That time has finally come, the end of the semester, when we finally get to unleash all that we've learned throughout this class on our final projects. Our final projects reflect the application of all of the sythesizing, sequencing, and mastering techniques that we've acquired. We are to create an entire song in a genre that we became familiar in the class, that displays we understand the various stylistic elements of a genre, and that meets certain technology criteria. The song is below. It's entitled "Go." Listen while you read.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/5292628683aa4a92/
I thus chose electrohouse, because that is my personal favorite. I sought to create a very danceable atmosphere. The tempo I set stays at a steady 128 bpm which is prime electro tempo. Stylistically, I wanted a synthesized sound that was significantly distorted with Reason's Subtractor. I tweaked the ADSR envelope to have a long attack time, which gives it a very trancey-electro sound. This synthesized sound is very inyourface and has no effects on it. The theme is soon joined by a drumbeat pattern from ReDrum which includes some triphop influences. The bass drum is not a standard "to the beat" rhythm; instead there are some sixteenth fills at the end of each sequence. Soon a very hip-hopish click comes in which has been filtered through a high-pass. This "chime" is syncopated over the beat to give a more triphop feel with a hip-hop sound. Also, I threw in some pads with the Maelstrom module to add a bit of ambiance. There is heard a very hollow, eerie, yet filling chord, mostly due to the ridiculous amounts of reverb I put on it. Also, a rolling chord is heard with a flanger effect placed over it. Eventually a new synthesized theme comes with a much more open beat. The return of the main theme with all the layering finishes the song. Also to be noted is the "Go" theme. I recorded my friend Greg saying go in the most "ghetto" way he could say it. I finally opened this up in Recycle to get the exact slice I wanted. In Logic, I decided to pan the voice a couple cents apart to fill out the sound a bit. I put a bit of a low-pass filter on his voice to make it sounder deeper.
The entire synthesis flow of the song is as follows. Logic Pro 8 was opened up before Reason was, which was running in slave mode. I then began creating the tracks that I needed (I had the entire song planned out before I began with software). I chose to run all of my instruments from Reason into Logic using the Rewire technique. Also, with the exception of the ReDrum module, all instruments from Logic were MIDI controlled with the MIDI controller keyboards provided in the music lab. This allowed for easy synthesis and recording of sound. Also, with my recorded media, I imported it into Logic's awesome sequencer. The same goes for the drum tracks. There were exported into in a MIDI file which was then imported in Logic. You still have make sure that the audio track is wired with ReDrum though for playback.
The final parts of create this song lied in the mastering. Again, I wanted a very inyourface, to the point feel. Thus, once I got the right levels on Logic's mixer board, I proceeded to BOUNCE. Once this had been done, I opened up my final file in Wave Editor to consider whether I wanted to have any post-processing effects. I decided I didn't want any cheesy fading in or out, so all I did was normalize the song a little bit, and that's where I left it. So that's where I'm leaving you. Listen to my song, and think only one thing: DANCE.
That's it. It was good times, so peace!
Alex "DJ DSTRYR" Perez
Write three to five paragrpahs, describing your final project. The blog entry should include information about techniques, effects, software, form, instrumentation and any other areas related to your project.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
BLOG CUATRO
In this blog, I will be reviewing another student's work. That student is my buddy Charlie Milner! Come on dowwwwwwwwwwwwwwn!
Charlie's Assignment 4 is what I'll be discussing, and I chose it because of the atmosphere he achieves with his jazz samples. He was very insightful to apply what Snoman mentioned about trip-hop sampling old jazz music. His choice of samples include from Billy Holiday and Miles Davis to The Cure. This variation shows great insight that defines the character of the composition. The choice to use the trumpet sample from Miles Davis was a good choice to introduce the jazz theme. The mood quickly leaves as soon as the percussion enters. With the entry of the piano, however, the jazz comes back with a soothing piano theme, and the rain and thunder sounds from The Cure is another wise addition.
It is the successful use of the Al Green's drum sample used in Reason after it had been spliced in Redrum that gives the composition its trip-hoppiness. The slow tempo also allows the drums to give a nice groove effect. I found myself nodding along nicely to the sweet beat of his trip-hop interpretation.
