Equipment - The equipment I used to create the second track was:
FL Studio 10
Nexus2
One shot drum samples from a hip hop drum kit
Sub bass from a hip hop drum kit
I used nexus2 to make the melodies and chords because nexus has a good variety of sounds and drums and this synthesizer was the best one to choose. I managed to find good strings, choir, bells, piano and a trancy lead and I put them into good use. I then needed some one shot drums, so I grabbed a kick, 2x snare, closed and open hats and a sub bass. Finally I used FL Studio to structure, mix and master the entire track. FL Studio has a lot of good effects and mixing plugins and I wanted to put the into good use as well.
Recording - I didn't record the sounds and drums on FL Studio because I didn't have a midi keyboard to use for the recording. So I used the type pad on my to make chords and melodies and when I came up with some good ideas I inputted the data into the piano roll and extended the legato of the notes if it was necessary. Firstly I started playing some chords for the string section because the string section sounded very much like my kind of hip hop and it sounded very catchy as well. I then opened the piano roll to input the notes in exact length I wanted it at. I then copied and pasted the same chords into the choir section to give the strings some layering. After I put quarter notes on every crotchet in the bell section because It sounded catchy and I really liked the idea itself. Then I played some piano notes on the type pad until I came up with something that fitted in well and that I was happy with it, then I put the notes into the piano with adjusting the legato of the notes if necessary. I then repeated the same process for the other remaining sounds and the drums.
Once that was all done I put each sound and drum into separate patterns and I began to structure the song. The song structure is:
16 bar intro
16 bar verse
8 bar pre chorus
16 bar chorus
16 bar verse
16 bar chorus
16 bar verse
16 bar chorus
outro
Vocal Recording - I gave the instrumental track to Reggie so that he can write and record his verse. On wednesday 14th May, in sequencing he used the pro ducting room to record his verse. Once he had finished recording his verse I saved the project onto my memory stick with the copied audio files and I put his verse onto fl studio to mix down. I have also included Bryan, Jordan and a friend outside of college to write lyrics to the track.
Mixing - Once the instrumental track was full structured it was ready for mixing down. I used EQs for the drums because the sounded flat and couldn't be heard as much as the sounds. So for the kick drums I adjusted most of the lo ends because the kick has a boom kind of sound. When I adjusted the lo frequencies of the kick drum I could hear it very well. It sounded much more punchy and aggressive compared to the kick that wasn't EQ'd. I then used the volume fader to adjust to a reasonable level in the mix. It was too loud in the mix, so I had to reduce the volume fader until the kick drum can still be heard but at a reasonable volume level. I then repeated this method for the other one shot drums and sub bass because this method of mixing is very easy and it doesn't take that long too get right. I did use a little bit of compression on the two snare drums because the volume fader wasn't enough. For the sounds I used the volume faders mostly because some of the sounds were too loud or too quiet in the mix. For example the strings and choir were too loud, so I used the volume fader to make them a bit quieter, however the bells, piano and trance lead were a touch too quiet, so this meant I needed to turn the volume fader up by 5 - 10% for them to be heard. After I mixed everything down I listened back to the whole instrumental track and I knew straight away that it was properly mixed down and ready for mastering.
The plugins I used to record Reggie' vocals were EQ, compressor, limiter and reverb. I used the EQ to cut of some of the lo frequency because I could hear a bit of popping and this didn't make the track sound very clean. So this is why I cut off most of the lo frequency. I then adjusted a little bit of the hi frequency because the hi frequency sounded dull and flat. When I adjusted the the hi end the vocals sounded so much brighter and sharper and it fit in very well with the track. When I was looking at the vocal waveform, it didn't require much automating, the waveform was fine as it was. I only applied a little bit of compression alongside with the limiter and this made the vocals not very dominant that the instrumental track. Finally I added a little bit of reverb to the vocals because the vocals sounded dry and didn't fit in with the instrumental track. So I added a reverb plugin and played around with until I found a suitable amount for the instrumental track. I listened back to the whole thing and I was happy with the mixing, EQ'ing and effect with the vocals.
