After the YFP week, we started our rehearsals as a band. There was already a problem, we had no drummer to offer a percussive element. So we rented out a drum machine from the equipment station, which worked quite well.

We found this to be a solid base to build upon, as it acted almost as a metronome for us.

After this practice, we didn’t really have a clear idea on what direction we wanted to take this piece.

This week we chose our bands. I chose to be in one with Haydn, Adam and Zara. I did this because I really value their abilities as musicians. That, and we have similar tastes.

We chose the name Wavy gravy. It was the first thing that came to mind, but we found it funny.

The challenge for this week was to map a walk that we did in a group. To represent different sections during a song. Below is what we collectively wrote to represent this.

JOURNEY SYNOPSIS. 
We first start in a larg ish room with a kit of things in it but with a good bit of space.
We then leave through a small walkway which is short but very cluttered and full of different things. This also sumbalises a passage into another room/mood.
After we leave the very busy small area we end up in the big hall where the stair Wells are, which symbalises a a large space with different layers going around. It’s also alot calmer in this space due to the lack of voices and the space between the present voices.
The journey then takes us into the corridor which is a long but not so spacious place. However, I take this as a passage and can be (or as I expireinced it on the day) quite calm and flowing into the next space.
This will then take us into the main hall/lobby which is huge, full of people and has many layers. This creates an atmosphere of buissness but also a subtle/slow and emotional picture.
The sliding doors to the outside then give a sense of build to the picture, that being the outside area of the university.
The outside area starts very calming for me as it gives a sense of serenity and peace before it goes back into the buissness and fullness of the area with all the different layers and voices that are being portrayed within the area.
SONG CREATION. 
into:I based this off of the first set of doors we go past when leaving the room, it is usually packed with people trying to get past each other in a hurry to get home. So I decided to make the intro very busy, fast and loud. 
Intro p2:This idea was brought on by the stair well that we are confronted once we have left the doors. This creates a bit more of a spacious and not all busy double time part to open up the song a bit more, this also has different layers going across and is pretty busy. 
Verse P1 and p2:The corridor that we go through to get to the main lobby gave me a sense of a long passage that for me at that time was very calm. However, this gave me the room to create the slow down and then the build up to a climax. We also decided to write this part in 6/4 to give it that extra space. 
The automatic doors are the accented build up into the next segment to the song 
Chorus 1:After leaving the corridor we are met by the lobby which is huge, very busy and has many different voices in it. So for this we decided to stay in halve time 6/4 to show that space, but we brought up the Intesity of the instruments and the vocals to match that busyness and to emulate that many different voices that were going on. This then also goes into a solo segment which is what we added to carry on the chorus a little bit and to keep that level of power within the song. 
Lower chorus:When exiting the lobby and first experiencing the outside area to the university I get hit with this mellow and calm feeling of serenity. This gave the idea of a lower part of the chorus due to the initial peace before actually getting the bigger picture of the outside area (which is where the full climax is). This then builds slowly into the full and final chorus which includes the whole climax of the outside area.

In conclusion, this challenge was really intriguing. I found that applying real life movements and feelings to songs to be very interesting and challenging.

In the lecture this week, we were challenged to create a rhythm section lasting two measures that loops, where we created four different melodies for each bar.

I found this to really help me, as prior I never really wrote melodies independently, especially on the keyboard. While what I created wasn’t fantastic, nor did it flow well. The challenge itself was to just write 4 different melodies, which I completed. It gave me a better idea on how to create lead melodies over a rhythm section.

I chose to just use the standard C major scale to write the melodies. This exercise made me more competent in the relationship of the notes, and also made me more aware of which notes to stress. The majority of the melodies which I wrote were conjunct, as I didn’t make any major jumps note to note.

This week we learnt about the shape of songs. Shape meaning structure and layers. The layers we spoke about were as follows: Explicit Beat layer, Functional Bass Layer, Melodic layer and the Harmonic Filler layer.

A point taken away from this layer which interested me, was the fact that any instrument could fill the requirements of these layers. Or even more amazingly, if played well enough, a single instrument such as the acoustic guitar could lay down every foundation. You can play it percussively to succeed the Beat layer, while also laying down the bass layer, while tapping a melodic layer.

For the song I did with my group, we stuck to a conventional method of accomplishing these layers. I sang, which accomplished the melodic filler layer, we had guitar to carry the main melody. Bass to complete the functional bass layer, and drums to accomplish the Explicit beat layer.

Unfortunately though, there wasn’t any footage taken of this song.

For this week, we were put into groups and were challenged to create a song with an AB structure. AB simply meaning two differentiating sections. So we wrote a song that had a verse and chorus that looped, with the lyrics and musical themes within the different sections being significantly distinguishable.

For the verses, I opted to create a finger style melody which gave the song a softer, calmer feeling. The kind of feeling you’d get if you were to be on a walk on a chilly day that calms you down. The vocals that accompany the instrumentals were also low key and melancholic to fit with the feeling of the song. For the chorus however I opted to have a way more energetic, harder strummed progression based around barre chords to get a really rich full sound. The vocal melody which accompanied this was sang by me, I belted the first half the chorus. I am proud of this, as prior to doing this challenge I had never been able to play guitar and sing at the same time. The other half of the chorus was sang by Robyn.

In conclusion, I was very happy with the turnout of the song. It turned out exactly how I envisioned it too. Linked below is a video of me explaining the structure of the song and root notes for the bassist in the band.

I was nervous going into this lecture, having not really spoke to anyone else on my course. I’m typically a nervous person, and I struggle to talk to new people. The lecture consisted of ice breaking exercises as a whole class. For instance, we had to sit in a big circle, and create a continuous flow of different sounds. I found this to be helpful, as it forced me to speak out in front of everyone.

Hello, I’m Haydn Brine! I’m a musician from Leicestershire currently studying Popular Music at the University Of Gloucestershire.

I’m relatively new to playing live and being in bands. In fact, I joined my first band ‘Enemy Of Atlas’ In September 2018. In this short time, I’ve achieved things that I never could have dreamed. My Second ever show live, was with my favourite band of all time ‘Silent Planet’ on their ‘When The End Began’ tour.

Alongside Silent Planet, I’ve also played shows with many other prestigious touring artists. Such as: The Last Ten Seconds Of Life (USA), Lotus Eater, Valis Ablaze, Harbinger, Godeater and many more.

I also released 3 songs with Enemy Of Atlas, including having a music video for the song titled ‘Lustration’ Which you can find below!

This song specifically was my first ever experience with recording music. It was a surprisingly natural experience. I’d never even as much as looked at recording room before. So I was expecting it to be a really weird feeling.

I left Enemy Of Atlas back in April time, and have since put my full commitment towards a new band.

I am now the vocalist of the band ‘Glass Kingdom’ based in Cheltenham, who I luckily came into contact with through the Facebook forum ‘UKTM’ by complete chance. We started playing shows in April, after months of practice. Playing Birmingham, Gloucester, Cheltenham and Leicester. We have one final show this year, In Cheltenham Supporting Black Tongue. Which is another band I couldn’t have dreamed of playing with.