AV

For this portfolio piece, I didn’t particularly have a direction at first, but I experimented with different sounds and instruments included in the Logic Pro library. Once I found a few I liked, I continued to experiment with finding the right chords, and structuring them how I wanted it. I chose to create a mood that changes up and almost sounds like it hurries the listener toward the second half. This particular mood can be used for video games, or audio in a movie in scenes that require an upbeat happy melody at first, and ultimately switch up to a more dissonant sound. That is why I chose the keys for each part. This sound is created for the idea of a mood that takes a turn and creates a more stressful environment. This sound would fit in well with a major event or plot twist associated with either television or video games. One of my biggest influences for this piece would be the music associated with the Super Mario video game series, because of the playful sounds and twists.

 

The rhythm and bass of my piece The composition is made up of two sections A and B. Section A is comprised of bars 1-16 of my piece, and section B is comprised of bars 17—32.  I use a meter of 4/4, or a common meter throughout sections A and B. The tempo of the piece is 120 BPM. The bass is synchronized with the chords from the harmony. For the drums, I used the Detroit Garage kit from the Logic Pro library. For the kicks, I used the Easy Bay drum kit. For the snares, I used the Neo Soul drum kit. For the bass, I used the Punchy Bass instrument that is in syncopation with the drums. For each bar of my drums, there is a variation at the end of the measure. The drums consist of fills and variations throughout the piece to keep the listener interested, and so that the piece doesn’t sound too repetitive.

 

My composition is in the key of C Major for section A, and its relative key of A minor for section B. For section A, I chose an I, VI, iv, and VII chord progression with the chords of C I Am I F I Bdim. For section B I used a chord progression of I, iv, VII, I, consisting of the chords Am I Dm I G I Am. For the melody in section, I used a rising melody contour in which I extended the last note in every measure in section A. For section B I used a rising and falling arch melody contour. For my harmony and my melody, the tracks are stacked with the grand piano instrument and a Retro Pad Synth instrument. I inverted a few of the chords to create an overall smoother transition between chords, but it still has some variation as well.

 

In addition to the stacked tracks for the harmony and melody, I added a synth track to both, doubling up the sound to enhance and add power to the piece. For the synths, I used an ES Poly plug-in and created the sounds from scratch. I also doubled up on the kicks and bass with a synth track as well as created using the ESP plug-in. For my sample track, I chose a plucky guitar/string sound and copied my melody, and had it alternate bars with the melody to give it a back-and-forth sound. I also added a synth to my sample track as well. The audio I included in my piece is myself harmonizing a few notes saying la-da-da-da-da-da-oh, and I used the pitch-shifter plug-in to create a higher pitched voice and placed it once at the beginning and end of my piece for the intro and outro. I also recorded this audio to distinguish a tag and promote myself as a producer. I feel the audio track works well to prepare you for the intro and outro of the piece.

 

I added a combination of dynamic processors and time-based effects to give the composition its mood. I added EQ to all tracks, which is mandatory for me every time I mix a piece. For the harmony and melody, I have a large room ambiance using the ChomaVerb bussed to an aux track. The audio recording track has pitch correction and pitch shift. There is compression on all tracks. For the drums, I used a multiplier. There is a space delay added to the drums. There is a tape delay added to the piano in the track stack of the melody. I also added a limiter to the drums. The recorded audio has a vocal ambiance reverb and chorus added with the sends turned up to amplify the sound. Once everything was set, I altered the master output to prevent any clipping.