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[itsclaudies]

Advanced Digital Techniques - Psychedelic Remix

Preface

To say that this was one of my most challenging works to date would be an understatement. I have never been more confused or critical on myself than in the process of creating this piece. As a vocalist who prides herself on her melody and toplining skills at first glance this piece was daunting and overwhelming. I had initially thought that this work had to be along the lines of more of a soundscape/experimental instrumental piece after listening to the provided exemplars, meaning I got super in my own head about the whole thing stunting my ability for creative ideas. Ultimately, after around 5 reworkings, I am happy with the piece I've created, and although it's not perfect and leaves much to be desired, after the strain that went into it I am proud of the final result.

Sample Choice

I chose to work with a recent meme, a clip of Dr Umar speaking into the camera about "haters" and "plans":

I landed on this specific sample as music theory is not my strong suit and I believed that I would be able to be more creative and explore more without the initial stress of working around a melodic sample.

Day One

I decided to start my piece by allowing the sample, after EQing to remove the background and white noise of the video, to play all of the way through as an introduction to allow the listener to become familiar with the features of the sample. I found a drum breakbeat sample and added it as the main rhythmic element of the track leaving it raw to the original sound. I additionally loaded the sample into the Logic Quick Sampler and messed around with chops from the audio before feeling satisfied with the rhythm I had created from it. When loading Quick Sampler, before entering an audio file the default sound of the tool appeared, a plonky yet silky sounding synth element, which I added a quick riff using.

Day Two

Today, I found, threw me majorly off track, I started this session off with a listening session to try and find inspiration and gain ideas. I began with the main inspiration, DJ Shadow's 'Endtroducing.....' Album, specifically focusing on the track 'Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt'.

I became obsessed with finding samples like DJ Shadow, especially his rich vocal sampling and decided to delve into that. I found Rose Royce's 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore' and became enthralled, immediately buying the track so I could have the highest audio quality possible.

Instead of going straight to vocal sampling, I started messing around with the initial synth bass sound at the beginning of the track, putting it into the quick sampler and playing alternate rhythms. From this I became super overwhelmed and upset as I couldn't figure out how to add instruments and sounds that complimented the melodic elements of the sample and decided to scrap the new track altogether.

Day Three

After taking a bit of a break from the assignment I decided to continue on from my piece featuring Dr Umar. Today I added in a deep subby synth bass to create the initial atmospherics, alongside a high ghost-like synth pad to begin the addition of layers and "good dirt" within the piece. I also decided to add a B section, featuring midi guitar, a pluck synth, bass, another synth pad, the initial drum loop and a reworking of the plonky quick sampler preset.

This is an mp3 of this first draft.

Day Four

Today I struggled majorly with instrumental inspiration and decided that I wouldn't be able to successfully progress without adding a vocal element. I listened to the track and recorded whatever sounds popped into my head, resulting in the sound of me repeating the word "run". I then recorded 4 harmonic layers to accompany this melody, as well as putting the track through the vocal preset 'box talking' which resulted in my voice being transformed into a wah sound. I also ran my first recording through quick sampler and layered the vocal through hitting one of the chops creating a doubling effect which sounds natural at first, then by hitting an additional note creates a somewhat robotic sound to combat the future reverb of the tracks. I also added in some 80s preset synth chords to complement this new vocal section and changed the drums to a different drum loop I found in order to create more contrast with the B section.

A 2nd draft mp3.

Day 5

Today I received the feedback to look into alternate rhythms for different elements as everything was very much on the 1st beat, try making the B section seem as though it was a vinyl rip and try to utilise more samples. I additionally delved into a listen of The Avalanches trying to find inspiration within their use of samples. I went on Splice to find suitable samples but first ended up finding them all in the wrong key, then once I found ones in Am I couldn't manage to make flex in Logic work effectively, and if I did the specific samples sounded too distorted to be usable.

Day 6

Today I focused on alternative rhythms, trying to create elements on the offbeat. I also noted that my keys for different instruments were all over the place and weren't meshing, so I spent time amending that. I created a bass riff for the 1st section of the track that I loved and shifted it to start on the 2nd beat and it worked incredibly. I also worked on creating a plethora of rhythms in the B section. I figured the easiest way to do this through my skill sets was to use my voice, so I created 3 melodic rhythms and accompanied each with 1 harmony to create a giant wall of sound along the lines of psychedelia. I also attempted to make the instrumental for this section sound like a sample itself, I bounced the section and reuploaded it as its audio file, then attached it to a sample of vinyl crackling found on splice to make it seem like a vinyl rip.

