My final track was taken with a UK style drum pattern with a drum snare sample that I then used behind a beat that i have been working on. This drum pattern includes the drum samples used, like the snare, hi hats and crashes. These were all layered with the massive 808 behind them boosting it.
The effects used on this track were;
Lowpass filter
Cutting up audio clips
Slowing down and reversing parts of the tracks
These were all used to maintain the UK trap style. They may take allot of time once everything has been mastered, but they fit the genre perfectly. This track could have been mixed a little better when finalised, for example I could have boosted the hi hats and taken a little off the snare. This was another thing I had learnt from Phil's mixing sessions.
Monday, 3 July 2017
My Website (Week 9 EXP)
After spending weeks focussing on the final product of the website, I was able to come to a conclusion on what layout I've chosen, what information I will post and many more key aspects.
Layout
The style of the website was incredibly important when designing it, as it needed to be simple, easy to use and appealing to the eye. This was why I went with this design.
The name of the website was posted across the centre on the page, in larger text and a smoother font used. This Logo is used throughout the website on each page shown at the top left.
This Idea was given to me by Youtube as I noticed that there Logo was shown at the top left on each page.
 |
The boxes filled with the headings like 'Tracks' flash red when you hover over them just as a small feature that allows you to know what feature you are clicking on. They will then take you to the page you have clicked on from the home screen.
Information
The information provided on the website is a set of applications linked, promoting my music on different softwares. The front page consists of links to the Youtube page, Soundcloud page and the Social media page. These pages either have tracks or videos to be played or information about myself. Each page has a separate paragraph describing why I have chosen to include them.
This was the paragraph written beside the Soundcloud page discussing the popularity of the website and what features you can use it for.
I also have My social medias printed across the top right of every page so that it is easily accessible.
Comparison
When creating this website, I was able to use Drakes own page for inspiration. His layout isn't similar to mine, although it is very similar when promoting his music, It is directly linked to Apple Music which is also linked to Itunes. Drake having a fan base as large as his, he is able to get people to buy his music through Apple Music just by visiting his website. If I had a similar following I would be able to do the same although my website is non profitable as it is linked to Soundcloud & Youtube. He then has a small bibliography about himself and Tour dates as an option to click on. These are all features that I could be adding on in the future if I am to get to that stage.
Another website which is a similar idea to what I originally had was Fifth Element. This website promotes peoples work with no limitations on genres, ways to listen to it and what music you can find. This was my original idea as well as promoting my work although I had decided against it as I wanted it to be purely about me!
My website could become something similar to this if I were to gather enough music from people I know, and discuss prices they would like there work to be sold at or just streamed.
The layout was simple, but seemed more like a website where you be purchasing something rather then streaming some music.
Wednesday, 14 June 2017
Unit 10 Personal Statement
My motivation for applying to study a combination of Music Production, Business Management,
Law, Advertising and Marketing is driven by a desire to pursue a career in
Marketing/Advertising, possibly including music production, alongside a strong interest in
Retail/Business Management.
Two years ago, I was unable to study both Music and Law on the same course, so I decided to
continue with my music studies. My current course has taught me a great deal about the music
industry - I now have experience in areas such as copyright, live performing and organisation
- as well as perfecting my composing and technical skills and I am excited at the prospect of
adding business and marketing to my studies.
I hope one of my chosen courses will help develop my skills to communicate ideas, working
towards a career in Retail or Marketing and possibly incorporating Music Production too.
Business Law and Marketing are new subjects to me, but I enjoy learning, am self-motivated and
get a strong sense of satisfaction from following a music brief through to the completed work.
Alongside my current music course, I have also pursued my interest in Law, by doing some work
experience at a well-respected London Chambers, 24 Bedford Row. I found it fascinating
attending court sittings and working on research projects, as directed. I have also been lucky
enough to do some intern work at Chris Kimsey's music production studio and worked hard to
save up enough money to buy my own Apple Mac and Logic Pro to use at home. This has helped me
through the years on my current course and would help me in the future too.
On the marketing front, I currently work part-time at the fashion store Hunter Boots, in
Regent Street, Central London. I have developed a huge interest in sales and in how the store
succeeds. I enjoy the challenge of reaching sales targets and would very much like to explore
the effect of marketing in retail and learn key skills which might help me follow a possible
career path in a related area. Additionally, I interned at a property PR company in the summer
holidays to experience marketing/advertising through journalism, as opposed to the more direct
approach of paid-for-promotions or point-of-sale.
