For Task 3, I am going to evaluate the performances I have done in workshop at college. I will talk about how it went, how I felt about it afterwards and what areas I need to improve and develop on, for future performances.
Before I start, I unfortunately only managed to get 3 performances completed before Christmas and had 3 ready for after we came back. Due to covid, I am unable to carry out these in workshop so I will just be evaluating the ones I have done so far.
This first song I did, was a cover of ‘Mardy Bum’ by the famous Arctic Monkeys.
I actually chose this song as it I was a big fan of it, and I also enjoyed learning it. As it was going to be my first performance, I wanted to play something I was confident with. This was the performance we did, on 02/10/20:
First of all, I think the performance could’ve been better on my part, however the others could all improve too. One of the biggest criticisms I received when asking for feedback, was that I need to make my kickdrums louder, especially for a song like that, which I completely agree with. It’s hard to tell whether I am making it loud enough during the performance, due to all the other noise, however watching the video back, it is obvious that you can’t hear it well. I will try and improve this by playing through the song again, and concentrating on the kickdrum. I will get someone (a parent or sibling) to give me their opinion on if it has gotten louder or not, so I can see what I need to different, and how hard to push down on the pedal, compared to what I was doing before. This will then benefit me in the future, as the kickdrum is usually very prominent in all indie/rock songs.
I wasn’t given any other criticism for that performance, however from watching the video back, I do have some for myself. For this particular performance, I was not hitting the crash cymbal loudly at all. This wasn’t a major problem however, the crash is distinctive in the song so I need to get that on point for future performances of that song, or any song that uses them frequently.
Overall I think the group performed amazingly well! Freddie and Harvey (guitarists) did mess up a few times, but the reason I say we worked so well is because there was good communication, meaning we were able to just carry on even if a mistake was made. When Harvey played the wrong chord in the first verse, we all just kept playing which is exactly what you want to happen because sometimes people can be thrown off by other people getting something wrong, luckily we didn’t, and I think that’s great. Another example of good communication was towards the end. where everyone stopped and waited for me to do a flam on the snare, and then they all came back in. They all looked at me for the right time to come in, instead of just guess and I think that is great. Dom (bassist) kept in time well with me and played every note spot on from what I could hear. Emma (vocals) did a lovely job with the singing, despite it being a rather low song to sing.
I really enjoyed performing ‘Mardy Bum’, it was fun to play and I know that the others enjoyed it too. I am excited to perform with them all in future workshops in college.
The next song I performed was a cover of ‘You Believe’ by The Verdicts.
My performance featured Archie (singer) and Albie (lead guitar) who are actually from The Verdicts. The reason we covered this song was because Jacob asked if anyone wanted to perform something on the spot. So Archie asked if any drummer wanted to come up and play with him, so I volunteered. The reason I did is because I had heard the song around three times before, so I had a basic idea of what to do, although I was very nervous. Sean also volunteered to play bass, and Emma played rhythm guitar. Archie and Albie taught them the chords, and I listened to the song on my phone to try and understand the basic groove (Disclaimer, we only has about 5 minutes to prepare beforehand due to how spontaneous this was). This is how it turned out on 20/11/20:
I wasn’t given much criticism due to how improvised it all was and I was therefore given the benefit of the doubt (also I think it was due to my tutor not being in), however the one thing some of my college peers did say, was that I needed to look more happy. Again, I agree. I think this was all down to my nerves getting the best of me as I didn’t want to mess up the song, so I was concentrating hard. However, looking back, I should’ve been more relaxed and not as tense, because it definitely showed whilst I was playing. This all comes down to stage presence, which I do have an issue with, but I am working on it. It’s because I get shy when performing as I am worried I’ll play it wrong, so I try not to enjoy it too much as then I can concentrate more. It does help me play better, but it doesn’t look good to an audience as I look grumpy and as if I do not want to be there, but obviously that isn’t the case. When I am practicing at home, I am relaxed and I feel the music more and vibe with it. I smile and enjoy playing, and it doesn’t cause me to mess up any less then it would if I wasn’t relaxing. I think the stage presence issue is due to lack of confidence. I am going to work on this for future performances as it is a major part of playing.
