Peer Remix

For this assignment I remixed Sophie’s Loop Song.

Original: https://soundcloud.com/sophie-huisken/loop-song

My Remix: https://soundcloud.com/ajackmanmtp/sofxie

For his project I decided to make my remix in the style of what I originally thought: making a song a little bit more dance-you/club-like. After our class discussions I found that definition is not broad enough; however, I still thought it would be fun to do my remix “old skool”, as I perceived it to be. Also Sophie and I are obsessed with the FX editor on GarageBand for iOS, so of course I had to use that. 

For this remix, I added in a few more percussion sounds and claps. I also used the effect editor to try and give it more “modern” (I can’t think of a better word...) transitions between sections. I also used it to boost and then manipulate the tone. 

In the outro, I added a little tag that is almost completely unrelated to the rest of the piece. I feel like throughout this semester i’ve been making tracks that are kind of out, maybe even a bit unsettling? So i’ve decided that maybe that will be my thing. End my remixes with some weird random tag instead of like... I don’t know, shouting my name over it? 

Sampling Ethics

Sampling in music is a topic that has been up for debate since it was first used as a production/songwriting technique. There are some precedents in place in order to try and product the creators of the original songs being used as samples; however, getting permission and, even more so, paying for samples is something that could be very difficult for most artist that want to sample tracks in their own music. 

Personally, I think sampling is great. I think its fun and allows for the merging of genres and exposes listeners to even more music that they may or may not know. That being said, I do not think that sampling should exist without boundaries. 

I think there should be two categories to sampling: feature and texture. 

A feature sample would be defined as a sample in which the song from which it was taken is recognizable. It is an important and exposed part of the mix that still sounds enough like the original that it would be recognizable should someone have already heard the original or come across the original after hearing the sampled work. 

A texture sample would be described as highly altered samples. Whether it is super chopped up pieces of the tune, highly filtered and sonically altered, or a non-distinct drum beat (one that flows but is not necessary hyper specific). 

In this scenario I would think that an artist would need to get permission/pay for a feature sample, and not need to get permission/pay for a texture sample. In a song that would be considered to have used a feature sample, that song is relying heavily on that sampled music, therefore it is a necessary part and the original artist definitely deserves compensation. In a texture sample, one song in particular isn’t necessary to create the sample and the artist isn’t relying heavily on the cohesive sonic content of the original, so the sampling artist should be able to use that without having to pay like someone who’s sample is undeniably identifiable. 

I think an idea like this would protect that original artists as well as the sampling artists and therefore make the sampling world a bit more fair and stable. 

Self Remix

I decided to remix my Found Song, which can be heard here.

For this remix I added more samples from my found sound recording and did some minor volume adjustments in the track. 

In the first section I added more skateboard sounds so that it was continuous, whether it was a rolling sound, or the sound of the board hitting the pavement. I feel like it sounds better than the empty spaces did.

In the second section, I adjusted the volume of the of the synths to be lower once the guitar comes back in so that it will be featured more. I also boosted the volume of the skateboard sample in the track so that it is better featured as well.

In the last section I boosted the volume of the sax sample and added another vocal sample to the last section. I chopped up the vocal sample so it was a bit unsettling and put the same phone filter as the first sample but altered it a bit to make it more distorted. 

Enjoy!

Real vs Hyperreal vs Surreal

A recording that I would classify as sounding “real” would be Crazy on You by Heart. This song was carefully recorded to perfection, however it didn’t lose its realness. The recording itself sounds like it has a bit of a fuzz, or raw quality to it, like it could have been recorded live. It’s that lack of clarity in the recording that protects it from coming off as artificial. The sounds also feel like their interacting with each other... I don’t know if they had the whole band in a live room together to record some of the parts, but it sound like that could have been the case. The mix also sounds like something that could be achieved live if they had a person on every individual part.

A recording I would classify as “hyperreal” is Barcelona by Ed Sheeran. The lyric and musical content is already presenting some sort of hyperreal scenario. Sheeran is describing that he would whisk his girl away for a magical evening in Barcelona, even if they just imagined it together... Nothing in this song would be a struggle to recreate in a live scenario; however, the clarity and perfection of the individual elements of the recording are what make is feel hyperreal. It is perfectly in time and in tune, all the elements are expertly mixed and detectable. The only things I could see being difficult to recreate is the processing on the horn parts and the fact that Sheeran is singing his own back up vocals for the most part... so he would need to get some back up singers, but it’s nothing impossible to sing! 

