Tuesday 25 February 2014
February Smart Target
My new target is to get a merit or higher in my first DJ assessment. The way I can do this is by booking plenty of access time and practicing for as long as possible. This will help me a lot because it shows that I want to get a good grade plus it shows that I'm not wasting time when it comes to assignments. The more I practice behind the the less chance I get from making any errors while doing my mixing. So this is what my next target is going to be.
Checking My Targets
My target was to improve my skills in reading sheet music and piano playing. I haven't quite achieved it yet but I have been practising as much as I can. I have been practising to use the correct fingering in the scales and I have been trying to figure out the notes that are written on the stave. Overall I think I am making good progress and hope to get my skills to a higher level.
Friday 7 February 2014
5 Styles: Listening
Reggae
Q1) In the 'Mike Brooks - Money Is Not All + Dub' song, the chords are mostly major chords which gives the music a nice feel; it doesn't sound dull and boring. The chords that are being played on the guitar are playing on the offbeats. This is known as skanking and it is very common in reggae music; reggae music needs to have a skank or it wouldn't sound like reggae at all. The melody in general is slow and smooth and what this does is it makes the music sound smooth and relaxed; it's not like an uptempo song you would listen to in a night club or concert.
Q2) The songs 'Mike Brooks - Money Is Not All + Dub' and 'King Tubby - Waterhouse Rock' are both reggae genres. The reason why I know they are both is because the guitars are skanking on the offbeats and that is a very common thing in reggae music. The guitars need to be skanking in reggae music because that is how reggae music is composed and produced.
Some of the percussion instruments in the songs have been swung. This is also another common thing in reggae music. Swung percussion is another feature of how reggae music is produced and composed. Swung percussion have to be quantized to 16C or 16D depending on how well it fits in the music itself. Percussion quantized onto the crotchet won't make the music sound entertaining at all. So it is important to quantize percussion to 16C or 16D while producing and composing reggae music. Not all percussion instruments have to be swung but some percussion instruments need to be swung; this gives the music a reggae feel and vibe.
Funk
Q1) In the song 'Sly & The Family Stone - If You Want Me To Stay' some of the instruments are panned to the left and to the right. The reason for this could be that the instruments clash while panned to the centre; so the mixing and mastering engineer decided to pan certain instruments to the left and right so that no clashing happens while the record is playing. The instruments I can hear to the right is the saxophone, bass guitar and organ. The instruments I can hear to the left is the piano only and nothing else. The vocals are panned to the centre and the drums (apart from the kick drum) are also panned to the centre. I can mostly hear the saxophone, bass and vocals but I can't hear the kick drum because it's velocity is very low. The reason why I can hear the sax, bass and vocals cleary is because they are more prominent than the other other instruments in the mix.
Q2) This is a funk and I know because there is emphasis on the first beat of the bar. Emphasis is a common in funk music because it gives the music a groove. Another thing that makes this song a funk genre is that the bassline uses 8th notes; this is another common thing that you would hear in funk music. The bassline goes on throughout the whole track and it is very prominent in the mix. In the funk song I listened to I heard an organ and organs are not an element in funk music. The reason wh yan organ is not an element of funk is because they don't give the song that funk feel.
Latin
Q1) In Amy Winehouse' cover of 'The Girl From Ipanema' her timing is sharp. What I mean by this is her vocals don't go out of sync with the instrumental, it remains in time with every beat of every bar. She does quite a lot of improvising too. You can hear her sing in Spanish at some points of the song and you can hear her accent changing. The reason for this could be that she wants her vocals fit in with the mood and flow of the music; this shows the concept and purpose the song that is being played.
Q2) The original version of the song is not much of a uptempo song; it's more smooth and calm. The singer in the original version is singing quite lazily but is still in time with the beat. Also the singer's voice sounds dull and boring; he doesn't sound happy and cheerful, also he doesn't do much improvisation. In Amy Winehouse' cover the song is much more uptempo and upbeat. Amy Winehouse sounds much more cheerful and happy and she does a lot of improvisation. The drums and Amy' singing makes the mood and flow of the music much more uptempo, upbeat, cheerful and happy.
Blues
Q1) In the song 'Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues' the singer's harmony is in the same key with the chords. There is nothing familiar about the harmony, the harmony is in the same key with the chord progression the song. The singer's harmony in this song is pretty much the same throughout the song. The singer is always in the same key with the chord progression.
Q2) This song is definitely a blues song. This song is a 12 bar blues song and the chords that are used in this song are C, F & G. Anyone would expect to hear these chords in any blues song because that is how blues music was invented in America.
Electro
Q1) In the song 'New Order - Blue Monday' I can hear a lot of drums, analog synths, arpeggios, bass and a little bit of a choir. The drums sound like they have been sampled whereas most of the other instruments that are being used have been synthesised. The arpeggios and analog synth sounds have been synthesised by man and some of the bass has been audio recorded. I can tell this by listening to the instruments very carefully figuring how these instruments have been created. The guitar has been audio recorded and not synthesized; the drums is quite probably a preset from the analog synth and the vocals have been audio recorded.
