21/03/10
The Hip-Hop Gig

This week has been stress, stress and more stress. I have suffered immeasurably at the hand of Franco Fabbri and am still unable to successfully type the word ’semiotic’ on the first attempt. However, ’appropriation’ seems to come with relative ease. Why is this? The dreaded Will Smith Medley that was planned for the grande finale’ of our Hip-Hop set inevitably bit the dust on the morning of the gig. After spending most of the day in college on Tuesday attempting to create a believable backing track from samples taken from the actual songs we intended to medley on the dreaded CuBase, I finally had to admit defeat as the final product sounded not unlike a poorly put together karaoke track. HOWEVER! It is better to try and fail than to never have tried at all! The ditching of the track was met with true Dunkirk spirit by the hasty re-working and inclusion of Rapper’s Delight . We did not succumb to the pressure of Glasgow and rose suitably to the occasion. This last minute change of plan also allowed me time to set my paws on some proper hip-hop bling-bling. I would like to mention that the morning of the gig was also the first occasion in which we were able to rehearse in a proper rehearsal room with a working P.A. Such are the occasional joys of Perth College. The gig went, I believe, rather well. I feel we were able to deal smoothly with any on-stage hitches and last minute changes that occurred. I also felt that it was a good gig in so far as we had great fun on stage and I think the audience enjoyed it too. Beer was drunk in celebration, kebabs were eaten in hunger and a good night was had all round! It was a real change to be performing outside of college and I think this really added to the atmosphere and sense of purpose for all of the bands. It is soul-destroying to work over such a long period towards a performance only to be faced with a practically empty hall (and no chance of a beer afterwards.) So thanks to Andy and Marlisa for organising everything. Next time Wembley? Everything was filmed for Graded Unit so next weeks task will be to get everything off film and onto computer to begin the task of editing. Will the joyousness never end!?

Almost as exciting was my first lesson with a proper pupil on Tuesday afternoon. - proper meaning small child who I have not met before. Scary stuff! Josh is 7 and totally new to music but a really quick learner. Can you tell this early whether someone will be good ? I’m not sure but he certainly picked up the key concepts quite fast. I really hope he gets ‘the bug’. Anyway, it wasn’t half as scary as I imagined! Another lesson next Tuesday where we shall reconsolidate what we learned last time (crotchets, minims, semi-breves, barlines, loud and soft…….) and move on a little further in the book!


My child off with tonsillitis again so a missing of classes Thursday and rehearsal with Ross on Friday. I hope to make this up to him on Monday! On a brighter note, parents evening alleviated any fear that my child may have sociopath tendencies. She is doing really well, “has not a mean bone in her body” “ has a calming effect on other students” and will “never be in danger of suffering from high-blood pressure”. Hooray…. Onwards and Upwards…..