Mastering - I used a plugin called 'maximus' which is a good plugin for mastering a mixed track. It acts like a compressor and has pre gain knobs which allow me to adjust how much lo, mid and hi I want or that sounds acceptable for the song. I soloed the lo frequency an I used a little bit of compression and pre gain I felt it should have. Once I was happy with it I then repeated this method for the mid and hi frequencies. When I switched off the solo mode it didn't sound the way I wanted it to be. I could hear too much of the mid frequency than the other frequencies. So what I did was I reduced the mid frequency and I brought a little of the lo and hi frequencies. When I listened back to the instrumental track I was satisfied and happy with what I heard back. Finally I added a little bit of compression and a little of pre gain so that the output master level would be equal. I also inserted a limiter into the master channel and used the gain knob to adjust how gain I wanted. I did this to ensure that the master track doesn't clip. If the master channel is clipping it will sound very distorted and not very pleasant to listen to. So when mastering a track it is always important to check that your master channel is not clipping. If it's not clipping then it will sound 100% clear and not distorted, especially when your wearing headphones listening to it. I then exported the song as a wav file and I then burned it into an empty CD. The song is not finished because the other people that were meant to be on the track didn't record their vocals in time for the song. So I burned it as it was.
Friday 30 May 2014
Production Diary: Track 1
Track 1
Equipment and Recording - In the first song I composed, I used garageband to make the chord progression and string section. The reason why I used this daw it has a nice electric piano. The song style I wanted to make is smooth rnb. I set the tempo to 96 bpm because rnb songs are produced at a slow speed. I played the chord on the type pad on my mac because I didn't have a midi keyboard to use. When I came up with some chords I made a new channel region and inputted the notes using the piano roll and it did not require quantising. All I had to do was adjust the length of the notes. I did it this way because I found it very tricky to record with the type pad on my mac. Once I inputted the notes in the piano roll, I opened a new instrument and I selected a string from the sound library. I then used the type pad to come up with idea for a string section. When I came up with a string section I opened a new midi region, opened the piano roll and used 16th notes with make the string section. I did this because I liked what I played over the electric piano and thought this can go very well with the track. I then bounced the electric piano and strings individually and emailed the files to myself.
Once that was done I opened fl studio because I was going to make the drums. The reason why I used fl studio is because fl studio has very good one shot drums and they were perfect for the style of music I was composing. Before I could make the drums I had to set the tempo to 96 bpm so that the audio files can match the bars on fl studio, then I downloaded and imported the audio files onto fl studio. I then put some one shot drums into the sequencer and I inputted the drums into the piano roll. I found this method of making drums much easier because I don't need to extend the length of the notes at all plus it was easy for me to correct the errors I made while I was making the drums and did not require quantising. When I finished making the drums I structured the track and bounced the unfinished instrumental. I then emailed it to myself so that I can download it from college, import it onto logic so that I can come up with a good bass line and a melody line.
When I opened logic I set the exact tempo of the song, created a new audio, imported the unfinished instrumental, put it on the exact crotchet it's supposed to be on and created to new software instrument channels. When I found a nice bass I used the midi keyboard to make a bass line. I found using the midi keyboard so much easier to use because I can instantly come up with melodies, bass lines and chord progressions. Once I came up with a bass line, pressed the 'R' button to record and once that was done I pressed 'R' again. I then opened the piano roll and noticed that the notes were not quantised. So what I did was I pressed 'cmd a' to select all the notes, clicked on 1/16 and it quantised all the notes in the region. I then clicked 'functions', 'fixed velocity' and I selected the velocity to 100 and then pressed 'select and operate'.
I found this method of recording very useful because it doesn't require me to use the mouse as much, it is much faster and quicker than inputting notes into the piano roll and I can use commands using the type pad. I repeated the same process for recording the melody line.
Once I recorded the bass line and melody line I structured them ensuring to their suitable places in the song. I then bounced both sounds individually from start to finish, e-mailed to myself, downloaded them and imported them into fl studio where the full song is fully finished and ready to be mixed and mastered.
On May 9th I used the recording studio with Norell to record his vocals. I used the NT1000 condenser mic, a pop shield and a pair of headphones. I used the NT1000 mic because it delivers bright, clean and crisp vocals, also it is a condenser mic and these mics are good for recording audio sound in a small environment. This mic is my favourite mic and I will continue to use this mic in future recordings. I used a pop shield to prevent any words that have a burst of air entering the mic during the recording. I wanted the recording to sound sound sharp and clear without any burst of air in the recording. Whenever I or someone else is about to record vocals it is very essential to use a pop shield because it can prevent words with bursts of air entering the mic and prevent mess up the recording. Finally I used a pair of headphones so that Norell can hear me communicating with him and hear the instrumental track as well. If he can't hear me or the instrumental track, the recording process could go very wrong. So it is always important to use a pair of headphones when recording vocals and live instruments because it can help recording go smoother for the person you are recording.