A recording I would classify as “surreal” is May I Have this Dance by Francis and the Lights feat. Chance the Rapper. This song is surreal because every aspect of the music in this song is artificial and/or processed. The beats are made with a drum machine and the pitched rhythmic accompaniment is also artificial. There is use of synths to add to the texture. The vocals also have some processing. It also sounds as if somethings are potentially being played in reverse? This tune could only be played effectively using artificial instruments, in my opinion. You couldn’t recreate its complex and space-like beauty without them.  

Magic Man Sound Sources

Here are the sound sources for Magic Man by Heart.

Ann Wilson – lead vocals

Nancy Wilson – rhythm guitar - distortion/overdrive, acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Roger Fisher – lead guitar - distortion/overdrive, acoustic guitar

Steve Fossen – bass guitar

Howard Leese – rhythm guitar, Minimoog synthesizer

Dave Wilson – drums

Ray Ayotte – conga

Mike Flicker – percussion, producer

Rolf Hennemann - engineer

Patrick Collins - mastering

Found Song

The track for my found sound can be heard here.

The track for my found sound song can be heard here. 

For my found sound I just wanted to record some skateboard claps in the park. I used to be a skateboarder, so I love that sound. It like.. Pavlov-Dog’s me when I hear it, except I just get happy, I don’t look for a treat. Right before I pressed record I was like “ooh, I need to record this for my found sound!” Just after I pressed record, my best friend - who was walking with me - asked what a found sound was, as you can hear in the beginning of the recording. Initially, I wanted to just use the board sounds to create some sort of rhythmic element, however, I found the interjections of my friend and I to be much more amusing, so I highlighted those to change sections. I still included the board sounds, but i used them more as ambient noise for the track. IN the first section I had repeated a specific board sound a few times, altering it a bit a the end. In the section section I had one of the longer sections of board sound playing on a loop with some processing. In the last section I utilized a portion of the man who was busking on sax instead of a board sound. However, in the spoken portion right before that, my friend and I were referencing the sounds produced by the skateboarder, not the sax player. Other than the found sound, everything else you heard was from the loop library; however, I did use the FX control panel on Garageband for iOS to process the first and third section. I discovered this FX panel on accident during my last project, and I am now obsessed. I am still new to using it, so it sounds amateurish, but I’m excited to try and master it to give my tunes and extra flare. I wanted the first section to be very chillwave, but then have the subsequent sections be much more upbeat and exciting. I am always nervous that a loop song may become boring without a lyric, so that is part of the reason I added the other section. The other reason was that I really wanted to use those three speech samples, I really thought they were hilarious out of context. I considered ending the song on the third speech sample, but I couldn’t resist! Hope you dig it. 

In the Midi of the Night

My midi track is called In the Midi of the Night and can be heard here.

When I started this project I was - how the kids say - in my feelings, so I knew I wanted to start with some moody sounding strings. I used Garageband for iPad to do this project, so I used the midi strings chords to lay that pad down. After I did that I wasn’t really sure what to do next, so I decided to pull up the midi acoustic guitar, set it to the key (A minor) and just blow over that chord progression. I decided that the improv I did wasn’t too bad so I would build around it. I used the piano roll to adjust some of the weird notes or rhythms, but still tried to keep some of that improv-solo-imperfect-integrity. At this point I felt that the tune kind of had a coffee shop vibe, so I decided to use the beat sequencer, set it to a percussion combo literally called “coffee shop” and give it a little rhythm. After that I was at a crossroads as to whether I would continue to build the tune using acoustic instrument sounds and turn it into a large ensemble, or go in a different direction and make it a bit more out. Without much thought, I knew out was the way to go. I really like space and aliens (in a playful way, not like... conspiracy theorist or anything) so when I saw the synth entitled “planetary eclipse” I was sold. I decided to add some “A” drones to start to take the piece in another direction. I then felt that I wanted more percussion, so I added the Dembow and used the beat sequencer to program some new rhythms in. I was pretty pleased with my work at this point, but I felt that the tune needed one more element to really make it interesting... that was went I stumbled upon “Heavy Metal Organ”. I came up with a little lick after messing around for a bit, recorded it in octaves, and voila! I had created a world in which a young guitar player was visited by some friendly aliens who wanted in on the jam.

