Canadian Music Week report snippet from SAC
This is an excellent recap of a truly valuable songwriting panel put on by SAC at CMW 2013. The session was ripe with sage advice, inspiring music and charming banter.
Canadian Music Week wrapped up last Saturday with a special SAC Words and Music DemoListening Session at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre. I have attended a few Date With A Demo sessions before, but this was by far and away the best yet, for a couple of reasons.
First, the 23 songs auditioned by the panel during the two-hour session were, as a group, of much higher quality than I had seen at any SAC session before; and second, because the panelists themselves, drawn from different sectors of the industry that are all relevant to aspiring songwriters, gave such precise prescriptions for making good songs great.
Moderated by SAC’s own Ania Ziemirska, the panel included Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter Melanie Doane; radio promotion and music director Andrea Morris; Juno Award-winning producer Gavin Brown; and internationally acclaimed producer-songwriter Brett Rosenberg. As Brown…
View original post 1,143 more words
Wanna Package?!
(SAC Songwriting Challenge Week 3)
Wanna package?! I’m in an Expedia.ca commercial!
Click to see a glimpse of me in a commercial for Expedia.ca!
Oh, you’re back here and not surfing YouTube? My attempt to distract you has failed.
It’s time for me to confess another deficiency. In Week 3 of the SAC Songwriting Challenge, Pat Pattison started talking about C major triad root position 5th of the G tonic function overtones root position substitute… and I was befuddled to distraction and confronted with another disadvantage of mine: I don’t play an instrument outside of myself. Yes, I’m my own instrument. I use my face (mostly the mouth part) and my butt. But it’s not what you think. My mouth is the wind instrument. My butt is the rhythm section. As I shake it and swing it, drop to my knees and thump to the ground, I am my own percussion. This music theory had me skidding up against my shortcoming. I hadn’t felt so challenged since I’d tried to make coffee that morning before having had coffee. Not only am I coming from a place of zero songwriting technique, but I also lack the theory and techniques behind music. Bah! Luckily for me, the lesson turned to rhyming with words. I know about words. My favourite words from the lesson are assonance and fricative. Say them out loud for utmost pleasure!
I continue to struggle with the tools of songwriting… the analysis… the arrangement… but the operative word in this sentence is CONTINUE. I embrace the discomfort of evolution and will improve by it!
As P!nk says, “You gotta get up and try, try, try!” Ooh! Let’s get distracted by P!nk’s video for Try. I could seriously watch this a million times over and never tire, especially if I had a bag of chips at my side. Always with the chips. Sheesh!
I am my own tool! (SAC Songwriting Challenge 2013-Week 2-Prosody)
Wee me!
In his Berklee College of Music songwriting course, Pat Pattison assures us that there are no rules, only tools. Phewf! Rule-free, everybuddy! Woop! Woop! And yet…
This week we learned to use the tools of lyric line lengths in the great strive for prosody (all things working together toward a common goal) to evoke sensations of stability and instability. Being a songwriter who usually just opens the channel and lets the song write itself while I eat chips on the couch, I found I was intrigued by the exercise of analytical songwriting and yet I stumbled over the process of using the tools.
I reminisced among myself and realized that I displayed the same work processes when I was a youngen’ (as pictured here with bangs on their own trajectory). I used to refrain from studying for a test so that I could test how smart I was “naturally”. I would whip my Math textbook across the kitchen floor in frustration when I couldn’t solve a riddle. My dad would enter the cyclone of calculus and ask, “Did you read the chapter that explains how to solve the problems?!” “No!” I’d shout, “I should be able to figure it out just with my brain!” To persuade my mother that she was putting me to bed too early I would plaintively explain, “Mom! I’m not even tired! I could win the human race with no running shoes on!” Clearly I didn’t need tools because I am my own tool. And what a tool am I!
With creativity I’ve always resisted analysis (Read: work)! I don’t wanna know what note I’m singing and what the 3rd harmony line is. I don’t wanna emphasize diphthongs. I don’t wanna explore each word in a scene and attach a motivational tactic to it. I don’t wanna consider the rule of threes. I don’t wanna create a lifelong backstory to a 10-minute scene. I wanna renegade communicate each individual moment from my heart! (Read: I don’t wanna practice and develop, I just wanna sit on the couch eating chips till it’s showtime!) Clearly I need to learn to sharpen the tool that is I and learn to use some tools outside of myself. Hopefully I don’t trip over them like I trip over myself. This course is a great start for me. 🙂
WonderFest Report Day 5: Wonder Women magic!
