soul music is the fusion of African American gospel, Jazz, blues, and funk. soul is well known for its variation of vocalist such as, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, James Brown and more. The main purpose of Soul in the beginning was to express how it feels to be black in America, but over time it has emerged into 4 different categories such as: economical, geographical, racial and historical. There were also different types of sounds within soul that also had split into sub genres depending on the area, race and instrumentation used. The most common sub genre was the Detroit Motown soul which began gaining popularity in the early 60s. This type of soul was heavily influenced by gospel vocals, instrumentation, fashion and choreographies.
The main instrumentation that was used in the early stages of the soul were: Vocals (backing vocals), Guitar, Percussion, Drum kit, Horn section, Bass etc.
VISUALS: The fashion in the soul genre varied to Motown classy dresses and colorful suits, to hippie Afrocentric styles. During the time when soul was gaining a large amount of attention, the civil rights movements was occurring and also creating a profound affect through areas. One of the ways that musician where able to promote the civil rights movement was through fashion. famous singers such as Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and many more started to wear African attires, clothes and head wraps to promote black beauty and black power. Women also began wearing their natural hair to appreciate their natural textures, while also trying to state a point that beauty is more then the European standard of beauty . Since the 60s men and women still look back to Africa to admire both hair and clothing fashion.
PERFORMANCE AND ARRANGEMENTS The performance of these artist would be quite dramatic to add on affect and, also to be able to express the deeper meaning of the song. Instrumentation was heavily repeated throughout the songs. The riffs were created by base lines and occasionally chordal parts were created with either the guitar or the Piano. The main tempo of soul was 120 BPM and faster, but there was also slow Ballads such as When A Man Loves A Women (Percy Sledge), Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cook) and Try A Little Tenderness (Otis Redding). Popular souls songs had a large amount of strong use vocals, instrumental hooks, and the use of the call and response technique, that was influenced from early gospel Church music. The structure of most soul songs were verse chorus form and occasionally having a bridge or a instrumental section . Soul music melodies mainly used the pentatonic scales with added blues notes, this was mainly influenced by jazz ,blues and gospel chords from previous genres.
TECHNOLOGICAL:
During the Early 50s-60s technological was still in its beginning stages, so the ways they would record songs was to do a live recording of whole bands in a single room. To make certain instruments or vocals sound much clearer they would put acoustic screens. The other technology they used were vocal over dubbing, plate reverb such as EMT 140, Compressors like teletonrix LA2A, stereo mixes, use of DI guitars and bases electric instruments and many more.
MEDIATIC:
Soul was mainly an African American genre which was rarely promoted because of racial segregation at the time. Soul music was rarely shown on TV shows because of the complexion of some the artist, so the only way artist would earn money as well as becoming known through tours and vinyl recordings.
CORPOREAL:
Soul as a genre has an emotional affect on both the audience as well as the performers. As a predominantly black genre It had many barriers to face, as at its prime there was a lot of unjust and inequality towards people of colour. One of the main main social impact within the 60s was the civil rights movement, which Soul genre both helped promote and also was inspired by.
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
The civil rights movement was a large protest which occurred throughout the 60s and 70s, to outlaw racial segregation and oppression, so people of colour can have basic privileges, opportunities and rights in America. Soul arist were able to promote this protest by empowering people through their music . These are a handful of the songs that were specifically created for the movement : Change is gonna come Sam Cook, I'm black and I'm proud James Brown, Strange Fruit Billie holiday and many more.
DISCURSIVE:
I believe that over the years Soul it has made a great impact in history. Soul is also well known for creating sub genre for example Blue Eyed Soul, Neo Soul, Funk and many more. Soul has also evolved over the years and has also inspired artist and new up and coming genres.
I wish to be a professional recording artist, songwriter/producer and have an independent label. I also want to be able to express myself in different creative ways and not only through music, such as visual arts and fashion.
where do you want to be? Be as specific as possible.
I hope to be a professional artist and create an Independent label. I want to be in a situation in which I can create a great impact within the music industry. I would like to make a change in places where people are less fortunate, and can have better access to information, technology and education.
Who are your role models? What did these people do in order to get to their position?
Eykah Badu
Her unique persona and inspirational lyrics intrigue me. I also love they way that she is an independent artist and she gained popularity for being herself and out of the ordinary. It is very rare to find an artist that doesn't sit in just one category or even follow any trends, hence the reason why I would love to see her live or even in person so I could learn certain things about the music industry, independence, and knowing my identity before entering into the industry.
