Personal Planning Reflection Development Essay – PPRD
This evaluation is about my progression over the last year and why I have chosen to pursue the route I have chosen next. It will explain my Extended Major Project, the reasons I wanted to do it, how I aim to progress after I leave University and what I am doing to try and achieve this.
For a while now I have been caught in the middle of two minds, whether to continue along the graphics route or whether to follow the musical route, both of which have their plus and minus sides and both competitive, popular industries. It’s because of this that I can’t continue to do both, I need to fully focus on one or the other to get ahead in that particular industry, and splitting my time between both will not let me advance like I want. Because I feel I am more musically orientated I chose to pursue the music route, I run an event, DJ out regularly and have a passion for all things drum and bass, making it the logical progression.
The only downside to choosing music production for the final year was that I would be getting marked as a third year music production student, and I was trying to teach myself in the space of a year. It is widely said that as a producer don’t expect to make anything worthwhile for at least a couple of years, but that would not do in my case, I needed something I was happy with in under a year, so I set about learning a few different types of music production software getting as much tutorial help from both online and through contacts in the industry as I could. Using these techniques then tweaking them to my own preferences was essential and I would not have made such a good final piece if it wasn’t for this help (for example, the splitting audio left and right and then detuning technique was taught to me by an electro producer I know, and really helped give the track that bit extra).
When I started the year I needed a better reason then just wanting to make music, so I set about researching the link between rave and religion, with the aim to produce some religiously influenced drum and bass. Upon beginning the EMP I decided to rework it a bit, as I had not had much success, aiming to make an inspiring, uplifting, euphoric experience that encapsulated the atmospheric sense of belonging I was recognising but through purely the music and lighting. At a rave there are other factors, the social element and drug and alcohol influences, but I wanted to make the experience through sound and light alone. The use of lighting certainly helped gain this experience, but what I was really interested in was the music and maybe I should have just gone off and created music, my brief was only for one tune and I completed two in the time I had allocated, and if I had just concentrated on the music I could have made another two.
In saying that, the lighting did give me an extra angle as far as the presentation of the tune was concerned, as it created a fuller experience than just playing some audio, and certainly gave me some experience with using lights, how they operate and how they make people feel. I also would not have learnt to use the Sony Z5 HD camera had I not used lighting, something which I actually found quite interesting. From this I also gained some outside work experience, filming and editing a charity football game up at Bournemouth’s football ground, Dean Court, an experience I found highly enjoyable, probably due to the attention to detail involved. Attention to detail is something I feel shines through in all my work, and is probably why I enjoyed creating music and the motion graphics we did in the second year. Camera work is something I had not considered before, but should my career plan not work out over the next few years it’s certainly something I would look into as another option.
As far as the music is concerned, the learning curve I have experienced this year has been incredible, I can safely say I’ve learnt more than any other year since I left middle school, and all stuff that interests and excites me, challenging me to progress onto the next step. I’ve learnt to use new soft and hardware, and got to get further involved in my passion. I’ve learnt techniques that sound professional, and got feedback that will prove vital in my further development. I have made connections with the main people around Bournemouth, and will now look to extend those connections further throughout the scene. Knowing people in the industry can prove an invaluable tool in getting the exposure needed when progressing in music, so making new contacts and getting yourself heard are essential for a new artist. I have sent my tune off to a few influential artists but have yet to hear back, although I feel for the moment until I have proven myself with a few more tunes I should expect not to hear back. My ultimate goal would be to get signed to Hospitality records, though not for a few years yet I doubt.
Now I have finished University I will need to start promoting myself as an artist, my tunes and my night much better. It has taken a backbench over my final year while I concentrated on my projects, but now I will have a bit more time I intend to get on it again pretty rapidly. I have a number of DJ bookings lined up at some big events both in Bournemouth and on the Isle of Wight, so I really need to make some promo CD’s with a mix and both my tunes on, with a cover, ready for handouts. As more and more people recognise the name, especially if they enjoy the mix and the tunes, the following will grow, and it certainly helps if you bring a crowd along to a night, as the promoter is much more likely to book you again if you bring people into the club. Planning a good performance always helps, as if you perform well it shows in the crowd, again increasing the chances of getting booked again.
Another essential tool in promoting myself as an artist is the Internet, more specifically social networking sites. They are a handy way of showcasing tunes and mixes online at a place where most people visit daily, and some plan their social lives around, especially in the case of Facebook. Other sites like MySpace and Soundcloud are designed more for music related purposes, but still act as a social network environment too.
I have had a MySpace account for a while, but not ever really used it, as I don’t like the layout or formatting. A really well designed one where you can see everything without any overlapping looks great, and I might have to get one made at some point, both for Focal Point and the Partizan Project, but for now I don’t really use MySpace or indeed know many people through it. I will need to get on this a bit more though, as it is a really good place to interact with other established and up and coming DJ’s and producers, who are usually the best people to get feedback from in terms of making music, as they are the ones who ultimately will play it out, so I have uploaded the tunes and am in the process of networking and sorting out the page itself.
Soundcloud is a better way of hosting music and mixes, quickly becoming extremely popular. It has a slight social networking side, but essentially concentrates on promoting and showcasing the music. You can follow people, or be followed, leave comments on tracks and send messages but that’s about as far as the social side goes. The best thing about Soundcloud is the way you can link your uploads to any other social networking sites, like Facebook, and the user friendly way the tunes are posted onto profiles, including the comments and share links.
Facebook is obviously the biggest of the bunch, with a hugely wide and diverse range of people, companies and industries part of the network. Obviously I have my own profile, but making one to promote again both Focal Point and the Partizan Project means people can become fans as such, keeping up to date with information like events and new uploads. I can invite people from my entire friend list, and indeed from anyone’s friend list if I chose, making the network possibilities endless. Like I said, many promoters, DJ’s and producers are on these social networking sites, and so make contact with people like that a bit easier too. This is where making yourself look professional with all the relevant information being in the right places and a nice, clean, easy to use layout becomes an important tool, as otherwise possible contacts may not fully digest your page before leaving, one of the reasons I don’t like MySpace. As an additional extra I have made a portfolio site to accompany these social networking pages that showcases and has links to my work, both as a DJ and a designer. I have chosen to upload this side of me as well as it is all very musical anyway, and just shows a different dimension to my work whilst still being heavily musically influenced. Music may not happen for me after a few years, so I will need to keep on with some form of media production as another option should everything not work to plan.
But the Internet is not the only way of promoting myself as an artist, certainly an extremely influential one, but not an overall one. I still need to get out there in peoples faces, forcing my music on them getting feedback and making contacts. Getting my night going properly again is something I have been longing to do, although I do feel it needs a bit of a revamp after the little break. I like the logo, but feel it needs a smoother, more modern, more recognisable and more legible font, something that will refresh it and be easier to transfer across all forms of media. I have booked the back room at a successful night called ‘Delete’ at the Winchester in Bournemouth ready to get the name going again, and am making the arrangements for a new event. There is still much to sort out, most notably a new club, as the one I had used previously (Empire Club) just wasn’t right for the job. I have sourced a couple that may fit the night better at this stage, but need to go and properly scout out the space and see what can be done inside. I have written up a few proposed line-ups and a few dates and once I have the club I will look to start making some bookings. I have been thinking ahead and have already saved up the funds to do this but have been waiting till I have the time to go full steam ahead with the preparations.
As for a job and money for the time being, my main priority is a job that will allow me to live comfortably but give me as much spare time as possible to concentrate on my music and event promotion. I have a part time job in Sainsbury’s at the moment, and have held that for the past 6 years in education whilst gaining valuable customer service, selling and communication skills. I have been repeatedly told I can sell and my customer service is exemplary, so I figure a job in sales for a few years will not only use the skills I have but give me the free time I desire for my own progression and giving me enough money to live. I have been looking at vacancies around Bournemouth on sites like Fish for Jobs, Monster and local sites like the Daily Echo. As I already have a good contact platform and have already started promoting my name down here it makes sense to stay in Bournemouth for at least a couple of years, and a job like this would mean I had no ties should I decide the need to move elsewhere to progress further, or if it doesn’t work out to try a new career path.