From moment 1 to moment infinity, carried in a sweet memory, the final hurrah of WonderFest (Wonder Women in Concert) was pure magic! There was raucous laughter, sweet sobbing, and moments of crowd connection not experienced every day. It will live in my heart forever.
We heard accounts of how the week of WonderFest had changed peoples lives for the better: people writing music again, people leasing a bar to start their own business, people quitting jobs they didn’t belong in. There was generosity in spirit and applause both onstage and off.
Magic hovers over the crowd! (Photo by Arlene Paculan!)
For fuller details and photos, please see the post at Wonder Women World. More photos can be seen here courtesy of Raymond Photography.
If you are interested in becoming involved in next year’s WonderFest, please contact us through WonderWomenWorld.tumblr.com or @LMGProductions or email us at ImWorthItInfo@yahoo.ca.
Spreading empowerment through art never felt so good!
WonderFest Report Day 4: Wowza!
Oh, man!!! There is so much of the spreading of empowerment through art happening during WonderFest that I feel I can’t do it justice in prose!
For fuller details on our experience, see our WonderWomenWorld blog!
In a nutshell, Day 4 brought us:
Workshop: Turning Wounds Into Wisdom lead by Nova Browning Rutherford.
The group learned to accept the discomfort of change, to focus on actions that lead toward our goals and values, and that life is in fact long and not short therefore we have plenty of time to figure things out and follow our path!
The Workshop group!
Super Men Concert! Wowza Wowza what a lineup of talent to digest! The evening was jampacked with music and words to move the soul, friendship to fill the heart, and laughter to jiggle the belly!
Arlene and I with the wonderful Super Men!
Which brings us to tonight! Tonight is the WonderFest finale: Wonder Women in Concert! Gladstone Hotel 7pm (doors) 8pm (show) with art displays, videos, vendors, a special comic book photo booth for all, and of course the lineup of Wonder Women! I’ll be performing my new song Love Mania! Wakawakawakawaka! We hope to see you there spreading empowerment through art!
The foundation of friendships is a force for mountain moving! (Arlene Paculan and I, WonderFest co-conspirators!)
SAC Songwriting Challenge 2013-Week 1-Boxes
Think outside the box! There’s a box?!
Yes, there are several boxes, according to Pat Pattison’s songwriting devices for developing ideas that build a dynamic musical ride. The concept begins with three boxes, the sizes of which increase as the story progresses so that the first fits into the second and the second fits into the third. That third box contains and contextualizes all information that came before. Get it?
So what to put inside each box to propel an enthralling journey? Well, there are a few tools you can develop with. For example: Box 1 holds the past circumstances or feelings, Box 2 holds the present circumstances or feelings, and Box 3 holds the future circumstances or feelings. Or perhaps Box 1 holds information about you, Box 2 holds information about your mailman, and Box 3 holds information about what kind of package you’d like to receive from your mailman. Get it?
Do I get it? Perhaps I don’t even get it and I’m in fact on a course to flunk the course? Nah. How can I flunk something that doesn’t involve math? Wait. Is music theory coming up? Um…
You know what? I highly recommend taking a Pat Pattison Berklee course for yourself if you’re a musician or non-musician, a songwriter or non-songwriter. If you’re a human– and if you’re reading this you probably are or have a human helper– I think you’ll get a lot out of listening to Pat speak. Pat dispenses his knowledge with an easygoing and engaging finesse that is spiced with the subtle hilarity that makes your heart smile as your mind pulses with information upload. It’s like watching an A&E show in the era before reality-TV pollution, when you could learn something new about subjects known and unknown.
Exercise Week 1: We are to fill 3 boxes with ideas that propel a story based on the song title we chose from a list of options. I chose the title Fool’s Gold because it immediately brought to my mind an image of a dulled gold wedding band and the idea that some people fall for a false sense of security and bliss through marriage. Perhaps often lovers are duped by the belief that through marriage they will never be lonely, they will change their partner’s erroneous ways, and they will live happily in the ever after. Of course, all of that can happen but it’s not because of a band of gold. It’s because of a heart of gold. In my boxes I’m exploring the ideas that surround striving for and being patient for the value in the pure gold instead of settling for fool’s gold. Get it?