When I finished recording Norell I saved the logic project with the copied audio files and I then put the audio files into fl studio ready for mixing and mastering. I then sent the track to Leon so that he can write a 16 bar verse as he was part of the song.
Mixing - During the mixing phase of the song I listen very carefully to what I can hear. I noticed that the drums were flat and not punchy enough. So what I did is I added a EQ and I adjusted the lo ends of the EQ so that I could get a much better punchy sound of the kick. I then used the volume fader in the mixer to adjust the right volume in the mix. I didn't want the kick drum to be louder than the other instruments. I wanted the volume just right in the mix. I then repeated this method for the other instruments and sounds but some of them didn't need EQ because when I listened back to them I was happy with what I heard. But other than that I used limiters and compressors and the volume faders on the mixer to adjust each sound and instrument to it's best quality. Once I mixed down the instrumental track I listened back to it and it was nearly ready for mastering. I just had tweak one or two channels in the mixer and then it would be ready for mastering.
When I was mixing Norell' vocals I found it very hard to overcome because I do not know how to mix vocals properly yet. So what I did with Norell' vocals is I automated the volumes on the parts I couldn't hear very well and on the parts that were too loud, then I added reverb and delay to make the vocals sound wetter and more suitable for the instrumental track. Finally I added an eq because there was a bit of popping in the recording. Also I wanted to make the mid and hi ends of the vocals sound brighter and clearer. When I listened the vocals without the EQ it sounded very dull and flat. When I listened to the vocals with EQ it sounded so much brighter and clearer and I was very convinced that this would be enough.
Mastering - Before I went to the mastering phase of the I bounced the fully mixed instrumental track as a wav file and I imported it into logic. I then set the exact tempo of the song and placed the in time with the click track in logic. Once that was done I reduced the volume on the instrumental track channel because it was clipping a little bit, after that I put and adaptive limiter in the output master and I adjusted how much pre gain I wanted. I did this because I wanted to ensure that the volume of the entire song was at an appropriate level. This means I didn't want it to be too loud or too quiet. I finially exported the mastered track asn a wav file and I burned it into an empty CD. The track is not fully finished because Leon didn't finish his verse in time for the song.
When I opened logic I set the exact tempo of the song, created a new audio, imported the unfinished instrumental, put it on the exact crotchet it's supposed to be on and created to new software instrument channels. When I found a nice bass I used the midi keyboard to make a bass line. I found using the midi keyboard so much easier to use because I can instantly come up with melodies, bass lines and chord progressions. Once I came up with a bass line, pressed the 'R' button to record and once that was done I pressed 'R' again. I then opened the piano roll and noticed that the notes were not quantised. So what I did was I pressed 'cmd a' to select all the notes, clicked on 1/16 and it quantised all the notes in the region. I then clicked 'functions', 'fixed velocity' and I selected the velocity to 100 and then pressed 'select and operate'.
I found this method of recording very useful because it doesn't require me to use the mouse as much, it is much faster and quicker than inputting notes into the piano roll and I can use commands using the type pad. I repeated the same process for recording the melody line.
Once I recorded the bass line and melody line I structured them ensuring to their suitable places in the song. I then bounced both sounds individually from start to finish, e-mailed to myself, downloaded them and imported them into fl studio where the full song is fully finished and ready to be mixed and mastered.
On May 9th I used the recording studio with Norell to record his vocals. I used the NT1000 condenser mic, a pop shield and a pair of headphones. I used the NT1000 mic because it delivers bright, clean and crisp vocals, also it is a condenser mic and these mics are good for recording audio sound in a small environment. This mic is my favourite mic and I will continue to use this mic in future recordings. I used a pop shield to prevent any words that have a burst of air entering the mic during the recording. I wanted the recording to sound sound sharp and clear without any burst of air in the recording. Whenever I or someone else is about to record vocals it is very essential to use a pop shield because it can prevent words with bursts of air entering the mic and prevent mess up the recording. Finally I used a pair of headphones so that Norell can hear me communicating with him and hear the instrumental track as well. If he can't hear me or the instrumental track, the recording process could go very wrong. So it is always important to use a pair of headphones when recording vocals and live instruments because it can help recording go smoother for the person you are recording.