So overall I suppose the main thing is to get out and promote myself and keep making tunes and keep promoting them, sending to as many people as possible in the hope one will be liked by the right person, and getting the night running and recognised again so I have a constant place to showcase the tunes. At the end of the day it’s all about exposure, making myself look professional and getting the right contacts on my side, it may take a couple of years but if I want it bad enough I will have to get out and do it for myself.
Links to Portfolio site and blog:
Portfolio site – www.mikedovey.com
As I have only just bought the domain name and am waiting for it to be updated properly the site may not be uploaded to this location until later on Monday 24th May 2010. If not a version can be found at:
http://www.dovey.deftweb.co.uk/
Blog – http://doveythethird.wordpress.com/
Focal Point links:
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Focal-Point/128514217162314
Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/focal-point
MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/focalpointdjs
Partizan Project links:
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/partizanproject
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=100093830459&ref=ts
MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/partizanproject
Mike Dovey CV
mikedovey.focalpoint@googlemail.com
07845279568
I am interested in a variety of forms of digital media, predominately music production and creation techniques and tools, but also motion graphics and promotional material. I am heavily influenced by music, the way it makes us feel and the forms of image creation that evolve from music. Experimenting with new technology and the way music and image can be manipulated at ease is something that greatly inspires me.
Education
2009 to 2010 – BA Digital Media Production – AUCB, Bournemouth
I explored the relationship between music culture and religion, learning valuable skills in music production and creation techniques and processes. I also researched event lighting.
2007 to 2009 – FDA Interactive Media & Web Design – AUCB, Bournemouth
I explored techniques within a wide range of new media forms, producing work specialising in motion graphics and promotional material.
2005 to 2007 – BTEC National Diploma in Graphic Design – Isle of Wight College
I produced an array of work within the graphic design field such as animation, multi-media authoring and mixed media production, resulting in a triple Distinction.
2004 to 2005 – Geography AS level – Carisbrooke High School
Gained a C at AS level.
Relevant Experience
May 2010 – Cameraman and editor for football game
Filmed and edited a DVD of a memorial football game up at Bournemouth’s football ground, Dean Court.
March 09 to current – Promoter of music night ‘Partizan Project’
For the last year and a half I have been organizing and promoting a music night called the Partizan Project, creating all the promotional material such as posters, flyers, promotional videos etc.
March 2008 to June 2008 – Web Developer, Mark Cunniffe
I produced a portfolio website for Mark Cunniffe, a reputable light designer.
May 2007 to August 2007 – Designer for music night ‘Straight Dope’
I designed promotional material for an event on the Isle of Wight.
March 2007 – Designed logo for ‘Sexual Chocolate’ magazine
Designed logo and helped with promotional material for local skate magazine on the Isle of Wight.
Employment History
2004 to present – Counter Assistant, Sainsbury’s LTD
Started on the Isle of Wight and got a transfer to Bournemouth when left for university. Lots of experience with clients, dealt with customers all day every day working on Deli and Meat/Fish counters. Often praised for customer service and ability to sell, multi-skilled across the whole store.
Achievements
- Won ‘Bestival’ DJ comp (Isle of Wight) and played two years in a row
- Won ‘Not so Silent’ DJ comp
- Played at many top Drum and Bass music events across the south of England
- Promoted successful music night of my own around Bournemouth
- Gained 5 year service badge working for Sainsbury’s
- Student rep for my college course on the Isle of Wight
- Captain school cricket team
References
Available on request.
Cover Letter
152 Capstone Road
Bournemouth
BH8 8RT
Mobile: 07845279568
Email: mikedovey.focalpoint@googlemail.com
21st May 2010
Dear Mr Jobman
I am writing to you to apply for a position in your sales team, currently advertised on the Bournemouth Daily Echo site. I enclose my CV for your consideration.
I have been a member of a sales team in Sainsbury’s for the past 6 years whilst in education, and have developed strong customer service, selling and communicating skills. I feel my skills and attitude towards work would be a valuable asset to your team, a team I have heard works hard and gets results, fitting my profile perfectly.
I am particularly attracted to working in sales as I feel I have the drive, determination and skills to make money, I enjoy working in a team and I can generate unique customer relations that are essential in building up trust between company and client.
I come from a predominantly design based background, completing a degree in Digital Media Production at the Arts University Bournemouth, giving me skills that deal with clients on a one to one basis as well as meeting deadlines. All this added together makes me an ideal candidate for your company, and I look forward to taking the opportunity to talk with you further about my application.
Thank you for taking the time to read and consider this application.
Yours Sincerely,
Mike Dovey
Job Searches
Daily Echo. (n.d.) Job Search – The People Bureau. [Online] Available from: http://www.fish4.co.uk/ls/nwqtibrnmth/jobs/advert?adId=26230648&sid=0F8ADBBD4391217&pos=11&src=search&tot=232&page=2&Area=205156&src=search [Accessed 23rd May 2010]
Daily Echo. (n.d.) Job Search – Go recruits. [Online] Available from: http://www.fish4.co.uk/ls/nwqtibrnmth/jobs/advert?adId=26416826&sid=0F8ADBBD4391217&pos=26&src=search&tot=232&page=3&Area=205156&src=search [Accessed 23rd May 2010]
Daily Echo. (n.d.) Job Search – Everest. [Online] Available from: http://www.fish4.co.uk/ls/nwqtibrnmth/jobs/advert?adId=26464955&sid=0F8ADBBD4391217&pos=97&src=search&tot=232&page=10&Area=205156&src=search [Accessed May 23rd 2010]
OK so there are loads like this to go and chose from, and many places to look at jobs like this, so I won’t bore you with a long list, you get the idea. I’m looking for something with the option of earning around £14,000 to £18,000 with bonuses for meeting targets, like I say been told I can sell so why not for a few years, will give me plenty of free time to go and pursue my musical goals whilst allowing me to live comfortably, and if the music doesn’t work out I can cut my ties easily and leave to go somewhere I can develop myself further.
Harmonic Mixing
OK so a small extra point to raise quickly which is something I’ve hinted on but not described fully. As I say, producers must remember that their tunes are essentially DJ tools, and so must be DJ friendly i.e. not too long unless carrying continuous build up and be able to sit a mix well. It’s hard to describe but let me tell you, as a DJ I only know too well of tunes that sound amazing as a tune but don’t sit well in the mix, and so therefore just aren’t played the same amount as a tune that does mix nicely. Harmonic mixing is a way of guiding a DJ a he mixes, and works but assigning each track a number between 1 and 12 (like a clock) depending on the root note and either an A (Minor note) or a B (major note). Now the idea is that you can move about this ‘clock’ by using compatible segments, for example if you had a tune in the key of 4A you could mix a 3A, 4A, 4B or 5A, creating smooth, compatible in key mixes every time. A simple yet effective technique. As I have a wealth of drum and bass tracks (I mix using Serato which is a vinyl emulation software that uses digital files from a computer) that are all tagged with key numbers, I happen to know which areas have the most number of tunes (that I listen to anyway), usually from around 3 to 8 and with minor keys (A). This is one reason I used F Minor (4A) for my final track, as I felt it was a good area for any DJ’s who used harmonic mixing just in case anyone was to use the tune in a set. To be honest, I also just liked the way the note sounded as I was going through a trial and error session playing with my midi keyboard, and just happened to start the riff there. Either way it sounds wicked, and I shall certainly use it in a set to see how it compares to properly produced drum and bass.
EMP – Evaluation
So overall I am tremendously happy with the final outcome of this project, and am more than happy with the final experience I have created. I love the track itself, and although there are still a few minor tweaks I would like to iron out it is finished to a standard I would be happy for it to be released with. Obviously this won’t ever be released as such, but I shall send it off to a few people within the industry to get some feedback, like a few record labels and producers that fit the same kind of style. Even if they get back to me and say ‘like the arrangement but engineering needs work’, I would still know I was on the right course, as at the end of the day it takes years to get up to a professional standard as far as engineering is concerned and that’s with tuition, so for me to be teaching myself is a huge step in the right direction, as it shows I have the hunger to learn. It’s not impossible to teach yourself but it requires dedication and commitment. I plan to carry on with the process, and am about to start work on another new track. The idea is that every new track uses new techniques and should theoretically progress on in terms of production value every time. And even then the art will not be perfected for a couple of years at least.
