Viva Voce 2025.1
Scores and songs for my 3rd Year recital
Collaborative works
Journal and comp presentation
(Demo Track)
Be Your Man
Lyrics
This is the first song I wrote for my recital. It is a funky, pop-rock, indie track. This song will likely be midway through my set, as it's a banger, but not a staple track.
Like the next song, the structure is straightforward: Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus. The ear-catching part is the last line of the hook, where I have added an extra bar for the hook line, with a squeaky clean transition from Chorus to Verse.
Besides a bit of help from Henry and my vocalist (Cerys), this is the first full song that I have written lyrics for. This is a foreign part of writing music for me, as this semester is the first time I have sat down and written lyrics for songs. I have found that I will write the music first, then sit down and write the lyrics. I might try reversing the order and see where that takes me, as I have heard that it's also a good approach.
Finding a melody for my lyrics is always quite difficult. I have never been good at making melodies, and I tend to leave that up to my vocalist. So I will "rap" my lyrics and get a rhythm, and take my lyrics to my singer and workshop them.
(Studio Production)
Don't Take In The News
Lyrics
This song was written with my mate Ailbe, with whom I release music under the artist name 'John Dolan'. I had shown him this Indie disco track that I had started writing for my EOY recital, and he liked it so much that we made a studio version and released it to Spotify.
I wrote all the music, and together we wrote the lyrics. He has a great ear for melody and rhythm so we usually smash out a song within a few sessions.
"Don't Take In The News" is a fun, earwormy track with a simple Verse, Pre-Chorus, and Chorus structure. We wanted to make something out of the ordinary for this sort of genre, so we made these weird cut scenes, with a slowed-down, trippy feel, as our pre-choruses. It is one of the simplest yet most fun songs to play.
It was fun to write some Indie Disco. My idea behind the track was to write something relevant, so I have taken my Disco vibes from last semester and turned them into a more contemporary feel, with something that would work with my vibe for this year's recital.
I find that my music now is using more of a backline setup, because I have better access to my guitars and recording. When I was living on campus, my guitars were packed away to preserve space, so I didn't have them out as much, and so my music was a lot more DAW-based. In my new house that I moved into late last year, I have more space and a larger setup to record and create music. I have found that this has changed my workflow and creative freedom.
Untitled - Looper One
I plan to have 2 or 3 solo loop songs mixed into my set. I imagine this particular song to be either an opener or a closer. For my loop songs, I want to project some Touch Designer renders behind me, which I'll create specifically for each song. I'm imagining some crazy complex renders to complement my crazy loop designs.
The loop design and mechanics of this song are heavily inspired by Tash Sultana's live sets and how she performs live. Tash has always been a huge inspiration for me, and I have always been inspired to write with my loop pedal, but have never written anything to be played live. So for my recital, I plan to break out a bit and use this opportunity to play some original music as an excuse to write with my loop pedal.
The actual music is inspired by "Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon, with the massive 'Wall of Sound' for the intro, to the stripped back vocals and guitar in the verse. This song has always moved me, and I feel that I can replicate that feeling and structure with a complex loop design.
I am undecided as to whether I want to do the vocals myself, as the rest of the track will be built live by me, or if I get my vocalist (Cerys) to sing for me. I am experimenting with vocal processing at the moment to try and find something that I am happy with, and will make me sound good so that I don't ruin the track, but if all else fails, I can always have Cerys sing for me.
This one is still very much a work in progress, as I haven't started writing lyrics yet, and I am still upgrading my gear and learning how to use it to create the best version of this track. I am keen to see where I take it, and if it will turn out as good live as it does on paper.
Games Of Youth
(Demo Track)
This track is heavily RHCP-inspired. The drum groove, the structure, the lead guitar. It still has my taste to it, with the classic drum stops and the funky syncopated rhythms.
I have written lyrics, but I am not completely happy with them, and I think that I will rewrite them, but the track itself is in a pretty solid state.
I have found that since I am not good at writing melodies, it reflects in my guitar writing, so the "lead guitar" has a very involved "rhythm guitar" feel, and the rhythm guitar is very basic, and is more of a layer than a rhythm guitar, especially in this genre that I have been writing.
This track is experimenting with structure, as my other tracks are ABCABC, so this Chilli Peppers structure is a new one for me. I have found that the structure has more of a storytelling vibe to it, so I'm trying to tell a story with my lyrics. I'm not set on the hook line being "Games of Youth" as I don't think that it has enough oomph to it.
The general vibe of the lyrics I'm going for here is the adventure and freedom you have as a kid, the fun, dumb shenanigans you would get up to with your mates.
I imagine a male to sing this one, as it has that Chilli-Pepper vibe about it, so I might see if my other guitarist (probably Luke) would be willing to give it a crack. I wish that I could sing, so that I could get up there and do it, but that has never really been an option for me, and I am always finding ways to adapt.
Collaborations
Site Specific Performance
Halfway Down
Recording
Score
Hunter and I teamed up for our site-specific performance. We played in the stairwell of building 3. It was a simple two-voice and classical guitar piece. Hunter wrote the piece, and I improvised the chord progression. I felt that arpeggios would be most appropriate as they look like a staircase, which was the whole premise of the piece. It also helped the singers with staying in time, as it was a steady pulse for them to hang onto.
When we started recording our first take, we got about halfway through the piece, and a lecturer had come out of one of the rooms and told us to be quiet as some exams were running. It was pretty funny, but we had to stop. Lucky the man came out, though, because when I stopped the recording on my field recorder, I realised that I hadn't even pressed record! Hunter had chosen a great spot to have this piece, and the acoustics sounded amazing. I wish that I had taken more initiative to get a better recording, but the field recorder did the job.
