What was the connection between the electronics and the instrument/voice?
 

The melody and beats were based on the words.
My initial goal when I was given this module was to create a track that would closely resemble a backing track of a generic pop song. However whilst exploring and playing around with Ableton live, I created something completely different. My track was of a sporadic nature. It did have a theme as most of it sounded like it was in a minor scale but the rapid changes in harmony made it sound dramatic and a sense that it was telling a story through these changes. This piece ‘ Finish line ‘ is actually about me having ADHD. So for many years now I was aware of my mental health issues such as depression and anxiety , but recently I got diagnosed with ADHD which is ( Attention  Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ) as well as mild dyslexia. This piece represents the sporadic and chaotic nature of my personality. This track was a bit ‘all over the place’. That is exactly how my mind feels most of the time. It’s a glimpse into the mind of a neurodivergent person. My brain breaks a small task into too many steps. Which can be extremely overwhelming sometimes. My thoughts are always racing. The highs and lows of the track indicate my hyperactivity, my low moods and hyper focus on things I like and lack of focus and procrastination towards the things I don’t enjoy as much. Initially I asked my lecturer Guy to help make this track more cohesive, but he suggested that I could tell a story with this. And that gave me a message that I should accept who I am and work with what I have to my advantage . Also the attention span of today’s youth is rapidly decreasing, from long class room lectures to 15 minute YouTube videos to 1 minute tiktoks to 15 seconds and now 5 second reels. The reduction of attention span of this generation is something worth discussing. Hence, I thought it was not only an expression of my personal journey with mental health but also was relevant to today’s youth.


Compare your experience of performing with electronics to your previous experience of performing without electronics.

Keeping my mental and time constraints aside, I quite enjoyed using live electronics in my performance. Previously I have sung with a backing track, an accompaniment or acapella. All of which gives me a sense of familiarity but not a sense of control (except acapella of course). ‘Human decision making in live performance also stretches from over-rehearsed scripted actions known well in advance to much looser frameworks within which improvised action can be pursued’ (Collins et al. 2013). As a non instrument player, It was nice to be able to do something with your hands and have that control but also it wasn’t so rigid to the point that repeating a loop or two would completely ruin the performance. It gave me a sense of control on the track section by section which kept me occupied and I was having fun with it and also let me play around in my final performances. It felt less monotonous to me as a singer and having control over the loops gave me a sense of freedom and relaxation.

How was the audience interaction and response?












What feedback did you get from your peers and tutors?

The feedback from my tutor and peers were similar. My tutor Guy Harris, said that the track was definitely telling a story, he said that because he has observed that all my performances till date has a message or story to tell. He asked me to learn the lyrics by heart so I could engage with the audience and also enjoy performing myself. My peers seemed to have liked the track and they found the sporadic and random nature of it interesting and refreshing. They also liked how it sounded. But they said that it would’ve been nice if I had known all the lyrics and didn’t look at the lyrics on the lyric stand as much and had performed with more confidence and ease, it would’ve made the whole experience more enticing. ’Nonetheless, the composer Alejandro Viñao has argued that choices are made on a piece-by-piece basis. As long as the audience perceives a successful piece of music, there is no reason to disregard the click track, whose very rigidity can also be of musical worth’ (Collins et al. 2013).

How are you planning to develop the piece further?

I did re-do the performance as linked above. And I tried to implement the feedback of my tutor and peers of having the lyrics memorised. I still had to look at the sheet to check the numbers to trigger the loops. However if I had a bit more time and experience with Ableton live; I would deduct some loops, add some different ones. Make the transition between tracks a bit smoother. And maybe add reverb or other vocal effects. I would have definitely rehearsed it more, changed parts of the lyrics and improve my vocals. Initially found this piece too scattered, but after getting positive feedback I realised that my piece was unique and eccentric and gave me a different experience to just performing to something that resembled a backing track.