As for the light show I created, I certainly feel it was a professional looking, aesthetically pleasing show that helped build atmosphere on top of the music. It was all about fitting the mood of the music to the transition in lighting, quicker, more energetic flashes of light as the tune hits the main body of the tune and then calmer, sweeping, ambient light as the track calms in preparation for the next drop. To achieve this I needed the use of controllers for the lighting, which in the case of the strobe and the laser was a simple kill switch that meant I didn’t have to turn off the power at the plug, which meant I would have had to have waited for the machine to load back up to activate again. With the use of the kill switch I could turn on and off instantly at the touch of a button. The beams had a slightly more complex control system, using 4 different settings for variation. It could be dimmed, set to strobe, sound to light and a smooth function. These all had their uses, and the beams certainly made the mood inside the experience, whilst the lasers act as the main body, the interaction and the main central point. As I had discovered from my testing, people liked the lasers, as they were almost an object, something to play with inside the room, so they were an essential part of the experience.
I felt as far as my set up was concerned I hit the nail on the head, sourcing the best equipment available to me leaving me with a professional looking presentation. From my experiments I quickly realised that too much light, or not a dark enough space, left an almost school disco feel, which was certainly not what I wanted. So proper, industry equipment was pivotal in giving me a good experience. The only thing I would have liked was a bigger space, somewhere I could span the lights out a little further playing with the arrangement a little more. Because of the space I had it left me a little limited as to what equipment I could fit in there and where it would be positioned. I knew the laser needed to be central unless there was more than one, which would have been overkill in the space I had. Because of this the beams needed to create the width and depth, as if all my light sources were coming from one angle it would have been too busy and not balanced, so I spread them into the corners of the room channelling in to draw the audiences eye into the middle, which is where the focal point was.
The only thing I would do differently is properly sorting out the space I would use to present in, by choosing a larger venue with no windows and no light sources, that way I wouldn’t have to worry about blacking out windows. I would also control the smoke a little better, as by the end it was just too smokey to properly enjoy the experience. This was due to my smoke controller sticking on continuous, letting out a little bit every minute for the duration I was there. But still, extremely happy overall, and feel there was not much more I could have done.
In terms of my brief, I feel I pretty much did exactly what I set out to do, creating and experience that promotes individual feelings of euphoria generated by the immersion of sound and light. The real idea was to build a platform for music production for when I leave university, which I have achieved splendidly, and to learn the basics of light and camera operation, to give me a few extra valuable skills within the industry field. At the end of the day, I’m already a DJ, if I am producing music, organising lightshows and have the experience of filming events then I have a complete package in place ready for the industry, showcasing a wide and valuable set of skills, especially as I also have an interest in motion graphics which can be applied to VJ’ing and a portfolio with promotional material advertising music events. So I have the skills and experience now to go off and do a selection of jobs depending on which route I chose to persist, I could be a DJ and producer or go off and start my own events management company that arranges everything from the promotional material to documenting the event and everything in between.
I feel for the time being I am going to pursue the producer role, as that is what I have been concentrating on in my final year it would be detrimental not to continue with this at the moment, as the longer I leave it the less chance I will be able to progress like I am now or get back into the swing of it. It really is one of these things that once you start you will only achieve what you want with hard work and commitment, as it is such a competitive industry that depends largely on how good music you are producing and who you know, which is why building up a list of contacts is essential in developing any young music producer.
So overall I am extremely happy with the outcome of the project and learning experience I have had throughout, it is certainly one of the most challenging yet satisfying projects I have ever worked on, providing me with some of my best work to date, which I feel is evident throughout the project showing my continued learning curve and development. I hope for many good things to in the future, Hospital records here I come!
Final video presentation – Light show and final track
I was quite confident as to how the performance was going to go as I was so happy with the track; I just had the feeling that as long as I had a good amount of control over the lights the experience would be just what I wanted. My set up consisted of the 3D laser on a stand in the middle, with the strobe and smoke machine just at the base of the stand on either side. The beams were placed in front of the speakers in each corner of the room to gain some width, facing in to direct the line of light into the centre and into the laser beams, which I knew everyone would concentrate on anyway. I was originally going to get 2 lasers, but I’m glad I didn’t, as there would have been too many lasers in the confined space. Simplicity is sometimes better; so 2 lasers would have been overkill I think. The strobe and lasers were wired through a control box where I could switch them on or off without having to kill the power and then wait for them to load back up once I had switched the power back on, and the beams were wired through a separate control box where I had 4 switches, darken, strobe, sound to light and smooth.
As it goes, I certainly feel the layout I used was the best way and worked well, like I keep saying, everyone concentrates on the lasers so I knew they had to be the central point. The beams help tie the music to the lights better than the contrasting lasers, as they have some ambience and mood about them. The use of colour, speed and intensity with the beams does help create atmosphere, especially the strobe function, which always acts to build energy. The strobe on these is really good as it is in complete sync with the music, the sound to light settings are sensitive which let them take care of themselves whilst I sorted the rest. I have to admit, I really think I didn’t need the extra strobe afterwards, but I suppose if nothing else it does help build that extra bit of energy in the drops, which is the euphoric experience I am trying to encapsulate.
As for the equipment itself, really can’t complain at all and spending the extra bit on top quality equipment made all the difference I feel, the 3D laser for example was great, incredibly mesmerising. The beams did exactly what I needed them to, create mood and feeling whilst hyping up then calming the space around the lasers when needed. With the smoke added into the mix it creates an almost intoxicating atmosphere that involves you in the experience, submerging and stimulating your senses. It is this whole atmosphere that really makes the experience, and is certainly helped when under the influence of substances or indeed with a room of people who appreciate the music. This is one of the only things needed in this video, you have your core few drum and bassers but everyone else is undoubtedly enjoying the music but it possibly isn’t to their tastes, so the movement is not as it should be. The room was possibly a bit too smokey at times, due to the controller on the haze machine being dodgy and not fully switching off, which meant it was continuously letting off a small amount of smoke all the time, quickly filling up the relatively small space I was using, but it was Ok for the time being and I just had to keep letting out a bit of the smoke from time to time. One other massively annoying mistake I made was leaving the camera on auto focus, which is why the shot goes a bit funny at times, so for this reason for the final copy of the video I have sliced together parts of both the viewings I did, one with the room full of people and the other with only a few. It’s hardly noticeable when sliced really, so not a massive problem in the end.
This is the original footage with the original sound recorded live. As you can see at times it does go really blurred, but apart from that really happy with the way it went on the day and felt everyone had a good time in there and enjoyed the experience, which was the most important thing. The blur almost looks a bit art, like your there and feeling a bit overwhelmed, vision gone a bit blurry, then slowly focusing back into reality, but it just gets annoying after a while. One huge lesson learnt, always check the focus! To be fair I had checked to see if the camera was in focus, but foolishly not what it was set to.
This version has the sound dubbed for a proper copy of the tune, so it has clean crisp audio. The live versions fine, but you can’t really hear the detail in the tune so dubbing it over the top gives you a better reflection of the sound involved.
This version only has a few people inside, and so you can see the lights in action a little better. It is still a little smokey inside, but you can still make the lights out well, and the colours, which are important. The laser cuts through the smoke so well and you just cant help but look into it. I often get this with lasers; they are extremely engaging, if you ask me because of the contrast and the way it cuts through the smoke in such a direct way. The beams sort of take the background, calming and building where appropriate. I think 4 of these, 1 above each one on the floor, would have created a touch more atmosphere, but then they could have just as easily overcomplicated things as well, so overall I was extremely happy with the performances.
This last video was the edited version to play at the crit, with a bit of talk over analysis in places just so I could explain the lights as people were seeing them.
Final track progression – ‘Moment of Realisation’
Moment of Realisation – Rough Arrange (Road Map)
So as I already stated, I had decided to switch to CuBase for the purposes of this track as there was more help available to me and I wanted to try out some new software to see what differences it made. Imagine it like this, your doing some kinetic type motion graphics but are not great at typography, so you get someone to help pick a good font for you to work with. So I’m writing and creating the track but getting tutorials as to how to make the sounds more professional, as there are hundreds of techniques I have no hope of learning them all in the space of a year so utilising all the help available to me is essential.
