Song analysis

Charlie Puth - How Long
This is one of my favourite songs from Charlie Puth, this is because the bass that he uses in the beginning of the track which is also used through the verses and pre chorus is very melodically catchy. It's almost as if he relies on the just the bass as the main melody to guide him through the song. One reason why this song is impressive is because the octaves and melody vocal lines he uses, he doesn't just introduce this in the pre chorus. he also uses this technique in single phrases in the verses which creates brightness and richer quality in the vocals.

In the bridge of the song, if you use headphones you can hear much clearer in the bridge the screams but in a harmonic style, this is a good technique of doing the bridge because it then introduces the chorus again without it sounding boring. He also uses "ooo's" in the eight bars of the bridge which sounds like an R&B type of harmony. Due to the amount of space in the bridge, it makes his vocals stand out more especially when he introduces the higher range of his falsetto.

In the final chorus Charlie starts to do vocal adlibs which evidently starts to make the emotion of the song stand out more and makes us emotionally connect with the lyrics.

Contemporary Songs

Progress Report
In this track I decided to go for a latin type track which is something which I'm used to making, in this progress version of the song, I have the main melody which is the piano, I decided to use an F, G, Em and Am chord progression. The reason I chose it was because I felt like these chords blended really well together.

One thing I also chose to add to this song is an acoustic guitar from logic, I would've used a real guitar but since they aren't chords, the arpeggios sound really interesting using the logic guitar. I haven't added in vocals yet but my plan when it comes to recording the vocals is to talk about love but in the interpretation of the male role in the relationship quoting certain things that the girl in the relationship has said to make the relationship go downhill. There is a lot of space in the song and that is because I want the instruments to stand out and the lyrics also be heard and understood by the listeners point of view.

Artist Review
How Long - Charlie Puth
This is one of my favourite songs from Charlie Puth, this is because the bass that he uses in the beginning of the track which is also used through the verses and pre chorus is very melodically catchy. It's almost as if he relies on the just the bass as the main melody to guide him through the song. One reason why this song is impressive is because the octaves and melody vocal lines he uses, he doesn't just introduce this in the pre chorus. he also uses this technique in single phrases in the verses which creates brightness and richer quality in the vocals itself.

One thing that artists can sometimes do that can make the song start to sound boring is not to change any vocal melody line or production wise, to add any small amount of instrument to make the track slowly build up. However, in the second verse of this track, he uses his range in the final two lines of the verse to go higher in pitch to make the second verse sound more interesting and different which is a good technique to avoid the song from getting boring.

Artist Review
All That Matters - Justin Bieber
The song All that matters by Justin Bieber starts off with an electric guitar which is used through out the entire track, however, the guitar is clean and contains a bit of reverb which makes it sound very clean and bright. The vocals in the chorus are at a fairly low pitch in the verses but they tend to build up especially in the chorus when the singers range starts to expand.

The beats used are quiet complex as the high hats are subdivided into complex patterns. During the song we also hear an effected vocal which is pitched up to make the song sound interesting. The vocals tend to have a minimum amount of effects but contain a slight reverb, brightness and delay in every 1/2 note. The song is at a mid tempo which creates a bit of a groove as it isn't too quick or too slow.

On the second verse of the song, he uses his range in order to make a difference in the vocal melody by going higher. The effect of doing this is that first of all it shows off his higher range and secondly, it brightens up the song as the change of melody differentiates from the first verse of the song making it sound interesting.

Song Evaluation
When I first started to make this track, the first thing I wanted to do was make an emotional song, what I decided to do was use the cut up technique used by many artists such as David Bowie, and I put phrases and words that in my opinion creates the feeling of emotion and love. There were some difficulties in this process as the words and phrases I had used didn't necessarily connect and some words that I used aren't lyrics that would normally be used in a song because of the simplicity of it. In my mind, I wanted to make something simple but catchy, however, words like "love" and "sad" aren't words that in my opinion don't make a song stand out so in this process I had to let go of certain words and continue to write new words.

I used a Yamaha piano that lasts throughout the entire track, the instrument itself sounds really calm  and smooth simultaneously which instantly makes the song sound interesting. The song itself has quiet a lot of space, especially in the verses, I purposefully wanted to do this so the lyrics could be more appreciated and so that the listener could understand the meaning behind the song. This also gave me the opportunity to add in some of falsetto in the harmonies to show my range and to make the song build up vocally and not just in terms of production.