When I finished recording Norell I saved the logic project with the copied audio files and I then put the audio files into fl studio ready for mixing and mastering. I then sent the track to Leon so that he can write a 16 bar verse as he was part of the song.
Mixing - During the mixing phase of the song I listen very carefully to what I can hear. I noticed that the drums were flat and not punchy enough. So what I did is I added a EQ and I adjusted the lo ends of the EQ so that I could get a much better punchy sound of the kick. I then used the volume fader in the mixer to adjust the right volume in the mix. I didn't want the kick drum to be louder than the other instruments. I wanted the volume just right in the mix. I then repeated this method for the other instruments and sounds but some of them didn't need EQ because when I listened back to them I was happy with what I heard. But other than that I used limiters and compressors and the volume faders on the mixer to adjust each sound and instrument to it's best quality. Once I mixed down the instrumental track I listened back to it and it was nearly ready for mastering. I just had tweak one or two channels in the mixer and then it would be ready for mastering.
When I was mixing Norell' vocals I found it very hard to overcome because I do not know how to mix vocals properly yet. So what I did with Norell' vocals is I automated the volumes on the parts I couldn't hear very well and on the parts that were too loud, then I added reverb and delay to make the vocals sound wetter and more suitable for the instrumental track. Finally I added an eq because there was a bit of popping in the recording. Also I wanted to make the mid and hi ends of the vocals sound brighter and clearer. When I listened the vocals without the EQ it sounded very dull and flat. When I listened to the vocals with EQ it sounded so much brighter and clearer and I was very convinced that this would be enough.
Mastering - Before I went to the mastering phase of the I bounced the fully mixed instrumental track as a wav file and I imported it into logic. I then set the exact tempo of the song and placed the in time with the click track in logic. Once that was done I reduced the volume on the instrumental track channel because it was clipping a little bit, after that I put and adaptive limiter in the output master and I adjusted how much pre gain I wanted. I did this because I wanted to ensure that the volume of the entire song was at an appropriate level. This means I didn't want it to be too loud or too quiet. I finially exported the mastered track asn a wav file and I burned it into an empty CD. The track is not fully finished because Leon didn't finish his verse in time for the song.
Friday 9 May 2014
Royalties
Licensing and royalties agencies that pay and copyright music that artists/producers have composed, written and recorded. Without licensing, people could take music that other musicians have produced and class it as there own and that is called fraud. It is important that a musician has royalties and licensing because this way musicians can earn money for the music they make and no one can class it as their own because it is copyrighted, so this means that the industry knows who it really belongs to.
PRS and MCPS are agencies that earn royalties from the music that other musicians have made. PRS royalties go to musicians, producers and publishing companies that have made original music. They earn their royalties when their music is played via radio, tv, live, etc. MCPS goes to musicians and producers that have reproduced their music, When their music is played via radio, tv, live, etc, MCPS earn royalties and the artist (s) earn money.
PPL is another agency that collects and distributes money to performers or record companies for use of their recorded music. It is important that a performer has the right license because if the performer does not have the appropriate license, this can be classed as copyright infringement and it will affect the musicians, songwriters, producers and composers of the track that they have created. So it is essential that a performer has the right license. This means the performer will earn royalties and will not have any issue with copyright infringement.
Joining licensing and royalty agencies are good ways of earning money you make for music and ensuring that no one can infringe it. When you join whichever agency you will be given an ID number. Once you have received your ID number, you can send your you music to any radio station and if it gets played on the radio you can give them proof by sending them the link and telling them where to skip in the show. Once they know your song has been played on the radio they pay you quarterly. Here is a link to show you what I mean by paying quarterly:
http://www.prsformusic.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Emails/Newsletters/Newsletter%20April%202013/Distribution_times-web.pdf
I would strongly recommend that an artist, producer, writer, session player, etc signs up with one of these agencies because it can really help them with their music in the future and their career also. Plus young musicians can earn money for the music they make and they can earn protection ensuring that no one else steals the artist' work and classifies it as their own.
PRS and MCPS are agencies that earn royalties from the music that other musicians have made. PRS royalties go to musicians, producers and publishing companies that have made original music. They earn their royalties when their music is played via radio, tv, live, etc. MCPS goes to musicians and producers that have reproduced their music, When their music is played via radio, tv, live, etc, MCPS earn royalties and the artist (s) earn money.
