The second practice this week went underway at James Watt College. My band turned up along with singers Nas and new singer Amanda. Emma canceled on me again saying she had to work so I have decided to officially drop her and replace her with Stephanie. I called Stephanie to double check this was OK to which she replied yes. Jennifer also did not show up and did not contact me to say she couldn't make it. I asked Amanda if she would be interested in doing Jen's songs and she seemed very keen to do lead vocals. I let her hear the songs to check if she would be OK with singing them in case any of them were out-with her vocal range. She decided that she wanted to try "Ex-Girlfriend" and "Snakes" at the rehearsal even though she did not really know them. I took her into an empty ensemble room and put on the CD's with the two songs on them so that she could listen and learn them as best she could to give them a go.
The rest of us played through the set which went very well. The band know the songs extremely well and we are playing the set really tight now. Nas was brilliant also and with every practice she is getting better and growing more confident. Amanda learned the two songs in under an hour. The first one she sang was "Ex-Girlfriend" and it sounded great, she is a very talented singer with a great voice. She sang the whole song right through coming in at all the correct places and seeming as if she knew it well. "Snakes" was sung brilliantly the first time through. She made it her own at some bits of the song which I felt sounded amazing. I was really excited when I heard her sing this song and I feel I have made the right choice in replacing Jennifer with Amanda. We played through these two songs a couple more times and then we played through the whole set again in order and I felt it went really well and I feel a lot more confident about the gig now. I also feel very relieved that Amanda and Stephanie have agreed to fill in and they both seem more enthusiastic and reliable than the first two singers I chose. I have taken two videos of this rehearsal, one of Nas singing "Total Hate" and one of Amanda singing "Snakes".
I have arranged for brass players John and Lizy to come up to my flat on Sunday to go over their parts together as we are unable to practice on Tuesday due to a recording session. I have arranged this because they have not played together yet and I want them to go over their parts together and play together before we move into our final rehearsals. I have also arranged my two singers Amanda and Stephanie to come up to my flat on Monday to go over their songs. This will give them an extra practice and give me the opportunity to hear them and help and make sure they know the songs well enough.
I have arranged with everyone a six hour practice at Berkley studios next Thursday as the studios have larger rooms which everyone will be more comfortable in as my band is very large. I also want to go over the set with everyone present and begin forming the show and practicing it as a show. The final rehearsal after this will be on the day of the gig before sound check.
Friday, 23 April 2010
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Practice went underway at James Watt College last night. Emma could not make it again last night as she said she had to work. I am giving her one more chance to come on Thursday and if she does not show or cancels then Stephanie will definitely be taking over her songs.
Nas and Stephanie came along to practice last night and they performed their songs brilliantly. They worked very well together and seemed to get along no problem. Nas struggled with "Don't Speak" at first as she is very new to this she kept singing out of tune and getting confused with Stephanie singing backing vocals along with her. We had to play this a good few times so that Nas could get used to it. The last three times we played the song it sounded fantastic and this is shown in the video I have taken of this song. There was no other vocal problems with any other of Nas's songs and I feel she is getting more confident in rehearsals.
Stephanie sang "Sunday Morning" and "Underneath It All" which she was great at. She knows the songs well and I am very confident she can stand in for Emma no problem. Next time she is at practice I will ask her to do the two other songs Emma sings but I am very confident she will be fine with them, she is a very talented and reliable vocalist.
John brought his sax to practice last night. His sax playing was very good and I felt relieved when I heard him play as I was getting worried that brass was not going to work out. I am going to arrange a night at the weekend for John and Lizy to go over parts together as I am struggling to get everyone into rehearsals at the same time so I will arrange a day where they can go over their parts together and make sure they are playing the same thing.
I am practicing again at James Watt on Thursday. I am giving the sequenced track for "Hella Good" to Paul Brooks, a lecturer at James Watt, on Thursday and he is going to put a click track on it for me. I am getting nervous because the gig is very soon however I am doing everything I possibly can to try make it happen. I know for definite that Nas is fine and Stephanie is fine and will cover Emma's songs. I just hope that if Jennifer does not turn up on Thursday that Amanda will cover her songs otherwise I may have to drop these songs and just do 8. That is the last resort.
Nas and Stephanie came along to practice last night and they performed their songs brilliantly. They worked very well together and seemed to get along no problem. Nas struggled with "Don't Speak" at first as she is very new to this she kept singing out of tune and getting confused with Stephanie singing backing vocals along with her. We had to play this a good few times so that Nas could get used to it. The last three times we played the song it sounded fantastic and this is shown in the video I have taken of this song. There was no other vocal problems with any other of Nas's songs and I feel she is getting more confident in rehearsals.
