Song analysis

In the song Fake Love by Drake, the instruments and the production in general is very minimal. The song starts off with a dry marimba sound with no effects, it is a simple marimba sound with just vocals supporting it. When the verse starts the beat also comes in and in my opinion I would say the main focus straight away is the vocals because of the tone that Drake uses in his approach to the song. Since he isn't a professional singer it is evident due to his way of singing that he isn't fully singing like most professional singers would sing in terms of range and vocal dynamics. He sticks to a certain range and uses his rasp to connect with the emotions of the song. The song is about a girl showing fake love towards him and not being faithful towards him, he expressions that emotion through his voice by using his rasp.

The genre of the track is a mix of Hip/hop and R&B and this is obvious when the beat is introduced into the song. The bridge has a bit of auto tune on it in the back vocals which makes the track sound really modern and new.

performance/production plan

   
In the process of beginning our song we didn't know how to bring the musical equipment into play in the performance. Since we had no idea where to bring in the technology everything was falling apart and instead of moving forwards, we were moving backwards. Also, when it came to using the distortion pedal, the sound was too heavy and too distorted for the song we were making, therefore we used the distortion pedal on the bass and turned the volume down so the bass didn't overlap on the songs.

Since one of the members from the band didn't turn up often, it was stressful because even though we kept on moving forward in terms of getting the song finished and developing new ideas. However when the band member turned up we had to always go backwards to remind the band member of what we had done and how we could bring her into the process of the song. This was stressful as we kept on moving forwards and then backwards so it felt like we weren't progressing at a good rate.

In my own practice I have been using technology to make my music sound more interesting and so it can vary in terms of style. In the band I am working with I use the octave pedal in one of our original songs to make the guitar sound clean and have a richer sound. The pedal gives the option of how much of the high pitch and low pitch I wanted to use in my solo part, I chose to put the high and low frequency at a balanced level so it could blend it together during the performance. During the practice rehearsals, I made sure that octave pedal is used for a good amount of time in the performance as the objective is to use the equipment efficiently. Even though I don't use the octave pedal all the time, I have figured out that the octave pedal has a great effect when being used for guitar solos and in the beginning of a song because at a beginning of a song and a solo are both related to the attention being all on the guitarist and by using the guitar pedal it helps to make the guitar sound really pleasant to hear.

I have also even using the multi effects pedal which gives various options of the type of effect I want to use. Based on the song that we're doing, I decided to go for an electric type of effect because it would stand out during my solo. One artist that has inspired me is Neil Young, he is one of the best well known artists and he has also used an octave pedal live in his music. His music evidently differentiates from my style but the use of the octave pedal is used in most solos which is also used in my song.

easter gig evaluation

In the process of making the song, we originally started off with just a piano melody which we were planning to use with accompaniment of the guitar and drums. During rehearsals we didn't face any difficulties for the first few times because the song was coming along swiftly and everyone was finding a place to fit in their instrument. However, their was one person missing from our group every week which made us just continue the song without the persons feature for the first few weeks. Our first plan was just to use two pianos but then we had feedback from Chloe on the type of piano effect that should be used, we tried out different effects and we ended up going with a marimba type piano effect accompanied by a real piano which made the song sound cooler and more pleasant to hear. The group member that didn't turn up in the first few weeks started to turn up so we had to write a second verse for her which was a last minute task. This caused a bit of stress because the structure of the song changed and we had to find a good structure which allowed every single instrument to stand out by itself. The rehearsal were in general a success as we managed to put every idea together and make sure everything worked out.

When it came to the performance we were quiet confident with the way we were going to perform especially when it came to the sound check. We had planned out our performance from the rehearsal confidently and we knew everyone's role in the song and what we had to do. We were all quiet nervous to perform because performing in front of a crowd is evidently different from practicing in rehearsals. We showed good communication towards each other, especially me and Alex because we both had solos after the second chorus so we had to focus on when both of our performances are finished. Some of the problems we faced in rehearsals was the transitions in between the verse and the choruses, we overcame that problem in rehearsals by constantly practicing these transitions. Therefore, when it came to performing we had no problem with any of the transitions. We managed to get a very positive reaction from the audience and the teachers which is always good to get after a performance, however, we all knew we could've performed much better mainly because we had rehearsed before and we sounded better than the live performance, Nonetheless, the performance is a good experience to get used to performing in front of a live audience and learn from the mistakes that were made.

farz class

Mono - Low frequency is used in mono because instruments like the bass and other low frequency sounds should sit in the middle.
Stereo - Stereo gives the music more space and atmosphere this is due to the sound of two or more speakers.

