Unit 32: Sequencing Systems & Techniques - Portfolio Tracks Write-Up

Sequencing Systems & Techniques - Remix & Composition

MIDI sequencing skills:

How have you created MIDI Data?

In my composition track, I created MIDI by playing in parts on the MIDI keyboard, and also by drawing MIDI information in the piano roll. I'd chosen my software instruments based on their sound, and then if I knew what I wanted it to play and it was simple, like a kick drum on every beat I'd draw it in using the pencil tool, however with more complex parts I played them in on the keyboard having worked them out that way.

How have you edited MIDI Data?
I used the quantise tool on specific regions rather than setting a global quantise, as sometimes I wanted slight humanised grooves that quantise would remove by dragging to the beat, so I did this for my percussion on my composition track. Also I used the velocity tool if I ever played a part and the power with which I pressed a key was too much, as sometimes this changes the characteristic of a sound depending on whether it's velocity sensitive, so I used this tool on my acid bass sound, as this sound had different characteristics at different velocities.

Audio sequencing skills:

How have you used Audio in your project?

In my Doobie Brothers edit I worked from a multitrack recording which was all audio, so every manipulation I made was with audio. I restructured the song with the audio, cut bits out and made a drum break between the second and third verse, which was inspired by listening to the different tracks of audio separately to learn what each sounded like and how it changed.

How have you edited Audio?
In the edit track I experimented with lots of audio editing techniques to see how it would be best to deconstruct and then remake the music in a new way. As the track isn't recorded to a  click track, it has a varying tempo, so I began making a tempo map so a click track was in place which changed with the audio, but then realised this wouldn't work when I rearranged parts, so instead chose to cut breaks and parts I wanted to use, and ensure they were a one bar loop by setting locators and looping them, then moved them to end of a track where I began to use flex time, and time stretch to fit them to an approximate tempo, which I worked out was roughly 117 BPM. For my drums I used the rhythmic flex mode, as it is intended for drums, and percussion with clear transients, and used polyphonic on any guitars and vocals as these are less clear cut. I got all these in time, and then began to structure them by copying out sessions, and blending my session back with the verses in their original structure. I made a different bassline to the original intro by cutting the melodic phrase in half to two bars rather than four, then found a note by itself, and time stretch it to fit the last two bars and thereby changing the phrasing of the line.

Stylistic interpretation (MIDI):

Have you used any automation to control instruments?

In my composition track I used automation to control a fade out on a percussion track that had a heavy delay which kept repeating for about 30 seconds after the end, so automated a fade out which meant this track was audible by itself at the end, but decreases in volume, which makes it a nice effect to end the track with. I also automated the feedback on my vocal sample, which is a subtle automation effect, but means that in the rests between vocals, the amount and volume of repetitions alters over the section.

Arrangement:

How did you arrange your track?

I began arranging the track composition track and the remix with percussive instruments, mainly so I had something to build upon with melodies and different instruments. Then with my remix I added percussion and guitars from the multi-track, so didn't have to "write" anything, although I did experiment with adding a rhodes piano as a software instrument, but it didn't work in the track so just continued cutting, looping and stretching audio, to form the track, and made sure I'd made room to drag original verse in periodically, and then remove sections or loop things out on top of that.

With the composition track I worked differently, as I had to decide what style of sounds would work best with my percussion, and found that an acid bass sound worked well with the percussion, and that a verbs short distorted guitar jab sounded nice in the introduction, and looped that out throughout the first section. This was the core of the composition, and then it was a case of creating some variation, so I used sound effects from an IDM kit and vocal choral samples to scatter around the track, and give something new and interesting every four bars, but was wary not to keep adding and never remove anything, so there was a dynamic variation.

What structure did you follow?
In my remix, I made an extended introduction that added sounds linearly, until it had built up to as many instruments that were in the verse, then went straight into the original structure of the verse, and used the two verse and harmonica solo that follow to guide my structure, only really changing it by pulling some instruments out in the second verse to give a dynamic change, and made a four bar break after the solo as the drumming sounded great itself and didn't get a chance to shine in the original.

Additional Techniques:

I did some basic synth programming in ES2 on my composition track to experiment with background sounds to thicken the verse, and this just involved changing the parameters of cutoff, LFO speed and waves of oscillators to get the desired sound I wanted.