When I am not in college studying music, I am generally producing music in my home studio or
working at Hunter Boots, paying particular attention to how our products are packaged,
displayed and marketed within the store and how we are directed to use our own skills to make
the best sales. I'm learning new skills everyday both at work and at college, preparing for
further education and life after this course.
I am a competitive and focussed individual who has participated in team sports throughout my
school and college life, after gaining a Sports Scholarship to my secondary school. I played
football in the Selkent league for seven years, captaining the team for two years and I still
enjoy playing in a team, when I am not working at weekends.
I have been writing and producing music for nearly 10 years and have a successful music sales
site where I sell my music/beats to professional artists. Attending one of my chosen courses
would help me pursue my idea of working either in the music business or in the
marketing/retail sector.
Law, Advertising and Marketing is driven by a desire to pursue a career in
Marketing/Advertising, possibly including music production, alongside a strong interest in
Retail/Business Management.
Two years ago, I was unable to study both Music and Law on the same course, so I decided to
continue with my music studies. My current course has taught me a great deal about the music
industry - I now have experience in areas such as copyright, live performing and organisation
- as well as perfecting my composing and technical skills and I am excited at the prospect of
adding business and marketing to my studies.
I hope one of my chosen courses will help develop my skills to communicate ideas, working
towards a career in Retail or Marketing and possibly incorporating Music Production too.
Business Law and Marketing are new subjects to me, but I enjoy learning, am self-motivated and
get a strong sense of satisfaction from following a music brief through to the completed work.
Alongside my current music course, I have also pursued my interest in Law, by doing some work
experience at a well-respected London Chambers, 24 Bedford Row. I found it fascinating
attending court sittings and working on research projects, as directed. I have also been lucky
enough to do some intern work at Chris Kimsey's music production studio and worked hard to
save up enough money to buy my own Apple Mac and Logic Pro to use at home. This has helped me
through the years on my current course and would help me in the future too.
On the marketing front, I currently work part-time at the fashion store Hunter Boots, in
Regent Street, Central London. I have developed a huge interest in sales and in how the store
succeeds. I enjoy the challenge of reaching sales targets and would very much like to explore
the effect of marketing in retail and learn key skills which might help me follow a possible
career path in a related area. Additionally, I interned at a property PR company in the summer
holidays to experience marketing/advertising through journalism, as opposed to the more direct
approach of paid-for-promotions or point-of-sale.
When I am not in college studying music, I am generally producing music in my home studio or
working at Hunter Boots, paying particular attention to how our products are packaged,
displayed and marketed within the store and how we are directed to use our own skills to make
the best sales. I'm learning new skills everyday both at work and at college, preparing for
further education and life after this course.
I am a competitive and focussed individual who has participated in team sports throughout my
school and college life, after gaining a Sports Scholarship to my secondary school. I played
football in the Selkent league for seven years, captaining the team for two years and I still
enjoy playing in a team, when I am not working at weekends.
I have been writing and producing music for nearly 10 years and have a successful music sales
site where I sell my music/beats to professional artists. Attending one of my chosen courses
would help me pursue my idea of working either in the music business or in the
marketing/retail sector.
Unit 10 Industry
Social media is an important factor in today's music. The way music is mostly promoted is through platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. As an example recently Stormzy has released a new album which has traveled from community to community. This was helped by many different promotions like Manchester United having him over to the training ground to meet the players and promote is work. He also did a meet and greet at the stadium to encourage people to come along. He originally uploaded a video during may about the new signing Paul Pogba. This video went viral due to the amount of fans who wanted more gossip on the potential signing. He then built a relationship with the club as they have now recently supported his new album 'Gang signs & prayer'
In recent times finding out information of the latest tracks and artists haven't been as necessary as it was back in the day on tv
In recent times finding out information of the latest tracks and artists haven't been as necessary as it was back in the day on tv
Unit 11 Dissertation
TRAP
Does the media' s portrayal of Trap affect the success of UK Trap musicians?
Trap is a worldwide genre with artists from different backgrounds, heritages and upbringings. It brings a different variety of people together and mixes them into one big culture. Although gang violence still occurs on a regular basis, I still believe that this genre has a positive future for musicians.
