evaluation for fmp

The plan was to do a whole themed gig around the history of horror and to tell a story though doing music, visuals ,narrator story telling about horror to a paying audience at 45 live . The reason why we picked to do a themed gig was to get more audience members to come and by telling a story to get them to stay and keep them interested and not from leaving . Originally we were all told to pick a theme of what we would like to do and then later on we were told that we were doing horror by the teacher which was picked and suggested by a person from group A .

We did this because our last gig was too long and didn't have a theme and we losted audience members so doing these we hoped to avoid that. The plan was to have bands or you could work by yourself and the other option was to do production side of things to either do synths or some kind of electronic work. I chose the practical side of things as I feel that's where I am best at and like doing and playing music and wanted to do another gig.

What went to plan?

We did horror theme songs we made sure that when we closing and learning songs that we made sure it fit in with the horror theme and if it didn't we didn't use it . We did perform to an audience even though in the end they weren't a paying audience as it was free to enter .Some of the songs we discussed we got done and some we didn't due there not being enough time to get them done .The songs that's we did do and suggest went to plan and we did them in the gig .Not a lot of things went to plan which I will explain in the other section why they didn't .

The plan for the genre of songs was leaning more to the rock side of things which I didn't mind as I like and listen to rock music the most of the songs suggested were rock genre based . We did discussed song that weren't necessary rock and we didn't like them . To get as many song as we could done which we did do .

The setlist we did in the end was :

My hero by the Foo Fighters we planned to do these as an acoustic version but then later on did like the original and it worked out better . It was suggested in production lessons and also it was the more meaningful songs out of the setlist as Cameron picked and wanted to do it for his dad who passed away.

https://youtu.be/EqWRaAF6_WY

Square hammer by Ghost this song we did it like the original the solo was I was left to do the solo so I put one together for it . This one took a bit of convincing to do as the others didn't like it I didn't mind it personally the longest thing that took to learn was the riff it was simple but it was the timing on it that was the issue .

https://youtu.be/VqoyKzgkqR4

London dungeon by the Misfits was easy and straightforward to play and didn't have problems with it and this is the first song we did and we did it like the original .

https://youtu.be/JrvHzIJ6zx8

Pet semartary : This one we did like the original just with the riff played more in some places to adjust it for us to play it and also added my own lead line into it . This song took a while to get done and we didn't do it when we planned to do because the others didn't want to do it but then we tried it out and end up liking it

https://youtu.be/HJWFsZ_YUc4

Join me in death this one is done like the original had no problem with it . Didn't take to long to learn either .

https://youtu.be/1V4AscLidWghttps

Heaven and hell this one was done slightly different as we changed the tuning to standard not e flat and didn't do the full song we planned on sharing the solo but in the end it was decided to just leave at where did and move on to something else .

https://youtu.be/RVUK2rtAkJE

Zombie by Cranberries we didn't plan on doing these song this was a last minute song on the morning of the gig that added into the setlist to replace another song .

https://youtu.be/6Ejga4kJUts

songs we nearly did but didn't do in the end . Reasons why are explained down below:

Hand of doom by Black Sabbath

https://youtu.be/wb2KIlo87y4

Black sabbath by Slack Sabbath

https://youtu.be/0lVdMbUx1_k

Dani Cafionia by Red hot chilli peppers

https://youtu.be/Sb5aq5HcS1A

Welcome to hell by Venom

https://youtu.be/4e0VvHZMaTs

Number of the beast by Iron maiden

https://youtu.be/WxnN05vOuSM

All nightmare long by Metallica

https://youtu.be/EFqjDXy9s5A

To live is to die by Metallica

https://youtu.be/k7_hwgD1ugg

YouTube.com links (accessed on 6/6/23)

What didn't go to plan ?We wanted to tell a story to the audience through not only music but with visuals in the background and having people tells stories either talking about horror in general or telling horror stories or we could of even talked about the songs to them .We did the song part we didn't do the story telling or visuals in the background because we were mainly focused on doing and getting the songs learnt and done . Also I felt like we needed guidance on these things and because we didn't have a teacher for awhile we didn't have that . Because of lack of promotion of the gig no one knew about it really so because not enough tickets we sold we had to move the gig to the college and it wasn't to a paying audience . The whole gig wasn't horror themed the other people that did it the gig with us were added. In the last minute and did either covers of other songs that aren't horror or performed their own original songs . By us as a group doing the theme we were told to do we still losted audience members through out the night of the gig .

