I created my mobile song using the GarageBand app. I decided I wanted to do another loop song and wanted to have it sound completely different than my last loop song. I started with picking out two strings loops, one to provide a steady beat and the other to act as my melody. Then I picked a bells loop that sounded like an accompaniment to the melody I chose. After that, I chose a synth loop that went with the flowing nature of the song. When I had all my loops picked, I started layering the loops in a way that I thought sounded good along with following almost the same structure as my first loop song. I found it really difficult to navigate and work on the app version of Garageband and felt that the laptop version was much easier. Also, I felt the sound quality of my song was noticably worse using the mobile version than using the laptop version.
Sampling Ethics
A lot of artists sample each others works. Some do it with the permission of the original artist and some don’t. I feel that there are certain circumstances surrounding whether or not this is right or wrong to do. Personally, I think it is morally unethical for an artist to use an excerpt or element from someone else’s song without their permission. But I can understand why other people might think it is totally acceptable. I think if its used exactly the way the original artist used it, it shows a lack of originality and creativity on the sampling artist’s side. However, if it is used to enhance the song or used in a completely different way than in the original, I think that is okay to do. I feel like most artists who use parts of other people’s songs are doing it because they want their music to sound the same as what they originally heard and I think thats just lazy. If an artist doesn’t care enough to write original parts or sample the elements from a different song in a more creative way, then they probably don’t completely care about the product they put out.
Self Remix Documentation
For my self remix project, I chose to edit my latest project, Cat and Mouse. I was critiqued for having it be too short and thought of as an incomplete idea. My first goal was to make it a longer piece but also add material that fit the character of the piece. I continued to play around with the idea of two very different voices going back and forth at each other. For the original project, we had to take a sound effect and place it in our songs. So I kept the same sound from the original song. Instead of looping the sound throughout the entire song, I cut it to the right sound that I felt went with the piece. I also didn’t loop it throughout the song either. There were sections where I felt the sound effect was out of place so I cut it from those spots. Hopefully I changed my original piece of work for the better.
Peer Remix
For the peer remix project, I chose to use Emma Patrimonio’s Brooklyn Nights. When I first heard it, I really enjoyed it so I figured I would take on the challenge of trying to enhance an already good song. The biggest thing I did was add a few different brass loops on garage band. I felt that horns would’ve helped develop a fuller sound in the song. I also added two different synths to the song when ever I didn’t have the brass playing. Even though I left the song the way it was, I feel that it was enhanced by the different brass and synths I added. Those loops added a different color and texture to the song.
Sample Genealogy
Artists have been sampling each other’s music for a very long time. One of the most famous examples of one artist directly using an excerpt from another song is in Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby sampling Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie. Basically the entire baseline from Under Pressure is used throughout Ice Ice Baby. Since it is the baseline, it provides the basis for both songs. This is probably my favorite example of sampling in different songs because of Vanilla Ice trying to deny the use of the baseline from Under Pressure. He tried saying that it isn’t the same baseline because the one he uses in his song has an eighth note pick up into each bar. Even if there was an extra eighth note, it is still essentially the same exact baseline.
Found Sound Song Process
I chose to use Jenifer Bras’ sound that she titled Pitter Patter. I really love the sound of the rain and think that it makes a nice backdrop for any music. So thats exactly what I did. I used the sound to create a setting for the music. When listening to it, I thought of a cat wandering around a house just looking to cause trouble so thats what I based my song off of. I wanted to make it a short song because I felt that a cat chasing a mouse wouldn’t last very long. I wrote the music for piano and thought of the treble line as the mouse and the bass part as the cat. I feel that I was successful in creating these two contrasting voices that go against each other the entire time. Even though its a short song, I feel that I got everything across that I intended to.
Production Analysis
Landslide by The Dixie Chicks
- Producers: Dixie Chicks, Lloyd Maines
- Engineer: Gary Paczosa
- Assistant engineers: Thomas Johnson, Adam Odor, Fred Remmert
List of sounds/voices in order of appearance:
-Banjo and some type of cymbal enter at the same time although the banjo is more prominent
-A guitar or bass is added during the instrumental introduction
-One voice enters to start the first verse
-Leading into the first chorus, the other two voices come in and harmonize
These were the only different voices that I was able to pin point. There weren’t any obvious places where drums were being played. This song is very hollow and simplistic in its instrumentation which is maybe why I like it so much. In comparison to the original version by Fleetwood Mac, there is probably the same amount of instrumentation but definitely major differences between them. This version is a country music take on the classic rock song and is going to have different instrumentation. There is so much less to distract you from the actual voices and the song itself in both versions.
Real vs. Hyper Real vs. Surreal
Real:
For the real category, I picked My Strongest Suit from the musical Aida. After I saw the production of this show at Montclair State in October, I was hooked on the music. Every time I listen to the music, I can picture the stage and what is happening in the show during each song. The thing that makes this song sound realistic is that it doesn’t have the instrumental accompaniment playing the melody. While the music is really great, the vocals are what really captures your attention and are the main component of this song. Its easy for any song from any musical to sound real because they are always meant to be performed live.
Hyperreal:
For the hyper realistic piece, I chose Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D Minor recorded live by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This recording is hyper realistic because not everything is perfectly in sync which is whats great about live performances. Instead of having everything be so perfect and exact, theres more realism in the music when there are actual humans playing. An example of everything not being totally together is in the beginning with the cello’s opening theme. The section is together but there are just split seconds where you hear one person move a little differently than the entire other section. It doesn’t sound bad, it is just a minor flaw that wouldn’t be made if a computer was playing this music.
Surreal:
Lastly, for the surreal section, I chose Centipede by Knife Party. At first, you think that there is a slight possibility that real instruments could be being used. There are some drums and percussion sounds that sound pretty real and also something that sounds almost like a guitar. But then the song continues. The opening section of this song is a man narrating a centipede like it was on a National Geographic show. As the song builds up to the drop, its clear that everything is being played on synthesizers. These sound effects would not be able to be played on actual instruments. If someone even attempted to replicate them on real instruments, it would sound absolutely ridiculous.
Midi Song Process
For the Midi song project, I used an arrangement of Human by Christina Perri. I intended it to be written for a small string ensemble consisting of 2 violins, a viola and 2 cellos. I used Noteflight as my notation program. But when I transferred the file from Noteflight to a Midi and put it in garage band, all of the parts came up as piano. Instead of immediately trying to change it back to a string ensemble, I listened to it with the piano arrangement. It turns out that I liked the piano version a lot better than the string version. There are some crunchy voices in my arrangement and they sounded better on piano than they did on strings. One thing I think I could improve on is getting the lower voices to be more present in the song. I tried playing around with the sound mixing but it obviously wasn’t enough. If I had unlimited time and ability, I would orchestrate this song for a larger ensemble with strings and winds or piano and winds.
Groove Pizza Beat
At first, I found that making a beat using the Groove Pizza was a little harder than I thought it would be. My process when it came to creating this beat was basically trial and error. I filled every sixteenth note spot up on all three instruments and just starting cutting things to make it more interesting. Eventually, I came up with something that I was happy with an semi-musical. I would say that this drum loop belongs to the funk genre because it is very syncopated but also with a very laid back feel.
Alex Lemma 