CAREER
Erykah was part of the arts at a quite early age, as she use to perform in Dallas show cases. Badu also freestyled on radio station under the name DJ Apples It was until Kader Massenburg caught onto one of her demos and decided to sign her, whilst pairing her with D'angelo, who at the time was another up and coming Neo-soul artist. 1997 Baduizm Erykah Badu first album came out and it gained a lot of popularity. This album has been said to marked a shift in music history with creating the Neo-soul movement. Baduizm recieved critical acclaim and also one Erykah her first Grammy Awards. In 1999 she created collabed with the known hip hop group The Roots, creating the song You Got Me. this song gave her another Grammy later that year. Whilst in the same year Badu also made her big screen debut in The Cider House Rules. Between 1999-2014 Badu carried on to create more unique knowledgeable, but her popularity has slightly declined over the past few years. Badu is still considered as the queen of Neo-soul, inspirational and legend.
How can you mimic their career path
The way I would attempt to follow erykah's career path is to do, more live performances and also create a demo or EP, and publish it on social media such as YouTube , Soundcloud and any other social media so I can get recognition. I would try to gain a small amount of popularity around my community so I could get access to people in the music industry, so my demos or recordings can reach record labels. I believe that another that could help me is to collab with new artist or even trying to work with upcoming independent labels.
4)
What steps are you going to take to achieve your goals? Be specific, break it
down into all the small steps.
TARGETS
Create an EP and get recognition on social media and websites.
Create a band
Create artwork for the covers my EP and albums
Do my own videography for my songs
Perform in live concerts or pubs to get known around the community.
Try and ask for funding to create full album
Create social media or websites to promote my music
Create an album
For my final major project I am hoping to create an EP, that I will be promoting on social media and other websites such as Bandcamp, Soundcloud etc. I also would like to create a band with a few of my classmates.
My portfolio will be a mixture of mood boards, art work, pictures (photography), produced music, acoustic recordings and videography. I'm going to create an EP as my FMP(Final Major Project), and hopefully be able to create a video for one of my songs from my EP. I also want to create artwork for my EP cover.
isplayed? Justify your decisions based on what you have learnt in your research.
I would like to have funding for an arts day benefiting ethnicities that have been affected socially. This would be located in large urban areas The profit that I hope to earn through these activities will be donated to charity where it will help neighbourhoods that are less fortunate.
The whole event will mainly present historical facts that are not taught in the academic system such as, the destruction of civilizations, cultures in different continents, segregation, slavery, and more. It will also display activities that promote understanding your identity. Competitions such as art, fashion, literature(poems) and music will be available.They will be opportunities for up and coming artist to perform, display and promote their art.
I believe the activities that I will display will help the public understand the lost history that they have never been able to learn. also being able to have access to resources that would benefit and help develop themselves. If they are not intrigued by any of my activities I hope in the future to try and create my events into something that they could relate to such as popular videos on social media, artist, or even new artist that they could relate to. I would like engage with all ages, I believe that nobody can stop learning, so I believe everyones capable of learning a large amount through the activities I hope to present.
My event will be touring to certain areas within London mainly diverse urban areas, as the knowledge I hope to promote through activities will connect with people from a mixture of ethnicity. I hope to publish this event mainly through social media and leaving posts in stores around London.
1 You and your work
What you want to do.
The names, skills and experience of the artists and other main people involved.
Describe the aims of the activity and how you will achieve them.
How this activity fits in with your current work and its future development.
How the activity is likely to affect the people who experience it, or how it will affect the arts more widely.
If your activity is touring tell us why the work is going to be presented at the venues you have listed and your relationship with the promoters you give in your tour schedule.
2 How the public engage with your work
Details about the people the activity will reach (for example, the audiences or people taking part) will any of these be people who may not normally engage with the arts (see our information sheet ‘Public Engagement’).
How you will reach people and details of your press and marketing activities.
If there is no immediate chance to engage people (for example, some research and development activities), tell us how you have thought about the ways the public could be engaged in the future.
If your activity is for developing new audiences and marketing give details of the target audience you want to reach and why they are important to you.
3 Making it happen
How far you have got with your planning.
How you will manage the main stages of your activity, and what each stage contains.