The Trap genre has often been criticised for encouraging violence and gang culture. This is mainly because of the lyrics and actions used in music videos. Before Trap, artists would usually go against each other in rap battles which often caused tension. In the UK scene right now artists and groups are doing similar things, but are acted on. As bad as it sounds, most people who listen to Trap are usually engaged to the violence and are looking to find the most violent artists.
Sky news worked on the subject last year where they had taken footage from Edmonton rappers and their music videos and used them to almost protest against the acts. The footage showed up to 5 people with weapons before the song had started playing. The chorus then worded "Anything Green Get Bun" which is basically shouting that anyone from the other side will get shot. The Sky reporter told us that "social media is playing an increasing role in gang violence" which is true, but not just in gang violence. In fact Police reports show that social media-related crime reports an increase of 780% in four years. Crime has always occurred to this day and will continue for many years to come, as social media becomes more powerful, it becomes easier to blame the younger generation, especially if you voice it to an audience, which most musicians do in Trap.
(KAII TV, 2016)
Although some groups are creating this style of music to boost their reputation on the street, some artists have become successful coming off the streets doing Trap. The way most artists become successful is if somebody famous notices one of their tracks. For example, Rita Ora originally liked a Section Boys track and danced to it online. This brought all kinds of attention to the group's music. Section boys then went on to make a track with Chris Brown, which obviously brought them a lot of new fans from the UK and US. When rappers decide to make more mainstream music, it just becomes brand management and how you can promote your music. Another rapper who has recently blown up (who in fact attended a college with most of my friends) is Santan Dave. He was our age, creating music that we liked, which helped him gain a local following. The way he blew up was actually quite random. Millionaire artist Drake has recently been involved in some of the UK scene, as he "fell in love with the UK sound", by listening to Grime artist Skepta and BBK. He even got a tattoo on his right shoulder saying 'BBK' and this brought a lot more people to investigate the UK music scene. Drake heard one of Dave's songs 'Wanna Know'(Santan Dave, 2016) and remixed it at his studio. When this released, the UK went mad hearing the track. This showed Dave a different side to music industry, as he was offered promotions, signed with Nike and had him travelling on some of Drake tours around the world.
Music, just as an art, takes teenagers off the roads and gives them another road to choose for their future.(Drake, 2016) Local rappers from Camden NDubz started off with underground rap locally, but added melodies to the mix and got recognized instantly by gaining world wide tours, TV shows and nearly winning CBB. There's an endless amount of potential to become successful in the music industry with Trap. It's a worldwide genre that is vastly increasing in size of its following. Artists are looked at differently and are especially judged by their characters, as well as music with Trap, these are artists from Germany who create similar music, but have a different feel to the UK.
(IMMER READY, 2016)
The Trap music in Germany is an amazing style that is similar to the UK and US, but has its own grab. The instrumentals are are almost exact to US type beats, for example they use the same sample packs from Lex Lugar. This is mainly the snare drums instead of 808's. It's very hard to tell 808's apart. In this track the artist Morten was singing in the track which is more of an American style from artists like Future, Kodak and others. Saying it is more American Trap to UK doesn't change the genre feel. It still involves key aspects including the visuals, which were really well done from my point of view. There was a lady who was masked up and grinding down weed. This is more of a US style because of the work put into it. UK artists have recently been putting a lot more into visuals, but aren't this style.
(16BARS.TV, 2016)
My second choice of German Trap was called Balkon (balcony) by Jumpa ft Chima Ede. This track was a lot more like UK Trap. This was every aspect, from vocals to visuals. The visuals have a group of men on a balcony and in the middle of an alley. The effects used on the video made it all a bit grey and white. That could be another reason why it had a UK feel, they showed us some of the UK weather! The track had the foreign Trap feel though, with the acoustic stringed instrument with effects on it. The vocals were rapped and had a faster flow, until the chorus which was slowed down and had a melody over the top. This track was similar to an old school 67 style, one of the more successful groups.
(Link Up TV | Music, 2017)
This track's by the group 67. They are well known musicians who are taking off in the UK Trap scene. These two tracks (Balcon & Waps) are very similar when it comes to music, but the video creates a gritty atmosphere, which is a typical for UK Trap and gives the whole track a different feel. Although 67 are a music group and have sworn to be dedicated to music alone, they struggle to tour, as 'Feds keep shutting down shows' (the Police stop them from performing) because some are on music bans, or linked to individual crimes.
