Year 9 pupils have been making variations of Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. Looking at timbre and structure, pupils were given the notes to use and asked to experiment with different sounds and textures.
Below are three variations from one class and pupils have been asked to comment on the sounds that have been used in each, whether they are a good choice and if so (or not) why not. Finally they have been asked to comment on whether the piece works as a variation of Tubular Bells
Music at School 
December 7, 2015 at 7:38 pm
original. changed pitch.
December 7, 2015 at 7:39 pm
very different from the original.
good choice of sound
December 7, 2015 at 7:47 pm
very good variation of sound.
December 7, 2015 at 8:04 pm
sounded good as individual sections but there were major changes to the general pitch and notes between sections and because of this the piece did not have much rhythmic flow to it however some of the little riffs added in were nicely varied from the original. Henry Brown 9L1
December 7, 2015 at 8:20 pm
very good sounds used throughout the pieces, all of them have consistent rhythm and variation as well as a decent structure
December 7, 2015 at 8:22 pm
1.i don’t like this one because its the same but with a lower tone I particularly don’t like it as it slow and steady its the same as the original piece but lower so not much edited in the piece. 2.i like this one because the person has changed this fully but I don’t like it because they have no structure or good effects it is so different to the original but you can here it in there. I don’t like this one because the effects are bad and not in time with the music also its bad because its not mix in to the track it sounds like two separate pieces
December 7, 2015 at 10:23 pm
i do think that version one works because it has kept the same characteristics as the original version such at piano and a slightly faster paced chorus.
December 7, 2015 at 10:26 pm
I do not think that the second version does the original composition justice, because the tacky electronic beat makes the fact its based on tubular bells , almost unrecognizable .
December 7, 2015 at 10:34 pm
the third one is simply not good .this is because i could not tell that it was a remake of the original Mike Oldfield piece . and it has taken the timeless composition and unsuccesfully attempted to drag it kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
December 8, 2015 at 7:53 am
the first variation i personally did not like it as it did not flow. there was structure to it but it was just random. it didnt have any consistently. i would make this better by putting a better structure slow the music down ans change the sounds of witch the instruments make.
the next variation was very techno and futuristic. it sounds like there is not many instruments being usedthere was two tones there was a high tone and a low tone.the way i would make this better is to slow it down a bit and add more than two instruments.
the next piece i like the introduction was good the way it introduces the instruments makes the song sound better. i would make it better by making the song longer.
December 8, 2015 at 8:21 am
the first one and the last one actually did sounded like the original peace of music the second one did not sound like the real peace at all and the first sounded strange and it did not flow well