theomonnington

[theomonnington]

Tresillo Rhythm Song

https://soundcloud.com/user-826704854/tresillo-rhythm

For this task, I decided to create a song using mostly guitar parts. After listening to lots of other songs which utilised the trill rythm, I decided to combine the beat with a reverb guitar melody and I was really pleased with how the beat and guitar parts went together.

[theomonnington]

Prosody Song

For this task, I grouped up with Duncan, Haydn and Emrys and we made a song together around the them of me hitting a deer with my Car! The first half is the calm and quiet before the crash and the second half is the scene that followed after the deer was hit.

https://soundcloud.com/haydna-unimusic/prosody-track-2nd-draft/s-yPl8WxMcirt?fbclid=IwAR2Xsa-3xdJiZ79O6d7mrzgMKSth7dbsNvvu7Eu_V6JKbXrwyZin_O_p_FM

[theomonnington]

Assessment Post

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR1aM6jqZ4qVOtu-G3TRk17MwIvAXUU14wwxrPusCfPaRZkLltsUvv7aA7U&v=-GgG6H7eUMY&feature=youtu.beRoles and responsibilities

-During rehearsals my responsibilities was to make sure everyone was served refreshments throughout and that everyone was comfortable.

Our rehearsal schedule was as follows:

Group rehearsal 3/10/2020 7/10/2020 11/10/2020 15/10/2020 19/10/2020 23/10/2020 28/10/2020 31/10/2020 Covid 15/11/2020 18/11/2020 21/11/2020 25/11/2020 28/11/2020 30/10/2020 3/12/2020 6/12/2020 Zoom chats 4/10/2020 9/10/2020 12/10/2020 16/10/2020 19/10/2020 25/10/2020 27/10/2020 4/11/2020 14/11/2020 19/11/2020 24/11/2020 30/10/2020 3/12/2020 10/12/2020 15/12/2020 3/1/2021 7/1/2021 11/1/2021 15/1/2021

 - Due to personal circumstances I was unable to be present at University for the live performances of our song, however I was present for the first few initial drafts as a group. In the Original recorded version of the song, my role was to add synth parts to the song. I decided that an arpegiator would add some variation to the song and so in some parts I added that. Furthermore, I believed that a piano would add some variation to the mostly guitar driven songs so I added some simple one chord per bar piano. in addition to this, I decided that I would also add a tiny bit of extra percussion in the form of a shaker just to add a little more texture. 

Due to the fact that I could not attend the Live performance we decided that I would take charge on the Remix and so I decided that I would start with a simple piano and draft a different set of chords to start the remix with. I then made sure both vocal sections were pitched correctly with the new chords and then added a new drum beat. I then added a new synth base and a variety of string synths and pads to help create an ambiance for the remix version. In order to create a crescendo at the end of the song I added two different bongo tracks to add a layer of percussion and also some extra string parts, pizzicato violins, a timpani and some Caribbean steel pan drum. One of my favourite parts of the Remix was taking Duncan’s original vocals and splicing them up into samples, changing the pitch and formant and then adding them in different parts of the song. I thought this was highly effective.

I also created the lead sheet for the original piece as I understand notation and am able to write music on the stave. 

Rehearsals for live song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR1aM6jqZ4qVOtu-G3TRk17MwIvAXUU14wwxrPusCfPaRZkLltsUvv7aA7U&v=-GgG6H7eUMY&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR1aM6jqZ4qVOtu-G3TRk17MwIvAXUU14wwxrPusCfPaRZkLltsUvv7aA7U&v=qrvQ9P_wvQw&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3Me2qmeEdDAUMLxjBzAirirnMadwz5ABGIMvhFpEHBQmjRgywnGj8tCNE&v=mtWeLXnmc4M&feature=youtu.be

Link to Original Song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR1YoHBPmVVwxuuH0A7CcA6ItpVChibRWEWoKUVssfN0pCOwOmi8hq7KrTc&v=FPUatU7P2Gw&feature=youtu.be

Link to Remix Version:

https://soundcloud.com/user-826704854/violet-sky-remix

Link to our Spotify Playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1z7HMGpfJwzcX6mV3gNMD8

Link to live performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3ckfJZqmYhqlFNEDMVKeLnnHrGcvHMwPo6xkHmcHwsFattiLcjGzYFxD8&v=YXO5MSPqt88&feature=youtu.be

[theomonnington]

What is Local?

~In the modern globalised world, many would say the notion of ‘Local’ is becoming less prominent and less important. Many argue that local scenes are no longer exist in the way they did only 20 years ago and that the concept of local does not exist due to the way in which we are all so heavily connected through the internet and through social media. In some ways the Coronavirus Pandemic has contributed to this in some ways due to the huge emergence of live streams in the abscense of live gigs. Now anyone from around the world can join a stream regardless of location. Furthermore, the lines between genres are being blurred constantly and our interconnected state makes it nearly impossible to listen to a song and be able to match sound and location. In recent years western music has had a huge influence from Nigerian Pop and in many ways that genre has been largely appropriated. Virtual Spaces have also carved a new kind of scene where location is not a factor whatsoever. 