Artists like Skepta and Stormzy have very recently blown up from bringing out albums and individual tracks which have almost branched out to a higher end and wealthier group of artists.
(BBC Music, 2016) Since Skepta won the Mercury award over David Bowie, there has been a lot more talk about UK artists, in the papers, musicians and the public, who are being encouraged to embrace UK Trap. This recent move has shown the audience another side to the UK scene. The speech he gave on creating his album showed the audience that he really is doing this for the music and the success, which is a point many artists have tried to get across but failed. Stormzy is another artist who has been persistently working to become a successful musician. He recently performed at the BRITS with Ed Sheeren in front of a pretty well known audience! The two performed brilliantly as they mixed both genres into an incredible act. Social media enjoyed the funny moments between Stormzy and the actor Bradley Walsh. He was almost giddy as Stormzy approached him and congratulated him on his success. The two then took a picture after the awards and performance. Small gestures like this can give someone an entirely different perspective on the person and his background. Also performing that night was Skepta from BBK who had a lot of controversy to his name after performing. He performed his most recognised song 'Shutdown' to the thousands in the audience, only for some of the words to be muted because they weren't allowed to be said, although the presenter had sworn several times during the show. A minor act like this is almost used as a metaphor to show how UK rap is observed. As bad as the media are, with stories of this type, on the youth in the UK it can be helpful in some ways to artists like this. Being looked at as an underdog gives people more of a reason for them to do well, For instance, if Skepta was an average American hip hop rapper and won something as great as the Mercury Award, it would have been an amazing achievement, but because of his background, style of music and raw passion for the scene it makes it that little bit better.
Although the media are very persuasive and can change people's opinions on certain subjects, for instance Trap music, they aren't the only ones who control the internet platform. In March 2016 UK rapper Nines posted a video of himself with North London rapper CBiz's chain and watch.
(UKG Music, 2016) This video went viral and created a huge amount of tension between the two. People were locked on to see how CBiz and ER (CBiz's group) would react. As the viral spread across the UK and US it caught the eye of bloggers and reporters. In the same week an innocent civilian was shot in the head in Harlesden (Nines's area) and was killed. The immediate response, which flooded the internet, was that CBiz had committed the crime with one of his friends. Because of the coincidental circumstances, the Police had arrested CBiz because of the the way the internet had reacted. After many trials and court appearances there was not enough evidence to prove that CBiz was the murderer. This shows that, although the media have a huge impact on what people think, social media has the same amount of power, if not more.
My conclusion is that Trap is a genre that is easy to criticise because of the dark and gritty affect it lays out for an audience to see. It's being brought up by the youth of the UK and is almost becoming an accepted genre, as it is slowly, but gradually, building different types of following and is winning awards whilst doing that. The media doesn't cover the genre too much when it comes to success, but has a headline of 'London Rapper Showkey stabbed to death'. They are quick to pick up on faults, but are slow to recognise positives. If the media were to cover more on the genre and the success it can come with, there would be less artists writing about killings and gang violence (as that's the only part you'll see). It's almost easier to get fame through taking one's life than to earn it by selling a record amount of albums. The success of UK Trap can be easily gained because of the humbleness of the culture and could become a major genre if it was appreciated more by the media.
Bibliography
16BARS.TV (2016) Jumpa feat. Chima Ede - Balkon (16BARS.TV PREMIERE). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLjdmjLBFZsc_4Sc7RAdKJJvqh_2CLFf3N&v=HT4xaZakYZI (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
BBC Music (2016) Skepta wins the 2016 mercury prize. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If7Xa-OX7No (Accessed: 23 February 2017).
Drake (2016) Wanna know ft. Drake - Dave (official audio). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbZ0OXmXw38 (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
IMMER READY (2016) Morten x abermillion (prod. By morten) (official 4k video). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLjdmjLBFZsc_4Sc7RAdKJJvqh_2CLFf3N&v=4dr7z6iME4c (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
KAII TV (2016) A1FromThe9 (Edmonton) and Poky (AP) were on sky news (8/5/16). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Swu_6f2omQ (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
Link Up TV | Music (2017) 67 (monkey x Dimzy x LD) - #WAPS (prod by Carns hill) [Music Video] @Official6ix7 | link up TV. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPI7VNsN2K0 (Accessed: 23 February 2017).