That was my exploration in Week 1 of the Songwriting Challenge with Pat Pattison. Stay tuned for weeks 2 through 6!
WonderFest Report-Day 1!
WONDERFEST IS HERE!
What a wonderful kickoff!
WonderFest Day 1 was a huge ball of fun and success! It started out with Arlene and I interviewing and performing on Rogers Daytime Peel! Arlene and I both wore turquoise– and we didn’t even plan it! Sonia our host wore boots to match us– again not even planned! We were meant to be on Daytime on this day to spread empowerment through art as well as hues of blue! 🙂
Yukking it up with Sonia Sache on Daytime Peel!
Yes, that’s empowerment being spread by those gyrations!
Even my socks and the rim on Arlene’s boots matched the Daytime set! I mean, come on! What a wonder! 😀 You can watch our video segment here: Kat & Arlene on DayTime!
In the evening we headed to The Central for the first free workshop of the week: Business Planning for Artists with Heather Hill! We had an intimate group of lovely attendees! Heather Hill is an easygoing and compelling workshop leader with engaging personal anecdotes and effective tangible knowledge to share. The tools and advice shared by Heather is applicable to all business types, and the information was soaked up by the mix of musicians, filmmakers, massage therapists and producers alike!
With our fearless and funny leader Heather Hill!
Alissa Vox Raw (L), Ty Hyland, Lisa Sciannella, Christine Battiston, Angela Saini (centre)
I couldn’t be more proud to be part of such a great evening and start to a wonderful week of wonderment at WonderFest! We still have 3 more free workshops and 2 concerts to celebrate during WonderFest!
Tonight we meet at The Central again for a night of collaboration and open mic performances! Sign up is at 7pm. Hope to see you there!
Happy WonderFesting, everyone! May you always feel empowered to make all your dreams come true!
For full details on WonderFest’s events, visit: www.WonderWomenWorld.tumblr.com
love KAT
SAC Songwriting & Blogging Challenge 2013
I signed up for another SAC (Songwriters Association of Canada) blogging challenge! This time we are taking Pat Pattison’s 6-week online songwriting course through Berklee College of Music. Our first blog should answer these questions:
1) Where are you in your songwriting journey? Who me? I am Kat Leonard and I consider myself a bit of a hack songwriter because my songwriting process in the past has been to open up that great channel to the universe and let the song enter me from beyond while I eat a bag of chips. I’ve been songwriting for a little over 5 years. I sometimes write songs that will be entwined with monologue or standup material into a fuller show with a theme or storyline. My greatest hit to date is Jockstrap, where I proclaim my unwavering desire to be Johnny Depp’s Jockstrap. That song came easily. 2) What do you hope to gain from this challenge? In addition to growing alongside an inspiring and nurturing community of artists within SAC and Berklee, I hope to gain valuable songwriting theory and tools so that I develop a solid foundation of skills with which to create effective music. So here we go! Stay tuned for scintillating details of the progress! www.KatLeonard.com
What does empowerment mean to you? What word can describe it for you? Freedom? Choice? Doritos?
Help us spread empowerment through art one word at a time!!! Pick a word, and take a picture with it in as creative a manner as you like! Spread your word! Here’s how! xoox
Singing For Change!
I am thankful to have been part of this night of inspiring talent raising money for War Child. Most beautiful music made! Do yourself a favour and check out their music! Broken by Kristine St. Pierre broke me down and We Are The Same by Heather Hill had me sobbing multiple times during the evening. Incredible movement by music!
Do yourself a favour and check out Kristine’s Broken and more here. You won’t regret it!!!
Another amazing night of music and friends – all for a great cause – at the War Child benefit at the Drake Underground last night. So. Much. Fun. And so very moving as well.
MC Kat Leonard introduced an incredible line-up of music artists, all donating their time – as well as some of their CD and merch proceeds to War Child:
Heather Hill, who was joined by Four Winds Collective members Kat Leonard, Meghan Morrison & Arlene Paculan
Decided to do a photo essay post this time – so here goes…
KAT LEONARD (Kat & The MP3) 