this song was the most rehearsed today though I never had any time to listen to the song but I kept to to a simple quiet beat that didn't intrude with he music and tried keeping with the tone an playstyle that was given off by the band but overall this song wasn't a hassle at all to improvise to, by the end of the day we actually adjusted the song to be more like a acoustic version which in my opinion is a better version to learn from.
Felling good.
This song I was already familiar with though not a regular song I would listen to it is a sing I have a basic understanding of it's structure and how I should play the song during rehearsals and though improvised the two rehearsals of the songs we did were payed to a decent quality though the song does require more time to get write but other than that this song seems to be going.
Sweet & Sour.
Though not a song we performed today this is a song we plan on doing and at first learning how exactly this song went on the drums was confusing since I believe there is a heavy use of ghost notes in the main beat of the song so naturally some parts of the song aren't supposed to be heard but I have managed to deduct two ways of getting this particular beat done either I ghost note the snare or the toms though I think I'd be most efficient ghosting the snare cause I wouldn't need to move around the kit as much I do think ghosting the toms in this song would be true to the original.
Practice References.
A overall Summary of Tuesday.
The song rehearsed today though not completely done they are at a good enough quality to be performed believe it or not so given the opportunity we may perform not one but two songs this week.
Wednesday - Performance Practice.
Today we continued to practise the songs from Monday though a song was suggested last night called 'PNE' By master piece this is a Pop/Rock song with a R&B undertone though being a song we hadn't played before or it was as if the first rehearsal was our last we managed to structure and perform the song that well It was like we had already been playing the song for so long.
The aim of today.
We began the day with practising the songs from Tuesday with n goal in particular other than keeping them fresh in our minds so the quick rehearsals of Crown and feeling good went well and gave us a good idea of where we were at in terms of progress with these songs but these songs and their progress weren't the aim of the band the aim was Peaches and PNE.
PNE.
PNE was new to the band and we had no real time rehearsing it before today and all things considered we collectively did manage to make a triumphant effort to get this song done and I was like we had aced the song first try though there were some places to improve we didn't need to change too much since the song had already been played so well already. structuring the song wasn't a hassle we just needed to understand how we would end the song effectively in the end we came up with the idea of having the song end with the piano for a more toned down ending since the son itself is very energetic but after this we did change the ending so the song would end collaboratively with the drums, keys and guitar playing the final note of the song.
Peaches.
This song had already been rehearsed but we hadn't been playing from a acoustic reference this live acoustic version of peaches involves a more groovy attempt at the song though I was sceptical about learning this particular playstyle it is that good I couldn't feel obliged to having this negative mind set the entire time while revising it at home. getting this inspired version of the song was fun working with the others on this song is a true example of teamwork the co operation needed in this song is displayed and developed perfectly thanks to our communication and dedication to the song is what will carry our performance tomorrow.
A overall summary of Wednesday.
Today was a learning experience and a preparation for tomorrows performance and hopefully the practise today will show in the performance and since I've only had two days to prepare for the songs with the band.
Thursday - FMP Week 1 Stage Performance.
The aim of today was to get the songs Peaches and PNE done to the standard we set in the pods yesterday and display what we achieved.
PNE.
This song was personally my best onstage with the rest of the band performing really well my contribution to this weeks performance was up to the standard I set to myself and I believe I toped that standard and I think the performance is defiantly a new standard I should set myself for the FMP performance, though going over the footage and comparing to other bands our stage movement wasn't 100% so planning it more during rehearsals will improve the effect of the FMP performance for ths song at least.
PNE Performance footage.
Peaches.
I haven't made m mind up on this performance at first after playing this onstage I felt like my performance could have been better but that's mostly due to small mistakes I made and also a mix of my awareness of the fact that my role wasn't to prominent and I guess I'm still not used to that but other than these small parts I do think the overall performance of peaches was great the vocal performance and the instrumentation was great but the stage movement is still not 100% for this song though I understand this song isn't the most energetic.
Peaches Performance footage.
A Overall Summary Of Week 1.
This week has been a roller coaster from session work to being full time in a band, the situation on Monday isn't exactly resolved since we haven't heard much from Jacob but other than that the week went well I managed to get to know what it's like to work with each member of the band and how well I work with them and to be fair I'll be happy to stay with this group for the remainder of the FMP.
Goals For Week 2 of the FMP!
getting Crown and Sweet & Sour performed to a good standard like this weeks performance will be good if we get the opportunity to perform again next week and if possible I'd like to also perform the same song we did this week to make up 4 songs for our setlist giving me opportunity to compare the early performance to next weeks performance of PME and Peaches to put in my development log.
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