PPL is another agency that collects and distributes money to performers or record companies for use of their recorded music. It is important that a performer has the right license because if the performer does not have the appropriate license, this can be classed as copyright infringement and it will affect the musicians, songwriters, producers and composers of the track that they have created. So it is essential that a performer has the right license. This means the performer will earn royalties and will not have any issue with copyright infringement.
Joining licensing and royalty agencies are good ways of earning money you make for music and ensuring that no one can infringe it. When you join whichever agency you will be given an ID number. Once you have received your ID number, you can send your you music to any radio station and if it gets played on the radio you can give them proof by sending them the link and telling them where to skip in the show. Once they know your song has been played on the radio they pay you quarterly. Here is a link to show you what I mean by paying quarterly:
http://www.prsformusic.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Emails/Newsletters/Newsletter%20April%202013/Distribution_times-web.pdf
I would strongly recommend that an artist, producer, writer, session player, etc signs up with one of these agencies because it can really help them with their music in the future and their career also. Plus young musicians can earn money for the music they make and they can earn protection ensuring that no one else steals the artist' work and classifies it as their own.
Functions of a Keyboard: Term 3
Piano - When you press a key on the piano the hammer on the piano hits the string and sound is created via the vibrations and air. On a piano you can control the amount of volume, sustaining and velocity. On an organ you can't do any of these. No matter how hard or soft you press a key on the organ it creates the amount of volume it was designed for. On an organ there are no pedals whereas a piano has three pedals making it easier to play. On an organ there are toe boards and the toe boards adjust the depth of the organ when someone is playing. On a piano you can control velocity, pitch, volume, etc.
Pipe Organ - A pipe organ is a musical instrument that has big whistles on it. You can't control the sustaining on a pipe organ. You would need to use a lot of articulation to keep the flow of the organ. Toe boards on the organ can control the amount of depth that you want while playing. When you press a key on an organ compressed air travels through the whistle via vibrations. It's like blowing gently into an empty glass bottle and it creates a deep sound. A bad thing about an organ is that you can only sustain the sound with your fingers rather that using pedals. While controlling the sustaining with your hands it can cause hand stress and hand cramps. On an organ you can't control the effect e.g. you can't control delay, threshold, etc.
Harpsichord - When you press a key on the harpsichord a plectrum plucks the string and creates sound via the vibrations. A bad thing about a harpsichord is that the plectrum could cut the string in half and this can be a bad thing if the performer is playing live to an audience. Like a piano it has three pedals, so this means you can control sustaining and many other parameters. These parameters are reverb, velocity, etc. However you cannot control the amount of resonance or on a harpsichord and you can not change the sound of the harpsichord. This what the harpsichord was designed for, to create a plucking, small resonant sound.
Electric Keyboard (Synthesizer) - An electric keyboard synthesizer has sounds made from default synths using synthesis. Synthesis creating your own sound from scratch instead of sampling a sound. When you press a key on an electric keyboard, it creates sound via the built in speakers, however it doesn't have proper sustaining pedal. You have to plug a pedal into the keyboard to control the sustaining. The sustaining pedal acts like an on/off switch. So no matter how hard or soft you press the pedal it will still create a lot of sustaining, resonance and ambience. A good thing about the electric keyboard synthesizer is that you can choose a variety of presets in the keyboard library. This means that you can play anything you want with any sound of your preferred choice.
Electric Keyboard (Sampler) - A sampled sound is not a synthesized sound made from scratch, it is a sound that has been audio recorded. An electric keyboard like a roland synth will likely have a lot of sampled and presetted sounds. If you wanted, you could save a preset onto a hard drive and then you could import it onto logic and you could play around with it and use it in a track you are composing. This is a good thing about using sampled and presetted sounds. A bad thing about and electric keyboard sampler is that if you are looking for a spscific kind of sound and the keyboard doesn't have it you would need to use synthesis to make the sound you are looking for, and you can't do this on a roland synth. But sometimes presets and samples can come in very handy when it comes to composing music.
Pipe Organ - A pipe organ is a musical instrument that has big whistles on it. You can't control the sustaining on a pipe organ. You would need to use a lot of articulation to keep the flow of the organ. Toe boards on the organ can control the amount of depth that you want while playing. When you press a key on an organ compressed air travels through the whistle via vibrations. It's like blowing gently into an empty glass bottle and it creates a deep sound. A bad thing about an organ is that you can only sustain the sound with your fingers rather that using pedals. While controlling the sustaining with your hands it can cause hand stress and hand cramps. On an organ you can't control the effect e.g. you can't control delay, threshold, etc.