Your past experience of successfully managing a similar activity [or other relevant experience]
This information is taken from the guidelines offered by the Arts Council England
Music Guitarist Bongo drummer Pianist Singer Session Player art(draw, paint portraits) design hair Potential Jobs
photographer
art teacher
songwriter
instrumentalist
instrumental teacher
music producer
Artist/ Art Teacher Agencies( Help me promote myself as a teacher, contact details/ pricing etc.) website (gallery displaying my work, contact details and pricing/details of lessons) youtube (small clips of my lessons, contact details) instagram(gallery displaying my work, contact details, videos) Facebook( Promoting to people who do art, and who are interested in my work, gallery) Photographer Website(Gallery displaying my work, contact details and videos)
Instagram(Gallery presenting my work, contact details and videos)
Facebook( Advertising, Gallery presenting my work, contact details and videos)
Youtube( clips behind the scene of howI make my pictures, Contact details)
Songwriter/Music Producer
Soundcloud(promoting my music socially, contacts details)
Youtube( Clips behind scene and of music, contact details)
Instagram( Video clips promoting my music, contact details )
Critical Analysis I performed 3 originals in the summer gig for my end of year project. I am comparing my work to India Arie, because I wanted to relate to an artist who performs vocally as well as instrumentally, and who is also part of the neo soul genre. I believe India Aries stage presence is more exciting and upbeat then my performances, because she has more experience and confidence. I am also still developing as an artist and need to improve on my performance skills . I believe I Lack the ability to be confident on stage which also affects the way I perform instrumentally. Most occasion I'm unable to perform to my full potential because I'm either nervous or not prepared to my fullest. I believe India Arie is more experienced on stage as well as on the guitar.
Overall Im not satisfied with my performance mainly because I allowed my nerves to control what I gave to the audience, which wasn't to my full potential. I believe that I am nowhere near India Arie as an artist because I have so much to develop and learn in music. I believe that my music relates more to the neo soul genre because I was able to incorporate certain factors from the genre within my music. I think I would like to relate my music to artist such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah badu and India Arie because I was influenced mainly on their songwriting techniques and instrumentation. I struggled with performing live vocally and instrumentally at the same time because my low self-esteem restricted me to do as good as I could. I would like to be more lively and confident on stage, as well as be more strong vocally, so I won't rely heavily on backing vocals. In the future I would include more instruments, improve the harmonise and change my playing techniques on the guitar. To develop my confidence I believe in future performances I should consider doing solo for certain songs, to boost my confidence and have more faith in myself.
I believe that India Arie improvises more with guitar, but on the other hand I restricted myself from doing that because I am not as skilled as her, as well as I am frightened that it wont be as successful. India vocally wasn't as strong to her full potential most likely because she was a little nervous. Her performance was more upbeat then mine because she was confident and the type of vibes she created with her music impressed the audience. I relied Alot on my backing vocals where as India was just used her voice and the guitar. I believe that I have the potential to be on the same level as India Arie, but right now I still have a lot to learn practically and theoretically.
Research
The key areas of my research are finding out the backstory, production and songwriting techniques of musicians in the neo soul genre. for my research methods I used primary and secondary research. Primary Research
For my Primary research I decided to do a interview with people who witnessed my performance, and had also listened to my original songs before hand. I also wrote question on how I should improve in the future and their opinion of my overall performances and songs. Secondary Research
My secondary research was based on artist that I was influenced throughout the whole project such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and India Arie. I wrote about their background, my opinion about their songwriting techniques, and how their music and first albums influenced me.
I have been able to include certain factors of my research into my music such as influential Poems, Songwriting techniques and instrumentation. The poem that influenced my original song African Queen was phenomenal woman by Maya Angelo. Overall the poem talks about how Maya Angelo embraces her female beauty, not only through her physical appearance, but through her knowledge and intelligence. I included those factors but instead of talking about women as a gender, I wrote about African females. I wanted to embrace African beauty and show how strong and powerful they are. Black woman have been degraded for centuries and still to this day, so I wanted to bring knowledge through my music, so others can learn to love themselves for who they are. Songs such as on & on By Erykah Badu, Doo Wop By Lauryn Hill and video By India Arie are my main influences for my the creation of my lyrics. My work has not been completed sufficiently because I wasn't able to organise as great as I should . I wanted to create an EP as well as create a band so I could perform it live, but there wasn't enough time to do both at the same time. I also wanted to experiment much more with my music but I wasn't able to do that because, I was frightened that I might over complicate things and fail to reach my goal. I believe that my research is good and I don't need to include anymore. The only thing is that I believe that I should have been more thorough with my research. I have learnt that I should include more instruments and be more confident in my practical as well as experimentation. I have also learn that I should organise my time better In the future.
Technical practical skills
Songs such as Video By India Arie and come to the light By Jill Scott, influenced guitar techniques I used such as plucking,Hammer on and strumming. Songs like Doo wop by Lauryn hill, Apple tree By Erykah badu and video By India Arie are my main influenced the creation of my lyrics. All these songs are similar in the sense that they all talk about something that is inspirational, or you are able learn from them. In the song Doo Wop By Lauryn Hill It talks about how women pretend to be something they are not, just to be accepted by men as well as in society. In my song free I talk about how I want somebody to love me no matter what anybody thinks. I also talk about how I want to be 'free like the air and see' because they are not judged by nothing and no one. In video By India Arie It talks about how women should embrace their inner beauty, and should love themselves no matter society thinks of them. In My song African Queen I tried to include similar factors but my song was about African women and how special they are not just physically but mentally. In my music the main word I wanted the audience to connect with was love, because I wanted to show how love can be powerful in different ways.