Stephanie sang "Sunday Morning" and "Underneath It All" which she was great at. She knows the songs well and I am very confident she can stand in for Emma no problem. Next time she is at practice I will ask her to do the two other songs Emma sings but I am very confident she will be fine with them, she is a very talented and reliable vocalist.
John brought his sax to practice last night. His sax playing was very good and I felt relieved when I heard him play as I was getting worried that brass was not going to work out. I am going to arrange a night at the weekend for John and Lizy to go over parts together as I am struggling to get everyone into rehearsals at the same time so I will arrange a day where they can go over their parts together and make sure they are playing the same thing.
I am practicing again at James Watt on Thursday. I am giving the sequenced track for "Hella Good" to Paul Brooks, a lecturer at James Watt, on Thursday and he is going to put a click track on it for me. I am getting nervous because the gig is very soon however I am doing everything I possibly can to try make it happen. I know for definite that Nas is fine and Stephanie is fine and will cover Emma's songs. I just hope that if Jennifer does not turn up on Thursday that Amanda will cover her songs otherwise I may have to drop these songs and just do 8. That is the last resort.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Rehearsal last week (8/4/10) took place at Berkley studios in Glasgow. I had invited both singers Emma and Jennifer to come along however they were unable to make it due to other commitments.
I brought along the set list order so that we could through the songs in order and begin preparing for the show. I have decided that the first two songs will be played one after the other without stopping because I want the show to have a strong powerful beginning. The opening song is "Just A Girl" because I feel this is a good opener because it is upbeat, fast and well known and I think it will get the crowd going. I will then go into "Sunday Morning" because I felt it worked well after "Just A Girl" with the snare drum intro and it is an upbeat song that will keep the crowd going.
The rehearsal with the band went very well and I feel we are getting much tighter. As we have rehearsed the material mainly without singers, the band are feeling very confident with the songs.
I had another rehearsal yesterday at Berkley studios. Emma and Jennifer were not free to come in again and as a result I have looked into getting other singers. I have contacted a girl at James Watt College called Amanda who says she would like to do vocals. Lizy my trumpet player has also contacted another girl named Laura who sings for a well known Glasgow band called "Darkwater". I am still waiting to hear from Lizy as to whether Laura will sing for my project. I understand that my project is in three weeks time so I have decided to practice twice a week beginning next week at James Watt College. I will be inviting everyone involved in the project to come along to both days to ensure my set sounds good for the gig.
I brought along the set list order so that we could through the songs in order and begin preparing for the show. I have decided that the first two songs will be played one after the other without stopping because I want the show to have a strong powerful beginning. The opening song is "Just A Girl" because I feel this is a good opener because it is upbeat, fast and well known and I think it will get the crowd going. I will then go into "Sunday Morning" because I felt it worked well after "Just A Girl" with the snare drum intro and it is an upbeat song that will keep the crowd going.
The rehearsal with the band went very well and I feel we are getting much tighter. As we have rehearsed the material mainly without singers, the band are feeling very confident with the songs.
I had another rehearsal yesterday at Berkley studios. Emma and Jennifer were not free to come in again and as a result I have looked into getting other singers. I have contacted a girl at James Watt College called Amanda who says she would like to do vocals. Lizy my trumpet player has also contacted another girl named Laura who sings for a well known Glasgow band called "Darkwater". I am still waiting to hear from Lizy as to whether Laura will sing for my project. I understand that my project is in three weeks time so I have decided to practice twice a week beginning next week at James Watt College. I will be inviting everyone involved in the project to come along to both days to ensure my set sounds good for the gig.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
I rehearsed at Berkley studios in Glasgow on Tuesday night. I arranged for my singer Nas and the brass section to be there however, due to bad weather conditions the brass section, Lizy and Chris, were unable to make it.
As this was the first time Nas was in rehearsing we focused on her four songs which are "Just a Girl", "Don't Speak", "Total Hate" and "Move On".
"Just a Girl" went quite well. Nas was unsure of how some parts of the song were sung as there is a lot of changes and so it did not sound as good as it could. She was aware of this however and will practice it more for next time.
"Don't Speak" wasn't sounding too great the first couple of times we played it and I feel this is because we haven't played it in a while. My band were a little unsure of some parts and so this took a few plays to get it right. Nas performed the song well, I could see she was really nervous as this is the first time she has ever sung with a band and been at a rehearsal. I will ensure she comes to as many rehearsals as possible so that she can overcome her nerves and get used to singing with the band.
