Category: Expressive Arts

Music Team’s ‘Album of the Week’

ALBUM OF THE WEEK 

This week our “Album of the Week” is ‘Elephant’ by The White Stripes

Elephant is the fourth studio album by the American Rock Duo ‘The White Stripes’ (Jack and Meg) and was released in 2003. The White Stripes set their own rules while they were recording this album: ten days in a non-modern studio. The liner notes include the disclaimer “No computers were used during the writing, recording, mixing, or mastering of this record”.

TRACK 1 – SEVEN NATION ARMY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDuzszjrdcc

‘Seven Nation Army’ features distorted vocals, a simple drum beat, and is driven by a bass-like riff which was created by playing a guitar through a ‘pitch shift’ effect (an octave effect to sound like a bass).

Does this 7 note guitar riff sound familiar? Listen to Anton Bruckner’s ‘Fifth Symphony’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx3h3VKq5bA : hint: 0.58s).

TRACK 2 – BLACK MATH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMbL2K3xVEM

TRACK 3 – THERE’S NO HOME FOR YOU HERE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ahICj_vEZ4

TRACK 4 – I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ALa916ynVs

TRACK 5 – IN THE COLD, COLD NIGHT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7kuDjOv3Og

TRACK 6 – I WANT TO BE THE BOY TO WARM YOUR MOTHER’S HEART https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq35xNUmp-0

TRACK 7 – YOU’VE GOT HER IN YOUR POCKET https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LppNqA7Z_J0

TRACK 8 – BALL AND BISCUIT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6j97ZvyuSc

TRACK 9 – THE HARDEST BUTTON TO BUTTON https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DGX6HBR-XA

TRACK 10 – LITTLE ACORNS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSvGOKH5zxk

TRACK 11 – HYPNOTIZE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3V-QqdRXpk

TRACK 12 – THE AIR NEAR MY FINGERS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMbL6AlqeuQ

TRACK 13 – GIRL, YOU HAVE NO FAITH IN MEDICINE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mWM0S1dMro

TRACK 14 – WELL IT’S TRUE THAT WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXm1g4TJ46M

Enjoy!

For the budding guitarists among us, here is the ‘Seven Nation Army’ riff for you to learn: Happy jamming!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHlTQ0biOig&list=RDZHlTQ0biOig&start_radio=1

 

 

Download this information as a PDF by clicking here.

Music Team’s ‘Album of the Week’

You can download the pdf here: ALBUM OF THE WEEK ‘Abbey Road’

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

Each Monday the Music Department will be posting an “Album of the Week” This week our “Album of the Week” is ‘Abbey Road’ by The Beatles

Abbey Road was recorded by The Beatles in 1969 and was their final album. The album cover features Paul, George, Ringo and John striding along a zebra crossing situated on Abbey Road, outside EMI studios in London, where the band had spent most of its recording career.

There is a story behind each of the songs on this album, for example, ‘Octopus’s Garden’, Ringo borrowed a yacht from Peter Sellers for a family trip to Sardinia. On board, the ship’s captain regaled Ringo with stories about local marine life, including an octopus, and how they gather stones and shiny objects from the seabed to build gardens. Ringo began working on the song.

The instruments used in ‘Octopus’s Garden’ are two electric guitars (George and John), bass guitar (Paul) and drum kit (Ringo). For the technophiles among us, George played his guitar through a Leslie speaker cabinet to create a distinctive gurgling effect; the sound of bubbles were produced by blowing through a straw into a glass of milk; and during the solo, the band used a compressor, triggered by a pulsing signal from a Moog’s low-frequency oscillator, making it sound as if they were underwater. For the technophobes among us, please research any of these terms that you haven’t come across before.

 

Click on these links now to find out more:

Full Album : Tracks 1 – 17:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oolpPmuK2I8

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0ETFjACtuP2ADo6LFhL6HN?si=vzlxLrBqTrK8o8mVtQtCwg

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/abbey-road-remastered/1441164426

 

‘Octopus’s Garden’ performed by The Muppets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lkPuBFglQ0

Enjoy

Thank you from The Darien

June 13th, 14th and 15th saw four amazing performances at the Byre Theatre, St Andrews.  This was the culmination of months of hard work from a dedicated cast.  Not only was this the premier of a brand new musical, but it was a first for Bell Baxter, performing at the Byre Theatre.  The cast and crew loved working in a professional theatre with incredibly helpful theatre staff.  This made the run very special for everyone involved, as everyone approached the project as a professional production, not a school show.

So, the expectations were high and (judging by the flood of praise we received) the audiences were not disappointed.  All of the actors owned that stage with enormous energy and confidence.  The crew enjoyed using the professional standard equipment and facilities to lift the production to a new level with the sound and lighting and backstage.

The show was the incredible reward of three years of work for Mr McNicol and Mr Robb.   A huge thank you and congratulations to all involved and to everyone who came along and supported us.  Keep your eyes peeled and you ear to the ground for news of the next show.  Mr McNicol and Mr Robb are already in discussion about the possibilities.  No definite decisions yet, but rumour has it that “Bring It On” is a strong contender.  Have a great summer.

Mr Robb & Mr McNicol

“Darien” starts tonight!

We would like to send our ‘best wishes’ to the cast, crew and staff for the opening night of “Darien”.

‘Darien: The Commonplace Book of Murdo MacFarlane’ is opening tonight (Thursday) at the beautiful Byre Theatre, St Andrews.  The show will run until Saturday night, so grab tickets while you still can. The cast and crew have spent hours in the theatre this week preparing for our run of performances and the production is looking/sounding amazing.

Get you ticket!

Please come along and support the pupils for what will be a great night out for all the family.  We’ve even got an exclusive preview of the opening number, ‘Welcome to the Darien’.  Definitely not a show to miss!