Santan Dave (2016) Dave - wanna know. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2H0mXC2Wbs (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
UKG Music (2016) Rapper NINES robs C BIZ’s chain and watch. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jVbSOVRybo (Accessed: 23 February 2017).
Will CT (2017) ED SHEERAN feat. STORMZY - shape of you - live at the BRIT awards 2017. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kUCKEJvTGI (Accessed: 23 February 2017).
Citations, Quotes & Annotations
16BARS.TV (2016) Jumpa feat. Chima Ede - Balkon (16BARS.TV PREMIERE). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLjdmjLBFZsc_4Sc7RAdKJJvqh_2CLFf3N&v=HT4xaZakYZI (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
(16BARS.TV, 2016)
Does the media' s portrayal of Trap affect the success of UK Trap musicians?
Trap is a worldwide genre with artists from different backgrounds, heritages and upbringings. It brings a different variety of people together and mixes them into one big culture. Although gang violence still occurs on a regular basis, I still believe that this genre has a positive future for musicians.
The Trap genre has often been criticised for encouraging violence and gang culture. This is mainly because of the lyrics and actions used in music videos. Before Trap, artists would usually go against each other in rap battles which often caused tension. In the UK scene right now artists and groups are doing similar things, but are acted on. As bad as it sounds, most people who listen to Trap are usually engaged to the violence and are looking to find the most violent artists.
Sky news worked on the subject last year where they had taken footage from Edmonton rappers and their music videos and used them to almost protest against the acts. The footage showed up to 5 people with weapons before the song had started playing. The chorus then worded "Anything Green Get Bun" which is basically shouting that anyone from the other side will get shot. The Sky reporter told us that "social media is playing an increasing role in gang violence" which is true, but not just in gang violence. In fact Police reports show that social media-related crime reports an increase of 780% in four years. Crime has always occurred to this day and will continue for many years to come, as social media becomes more powerful, it becomes easier to blame the younger generation, especially if you voice it to an audience, which most musicians do in Trap.
(KAII TV, 2016)
Although some groups are creating this style of music to boost their reputation on the street, some artists have become successful coming off the streets doing Trap. The way most artists become successful is if somebody famous notices one of their tracks. For example, Rita Ora originally liked a Section Boys track and danced to it online. This brought all kinds of attention to the group's music. Section boys then went on to make a track with Chris Brown, which obviously brought them a lot of new fans from the UK and US. When rappers decide to make more mainstream music, it just becomes brand management and how you can promote your music. Another rapper who has recently blown up (who in fact attended a college with most of my friends) is Santan Dave. He was our age, creating music that we liked, which helped him gain a local following. The way he blew up was actually quite random. Millionaire artist Drake has recently been involved in some of the UK scene, as he "fell in love with the UK sound", by listening to Grime artist Skepta and BBK. He even got a tattoo on his right shoulder saying 'BBK' and this brought a lot more people to investigate the UK music scene. Drake heard one of Dave's songs 'Wanna Know'(Santan Dave, 2016) and remixed it at his studio. When this released, the UK went mad hearing the track. This showed Dave a different side to music industry, as he was offered promotions, signed with Nike and had him travelling on some of Drake tours around the world.
Music, just as an art, takes teenagers off the roads and gives them another road to choose for their future.(Drake, 2016) Local rappers from Camden NDubz started off with underground rap locally, but added melodies to the mix and got recognized instantly by gaining world wide tours, TV shows and nearly winning CBB. There's an endless amount of potential to become successful in the music industry with Trap. It's a worldwide genre that is vastly increasing in size of its following. Artists are looked at differently and are especially judged by their characters, as well as music with Trap, these are artists from Germany who create similar music, but have a different feel to the UK.
(IMMER READY, 2016)
The Trap music in Germany is an amazing style that is similar to the UK and US, but has its own grab. The instrumentals are are almost exact to US type beats, for example they use the same sample packs from Lex Lugar. This is mainly the snare drums instead of 808's. It's very hard to tell 808's apart. In this track the artist Morten was singing in the track which is more of an American style from artists like Future, Kodak and others. Saying it is more American Trap to UK doesn't change the genre feel. It still involves key aspects including the visuals, which were really well done from my point of view. There was a lady who was masked up and grinding down weed. This is more of a US style because of the work put into it. UK artists have recently been putting a lot more into visuals, but aren't this style.