My only complaint about the piece is the choice of vocal samples from the Billy Holiday song. In particular, the "wahhh" sample gives me a nasty chill. As I try to enjoy the entry of the piano theme, the "wahhh" sample is just a bad choice. It might be just me, but I don't like it one bit. Still, it's probably my only complaint with the composition, and I admire Charlie's creative abilities in using the right and complimenting samples to create an enjoyable jazzy atmosphere.
Charlie's Assignment 4 is what I'll be discussing, and I chose it because of the atmosphere he achieves with his jazz samples. He was very insightful to apply what Snoman mentioned about trip-hop sampling old jazz music. His choice of samples include from Billy Holiday and Miles Davis to The Cure. This variation shows great insight that defines the character of the composition. The choice to use the trumpet sample from Miles Davis was a good choice to introduce the jazz theme. The mood quickly leaves as soon as the percussion enters. With the entry of the piano, however, the jazz comes back with a soothing piano theme, and the rain and thunder sounds from The Cure is another wise addition.
It is the successful use of the Al Green's drum sample used in Reason after it had been spliced in Redrum that gives the composition its trip-hoppiness. The slow tempo also allows the drums to give a nice groove effect. I found myself nodding along nicely to the sweet beat of his trip-hop interpretation.
My only complaint about the piece is the choice of vocal samples from the Billy Holiday song. In particular, the "wahhh" sample gives me a nasty chill. As I try to enjoy the entry of the piano theme, the "wahhh" sample is just a bad choice. It might be just me, but I don't like it one bit. Still, it's probably my only complaint with the composition, and I admire Charlie's creative abilities in using the right and complimenting samples to create an enjoyable jazzy atmosphere.
Monday, November 3, 2008
BLOG TRES
O hai. It r tym 2 bl0g againz.
Let's see... what to talk about this time?
I guess I'll start by commenting a little on my thoughts of Assignment 3. I was really impressed by a lot of the work from other students. Professor Kojs had warned us about ambient and how it was hard to do it right, but those that approached it pulled the ambient sound off. Kudos. There were a lot of other creative techno ideas with nice beats and themes, but the house attempts, however, didn't seem to be as popular. There were a few of us in the house domain, but some of the efforts were from really boring to pretty f*c*in cool, in my opinion. I don't know, but what is it about house that puts it in that position? I told myself that the beat was the most important part, and that perfecting it was cr00sh. I also made sure that I set a cool atmosphere with lots of layering. I guess that's just my style, but I was kinda bummed that there weren't more impressive house projects. I guess we'll wait until the final projects/spring semester dance party rolls around...
(Btw my TA said that the plan was to hold the spring semester dance party/fall semester final project exhibition during shopping period, so as to serve as an "advertisement" to shop/take 295 in the spring. BEST IDEA EVAR.)
Speaking of final projects, I've got good feelings about it. Reason is a great piece of software; it's a great thing I've had plenty of experience with FL Studio, even though Reason has a wayyy better GUI. I think I will follow up on my idea from Assignment 3, but throw a little bit of electro and nudisko in there. The plan is to listen the sh*t out of some of my favorite DJs/artists and then try to emulate their sounds, but while adding my own touch with huge amounts of layer and orchestration. I hate using this word, but I want my song to be "epic." I want a huge opening with an explosive outro. I guess the goal is just to make the song so that it makes you want to dance your b*lls off. Sounds good, yeah? Yeah. It seems like this will be one of those projects where I won't mind spending like 50 million hours on, just to make sure I make it perfect. I just hope I still have time for all my other SENIOR PROJECTS x_x. We'll see.
Finally, some random thoughts:
-I am getting a little frustrated with our drummer. He's holding us back a little much now...
-Can't wait for this weekend. Brb goin to vASSar.
-Arrested Development is my current favorite TV show ever. It's pure genius. I do hope the rumored movie starts production soon. I thus have to leave you guys with the infamous chicken dance:
Let's see... what to talk about this time?
