My first term at ACM introduced me to a handful of new concepts and challenges and open my eyes to a wide range of techniques whilst also re-caping over things I already knew.
I attended workshops consistently however as the term progressed and I interacted more with other students I slowly stopped attending them, I aim to attend more this term despite my on-going band work with students.
I was too apprehensive with tutorials leading me to only book one and failing to evidence it. This term I aim to use up all of my tutorial credits to learn many new things to increased my skills in other instruments and contracts in particular.
Technical Development: As far as performance and technique goes I am much more excited for this term of Tech. Dev. as it covers more genres which interest much such as Jazz and swung hip-hop where as rock last term seemed a bit lack-lustre and easy. As term 1 progress the genres got more complex and we studied harder grooves which kept me interested - especially using them in context. I look forward to these lectures with Joe on a Monday
Music Culture: Music Culture pleasantly surprised me at the start of ACM as I had thought it would be a basic history lesson however the lecturer's (Adam's) enthusiasm made me genuinely interested in the subjects at hand in term 1 such as how the history of music technology had affected the industry and how excess income could boost record sales in the late 1900's. I look forward to term 2 exploring even more topics and looking at both sides of history.
Critical Listening for Musicians: I understand that most musicians that come to ACM do not know music theory and that they must be taught it. However, as a student who came with quite a strong knowledge of theory due to my orchestral background, I found this lecture incredibly underwhelming as it did not challenge me. I was told that at ACM students come in at different levels and they are all expected to start at one point and finish off at a higher point and although I maintain my theory practise outside of lectures to keep pushing myself, I'd love to see myself getting challenged in this lecture even a little bit. As far as the Critical Listening part of this lecture went; I did a majority of the listening and research at home as a good chunk of the lecture would always be taken up by the technology not working leading to the inability to compare the songs in the lecture.
The overview for term 2 also seems underwhelming. However the second lecture with Charlie Morland was enjoyable as he actually taught the other students in my class the basics of theory, which had been poorly covered in the first term. Despite this contradicting statement to me saying I knew the theory, Charlie did apologise at the end of the lecture as he knew that I knew the content for what he taught, which was appreciated. I am also teaching those who really need it, theory outside of lessons as it is unfair that they are not being taught it in one of the two half theory lectures. I sincerely hope this lecture improves as my only motivation for being there is my 100% attendance.
Band Skills: Arguably one of the most useful lectures in the way that it trains you for the industry and it is one of the most useful for passing the course. These lectures are genuinely solid and enjoyable however I do not enjoy the classes being split and the trend being that the splits for bands. Term 1 of Band Skills taught me a lot about how different people work and how to adapt to their agenda. The songs could have varied more nut other than these minor issues it was a great part of the first term and I look forward to term 2.
Events Management: Although half the lessons taught in this class fall on deaf ears, I payed attention throughout and thought that, behind the class talking, there were some useful things to be learned such as budgeting for tours and risk assessments which played a key role in Project 1. Despite a few times when the class is disrupted this is a beneficial lecture that I see becoming more useful as term 2 progresses.
Stylistic Awareness: Certainly one of my favourite lectures of the term. Stylistic combines some of my favourite aspects from Band Skills and Music Culture and splits them into an hour each with the first hour being all about the history of a certain genre and how it came to be . This involves taking notes which have already been usefully planned out by the lecturer into easy to digest and review chunks. The second hour involves us playing to a set song from each genre which leads to some interesting and enjoyable renditions. The genres set in term 1 were incredibly fun to learn about and play and the genres for term 2 look even better.
Professional Industry Practise: Another one of my favourite lectures, PIP's first term was incredibly useful for me. Certain lectures looked to be a bit annoying when I was looking into term 1 as I already was pretty confident with the subject matter but I learnt even more than I thought which was a pleasant surprise as it wasn't in the book. The lecturer is clearly very experience in the industry and I look forward to learning more from him and this lecture as whole in term 2. Despite being forewarned that some lectures may be boring they are in subjects I know the least in so they will be beneficial.
Composition: Composition is an interesting blend of theory and making music under different guidelines encouraging us to create songs in different then we normally would which require groups to think and jam together in the pods. The lecture is handled well and despite the theory rarely being overlooked by some it is enjoyable for all levels of knowledge. Term 2 looks great with interesting topics. I especially look forward to Minimalism.
Summary
Looking over Term one has made me consider a lot about the industry and what I want to do in it as I have approached many opportunities and I hope to do so in Term 2. Despite a few issues my first term at ACM was the best mix between fun, creativity and education I've had and I can only look forward to term 2.
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