(16BARS.TV, 2016)
My second choice of German Trap was called Balkon (balcony) by Jumpa ft Chima Ede. This track was a lot more like UK Trap. This was every aspect, from vocals to visuals. The visuals have a group of men on a balcony and in the middle of an alley. The effects used on the video made it all a bit grey and white. That could be another reason why it had a UK feel, they showed us some of the UK weather! The track had the foreign Trap feel though, with the acoustic stringed instrument with effects on it. The vocals were rapped and had a faster flow, until the chorus which was slowed down and had a melody over the top. This track was similar to an old school 67 style, one of the more successful groups.
(Link Up TV | Music, 2017)
This track's by the group 67. They are well known musicians who are taking off in the UK Trap scene. These two tracks (Balcon & Waps) are very similar when it comes to music, but the video creates a gritty atmosphere, which is a typical for UK Trap and gives the whole track a different feel. Although 67 are a music group and have sworn to be dedicated to music alone, they struggle to tour, as 'Feds keep shutting down shows' (the Police stop them from performing) because some are on music bans, or linked to individual crimes.
Artists like Skepta and Stormzy have very recently blown up from bringing out albums and individual tracks which have almost branched out to a higher end and wealthier group of artists.
(BBC Music, 2016) Since Skepta won the Mercury award over David Bowie, there has been a lot more talk about UK artists, in the papers, musicians and the public, who are being encouraged to embrace UK Trap. This recent move has shown the audience another side to the UK scene. The speech he gave on creating his album showed the audience that he really is doing this for the music and the success, which is a point many artists have tried to get across but failed. Stormzy is another artist who has been persistently working to become a successful musician. He recently performed at the BRITS with Ed Sheeren in front of a pretty well known audience! The two performed brilliantly as they mixed both genres into an incredible act. Social media enjoyed the funny moments between Stormzy and the actor Bradley Walsh. He was almost giddy as Stormzy approached him and congratulated him on his success. The two then took a picture after the awards and performance. Small gestures like this can give someone an entirely different perspective on the person and his background. Also performing that night was Skepta from BBK who had a lot of controversy to his name after performing. He performed his most recognised song 'Shutdown' to the thousands in the audience, only for some of the words to be muted because they weren't allowed to be said, although the presenter had sworn several times during the show. A minor act like this is almost used as a metaphor to show how UK rap is observed. As bad as the media are, with stories of this type, on the youth in the UK it can be helpful in some ways to artists like this. Being looked at as an underdog gives people more of a reason for them to do well, For instance, if Skepta was an average American hip hop rapper and won something as great as the Mercury Award, it would have been an amazing achievement, but because of his background, style of music and raw passion for the scene it makes it that little bit better.
Although the media are very persuasive and can change people's opinions on certain subjects, for instance Trap music, they aren't the only ones who control the internet platform. In March 2016 UK rapper Nines posted a video of himself with North London rapper CBiz's chain and watch.
(UKG Music, 2016) This video went viral and created a huge amount of tension between the two. People were locked on to see how CBiz and ER (CBiz's group) would react. As the viral spread across the UK and US it caught the eye of bloggers and reporters. In the same week an innocent civilian was shot in the head in Harlesden (Nines's area) and was killed. The immediate response, which flooded the internet, was that CBiz had committed the crime with one of his friends. Because of the coincidental circumstances, the Police had arrested CBiz because of the the way the internet had reacted. After many trials and court appearances there was not enough evidence to prove that CBiz was the murderer. This shows that, although the media have a huge impact on what people think, social media has the same amount of power, if not more.
My conclusion is that Trap is a genre that is easy to criticise because of the dark and gritty affect it lays out for an audience to see. It's being brought up by the youth of the UK and is almost becoming an accepted genre, as it is slowly, but gradually, building different types of following and is winning awards whilst doing that. The media doesn't cover the genre too much when it comes to success, but has a headline of 'London Rapper Showkey stabbed to death'. They are quick to pick up on faults, but are slow to recognise positives. If the media were to cover more on the genre and the success it can come with, there would be less artists writing about killings and gang violence (as that's the only part you'll see). It's almost easier to get fame through taking one's life than to earn it by selling a record amount of albums. The success of UK Trap can be easily gained because of the humbleness of the culture and could become a major genre if it was appreciated more by the media.