Q2) The instrumental alone has a very uptempo and happy mood. When the vocals come in the singer is not in that happy mood; he is singing very sadly. This doesn't fit the mood of the instrumental very well because the instrumental itself is meant to make people dance and make them feel happy. The vocals doesn't give the people that mood to dance and feel happy. It gives them the complete opposite and that's not what you want to hear in an electro song.
Q1) In the 'Mike Brooks - Money Is Not All + Dub' song, the chords are mostly major chords which gives the music a nice feel; it doesn't sound dull and boring. The chords that are being played on the guitar are playing on the offbeats. This is known as skanking and it is very common in reggae music; reggae music needs to have a skank or it wouldn't sound like reggae at all. The melody in general is slow and smooth and what this does is it makes the music sound smooth and relaxed; it's not like an uptempo song you would listen to in a night club or concert.
Q2) The songs 'Mike Brooks - Money Is Not All + Dub' and 'King Tubby - Waterhouse Rock' are both reggae genres. The reason why I know they are both is because the guitars are skanking on the offbeats and that is a very common thing in reggae music. The guitars need to be skanking in reggae music because that is how reggae music is composed and produced.
Some of the percussion instruments in the songs have been swung. This is also another common thing in reggae music. Swung percussion is another feature of how reggae music is produced and composed. Swung percussion have to be quantized to 16C or 16D depending on how well it fits in the music itself. Percussion quantized onto the crotchet won't make the music sound entertaining at all. So it is important to quantize percussion to 16C or 16D while producing and composing reggae music. Not all percussion instruments have to be swung but some percussion instruments need to be swung; this gives the music a reggae feel and vibe.
Funk
Q1) In the song 'Sly & The Family Stone - If You Want Me To Stay' some of the instruments are panned to the left and to the right. The reason for this could be that the instruments clash while panned to the centre; so the mixing and mastering engineer decided to pan certain instruments to the left and right so that no clashing happens while the record is playing. The instruments I can hear to the right is the saxophone, bass guitar and organ. The instruments I can hear to the left is the piano only and nothing else. The vocals are panned to the centre and the drums (apart from the kick drum) are also panned to the centre. I can mostly hear the saxophone, bass and vocals but I can't hear the kick drum because it's velocity is very low. The reason why I can hear the sax, bass and vocals cleary is because they are more prominent than the other other instruments in the mix.
Q2) This is a funk and I know because there is emphasis on the first beat of the bar. Emphasis is a common in funk music because it gives the music a groove. Another thing that makes this song a funk genre is that the bassline uses 8th notes; this is another common thing that you would hear in funk music. The bassline goes on throughout the whole track and it is very prominent in the mix. In the funk song I listened to I heard an organ and organs are not an element in funk music. The reason wh yan organ is not an element of funk is because they don't give the song that funk feel.
Latin
Q1) In Amy Winehouse' cover of 'The Girl From Ipanema' her timing is sharp. What I mean by this is her vocals don't go out of sync with the instrumental, it remains in time with every beat of every bar. She does quite a lot of improvising too. You can hear her sing in Spanish at some points of the song and you can hear her accent changing. The reason for this could be that she wants her vocals fit in with the mood and flow of the music; this shows the concept and purpose the song that is being played.
Q2) The original version of the song is not much of a uptempo song; it's more smooth and calm. The singer in the original version is singing quite lazily but is still in time with the beat. Also the singer's voice sounds dull and boring; he doesn't sound happy and cheerful, also he doesn't do much improvisation. In Amy Winehouse' cover the song is much more uptempo and upbeat. Amy Winehouse sounds much more cheerful and happy and she does a lot of improvisation. The drums and Amy' singing makes the mood and flow of the music much more uptempo, upbeat, cheerful and happy.
Blues
Q1) In the song 'Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues' the singer's harmony is in the same key with the chords. There is nothing familiar about the harmony, the harmony is in the same key with the chord progression the song. The singer's harmony in this song is pretty much the same throughout the song. The singer is always in the same key with the chord progression.
Q2) This song is definitely a blues song. This song is a 12 bar blues song and the chords that are used in this song are C, F & G. Anyone would expect to hear these chords in any blues song because that is how blues music was invented in America.
Electro
Q1) In the song 'New Order - Blue Monday' I can hear a lot of drums, analog synths, arpeggios, bass and a little bit of a choir. The drums sound like they have been sampled whereas most of the other instruments that are being used have been synthesised. The arpeggios and analog synth sounds have been synthesised by man and some of the bass has been audio recorded. I can tell this by listening to the instruments very carefully figuring how these instruments have been created. The guitar has been audio recorded and not synthesized; the drums is quite probably a preset from the analog synth and the vocals have been audio recorded.
Q2) The instrumental alone has a very uptempo and happy mood. When the vocals come in the singer is not in that happy mood; he is singing very sadly. This doesn't fit the mood of the instrumental very well because the instrumental itself is meant to make people dance and make them feel happy. The vocals doesn't give the people that mood to dance and feel happy. It gives them the complete opposite and that's not what you want to hear in an electro song.
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