I guess I'll start by commenting a little on my thoughts of Assignment 3. I was really impressed by a lot of the work from other students. Professor Kojs had warned us about ambient and how it was hard to do it right, but those that approached it pulled the ambient sound off. Kudos. There were a lot of other creative techno ideas with nice beats and themes, but the house attempts, however, didn't seem to be as popular. There were a few of us in the house domain, but some of the efforts were from really boring to pretty f*c*in cool, in my opinion. I don't know, but what is it about house that puts it in that position? I told myself that the beat was the most important part, and that perfecting it was cr00sh. I also made sure that I set a cool atmosphere with lots of layering. I guess that's just my style, but I was kinda bummed that there weren't more impressive house projects. I guess we'll wait until the final projects/spring semester dance party rolls around...
(Btw my TA said that the plan was to hold the spring semester dance party/fall semester final project exhibition during shopping period, so as to serve as an "advertisement" to shop/take 295 in the spring. BEST IDEA EVAR.)
Speaking of final projects, I've got good feelings about it. Reason is a great piece of software; it's a great thing I've had plenty of experience with FL Studio, even though Reason has a wayyy better GUI. I think I will follow up on my idea from Assignment 3, but throw a little bit of electro and nudisko in there. The plan is to listen the sh*t out of some of my favorite DJs/artists and then try to emulate their sounds, but while adding my own touch with huge amounts of layer and orchestration. I hate using this word, but I want my song to be "epic." I want a huge opening with an explosive outro. I guess the goal is just to make the song so that it makes you want to dance your b*lls off. Sounds good, yeah? Yeah. It seems like this will be one of those projects where I won't mind spending like 50 million hours on, just to make sure I make it perfect. I just hope I still have time for all my other SENIOR PROJECTS x_x. We'll see.
Finally, some random thoughts:
-I am getting a little frustrated with our drummer. He's holding us back a little much now...
-Can't wait for this weekend. Brb goin to vASSar.
-Arrested Development is my current favorite TV show ever. It's pure genius. I do hope the rumored movie starts production soon. I thus have to leave you guys with the infamous chicken dance:
Monday, October 27, 2008
Assignment 3
This is my .mp3 for my Assignment 3 song. It is written in house style, with the theme in A minor. I really like this idea and will probably continue to flesh it out into an entire song! Enjoy!
Boomp3.com
Boomp3.com
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Blog 2
O hai, it's me again. I think in this blog I will talk about a few things, including MIDI, House, and a few other things.
MIDI, MIDI, MIDI. Where to start? We have all been exposed to the "MIDI sound" since birth (for most of us born after 1983 that is), that super processed, cheesy digitized sound. I figured that with the ability to emulate real instruments with the General MIDI, or GM, a huge potential for electronic music and sampling opened up. Thanks to the Musical Instrument Digital Interface, people were able to take these processed sounds and transmit them digitally thanks to the GM setup. My experiences with MIDI have mostly come from my EXTENSIVE use of the PowerTab Editor 1.7 Software. As a guitar player, the ability to tabulate, or tab out, my work is invaluable. The ability to tabulate the tabulation electronically, however, is even more invaluable. PowerTab Editor allows me to input my tabs, in which it will then play them back for me! Imagine that! Now, the relevance lies in the fact that PowerTab Editor uses the GM library as its primary playback engine. I usually select the overdriven or distorted guitar tones, but with a simple click, I can change the MIDI play back to a chirping bird or a gunshot with a simple click. Furthermore, with the introduction of a MIDI controller (I usually use a keyboard), the input of my tabulations are even easier! Granted, GM doesn't sound very legit these days, especially with Guitar Pro's Realistic Sound Engine, it was still a huge contribution to yesteryear's sound.
