Aural Training 1 - "Lacrimosa" Class Performance

 Date for Entry: (Wednesday 29th November 2017)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 19th January 2022)

Dear Diary,

    Today we had our final hearing examination which will go towards the end of Semester exams. The plan was to play “Lacrimosa” for Mrs. Neaves as a group for her since her mom died the week before. We knew it was one of her favourite songs so we got music in parts for those who were interested and we had our practice on Tuesday 28^th after our Music Theory class with Mrs. Ramlal in Studio one.

    For this composition by Mozart, I played the Tenor pan to one of the soprano parts they got me and Nella was there on the next one. We had fun skating in some of the middle parts but we got it out well towards the end. We had a keyboard, Steelpan, Timpani, Saxophone, Trombone, and Voice going together. I find playing outside in the grass was a nice idea but doing it in the open space was probably what made the sound more difficult to hear.

    I also had a recording of the song on my WhatsApp account that someone posted in the “Degree 2016” group. The day I was added to it was the day that Mrs. Neaves's mom had passed away. It was also a sad time for me because the class was still going on and then when she broke out, I broke out silently as tears ran down my face. It took me a little while to calm down because tears were just pouring down my face and then a nice girl gave me a tissue. I had to hold it in because my Indian Classical group was going to start. It was only during class that Brandon asked me if I was feeling okay and I told him when Eshay was there what had happened.

Link(s): 

1. Funeral Program & Obituary for Urmilta Cox.
2. "Lacrimosa" Score - (Tenor) from Performance.
3. Two "Lacrimosa" Group Performance Photographs.

VIDEO MAKING.

** Wednesday 3rd August 2022 **

    On this day, I was able to get a copy of the "Lacrimosa" performance and edit it for YouTube to send to the journal. It became a DAPHA Project at that point. I tried my best to work with what was done in the recording in a professional manner such as shakings and taking out extra periods of waiting. 

    This was not an easy task but I was proud of it and the group effort. Creating a cover picture for the video was another challenge but it was soon resolved when thinking of Mr. Archie. Thank you, Mr. Archie.

Link(s): 

1. Group Performance of "Lacrimosa" - Recording.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Western Music History 1 - (TEXTBOOK)

 Date for Entry: (Wednesday 18th October 2017)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Tuesday 18th January 2022)

Dear Diary,

    Tonight, I have finished a milestone of my goal for this semester which is to make and compile information for a Western History Textbook. All together Mrs. Ramlal gave us two PowerPoint Presentation Documents on the MyElearning site from UWI and it had the things we had to learn for our course. It focused more on the Medieval Period (the Middle Ages). It felt so good.

    At the beginning of making these notes into a Microsoft Document from the information of the Internet, I decided to make a special sheet like a lottery slip or like one of those multiple-choice sheets that you might get in an exam and make it easier for me to see which slides I had completed already and then have that accompanied by another sheet which lists the topics of the various slides. This was really helpful seeing that the topics were mixed up all over the place in the PowerPoint Presentation file.

    The only thing that I regret not doing is getting the idea to do this from the start of the semester. Seeing that I got this idea late the work will be a lot and also when it comes to putting in references and credits to people for their work in the book this takes a good deal of time to sit down and do but I know I will get it over with very soon. Plus, I have to get the slides for the Renaissance Era and the Classical Eras to do also and the time is just so little each week to do them.

(UPDATE)

    It was somewhere in the Christmas vacation that this textbook for the course was completed. An estimated time of completion would be around the third day after boxing day.

 

Link(s): 

1. Checklist for PowerPoint Slides.** [By Request Only.]
2. Western History Textbook - DAPHA Projects 2017.**

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Indian Classical Ensemble - Degree (Yr1, Sem1)

 Date for Entry: (Monday 18th September 2017)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Thursday 24th March 2022)

[WRITTEN AS REPORT]

Dear Diary,

The entry below will discuss the various pieces of music done for this ensemble.

Link(s):

1. Indian Music Notation Vocabulary.

RAAG SOHINI.

Raag Sohini: (D, Eb, F#, G#, B, C#, D) – Fifth degree omitted.

    The ensemble was given this piece called “Raag Sohini” on the first night. On Monday 23rd September 2017 in the Indian Classical Ensemble while running through “Raag Sohini” we got more pieces to the songs. These new parts were called Taans. It was really tough because they had more complicated rhythms and then to figure out the music to it was not nice at all. 