Songs that we planned on doing but didn't do and why ?

We planned on working with Stephen and doing Hand of doom by Black Sabbath at first then it got changed to Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath because he felt like it suited his voice more . He also wanted to do Dani California by Red hot chilli peppers but we ended up not doing any of these as we didn't come in and didn't end up doing the gig with us which I'm sure he'll explain on his own blog write ups the reason for that .

We then discussed with the teacher about adding more to the setlist to make it long so we planned on doing Welcome to hell by Venom ,Number of the beast by Iron maiden , All night mare long by Metallica . Welcome to hell by Venom was actually quite simple and straightforward to play it was the timing on it and I was the only one seemed to of learnt some of it so we took it out of the setlist .

Number of the beast for me was the easiest to play out of all 3 songs but Lennon said he was having problems with the starting intro riff and we then discussed as a group that the song has too many parts and too long to learn in the short amount of time that we had got .

All nightmare long we never looked at college so the parts were too fast and complicated to learn again for the short amount of time that we had for the gig we replaced it with whom the bells troll by Metallica this song again was too complicated and fast to learn for the gig so we took it out .

To live is to die by Metallica me and Alfie didn't know it well enough to play it at the gig and I didn't feel comfortable playing it as I might not remember all the parts so well so we replace it with zombie by the Cranberries . Also Cameron wouldn't of remembered the lyrics if he was too singing in it .

Strengths :

I learnt all the songs and tried my best and took my time to work on the things that I couldn't get straightaway for example the square hammer riff I had to take it home look at it and go over it and then put it back into the song which worked for me . That's what I did with all the songs if I couldn't do or get a specific part I took it out of the song and worked on it separately and then applied it back in when I could get it done .

My solo for square hammer I got some positive feedback about it that it was liked and that you could tell I worked hard on it and been correcting it and practicing it for so long that I didn't mess it up all the notes were played correctly and sounded well together . The pedal also helped push it and give it that extra gain it needed .The solo for zombie overall I was happy with the result I got but because we only learnt that song the morning of the gig I would of preferred to have more time to put something together and the solo was good but could of been better in my opinion considering I improvise much of it I'm happy with how it went mostly .

Also my timing with rhythm and lead was good I personally feel I am better in some areas of lead then I am rhythm as like when I was having issue with pet semartary rhythm part I made up and added my own little lead part which I think added some thing different and interesting to the song .

Areas of improvement :

My rhythm its not that its bad I do prefer lead and think I am more of an lead guitar player then I am rhythm but you need both and if can do both then why not and I did do both sometimes when strumming things I would do it differently to others so sometimes I feel like it don't sound the same and it takes me long to get the timing of the rhythm then it would and does the lead so thars just working on it and keep doing what I'm doing which is watching videos of the song that we are doing and by listening and watching I am able to pick it most of the time .

The main thing for me to improve on is my confidence and my stage presence because in rehearsals I was told I need to more at the front I needed to be seen but it took awhile for me to be at the front and eventually I got there but at the gig I was definitely way more at the front then I was in rehearsal and because the lightening of the room and it was done in the café I could see everyone which made me feel a bit like everyone watching me and I better not mess up the songs where as 45 live was darker on stage so I could see the audience as much so it felt better .

As of stage presence knowing what to do on stage is my main issue as I never know really want to do I know and have been told to look up into the audience which I did try to do but also moving about and not staying in one place I don't want to jump up and down and go crazy as that's not me and who I am .I mainly focused on playing the guitar but I did discuss by how I could improve which was simple as taking a few steps forward and backwards at times so I'm not just stood there which i will take into consideration for future gigs and will try . To practice when rehearsing too .