In the beginning of the course I wasn't able to perform in front of anyone and I used to hide behind the singers, because I didn't want nobody to see me. I believe my instrumental techniques and vocals have improved since the beginning of the course. I am also capable of playing and singing at the same time. I believe that my performance has greatly improved over the last year, but I believe there is still much progress to be made with my confidence and performance skills.
Project management/ working methods I struggled with organisation, experimentation and Creating a structure with my band. My
organisation skills wasn't the best, as it was my first time structuring a band. I wasn't able to do much experimentation because I was frightened that if I spent too much time trying to change my music, it might not be as successful as I would want it to be. I believe that I completed what I wanted to include within my research, but I also believe I could researched deeper into the artist I chose. I believe that it was a constant rush to complete a large amount of work in a short amount of time, That is the reason why I decided not to create an EP while forming a band because I believed that the ending result wouldn't be as amazing as it should be. On a daily basis my band and I would perform and practice to make sure everything is up to scratch. we would also work out the issue as long as we could until we figured it out. Collaboration
Amina Saasaa was the bass player of the group, Morgan Lundy was the drummer, Kessana Bryan and Sade Joseph were the backing vocals of the group. I did have more collaborators before but I had to drop i few people out, because they were not reliable or I had too many people. It was great a experience to collaborate with these people. It was also interesting how I could combine people with different views in music, and fuse their techniques with mine. With any group you will have disagreements, but we would always have a solutions for our issues.we would spend at least 10-15 minutes in the beginning of our practice time to ask people in our group what we need to change, and whether they feel comfortable with what they are doing
The reason why I was influenced by this poem is because Angelo tried to explain that their is more to beauty than physical appearance. I believe that this poem gives hope to large amount of woman who have insecurities about themselves, hence the reason why I created a song about African beauty called african Queen. I wanted a bring message across, that no matter what society thinks of you are still beautiful deeper than you can imagine. As a race coulored people have been exploited, trodden upon and abused, so I wanted to signify that African beauty is pure and it's a type of beauty that can't be defined with words. I also believe the hardship coulored females have been through over the centuries proves how strong and undefeatable we are. Through social media, religion and academics couloured people especially people of African heritage, have been precieved as something negtive. So within my song Africaan queen i wanted to promote black people as a sign of positvity, to bring hope and courage to my race.
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me. PRIMARY RESEARCH Questions
What are the positive and negative things about my songs?
What should I include into my songs to make it more developed?
What were the pros and cons of my performance?
How could I have improved my performance?
Videos
In This interview Erykah Badu is talking about the music industry, working with J Dilla, Creating her Debut album Baduizm and how Her music has developed over the years. Erykah also gives her opinion about the music industry. This interview benefited me because I was able to understand the meaing of her music in a more clearer understanding.
In this interview Hill is talking about the creation of her Debut album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It also talks about the issues that she had to deal with within the music industry. Hill talks about her life situation that allowed her to create the album.
This video is explains the deeper meaning behind the album Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It talks about the true messages that was meant to be sent to society and the youth at the time. Listening Diary
India Arie is an African american Neo soul, soul artist, music produce who gained worldwide popularity in the 2000s. I was influenced by this song because of her guitar techniques, singing technique and lyrics.
"I'm not the average girl from your video And I ain't built like a supermodel But I learned to love myself unconditionally" (Simpson, 2001). In thelyrics she embraces people to love themselves no matter what anybody thinks of you because nobody is perfect. she tries to persuade people to believe that the imperfection of your body define your true beauty, because it makes you unique, hence why her songwriting techniques influence me to create African queen.
Arie singing technique are simplistic as she doesn't include a lot of effort in her singing , which I find relaxing and unique. I wanted to include that in my songs.
I wanted my drums for my songs to be similar to this dum machine. The song has contrasted elements from different genres to create one unique sound, and thats is what I wanted to do with my original songs.
I was influenced by this song because of the plucking technique used within the song, as well as the whole vibe of the song. I also wanted my songs to be acoustic so it sounds raw and unique.
I was influenced by this song because she used conscious lyrics to explain the message she was trying to give across. This was one of the song that inspired me to create my original song African queen.
The reason I was inspired by this song is because of the lyrical content, I enjoy the way it is catchy and also tells a story the same time.