If I had unlimited time and ability I would’ve taken this tune to DEEP SPACE and it would have ended up totally different than it began. A true, through composed masterpiece, haha.

  Hope you like it!

Groove Pizza Beat!

Here is my Groove Pizza Beat! I definitely feel like it falls in the Funk genre....

Loop Song Peer Review.

In this post I will be reviewing the loop song found here.

Overall I thought this loop song was pretty dope! I really like how the drum ostinato would kind of trip over itself. The form was pretty clear and there was something a little different even when sections would return to keep it interesting. I liked how the different parts got a little bit more disjointed/disturbed toward the end to match the unsettled drum pattern that was present thorough out, until the very end where that drum part cut out, as if the protagonist of this tune’s tale was finally in the clear. I think it would’ve been cool for some of those disjointed/disturbed ideas to interject here and there is the beginning section to kind of make it a little more off-putting. I really liked that idea of things being a bit off and I think it would be cool if that theme was leaned into a bit more, really have the listener feeling uncomfortable. Loop songs are PERFECT for perpetuating that vibe, because what’s creepier than a broken record playing the same thing over and over again?

Other than that I thought that this tune was very well done and well mixed. My only real critique - or rather a suggestion if further edits are to be made - is to really commit to that unsettling, maybe creepy, vibe and keep the listener even higher on their toes!

Loop Song

Check out my loop song here. 

For this song I used loops from the Reggaeton and Dubstep genre sections of the Garageband loops library. As far as pop music goes, Reggaeton is one of my favorite sub-genres, so I knew I wanted my loop song to have that feel going into it. A first I had no intention of straying from that latin-dance feel for this loop song project; however, as I was scrolling through the dubstep loops to try and give my piece a little more “umph”, I found some loops I really liked that didn’t really fit into the vibe I had already created - so I decided to make a shift in my form. I used the always satisfying cliche of everything dropping out except one track to completely flip my piece on its head from a Reggaeton tune to  dubstep tune. I felt this drastic shift kept the song interesting and was an example of how a steady tempo can link even the least likely of musical ideas. I had also found this gospel voice recording in the loop library and I wanted to incorporate that too. So I took the loop - which was a bit long - cut it down to one section that was easily loopable, and adjusted the EQ to make it sound more processed and etherial. 

I do feel that creating music in this way is legitimate. Does it require as much musical knowledge as composition a piece from scratch with notation? Of course not, but it still takes a great deal of creativity and musical intention. 

“From Eden” Structural Analysis

For my structural analysis I chose From Eden by Hozier. This is one of my favorite tunes of all time, so I couldn’t resist the opportunity to study it a little. 

The song in in 5/4 (mostly) at 142 bpm and is in the key of C major.

Intro(00:00): 8 bars

Verse 1(00:17): 16 bars

Pre-Chorus(Switches to 4/4)(00:51): 8 bars

Chorus(5/4)(01:04): 17 bars

Interlude(Similar material to intro)(01:40): 4

Verse 2(01:48): 16

Pre- chorus(4/4)(02:22):8

Chorus(5/4)(02:35): 17

Instrumental Break(03:11): 17

Interlude(Similar to intro)(03:47): 4

Chorus(03:55): 17

Outro(04:31): 4 bars + Downbeat button

Favorite and Least Favorite Songs

Favorite: Fool in the Rain by Led Zeppelin

One of my favorite songs of all time is Fool in the Rain by Led Zeppelin. It was one of the first Zeppelin tunes I’ve ever heard, and they have become a very influential band for me, so this early favorite has stayed in my life. I love the sentiment of this song, one of a more innocent and young love. I also like how for most of this tune they are playing off of one iconic riff, but at the end it just turns into a much more exciting and cacophonous state, as if the young lovers heart just cant take it anymore, before returning to that riff. It has always brought a lot of joy to my heart while still being killer and rock n roll and I’ve always really dug that balance. 

Least Favorite: Drunk by Fancy J London

This question was a lot harder to answer. I couldn’t really think of my least favorite song, because if I don’t like a song I just don’t listen to it and therefore don’t form any strong opinions about it. However, my roommate and I were listening to the music of Fancy J London because we heard a clip of one of her songs on John Mayer’s Current Mood on Instagram. He uses is as a transition to a segment in his Instagram series. I don’t like to speak ill about other people’s art, but part of me really wants to believe that she made this ironically.