DJ Rehearsal

Composition commentary

Songwriting 1
This was very difficult to mix because i had lots of different samples. i was influenced by Haitus Kayote and Flying Lotus. The first sample I Used was from the Haitus Kayote song Breathing underwater. i wanted to create a very atmospheric vibe so i used lots of EQ,Reverb and filters to get the desired sound i was looking for. I took influence from flying lotus and implemented it in my music by trying to replicate the way how he blends from one section of a song to another subtley yet effectively. I found this also tricky because there were a lot of different frequencies happening in this one song. I had a filter on some of the drums which added to the overall atmospheric vibe and i also used EQ to do low pass sweeps. Sade recorded vocals which had some swing allowing the listener to fall into a nice groove like in the 'Breathing Underwater'
Songwriting 2
This song was an interlude and just like the Hoizer song i use lots of repetition and layered different phrasing with my ad-libs on top. this makes the overall piece more effective and grabs the listeners attention because the music becomes more complex and catchy. I also tried to recreate the use of lyrics becoming used more as sounds rather than meaning like Haitus Kayote did. I made a complex high hat sequence because i had two different types of high hat. the first is a regular high hat which follows a complex rhythm. The second are different pitched high hats which also follow a complex rhythm. Artists which we studied such as Kendrick Lamar also implicate these complex high hat sequences in their music also.

Analysis Of Artist Work

Haitus Kayote-
we studied two songs from Hiatus Kayote, 'Breathing underwater' and 'nakamarra'. in the breathing underwater song the significance is the phrasing. The lyric phrasing follows the drum pattern and the strumming of the guitar, this allows the listener to focus more on the words and creates a strong groove throughout the piece. the phrasing is also very rhythmic so it blends in with the music and her lyrics almost seem like an instrument.
'nakamarra' is similar to breathing underwater because in the hook the phrasing also follows the drum pattern, however its slightly different because the drum kit is driving the song by slightly being in ahead. The song also has a nice groove because of the time signature which makes it more unique to the listener.

Hozier-
we looked at the song 'From Eden' this song was interesting because it didn't have an orthodox 4/4 time signature it used a 5/5. this created a nice groove for the listener to explore. i feel like the song was also more successful because the time signature was different for a pop song. Usually most pop songs sound similar because they use the same format and structure however because this one was different it was a lot more refreshing to hear and i think that was also on of the causes of the tracks sucess

composing song 2

Funky Junk Evaluation

I feel like i have improved in many ways since term 1. From my confidenece playing instruments to my concepts within my music. I was able to learn from my mistakes by repetition like trial and error which has helped me because i have been able to start to develop my sound. Im happy with the work i have created in this contemporary project because i feel like it has pushed me to become more creative and explore my music so it isn't basic and boring.

A technical skill that i have developed over the course of term 2 is learning how to properly and effectively use compression, which we learn about in our sound engineering class, I also managed to incorporate what I learnt and implicate that in my music. Im proud of my timing i feel like it has significantly improved since last term, this is due to the extra rehearsals in the band workshop class and also instrument lessons. my timing has not only helped me develop for playing instruments but in my production as well. For example if i played something out of time and i quantised it also, but there are still some notes that are out of time, I would be able to manually place the notes back in the right place more effectively than beforehand. My compositional skills have also improved I've noticed it in my production because i am now able to create more complex melody's and baselines and harmony in my music.

one of the problems I experienced in Term1 was finding the right sounds to use, for example the type of kick to use in a certain song. something I did differently this term was researching into modern production techniques from various producers that I like I just try to incorporate some of the things I like into my music. I didn't complete all my work on time, learning from this experience in my final major project i will make a plan so i can use all of my time effectively. in the Funky Junk project i spent a lot of time on one of my compositional pieces. this is because i found the track extremely difficult to mix however now that its finished i am happy with the piece.

Im not really sure if i improved my research methods or not, this is because i felt like my research ability was already quite competent, so I'm not entirely sure wether it increased or not. i had to research various different things such as how different modern production techniques influenced myself as an artist, also how to build exposure through social media and even how to plan a Tour.

