PRODUCERS!!!! You can get my file from this google drive if we didn't manage to exchange details in class (click here) Thanks :)
This is the version I'll be sending to my producers for mastering! :D Well, unless there are any negative comments on the 'new melody line', I'm open to changing that part.
All major changes detailed in previous post : Week 11
Enjoy!
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Week 11
CHANGE IN FORM
First and foremost: Found out my verse sounded more like a chorus and vice versa. Hence, I will be changing the naming from now on (however, original order of themes were not changed)!! Thus my form has also been changed to:
Intro | Intro | Chorus | Verse | Verse | Chorus | Verse | Verse | Bridge | Chorus | Outro
(each part is 8 bars)
I'm not SO sure about the naming (e.g. I'll consider the second 8 bars as still the introduction but actually it is very much similar to the Chorus, without a clear melody).
More importantly, learnt that after introducing new ideas in the bridge, I cannot just end the song abruptly. A mash of the chorus and verses was placed after the bridge, then I slowly removed instruments through the Outro, leading to the same end with the xylophone playing 1 note :)
***
Now on to what else I did this week:
SPREADING OUT OF SOUND
Learnt that we should not apply Stereo Spread (shortcut: X!) on lower frequencies. I spread the fills and rhythms out, but kept the melodies centred. However, I did not know how else to spread the sound out and it still sounded very cluttered. Other than the bass, everything else was playing in the mid-range frequency.
During project review, Dr. Hess showed me how to solve that problem: transposition. We moved the classic trance instrument (instrument playing the arpeggiated melody) an octave (I think?) higher. And that not only added interest in the higher frequencies but also removed a huge chunk from the middle frequencies. Perfect.
MORE SPREADING OUT + CLEANING UP
Initially, I had the classic trance playing throughout the song as I thought I needed a common theme throughout the whole song to tie it together (back when I was struggling with the very bipolar sounding sections). However, since I have fixed that weird sound with a consistent bass, it was not necessary to have the classic trance playing throughout. Dr. Hess suggested to remove it from the 'chorus'. This also makes the piece MUCH cleaner and easy to follow -I'm keeping the removal.
However, with the removal, the flow from verse/chorus was a little abrupt so I did the reverse cymbals trick suggested, which I learn from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LVjn-vggAk
CHORUS MELODY
Finally, added one more synth that carries the melody in the chorus section. (Simple melody that is of the same theme as the arpeggiated classic trance).
ETC.
Chorus drums: had this really weird 'doink' kick bass sound. I finally figured out how to remove it but I don't really know what I was altering. In the provided drummers, under the "Kick, Snare & Claps" bar, I reduced it from 6 to 5, and the ugly 'doink' sound was gone. But what was that changing?
Anyway, I will post my music up soon :)
First and foremost: Found out my verse sounded more like a chorus and vice versa. Hence, I will be changing the naming from now on (however, original order of themes were not changed)!! Thus my form has also been changed to:
Intro | Intro | Chorus | Verse | Verse | Chorus | Verse | Verse | Bridge | Chorus | Outro
(each part is 8 bars)
I'm not SO sure about the naming (e.g. I'll consider the second 8 bars as still the introduction but actually it is very much similar to the Chorus, without a clear melody).
More importantly, learnt that after introducing new ideas in the bridge, I cannot just end the song abruptly. A mash of the chorus and verses was placed after the bridge, then I slowly removed instruments through the Outro, leading to the same end with the xylophone playing 1 note :)
***
Now on to what else I did this week:
SPREADING OUT OF SOUND
Learnt that we should not apply Stereo Spread (shortcut: X!) on lower frequencies. I spread the fills and rhythms out, but kept the melodies centred. However, I did not know how else to spread the sound out and it still sounded very cluttered. Other than the bass, everything else was playing in the mid-range frequency.
During project review, Dr. Hess showed me how to solve that problem: transposition. We moved the classic trance instrument (instrument playing the arpeggiated melody) an octave (I think?) higher. And that not only added interest in the higher frequencies but also removed a huge chunk from the middle frequencies. Perfect.