comparison of three genres.
vocals and instruments, etc

Technology in context

Part 1
There are many artists that use technology in their own way in their original material, however, there are fewer artists who use technology inventively and interestingly in live performances and professional recordings. One of these artists is Imogen Heap, this is because she is known for using Musical Gloves in her performances, the gloves allow her to control what she wants to do in her live shows and even in her recorded songs. She uses this technology really well as she uses unusual body movements to control the music. When she performs live, she uses her hands to act like she's playing drums or bongos and does the movements as if she was playing it live, but since there are no instruments, she uses the drum playing movements to create the sound of drums in her music. This is a really interesting thing as she can introduce any instrument at any of time of the song whenever she feels like there is space to bring in another instrument. She can also introduce any harmonies when she wants. In one of her performances when the song was just about to begin, she was singing harmonies which she then introduced later on in the song and the impress thing about this is that she does this live so none of the vocals are pre recorded which makes it very interesting as an audience to witness it.


 Another artist that uses technology in his music is Ed Sheeran, he was one of the first artists to use a loop station live in his whole live set. The impressive thing about his use of technology is that he can use it in any song that he does live which is how most of songs are played live. He introduces harmonies which he can use later on in the song and can also play different guitar melodies on top of his lead guitar which makes the sound fuller and richer. In one of his songs live, in the chorus he asks the audience to sing along which also gets recorded into the loop. Also, in the song Shape Of You, halfway in the chorus he stops the whole song by pressing the left pedal with his foot and sings in that space which is a good way of using the loop station as he can do whatever he wants in that short amount of time.


Part 2
In my own practice I have been using technology to make my music sound more interesting and so it can vary in terms of style. In the band I am working with I use the octave pedal in one of our original songs to make the guitar sound clean and have a richer sound. However, I only use it with single notes because with full chords and especially bar chords, it sound really bad because there are too many tones and it sounds slightly overdriven. Even though I don't use the octave pedal all the time, I have figured out that the octave pedal has a great effect when being used for guitar solos and in the beginning of a song because at a beginning of a song and a solo are both related to the attention being all on the guitarist and by using the guitar pedal it helps to make the guitar sound really pleasant to hear. One artist that has inspired me is Neil Young, he is one of the best well known artists and he has also used an octave pedal live in his music. Even though his music isn't particularly my style of music, he inspired me to use this type of technology and to improve my guitar playing.

farz mixing

Level - Level is the technical and musical term used to describe the volume of sound.

dBFS - A unit of measurement to identify the loudness or intensity of a specific sound.

Clipping - Clipping is a type of distortion that occurs when an instrument is overdriven or too loud.

Dynamics - When a particular sound goes from the lowest to highest peak in terms of level.

Headroom - Headroom is the the amount of space that a song or track can have. This would include using the EQ to exclude unwanted sounds like a low frequency such as the bass to have a cleaner and more spacious sound. 

Weekly Timeline

Week 1- 5/06/18
In the first week of the FMP project I am going to get some inspiration from other artists so I get a certain idea of what kind of song I want to get started, my initial idea for my EP is for it to have a Latin/pop influence to it so I think I will get some ideas from some famous Latin songs and use similar drum patterns and melodies to get started and then put in my own ideas. The ideas I end up on getting I will send them to some of my peers that I have planned on collaborating with.

End of week
I managed to listen to some songs, mainly Latin/pop related and I managed to listen to some instrumentals and what techniques they use to make the songs sound catchy. This includes the drum patterns and how they are used to create a certain feel, for example, in some tracks that I heard, the beats were subdivided to create syncopation. This way of using the drums in my opinion creates a very danceable feel and joy which I will be able to use in my music.

Reflection
When I researched the Latin genre I realised that it was a bit more complicated then I initially thought, this is due to the fact that the songs I researched contain a lot more production sounds which make the songs fuller and richer. I need to now do deeper research to see what things in music make a song stand out even if it is a limited amount of production techniques such as sound effects.

Week 2- 12/03/18

This week I looked at various different tracks from different genres so that I could get some inspiration and see what kind of melodies I could perhaps implement in my music.

This week I was meant to get into a recording studio with an artist from outside college but he wasn't able due to personal reasons.

Reflection
After researching different types of music and melodies, I have figured out that I can look at a different genres and perhaps use a similar sample and make it my own to follow my initial plan which is latin inspired music. I will now look for a sample with a similar vibe from this song that I found, even though this genre is different to what I will make, I can still take inspiration from different genres to make a great track. As mentioned in my first literature review, it is a good technique to listen to different styles of music to create a unique song as mentioned in the The Blue Moment which is something I managed to incorporate in my music.

  Week 3- 19/03/18
In this week, since I have a semi complete track with good ideas, I will stretch out the track and structure it with: verse, pre chorus. chorus, verse, pre chorus and chorus. I will also try and add in some vocals. For this track, as part of my research I will book a production room and try to record an acoustic guitar in my song. I didn't manage to book a room but since I have a studio at home I will record my ideas at home.

