Family Night is right around the corner. What does this mean? Well, for starters it means that you have successfully completed the first phase of the program! After the winter break we'll be starting more new and exciting audio projects. BUT...before we get to that, let's use today to complete any unfinished work that you may have.
Here is a list of assignments that are to be turned in.
First full beat
And Still I Rise
Michael Jackson Remix
1 extra remix OR 1 extra full beat
Let's take the time to make sure these 4 assignments are completed and turned in. If you have already completed these assignments, use today to start on new music. For those of you who are interested in having a visual representation of piano notes and scales, here is an excellent website you can use for reference: http://nfo.net/MFILE
Hello all! We will be continuing working on the MJ remix. I want to remind you of a few key tips to song arrangement and using melodic instruments.
lets think about song structure...
There is the Intro, Verses, Chorus', Bridge, and Outro
The majority of the song is made up of what...... Verses and Chorus'
What are Verses and chorus made up of?
They are often made up of 4 bar loops
So...... Work with 4 bars at a time!
The songs that we work with have repeating 4 bar melodies and chords
work hard to find notes that sound nice for four bars
Add more instruments using the same notes but try different rhythms
Now you can copy and paste and arrange these 4 bar loops creatively
If you are done with the Michael Jackson Remix there is a folder in the Yellow folder labeled acapella wav that has more acapella songs that you can remix. If you would rather just work on your own song you can do that as well.
Hola! Today we will be starting a remix of Michael Jackson's song Rock My World. We will be using an acapella version of the song and be adding our own instruments to it. Here is what we will be working with:
In order to start making a remix of this song we need to know a few things about the song. What do you think we would want to know about the song in order to make a remix in Reason???
You would want to know the Tempo and The Key. I have figured that out for you so you can get started!
The Tempo is 95 BPM
This song is in the key of G Major and the key of G major looks like this:
G A B C D E F# G
These notes will work well for you when you are adding melodic instruments to your song.
Also, here are some chords that will work well with this song
1 chord- G Major
4 chord- C Major
5 chord- D Major
6 chord- E Minor
Just like last week, we will be using the NN19 to add this Micheal Jackson Wave file.
You will be able to find the file in the Yellow folder.
Instructions:
1. Find the Michael Jackson-You Rock My World(Acapella Version).wavfile in the yellow folder and transfer it into your own folder on your desktop.
2. Create a New Reason session
3. Create a Mixer 14:2
4. Change the Tempo to 95 BPM
5. Create an NN19 digital sampler
6. Load the Acapella You Rock My World in the blue folder icon
7. In the Sequencer you will need to draw a note on C3 that goes to bar 84
8. OK now here is the part that is TRICKY. The lyrics will be off beat if we don't move them to a very particular beginning point. I have figured out the exact location that will be easiest for you to work with. You will need to go the edit view for the NN19 and make sure that you select the 1/16 next to the magnet icon.
Now you will need to have the note on C3 start slightly after the 3rd beat. This may be confusing so please us help you find the exact starting place. It should look like this:
To Start here is a basic outline of the first part of the song:
On Tuesday we started on the project of putting music to the poem "And Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou. Today we will finish up that project and some of you can share with the class!
The vocals are what we want the listener to focus on, make sure it is the most prominent part of the song. All other instruments should compliment the poem.
For this assignment please: 1. Use at least 3 instruments besides the vocals(if you have time add more!) 2. Have an Intro and Outro that support the words in the poem 4. Put Reverb on vocals 5. Save As (yourname)_StilliRise
REMINDER On Thursday December 16th we will be having family night! Invite Parents, family and friends to see what you have been doing in class so far. You have put a lot of time into this class and now you will have a chance to show what you have accomplished! There will be food!
Welcome back! Hope you enjoyed your holiday. We're going to get started on a new assignment, which is something different than the previous assignments we've done before. Today we're going to work on producing music to a speech. The audio selected is from Maya Angelou's poem "And Still I Rise".
"Maya Angelou is one of the most renowned and influential voices of our time. Hailed as a global renaissance woman, Dr. Angelou is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist."
Let's have a listen to the audio of And Still I Rise.
Are there any parts in the poem that you feel deliver an especially strong message? What type of music do you think would be played under a poem like this? Well, let's work on creating our own music based around it!
1. Open Reason
2. Create an MClass Mastering Suite Combi
3. Create a Mixer 14:2
4. Create a NN19 Digital Sampler
5. Do NOT Load in a Patch!!! Instead, click the folder above the keyboard on the NN19. Go to the Yellow Audio A folder and open the WAV file that says And Still I Rise. Now click the button on the NN19 that says SOLO SAMPLE.
6. Open up the "piano roll" on the NN19 track on the sequencer of Reason. The sample is located at C3. Draw a line leading from the beginning of the song to about 3 minutes.
7. Set your tempo to a bpm of your choice. You may want to make adjustments to the tempo to better fit the speech.
8. Now with these steps completed, create an arranged beat that plays from the beginning of the speech to the end. Try to cater this arrangement to the speech and not necessarily to a song. This means that choruses and verses don't have to follow a specific guideline, but you'll want to make sure you have different parts to your beat.
Today we're going to look at the MClass Mastering Suite Combi. This mastering suite helps to control the overall sound quality of the entire beat. How does it do this? Through sound processing such as EQ, Compression and Limiting. We have mentioned these things before in our early talks of mixing. So where should the MClass Mastering Suite be located in your Reason session? At the Top!