    I knew I had to try and listen to what Mr. Maharaj was singing to figure it out but when I had my mind forgetting everything like they are in a river floating away, it doesn’t come back, it just goes away and down the waterfall until it disappears completed. Sir had a long time trying to have me get the music but memory wasn't my best apparently, lolz. 

    It was that same week that I took out the papers I had and went to score the music. I had a feeling that there would have been 'no such thing as scores' in the ensemble so I decided to do it myself. You will see that over some time that there would be several pencil markings since all of the music was under editing and changed in class. In addition, the same could have been done when a new section(s) were added for us to learn. 

    The score version below was used for the mid-term. Each of the four alaaps was chosen for us to play individually and then sir wrote the mark secretly on his mark sheet. I recall being asked to play alaaps two. I don't remember which of the ten scales I was asked to play. There were two of them and I think each play that you made was final. 

    For the taans section, we were allowed to play any of the four. The funny thing was that everyone selected the easier ones because they found it difficult. So they most likely would have selected tan one or two. When it was my turn, I took the most difficult one which was Taan four and went with it. Everyone shouted like pepper burned them. By the time I was done, I could only hear surprised laughter and shouting. Sir did not say anything except for "good" and that was the assessment for us.

    Being able to notate the entire piece, I was given confidence and knowledge of what I was supposed to do. Yes, it will sound difficult. The secret I realized was that the tempo was just fast. That was the only trick to the ear. While the tempo was quick, the only types of notes involved were a semibreve being the longest note to a quaver being the shortest. And yes, the quavers will sound like semiquavers.

    Some weeks had gone by and I was very anxious because there would have been several versions of the score created. I did not know o the process that Sir would use to give us the music. It was really a lot of music to notate but I had it one during the weeks and then emailed it to some of the other groups' members. 

    From five versions of the piece, an ending was given and no more music was given to add or deduct again. The ending was a short repeat of the main idea and a rallentando. Version 7 was lost with other documents. I plan on doing over the notation. I see several other errors from those first times transcribing the piece.

Link(s):

1. “Raag Sohini” - Versions 5 & 8.** [Available by Request Only.]
2. “Raag Sohini” - Version 9.

EK AJNABI.

* Monday 23rd October 2017 *

Today in Daaga Auditorium it was very cold. It was a good thing that the lecturer cut class and allowed us to go home early. All of us had to wait outside first because a class was going on before. To me, it looked like an English class because someone was looking like a student who was reading a speech or report. When class was over Chekiea and Kayla waited with me to get a drop back at DCFA and then it was there that the three of us were talking about Assessment on Wednesday and they spoke about Mr. Mannette sending us reminder messages. I met Karen at the back after class and we walked outside down the stairs. She looked like she was looking forward to going to lunch with me again as we did last week but I had to go home.

    In Western Music today, we finally finished the Renaissance Era and began a part of the Baroque. There was a lot of writing and a lot I could understand what Miss Ramlal was talking about. Miss Neaves class went alright. Today I sat in between Andrew on my left and Samantha on my right. She had the cough and old just as I did and we both had the same deep voice tone with our noses clogged. I kept a pan stand and a bookstand so that when my class for Aural Training is over, I would not find a problem trying to get a good one while students in UWI Steel take all of them.

    During the Indian Classical class, we went through “Raag Sohini” that we had. Since I wrote out the music on my Musescore software, there were three printings done for it. Tonight, I see that there will be a fourth printing to be made and tape the pages together. As I got home that night, I went through the music from the recording I made last week on my phone and tried to remember what exactly we did, I made a few sight adjustments on the first page and then the correction on the third page caused the music to go onto another one. This now told me that I had to find a folder and clear pocket pages to hold my sheet music quickly.

    The other interesting part about Indian Classical tonight was that Mr. Maharaj gave us a group assignment that would be for marks. We had to practice an Indian song and decide how it should go and have it ready in time for the Concert at the end of November. This sounded like fun but it was tough trying to figure out the rhythms in the video from the singing men and women. One thing I did not like about the video was that it had a Bollywood actor I did not like so much in it so I look either on the floor most of the time or the roof and took in the sound of the music. Even taking in the sound of the music.

