Part A: Explore The Arts as a Participant

Music Tech and Performance Skill.

So, we ended up at my workplace, SWIPE.

The day before we went to SWIPE, Jamie, my boss, asked me if I could help with his presentation for the Arts Award. I didn't know what I was gonna do, he just asked that I bring my USB.

So, we leave the Library and head to SWIPE. We go into, what we call, the Live Room, which is the room at the front of the building where most bands rehearse, shoot videos, have photo shoots or even give live performances... hence the name 'LIVE' room!!
In the room, Jamie has set out a few pieces of equipment for us to look at. The 1st one was a old school amp and mixer.

This is what they used to used back in the 70's/80's. You'd plug your guitar/bass/mic, into the little mixer on top, you were only able to plug 4 things into it, and it was limited in what it did, and the sound wasn't the greatest quality, but it had that old school vibe to it that I liked.

The next piece of equipment was a mixer. Now, this is a mixer that you would see on a regular basis. We have a mixer like this in my church. Jamie told us that this model of mixer came in the 90's, so, not that long ago really. The thing with these mixers is that, there are so many buttons and sliders, you don't know what to press!! He explained to us how it works and how they used them for concerts and other events. The sliders can be programmed and saved for a specific program, then they can be change to fit another program and saved, so, for example, if a concert was being held and there were multiple acts that required different settings on the mixer, each setting can be saved to the mixed and brought back when necessary... HOW COOL!!

This last piece of equipment is the latest and most up-to-date type of mixer. Now, at 1st glance, you're probably thinking 'Nope, can't do it, I'm gonna break it', and that's what I thought at 1st, but it really isn't that hard to use. The 1st time I used it was at a Christmas gig, and it's gotten easier since then. You literally plug the instruments and speakers you're using into it and go from there, you can even plug your USB into it for backing tracks... which is where I came in.

When Jamie asked me to bring my USB with me, the 1st thing I thought was 'Does he want me to sing or something??' because he only asks for my USB when I'm going to sing, my USB has all my backing tracks on it. So, he asks for my USB, plugs it in and asks me to use it to show just how easy it is. He plugs in a mic, and asks me to treat this like I'm performing at a gig and to sing a song. I chose to sing Make you Feel my Love by Adele, and I chose the backing track I THOUGHT I usually use; I have 2 on my USB. After singing in front of our group, which was a lot more nerve wracking than I thought it would be, Jamie asked me what I could have done better. So I think over my performance and I'm thinking, maybe I didn't open my eyes enough, maybe I wasn't loud enough, maybe I didn't have enough feeling... turns out, it wasn't anything I'd done on stage, it was my backing track!! Like I said, I had 2 backing tracks of the same song, one in the original key and one a key below. I was, for whatever reason, rushing to get the track, so I chose the 1st one I saw, I could hear as soon as it started that it was the original key instead of the lower key piano instrumental I usually sing along to, but it's unprofessional to stop and start, so I just went with it.

Jamie told us, your tech support can help you as much as you help them, so if I give the sound guy my poor quality backing track, he'll have to bring the quality of my mic down to match and blend with the backing track, and that brings down the quality of my performance, so I need to get a better quality backing track for the original key of that song.

He asked everyone else what they thought were the best parts of my performance, if the fact that he turned on stage lights helped enhance the performance and what could have been better. It reminded me a lot of vocals class haha!!

He then showed us what is needed for a good performance. He gave use some do's and don't's on staging and performing, for example, if you're coming to perform, but you have a bag, or bags, don't leave them on stage, front and centre, hide them behind a speaker or behind the drum kit, that way, they're safe and out of the way and the audience won't be focusing on it. Also, engage with the audience, talk to them, let them know that you are with them as much as they are there for you.You can't sing and expect an applause, you have to earn it!! I learnt a lot from that 1st session, and it helped me a lot when it came to doing the same thing for the 2nd group of people(I didn't do the dance workshop because I was helping with this one). When I went to perform, the same song for the 2nd group, I chose THE RIGHT backing track, and used the tips I learnt with the 1st group to improve my performance; I got a much better response from this group and I enjoyed this performance a lot more than the 1st one, it was a lot more comfortable.

This activity workshop has definitely helped me with my performance skills, stage presence and knowledge and appreciation of the technical side of a performance. I feel a lot more confident in my performances because I know what works and what doesn't.