Day 7

The middle section of the piece still felt so awkward and bare so I decided to turn this into a new B section, and the previous B section turning into the C section. After finding out the assignment could be any style of music I wanted I decided to turn this section into a pop interlude with lyrics driving the song to the final section and to make the piece sound wholistic. I found a guitar sample that I loved in a different key so I opted to turn this into a key change section. I wrote the melody and lyrics alongside the guitar and drums alone then added harmony. I found that the transition into the new section was too awkward so I came across a sample of a 911 operator and paired it with a dark pad synth for atmospherics which then shifts into the new key. I found a cool synth lead that I liked and created a small riff with it and drenched it in reverb then copied this same riff into the original synth bass midi preset. For the drum break in this section I put the drum loop into quick sampler and played the hit of the kick/bass in the loop to keep the rhythmic depth and momentum.

Day 8

Today was mixing day. I went in and EQed all of my vocals, bussing them each to different levels of reverb using the Neoverb plugin.

I also bussed the bass riff in the A section to some reverb. For any intense vocal layering I placed them in a summing stack and added compression to the stack in an attempt to make them sound 'glued' together. I attempted to make the vinyl rip in the final section sound more gritty and low-fi by putting it through bitcrusher creating a real crunching sound in contrast to the flowing reverb filled vocal layering.

I also decided to add a quick echo on my sample as it transitions into the final section of the track. For the synth re-added in the final section I automated it through a guitar amp to give it a sense of distortion, this happens in conjunction with automated panning so as the amp turns on and off the synth moves around. I just discovered binaural panning today so I went to town with it, trying to move the vocals in the final section around especially to create a surrounding of sound to the best of my abilities, along with rotating the first synth pad in section A around the space.

[itsclaudies]

Introduction To Digital Music Techniques - Choose Your Own Adventure

Option 4

For the creation of this piece I already had an idea for a track, but the final product ended as a completely different track with a completely different vibe. I began this piece with a voice memo recording of a song I had written a few weeks earlier, it consisted of a Beabadoobee inspired soft alternative rock guitar track where the focus was on the strumming pattern and the track’s overall simplicity.

I really struggled with the transferring of my original voice memo demo to a properly recorded and produced track with multiple elements outside of purely vocals and guitar. Firstly I had trouble with recording the guitar track, I couldn’t get it to sound clear or texturally pleasant, re-recording it over 5 times and still being unsuccessful. To try and expand the interest and depth of the track I attempted to create a bassline. I still wanted it to be played live and sound authentic despite not owning an actual bass so I wrote it using the bass strings on my guitar. From there I attempted a first recording of my vocals on my mic at home.

Original Voice Recording

Just before showing my draft to Damien I removed the initial guitar track as I genuinely could not make it work as hard as I tried but kept the bass track which ended up working amazingly. Damien mentioned a tactic to enhance the bass sound further, by doubling the track, pitching the double down an octave and adding a plate reverb to it which I applied and loved so I kept it as the main focal point of the track. From here on I referred to ‘Love’ by Lana Del Rey as inspiration for how to transfer the sounds and atmosphere of this track to a digital, fully produced product, noting the similarities of the prominent bass. I was really intrigued how this track managed to remain so simplistic with the focal point being mainly on vocals and the bassline yet managed to grow, change and develop organically and create such a rich and depth filled atmosphere. 

From here I knew I had to add elements to expand the layering, or ‘layer cake orchestration’ of the piece so I looked towards full midi sounds and synth pads. I found a vocal pad synth called Dream Voice and a sound called Dark Pad and used the vocal pad to follow the original chord progression whilst utilised the Dark Pad to create a subtle alternate melody. Also inspired by the Lana Del Rey track, I employed the use of a midi string ensemble to add a richness behind the original melody and drive the piece forward. I also added some subtle higher frequency elements such as a synth twinkle and a long drone held on the note B to add depth to the accompaniment. 

I wanted to utilise my voice as an instrument so I added a lot of layering through harmonies and doubling. For the main vocal line I wanted to keep it thinner for the initial part of the track as the instrumentation was thinner as well, then as the accompaniment grew I moved to doubling the track, along with bussing the two lines through some reverb. I kept the harmonies simple in the first movement of the song, only using them to slightly embellish certain lines, but once I move into the bridge and final chorus I utilise the harmonies to create a large build and final break within the piece. 