Again to start with I used beat number 2 from my tests, as it was the most popular. For the moment this was only to be used as a placeholder, so I had something to work with and map out the tune with. Drum and bass follows a strict pattern in terms of structure, with segments of 16 bars breaking up the track. So a track would have 2 16 bar segments as an intro, 1 or 2 as a build, from 3 to 6 for the main body of the tune then the breakdown repeated again and so forth. So the first thing I did was to decide how many segments I wanted at each part of the tune. To keep it quick and interesting I decided to use 2 segments of 16 bars for the intro, 1 for the break and 4 for the main part of the tune. This is a fairly standard template, getting to the point quickly with impact. At the end of the day a producer in the digital music field must always remember your tunes are essentially DJ tools, the intro won’t be heard, in fact half the tune wont be, so it’s all about making that impact as strong as possible for the duration the tune will be played.
Now I had my beat in place spanning across the whole tune I decided to try and see what I could do to the drums in CuBase that would make them sound more distinct. So I added some compression (which reduces the dynamic range of the audio signal, narrowing the difference between high and low), tape saturation (which emulates the sound of audio recorded to a tape), limiting (which takes away the highest peaks of the ‘wave’, raising the lower peaks so you get the loudest sound from the sample), multi band distortion (different types of distortion like the gate, dynamics, distortion and feedback) and some more EQ’ing. At this point I also added in where all the fills and drum rolls were going to go so that as I listened back I could get some ideas for transitioning. This also makes the tune sound more like an actual tune even though the rest of it is not written yet, as it becomes easier to imagine where other elements are going to go.
As I wanted a bit more of an ‘Old School’ vibe (a term that applies to drum and bass being produced a few years ago, which has no where near the same production values but has a certain feel and vibe to it), I needed an element that replicated this. The ‘M1’ piano is legendary in creating the Old School piano sounds, so I decided to utilise this in my track. Using the root note F Minor (a good versatile key for drum and bass mixing), I pencilled in a note pattern (shown above). I knew I would come back to this and expand/vary as necessary, but as I had my basic riff I placed it across the whole tune where I wanted it to be active.
One of the things people had said about my other tune was that it had no vocals, so I had been searching for a good set of vocals to use for a while, but just couldn’t find a decent one. So I decided to choose a couple from a pack I had downloaded (Jackson 5 – I’ll be there and First Choice – Guilty), pitching them to F Minor so they were in key with the tune. After they had been pitched, some sounded awful which I proceeded in deleting, where as one or two kept the correct tone and were usable. As the words themselves were not applicable to the song, I cut the vocals down into parts I wanted, literally just the sounds like “oh’ and ‘ah’ (as shown below), just so the track had some voices, creating new layers and fills. Again, I placed these slices in various places throughout the track, chopping and changing patterns to gain some variation throughout the main part of the tune.
Next I worked on the synth melody for the breakdown, using an external plug in VST called Surge (an external VST plug in synthesizer). These external instruments are pivotal in creating different sounds, as they are geared up especially for that purpose. After selecting my type of wave, I set about making it sound like I wanted it to, tweaking the almost limitless variants till I had a smooth, uplifting ‘string’ sound. OK, so it does sound very digital, but the idea was to get the drawn out, continuous notes you would get from a real instrument like a violin. I liked the riff pattern I had for this, so I used it for the main riff in the tune as well, adding an extra high note in for extra bounce and transition between the notes. But I wanted a different sound for the main bit of the tune, as it didn’t sound good with this ‘string’ for the main body. So I copied the layer and all it’s attributes onto a new layer, going back into surge and changing the sound, giving it different waves for a different sound and adding some effects like filters and L.F.O.’s, giving it some body and bounce. I was a lot happier with this sound, but knew there could still more to be done to it when I returned, so I moved on. Listening back to it at this stage I decided it needed another sound to come in over just a small area of the main part of the tune, again adding to variation and giving the track more layers and sounds to work with. So I set up a new layer using Surge, picking a preset I could work with for this time, tweaking it to my own preferences. I have to admit, for the moment I really couldn’t get the sound I was imagining, so I got as close as possible before deciding this was a good place to leave it and come back to after a few days rest after quickly adding an explosion to the breakdown as a transition from the intro.
Moment of Realisation – Stage 2
When I came back to it, immediately I got the vibe but was not happy with some of the sounds at all. But this was the point in getting all the musical ideas down in the space of a few days, so that when you come back it is instantly easier to tell what needs to change and what works as it is. And as I listened back I was happy with the structure but knew that some serious work was needed on the pianos and mid bass, and that it also needed a sub bass filling out those bottom frequencies. It is important to try and fill as much of the frequency range as possible when creating dance music as otherwise is will leave space in the audio (an example of a good range is shown above).
I started with the main synth in the main body of the tune, opening up the Surge instrument and playing with the settings to try beefing up the sound. It was here that a technique I would have never thought to use came into practice. I set up double oscillators, splitting (panning) the riff into stereo sound so that there was a separate tone coming from the left and right individual speakers, detuning apart in unison, one -6 and the other +6 pitch, flattening and sharpening the note (there is actually no such note as F flat but it was essentially what I was doing to it). Sounds like it wouldn’t work, but your brain is a very clever machine and cancels out the difference in your head so that you hear the note of F in the middle. This technique also makes the sounds ‘move’ in between the speakers, sweeping and whooshing through the audio, and if you ask me leaves a wonderfully epic, energetic sound. It was also at this point I made another slight variation in the riff to come in literally only once or twice throughout the track, just giving the sound that little extra something so it’s not so repetitive.
Next I moved back onto the pianos, layering with more synths (shown below) and trying out the panning effect with this as well. So I created 2 more ‘sawtooth’ waves with the same notes and structure as the piano, detuned and panned apart like with the mid bass. I also added another ‘sawtooth’ wave, this time in mono (so not panned apart), which I filtered low an octave down to fill out the lower end of the frequency spectrum for the pianos. This layer was just playing the root notes of the piano chords, as it’s an almost ‘sub bass’ for the pianos and doesn’t need to be overcomplicated. This immediately made my pianos really big in terms of the rest of the audio, which sounded a little funny at the moment but once the rest of the sounds are made as big it will sit back into the mix, working off and with the other sounds better. These are then bussed (grouped) together for easier manipulation with effects, although I can still edit each one individually as I wish.
Although the pianos were sounding a lot better, they still weren’t perfect, and sounded a bit harsh. So I set about adding some effects to the overall group, adding some compression (reducing the dynamic range of the audio), tape saturation (replicating audio sound recorded to tape), limiting (taking the peaks in the wave away raising the level of audio overall) and some more EQ’ing. I also added some reverb and some delay, distorting the sound a bit and giving it some bounce between notes. It had taken me a while to sift through the effects, but finally I was happy with the piano.
Because I had been working on the mid bass already, and now the pianos were drowning the rest of the audio because of their size, I decided to make the mid bass fit into the mix a bit stronger, as I wanted it as the lead when the tune got going. So I added another wave, pitching it up +7, which is a perfect 5th (the interval between a note and the note 7 semitones above it on the musical scale), to give it that high top end, extending the sound and giving it that drilling effect. I also gave it a sub bass layer, again really to fill out the sound, spreading it across the frequency range to give as full a sound as possible, all following the same note pattern. Now the fully panned apart part of the riff sounded a bit funny, so I lowered the pan a bit, giving the sound a bit more body as it comes at you from 3 areas; left, right and centre (shown below). For extra effect I added a high pass filter (which allows the high frequencies to play, blocking out the low ones), multiband distortion (distortion of different attributes) and tape saturation (replication of sound recorded onto a tape). Now my mid bass was sounding as big as the pianos and was what I was looking for, it seemed a good place to leave it again for a few days.
Moment of Realisation – Stage 3
The main focus for the next few sessions on the track would be the beat, tidying up the vocals, working on the intro and adding some extra filler FX. I started with the beat, which follows roughly the same kick and snare pattern but with new samples and new hats, choosing new samples to use and layering them on top of each other (shown below). As I knew there would be more happening in this tune the kicks needed to be simplified, in a more standard drum and bass pattern spread over 2 bars to allow a small amount of variation every bar. Snares are usually at a set place every bar (2nd and 4th beat to keep the rhythm and backbone of the tune), but can vary depending on the type of beat or indeed the producer, switches and variations sound great when pulled off well but sound shocking when not, so I kept to the standard pattern. To gain speed and to fan out the top end of the drums, I layered a selection of 6 hats and a ride together, all playing different patterns, some in the background some in the foreground, some panned some not to allow space for the rest of the tune to fit into and provide swing in between the kicks and snares. This is what hats really do for a good dance track, add that swing and movement between beats that allows for free movement from the audience, whilst the ride acts to create the speed in the background. If it’s to rigid there is only a certain pattern you can dance to, but with variation it opens up wider movement and flexibility. All the sounds were on their own layers, and so I grouped them together as a drum group. I then set about EQ’ing and processing each sample individually, giving me the right sounds for a drum and bass track. All dance music has a certain type of drum that distinguishes it apart from each other (as well as other things), and without the right sounding drums the track just wouldn’t be the same. As with before, I added a limiter and a compressor to boost the sound as much as I could without spiking the levels too much.