Harpsichord - When you press a key on the harpsichord a plectrum plucks the string and creates sound via the vibrations. A bad thing about a harpsichord is that the plectrum could cut the string in half and this can be a bad thing if the performer is playing live to an audience. Like a piano it has three pedals, so this means you can control sustaining and many other parameters. These parameters are reverb, velocity, etc. However you cannot control the amount of resonance or on a harpsichord and you can not change the sound of the harpsichord. This what the harpsichord was designed for, to create a plucking, small resonant sound.
Electric Keyboard (Synthesizer) - An electric keyboard synthesizer has sounds made from default synths using synthesis. Synthesis creating your own sound from scratch instead of sampling a sound. When you press a key on an electric keyboard, it creates sound via the built in speakers, however it doesn't have proper sustaining pedal. You have to plug a pedal into the keyboard to control the sustaining. The sustaining pedal acts like an on/off switch. So no matter how hard or soft you press the pedal it will still create a lot of sustaining, resonance and ambience. A good thing about the electric keyboard synthesizer is that you can choose a variety of presets in the keyboard library. This means that you can play anything you want with any sound of your preferred choice.
Electric Keyboard (Sampler) - A sampled sound is not a synthesized sound made from scratch, it is a sound that has been audio recorded. An electric keyboard like a roland synth will likely have a lot of sampled and presetted sounds. If you wanted, you could save a preset onto a hard drive and then you could import it onto logic and you could play around with it and use it in a track you are composing. This is a good thing about using sampled and presetted sounds. A bad thing about and electric keyboard sampler is that if you are looking for a spscific kind of sound and the keyboard doesn't have it you would need to use synthesis to make the sound you are looking for, and you can't do this on a roland synth. But sometimes presets and samples can come in very handy when it comes to composing music.
Monday 5 May 2014
Aural Test
Q1) The instruments in the song 'Kelis - Jerk Ribs' are:
Bass
Drums and percussion
Trumpet and horns
Electric Guitar
Piano
Strings
Accordion
The bassline's role is to play the main bassline throughout the song and the trumpets and horns play mostly in the chorus.
The instruments in the song 'James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream' are:
Drums and percussion
Electric piano
Arpeggio
Pad
The role of the drums is to keep the song in time and to add different rhythms throughout the song and the role of the electric piano is to keep the song deep and relaxed.
Q2) The two notes in the vocal interval in the song 'Janella Monae ft. Prince - Give Em What They Love' is a major chord and in the song 'Somewhere over the rainbow' from the film 'The wizard of oz' the two in notes in the vocal interval are both minor.
Q3) The chord progression in the first verse of the song 'The roots - The Seed (2.0) ft. Cody ChestnuTT' is Am, D, Am, G and I know this by listening very carefully to what is being played. The chord progression in the first verse of the song 'Belle and Sebastian - Funny little frog' is Em, A, D, A and the A chord is a 2nd inversion. The rest are root position.
Q4) The song 'Desmond Dekker - Jamaica Farewell' is a reggae style song. So the rhythm in this song is swung and the time signature is in 4/4. Most reggae songs are meant to have swung drums or otherwise it wouldn't feel like a reggae song. The kick and snare drum are always hitting on 2 and 4. This is another feature of reggae music. The kick and snare is always meant on 2 and 4, finally the guitar is hitting on the off beat and this is called skanking. This is also another common thing in reggae music.
The time signature in the song 'Andromedia' is in 3/4 and the drums sound very complex and syncopated.
Bass
Drums and percussion
Trumpet and horns
Electric Guitar
Piano
Strings
Accordion
The bassline's role is to play the main bassline throughout the song and the trumpets and horns play mostly in the chorus.
The instruments in the song 'James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream' are:
Drums and percussion
Electric piano
Arpeggio
Pad
The role of the drums is to keep the song in time and to add different rhythms throughout the song and the role of the electric piano is to keep the song deep and relaxed.
Q2) The two notes in the vocal interval in the song 'Janella Monae ft. Prince - Give Em What They Love' is a major chord and in the song 'Somewhere over the rainbow' from the film 'The wizard of oz' the two in notes in the vocal interval are both minor.
Q3) The chord progression in the first verse of the song 'The roots - The Seed (2.0) ft. Cody ChestnuTT' is Am, D, Am, G and I know this by listening very carefully to what is being played. The chord progression in the first verse of the song 'Belle and Sebastian - Funny little frog' is Em, A, D, A and the A chord is a 2nd inversion. The rest are root position.