Bibliography
16BARS.TV (2016) Jumpa feat. Chima Ede - Balkon (16BARS.TV PREMIERE). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLjdmjLBFZsc_4Sc7RAdKJJvqh_2CLFf3N&v=HT4xaZakYZI (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
BBC Music (2016) Skepta wins the 2016 mercury prize. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If7Xa-OX7No (Accessed: 23 February 2017).
Drake (2016) Wanna know ft. Drake - Dave (official audio). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbZ0OXmXw38 (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
IMMER READY (2016) Morten x abermillion (prod. By morten) (official 4k video). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLjdmjLBFZsc_4Sc7RAdKJJvqh_2CLFf3N&v=4dr7z6iME4c (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
KAII TV (2016) A1FromThe9 (Edmonton) and Poky (AP) were on sky news (8/5/16). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Swu_6f2omQ (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
Link Up TV | Music (2017) 67 (monkey x Dimzy x LD) - #WAPS (prod by Carns hill) [Music Video] @Official6ix7 | link up TV. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPI7VNsN2K0 (Accessed: 23 February 2017).
Santan Dave (2016) Dave - wanna know. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2H0mXC2Wbs (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
UKG Music (2016) Rapper NINES robs C BIZ’s chain and watch. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jVbSOVRybo (Accessed: 23 February 2017).
Will CT (2017) ED SHEERAN feat. STORMZY - shape of you - live at the BRIT awards 2017. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kUCKEJvTGI (Accessed: 23 February 2017).
Citations, Quotes & Annotations
16BARS.TV (2016) Jumpa feat. Chima Ede - Balkon (16BARS.TV PREMIERE). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLjdmjLBFZsc_4Sc7RAdKJJvqh_2CLFf3N&v=HT4xaZakYZI (Accessed: 2 February 2017).
(16BARS.TV, 2016)
Friday, 9 June 2017
EXP Evaluation
When launching my new website, my intentions were purely to promote. I had two separate websites where I had my music uploaded too, so the links made my Music easily accessed. I believe that my project would fit into the music industry confidently as it's the composition of music and then the promotion of it, which are both as important as each other. A similar website that promotes sampling would be the well known producer 808Razz's website. This page is similar to how I would like my website to build up to, in the sense that although he has his Soundcloud and Youtube promoted, he is also able to be selling samples and drum kit's. The set up was almost identical when it came to the page layout and options setup, although he had pages promoting his drum kit's.
Looking back to my original proposal, I was questioning whether I would become more successful if my music was able to be purchased or if you were able to stream for free. This enabled me to do some research into the topic finding out individual opinions on it. An opinion that stood out to me was the response to the question "Why do people pay for Spotify when they can listen music for free?' A consumer replied "Because Spotify works better, because it has offline support, because it doesn’t have ads, because it supports playing in the background on mobile." This point was something that I agreed on as people want a software that is smooth & easy to play. That's why my conclusion was to connect my music to Soundcloud.
The main thing that I would either change or add onto my website would be somewhere to promote the samples. This would be a separate page where I would have collected every sample I have used, from Vocals to Drum Kit's. I had debated doing so earlier on in the project, but struggled collecting all the samples. This was one of the only major problems I encountered although I would've liked to create one more track with a strings piece I had found, but I didn't have the time to.
The key areas that I had chose to research were articles discussing sampling and finding out which sections of a track are mostly used. The best information as well as inspiration was from Captial Xtra's sampling page. They were able to show me examples of what samples that had been used and where they were found originally. This information encouraged me to find a Vox sample to play with. Originally my idea was to find a Choir group to sample, but every track had some sort of wind percussion or organ playing behind it. I then adapted to a middle eastern vocal to sample. When it came to producing and composing my Research was either found on youtube or I was helped from my tutors. The main information that I had gained was finding out how to change the Bpm of a Sample. This was the first research I had done as it was the first step of my project when producing. I am now confident after repeating the cycle with all tracks. The next practical bit of research was me discovering how to create the perfect 808 from scratch.
The 808 Tutorial was a topic I had struggled on as the one 808 the tutorial had created was close but not perfect to the sound I had pictured. In order to improve the sound I had to actually realise what I was replicating. Phil had taught us in previous lessons how to make use of the ES2 software and had recommended techniques on doing so. I was able to grab him for a second to repeat it.
