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shansk · 2 years ago

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Dear Diary, I have chosen to do a three-minute song piece known as ‘electronic dance house music’. The reason I chose to do this genre was because I was confused and I had no idea where to start. This confusion lead me to start making random sounds from using the library of sounds on Logic. This is when I randomly came across the idea to use a stompy kind of bass that is consistent and thump throughout. This is what gave me the ‘lightbulb’ moment to try and create a house beat as the rhythm I had was very similar to the genre. This is what caused me to begin researching house and electronic dance music (EDM). I discovered that this particular genre of music is one of the reasons behind club music, raves and festivals. This contributes to the monetary side of the industry as events like these can bring in big revenue if done correctly. EDM is one of the top genres and it has been a part of a cultural phenomenon. [1]

Before producing this beat, I felt it was a good idea to research about the genre. I found a few songs that I wanted my piece to reference to for a bit of guidance. This is because I don’t usually listen to house music every day so I wanted to make sure I could get a better understanding before I start the project. The first song that I found was a kind of pop house vibe by Robin Schulz – Waves [2]. One of my family members is big into the house music scene so I asked them, and they sent me over some very inspiring YouTube links to some songs which I incorporated into the final piece. The first is ‘Ace of Base’ [3] followed by ‘House Feeling’ [4] and lastly ‘My House’ [5]a remix version.

From listening to these songs, I decided to carry out more technical research behind the genre. This is when I discovered that the majority (if not all) of the dance house music songs have a ‘four on the floor’ kick drum pattern throughout[6]. This was very similar to the rhythm I accidentally started to create in the studio previously. The kick drum always plays an important role in house music as it gives the bouncy energy vibe which makes people want to groove and really dance – hence the name of the genre. I found a source online that stated one of the best drum machines to use is from the ‘Roland’ kit either ‘TB-303’ or ‘TR-808’[7] so I searched up on Logic Pro and found the ‘Roland TR-808’ and began using it straight away as I really liked the sounds, especially the kick drum. This was the layout I chose:

After making the kick drum beat pattern, I felt like it needed some kind of bounce and a vibe, so I did more researching and found that the kick and snare should be in flow with each other. Alongside this Hihats are very important as that is what gives the beat the true groove [8]. After finding out this I added more open Hihats so it was a bouncy vibe to the beat. Below you can see is where I began to start layering the beat with kick drums, snares and hihats.

Once the beat started to have a consistent flow, I felt like it needed something to break the beat up to give the sound more structure and form a shape. This is when I thought of the idea to use sound effects and came across a ‘wobble’ noise. As I pay a monthly subscription to Splice, I searched the sounds library until I found a wobble noise that I thought would go and I added it into the beat, and it flows so much better. It is crazy how much a small effect can change a basic beat it gives it more life. The wobble sound effect I split up in various locations across the beat which made it better but I felt like it needed a bit more. Below is where you can see the use of the wobble placements. This is something I knew I would incorporate across the whole beat so I decided to change up the placements here and there to keep the listeners still interested throughout.

At the beginning of creating the beat I also changed each regions colour so that I could identify each sound clearly and keep the beat tidy and ensure the composition sits in place. At this point the beat is only at around 30 bars and I was struggling to think of anything else to add to it, I asked my partner for advice and he said to add vocals, however I did not want to add my own. This is when I explored the sound library and came across some vocals which one says repeatedly ‘Dance Dance Dance’ in a male voice and due to the genre I felt that this library of sounds would fit in perfect with the beat. I also used a woman’s voice speaking which complimented the male tone and I felt these vibed well together.

Dear Diary, today I decided to finalise this music piece by filling in the final gaps adding in different vocals from using the vocals on Logic’s library. There was a specific note I really liked where a woman’s voice says ‘a moment of silence’ with slight reverb effect. I felt that this would be perfect to use on the beat to create more of a dramatic effect using a silent breaker in the beat and to use this line every now and again. I tried to make it happen in the middle section of the beat then using the hihats to get back into the groove of the beat however I felt that this could have been better. Due to the fact I am still learning I was unsure how to make this more dramatic however I still believe it flows in very well. Below is a screenshot of the extras I involved with the beat to chop and change so there is no constant bass and hi hats as it can come across as a bit boring and repetitive otherwise.

Conclusion:

Overall, I would say that this beat overall has been very challenging to produce, the main reason for this is due to the fact I do not listen to EDM music often and therefore I struggled with creativity. From when I carried out background research on the genre, I felt I started to understand a bit more, but it was difficult to keep up with this. On the contrary I always believe it is very important to get out of your comfort zone and therefore I pursued with this until the end. I did receive feedback from close ones who stated they like the beat but that it could do with something more, I am unsure what else I could add but I believe I did well for my first attempt, I know that in the future I will definitely improve due to practice.

Bibliography:

Robin Schulz, waves, 3 February 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUjE9H8QlA4 23 March 2023.

[1] Scr0x, Ace of Base, ‘All that she wants (Unlogix Remix)’, No date, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn22ZqyHWdc 3 April 2023

[1] Maslow Unkown, ‘HOUSE FEELING’, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po9naCN-0JM 3 April 2023

[1] Fingers Inc, ‘My House (Jack Had a Groove) BRENO Remix, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y8FHasfRiQ 3 April 2023

[1] MasterClass, ‘Four-on-the-floor Rhythm Explained’, June 7 2021, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/four-on-the-floor-rhythm-explained 3 April 2023

[1] Shantanu Gursal, ‘Guide to EDM Music Genres’, 27 September 2021, https://themusicessentials.com/editorials/guide-to-edm-music-genres/ 3 April 2023

Sleepfreaks, ‘Making EDM – Hihat sequencing techniques’, 5 April 2019, https://sleepfreaks-dtm.com/en/produce-recipe/edm-hat/ 3 April 2023

[1] The History of EDM, JMC Academy, No Date, ‘In recent years…’ https://www.jmcacademy.edu.au/news-and-events/news/the-history-of-edm/ 2 May 2023

[2] Robin Schulz, waves, 3 February 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUjE9H8QlA4 23 March 2023.

[3] Scr0x, Ace of Base, ‘All that she wants (Unlogix Remix)’, No date, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn22ZqyHWdc 3 April 2023

[4] Maslow Unkown, ‘HOUSE FEELING’, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po9naCN-0JM 3 April 2023

[5] Fingers Inc, ‘My House (Jack Had a Groove) BRENO Remix, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y8FHasfRiQ 3 April 2023

[6] MasterClass, ‘Four-on-the-floor Rhythm Explained’, June 7 2021, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/four-on-the-floor-rhythm-explained 3 April 2023

[7] Shantanu Gursal, ‘Guide to EDM Music Genres’, 27 September 2021, https://themusicessentials.com/editorials/guide-to-edm-music-genres/ 3 April 2023

[8] Sleepfreaks, ‘Making EDM – Hihat sequencing techniques’, 5 April 2019, https://sleepfreaks-dtm.com/en/produce-recipe/edm-hat/ 3 April 2023

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