There are times when you'll start a new Reason session and you'll automatically see the MMSC at the top. If this doesn't already work for you, let's look at how we create one.
1. Click the Audio Driver on your Reason screen.
2. Go to the Create Menu and click MClass Mastering Suite Combi.
3. It should now appear as the top instrument in your Reason session. You can now create your beat as you normally would.
We will further explore how to use this equipment in a future lesson.
You should all have made at least one full song by today. Its time to learn how convert your Reason file into an audio file that you can put on a CD or email to a friend!
Once your Reason song is completed you need to find the END MARKER. If you scroll as far as you can in the sequencer you should find the end marker. You will need to move the end marker to the end of your song.
You should leave 1-2 bars between your last notes and the end marker. This lets you hear any reverb or ambient sounds that may follow your last notes and gives your song a more natural finish.
Once your end marker is in place, go to the File menu and select Export Song as Audio File...
A window should pop up where you can choose how to save the song. Make sure you save it as a WAVE file. Once you hit Save an Audio Export Settings window will pop up. Keep the settings that are up and click Export.
You should now have a wave file of your song.
Double click your new file and it should open in iTunes.
In order to email your song you will need to convert the song from a WAVE form to an MP3. In I tunes you will need to go to Preferences in the iTunes menu. Click Import Settings...
In Import Settings make sure that MP3 Encoder is selected.
Now that you have the Settings ready you can easily convert your wave files to MP3s. Make sure the song that you want to convert is hightlighted then go to the Advanced menu and click Create MP3 Version. The new MP3 version should show up in just a couple seconds.
The Mp3 version is a smaller simpler file that you can easily attach to an email and put on a CD or Jump Drive.
Let's explore using the RPG-8 Monophonic Arpeggiator. But first, let's have a quick discussion. First: What is an Arpeggiator?
An arpeggiator is a feature available on some synthesisers that automatically steps through a sequence of notes based on an input chord, thus creating an arpeggio. The notes can often be transmitted to a MIDI sequencer for recording and further editing. An arpeggiator may have controls to manipulate the order and speed in which the notes play; upwards, downwards, or in a random order. More advanced arpeggiators allow the user to step through a complex sequence of notes or play several arpeggios at once.
To simplify the above paragraph: When you play a chord while using an arpeggiator, you will end up playing all of the notes of the chord in a sequence. This sequence has some customizable functions. You can control whether or not the arpeggiator goes up the scale, down the scale, play a random pattern, etc.
There's more to it: an arpeggiator cannot be used by itself. Why not? Because it is acts as a controller and not a stand-alone synthesizer. With that said, you must first create a synthesizer and then create an arpeggiator which will connect to the synthesizer. Here is how you use an arpeggiator inside Reason.
1. Create a Synthesizer in Reason (Thor/Subtractor/Malstrom).
Thor
Subtractor
Malstrom
2. Load in a patch with that synthesizer.
3. Create an RPG-8 Monophonic Arpeggiator.
4. Now, attempt to play a chord with the keyboard. Notice what happens?
You're not necessarily limited to just using a synthesizer with the RPG-8, but today it is what we are using for the exercise.
Now that we've worked on creating arranged beats AND we've worked on some mixing techniques, let's talk about automation. What is automation?
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work.
This applies to the industrial world as well as the audio world. How so? Automation can be used to apply fades, panning, etc. These days we hear automation in most of the music that we listen to. In almost all cases you will hear some sort of automation in today's modern music. Let's listen to a few songs that use automation.
Today we'll look at how we can apply automation in Reason to create a Fade Out for our arranged music.
1. Open Reason.
2. Open your completed arranged beat. If you have NOT arranged a beat yet, make sure you complete the previous class assignments to do this lesson.
3. With your arranged beat, turn the "Loop On/Off" to "Off".
4. Now let's take a look at the mixer on our screen. Notice that it has a Master Fader on the bottom right? This Master Fader controls the volume of the entire song as a whole. That means that if the whole song distorted, the MF can be used to turn everything down, though this isn't exactly the best method and many would consider it better to turn down the individual instruments that are too loud.
5. Hold the Control key on the keyboard and click the mixer. You should see an option to Create a Track for Mixer 1. Alternatively, if you click the mixer then go to EDIT you should see Create a Track for Mixer1. You should notice a new track on the sequencer of Reason that says Mixer 1.
6. Go to the last chorus of your song, before the outro. Click on the mixer track and press record. You may/may not see a box appear just yet. Once you reach the Outro of your beat, click on the Master Fader and slowly drag the mouse down so that the volume gets quieter. A box should appear on the sequencer with a declining line. This line is a visual representation of the automation that you just created. You should also see a Green Box on the MF of the mixer.
The Mixer Track
Automation Box with Declining Line Means Fade Out
A Green Line Box Means that there is Automation on an instrument
7. You can control whether or not you want this automation by clicking the Master Level button on the Mixer 1 track. If you don't like your fade and want to try again, simply delete your box on the sequencer and try to record a new fade out.
Full Song Check list:
At least 5 instruments: Bass, drums, synth, etc.
Song Structure: Intro, Verses, Chorus', Outro to make up 89-97 bars in length
Mixing: Volume, Panning, Effects
Automation Outro
Refer to previous blogs for explanation on each subject.
Thanks!
