THE JOURNEY
Work-in-Progress Seminar @ Tembusu College
7th March 2013

​The Work-in-Progress (WiP) Seminar was held in Tembusu College's Common Lounge. We were honoured to host 2 special guests — Mr Desmond Moey and Mr Lester Low, who are professionals in the local songwriting industry. The WiP Seminar aimed to showcase the work that the songwriters have done so far to their friends and to the guests. In doing so, the songwriters were able to receive constructive comments about their work, drawing from which they could learn and improve on their songs. Mr Moey and Mr Low were very helpful and encouraging with their feedback , and the time they spent is greatly appreciated — it was an honour to learn from veterans of the industry.

Click on the video to view snippets of the night, as well as reflections by a few of the songwriters.

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Do join us at our upcoming Work-In Progress Seminar!
​Venue: Level 1 Common Lounge, Tembusu College, NUS University Town, 26 College Ave East (Directions can be found at http://tembusu.nus.edu.sg/contact/directions.php)
Date: 7 March 2013 (Thursday)
Time: 7-9.30pm
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Seminar Information:
On 19 January 2013, 11 aspiring songwriters came together with one goal in mind: to produce an original music album that records the wonderful memories they shared in Tembusu College. Under the Tree is a songwriting project for students in Tembusu College, National University of Singapore. Participants will undergo a semester-long songwriting course, conducted by industry experts, and produce their very own music album! The music album, inspired by the student's life in Tembusu College, will serve as an audio memory for both the students and the college.
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We have so far completed half of the 8-weeks course and are ready to share our works-in-progress. In this seminar, the songwriters will share about our musical journey and inspirations for our composition. We will also perform our songs as-it-is at that moment, and gather comments from you all. We hope that the session will provide us with ideas and inspirations as we complete the last lap of songwriting; it is also an opportunity for us to engage everyone in the college as we produce our very first collection of audio memories.
The 4th Lesson
23rd February 2013
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For this lesson, we listened to some of the songs the songwriters had come up with, and everyone contributed by giving constructive comments. We also had a special guest — a lyricist who came in to share her lyrics writing experience with the class. It was an enriching sharing session, and the songwriters learnt simple yet effective and applicable techniques of song-writing. The video below showcases the lyricist using examples to share her tips, and you can take a peek at snippets of two of the songwriters' work so far!
The 3rd Lesson
2nd February 2013

Another week went by quickly, and it was time for the 3rd lesson of Under The Tree. The songwriters gathered enthusiastically to share their raw compositions and melodies with one another. This time, guitars were brought in by a few songwriters as supplements to the keyboards provided by the Project. Most of the songwriters seem to be more familiar and comfortable with their guitars— hence, this additional wonderful musical instrument definitely assisted them in improving on what they have come up with so far.

Here's a video which features some of the action during the lesson. Enjoy!
The 2nd Lesson
26th January 2013

During the second lesson, students were introduced to different genres of music and their varying chords, rhythms and progressions. Genres included dance, rock and pop — enabling students to broaden the scope of the types of song to consider for their own song-writing and production. Using the keyboards provided and under the guidance of Miss Lim, the participants learnt fast as they managed to ground their foundation of the basics of song writing.

Two lessons have ended, and we asked this curious question of the participants: "Do you now have any ideas, inspiration and/or direction for your song?" Adeline and Minh share their answers in the following video, as well as their thoughts on the second lesson.


The Beginning
19th January 2013

On the first lesson of the song writing workshop, The Abbey (Tembusu College's Music Room) was filled with excitement, inspiration and a tinge of nervousness (which of course, went away within 10 minutes into the lesson). With the help of professional songwriter Miss Lim, 12 students from different backgrounds and experiences came together on a common goal— to produce a full album of original songs which are inspired by life in Tembusu College.

This video features 3 workshop participants — Haniel, Caleb and Priscilla. They share about themselves, why they decided to join Under The Tree, and what they learnt from the first lesson.

As Haniel sums it up nicely, song writing is perhaps, how the "simplest words can become powerful music". I can't wait for the next lesson!