MORE SPREADING OUT + CLEANING UP
Initially, I had the classic trance playing throughout the song as I thought I needed a common theme throughout the whole song to tie it together (back when I was struggling with the very bipolar sounding sections). However, since I have fixed that weird sound with a consistent bass, it was not necessary to have the classic trance playing throughout. Dr. Hess suggested to remove it from the 'chorus'. This also makes the piece MUCH cleaner and easy to follow -I'm keeping the removal.
However, with the removal, the flow from verse/chorus was a little abrupt so I did the reverse cymbals trick suggested, which I learn from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LVjn-vggAk
CHORUS MELODY
Finally, added one more synth that carries the melody in the chorus section. (Simple melody that is of the same theme as the arpeggiated classic trance).
ETC.
Chorus drums: had this really weird 'doink' kick bass sound. I finally figured out how to remove it but I don't really know what I was altering. In the provided drummers, under the "Kick, Snare & Claps" bar, I reduced it from 6 to 5, and the ugly 'doink' sound was gone. But what was that changing?
Anyway, I will post my music up soon :)
Monday, October 3, 2016
Week 8
Song: Draft 5
Mixed up the bass. And I changed the bass to have the same chord progression throughout the song. So hopefully it's less bipolar sounding.
Mixing
Reverb
Compressor -> Drums and Guitars
Delays
EQ
Side-chain compressor on a pad -> pumping sounds
Side-chain compressor kick drum on a bass guitar -> cuts off compressor on guitar for a brief moment for drums to come in (share frequency space so that they can both sound 'equally' loud).
Mixed up the bass. And I changed the bass to have the same chord progression throughout the song. So hopefully it's less bipolar sounding.
Mixing
Reverb
Compressor -> Drums and Guitars
Delays
EQ
Side-chain compressor on a pad -> pumping sounds
Side-chain compressor kick drum on a bass guitar -> cuts off compressor on guitar for a brief moment for drums to come in (share frequency space so that they can both sound 'equally' loud).
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Week 7
Week 7 updates!
I tried to make the 2 sections match a little bit more with more common themes in both sections. I don't know if it works or if it became too noisy. I removed/softened most of the "old themes" from way before event he first draft so I could add those new themes. Do I have to change the chord progression totally?? :O
It's really interesting though how we create a sound or two at the start and end up not using them at all.... Yet, the piece actually stemmed from those removed themes. Even though it sounds nothing like the first idea, writing one part led to the next, which led to the current, where it was only right to remove the starting themes.
***
I added a second bass to have greater depth at the lower freq, and just more power in my piece.
Then I worked on the EQ. This is probably the most amazing part in terms of hearing the change of sound!! I realised most of my instruments were going way over the dB limit and by simply changing the EQ, I actually had to decrease the volume controls back into the "normal -3 to -6 dB range". In fact, some are going way below -6. will that cause other kinds of problems?
The bass and xylophones especially became much clearer and like what I wanted.
***
I really like my group mate's Tze Yuan's dance piece so I'm happy I got to learn some effects from him. Like using Big Room GB to create drum hits and adding MIDI FX. I haven't figured where to put drum beats, and my music is getting full already, so I don't know if I still want to add kick drums for a more 'dance' feel. Hmm... Anyway this is what's up for now (draft 4 because 3 was not good).
P.s. Going to listen to it after a day or two and decide if it's too noisy and if I should remove the effects...
P.s.s. Andddd I changed the ending :) I think it's interesting like this but if it is too weird, please let me know. Thank you!
I tried to make the 2 sections match a little bit more with more common themes in both sections. I don't know if it works or if it became too noisy. I removed/softened most of the "old themes" from way before event he first draft so I could add those new themes. Do I have to change the chord progression totally?? :O
It's really interesting though how we create a sound or two at the start and end up not using them at all.... Yet, the piece actually stemmed from those removed themes. Even though it sounds nothing like the first idea, writing one part led to the next, which led to the current, where it was only right to remove the starting themes.
