Within this first week I have been sitting with producer Faded Wave (Kai) and articulating and debating about how we would like to compose the instrumentals and how we could utilise the
EQ in specific ways to make it sound unique and give it a sense of euphoria. After the first
convocation, we started listening to producers which utilise EQ's very heavily but very uniquely.
We decided to pick out a song from Travis Scott (Artist/Producer).
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtxdfwb9wfkoGocVUAJ-Bmg. The song we chose to
analyse is called (90210 Ft. Kacy Hill). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuNBLjJzRoo. The reason we chose this one is because of its psychedelic aura and the way he complements the EQ on the instrumental with the auto tune on his voice; these were all of the facets we were looking out for. We pointed out the deep voice change within the ending word on the verse (candy) this is found at (1:00 to 1:10). We discussed the effect it gave both of us and how it could have have made other listeners feel; I thought it was very head turning and unusual but also a good way to hook the listener for the rest of the song. Travis is known for his beat switches which follows up after that verse (1:07 till. This beat switch was unique even for Travis as it was a more subtle, euphoria feel to it where as most of his beat switches are more aggressive and a lot more heavy on the bass, an example of this is (Sicko Mode Ft. Drake)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ONRf7h3Mdk. this is found at (50s till 1:10). After we listened and picked out the facets, we had a discussion about how we could interpret that originality.
Within the second week, me and Kai sat and spoke some more about the aspects which make tracks a certain feel. Then we started developing a lo-fi instrumental which we learnt more about by analysing songs such as (Elevate by Nemzzz) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqcX4rCZHdo. By listening to this, it gave us a better understanding on how to utilise the environmental noises. We then structured the instrumental so it would fit the following structure : Chorus, verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus. We also included female backing vocals within this track. The reason we done this was so we could create contrast between male and female vocals.
The reason we want the contrast there is so it keeps the listeners intrigued throughout the full track. As Kai was developing the beat further with environmental noise, I started to write lyrics about how the distinct sounds made me feel. They made me feel as if I was taking a stroll in space so I started thinking about how peaceful a stroll is supposed to be and how the setting of space can manipulate that blissfulness sense. after these lyrics, I then talk about flying in a rocket and being able to see the stars and Mars. These lyrics set the image of the previous lyrics meaning the listeners can create their own story from imagery. The reason I wrote these lyrics is to express how my life felt at that point (a peaceful stroll). This was the best way to describe that feeling.
What went well with this week was the creation of the instrumental "Stroll". This is due to the research we done about Lo-fi, we included the low fidelity chords, less professional or flawed sound quality and environmental sounds.
This would have been better if the lyrics I had wrote weren't as cliche. This was pointed out to me by my lecture as he didn't sense any story behind the lyrics. I feel like my lyrics wouldn't have been as cliche if I didn't encounter writers block. I will improve on this by looking into newspapers. This is because newspapers have a variety of stories (happy, depressing, and traumatic stories) about the what's going on in the world which means it will inform me with realistic content to write about.
Within Week 3 and 4, I sat with Kai and we started on another track. I informed Kai that I would like to try an R&B instrumental so we sat and listened to R&B artists from Giveon who is more soul R&B, to Drake who is is more Hip-Hop R&B. Me and Kai sat and thought about how Giveon and Drake are both R&B artists. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCByOQJjav0CUDwxCk-jVNRQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkIgbcsXIHz0DW2lqRh4M0g After listening to RnB artists, we picked out the unique aspects which made creating the instrumental more creative.
I articulated to Kai that I would like the mood of the track to be more hard hitting and explosive.
This was because at that point I was filled with an explosive rage directed by a relationship. As Kai structured out the instrumentation, I started writing lyrics which corresponds with it. My lyrics start with saying that "she was gold" meaning that the girl was pure and valuable in my eyes. I then instantly say "I lead my self to my own demise" to indicate that me thinking "she was gold" was a fault and that she was actually a bad decision. Within the next bar, I talk about doing some sins and utilising narcotics because of how low the relationship had me "sinning tonight, narcotics got me on this flight". The reason I talk about this is so people can relate to the story behind the lyrics. The listeners will relate to this because the time people abuse or subtly utilise narcotics is when they are going through something such as breakups or bad relations.
This relation to the listeners gives the lyrics a much bigger effect.
what went well with this is we utilised certain aspects which we heard in other R&B songs such as the specific drum pattern, we done this to create a swinging feeling within the track. The way I could have improved on this is by including even more facets which we found out such as combining rhythm and blues with elements of pop or blues.
