top of page

"Music is a way of realising us from the tyranny conscious thought."

(Sir Thomas Beecham)

music's function is to create some kind of emotion in the listener whether it be anger, fear, sadness, or, happiness and excitement. For example metal could induce ptsd in some people because it's sound is reminicent to that of a war.

Image by israel palacio

What are the roles of music in society?

It plays an important role in shaping society and identities. The scope of music reaches far beyond the concert hall. It accompanies our traveling, sports, shopping, and work. Music provides a canvas that can be used to paint experiences, perceptions, ideals and feelings. 

task 2: live performance analysis. (two parts)

''We placed the glass bottles on the floor behind her seat, where they clanked, which reminded me of the sound of the gears that moved the "guns" on the ships.''

(Gregory Ross)

This quote shows how the brain associates sounds with events from the past especially if your brain associates these sounds with traumatic/memorable events that trigger a response to theses sounds which can be defined as music.

Track 2: hail to the king by avenged sevenfold  

 

The use of the excessively loud kick drum sets the theme of the song right at the start. This gives the impression that there is some kind of break coming and that is when the distorted lead guitar comes in. The high pitched arpeggio used to create a "monarch" feel fits the theme of the song. The idea of "power" is created by the rhythm guitar because of the power chords played behind the arpeggio. At the beginning of the verse a guitar technique called "chugging" is used to create the "war march" theme that is carried on throughout all the verses and the solo. The solo plays as the fast chugging continues which is very effective for keeping the rhythm while the extremely fast solo is playing.     

Track 1: neon by John Mayer 

​

The intro solo uses advanced guitar techniques such as slapping and finger picking. This is to make up for the fact that there is only one instrument. when the verse begins the guitar is played as a bass and drum set as well .Mayer uses over the top of the neck guitar techniques so that he can play the bass line on the low E string as well as playing the finger picked chords simultaneously which makes it a very difficult song to play on guitar. Mayer uses proccusive slaps to stay in time. The use of no effects on the vocals adds to the clean sound of the guitar to make the performance a purely acoustic one. This give the song a raw feel this creates a theme of intimacy between the performer and the audience . The breaks in the vocals between the verse and chorus are a good way to complement the skill used on the guitar to play the song. 

Song: Shepherd of fire by Avenged Sevenfold.

 

At the beginning of the performance the use of pyrotechnics and the sound of flames crackling fits the title of the song very well so personally I think that they have done very well in terms of production. The mix is very balanced to allow for the vocals and the drums to be at equal levels. The performance is very good because it is kept in time while there is all the fire going on in the back of the stage ,but then when it comes to the songs technical aspects I think the use of 'chugging' is very useful because it adds dexterity between the gaps in the vocals. In addition to this the drum fills are advanced enough to make up for the simple guitar riff in the verse (however good it may be it is still fairly simple). The guitar then picks up the pace when the solo happens and the use of alternate picking shows off Brian Elwin Haner Jr's mechanical skill. The fact that the song's lyrics are so easy to sing along too creates a very effective performance ,because being involved in the actual performance is ten times better than just listening and anyone who has been to a concert will agree with me on this one. There is a certain "hype" affiliated with shouting along to the lyrics of a song. They could have implemented the bass a tiny bit more because I found some parts to have gaps where it was just the rhythm guitar was playing and I personally would have liked to hear the bass a bit more in those parts. The band's stage presence is very prominent they add energy to the performance by moving around a lot while the song is being played. The band improves there changes between the verses and the chorus, they do this by signaling to each other when the song changes to prevent any screw-ups.

​

Task 1 live performance analysis (one part)

task 3: personal skill evaluation 

specialist area: lead guitar currently I can play to a fairly high standard technically speaking I have learned technically difficult song like neon by John Mayer and always with me always with you by Joe Satriani. The process of learning these song has improved both my both my mechanical dexterity and my knowledge of scales and triads (both are very important when it comes to lead guitar). Neon also was very difficult to get down because of the use of the left thumb over the top of the guitar neck combined with fact that the entire riff is one person playing the baseline at the same time as they are finger picking the blues chords this combination makes it one of the most impressive riffs (technically) of the 21st century. so being able to play it means that I have a fair amount of technical skill. Going forward I would like to move on to even more complicated guitar techniques such as sweep picking and two handed tapping (playing two melodies at the same time using 3 fingers on each hand). when it comes to performance I am fairly confident but on reflection I should improve on my stage presence and move around more when I am on stage. However I did play the guitar solo behind my head for the Christmas show which has a certain 'signature move aspect behind it'. My use of music software is mediocre at best but I am working on it I understand the basics of using midi and logic/pro tools. I also know the basics of mic positioning and I know how to mic up a drum kit and I know how to mic cabs. I will improve my skill level on logic by repeatedly using it and improving my knowlidge of the program and its functions. 

task 4: skill improvement reserch 

sweep pick 1.jpg
  1. I used guitar world to gain a better understanding of sweep picking because it is the most difficult guitar technique I have ever tried to learn and I couldn't learn it by ear. (https://www.guitarworld.com/lessons/big-strokes-beginners-guide-sweepingg)

  2. My primary research was to learn guitar by ear and using existing songs that are above my skill level to reach that level of skill by doing the painstaking process that is learning the cliffs of Dover by ear.

  3. (https://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/tony-iommi-gear-how-to-sound-like-the-black-sabbath-guitarist). I improved my guitar tone by getting an SG and a 100 watt fender amp because I wanted a tone that was similar to Tony Iommi's    

  4. I also researched his guitar technique because his solos are incredible in my opinion so mine are inspired by his style I learned his "habits" ,so to speak, by using the site(https://www.guitarplayer.com/technique/10-things-youve-gotta-do-to-play-like-tony-iommi)

​

Iommi-SG_mgtq5f.jpg
fender champ 100.jpg

Final evaluation.

Throughout the project I personally think that I have improved drastically because at the start of the course I couldn't use logic or pro tools at all and now I understand the basics of music production and sequencing. and in the performance aspect I have improved as well ,I am now much more confident when performing ,and my technical skill on the guitar is gradually getting better. The process of completing the project has caused me to do a certain amount of research which meant I learnt how to do Harvard referencing. In the tasks 1 and 2 I made sure to use primary research and secondary research. And although I used mostly qualitative data for the tasks 3 and 4 I did use some quantitive data. I think on task 6 i showed the most progress because of my improvement in performance skills and my stage presence (even though its not so great yet) has also improved. personally i would say that there is much progress still to come and through the course of this project i have already improved on by performance and production skills.        

bottom of page