To tidy up the vocals was merely a question of cropping them so they were perfect and automating them to come in and out smoother. Once I had arranged them (I had 6 different oh’s and ah’s (shown below)) in a way I was happy with so that the same two bits didn’t play together for longer than 16 bars I placed them across the tune accordingly. After a bit of EQ’ing on the mid range I added a delay effect, automating it to come on only in places for some extra effect on the transitions.
Most of the components were now in place, so I went back to look at the intro, which I was certainly not happy with. I had always known I would come back and change it though, and had had a rough idea of how when I was laying it out at the beginning. I had imagined having a delay in place so that the piano’s would gently quiet before coming in again every 8 bars before the break down, but when I tried this it didn’t sound right at all because of the way it came back in. So I set about trying out some other ideas, and settled on a gentle filter in from high down to low then gently back to normal in time for the drop, automating both the high and low pass filters for extra effect, which gave me a much better introduction into the main track. Remembering this is a DJ tool the very start of a track will never be heard (unless it’s the first track in a mix), so it doesn’t need to sound absolutely amazing but be able to drop into a mix and transition nicely over into the main tune once at a point the DJ can switch it over without messing up the continuity of a set.
Now I had arrived back at the breakdown, I looked at placing in some more filler FX, like a riser, some crashes, explosions and whooshes (shown below). In ways in the last track I had gone a bit overkill with the FX, so this time I kept it to the simple and effective elements, the explosions and crashes to transition into the breakdowns, the riser to build energy for the main kick and the whooshes to transition and fill out the main body. These all needed to be automated in terms of levels, but once one is done they can be copied and placed at ease around the rest of the tune. It was at this point I also figured some more percussion would be good, like a cow bell or horse shoe, so I found some samples and tried a few to see which was the best, and after choosing one created 3 variations to go over different parts of the tune.
This track really was sounding on the verges of completion, and certainly still needed work in a few key areas, but was for the moment sounding good, apart from one thing that had been bugging me since I did it in the first place. The extra high synth over the one 16 bar period sounded really cheesy and not very drum and bass at all, so I dumbed them down a bit, taking out some of the notes so it tied in with the main mid riff a bit more, making them a lot less annoying but admittedly still not perfect, but I had run out of ideas for the moment so left them how they were. As it was getting late at this point I decided to polish off the arrangement so it was exactly how I wanted it and vary the drum fills a little in places, taking away the snares in some so that they weren’t the same every time. At this point I called it quits again with the knowledge that one more solid session should finish off the track.
Moment of Realisation – Final Mix
After a couple of days (I really couldn’t wait to finish it off so only had a short break this time) I came back to the track again and made a list of all the elements that needed tweaking or changing. It was at this point that final effects would also be placed onto the parts of the track as a whole, so say the whole mid bass group as opposed to just one of the layers in the group. There were 5 main groups to the track; the drums, bass, pianos, vocals and effects. Much of the sounds were already sounding pretty good, but I added some more reverb and delays on the overall vocals, only a little but just to give it some more depth, and some delay (shown below) and some more distortion on the piano’s.
As I was listening back to the track I became unhappy with the snare, which didn’t have the right punch or depth, so I layered a few more snares up, pitching up to give a snappy sound, raising the attack to gain a faster sound and EQ’ing it to take out the bottom end (shown below). Digital samples/synths have 4 main attributes, attack (how fast the note raises in volume), release (how long it takes to reach the sustain level), sustain (the level the note will play at for the duration) and the decay (the amount of time the note will continue after it ends), all of which make the sound very different. I also played with the phase relationship every 4th snare, again for variation. The phase relationship is all to do with the start of a sound in conjunction to another when they are played together, the slightest movement in time in one makes for a very different sound overall.
Now that most of my elements were complete, I moved onto working on the cheesy synth again. First I tried using the same sounds as the mid bass but adding a guitar style distortion effect, which actually sounded pretty cool so I ended up using it over the whole tune and was back to square one on the cheesy synth. At this point I decided to give up, taking it out of the tune completely and starting from scratch. To be honest, it just needed something to fill the gap, something simple that sat in the background just loud enough to hear but not notice fully. So I just used the root note and spread that across the entire 16 bar period, effecting it with a filter and some tape distortion (a different type of saturation). This sat nicely in the middle ground and tied the tune together, as I say it’s hardly noticeable but still has a vital role in the tune, every sound does otherwise it wouldn’t be there.
One area I had not done at all yet was the drum roll building up into the main drop, which I had been saving till the end as I needed to know how the tune would drop and so what kind of energy would need to be built, as sometimes more sounds just before the kick sound best and sometimes none sound the best, it all depends on the impact of the main drop really. From listening back to it I felt a rising level, fast drum roll with an energetic final kick would be most appropriate, so I placed a kick every half beat with a filter automated to raise slowly then speed up towards the drop, with a few snares coming in a few beats before the drop. Once this was in place I tweaked the explosions, risers and whooshes to work in unison with the rise in drums for the most effective impact, all culminating together as one.
As with anything in any sort of design process, I was now at the stage where I felt the main mid bass needed a better way of coming in, so I simplified the sound, quietening it, taking off much of the distortion and the guitar effect and placing on a filter to push it down underneath a bit, which is automated to raise slightly as it arrives at the breakdown. Now I had this over the intro the pianos needed a bit of tweaking on the filter (shown below) to fit a close to the mid bass as possible, as too much contrast in effects would have sounded strange, so I smoothed them out a little more just to give it that slightly calmer feel, again just building towards the breakdown.
At this stage the track was all but done, but being the picky perfectionist I am there was just a few minor details I felt needed to change. The vocals and hats needed some more panning in places, to spread the sound from speaker to speaker creating that bit more width and depth. After adding an extra sneaky FX or two here and there I was happy, and set about side-chaining all the layers to the kick. Side-chaining is a technique used to allow more punch to the beat, and basically lowers the rest of the audio slightly every time the kick is active then raises it again as it ends. This is hardly noticeable in the track but is an essential technique used in pretty much every form of dance music, really to give the audio that extra bounce and swing.
Moment of Realisation – Master
And that was that. The track was finally finished, and sounded really nice (siick as I would say). I think the switch to CuBase certainly worked in my favour, as I would not have been able to get help and advice so easily as I know no one who uses Ableton Live. Every time I needed to know how to achieve something better than I was getting I had sources to hit up for advice, which is an invaluable tool at this stage of my progression and will be for the next couple of years at least. One thing I had been told was that a track is never actually finished at this stage really, as it still needs to be sent off for mastering, which is something I haven’t even considered or thought about. But there are separate mastering engineers that do all that side of the process and that’s a whole different thing completely, but for the moment I have done an extremely basic master by adding a limiter (chopping the highest peaks off raising the rest for maximum levels) to the whole audio, which you can clearly hear makes a world of difference. Obviously a real master is a completely different process to this, but it gives you an idea of how much difference it makes to the final audio experience.
Here are the parts of the track separately so you can gain an understanding of how the sounds sound individually:
Using other forms of music production software – CuBase
After completing the other track (The Beginning) I played it to a selection of people to gauge some feedback, which was largely positive in terms of the track but the overall concession was that I needed, plain and simply, better sounds. The ideas were all there, and it got people moving, it just needed some work on generating really nice initial sounds to work with in the first place. So I set about doing some reading on the internet about other music production softwares available on the market, with 2 standing out as industry standard packages that most digital music producers use, Logic Pro and CuBase. I had already tried Logic before but didn’t find it very user friendly or workable, and as I knew a selection of producers around Bournemouth who used CuBase it seemed the better one to try out, so I set about getting some tutorials and help with using CuBase, this way I could lay out my musical ideas initially then get assistance is generating the sounds I had in my head.