It was a great piece to collaborate on with some talented singers, and my and Hunter's compositional techniques and ideas. Hunter gave me free range to do whatever I wanted with the guitar part, which was great for me to experiment with in rehearsals to find what would sound good as accompaniment to the singer's lead lines.
IMAV
Featuring Sinead and Joel
I am stoked with how the music turned out, and with everyone’s input and process in making this track. We worked well as a team and created a satisfying product.
Sinead created a really cool synth loop with a whole
bunch of layers. This was the backbone of our track,
with everything centred around her loop. She also
created all the visuals for the track. I’m pretty sure
she made a Max Patch for the visuals, linking certain
parameters to a MIDI device, and recorded and
performed the changes live.
Joel was the producer of the project, with the track
being built on his laptop. He made all the drums and
arrangements for the track. He also mastered the
music and added the finishing touches to the visuals.
I made the atmosphere, which was the inspiration for Sinead’s synth loops. I also made the massive, synthy atmospheric ‘B section’ to the track. I made this using my KORG Minilogue.
We decided that the track needed to go somewhere else to switch things up a bit, and I had brought along my Minilogue to the studio session, so I recorded some layers for Joel to work with.
I helped with a lot of the early arranging decisions alongside Joel and added my own ideas and edits to his drums that he had made.
I had nothing to do with the visuals created, although I wish I had injected myself in. I have been playing around with TouchDesigner a lot recently, and I feel as though I could have had some vital input into the creation or the design of the visuals, but that being said, I am happy with how they turned out.
The only thing I am not as happy with (not saying I’m not happy) is when my ambient synth section comes in (B Section), I imagined the visuals to zoom right out and get real spacey, to match the switch-up in the track. In hindsight, I should have just created something that I liked and sent it over to Sinead to automate.
Other than that, I learnt a whole lot in this project about both mixing and collaboration. I am really happy with our final result, and I like the music a lot more than our visuals.
Contemporary Dance
Ajah Cameron and Maddy Rodhe
Ajah
"__"
I don't have a whole lot to show for Ajah's piece. I have 1 finished section, but still have to make most of the track.
I had originally written this disco track and recorded lyrics, but she prefers the demos I had sent before the lyrics, so I have removed the lyrics and am using the instrumental. Which is completely fine with me, because personally, I like it better instrumental.
Ajah's ideas have been pretty inconsistent and have been changing a lot. Originally, the musical ideas were a bit all over the place, but now she wants the whole thing to be disco. I have a good idea of what she wants now, so coming into the holidays, I have more time to work on her track and get it moving along.
I am going to go to her rehearsals early next semester with my hopefully almost finished track, to get the general vibe and structure of what she is going for, so that I can arrange and mix her piece too the dance.
Maddy
"Rooted in the theme of architecture, this dance work explores how structural design, texture, and form can inspire movement and human connection. Through evolving dynamics and physical shapes, it contrasts manufactured architectural elements with the organic architecture of the human body, revealing how both influence perception and interaction between dancer and audience."
I have pretty much finished her track. It is pretty atmospheric, filled with
non-stop drum chops and breaks. Upon meeting with Maddy, she has been
super easy to work with, and loves everything that I have created for her.
She wanted something atmospheric and airy. Same as Ajah, I plan to go to
rehearsals next semester to sus out the vibe and structure of her piece.
In future will be adding some melodic lines to the piece, so that the breaks
aren't the only thing that the listener is focusing on, because I fear as though
if the only foreground to the track is a drum break for 10 minutes, then it will
get tiring, so I am going to add some melodic aspects to my C and D sections to give the listener a break. The other thing I have to keep in mind is that the track is supporting the dance piece, so I have to leave room for the choreographer and not make the track too pokey and sit just right underneath. That is also why I want to go to rehearsals to sus it all out.
Comp Workshop
My composition workshop presentation was about
the basics and uses of creating atmospheres. I have
always enjoyed making atmospheres and using
them in my tracks to create a sense of air and space.
I talked about how you can create them and how to
make them seamless, so that you do not notice the
loop points. I also showed some examples of how you
can effectively use an atmosphere by using some
songs that I have written as examples. I used my latest songwriting piece, my IMAV piece, and dove a little bit into one of the loops I have made. I am currently working on a sample pack, full of atmospheres, in all major and minor keys. Each loop is timbrely different, and each loop is seamless, so that you can drag and drop it into any project, and loop it for however long you need, without noticing an audible difference at the loop point.
Luke's presentation was really cool. I saw the progression of his piece throughout the semester, but I never heard or saw the final product. I am glad he presented it, because it was cool to see his artistic intention and thought process. The whole idea behind the track was quite smart. The way he planned it all out, using maths to determine the angle of the tempo change, was really cool.
I love his graphics and the design of the whole visual aspect. It has a very 'Luke' feeling to the whole project, and it is inspiring to me.
I also liked Zoe K's presentation on the Bass 6. I didn't know that it was a thing until she had brought it in. I knew about classical bass guitars, as I played one in my high school classical guitar ensemble. I assume that they are essentially the same thing, except one is electric whilst the other is acoustic. I learnt that a 6-string bass is different to a Bass 6, which, after her presentation, makes sense, since the Bass 6 is tuned the same as a guitar, whereas a 6-string bass is tuned down in 5ths, like that of standard tuning.
I loved her actual PowerPoint presentation, though. Like Luke's, it was very 'Zoe'.
Alex's presentation was quite informative. Most of his presentations usually are, and I like it. I feel as though I have learnt something post Alex-talk. This talk has got me thinking about journaling. It comes up more and more as a topic for me, in terms of songwriting and musical ideas and influences. Although I don't already, I feel as though I should start. My writing skills have never been been strongest, so I have always been scared off of writing journals, but I reckon I should start getting into the habit of it.