Q4) The song 'Desmond Dekker - Jamaica Farewell' is a reggae style song. So the rhythm in this song is swung and the time signature is in 4/4. Most reggae songs are meant to have swung drums or otherwise it wouldn't feel like a reggae song. The kick and snare drum are always hitting on 2 and 4. This is another feature of reggae music. The kick and snare is always meant on 2 and 4, finally the guitar is hitting on the off beat and this is called skanking. This is also another common thing in reggae music.
The time signature in the song 'Andromedia' is in 3/4 and the drums sound very complex and syncopated.
Thursday 1 May 2014
Techniques and Technology
Mixing
This is is one of the techniques I want to achieve because if I can mix my own songs I don't need to pay anyone to do the mixing for me. It will also show me to be a freelance worker. The way I can mix I can to mix my tracks to the best of my ability is by listening to what I can and can't hear. If the kick drum for example to too flat and not punchy, I can use an EQ to make the kick sound more punchy and more powerful. If there is too much bass on the kick I can just cut off the low frequency and this will make the kick not sound too bassy.
When I mix my tracks I will take frequent breaks so that my ears don't get exposed to too much sound or otherwise my ears will become confused on what is going on in the mix. I will also rely on my ears and not my eyes because the levels can deceive me, so it is essential for me to have good ears while mixing down I'm mixing my tracks down. I can use limitation and compression to reduce the gain on other instruments and sounds and to ensure that nothing is clipping. If and any instrument or sound is clipping this can cause distorting and this would not be very nice to listen to. The mix of the song will sound crisp, on point and not distorted and this is what the public of the public would want to listen to good quality music.
Before I can mix my own tracks down I will need to learn what mixing is and how it is done. I can do this by watching tutorials of engineers mixing down tracks, reading tips on mixing tracks and learning from my teachers that teach me about technology. Once I have got an idea of how a mixed song should sound like, I can make an attempt at mixing down my own music, this way I won't have so many problems with mixing.
In the mixing process of a song you have to ensure that the listener can hear all the instruments and sounds you have used in your song. This means all the instruments have to be equally level, you don't want any instruments clipping. When an instrument is clipping it will sound very distorted and horrible to listen to. In the mixing process you have to listen very carefully to what instrument you can hear. If some instruments are too loud, you can reduce the gain, add an EQ, add a compressor or add a limiter so that it doesn't sound loud and that it's not clipping. If and instrument is too quiet turn the gain up until you can hear whatever instrument you are trying to listen to. You can also add an EQ to make the instrument not sound flat and make it sound punchy and tight.
It is very important that you give your ears frequent breaks from what's going on in the track because sometimes your ears will become confused of what's going on in the song that you want to mix. When you are mixing a song down DO NOT look at the levels on the mixer because the levels on the mixer can deceive you. It's all about having a good pair of ears and listening carefully to what you can and can't hear. Once you have listened to the full and that it's properly and fully mixed down, you are ready to bounce and master it.
This is is one of the techniques I want to achieve because if I can mix my own songs I don't need to pay anyone to do the mixing for me. It will also show me to be a freelance worker. The way I can mix I can to mix my tracks to the best of my ability is by listening to what I can and can't hear. If the kick drum for example to too flat and not punchy, I can use an EQ to make the kick sound more punchy and more powerful. If there is too much bass on the kick I can just cut off the low frequency and this will make the kick not sound too bassy.
When I mix my tracks I will take frequent breaks so that my ears don't get exposed to too much sound or otherwise my ears will become confused on what is going on in the mix. I will also rely on my ears and not my eyes because the levels can deceive me, so it is essential for me to have good ears while mixing down I'm mixing my tracks down. I can use limitation and compression to reduce the gain on other instruments and sounds and to ensure that nothing is clipping. If and any instrument or sound is clipping this can cause distorting and this would not be very nice to listen to. The mix of the song will sound crisp, on point and not distorted and this is what the public of the public would want to listen to good quality music.
Before I can mix my own tracks down I will need to learn what mixing is and how it is done. I can do this by watching tutorials of engineers mixing down tracks, reading tips on mixing tracks and learning from my teachers that teach me about technology. Once I have got an idea of how a mixed song should sound like, I can make an attempt at mixing down my own music, this way I won't have so many problems with mixing.
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