In addition to tonight, “Ek Ajnabi” which was the second song we got to learn tonight needed a slight correction. I could remember about two or four times when Eshay the girl on the other Tenor pan and Brandon the next boy on the Double Tenor ended up making mistakes because there were new changes to the song that we did not know about. I still got to make the changes and I made them on the Musescore software after correcting “Raag Sohini.”

Link(s):

1. "Ek Ajnabi" - Sargam Sheet.
2. "Ek Ajnabi" - V4, 5, 6, 7, 8.** [Available by Request Only.]
3. "Ek Ajnabi" - Version 9.

MEHENDI LAGA KE RAKHANA.

* Date Unknown/Forgotten *

This piece was introduced very late in the semester. About only three to four classes were spent on it. The score used for the recital was version three. It was a rushed down score and all the rhythmic patterns were not notated properly. 

A lot of rhythmic patterns were difficult to understand. It was corrected in the fourth version and the sargan was added. 

Link(s):

1. "Mehendi Laga" - Versions 3.** [Available by Request Only.]
2. "Mehendi Laga" - Version 4.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Hillview College (SONG)

Date for Entry: (Thursday 16th September 2010)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Monday 19th December 2022)

Dear Diary,

    The following sections are my trials and attempts at completing music notation for Hillview’s College Song.

 

LEARNING THE MELODY & WORDS.

** Thursday 16th September 2010 **

Today during the last three periods, every Form 1 student was sent over to the School Auditorium to sit and practice the School Song. My English Teacher, Miss Charis Sieunarine – Thompson, who sang on the first day of school was there. I was amazed at the way this lady could sing. I listened closely for that “Here every creed” part of the National Anthem and she nailed it.

    The four boys from the first day on the steelpans were there too. The music was fairly okay but if the rest of the pans were played the quality would have been better. But Miss Sieunarine made up the rest with her voice. 

    I'm glad that at the end of the evening, I was able to keep the melody in my mind. Around ten o'clock in the night, I was able to play the melody easily on the keyboard at Tunapuna’s home. I did not write it out on manuscript paper but I kept it in memory. 

    During lunchtime in school, I would take my pan sticks and try to figure out the same melody on a Tenor pan. Somewhere around that time, I was acquainted with Ifeaye not formally but we would have spoken before I was about to enter the Steel Ensemble by his invitation.

 

FIRST NOTATION OF MELODY.

** Unknown/Forgotten: Form 2 (2011) **

Today after Hillview and pan practice, I tried searching for music notation software that could help me to write music professionally. I was feeling a bit disadvantaged because I saw musicians being able to do this and not me. I had tried Finale, but they would only give me a thirty-day trial and then either I pay for it or have none.

    Finally, I found something at www.Sheetmusiceditor.com. I found a place where could write music. It was very difficult and too troublesome to use. But I had a lot of patience and do-overs to overcome. I so wanted to have a copy of the college song but there was a strong feeling that the school did not have it. There must have been someone who at least attempted transcribing the thing.  

    With one wrong little click, I lost all the hard work I did. There was no way to save it because that was only on a website. It was very hard to do over that short melody. I rewrote it and saw how simple a song can be.

    All my life I saw people with scores, and it made me constantly wonder how they managed to have the pieces written over the computer. What program did they use? Even if they had arranged music, it is something I wish I could do too, but I do not have the feeling that many books can teach you steelpan arranging.

    A copy of the music was made to save. I knew the website would not save my transcription. This was shared with Miss Saunders at some point, and she verified it making sure it was correct. I recall the stained patterns that came on the paper.

Link(s):

• Hillview College Song (Melody) –First Attempt.

 

FIRST STEELPAN ARRANGEMENT.

** Form 2 (2011) – From 5 (2015) **

It took me from the end of Form Two until the end of the first term in Form Five to complete music notation for the college song. I had to beg the boys one at a time to write out their parts on the separate steelpan instruments. I knew that most of the boys did not know how to write music notation properly, so I asked them to write out the pitch letters instead.

    Once the letters were written, I asked them to show me the rhythm that was given to them to play. The difference between this section entry and reality is that it took me a great amount of time in between asking each member playing a different steelpan instrument to write out their parts.

    All the sheets were compiled in a folder until Form 5 where Ifeaye gave me the pitches and rhythm for ‘his’ three cellos. I did appreciate that he told me about the rhythms for all the parts grouped within the bars of a common time meter. I had my transcription from Form 1 as the tenor pan part. I did meet one of the Double Tenor players and he said that it played the same as the tenor pan.