Plan for final experience
I needed to be as prepared as possible for my final presentation so I booked up all my equipment a few weeks before I knew I wanted to present, consisting of a z5 HD camera and tripod, the Kam 3D Star Cluster, 2 EVL Spin Beams, a strobe light, haze machine and stands for anything that wasn’t to be floor mounted. This was the best equipment I had available to me, the expense wasn’t an issue I just wanted the best equipment. One of the things I had learnt from my previous tests was to black out the space as much as possible, any extra light source takes away from the light show so darkness was essential, so ideally I wanted a room with no windows to present. But then I was left with another dilemma, if I was to present somewhere outside of uni it would be a lot harder to get people there and involved unless I put on a proper event, which considering I had decided not to worry about my budget for the lighting was out of the question, as I would have had to of hired the space and DJ’s to play, as well as promoting it which isn’t cheap either, something I had learnt from my Professional unit where I put on an event myself. The budget for that was £1200, and there was no way I could afford anything near this for the purposes of this unit. So it became apparent that I would have to make do with the space I had for my previous tests, the Port-a-cabin on the uni campus. This was OK, was about the right size etc, but obviously had windows. Last time I blacked them out with heavy duty bin bags, which I did again this time except doubled them up to make thicker and less transparent. This worked quite well and gave me a much darker space to work in then before.
I decided this time to span the lights across the whole back wall, as before I had had it cornered as I felt that would pick up the most light. As I was not using anywhere near as much light sources, it would be easier to position in a symmetrical way so that the laser was in the middle with the smoke and strobe and the beams were on the outside facing in to draw the eye into the main body of the lights, the laser. I’m sure people will be focusing on that anyway but the beams do help to channel your focus. As I said before, if I had only had the laser it would have become a bit monotonous, so something else happening was essential. The beams have a good strobe function that will come in extremely handy when trying to build up energy for the kick too. I feel I have the best equipment ready and in place to give me a really nice, aesthetically pleasing end product, and as long as the set up goes well this time as I know what I need to do straight away when I get there, hopefully I should be able to get a fair amount of people into the experience as it will be on a Friday afternoon again (it’s the only time the room is free properly).
Existing light shows
So to get a really god idea of the kind of thing I am after I have decided to look at imagery and video available online that demonstrates what I have in my head. As I regularly go to events I am used to the light shows and know roughly what is needed, but I need my audience to also understand what I am trying to achieve, albeit on a much smaller scale than these big events.
This show is just epic, and where as I will have no where near as much space to spread my lights across, nor anywhere near the amount of people there or in fact the budget and quality of the equipment they have in this video. At the end of the day I only have available to me what I can hire around Bournemouth, and as some of the lighting in this video is extremely specialist and high quality I just will not quite get the same effect. But as you can see, as with all my tests as well, beams strobes and lasers are always the most prominent and interesting for the crowd to keep entertained. Really really love the span of these lasers, the glitchyness, they are neither here nor there at any one point just jumping about to the music. This helps build up movement for the crowd too. They have a variety of colours available to their lasers, which is something to consider, but as I have already researched my lights I know I will only be able to get 2 colours max into the space I will be using. I’d love to try something on this scale one day.
Again this gives you a good picture of how the lasers move around each other creating atmosphere and an object for the ravers to concentrate on. I would get rather boring just watching the DJ so an accompanying light show helps take off that edge and loosen peoples inhibitions, once there is something to focus on people are not so bothered about being watched themselves. The beams are also an important factor, as they act to light up the stage a bit more, projecting the performance out towards the crowd. If there were only lasers the room would be too dark, so the beams also act as a sort of ambient lighting to wash over the experience, as some people are uncomfortable in the pitch black. Although you don’t want to be seen in a rave you still need to know you can see whats going on around you should you need to.
Here are some pictures of how I would like my lasers and lights to come out like, bearing in mind mine will be on a smaller scale and so be using less light sources, but its the effect and composition thats most important to try and replicate:
EMP – Learning Agreement V2
Name: Michael Dovey
Course: BA HONS DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCTION Level: 6
Unit: Extended Major Project
Reference number: [Write the unit’s reference code – refer to the unit handbook]
Credit points: 60
Study hours: 600 Hours
Tutor(s): Phil Beards, Liam Birtles, Bob Cotton
Synopsis of study
For the Extended Major Project I propose to create a finished Drum and Bass track that aims to create a sense of energy and euphoria for the listener, made using music production software like Ableton Live and Cubase and external plug-ins like Massive. Euphoria is a feeling; an intense sense of excitement, elation and happiness, the natural feeling of ecstasy, a raised mental and emotional state, and it is this I intend to capture within my music. It is tricky to gauge euphoria in many ways, as it is a personal experience, but through asking people their feelings and experiences throughout a series of tests I should be able to gain a good idea of the right direction to head in.
These tests will look at the relationship between music, colour and lighting, aiming to produce a light show to accompany the music. To make sure I am creating what I set out to achieve, I have laid out a series of experiments which will no doubt be added to as I go. The first will look at the main types of drum and bass heard around in today’s raves, containing liquid, dancefloor, jump up and tech step. I know which I find best, but it’s what other people think that’s important. Then I will make a small mix with a tune from each sub genre and see if they still have the same effect as part of a continuous mix. After finding the best sub genre to work in, I will need to experiment with different light colours, intensities and effects, which should give me a good idea of the best materials to use when making my light show. I will also need to consider what conditions have different effects on the experience as a whole, like space and darkness, as well as testing a range of my own sounds to see which ones are the most fit for purpose. The results of these tests should give me a good structure to build upon for both the music and the light show, as both are completely new areas to learn and explore. Music is not the only thing that creates the euphoria felt at a rave, lighting plays a heavy part, and so I feel it quite necessary to create something else to help try and induce that energy and euphoria. If I can find that catalyst that makes people ‘rush’, who knows where I could take my individual sound within the scene in the future.
Throughout the process I plan film as much evidence a possible for the final crit, as it will be hard to present my experience live so a video presentation with good sound will be best, so I will need to film peoples reactions and interviews in regards to my tests, as well as filming the presentation itself live. All in all I am eager, if a little apprehensive, to get underway and feel I have a good body of work to help develop where I want to go after the course.
Aims
A1 To provide me with the opportunities to exercise and enhance my knowledge and abilities in the development of a body of creative and technically competent work appropriate to my course aims and criteria at Level 6.
A2 To provide opportunities for me to learn from the increased complexity and rigour of creative production required for this unit.
A3 To encourage me to apply the advanced level of discipline and time-management which are required during the unit.
A4 To encourage me to work independently, albeit with supervision, in the development of your work, in a way which reflects contemporary professional practice. I will also be encouraged to work effectively as a team member where it is demanded by my project or subject specialism.
Learning outcomes:
On completion of this unit I will be able to:
LO1 Demonstrate the ability to rigorously apply specialist knowledge, understanding and creativity in the production of your extended major project.
LO2 Demonstrate the ability to manage the complexity of practice demanded by the extended major project by managing your time and work efficiently.
LO3 Demonstrate ability in the coherent use of various representation techniques, documentation and presentations to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
LO4 Demonstrate your awareness of the ethical, social and cultural issues appropriate to the concept of a responsible professional practitioner, whether working independently or as part of a team.