I think the social media research that i conducted will prove the most useful because it will help me become established and currently social media is heavily used by my target audience so it will be the most effective form of exposure.

I don't really feel like the group project was presented successful because it didn't get a lot of exposure. i feel like this was due to the lack of organisation from the whole class including myself. in the future if we were to do this again we would need to create a plan with specific deadlines for specific things to be done. i will be presenting my music for term 3 through soundcloud/youtube and i will give it the exposure through social media

playlist research part 2

I have researched into lots of different production techniques and I've been influenced by artists such as "Noah '40' shabib" and travis scott and kanye west. '40' has influenced me because he is completely  unique in his production skills and he sees music as more of a science than an art. His sound became so notorious because he worked with artists like drake and helped drake establish his sound. '40' created underwater sound by perfecting how to use EQ and blending different frequencies together. his sound influenced me because i want to be able to create very atmospheric and sometimes mellow vibes in my music which can be achieved through EQ. '40' also uses his sound to create contrast within a song. An example of his sound is in the drake song "Days In The East"
 

Kanye West has heavily influenced me with his production techniques and more specifically the way he uses the human voice. Kanye uses the Human voice as an instrument. For example in the song 'Jesus Walks' from his College Dropout album, there is a choir however they are blended into the music filling the baseline the percussion and the melody. This is then layered over more samples and Kanye managed to turn a john legend sample into a flute like sound which becomes apparent to the listener towards the end of the video. I try to also incorporate some of these vocal complexities within my own music for example percussive adlibs.

Travis Scott and his production techniques have influenced me because when I listen to his music I feel like its the perfect example of listening to a song and being transported to another world. His sound is quite eerie yet exciting and energetic and i try to incorporate some of thee elements into my music as well. But what Travis Scott does that really separates him from everyone else is the way he records his vocals.

Playlist Research Part 1

for the class playlist, as a class we decided to split our research into different area's. The research i conducted was how we can engage the widest audience for our music on social media. More specifically on Twitter. Twitter is a great place for our class playlist because it comes with a lot of exposure. you can talk directly to other users through tweets which gives you complete freedom within 140 characters. this is also great because you as an artist are able to connect with you're followers because you can be yourself and show you're personality. twitter also allows you to share and reply to other people's posts and tweets. this is great because you can give you're opinion on certain topics which will help you engage with you're audience or you could be showing you're audience something important or something that they could relate to. All of these things are very important when it comes down to exposure because if you become more consistently active doing these things then you gain more and more followers and you're content is more likely to be shared around which will build yore fanbase and allow you to receive exposure.

I also did some more research and found a great article on how to get started when you're trying to promote you're music on Twitter

Music Promotion For Twitter

I found this article very helpful because it gave me a wide variety of different ways in which I can improve my effectiveness of promotion on twitter. most of the points relate to the fact that you have to be consistent and keep you're account active, which is the main thing i'm going to focus on. when I promote my music on twitter I will focus on tips 1, 5 and 12. I have also learnt that social media currently heavily influences my target audience so using social media is the most effective way for me to promote

Funky Junk Playlist

composing song 1

Listening Analysis

The error which i found in this song is very subtle but once you realise it, you wont be able to listen to the song without hearing it. At the beginning of each chorus there is a slight clicking/popping noise. This is a production error and for some reason the song was still released with it. in order to correct this Error you wold have to go back into the D.A.W which was used to produce the track. For example logic, and you would have to put a small audio fade just to clean up the song whilst transitioning from one section to the next. something like this is really subtle yet really effective

M.I.A-Paper Planes


phillips blog Bad Version-
pitching issues
phrasing was rushed
voice was not loud enough compared to the rest of the song
too many sounds that are clashing(more in the higher frequency)
barely hear the kick drum needs some compression
singer wasn't singing?(properly)
not really sure what happened at 0:20 seconds
some parts the backing vocals overpower the lead and the whole song sounds messy

class playlist

Sade-
the click in the intro was a little bit sharp to my ears, perhaps a subtle filter or EQ just to take the edge off. i like the chords used in this song and the use pitching up vocals to give an eerie yet warm harmonic vibe. Really strong use of wordplay for example "They're living in disguise, are you really dead if you die".


