Colgate Commercial

I was so nervous when Mr. Rabuse told us we had to create music to go along with this commercial, especially when he said it needed voices! But first, the music. The first step I made was probably picking out my drum loop. I wanted something that i could build my other sounds on to. After that i started creating special little effects. I came up with the beginning sort of on accident, but hey whatever works. :) Next, I came up with the bell sound with a sound called tinkle, and then put it into a scale. After that, the tinkle sounded too repetitive, so I transposed it and switched between the two sounds. Lastly, the voices. After i came up with a script, and with some helpful volunteers for the chorus, I got the voices recorded. Next I had to figure out where to put them. However the voices alone sounded like they needed something, so i added some reeverb and chorus. Enjoy! :)

1-4-5

This is my chord progression (1-4-5) piece. This project was a lot of fun for me because I got to use the piano a lot, and I love creating sounds on the piano, even though i don't know how to play. (: Honestly, I was content with just the different piano patterns and chimes, but Mr. Rabuse convince me it was missing something. I added drums and a bass line using strings. After that it was still missing something...a clear melody! Finding a melody that sounded good with the piano was tricky, and took me a few classes. With the trick of using my phone number as notes and picking a rhythm, this is what I came up with. Then I added reverb on the melody, which is a sound called ashen light. What do you think?

Sytrus Project 6

This project wasn't one of my favorites, but it was a lot of fun to do. For the main melody I used the SAW wave, and then added some chorus to it. I used the SINE wave to back up the saw wave, and loved the way the two sounded together. I also added bass to help fill in parts that sounded empty. To start the song, I automated the volume for the saw wave, the bass, and my drum loop. I also faded out the saw wave and the drums to end the song. To be continued...

Automation

This project was a harder one for me; I started over two times with new ideas. It was like having writers block, I just didn’t like anything I came up with. When I finally came up with the guitar patterns I liked, the one thing I had the most fun with was automating the volume. I liked the idea that you can make the volume change every time you play the loop, without having to do it yourself. Also, I've always liked the idea of fading into and out of a song, so I used that in my loop. Enjoy! :)

FX

I had a fun time with this loop; I got to experiment with the different kinds of effects. I put reeverb on the kick drum that comes in at the beginning, and continues throughout the rest of the song. While experimenting, I also put delay on the clap and loved the way it sounded. I thought it fit nicely with the kick drums, let me know if you disagree. Now for the bass; I have 2 bass patterns, one that I transposed up, and one that I transposed down. It took me a while to pick a bass line, I was having trouble making it fit with the guitar that plays through the entire song. Once I did finally decide on a bass line, I wanted it to change somewhere in the song. That’s when I decided to transpose the pitch. After doing this, I discovered that I really liked the way it sounded when I put chorus on it. I had trouble with an ending. I wanted a longer ending, changing up the song a little, but was having trouble making it fit. In the end I ended up playing random guitar notes, a clap, and a kick together to make a very short, but creative ending. So far this was one of my favorite projects to do, tell me how you think I did!

Using The Chopper

The chopper was a great tool to learn how to use. First, I picked a note I liked and put it into piano roll and then chopped it. I tried different chopping patterns until I found one that I liked. I did this with all of my guitar patterns. The opening guitar pattern is probably my least favorite pattern in my loop, but I liked how it made the different patterns flow together. The second guitar pattern I really liked making. I picked a chopping pattern and then mixed up some of the pitches. The third different guitar pattern that comes in, didn't take me very long. I found the pitches and rhythms that I wanted almost right away. Lastly, I also found the drum loop easily, which was a change for once. I felt like the drum loop fit well with the song. Let me know if you agree...or disagree!

Drum Loop With Bass

For this loop, I wanted my bass patterns to be different, yet match with each other to make the sound flow. One way I tried doing this was using the same rhythm but changing the pitch. Please tell me what you think about this, especially on the third bass pattern or at the very end. I had a hard time deciding whether or not to include it into my loop. Finding a drum loop that fit also took some time. I liked the one that I finally chose because of the way it accented the beat. Let me know what you think. :)