Assessment Requirements
For assessment I will produce a finished tack, the promotional material for the event to showcase the track in, along with a series of tests to guide in making the accompanying light show, all catalogued by a video diary for presentation – 100%
Assessment Criteria
Evidence of realisation through the application of technical knowledge and skills – Specialist knowledge and understanding are evident and applied in the work (LO1)
Evidence of understanding through critical evaluation and reflection – Informing the development and management of the project (LO2)
Evidence of realisation through presentation – The communication and presentation of ideas reflects best contemporary practice (LO3)
Evidence of knowledge of concepts, contexts, criticism and theory – The work demonstrates awareness of concepts relevant to the responsible professional practitioner (LO4)
References
[Create a bibliography of the reference material you will be using – refer to the Learning Agreement Guidelines for more information]
Action plan/time plan
| Date | Work Agenda | No of Hours |
| Sun 7th Feb | Working with Ableton. Finalising ideas and agreement. | 30 |
| Sun 14th Feb | Plan and prepare for experiments. Camera for filming. | 45 |
| Sun 21st Feb | Experiments complete and filmed. Abelton tutorials. | 40 |
| Sun 28th Feb | Experiment with my own sounds. Source materials gathered. | 45 |
| Sun 7th March | Track development. Abelton tutorials. Experiments. | 35 |
| Sun 14th March | Track development. Abelton tutorials. Experiments. | 50 |
| Sun 21st March | Track development. Abelton tutorials. Experiments. | 50 |
| Sun 28th March | Track development. | 45 |
| Sun 4th April | Track development. | 40 |
| Sun 11th April | Finishing off track. Light development. | 45 |
| Sun 18th April | Finishing off track. Light development. | 50 |
| Sun 25th April | Finalise track and lights ready for presentation. | 50 |
| Sun 2nd May | Prepare for final experience presentation, camera needed. | 45 |
| Sun 9th May | Edit and finalise video presentation. Finish any loose ends. | 40 |
| Tue 11th May | Final Crit. | 610 |
Initial track progression – Ableton Live
So now we move onto the really interesting bit. As you will have already read over, I went off and created a set of beats and sound loops in Ableton Live with the idea of testing them on peers, finding out which were most popular and proceeding to create a track from what people liked the most, and with what I could work with the best. For this track I chose to use beat 2 and sound loop 2, which at the time I found particularly catchy.
One of the most important things to consider when creating a track is to just get the ideas down on the page in the space of a few days, not worrying if it sounds amazing but just getting down all the musical ideas in place so you have a full ‘track’ to work with. This way at any stage you can work on any part of the track and if something isn’t going right you can move to another part and come back to the bit you are stuck on. Here is the ‘road map’ (the initial few days arrangement and musical ideas of the track) of this particular track:
So this was made over the space of 2 full days in the studio, and like I said, used the patterns I had created for some of my experiments. As I have already stated how I made these 2 elements I will only briefly run over it again. The drums were created in a drum rack, but separately for each sound, so the kick has it’s own drum rack and the snare has it’s own, and this is then grouped as the overall drum kit, as shown below in the session view of Ableton. Ableton has 2 views, session which is like a mixer and can hold multiple audio loops in each channel, and arrangement (all other screen shots show this) which is where the structure, build and automation of the track occurs.
To have progression on the drums over the space of the track I took out kicks from the start so that as the track builds up the drums also become more complex. This also acts to build up speed and energy when the track is in full swing, creating more sound and movement to get into. The kicks, snares and hats are layered up, the kick has 2 kicks, one EQ’d bass and the other mid (bass kick at around 110Hz frequency), the snare has just the one really hard hitting (EQ’d at around 174Hz frequency) and the hats are layered and EQ’d to take out any low end frequncies to be left with clean, crisp sounds. For the hats I have a loop taken from a sample pack and chopped into my own arrangement, a layer of my own open and closed hats for added bounce, rides to help create speed when the tune fully kicks in, a crash to highlight drops and main kicks, a couple of chopped up bongo loops sliced together to create a new rhythm and some groove to the beat and an underlying ‘Amen’ break to fill out the overall drum riff. The ‘Amen’ break is one of the most widely used breaks within the drum and bass scene, and has been chopped and changed into multiple variations over the years and is sampled in almost every drum and bass tune to create extra flow and like I said, fill out the beat. To add space to the mix I auto panned (panning is when you switch between left and right speakers) all the hats bar the ride and crash. Panning the hats between the left and right audio channels acts to space apart the beat, giving it depth as it makes the listener aware that sounds are coming at them from every direction. At this point it is probably a good idea to explain about Mono and Stereo sound, as this hugely effects the outcome of the track. Basically Mono is where all the audio signals are coming out of the speakers through one channel, and Stereo uses multiple audio channels to best replicate the sound. When using Stereo sound it is essential that the entire listening area must have an equal coverage of both the left and right channels, at equal levels, to create a ‘sweet spot’ and get the best sound available. Other effects I stuck onto the hats were multiband dynamics (for effective processing), frequency shifter (for atonal harmonics) and a flanger on the kick (which effects the kick making it sound very slightly different each time it hits). After creating the arrangement and adding where all the drum rolls and fills would go I was ready to start incorporating the sounds.
The sound itself was sampled from a sample pack, chopped up and placed in parts into Abletons ‘Impulse’ instrument, which is primarily to slice bits from drum loops to create your own pattern although essentially I was doing the same thing but with synths. This then allowed me to make my own riff from the parts I had selected, as you can see below (impulse bottom left, note structure in arrangement).
Once I had my riff in place, it was a question of how to make that sound more full and rounded, so I proceeded in trying out a few effects like reverb and delays. The delay sounded really good, and you can hear this in action over the intro, but with too many effects it started sounding distorted and grungy, and I like clean crisp sounds, so I decided to leave it at the delay. But still the sound was not quite full enough for me, so I proceeded in making 3 copies of the riff, EQ’ing one with bass, one with mid and the other high. This way the sound was immediately spreading further across the frequency range giving me a much stronger, fuller sound to work with. All 3 patterns were exactly the same otherwise, just EQ’d differently. Now I had 3 copies of the same riff it opened up new ideas in terms of structure. I could have just the bass riff, or just the mid riff playing, which meant I could then chop and change between layers allowing for much more progression and build. You can hear this clearly over points in the initial road map, where I leave say just the bass layer playing for a few bars, then add back in the other layers beefing the sound back out. Any music track needs a small amount of time to allow the listener to regain their energy, making the build up to the next drop just as energetic as the first, as the crowd can never keep going for a full track without lacking towards the end. This way I can control the audiences reactions at certain points in my track.
Now I had my basic loop and riff sorted, I proceeded in trying out a few ideas for the breakdown. Again as I already stated, this part of the process was all about getting the ideas down, even if it sounded bad. So to begin with I just cut parts of the drums so that as the build up went on I could build the drums back up. So I left some high hats in taking away everything else bar the occasional kick and snare. The build up is essential in creating energy and hype ready for the drop, which needs to be full on and hard hitting for most impact. At the end of the day, with drum and bass it is all about the impact felt when a tune hits its crescendo, if there is no impact the tune sounds shallow. At this point in time the drop was not anywhere near ready, but you get the idea from the build up in place at the moment.
After the arrangement and musical ideas are down, the idea was to leave it for a week and then come back to it to develop the sounds, the reason being if I had of carried on at this stage I would have been too immersed in the sound, not really being able to tell what actually sounded good and what sounded bad as it all would have sounded very repetitive as I would have heard each sound a million times. So after leaving for a week or so I came back to it:
After listening to the original road map, I noted down a few areas that needed attention straight away, mainly the breakdown and some variation in the track somewhere just to break it up that bit more. I started with the breakdown, looking at the extensive range of effects and instruments Ableton Live has to offer. Many of these inputs have their own presets as well, so not only can you entirely create your own effect, you can modify an existing one to your liking or just use a preset of your choice. For this I used the ‘Hot Cue’ feature on Ableton, which meant I could loop a segment of the track and switch through the presets at the click of a button which would change the sound accordingly, an incredibly useful function. After sifting through a selection, I delved deeper into the Chorus effect, as I liked the way it echoed the sound, making it slightly more acoustic and as if it were in an open hall, choosing the ‘Strings Submix’ preset then tweaking the reverb depth and compressor ratio. This made a huge difference, but didn’t sound great as a transition into the breakdown. To combat this I automated the reverb depth (which is basically key-framing in something like After Effects) to come on a little at the start of the breakdown, gradually increase and then decline as the breakdown ends which almost widens the sound, distancing it from you then coming back towards you, which worked nicely. But there was still something missing from the build up, so I varied the riff pattern to become quicker and more glitchy nearer the main drop, in the hope that quicker sounds would generate more energy. This worked to an extent, but it still sounded a little weak, so I looked at firstly dropping the melody completely, then dropping the drums completely to see if the break in sound would make the kick into the main body of tune harder. Again this worked as an idea, but didn’t really sound too good either way, so I decided to leave it for the time being and come back to it at a later stage once the tune had developed a little further.