The song is about a dysfunctional relationship between a male and a female and we get the males point of view of the relationship but with quotes that the girl had said during the relationship. I chose to do this because even though we get one perspective (which is the male perspective) it's almost like we get a bit of two perspectives of the story as quotes are being used to describe the relationship.

One thing I could've done better was the effects of the vocals, I need to do more research about vocal effects and when it comes to editing and adding effects. I need to make sure to not change the vocal effects too much because it will stop the vocals from sounding natural which takes away the uniqueness of the recording. The main problems I had with making the track was finding a way to make the song grow constantly through out the track, in the second verse I managed to add harmonies to make the song sound different and to avoid the song from getting too repetitive. The song is at 96 beats per minute which is neither a ballad or an up tempo type of song, since it is at a point which is mid tempo, it makes the song easier to dance and vibe to. I used the structure: verse, pre chorus, chorus, verse, pre chorus and chorus mainly because it is a nice structure to use when songwriting.

In terms of vocals, I used a very soft and smooth approach to singing because I wanted the lyrics to sound more gentle rather than hard and over exaggerated. It blends well with the melody as I intentionally wanted the vocals and the piano to mix well together. In the first four bars I used the simple four chords but when the first verse starts I used sevenths and octaves to make the chords sound bright and richer, this is also another reason why it makes the vocals blend well together as the sevenths and octaves tend to support the vocals.

week 1 Farz mixing

signal flow- how the sound goes from the initial instrument through the signal path (channel strip)

three instruments that fit into the main bands of an eq
sub bass up to 100Hz (3 instruments)
100-500Hz (bass) (3)
500Hz-2Kh
500Hz- 2000Kh (mid)
2000Kh- 4000Kh (High mid)
4000- 20,000 Kh (High mid to high)

Song analysis

In the song Versace on the floor by Bruno Mars, the song starts off with an electric piano which sounds like a 90's piano used in soulful and R&B music. Also, during the track, Bruno maintains his range at a certain range between his mid range and very high range which shows off his vocal ability. When it comes to the chorus, the beat is very 80/90's influenced especially the snare which tends to have a slightly reverb to create ambience. Minimal synths are also used in between the parts in which the kick and the snare is played, this creates groove and makes the listener want to dance.

Individual presentation

The Brief

During your review I the week of 5^th February, give a short (5 mins) presentation analysing the things that you feel you have done well during the first two terms. Use examples and evidence to back up your points and capture all this in a more detailed blog post. This will help you decide what you will specialise in doing for the final graded unit.

Consider:

• Which aspects of the course you do well - performance (solo or group), songwriting, composition, production, event planning, industry, admin, marketing, organisation, etc.

- Production

- Songwriting

- Composition

• How you would describe your skill set

- Quick Learner

- Unique melodies

- Harmony

• Why you have excelled in these areas

- Constant Practice

- Working with others

• What project you would like to do for your Final Major Project

- EP

• Which examples from the first two terms will help back up your argument

In the first two terms I have progressed in many musical areas during the process of working with other people. One aspect of the course that I do well is my song writing, production and composition. During my song writing sessions I always put my input and give ideas to write an interesting song. In terms of producing, I try to use techniques that we learn in college in order to produce a good track. This would include using found sounds to create atmosphere and unusual sounds to make the track sound unique, I have gotten good feedback from both Farz and Olly in relation to how my track sounds. I always get good ideas when creating sounds, since I know how to play guitar and a bit of piano, it's easier to create a melody and a catchy track. One thing I could get better at is knowing more theory on logic and using more things on logic such as effects to make my music better.

I would say I'm a quick learner as I'm able to learn things really quickly musically and theoretically. I just need to research more information about the current technology and the development of technology in general. Working with other people has help me progress as getting support from class mates helps me work harder and become a quick learner.

For my final major project I would like to do an EP as from the beginning of the course my production has developed massively and I have been able to get better at electric guitar, besides being good at acoustic guitar, I have been able to get better at electric guitar by learning scales that can be used in songs to create funk or an atmospheric sound.