The Performance Plans/Expectations

Our performance will take place in the GJS Theater, 19 June 2015. 

The performance will start with Greased Lightning. We were planning to do something similar with the music video, so there would be people singing with the cars but we figured that it isn't possible so we decided that the main singer, Ochad, could be like a "professor" with a white coat and there'll be the students (which will be the backup) then he'll do the "it's automatic, it's systematic.." part and then the song will go on with the whole "class" dancing. The band would be at the back and the kolintang players could do a little choreography during the chorus. 

The second song will be Candy. The idea for this performance is that Chan would dress up as a girl (with a wig and a dress, hopefully) and Adam will follow him while he's singing, like in the music video. Chan would play the girl in the music video and Adam will play Robbie Williams. Again, the band would be somewhere near the back of the stage. It would also be nice if Chan goes into the audience for once in a while. This performance would be very humorous and I hope people would enjoy it. 

The last song is Wavin' Flag. Since it is going to be the last song, we would want to close it spectacularly. The song is going to start with Lala and Chan (as a boy again) singing with Mira playing the piano, Min Jung playing the flute, and Nadia and me playing the guitar of the beginning of the song really softly and it'll create a relaxing atmosphere. Then after that's done, we plan on having some boys play "drums" made out of those plastic water dispensers coming from behind the theater. This means that after Candy and during the beginning of the song, they would have to rush out through backstage and climb up the stairs to the "control room" area. From there, they would join the stage and we would all play the song together and some people might wave flags onstage. This performance idea is my favorite although it would be really hard to organize.

My expectations are that each song will be played smoothly, no mistakes, the singers would not be flat, everyone is on tempo, and everyone would work together so there won't be anybody coming in the song late or too fast. I also expect the audience to get really involved so they could clap along or wave their hands up in the air with a huge smile on their face. But to make all this happen, we should all be focused while we're practicing and try to not make any mistakes, especially during the performance.

Update on Wavin' Flag

We have only practiced Wavin' Flag for about three times but in my opinion it is really good and it's coming together. I play the guitar on the song and it is really not that hard because it is a four-chord song. I would have difficulties figuring out the strumming pattern but at the end I just follow the rhythm. 

My favorite part of the song is whenever the kolintang plays because it sort of builds an "African vibe" to the song and it sounds really nice. I also really love the beginning when Mira plays the piano really slow and Lala and Chan sing softly. It makes a really nice atmosphere and then suddenly BAM the drums start playing and the song gets really cheery and full of spirit. The boys haven't figured out the drums part so it still sounds really weird but I know that once they are able to play it all at once and with the right tempo, it will sound really good and I hope the audience would love it.

Update on Candy

We have practiced Candy for 3 days and we've done a few run-throughs. I play the contra kolintang on the song and sometimes I would go off tempo and slip on the notes because they notes are a little distant from each other and we'd have to tap it fast. And because I've only learnt the last chorus part (1-2-4-6), I don't really know when to start and I'll always have to wait for the queue but sometimes I'll miss it. 

Once again, the drummer Edo, is really good at his parts and that's good because the percussion is the base of the song. The other kolintang players are also good at playing although sometimes our timing is off. The singers could use more confidence and emotion (again) so the song could really come alive. Overall, the song is really nice but we should just all work on the tempo and the confidence to make the performance really spectacular. 

Update on Greased Lightning

We haven't practiced Greased Lightning in a while but that's because we have already run through it a couple of times until there is only a little time to practice for the other two songs. 

In my opinion, Greased Lightning is going well because everyone (mostly in the instruments) know their parts and play it well. I think the best player in the whole "class band" is Edo because he knows his part and he plays it confidently. The kolintang players (including me) would have to work on the bridge part with the baritone player, Rashya. Sean needs to work more on his guitar solo though, and Lachlan too. I think Ochad and the other singers could use a little more confidence because sometimes they would sound flat. 

One thing we all need to work on is the beginning when Ochad says "It's automatic, it's systematic.." because our timing is not perfect yet. We still haven't figured out the ending of the song so once we're roughly finished with the other two songs, we could come back to the ending of Greased Lightning. To summarize, I think we are already doing a good job even though we just need to work on the timing, co-operation and ending.

Update/Reflective Post (2/6/15)

The class has made a HUGE amount of progress over the past few weeks. Greased Lightning is coming together because all of the instruments sound good (especially the kolintang and the baritone on the bridge, I feel like I have done a good job teaching the fellow kolintang players because they sound good and they don't have many errors) and the vocals are also good although the backup singers could use a little more effort and confidence.  Apart from that, it sounds amazing and we've run through it almost over a dozen times. But, we haven't figured out how we're going to end it so we'll work on that soon.

We just started practicing on Candy last week so it hasn't sounded amazing yet. I play the contra on Candy and it isn't hard because we just repeat the same notes. The kolintang for bridge part of the song is still a little off so we have Alexa fixing that and hopefully it will sound better. The vocals are also pretty good. The guitar and bass for the song has not been fully played by the player (Lachlan) so the song sounds a little "empty". We have run through it for like two times and we know we could sound way better than that. 

We have not started on Wavin' Flag at all but that's because we are starting on the hard songs first and then the simpler songs. Wavin' Flag is a four chord song so it won't be as hard as Greased Lightning or Candy. Because I am playing the guitar for the song and I've already memorised the chords, it's hard for me to wait to start practicing on the song. Maybe we'll start practicing next week or whenever we are finished with Candy.

Videos of Our Chosen Songs

The first song that we are going to perform is "Greased Lightning" by Grease (the 1978 film).

The second song is "Candy" by Robbie Williams, 2012.

The third and final song is "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan, 2009.

My Investigation (Evolution of Singer/Band)

(late post)

For the investigation topic me and Nadia chose to discuss, we chose Evolution of a Singer or Band. We've chosen three solo artists: Beyonce, Paul McCartney, and Michael Jackson. We have done research and put them into a powerpoint presentation but because we can't put that in here, we have summarised the main points.

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Beyonce has not only been famous for a long time, but her class of music evolved over time. Most of her album genres are Pop, R&B and Soul. She can sing up to 3.6 octaves and won 20 Grammy Awards. 

Why? She doesn't only focus on one specific genre, but she also goes with pop like some songs from I' am... Sasha Fierce, 'That's Why You're Beautiful' . It's not a complicated song and we don't have to transpose most of the chords because most of them are just 4 chords.

Paul McCartney has been around for more than half a century. Considered as the most influential musicians of all time, he's known as a former bass guitarist from The Beatles in the 60s. He became a solo artist after The Beatles ended in the 1970s, and released his  first album (McCartney 1970). His music changes to Classical Rock. 

Why?  One thing only Paul McCartney has, is his how his songs are synchronized into a melodic sound with a mix of classical and pop. I think the piano makes his songs smooth into classical.

Michael Jackson also known as 'The King of Pop' might be the world's most influential pop singer. He won 8 Grammy awards for his album Thriller (1982), mostly famous for his Pop, dance pop and R&B genres. His genre used to be soul in Jackson 5, and later became a solo artist when he grew up.
Why? I think if we focus more on him, we'd have higher chances of performing a pop songs because it defines him and his albums. Maybe we could start of in the Off the Wall, Bad, Dangerous and Xscape albums, because overtime, the distance between these albums are quite distant. 

(credit to Nadia)