As I was listening through the tune, I have to admit I got a bit too used to the drums, and although they are pacey, energetic drums with a lively pattern I definitely thought some variation was needed (as shown below). As you can see, the main drum pattern is to the left of the arrangement, there is a fill to help transition the drums and then the new pattern comes in to the left of the arrangement. I decided to drop it down to a half step beat to drop the tempo for a second, enabling me to build the track back up again, but also to add variation, mixing things up a little to help keep interesting. I think it sounds wicked, especially with the drop in melody as well, where I have taken away the mid range layer, stifling the sound pushing it almost underground, although the build again needed a bit of work before it would sound OK.
At this stage I was ready to copy over the second half of the tune, and after I had listened to it there was one main thing I felt needed to change, it needed to have more layers, more sounds, another sub melody and a nice sub bass to fill out the tune and just generally give it some more atmosphere. Again with before after a couple of days in the studio leave it and come back to it after a break. Here is the track at it’s third stage of progression:
If you are not listening to this on half decent speakers then you probably can’t hear the sub bass. The whole point in a sub bass is that it’s at the very end of the frequency scale, taking up those frequencies from around 20Hz to 100Hz that move the inside of your body and aren’t always picked up by low quality speakers. These deep, sub sounds are not always hugely noticeable but are an essential part of a drum and bass track, as I said before extending your sound as far across the frequency range as possible creates the fullest sound. At the end of the day it’s called drum and bass, and without a proper bass range it just sounds weak and empty, which this did at the time. So it was important to get something in that hit these frequencies. I had tried to get there with the bass EQ’d version of the melody, but there wasn’t enough bass in the note in the first place to achieve this, so I made my own with a riff pattern that used the same root note/key (B minor) and some of the same notes but in a less complicated, simpler pattern as it was a sub bass that needs to lie underneath the tune and not get too much in the foreground.
I then proceeded in loading up one of the most well known and respected VST plug ins called Massive. Massive is an extremely versatile synthesizer that many top class producers in the scene use (http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/massive/). It comes with an extensive preset bank that has sounds to fit almost any purpose, that again can again be tweaked to personal preference. I had explored this bank of over 600 presets and noted down which ones were good (which was quite a few) a while back, although for the purposes of this I needed just a deep, low bass. So I chose a preset that fit the rough description (3 octave bass) and set about changing the parameters to give me the sound I was after (as shown below). I reverted the waves into 2 sin-square and a plysaw, which are better waves for a sub bass, and set about tweaking my own pitches, intensities, filters, feedback, more EQ’s and effects. As I had quite a high top end I really wanted just a smooth underlying sub bass to fill out the bottom end, so low pass filters and low pitches were essential. To get some more variation into the track I decided to use some of the riff patterns from the main melody simplified but using the sub bass, mainly where the drums go down to half speed, which switched up the audio nicely.
At a point where I was happy with the sub bass I decided to listen back to the whole track to see if it needed anything else, which I figured it did pretty quickly, as with the addition of the sub bass it was now lacking in something else, it needed a top end for the bass. Something to give it a bit more warmth. I was also beginning to feel the main melody riff was in fact not strong enough to fully lead the tune, it needed more happening, more layers, a lead with some bounce and something to take control a little more. So after choosing areas to apply the new sound to I again set about scanning the presets till I had something to work with, and for the moment again something just to stick down to see if it even helped the track, which it did, but as you can hear for yourself, sounded well cheesy. But the idea is there, and it does add to the track. I listen back now and have to admit it sounds bad, but it was that higher end, droning type of sound I wanted. At this I decided to again leave it for a few days and come back to it after a break from the sounds.
Here is the final track after the last few days of progression:
As you can hear, it has massively changed. When I came back to it and listened again I thought the extra sound over the top was way too cheesy, and didn’t fit the track at all, but I liked the idea and liked the structure. At the end of the day it was the same note pattern as the sub bass but over a quicker time period, so I figured it could easily be engaged across the whole tune like the sub bass is. I also realised the build up was too long and needed to be shortened, in fact the tune as a whole needed to be shortened and more to the point. Drum and bass is impact music and unless you can build that impact up over a long period of time well then the quicker the better basically, so I immediately cut out half the break down leaving the main build up.
The most vital aspect that was needed to tie the tune together now was the mid bass, and it was a tough one to crack, and even now I don’t feel it’s perfect, but it’s as close as I could get to what I was imagining, it was pretty close in the end anyway. I decided this time to try and replicate one of the existing synths myself, and after choosing an example (Detune Pulse) set to work. I placed a sin-square wave in oscillators 1 and 2, modifying the wt-positions, intensities, amps and pitches. In Oscillator 3 I placed a square-saw wave, again changing the same parameters to give me a nice smooth sound overall. Using different waves gives the sound not only more body but makes the sound almost move about itself, sweeping over the notes. At times, because the note pattern is very tight, you can’t really hear this, so for a bit of extra variation I extended a selection of the notes every other 8 bars to give a longer sounding riff so you can hear the movement in the sound. Back in Massive, I added low pass and all pass filters with very low resonance, effecting only the cut offs. To give it some body and distortion, I added some effects to the sound, namely reverb and a ‘tele tube’, a form of overdrive. I effected the dry/wet and drive parameters on the tube, and the dry/wet, size, density and colour parameters on the reverb. Some effects have more functions than others, it purely depends on how complex the effect is. Massive has it’s own EQ’ing functions which I took advantage on, boosting the sounds mid range to give it that body on top of the sub bass, as it follows the same note pattern. After adding and tweaking some feedback and a hint of delay my sound was complete.
This new sound gave me a better way of transitioning into the breakdown (shown above with the introduction of the dark blue segments), the involvement of a new sound, as long as it fits with the audio, always makes for a smoother transition as it something new and interesting. This made the break down sound much better, but now the main drop needed that full sound too. So I extended the new sound across the whole tune, following the same pattern as the sub bass, which I had tried to vary at the same time but differently to the changes in variation on the original melody riff, so that each riff would build and differ every 16 bars, a standard length in drum and bass. All tunes are set to a 16 bar (64 beat) pattern, so a tune will have 2 x 16 bars as an intro, 1 16 bar as a build, 4 as a main drop and so forth, set up in a continuous pattern so the DJ always knows where to drop a tune in time with another. This pattern is relatively standard across most forms of dance music, with the occasional exception, and this makes many tunes essentially ‘DJ tools’, which you must bear in mind as a producer, as if your tune is not DJ friendly it will not get played and heard.
The new sound was sounding good, and was completing the tune in many ways, but it still needed some more effects, so to transition from variations in riffs I added one of Ableton’s effects called Saturator (which distorts the sound in various ways), automating the parameters I found most effective, namely the overdrive feature of it. The gave me a more grungy sound but raised the levels somewhat, so I also had to automate the sound levels to go down as the drive went up, keeping the levels around the same throughout. I also added some filter delay, which can all be seen below.
The tune was all but done, and just needed some details to glue the arrangement together, such as explosions and whooshes, crashes and blips, more than anything to fill out the tune, aid the transitions and keep interest. It is easy to go overkill, and also easy to under do it. There needs a certain amount, but they need to change, vary, be fresh and not too often, as well as a having a few to play with. There are extensive sound fx packs available on the internet, and with pretty much any sample pack download you get an fx folder, so I already had a fair few to sift through. Once I had chosen a good selection, I proceeded in placing them into the arrangement in the appropriate places, like the explosion as it transitions into the break and the riser as it builds before the main drop and so forth. As the fx are only short sounds, there is not much need for further processing, the main aspect is to get the sound levels themselves right. As you probably told when listening to the final version, the effects really do help glue the whole track together as a whole, and keep it going and interesting. The tune itself varies enough to achieve this anyway, but the effects certainly help. After tweaking the arrangement a little and perfecting some of the automation’s the track was done and finished, although as I listen back now there is still more I think could change, like a bit more distortion on the mid, and bit deeper and crisper bass, but as a first completed track I am more than happy with the final outcome.
Here are the individual parts of the track so you can see the way the layers work at a basic level:
drum beat – the beginning beat
just the hats – the beginning hats
high EQ main melody – the beginning high glitchy riff
mid EQ main melody – the beginning mid glitchy riff
bass EQ main melody – the beginning bass glitchy riff
all 3 EQ main melody – the beginning all glitchy riff
mid bass – the beginning mid bass
sub bass – the beginning sub bass
mid and sub bass – the beginning sub bass and mid bass
This gives you an indication of how the sounds sound individually so you can compare with the final track, which I have named ‘The Beginning’, purely as it’s the first full track I have made.
