Wednesday: In today's session, I have been working in the studio, I recorded my second and final verse for Chilled times which now means I am only left with recording Georgia's verse for the song to be complete. "Chilled times" is one of my most relaxing songs I have done yet. The concept of Chilled times is to make the listeners feel relaxed as if there was no worries in the world. I decided to do this because I am really into old school hip hop beats, mainly because they are so smooth and relaxing and make me feel at peace.www.youtube.com. (n.d.). “I Am” Oldschool HipHop Beat. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R4nAvDXpvHk [Accessed 26 May 2021].
This is a link to an old school Hip hop beat that I have found. This beat stood out to me becuase it is similar to the beat Connor made for "Chilled times".
I sat and done a few finishing touches to the lyrics just so they could fit in with the beat, flow and structure. I done some research about different aspects and flows in different old school Hip hop tracks. I done this by listening to rappers such as:
Biggie Smalls
www.youtube.com. (n.d.). The Notorious B.I.G. - YouTube. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCIZGqIYkST36dLp0uf9o9nw [Accessed 26 May 2021].https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCIZGqIYkST36dLp0uf9o9nw
Nas
www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Nas - YouTube. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UChE4aVxHHk5Mx9fZ2DaPJGw [Accessed 26 May 2021].https://m.youtube.com/channel/UChE4aVxHHk5Mx9fZ2DaPJGw
By listening to Biggie's music, I have a much better understanding on how I could utilize syllables within my flow over an old school beat.www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Biggie Smalls - Notorious Thugs. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N6XhzXB3oY8. [Accessed 26 May 2021]. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N6XhzXB3oY8. This link is too a Biggie Smalls song called "Notorious Thugs". In this song, in the first verse, Biggie utilizes a constant flow by breaking certain words into symbols. This has impact on the song because it makes the flow more unique.
Listening to Nas has made me understand more about what aspects work well within a old school songs.www.youtube.com. (n.d.). King’s Disease. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ERRYj-Aa-WU&list=OLAK5uy_kbpQd6RjfzqPDwZLUwUm4V7CV7edIc6KU&index=1. [Accessed 26 May 2021]. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ERRYj-Aa-WU&list=OLAK5uy_kbpQd6RjfzqPDwZLUwUm4V7CV7edIc6KU&index=1. Here is a song by Nas called "king's disease". In this relaxing song, Nas uses female vocals for background harmonies that follow and voice the beat. This gives the beat and the track as a whole, more movement. He also uses another set of harmonies which sound as if they are mixed to sound more vinyl and low-fi.
The reason my last verse needed tweaking is because when I'm not at home or in college, lyrics will keep coming to my head so I just write them down as notes meaning there will not be any instrumental on so I wouldn't know the timing fully.
Therefore, even if it's the slightest change; it will always be tweaked.
Thursday: Today in the studio I asked Georgia if she was ready to record her verse into my "Chilled times" track, we started by her listening to the beat and in the section of the hook, Georgia sang her verse, she done this a few times over so she could try and tweak her flow so it could properly fit the whole calm, relaxing sensation. Here is a ten second clips of how Georgia's hook was originally:
During this video, you can hear that we are discussing where to include Georgia's verse and where the main hook (repeated "chill times") would be placed. As you can hear we decided that on the breakdown is where the hook should go.
After she had heard the track more, she worked on a full verse. We decided it would be better if she just had a full verse in because my lecturer questioned this track, he asked what it was that I wanted this track to convey to the audience. I wanted the track to say that, "I'm that laidback and relaxed that I don't need drugs or to be high". We decided that it would be a good idea to make Georgia's verse complementary to my verses. As if my verse was the colour red and Georgia's was the colour green. She wrote down her verse and sang it out loud in order to see if it works properly. We then decided to record it in so she could see how it sounds from a 3rd person view.
After we got Georgia's verse recorded she thought it would be a good idea to include harmonies over her verse. So we played her verse out loud so she could give it a go. It sounded really good and added a subtle touch to the track which was needed.
When she went to record the harmonies, she also included (over where "chilled times" is repeated) an higher octave harmony. I wasn't too sure how I felt about that part as to me it sounded bland. Billy came into the room and listened to Georgia's verse, he mentioned that there was something a bit off with the higher octave harmony. I also felt that there was. I got Georgia back into the studio to give her a listen and she also mentions the same thing. She asked if we could just remove the higher octave and I agreed with her. Without the higher octave, her verse sounds much more tight and alive. Here is a clip of how it sounds now:
After all of this, Billy had a listen to it and he mentioned about how in my last verse, the flow isn't that tight and there's too many gaps that could be filled with more words.
(Clip of final verse)
I noticed this as well and started working on a different flow for it, this was so I didn't look lazy to the audience.
(Additional clips and pics coming Monday)
Comments