Reflection
After getting a good amount of the track semi complete, I decided that I will get a collaboration on this track because the song is about a relationship that is in the process of happening, I wrote my interpretation of the concept and now I will ask Monet from my class if she would like to feature on it because I personally think she has a soothing voice that can make the song sound good.


Week 4- 26/03/18
This week I plan to research musical ideas and techniques from different artists so I can incorporate that into my music. I will look at different sources such as videos and see which technique or strategy suits my style and way of making my music.

Reflection
This week I managed to research different videos that talk about ways of producing music and techniques to make my music sound good. I looked at Charlie Puth's interview which he talks about using his layering technique to make his music sound full which I managed to research in my case study. I have decided to use this technique through out my music so that my music sounds efficient.


Holiday break work

During the holiday, I came across a variety of genres and music styles. In the beginning of this project I decided I wanted to all original Latin inspired originals. However, due to listening to different genres and catchy/melodic music, I decided I will have two Latin inspired songs which was my original idea, but I will have two completely different songs. This shows a contrast of music styles and variety in my way of singing on different songs. It will also avoid the EP from sounding too repetitive. I have decided that one of the contrasting songs will be a cover of "In My Blood" by Shawn Mendes, I am using the piano version so that this song can be the song which represents the most emotion in the EP and is lyrically more meaningful. My objective is to have two songs on the EP that can be very enjoyable to listen to and be able to dance to so it can be fun for my audience and to show a more enjoyable side of myself as an artist  and have another two songs in which the lyrics are more in depth and emotional. This makes me more accessible as an artist and shows a contrast of styles which can be varied across all audiences. I have recorded a bit of the track and this is how it sounds so far.

In terms of how the song sounds so far, I had a problem with recording the vocals because since I live near a school, the recording doesn't technically sound professional because of this. However, when it comes to recording the rest of the track, I will use the noise gate or the EQ to cancel the irrelevant noise from the background of the track. If I notice that the first half of the song is affected really badly I will have to re record parts of the song to make sure the song can sound as clean and professional as possible. I wanted to get a short recording to see if I would want to perform this song live or record it just as a track on the EP, I have come to a conclusion that I will perform this song live because the song is lyrically meaningful and is vocally quiet complex in terms of range, since this song has both elements of emotion and vocals complexity, both of those elements after weeks of rehearsals will create an emotional but uplifting environment when heard live. 

Week 5- 17/04/18
Over the weekend, I had a think about how I want my cover to be live and I thought that it would be good to get two collaborations on this song. The main reason for this is because since the song is a ballad and it only has one vocal it might make the song a bit boring live, so to incorporate another two vocals for harmonies and maybe even a main vocal would make the song more interesting live.

Reflection 
This week I managed to get into a practice room and practice the cover with two of my peers and it sounded really good. We managed to figure out who sings what and how to make the song grow throughout, this includes making the piano grow in terms of the way it is played and how the vocals would mix together with the piano.

Week 6- 24/04/18

During the weekend, I managed to get in contact with an artist from an artist outside of college and I have an instrumental of a track I worked on before to get the vocals recorded, this week I will get the vocals recorded and mixed by the end of the week. I based the song on the fact that he mentions that he has a diverse sound so this is what is the sound I went for. Here is what the instrumental sounds like so far. Reflection
This week I managed to get into studio with the artist from outside college and I managed to get the vocals recorded and I was able to put the channels at about the right levels so the instruments don't overlap each other and cause confusion in the mix. I still need to mix the song properly to make it sound professional and use effects to make the song sound cleaner. The song is quiet minimal in terms of instruments so it shouldn't be too complex to mix the track. I managed to use a sharp chorus effect on the guitar to make the guitar sound bright and clean, I also used a bit of reverb to create a bit of space and create ambience. I managed to make a remix of this song, however, I need to get feedback from the teachers to see which mix I should use for my FMP.
   Mid Point Presentation

Week 7- 1/05/18
Since I have other collaborations to take part in this week I plan to work with the people that I have collaborations on different projects with and go through the songs I will be featuring on live. This will involve helping people on vocal harmonies to support main vocals and also playing instruments.

Reflection
I managed to get a few recordings of a few practice rehearsals, fortunate enough for me the songs that I am featuring on other projects aren't too complex so I managed to find a balance between my own work and helping out other people on their projects. However, I managed to get a little bit stressed because I should've perhaps rehearsed with other people in the earlier weeks so that I could have a  clear idea of how I would help them musically and avoid myself from getting stressed. Nonetheless, I managed to get through the stress and rehearse with the people who I am collaborating with on their project. This has therefore slowed down my own project because I should've found time in the earlier weeks to rehearse on other people's FMP.