During the performance, I stopped slightly, but did resume after and no one noticed due to reacting quickly to my actions and being able to cover it up. The reason I stopped was because I panicked before carrying out a fill as I didn’t want to lose the timing. This was a big mistake as I should’ve just carried on and gone for it. To help overcome the fear of confidence and improvisation, I am going to practice playing fills on the spot with my drum teacher. This will benefit me when it comes to an impromptu performance like this again as I will gain more confidence to just play and see what happens, instead of worrying and doubting myself, and therefore causing an error to the timing or the song in general.
The one thing I was proud of, was the timing throughout the performance. I kept at the same tempo and didn’t speed up, which I’m usually known for doing. I still practice songs at home playing to a metronome which has definitely helped performing at college as timing is key.
The group in my opinion worked really well together. Archie and Albie were amazing as they know the song inside and out, therefore being amazing with stage presence and performing to a high standard. Emma and Sean played with so much confidence, considering they had both never even listened to it! The best part of our performance was the communication between us all. As we enter the final chorus from the bridge, the first part “You Believe the facts on the side of the bus” cuts out all the music and just has Archie’s vocals isolated. We then all join back in for the next part, but the reason I’ve pointed this out is because myself, Emma and Sean weren’t completely aware of this. We were told at the start that there is a point where it cuts out but we were not told when. Albie and Archie communicated it perfectly to us and we stopped, then came back in right on time which was amazing.
I would love to work on performing a song with this group again as the energy was amazing in this song and we worked well as a team.
The next song is called ‘Lockdown’ and it was written by Emma Sampson who is also the singer in this video. I had previously been sent a video of her playing and singing it and she asked me if I could work out a drum groove to play to it, and then rehearse it with her the next time we were at college. We did that and also got Sean (bassist) to write to it too. We then performed it that day during workshop and this is how it went (also on 20/11/20):
Personally I think I did a good job coming up with a groove for Emma’s song. It suited the mood of the song well and Emma liked it a lot. The song is based on the covid-19 lockdown, hence the name, so I knew I needed a soft/quiet groove. I chose to use the ride cymbal instead of a hi-hat to make it calmer and also give it a different sound. I kept the timing well throughout the song and managed to use my improvisation skills to carry out a few fills which is a big jump for me, as I would usually play each bar into the other due to lack of confidence. I felt comfortable playing this song because my confidence skills had improved and I had been working really hard at my improvisational skills which is great! I am glad it is starting to benefit me. However I did get one bit of criticism, which was again, to smile more and look like I was enjoying it. I completely agree with this as although I did feel more relaxed, I didn’t show it, and that is not good for the audience to see. I need to improve on my stage presence as I have discussed before on this task with the last performance. I will overcome this problem by practicing my stage presence more in the practice rooms with the others and trying to be more confident and less shy. I was also told my tutor at college and my drum teacher outside of college, to film myself performing at home and watch it back to see how I look. Or alternatively, place a mirror next to myself as I play and watch how I look. Not only will that hopefully benefit my posture, but I can also learn how to portray my emotions well so when I am performing in the future, it looks like I am happy.
Emma performed well, vocally wise she was amazing and hit all notes perfectly. The song she wrote is great and I cannot wait to see what else she writes. When she was playing guitar, her rhythm was slightly off but I think that was because she is new to this sort of strumming pattern. It can easily be improved with more practice. Sean was great too, he wrote an amazing bass piece to Emma’s song and it worked really well with the drums. I can’t fault him as he sounded good to me, and I also don’t know enough about bass to criticise and he got no feedback from others after the performance.
Overall everyone’s timing was spot on and we all communicated well together. Especially the drums and bass, as we would signal with each other when the choruses were coming in and also when we would end. The song came together really well and I would love to play with them two again as I enjoyed it. I would also like to write grooves and drum pieces for songs again as I found that really interesting and it opened up my options to more styles of playing.
Fran Adams Drums 