Niamh(ft Morgan Lundy)
i liked the contrast of the vocals to the song. the harsh distortion was used just enough for an effective clash against the more dynamic and underground feel that the beat has. Also liked the use of another artist so it was a duet. she also used a bridge effectively so her song didn't become too repetetive


amina-
like the interesting sounds of the baseline. along with the effects use on  her vocals( reverb, Delay) the build up before the drop was nice. could use some more lyrics, the piano breakdown added a nice energetic section to the music which was refreshing to the listener



jacob-
very atmospheric nice sample used. the baseline was nice, because it was very heavy but not overwhelming i think the baseline w paned a bit to the right swell. the synth pad/lead came in nicely as well to create another element. maybe take less reverb off of the drums. overall it sounded like a nice chill step song



tenika-
sounds almost like sound design for a children's game. lots of major chords used has a nice positive atmospheric vibe. the guitar created another element of the piece. I liked the chord progression used. perhaps more development on the structure like some kind of bridge to prevent it from being too repetitive

FMP Presentation

Technology in context

Daft Punk-
daft punk are one of the most renowned and most creative electronic artist's to this date. They are known for always putting on futuristic high technology shows with complex and funky melodies that always captivate their audiences. some of the technology they use consists of: Ableton live, minimoog Voyagers, Behringer BCR2000 and more. All of their technology is controlled in a big super computer which they use when performing live. Also their lighting and Audio Visuals are all manipulated by the same super computer at the same time


Travis Scott-
Travis Scott is currently one of HipHop/R&B/Trap's biggest names. this is because he has managed to create a sound that is very distinctive and addicting to his fans. This is partly to do with his production techniques, but Also the technology he uses on his voice (AutoTune) is what gives Travis Scott his trademark sound which everyone recognises him for. wether its an ad-lib or a whole verse or a hook, as soon as you hear Travis Scott you know its him straight away. A combination of this with his ecstatic live performance is what makes him so electrifying and captivating as a entertainer


One way I have used technology in a performance is through using Ableton live. I found this effective because, I feel like my style is one that is more suitable to be crafted in a DAW than actually performed live. However through using Ableton Live you have much more freedom to manipulate the performance in many different ways. I.E EQ ,Reverb or Delay. You also have the ability to sing a melody which is then transformed into midi for any instrument you like.

I also feel like I'm influenced by Artists like Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Travis Scott who have pathed the way for live auto-tune performances in HipHop and also explored Auto-Tune in a time where it wasn't really understood and made it complex to the stage where it could show emotion and even influence the style of a lot of new/upcoming Artists

presentation

I believe I am progressing and doing well in is my composition class. I feel I have developed further in terms of musical content that I would implement throughout my pieces, my ability to play the piano has also improved allowing me to play more complex and detailed sequences throughout my composition. this has also helped me in other circumstances for example band workshop. Usually in my band workshop classes, I would play drums however I've been put in a group where I am needed to play a synth using keys. I was able to compose and confidently play a complicated baseline because of my progression playing keyboard from my composition lessons. There are also examples of progression in my composition uploads to Soundcloud.                                                                                                                                                                                            

I also feel I'm doing well in my DJing classes, this is because I feel like I am progressing quickly and understanding the concepts that we are being taught and applying them successfully to my own mixes. I have also been able to learn an effective range of different skills from beat-matching to cutting to using EQ.                                                                                                                                                                                           

For my final major project for term 3 i was thinking of creating an EP with a few songs and getting some ppl to feature. it would be uploaded online and people would be able to access it through using websites such as soundcloud. it will also be publicised through social media. I also have the idea of showcasing the EP in a DJ set but I'm not too sure about that yet. Ive also had other thoughts I.E live performances but I'm not sure about that