Week 8- 8/05/18
This week I was meant to mix the tracks I have made so far, however, since I am a bit behind on my work I need to get one more track finished. During the weekend I started an idea for a Latin influenced track, since my ideas changed of how I want my songs to sound on my EP and I have contrasting songs, I still need to get a second Latin influenced track recorded so I can complete my track list. On my day off in college I plan to stretch out the track and semi complete the track and add a few ideas to make the song sound fuller.

Reflection
This week I have almost completed the instrumental track and managed to get in a few musical ideas into to the song. I used a melodic sample which I managed to work around, I chose this sample melody specifically because I really like the way the track sounds and the way it makes me feel. As mentioned in my literature review, the benefits of using a sample is mainly based on the cleanliness of the sound and to make the song sound professional. I still need to record vocal down and get a catchy vocal melody into the song but this is how the song sounds so far. I am thinking of perhaps using the Spanish Language to make the track different and to show off a different side of me vocally and lyrically to capture the audiences attention which might be beneficial to get audiences from around the world to listen to my music. I have decided to continue with this track because the melody is really catchy and I think it could be my first song on the EP.

Week 9- 15/05/18
My plan for this week is to get into a rehearsal room and practice my songs with the people I am collaborating with and the songs I am going to perform live, I want to make sure that I am confident with my performances and that everything will work out smoothly.

Reflection
This week I managed to record some rehearsals and practice the songs I am going to perform live for my own project and how I want the songs to sound live, one of these songs is a ballad with just a piano. Originally, I planned to just sing this by myself but I thought carefully about ow the song can sound much fuller and richer with harmonies. Therefore this is why I used collaborations on this specific cover to create a very emotional feeling when the song will be performed live. I have decided to progress with this collaboration because it makes the song sound smoother with the mixture of all the vocals and we all interpret a different emotion which creates a very sad but uplifting atmosphere.


Week 10- 22/05/18
Since last week I didn't manage to mix all tracks, this week I will mix all tracks and make sure every track is balanced and mixed. In this week, we will also have our performance which I will feature on other people's project and I will perform one of my songs from my own EP, I think the performance will be absolutely amazing due to the amount of practice I have put into my songs and my collaborations.

Reflection
The performance this week was amazing, we had a very good response from the audience and everything was performed smoothly. This is due to the amount of practice we put into the songs and because I managed to enjoy myself and I didn't overthink. This way of thinking and approaching the performance made the occasion really special and worth being part of.

                                                                                             

Listening Task

In the song Attention by Charlie Puth, in the bridge the singer does something that could be heard as an error., However, in the songs I choose to find the errors doesn't necessarily mean it is an error, it could be intentional or naturally part of the singers voice. Therefore, I am giving my approach on what I would do differently. In the bridge, the singers' voice tends to break when he extends his falsetto. This could've happened because he might of lost his breath and didn't use the right technique which could've caused his voice to break. Nontheless, since the song is about heartbreak, the loss of breath or control in his falsetto could be used to represent the emotion of heartbreak. If I was singing my version of this, I would make sure that my voice wouldn't break by supporting my diaphragm and take a longer breath so I wouldn't go off pitch and my voice wouldn't break.


In the song Starboy by The Weeknd, when he performs this live, he tends to have a voice break which he manages to recover straight away. This is heard in the second verse, he covers it up by doing a minimal vocal riff and uses his vibrato to make it sound more natural and make it sound like it wasn't a mistake. This is a very good way of covering up a mistake, this includes continuing the phrase by doing a vocal riff or even using a vibrato to make it seem natural.






In the song There's nothing holding me back by Shawn Mendes, there are a few things that we could consider mistakes. When he goes into the pre chorus, his voice tends to go a bit pitchy and his voice has this rasp which sounds more as if his voice is tired than intended. When your voice is tired it makes it harder for a singer to stay in tune because it is harder to support the vocals and mot of the time its seems like the vocals are controlling the singer instead of the singer controlling the vocals, which can be seen in this case. Also, he seems to not have the control of his breathing in the pre chorus which makes it very hard for his voice to sound good. It sounds like he is struggling rather than the rasp and voice cracks being intentional. If I was singing this song I would make sure to rest my voice and get enough sleep because not enough rest and sleep can cause the vocals to sound tired.

Farz

The instruments that cross the: bass, mid and high frequencies aren't certainly specific. Every instrument crosses every zone of bass, mid and high frequencies. However, some instruments will be set in different places depending on natural pitch and sound of the instrument. For example, the bass would fall under bass and sub bass due to its low tone. Guitar would fall under the mid section as the strings can be differentiated between high and bass and an instrument like a flute or a clarinet will fall under the high frequencies due to the high pitch.