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callumjones345096-blog · 5 years ago

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Development Blog:

This blog contains my entries I wrote down in Pages along the 6 weeks of planning and performing this project, I hope you enjoy the process!

Week 1: Concept/History

For this week, I am looking into inspiration and history behind my project, so that when I get to the construction and development of my sonic performance, I will be comfortable with the elements & effects I will use.

“Music in this genre consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass parts (this stripped down track is sometimes referred to as a ‘riddim’)”. (https://www.dubwisefestival.com/history-of-dub/)

https://wordsbywatts.com.au/2017/07/24/musicology-the-history-of-dub-mixing-techniques-part-1/ : This article by user ‘BIGGALEXWATTS’ talks about the techniques behind a standard Dub Mix, which is very useful for me as it gives me multiple elements to work on when preparing my dub mix.

The idea for my project is that I plan on creating a dub mix/remix of one of my own songs, however without using the expensive equipment that I can’t reach out towards during this time. To turn this project into a performance, I want to take inspiration from the techniques used in a standard dub mix and implement the techniques to a MIDI Controller. This could benefit my live performance skills in the future if I wanted to go down that path.

Week 2: MIDI

For this week, I am going to look at the controller I will be using to perform my dub mix on. Unfortunately due to lockdown, I cannot use equipment that I would have wanted, however this gives me a better challenge to create something with limitations. I will be using the Akai MPK Mini controller, which includes 8 pads and 8 knobs as you can see below:

If I was going to do a standard dub mix, I would have a control for volumes of tracks, an FX knob for reverb and an FX Knob for Delays & maybe one for delay time/speed. However I will have to be clever with how I approach this with the limitations I have with this controller.

I am going to use the bottom row of drum pads as my reverbs on 4 bus tracks, which means that how hard I press the pad will determine how much reverb gets put into the mix, this will also be the same for the delay mix on the top row of drum pads. The bottom row will be used for volume amount and then the top row for the delay time/speed of the 4 tracks.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2Roh_J2EsQ): I like this performance here uploaded on Youtube by Steppas Records. In this video, the performer is using Ableton as his chosen DAW to put FX into, then using an Akai Midi Mix as his chosen controller to perform the mix on. I won’t be able to copy this performance because I use Logic Pro X as my DAW and have the Akai MPK Midi, however I will be able to take inspiration with some of the techniques used here in this performance.

Week 3: Track Development

I want to approach the track to where I’m constantly thinking about my 4 tracks I want to modulate for my performance, the Bass, Drums, Synths & any other SFX. The track is a smooth Dubstep tune that is dominated by the bass and softened out by its synths. When I get to perform this, I want to modulate the drums and Synths with some cool delays and reverbs to get that dub mix style. I will probably leave out my kick in the fx chain so it doesn’t disrupt the rest of the mix.

Week 4: Preparation

Now that I am happy with how the track sounds without the dub mix, as if it was a standard tune, I am ready to start preparation with my mix. I am going roughly mix down my track first so I don’t clip anything during my performance, which then I can tweak after the performance for viewing. My 4 chosen buses that I will automate will now be made and the tracks will be sent over to its appropriate bus.

For the delays, I will be using the Stock Tape Delay Plug-In that’s available on Logic Pro X. The reason behind this is because I am most comfortable with understanding how this plug-in affects a signal because of the amount of times I have used it in previous works. The reverbs I will be using the Convology XT plug-in by Impulse Record (https://impulserecord.com/convology-xt/) as it contains some really nice spring reverbs that would be suitable for this style dub mix.

I am also going to hook the FX up to its appropriate MIDI Control so that its all ready for Week 5 and 6 when the track is ready to be performed.

Week 5&6: Practice & Record

Now I am all set up and ready to practice my composition, this would be a great time to start finding certain points where I want to use my delays and reverbs, so that I am comfortable with the whole performance and that It would be consistent if I was in a situation where this would be performed in front of a crowd. I noticed that there were some elements that made the track too muddy and overkill when the FX were added on top so along the way I took out those tracks in the FX chain and left them as they were

Once I am all comfortable with the track and performing it several times. I am now ready to record the dub mix. The track will then be recorded by Quicktime Player, with assistance from Loopback Player to capture the sounds coming from my DAW. This may take multiple attempts, then I can look back on the certain mixes and see which track I like most.

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