    At some point, I opened up Musescore (which I discovered in Form 3) and began to transcribe all the different parts that were given to me. Playing it back on the program was special. It felt like for once I had something close to what the document should have been. Most likely, it may have been the only one that exists.

    The full notation was not printed in a rush. I had it saved at home. Only a small portion of this college song was used during my difficult trials of CXC Music. I am still not sure I there were others before my time that had continued to do CXC Music through Hillview.  

 

STEELPAN ARRANGEMENT (V1) – FOR YOUTUBE.

** From 5 (2015) **

First YouTube Video Attempt

At this point in my life, I was having my first experience with an electronic tablet. There was a time during the summer vacation I recorded the transcription that I did to playback. I was about to set up my YouTube channel after discovering how to obtain it by listening to a passerby in Tobago.

    At that time also I had to wait some three days for such a channel to be prepared and created. This was my first channel before I lost the account. Having that wild idea, I made the first post about the college song. The tablet was not able to record the entire video clearly so it would have been a bit too dark and blurry in some parts. I hoped that it would have served well on that platform.

 

STEELPAN ARRANGEMENT (V3).

** Friday 28th April 2017 **

I was in the final semester of my Music Certificate at UWI. I had a trip up to Hillview in the morning to play the anthem and college song with the steel ensemble. We all planned to play at the prayer service for the final time as an ensemble. It was only we who created that ensemble from Form 1 and the others who did Form 6 remained. I had brought copies of the full score for the college song to share with a view of them.

    One copy was for Miss Saunders along with copies of parts for all the steelpan instruments. I had the Fundamentals of Pan Arranging course in session at the time and I took the opportunity to revise what I had done in 2015. This time around chord symbols were inserted into the full score when I added a line to make a lead sheet. Other people again from the past might tell me that it isn’t needed but I personally believe it is necessary.

Link(s):

• Journal Entry: “Hillview Surprise Visit & Performance.”

 

STEELPAN ARRANGEMENT (V4) – FOR YOUTUBE.

** Friday 11th February 2022 **

On Monday of this week, I was contacted by Miss and she said that my YouTube video for Hillview’s College song was used to teach the students. This period was the COVID-19 lockdown and schools were opening back after two years. I had completely forgotten about the first video I made.

    I decided to take the third version of the transcription I had and have a final review. I found out how to video record a score being played from Musescore and began working on a proper video that would be friendly towards a student now starting to learn the song.

    In this same process, the third version becoming version four was now a “short version”. This one was used as parts and sent to Miss by email to give to the school. I’m not sure if all the several parts made it. There was another one created as a “long sore” that was used for making the actual video presently created. 

    On Monday 12th December 2022, the first video of the college song was deleted. The updated video is provided in the link below.

Link(s):

• Hillview College Song – YouTube Link.

DELIVERY OF SONG BOOKLETS.

** April 2023 **

The entry's date was forgotten. My arrival at the compound was during the Easter vacation. Not many people were there in the school. I was able to speak with Miss Ramdeen. She was acting as Vice Principal at the time. It took her some time to remember me. We had a wonderful conversation in the Vice Principal's office. 

    I got to share the books with her and explained the issue of housing for each one within the school's compound. At that moment of handing over the books, it completed a wish of mine from Form 1. The music notation was made and is now freely accessible to the students that will be learning to play it on the steelpan instruments in the future. 

    Special thanks to Almighty God for his guidance and training over the years. And, thanks to the Gentlemen of our year group in the Hillview College Steel Ensemble, for the assistance in aiding this project: 

• Joshua Ojar (Tenor), Alex Jalsa (Tenor), Zachary Mongroo (Tenor, 2013), Christian Jaggernauth (Double Tenor), Isaiah John (Double Seconds), Jordon Sooknanan (Double Guitar), Ifeaye Murray (3 Cello), Stephen Mohammed (Tenor Bass), Stephen Messiah & Davonic Bailey (Six Bass).

    The first steelpan arrangement score took from Form 1 (2010) to Form 5 (2015; Term 2). It has been amended approximately three times to its current state seen in the YouTube video presented above. I wish the future students enjoyment using these scores and that they will continue to chant their cheer and to "Let the name Hillview ring across the campus clear."

Daryl Zion M. Ali