Phew. And now for House! Another thing I am (starting to become more) familiar with! House is an almost direct descendant of disco, as a product of introduced electronic sounds. In class, we listened to Donna Summers, who had a few hits on the disco/house border. This led to more artists using the electronic sound she revolutionized along with club dj's creating remixes of these songs to possibly omit certain sections of the songs. Usually, House falls in the range of 115 to 135bpms to my experience (I'm very good at counting tempo), which is generally a very comfortable tempo. A lot of other genres usually fall into this tempo too, with the exclusion of the more "hardcore" and "european" genres hahaha. You've also got the standard processed drum beat in strict 4/4 and the staple electro bassline. For me, it's thus hard to find a line between house and electro; they seem to be pretty damn similar idk. Oh well, I guess I'll investigate this a little more later.
Well, I guess that's all for now. Until next time, I'll leave you with this song:
I pretty much love it. kthybai
MIDI, MIDI, MIDI. Where to start? We have all been exposed to the "MIDI sound" since birth (for most of us born after 1983 that is), that super processed, cheesy digitized sound. I figured that with the ability to emulate real instruments with the General MIDI, or GM, a huge potential for electronic music and sampling opened up. Thanks to the Musical Instrument Digital Interface, people were able to take these processed sounds and transmit them digitally thanks to the GM setup. My experiences with MIDI have mostly come from my EXTENSIVE use of the PowerTab Editor 1.7 Software. As a guitar player, the ability to tabulate, or tab out, my work is invaluable. The ability to tabulate the tabulation electronically, however, is even more invaluable. PowerTab Editor allows me to input my tabs, in which it will then play them back for me! Imagine that! Now, the relevance lies in the fact that PowerTab Editor uses the GM library as its primary playback engine. I usually select the overdriven or distorted guitar tones, but with a simple click, I can change the MIDI play back to a chirping bird or a gunshot with a simple click. Furthermore, with the introduction of a MIDI controller (I usually use a keyboard), the input of my tabulations are even easier! Granted, GM doesn't sound very legit these days, especially with Guitar Pro's Realistic Sound Engine, it was still a huge contribution to yesteryear's sound.
Phew. And now for House! Another thing I am (starting to become more) familiar with! House is an almost direct descendant of disco, as a product of introduced electronic sounds. In class, we listened to Donna Summers, who had a few hits on the disco/house border. This led to more artists using the electronic sound she revolutionized along with club dj's creating remixes of these songs to possibly omit certain sections of the songs. Usually, House falls in the range of 115 to 135bpms to my experience (I'm very good at counting tempo), which is generally a very comfortable tempo. A lot of other genres usually fall into this tempo too, with the exclusion of the more "hardcore" and "european" genres hahaha. You've also got the standard processed drum beat in strict 4/4 and the staple electro bassline. For me, it's thus hard to find a line between house and electro; they seem to be pretty damn similar idk. Oh well, I guess I'll investigate this a little more later.
Well, I guess that's all for now. Until next time, I'll leave you with this song:
I pretty much love it. kthybai
Monday, September 29, 2008
Ringtones
Hey again,
Here's a link to my 20 second ringtone. I'd have a link to my 15 second one if I had an .mp3 of it, which I would have if Wave Editor didn't keep crashing on me. Anyway, enjoy.
http://boomp3.com/listen/c1eywt159_c/aperezringtone2
peace,
alexxxx
also i think this is funny heehe
Here's a link to my 20 second ringtone. I'd have a link to my 15 second one if I had an .mp3 of it, which I would have if Wave Editor didn't keep crashing on me. Anyway, enjoy.
http://boomp3.com/listen/c1eywt159_c/aperezringtone2
peace,
alexxxx
also i think this is funny heehe
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Blog 1
Supppppp, and welcome to my blog. This is the first of several blogs, and I guess I will start by simply discussing some of the new ideas and opinions I have concerning electronic music.
Electronic music is something that I have come to appreciate over the last several months. As a devout metalhead, I always felt it natural for me to dismiss any form of synthetic music. For me, music was heavily performance-based and needed to dissipate massive amounts of energy and aggression. Other types of music were too weak and boring for me. Over time, I found myself starting to enjoy and appreciate certain softer styles of music. This new fascination certainly confused me; I would be listening to Suicide Silence and then suddenly feel the need to listen to something like Sarah Brightman. Anyhow, I realized that it was the atmosphere that caught me. The harmonies and the mellow use of melody really caught my emotion in a trance. I thus came to label my tastes in music as the extremes of a musical sprectrum: the music had to either be really "pretty" or really "brutal."