[theomonnington]

Style and Substance

In today's session we discussed themes such as the notion of ‘Camp’ and ideas such as authenticity and the performative disposition. A key text that we analysed and discussed was Susan Sontag’s ‘Notes on “Camp”’ Sontag essentially describes Camp as the “love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” Camp is all about exploring the unconventional and blurring the lines between masculine and feminine. It is deliberately Bold and unapolegetic and is a theme that comes up constantly in modern day music. Sontag also describes how Camp is an aesthetic way of looking at the world and it is almost as if everything is viewed as if it’s theatre. Furthermore, Camp relies on the notion of naevity and innocence. After reading Sontag’s article, I don't believe that ‘Camp’ is something that you have or that you are, rather it is a way of viewing and experiencing the world and there are many modern day examples of it. Prominent examples are Harry Styles, Lizzo, YungBlud to name a few. I think the notion of Camp is especially important today as traditional lines continue to be blurred and things are becoming viewed increasingly as a spectrum and not as simply black and white.

We also moved on to discuss Authenticity. After doing some research I began to  build an idea of what different people viewed authenticity as being. Some articles suggested that a lack of commercialisation contributes greatly to authenticity. However I somewhat disagree with this notion as authentic music can in itself become commercialised. Bruce Springsteen, for example, is championed as an authentic working class hero, however his brand and music is now widely commercialised. After more reading, I found it highly interesting that people once thought of the first artists to use microphones as inauthentic and over dependant on technology, so it is clear that the concept of authenticity has changed drastically from the start of the 20th Century to now. Other people suggest that authenticity exists outside the ‘homogenous’ pop genre. However, authenticity in my view is work that comes from an honest and personal place regardless of the genre or style of music. This is very hard to quantify or measure and this is why the term ‘authentic’ has a different meaning for everyone.

Artist Persona - Critical Perception

My artist persona is authentic to myself in the sense that the music I create is the kind of music that I like to listen to myself. I think this is important as I'm not creating music that I don't like in order to gain popularity or amass streams. Furthermore my choice of clothing, artwork and imagery comes from things which inspire me and they are what I feel comfortable with.

[theomonnington]

Writing Better Lyrics

In today’s session we explored the world of lyric writing. As someone who has always had an intense interest in literature this is an aspect of music which greatly interests me. I found the exercises of free writing and Haiku writing both interesting and very useful. Haiku is a form that I have a great interest in and a couple of years ago I read a large amount of Matsuo Basho’s works to learn more about the poetry form. I found his haiku works to be very moving as the act of manipulating such emotive subject matter into such a restrictive and rigid formula creates such unique and inspiring writings. After the session I took out his works again and decided to re-read some of them. A particular favourite of mine from ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ is one that reads:

Red, red is the sun,

Heartlessly indifferent to time,

The wind knows, however,

The promise of early chill.

The session also made me reflect on what things have helped me write better lyrics since I started writing songs. Ofcourse, listening to and anylising lots of different types of music is an important aspect - but I also believe reading is crucial. The more material you take in, the more it is reflected in songwriting. Also varying the type of medium that you use can have a huge impact. I have always had an interest in classical literature such as Homer’s Odyssey and Illiad and more recently I have been trying to read some French Literature in its original form such as Albert Camus’ L’etranger. I believe that taking in such varying material has a hugely positive impact on lyric writing as you have a huge pool of inspiration to draw from and an immensely expanded vocabulary with which to use. My latest release on Spotify ‘Indolence’ was greatly inspired by John Keats’ Ode on Indolence which is a poem about idleness and inspiration. John Keats was an English romantic poet and his works are rich with intricate metaphors and imagery and I find it to be greatly inspiring and useful for writing lyrics. After the lecture I also took some time contemplating who my favourite modern lyric writers are and why I like them so much. Bon Iver and Ben Howard have always stood out to me as talented lyric writers as they manage to utilise elaborate metaphors and imagery while still sounding relatable. Lausse the cat is also an immensely talented Lyricist in my opinion as he structures his songs as children fables while discussing distinctly adult material in such a creative way. The way in which he switches from English to French with such ease is also hugely creative and inspiring.

[theomonnington]

Slowthai - Critique of post Brexit Britain

Slowthai released his debut studio album in 2019 named ‘Nothing Great About Britain’. Slowthai explores themes such as nationalism and the negative effect isolationism has on a country. He critiques high society and the upper class’ for their disinterest in helping out the middle and lower classes of the country and the negative effect that's caused by this. Slowthai also talks about the rift and divisions that are present in our nation today and he specifically blames Boris Johnson for adding stress to these fractures. The standout tracks from this album are ‘Nothing great about Britain’ and ‘inglorious’ which features Skepta. It is important to add that Slowthai has almost carved a new genre for himself, mixing Grime with Punk (which itself is a genre centred around political protest). Slowthai uses this genre to raise the point that there is still much to protest in modern Britain and he is using an updated medium to voice his concerns.