Within the Easter Holidays, I was looking through the lyrics for "Stroll" and after speaking to my lecturer about how the lyrics don't make sense, I came to the conclusion that the lyrics were too cliché as they did not create a story; they were just rhymes.
I started to think about how I could make it into a story but I was finding it hard. I was then inspired to write brand new lyrics by some bad news about my cousin. I started these lyrics by writing notes on how I felt. Here is the list.
After I wrote the list, I started writing them feelings into lyrics and began with explaining what had just happened "When I heard what happened my heart dropped". The reason I start the song off with this is because the listeners will get the sense that I'm telling a story.
What went well with creating this song is that the lyrics really create a story that the listeners can relate to. The way I could have improved upon this is by writing more lyrics than I needed, picking them apart and keeping the best lyrics.
After the Easter Holidays, I went into the studio with Kai and we started creating a new instrumental for my new lyrics "Alyssa". I articulated to Kai that I wanted this to be a dark Lo-fi track, So me and kai crated a new instrumental which included environmental noise, low fidelity backing vocals and low fidelity chords. These aspects gave the instrumental a dark realistic aura which corresponds with the lyrics I had wrote down.
The song Alyssa went well because the instrumental utilises low quality recordings, audible imperfections, and low fidelity speech. This also went well because I improved my lyric writing and told a story via them.
To improve upon this, I could have made the lyrics into a full structure instead of just having it as a single verse. This would have improved the track because there would have been a full structure with a hook/chorus which means there would have been room for vocal contrast. However, I like the fact that it's only 1 verse because it implies that I am getting a situation off my chest and that shows the audience the realistic side of a musician.
Recently I have collaborated with a composer called Micah. This happened because he created a piece of music and asked me if I would collaborate and rap over the top of it.
I decided that I would like to create something with Micah because he has a very different music style to mine and I wanted to see if we could combine them two distinct genres/styles. After I heard the beat I started writing my lyrics "Dumb to Fight". These lyric were wrote to discuss the story which happens between a toxic breakup. I create 2 characters for this, one of them being the male (me), the other being the female (Nadine) which is another lecture. This is indicated by lyrics in my verse "I matured, the way I was treat was like horse manure, couldn't see through her". These lyrics state that the male grew up and realised that the female was treating him the way she wouldn't want to be treat. "Couldn't see through her" implies that the male couldn't grasp what the females intentions were.
After I Wrote my lyrics, I recorded them in utilising Garage Band in the second studio which wasn't as efficient as Studio 1. This meant after I recorded in my vocals (because they didn't sound a good/clear as I knew they could have been), me and Micah transported the track to studio 1 and into logic which had better EQ's. Once the track was upstairs, I rerecorded my lyrics. Once the lyrics were in, me and Micah sat and spoke about how we wanted to make the track stand out. We were then inspired by the Don Toliver's song "Cardigan" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7WLt74z_TkI. This is because of the phone message being the intro. This galvanised me to create an ongoing phone call scene between me and Nadine arguing and shouting at each other. I also recorded a bridge in and let my lecturer listen to it, he said that it would sounded repetitive and it would be a lot better if I brought Nadine back to do another recording for the bridge to create more of a story and to show more contrast. So I took onboard what he had said to me and I wrote another script which mentions her wanting me back and me not wanting her back. (Down below is the before and after)
Before:
After:
You also hear in that video that Nadine's recording could have went better because she didn't exactly know the melody and she was busy to fully get it down. The way I got around that problem is by splitting her voice track into sections meaning I had the freedom to place what she said where it fits best. I prefer the final bridge because I made it so the phone call from the intro continues into it. I done this to show that the male is still on the phone with the female but the verses are the thoughts in his head towards her and this is why he is angry over the phone. Within the video above you can hear that I also got Nadine to record her singing the chorus underneath my vocals. This didn't work out to well because the chords are too dissonant to find a melody. Me, Micah and Kai sat in the studio listening to the chords and thinking about how we could fix it but we couldn't think of a good solution that would have worked. Here is a video of us trying to solve the problem.
Bibliography:
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Youtube.com. 2022. Before you continue to YouTube. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCByOQJjav0CUDwxCk-jVNRQ> [Accessed 15 June 2022].
Youtube.com. 2022. Before you continue to YouTube. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkIgbcsXIHz0DW2lqRh4M0g> [Accessed 15 June 2022].
M.youtube.com. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7WLt74z_TkI> [Accessed 15 June 2022].
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