Some samples of my tastes thus far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJGBIFIYRzo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p62rfWxs6a8
Now, I shift attention to the development of my appreciation for electronic music. The development seems to be pretty specific for people my age, but I guess it happens. Over the summer, the "new thing to do" was to go to high end dance clubs. Throughout the week, my friends from home and I would go to a variety of these clubs around Socal, especially in Hollywood and about the Inland Empire. Dancing, however, had never really been my thing, especially since here at school all dancing, at least with the people I hang around, seems to be oriented towards more "physical" forms of interaction. Again, as a metalhead, dancing served no purpose to me. The only dancing I knew was hardcore dancing, otherwise known as "moshing," at shows I'd go to as a teenager. Anyhow, these clubs showed me that dancing, among other things, was now for the sake of just dancing. I then realized that "just dancing" required a certain type of music, and this music was electronic music. I began enjoying the dance and the music so much to the point that I had to start making it myself. The music, in the hands of the almighty DJ, governed the bodies of the people dancing to it, and that power of the beat is what captivated me. A simple beat with electronic themes and improvisations could go a long way. I started to (read: attempted to) write my own music and beats using FL Studio, and I began explore the world of performance DJs: a way to combine precomposed pieces with live performance! Anyhow, long story short, I now have a new love for electro, electrohouse, and nudisco, and I have a new dream of becoming a DJ. My current favorite would have to be the French duo Justice, for their applications of classical musical knowledge to dance music. I am aware that Justice is really popular right now, so I am trying to go beyond them by researching other electro groups. I'll end with a Justice video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSrg3qGXcQg
Thanks,
Alex
Electronic music is something that I have come to appreciate over the last several months. As a devout metalhead, I always felt it natural for me to dismiss any form of synthetic music. For me, music was heavily performance-based and needed to dissipate massive amounts of energy and aggression. Other types of music were too weak and boring for me. Over time, I found myself starting to enjoy and appreciate certain softer styles of music. This new fascination certainly confused me; I would be listening to Suicide Silence and then suddenly feel the need to listen to something like Sarah Brightman. Anyhow, I realized that it was the atmosphere that caught me. The harmonies and the mellow use of melody really caught my emotion in a trance. I thus came to label my tastes in music as the extremes of a musical sprectrum: the music had to either be really "pretty" or really "brutal."
Some samples of my tastes thus far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJGBIFIYRzo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p62rfWxs6a8
Now, I shift attention to the development of my appreciation for electronic music. The development seems to be pretty specific for people my age, but I guess it happens. Over the summer, the "new thing to do" was to go to high end dance clubs. Throughout the week, my friends from home and I would go to a variety of these clubs around Socal, especially in Hollywood and about the Inland Empire. Dancing, however, had never really been my thing, especially since here at school all dancing, at least with the people I hang around, seems to be oriented towards more "physical" forms of interaction. Again, as a metalhead, dancing served no purpose to me. The only dancing I knew was hardcore dancing, otherwise known as "moshing," at shows I'd go to as a teenager. Anyhow, these clubs showed me that dancing, among other things, was now for the sake of just dancing. I then realized that "just dancing" required a certain type of music, and this music was electronic music. I began enjoying the dance and the music so much to the point that I had to start making it myself. The music, in the hands of the almighty DJ, governed the bodies of the people dancing to it, and that power of the beat is what captivated me. A simple beat with electronic themes and improvisations could go a long way. I started to (read: attempted to) write my own music and beats using FL Studio, and I began explore the world of performance DJs: a way to combine precomposed pieces with live performance! Anyhow, long story short, I now have a new love for electro, electrohouse, and nudisco, and I have a new dream of becoming a DJ. My current favorite would have to be the French duo Justice, for their applications of classical musical knowledge to dance music. I am aware that Justice is really popular right now, so I am trying to go beyond them by researching other electro groups. I'll end with a Justice video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSrg3qGXcQg
Thanks,
Alex
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
