"Better Things to Do"

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Here we go. First real track. Let me know what you think.

Untitled DnB Track, incomplete

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Alright, this isn't fully mixed and mastered, but it's the latest I have out now. Enjoy.

Something new I'm working on

Here's a clip of what I'm working on while on guitar hiatus; it needs to be fleshed out some, and it's unmixed right now, but it's getting there.

Loamy - Final Project

I used three programs for my final project - Logic, RadiaL, and Reason. Overall, the track does not have strictly defined sections, but can be roughly divided into a beginning, theme, alternate section, reprise, and ending. The entire song is synthesis-based - I used no non-original samples, and only one original sample (created from other parts of the track itself).
I started this song with a long note from a slow-building pad. The tempo begins at 190 BPM. Next, I introduce the main pattern used throughout the song. The pad dies, and the pattern continues. Next, a drum 'n bass type drum pattern enters - it is tight and compressed, but not distorted. I use noise sweeps (produced using a Reason softsynth) and snare drum rolls to introduce new sections - an element borrowed from trance, even though most of the track sounds more D'n'B (probably due to the drums). Another trance-like element is the lead synthesizer, which sounds like a trance synthesizer.
After this, I introduce an acoustic piano; this gives a sound somewhat reminiscent of early 90's rave music. In this section, I include several parts of silence, before introducing the main theme and a bass pad over the piano with drums added later. Next, most instruments drop out as the piano gives a short introduction to an alternate lead pattern. I add in the bass line again, and then a different drum pattern.
Following this, the main line enters again. first with a 4/4 kick and next a full drum pattern with the bass pad. This phrase shifts up two keys. I put a sample from the B-flat section through RadiaL and recorded this loop as I increased the tempo until it reached roughly the key of D. I put this sample back into Logic and fade it out in the D-section as a D-note from the lead pad enters again, with a half-speed drum pad. The music plays at half speed for a short time, then the key shifts up a half-step to E-flat and the tempo goes up to 220 BPM. The drum also gets much faster, with a rapidly pulsing bass drum. A new pad is introduced (one with a shorter attack time than the original lead pad, which would not do at such a high tempo) which plays a very fast trill over the bass and drums.
After this, the main riff and 4/4 pattern play again, gradually slowing down from 220 to 190 BPM. The main theme with all instruments plays again, followed by the alternate theme (this time with the piano under it as well). Next, all the instruments drop out except for the lead and bass. Finally, the main pad introduces a short outtro. To the entire track, I applied reverb and boosted the higher frequencies somewhat.

Review of "Invaders Must Die" by The Prodigy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2-VF9u24F4

This song is not incredibly novel or groundbreaking in sound. However, it contains several song elements that have worked well in previous The Prodigy song, and combines them well. The song opens with a low, rhythmically pulsing bass, and quickly adds in other synthesizers that layer in. The scale seems to be minor pentatonic - simple and rock-like, nothing too out of the ordinary in the melodic department. Most of the melodic lines are very similar, meaning that there is nothing out of the ordinary but also nothing distracting from the song as a whole. The break sampled is also not incredibly complex, but in this case it works because it is complex enough to attract interest but not completely steal attention from other musical lines.
The form is mostly standard for a big beat song - the intro is short and quickly introduces the main song (no long trance-like buildup here). There is a drop shortly, an altered version of the main rhythm, another drop, a short reprise of the theme, and a quick outtro. The song keeps the intensity level mostly constant, the drops being short and not too different from the main sections.
This song uses a mix of sampled and synthesized instruments. The drum is most likely sampled, with significant distortion added - the drums sound grainy and lo-fi. The bassline and higher melody aspects are likely synthesized, as they sound very artificial, but it is possible that some variants of the bassline are provided by sampled and distorted bass guitars. In the middle register, much of the melody seems to be provided by sampled and distorted (and possibly compressed) guitar.
Overall judgement: Though this song is nothing new, memorable, or exceptional for The Prodigy, it is nonetheless a very enjoyable song to listen to.

Assignment 4 - Genre Specific (Techno) - Clockwork (Minimal)

I used Logic alone to create this track. The first half has a minimal techno sound - I tried to keep the number of individual lines of music low, and created a beat by using only clicks and a staccato synthesizer playing only in octaves at first, gradually adding quiet and tight drum sounds. There are a few deviations from standard techno form here - the tempo is a bit faster than usual (but still very close to the average techno song) and I added a synthesized clarinet section in the first half (this instrument usually does is not used in techno music). For the second part, I created a more standard techno track. The instruments used here are all standard techno instruments - a punchy compressed and distorted drum machine, obviously synthesized leads and pads used to create syncopated rhythms rather than melody, and a harmonic pad. The drum pattern begins with a 4/4 tight kick pattern and adds in open hi-hats on the off-beats and syncopated claps. The song ends with a redux of the original melodic line, which is just a C-note played at different octaves.

Final Project Proposal

I am not sure what genre my final project will be in. However, I plan to sample my own guitar playing and process this sound in the composition. I will be experimenting with altering guitar sounds to see what kinds of other sounds I can draw out of a raw sound. I am also considering using samples of other instruments, such as piano, but I am not as sure about that. Additionally, I plan to take samples of my own voice and either add effects or run them through a vocoder into a synthesizer. That said, I am not sure whether to include "lyrics" in the sense of a number of different phrases rather than a few words repeated.
I will likely have a distorted drum sound - I like this sound. However, I am still undecided as to whether I want simple or complex drum beats (I initially thought my 1-min Reason project would have complex drum beats, but they ended up being very simple, a change which I felt worked better). I will probably program drums using samples from ReCycle or Logic, as I found the ReDrum interface a bit cumbersome. The piece will likely not have verse-chorus structure, as many of my previously-written pieces do not. Overall, I think my project will end up taking the feel of a rock piece which happens to be done in an electronic medium, rather than a piece in a distinctly electronic genre.