"Total Hate" went very well. Although the brass weren't in so I couldn't get to hear it properly, it was still sounding very good. Scott filled in the brass parts with his keyboard so that Nas knew were to come in. The band played very well and the more we played it the better it got and it was basically perfected. Nas sung this much better than the other two songs. I felt she projected more on this song and with the spoken parts and in the chorus the words "Total Hate" are shouted, she seemed more comfortable with it and really got into it. I feel this song is one of the best and will sound amazing with real brass and backing vocals.
"Move On" went much better this week. I feel last time we played it that it was sounding quite awful. Everyone was all over the place and it just wasn't flowing well. This was perhaps due to lack of playing it and listening to it. The band played very well, the first run through wasn't too great. Adam played the end section of the song where it changes into a heavy guitar solo section incorrectly and out of time at first. I told him to practice the part for a few minutes and to look at me for his count in when he comes to it as the timing changes. The next few times we played it were much improved, the end section sounded a lot tighter and I feel we have made a lot of progress with this song. Nas sounded great singing this song. She felt that this was the hardest song for her and that her vocals were weak however I felt that this song again sounded better than the first two as she projected more and because the chorus is spoke with shouted parts that she really got into it and performed it better.
I have forgot to report that I managed to get the gig changed to the 4th May at Nice n Sleazy's. This was due to e-mailing Caroline the event organiser for the club and asking her what dates she had free between the 3rd and 16th May. She only had the 4th and 9th available which meant choosing the 4th because I had made a list of what dates everyone could do and the 4th was the suitable choice.
The gig is drawing closer however I am still happy with the progress I am making. I really need to get my other singer Jennifer in and all the brass section. I am going to double up on practices in the next couple of weeks as the gig draws closer to ensure I am fully prepared for the show. I will continue to practice and research over the next week and keep in contact with everyone to ensure next rehearsal goes smoothly.
As this was the first time Nas was in rehearsing we focused on her four songs which are "Just a Girl", "Don't Speak", "Total Hate" and "Move On".
"Just a Girl" went quite well. Nas was unsure of how some parts of the song were sung as there is a lot of changes and so it did not sound as good as it could. She was aware of this however and will practice it more for next time.
"Don't Speak" wasn't sounding too great the first couple of times we played it and I feel this is because we haven't played it in a while. My band were a little unsure of some parts and so this took a few plays to get it right. Nas performed the song well, I could see she was really nervous as this is the first time she has ever sung with a band and been at a rehearsal. I will ensure she comes to as many rehearsals as possible so that she can overcome her nerves and get used to singing with the band.
"Total Hate" went very well. Although the brass weren't in so I couldn't get to hear it properly, it was still sounding very good. Scott filled in the brass parts with his keyboard so that Nas knew were to come in. The band played very well and the more we played it the better it got and it was basically perfected. Nas sung this much better than the other two songs. I felt she projected more on this song and with the spoken parts and in the chorus the words "Total Hate" are shouted, she seemed more comfortable with it and really got into it. I feel this song is one of the best and will sound amazing with real brass and backing vocals.
"Move On" went much better this week. I feel last time we played it that it was sounding quite awful. Everyone was all over the place and it just wasn't flowing well. This was perhaps due to lack of playing it and listening to it. The band played very well, the first run through wasn't too great. Adam played the end section of the song where it changes into a heavy guitar solo section incorrectly and out of time at first. I told him to practice the part for a few minutes and to look at me for his count in when he comes to it as the timing changes. The next few times we played it were much improved, the end section sounded a lot tighter and I feel we have made a lot of progress with this song. Nas sounded great singing this song. She felt that this was the hardest song for her and that her vocals were weak however I felt that this song again sounded better than the first two as she projected more and because the chorus is spoke with shouted parts that she really got into it and performed it better.
I have forgot to report that I managed to get the gig changed to the 4th May at Nice n Sleazy's. This was due to e-mailing Caroline the event organiser for the club and asking her what dates she had free between the 3rd and 16th May. She only had the 4th and 9th available which meant choosing the 4th because I had made a list of what dates everyone could do and the 4th was the suitable choice.
The gig is drawing closer however I am still happy with the progress I am making. I really need to get my other singer Jennifer in and all the brass section. I am going to double up on practices in the next couple of weeks as the gig draws closer to ensure I am fully prepared for the show. I will continue to practice and research over the next week and keep in contact with everyone to ensure next rehearsal goes smoothly.
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