***
I added a second bass to have greater depth at the lower freq, and just more power in my piece.
Then I worked on the EQ. This is probably the most amazing part in terms of hearing the change of sound!! I realised most of my instruments were going way over the dB limit and by simply changing the EQ, I actually had to decrease the volume controls back into the "normal -3 to -6 dB range". In fact, some are going way below -6. will that cause other kinds of problems?
The bass and xylophones especially became much clearer and like what I wanted.
***
I really like my group mate's Tze Yuan's dance piece so I'm happy I got to learn some effects from him. Like using Big Room GB to create drum hits and adding MIDI FX. I haven't figured where to put drum beats, and my music is getting full already, so I don't know if I still want to add kick drums for a more 'dance' feel. Hmm... Anyway this is what's up for now (draft 4 because 3 was not good).
P.s. Going to listen to it after a day or two and decide if it's too noisy and if I should remove the effects...
P.s.s. Andddd I changed the ending :) I think it's interesting like this but if it is too weird, please let me know. Thank you!
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Week 6 - Updates
Did:
-Re chose a few instruments
-Added a line for the verses because of mismatch previously.
Here's the latest update!
Need to do:
Add more bass/double bass and make it more interesting.
So I have decided to use the Echo Lead even though it's a very staccato lead...
Problem: I wanted to do electronic music but I think it's far from it (ohno! hahaha)
-Re chose a few instruments
-Added a line for the verses because of mismatch previously.
Here's the latest update!
Need to do:
Add more bass/double bass and make it more interesting.
So I have decided to use the Echo Lead even though it's a very staccato lead...
Problem: I wanted to do electronic music but I think it's far from it (ohno! hahaha)
Week 6
See Draft 1 for latest updates as documented in the last post. Thanks!
The lead used here was Pharoah's Lead. But still deciding!
Drums
Base, Snare - accents (1 - 2 - 3 - 4)
Hi-hat - time feel and keeper
The lead used here was Pharoah's Lead. But still deciding!
Drums
Base, Snare - accents (1 - 2 - 3 - 4)
Hi-hat - time feel and keeper
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Week 5
Two notable things I did last week:
The first was to complete the pre-chorus and chorus. With this I have the intro | verse 1 | verse 2 | pre-chorus | chorus.
I now have a melody line in the pre-chorus/chorus but the choice of instrument still bugs me... At first I used the Echo Bass, and I rather like the sound, but it is kind of a inappropriate lead? However, I have not been able to find wind instruments (as discussed in class) that seem to fit the sound of the piece. I will report what instrument I've decided on on Thursday together with the upload of the latest song. (Sorry, I did not manage to save the file and will only be back in the lab Thursday!!!)
In the added sections, I have also tried out the call-and-response technique. At first I used the guitar and flute combination like in my reference song. But the flute sounded too full compared to my other instruments :( I switched to a Xylophone variation instead.
Secondly, I cut a few (quite many) things from the earlier parts. E.g. with the introduction of the ultrabeat drums, the introduction pad sounded extremely weird and mismatched. But I like the beats over the sustained pad, so I'm scrapping the pad!
I also cut one instrument in the second verse (the one that originally had clashes back in week 3).
However... because the method I wrote the verses vs the chorus was different, the two parts are extremely mismatched now. I need to do something about that for sure. Recap: the verses were random ideas while the chorus was done after I did the bass.
Working from bottom up was definitely the "right way" for a starter like me. I spent considerably less time creating a melody + rhythm in the right key than struggling to create everything else from the melody line alone. So perhaps it'll be better to just rewrite the verses in this "right way" that worked for me.
***
Finally, I changed the 3 4 time in the chorus back to 4 4 time.
I will be duplicating what I have based on my earlier proposed form. In the interest on time, the outro may be cut or kept very basic, and what I have will be the working file for production.
