My composition for my songwriting module, recorded instruments myself, vocals and guitar solo by Alec Harmson. Hope you enjoy!

Late Night Antics - Original Composition

Recording of the premiere performance of Dreaming by Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra.

The idea for Dreamsong is based on the four stages of sleep as defined by Smith, Robinson and Segal in their online guide, ‘How Much Sleep Do You Need?’. They define these stages principally as Non-REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and REM sleep and then go on to specify the Non-REM as three separate stages which gives us:
   (N1) Transition into Sleep
   (N2) Light Sleep
   (N3) Deep Sleep
   REM Sleep (Dream Sleep)
Dreamsong follows the definitions of these four stages and they pertain to the body’s reaction to each stage. 

These reactions are:
N1 – This stage lasts about five minutes. Your eyes move slowly under the eyelids, muscle activity slows down, and you are easily awakened.
N2 – This is the first stage of true sleep, lasting from 10 to 25 minutes. Your eye movement stops, heart rate slows, and body temperature decreases.
N3 – You’re difficult to awaken, and if you are awakened, you do not adjust immediately and often feel groggy and disoriented for several minutes. In this deepest stage of sleep, your brain waves are extremely slow. Blood flow is directed away from your brain and towards your muscles, restoring physical energy.
REM Sleep – About 70 to 90 minutes after falling asleep, you enter REM sleep, where dreaming occurs. Your eyes move rapidly, your breathing shallows, and your heart rate and blood pressure increase. Also during this stage, your arm and leg muscles are paralyzed.
(Smith, M., et al., 2014)

Stage N1 features twinkling sounds and movement to indicate that the brain is still functioning in some capacity in this stage. The violins play a G Dorian cluster whilst the tuned percussion and celesta play random notes from the D Dorian scale which seem to twinkle. After the cellos play a yawning figure, the violas enter similarly to the violins playing C Dorian which creates an interesting modal cluster with chromatic inclinations. Stage N2 is brought in by a cymbal being bowed which sets the character for this section of being much colder and deeper due to the shift in body temperature. Two percussionists are instructed to play ad lib. bowing on various cymbals whilst different instruments play a low semitonal cluster. N3, Deep Sleep, is the only section conducted in a regular metre and becomes even darker and deeper in character as the orchestra seems to pulsate as a unit which grows until a dramatic climax before returning swiftly to its previous character. The REM Sleep section has a much different character to what has come previously. My concept behind the REM section was that dreams are made up of moments and ideas that we are familiar with. Therefore, to represent this, I chose to select woodwind and piano extracts from the Schott Orchester Probspiel books so a listener can pick out moments which they recognise and some of the players have the option of reimagining some of the extracts as their own interpretation. Once 13 extracts are being played simultaneously, the noise crescendos and suddenly stops and a solo violin is playing which introduces the Coda, a restatement of N1. The piece ends as most Monday mornings begin.

Dreamsong

Another live performance. Again sorry for the shit mix and vocal mistakes!! 

Dream A Little Dream

During the sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912, a string quartet was rumoured to have played the hymn 'Nearer, My God, to Thee'. Although this rumour has since been disproven by firsthand accounts, the popular tune was nonetheless included in James Cameron's 1997 film 'Titanic' as the ship sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean. The scene shows heartbreaking clips of some passengers accepting their fate whilst others try frantically to struggle into lifeboats or cling on to the vessel as she sinks. An infamous story from the event is that of Captain Edward John Smith, who bravely remained on the bridge during the evacuation. 

The cheery disposition of the piece is a reference to Hollywood and the media's sometimes careless exploitation of tragic events such as this. 

The piece uses the hexatonic scale heard in 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' (C, D, E, G, A, B in C major) and applies an alphanumeric code to the notes as they first appear in the tune/ The sequence becomes E(1), D(2), C(3), A(4), G(5), B(6). An alphanumeric code is then applied to the notes against the name E. Smith (ESMITH) dependent on the letters' place in the alphabet comparative to the rest of the letters, as shown below. 

E S M I T H 
1 5 4 3 6 2

This number code is then matched to the code created earlier detailing which notes appear in what order in the original hymn. The outcome of this is:

1 5 4 3 6 2
E G A C B D

This sequence of notes, derived from both the original hymn and the name 'E. Smith', is the sequence around which the entirety of the pitch material is based. 

Thanks to the Piatti Quartet for performing this revised/finished version of this piece in King Charles Court, 2015.

Captain E. Smith

My 2 song EP project for my final year at university. The idea is to recreate the songs using conventional instruments, and using no electronic sounds at all. 

Reiner Tarry - Lead Vocals
Charlotte Kenny - Backing Vocals
Sophie Nevin - Backing Vocals/Violin
Chris Heron - Violin
Bethany Nicholson - Cello
Rosie Morris - Double Bass/Piano
David Murphy - Guitar
Alex Blythe - Bass Guitar
Arron Croft - Drums/Percussion

Album Artwork by Emily Patrick

Chandelier - Sia

This song is finding some hope in your darkest times...


SUMMER (Original song)

A cover of "Familiar Taste of Poison" by Halestorm

Recorded, mixed, mastered by me.

Guitars/Bass performed by Alex Duffell
Vocals by Sophie Nevin (Lead) & Charlie Cassells (Backing)
Drums by Tristan Hill

Once again all drums are live. Strings are East West Symphony Orchestra.

Really pleased with how this track turned out, big up the U87 as the best vocal mic ever!

Familiar Taste Of Poison

1. Do You Feel

2. Stay

3. Victim Of Love

This is the final product from the last 2 months of my Masters degree. Broken Hills is the product of intense studio sessions and many long nights spent in the Mac lab (Hull music students will understand). I would like to give a big thanks to Arron Croft, Lewis Kennedy, Matthew Burton and Beth Nicholson for all their hard work and encouragement. Without you guys this would not have happened! 

Transform

SophsNevin