Learning Journal (WEEK 6 - AUM162)

DATA

Project 1

REFLECTION

A post-mortem on the mini midi instrumental I created by using the brief's requirements. I decided to call the composition Journey, as this is the first midi piece of project music, I have completed for an assessment that I have put in creative musical ideas, rather than online exercises.

Journey

Just a quick simple recap on the project. Get 3 small motifs -1 drums,1- bass, and 1- melody from 3 different song genres and create a composition.

I used:

1. Under Pressure - Queen’s bass guitar riff

2. Gimme All Your Lovin’ - ZZ Top’s drums rhythm

3. California - Big & Rich’s vocal melody

Transcribing the parts into the DAW with midi or analogy.

I decided it was a great opportunity for me to explore the midi world and challenge myself to learn a new skill in composition writing. I really enjoyed project 1 and having a chance to try out different technical midi skills.

The midi skills I learnt:

1. Use midi keyboard to transcribe music parts into DAW

2. How to create a simple drum rhythm.

3. Create melodies with midi

4. Create harmonies to melody

5. Quantization of midi notes

6. Create different rhythmic feels

7. Transposing melody lines

The midi skills I learned: to learn about midi, but now I have a good foundation to start from. I’m looking forward to incorporating midi into the next project I do.

Composition – Journey

I wanted to create a composition that would reflect a little on my personality and my creative passion for the arts in general.

Verses

I wanted the verses to sound more like a rock band and since we were asked to use a minor and a major, I went straight to the dark side with the minor chord first.

Bass Guitar

By using E minor, it gave the opportunity to use the bass guitar riff from the Queen song ‘Under Pressure’ and create a simple melody around the E minor chord.

Drums

ZZ Top’s drum pattern was great for an anchored rhythmic beat. I quantized the beat and brought the drums beat forward 1/64th. I think it gives the drums a little bit of lift and creates some drive.

Keyboards

I created a keyboard riff that would give the E minor section a little bit of personality and help support the lead melody.

Melody

In the melody, I created variations on the theme/motif, so it didn’t sound too boring. I used a rock distortion guitar midi sound, so it gave the impression that it was a rocking out. I experiment with the notes and timing, to make it a little more interesting for the listener.

Chorus

The chorus is in D major and it directly modulates from E minor to D Major, so I could create a feeling of the composition lifting upwards. I really wanted to explore my Country genre roots here and have the melody feel like it was going to another level. That’s why I picked Big & Rich song ‘California’ and it’s Country cool.

Drums

I altered the drum pattern so it was not so rocky and would fit better with the feel of the melody. I also added a different drums sound to change the drum aesthetics and to fit into the country feel, like a nice crackin’ snare drum for example. I quantized the drums and placed it directly on the first beat of the bar. This gives the drums a layback feel.

Bass Guitar

I played a typical country bass guitar melody and used the midi plugin Xpand!2 for its fingerstyle bass sound. I didn’t quantize the bass guitar as I wanted a more realist feel on the bass guitar. I doubled it to see if I could get a fuller sound and depth to the notes. I also added little compression. (I’m still learning how to create better sound).

Keyboards

For the chorus keyboard sound, I chose an organ sample that could imitate an organ being played in a church or using a Leslie speaker. The organ sound I wanted, was to sit in the background, and I think it really helps to support the viola and violins with its block chords.

Strings

Just had to have a crack at using a string section for the chorus. I used violins and a viola to imitate fiddles sort of. Starting with a single line at the beginning of the chorus and breaking into harmonies halfway through to the end of the chorus. (I am thinking of doing a refresher course of my fourth-grade theory knowledge, which is a good 3 decades ago since I pasted it. I’ve forgotten some of the basic rules, so l need to revise the basic building blocks and then start moving up the grades, so I can create better music).

Conclusion

I really enjoyed doing this project. I used it as a preparation tool to see how I would go just using midi. I personally feel a lot more confident with midi, even though there is still a long way to go in the midi world journey of excellence, but at least I’ve touched the basics.

I’ve never transcribed before and I found it a real challenge to do the melodies, drum patterns, and the bass guitar. They all have their own little different tasks to overcome and learn from. The hardest melody to transcribe was Big & Rich’s song California, it took a little bit longer to do. I know it’s not perfect, so I know have a personal challenge to improve on this skill for the next project.

This project also gave me an opportunity to practice my mixing and mastering skills, which is an ongoing learning curve. I only wanted to use little compression, so I wouldn’t lose the feel and vibe of the midi instruments. I’m still learning about the correct gain workflow and how I should approach midi to get the best out of the virtual instruments. The strings need to be worked on as l find the levels are too extreme at the moment. I put light compression on the strings to try to keep the dB levels roughly the same.

Just want to say, it’s been a great learning curve for me.