Actions going forward :

I hope to plan and achieve to work on my stage presence in the up coming weeks for this gig we got to do for the art exhibition show and my confidence will continue to grow as the more and more I play and do gigs these are the 2 gigs I have ever done so far never played guitar in front of that many people so as the time goes on and we continue to do more gigs it will get better and better then I practice doing it.

with the rhythm side of things I will continue to be both rhythm and lead on songs when i am needed to and continue to listen and use and watch videos to help me with it as that's what I find works and bets for me.

My Overall opinion and evaluation of the gig:

It was good but could have been better because for a start the songs no one could agree on certain ones and they kept getting changed nearly every week. I kept learning some of them and the week later I was told we are not doing it anymore and by a certain point you could understand my frustration as I think personally the songs that were chose were not thought through properly as for example the Metallica songs they were to complex and too long for the short amount of time we had for the gig if we really wanted to do these songs and have them as a serious option they should have been started at the beginning of this gig instead of London dungeon .

There was a lot of waiting around and messing about going on when they should have been more rehearsing going on I take things seriously and I felt like sometimes I was the one putting more effort in then the rest of them which can get frustrating.

I didn’t personally find it easy sometimes to find and suggest songs do with the theme and also taking other things into consideration whilst picking it . And don’t pick songs unless you know you can play them and get them done in time and know that they are doable by the people you have got to work with on this project too.

Also it didn’t help when we had no teacher for a while because I think we still needed some guidance on certain things like the visuals and story of the gig as we were told to do a theme gig to get more audience members in and to hopefully keep them and too tell a story to the audience but we had lack of guidance on this we did the song part of it but as of the visuals and narrator type stuff we didn’t know what to do and didn’t focus on it .

Because of lack of promotion of the gig we couldn’t do it in our original venue 45 live so when we did it in college café it didn’t feel like a gig and we had less audience those one of the main reason it was move to the college in the first place as because no one really knew about it no one bought tickets to come see it so I felt like having a theme gig did the opposite of what we wanted .

The whole gig was supposed to be horror themed but it was only group B in it and considering we weren’t the ones in the first place that picked that theme it was group A and they never in the end did horror themed songs we should have been able to pick the theme as to me that was a bit unfair .

Also because we did the gig in the café there was no proper lightening or seating arrangements and the sound of the room wasn’t the best for the music and songs were playing as it had a high top roof when we needed a low top roof and it gave this reverb sound which may not of been something we wanted or suited the songs were doing at that time .

I got told often lately that I am a good guitar player but even still everyone needs practice and I learn through using tabs listening to the songs and watching videos and seeing others play it can really help me too so I can get to know and understand the songs better.

But as the café was a small space so I couldn’t of moved around really If I wanted too to much . We got around the problems the best way that we could . I’m glad in the end that I spoke up about the song choices of the Metallica song as I think personally they group wasn’t being realistic about it in the time that we had got I definitely when I was asked my opinion on it I said yes at first that we could do it but after going and looking into the song I then later said I don’t think this is going to get done in time .

I learnt through out the course that I like playing gigs and by doing the songs that we did I explored more into soloing . I also learnt the production side of things too which helped me knowledge along the way .I also learnt that I like playing the lead parts of songs sometimes more then the rhythm but still don't mind it .I also learnt that I need more confidence in my playing and mainly work on my stage presence. Moving on to the next year of this course I hope to continue playing the guitar and do some solos in the future and more gigs and by doing that help improve my stage presence too. Maybe in the future I can expand more on instruments and be able to play more then the guitar but guitar will also be my first choice and nothing would replace that .

Ultimate guitar.com (accessed on 8/6/23)

We didn't use a tab for London dungeon by misfits done by ear with help of Joel .

This is photos of tabs I used for pet semartary don't have the link to these as it was from ultimate guitar website but it was from official version and that version you have to pay for which I don't I got this off my guitar teacher that's how I was able to access and use this version.