I also looked at this sound designer talking about music production and the creative aspect of music production (which was what I struggled with most). As he mentions in the video, most 'tutorials' are done after a song has been produced, so they skip discussing the creative process and making decisions, but focus on what to do to create x and y sounds. He also mentions not touching EQ (automation etc.) that should be left to the mixing stage.
These all overlap with what you have discussed in class/your advice to me.
After listening to his song, I concluded it has similarities to my reference song.
- Having a simple distinct /contrasting sound (water droplet / gun load sounds)
- Having breaks between verses/chorus
- A phrase repeated (the scale sound)
I would like (when I get to mixing) to try out 2 or all 3 techniques in my music to keep interest.
***
Class notes:
Mixing
Sub-bass: double the bass, not too loud
EQ: Volume control for frequencies
1. Graphic EQ: E.g. Room EQ
2. Parametric EQ:
- Center Frequency (Hz): The peak
- Gain ( + / - )
- Q (width): how many decibels (dB) to decrease/increase
-- lower it: width is wider (think plateau)
-- increase it: width is narrow (think sharp peak)
3. Shewing EQ
4. Filters
- Hi pass filter
- Lo pass filter
The first was to complete the pre-chorus and chorus. With this I have the intro | verse 1 | verse 2 | pre-chorus | chorus.
I now have a melody line in the pre-chorus/chorus but the choice of instrument still bugs me... At first I used the Echo Bass, and I rather like the sound, but it is kind of a inappropriate lead? However, I have not been able to find wind instruments (as discussed in class) that seem to fit the sound of the piece. I will report what instrument I've decided on on Thursday together with the upload of the latest song. (Sorry, I did not manage to save the file and will only be back in the lab Thursday!!!)
In the added sections, I have also tried out the call-and-response technique. At first I used the guitar and flute combination like in my reference song. But the flute sounded too full compared to my other instruments :( I switched to a Xylophone variation instead.
Secondly, I cut a few (quite many) things from the earlier parts. E.g. with the introduction of the ultrabeat drums, the introduction pad sounded extremely weird and mismatched. But I like the beats over the sustained pad, so I'm scrapping the pad!
I also cut one instrument in the second verse (the one that originally had clashes back in week 3).
However... because the method I wrote the verses vs the chorus was different, the two parts are extremely mismatched now. I need to do something about that for sure. Recap: the verses were random ideas while the chorus was done after I did the bass.
Working from bottom up was definitely the "right way" for a starter like me. I spent considerably less time creating a melody + rhythm in the right key than struggling to create everything else from the melody line alone. So perhaps it'll be better to just rewrite the verses in this "right way" that worked for me.
***
Finally, I changed the 3 4 time in the chorus back to 4 4 time.
I will be duplicating what I have based on my earlier proposed form. In the interest on time, the outro may be cut or kept very basic, and what I have will be the working file for production.
I also looked at this sound designer talking about music production and the creative aspect of music production (which was what I struggled with most). As he mentions in the video, most 'tutorials' are done after a song has been produced, so they skip discussing the creative process and making decisions, but focus on what to do to create x and y sounds. He also mentions not touching EQ (automation etc.) that should be left to the mixing stage.
These all overlap with what you have discussed in class/your advice to me.
After listening to his song, I concluded it has similarities to my reference song.
- Having a simple distinct /contrasting sound (water droplet / gun load sounds)
- Having breaks between verses/chorus
- A phrase repeated (the scale sound)
I would like (when I get to mixing) to try out 2 or all 3 techniques in my music to keep interest.
***
Class notes:
Mixing
Sub-bass: double the bass, not too loud
EQ: Volume control for frequencies
1. Graphic EQ: E.g. Room EQ
2. Parametric EQ:
- Center Frequency (Hz): The peak
- Gain ( + / - )
- Q (width): how many decibels (dB) to decrease/increase
-- lower it: width is wider (think plateau)
-- increase it: width is narrow (think sharp peak)
3. Shewing EQ
4. Filters
- Hi pass filter
- Lo pass filter
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