By far the hardest element of the piece to get right were the drums, in fact I'm still not completely satisfied with them. Since the track consists of a slower pace I really struggled with finding the place for drums, however I knew that without them it would feel as though something was lacking within the piece. I found it very hard to get the drum track to stay in time with my recordings, my self entered hits were sounding ever so slightly off but quantising them just made them worse. Eventually I managed to get the hits as close as possible. For the final build of the piece I decided I needed a heavy and intense drum fill to top the track off so I resorted to the logic digital drummer track and after having a dilemma over how none of them were fitting quite right landed on a final beat that I feel completes the feeling of the piece.

Overall I had a lot of trial and error with this piece, from being unsure of how to properly execute my initiation vision, to slight digital mishaps, and eventually coming to a complete work. I definitely believe overall it could be executed better and sound more professional, but based upon my current skill level and creative experimentation I am quite happy with how it turned out.

Bass & Vocal Layers

(vocals were compressed together used the track stack)

All Other Layers

SoundCloud Link

[itsclaudies]

Introduction to Digital Music Techniques - Submission 1

For this project, "Mess You've Made" I really struggled to come up with a starting point for my song. I wracked my mind for ideas traversing through the loops library and past demos unable to find a sound that would let my inspiration start flowing. Overall I amassed 2 extremely rough songs and one final piece for this submission. I found the idea of total creative freedom in alliance with permission to utilise the loops library more overwhelming and stagnating than anything but eventually came up with a chord progression that I then built the track around. 

Inspiration

After finally gaining the momentum I found elements within these specific songs linked in the Spotify playlist as pieces of inspiration for areas of my track. 

The overarching theme of the piece is a bittersweet longing for someone. I took the initial atmosphere from the opening of ‘Cold Summer’ and its eerie strings, paired with lyrics within its chorus “Are you gonna stay for me, no… are you gonna wait for me, no” to prepare for the feeling of being let down in your longing that I wanted to channel.

The majority of the tracks involve fun synth based melodic ideas and progressions, especially within ‘Ring of Past’ and ‘Deserve Me’. Along with this, in ‘Ring of Past’ I really found myself drawn to its funky and full bass line which I then attempted to implement in my own work. On the other hand with ‘Deserve Me’ I additionally liked the fleshy harmonies within the vocal elements that round out the piece. 

For ‘Honeymoon’ I really enjoyed the experimental and dynamic drums and percussive elements, and within ‘Breakfast In Bed’ I really found myself drawn to the rhythmic nature of the vocals as well as the high brass elements that act as exclamation points within the piece.

Structure

For the structure of the piece I found myself following the flows of the music as I personally felt that it would occur.

I would describe the piece as having an A B C D C D structure as outlined in the picture below. I wanted the work to result in a climax and found that with building the elements up piece by piece then finally merging ideas from alternating sections together as a finale I would be able to achieve that whilst still maintaining the structural integrity and melodic flow of the piece.

Elements

I began the piece with a Dm, C, Am, Bflat chord progression and paired it with the 80s Sine Synth preset on Logic as inspired by the synth elements of the list of songs mentioned earlier. 

I paired this with the use of the Roland TR-909 drum machine on the DAW to add the driving rhythmic elements of the piece. I liked the sound of this drum machine as its a commonly used drum sound that contains elements that keep it interesting. 

As inspired by ‘Ring of Past’ I then added in a full sounding moving bass to assist in the lower range of the piece and add a new melodic progression.

I followed this with writing and adding my vocal lines into the work. I usually enjoy adding harmonies to songs to emphasise specific areas and add dynamics to the work which I did implement in this piece, however I’m not sure whether I would deem these harmonies fully successful or not. 

With the vocals I toyed with the EQ until I found levels I thought sounded good with my voice, as well as adding reverb in order to make them feel less dry and more full. I additionally distorted an adlib leading into section C/D for artistic effect.

After this I felt stumped again as I wanted the piece to have more depth and feel fuller so I searched through the loops library and found the ‘Brazilian Sun Zambuma’ which lined up well with my rhythmic vocals in Section B.

Drawing back to ‘Breakfast In Bed’, I then added a simple high synth horn pad progression which I found to be very grounding within the piece and I feel acts as the string that ties the piece together, connecting the contrasting sections with a sense of simplistic familiarity.

Finally I added an extra synth in the present ‘Autumn Haze’ to act as the layer that glues the elements together, following the chord progression of the initial synth line but adding a reverberated atmospheric element alongside it. I then made it consistently pan from left to right throughout the piece to create movement and further depth.

SOUNDCLOUD LINK