Week 3 Progress

An interesting fact I learnt last Thursday: I unknowingly used a minor pentatonic to connect the intro to the verse (just learnt the term in class)! I used to randomly play the piano using only black keys as I also noticed it almost always sounded great and you can never go "wrong" or create disjointed, horribly-sounding melodies. I never knew this was an actual technique with a name to it.

You can hear the intro and the minor pentatonic at the end of it on my Soundcloud playlist embed below.

I have also created two short verses which ended up sounding very much the same, just building up to the pre-chorus (instead of A-B pattern I envisioned).

Problem I have with the verse: not all the sounds are perfectly synced like I anticipated. Even though I duplicated the tune I played, different instruments put off the tempo slightly. I have spent much time adjusting the notes individually, a very useful function I must admit. I thought some of the instruments I chose went well together but hearing it again after a short break from editing, I think they clash and don't like them anymore. I might change out the guitar for a more subtle instrument like the piano.


Last Thursday, I also learnt about some other features like automation which allows me to edit the instrument channels. Basically, I needed it most for adjusting volume and doing fade-in/outs.

Actually I also created my own drums/foundation using the Drum Kit. But I don't really like what I created so far. I can't seem to turn it off or select portions to keep (the channel is empty but I can hear the drums playing when I press play?), so I just mute it completely. I'll stick to using the preset drums until I get more of the melody down. (I'll post up the drums sounds I created if it's necessary?).

Finally, I experimented with the knobs but I forgot the names, I'll post it up next week in class so I can get screenshots.

Stuck with progressing: So I also came up with melody for the pre-chorus. Unfortunately I realized my music was in 4-4 and this melody I came up with is in 3-4... No wonder it didn't fit the drums!!! It perplexed me until I realized the problem. Now I don't know if there is any way to extend this melody to 4-4 or start from scratch, but as I've mentioned in previous posts, it's so difficult to come up with a melody!!!


Other Notes:
Steps in music production:
Songwriting
Recording
Production
Final Mix
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Mastering