Presenting
My decision in promoting my work online rather then experimenting with a performance, was to build up a following via social media over it being live. This is so I am able to have a website up and running connecting my social medias, Youtube and Soundcloud accounts to it. I then aspire to be able to promote music of my own and sell samples that I have collected. When creating music I try to keep up with the current trends.As record sales go down and the internet becomes a bigger source of getting your music now. Discovering another website which promotes music and is another way to stream increases the appeal to the modern audience. My target audience fits perfectly to the creation of the website as streaming increases by the day. As Soundcloud, Youtube and other music websites maximise in popularity, linking them to my website would only bring a larger audience.
Controlling my whole project left me a lot of time to divide each section into time slots. This worked well as my Website was complete and my weekly progress reports were all done in time. Although they worked out well I believe i spent to much time researching into Samples. As i collected them up I worked on over ten separately but couldn't find the perfect one to work on. This took a large chunk out of my time collection. Another Idea that had changed from my original plan was to have the music of my colleagues promoted on a separate page of the website. This plan failed as I was unable to collect the music from some of the students, therefore I prioritised the promotion of the music. This had a massive influence on the project as a whole because the music was focussed on the most. I don't regret doing it as I'm more then happy of the final project of the tracks, but It would have helped having more time to work on the Website as well as review.
The main issue i had from the beginning was being able to find some samples online to work with. I tried on numerous occasions to work along side them and they just didn't collaborate well. This was before I was able to discover how to time stretch. This worked extremely well as the samples were timed perfectly, but finding the samples before that was very stressful. I then went on to start my research where i wanted to discover statistics on how much streaming has gone up in the last 10 years. I tried to find this information online so that I can back up my point on the decision to doing everything online rather then live performances. When this was typed in no straight facts were there for me to use, as articles on peoples opinions were the only information that I was able to use.
I was originally contemplating whether or not i should include the website side to my project as the sampling was taking so long. I was then helped with research on the sampling and Phil had helped me mix down one of the tracks in a fraction of the time I would usually take. This gave me enough time to edit on the structure of the website at home.
As a whole, I was impressed with the progressions made in all areas, from the technical skills to the final product. From research I had discovered techniques on how to time shift and set the tempo of a sample to Bpm I am familiar with. That was a huge part of my project as well as the discovery of creating an 808 from scratch. The website has given me a whole other path of stuff to work on. The website can be enhanced to promoting samples to sell as well as other musicians tracks can be uploaded. The music has been successful as I have been able to sell one of the instrumentals on to an artist locally. This could be a promotion to not only my Soundcloud linked, but to my website as well. I have many features to work and expand on as well as gathering key information that will influence me positively when producing.
Thursday, 8 June 2017
Bibliography
Bibliography
Carter, S. and Graham, A. (2017). Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music 2. [Drake – Nothing Was The Same] Cash Money Records.
Farino, K. (2017). Carns Not Mixed. Available at: https://soundcloud.com/user-823087223/carns-not-mixed [Accessed 8 Jun. 2017].
Farino, K. and Robinson, P. (2017). wkc KF Mixing. Available at: https://soundcloud.com/user-823087223/mixingtrack [Accessed 8 Jun. 2017].
Jane Goulding, E. (2017). Don't Say a Word. [Halcyon] Band Aid 30. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJHqN_ND7xI [Accessed 8 Jun. 2017].
Capital XTRA. (2017). The Hip-Hop Songs You Didn't Know Were Samples But Really Should. [online] Available at: http://www.capitalxtra.com/features/lists/famous-hip-hop-samples-loops/ [Accessed 8 Jun. 2017].
Time Stretching in Logic Pro X. (2017). [ADSR Music Production Tutorials] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcWxx3twEXs [Accessed 8 Jun. 2017].
Ebizmba.com. (2017). Top 15 Most Popular Music Websites | May 2017. [online] Available at: http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/music-websites [Accessed 8 Jun. 2017].
Ebizmba.com. (2017). Top 15 Most Popular Music Websites | May 2017. [online] Available at: http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/music-websites [Accessed 8 Jun. 2017].
Literature Review
Literature Review
These are five points of my evaluations of the research that was complete.
http://www.capitalxtra.com/features/lists/famous-hip-hop-samples-loops/
This website was the first bit of research i used in my project. I initially wanted to find out more about samples used and converted into different genres. I got given many different examples and information on the top samples that have been used. The one track that stood out for me was Drake track 'Pound Cake' that used Ellie Goulding's 'Don't say a word' sample. The Capital Extra website included many examples of the top samples. This particular one inspired me to find a vocal that I can cut up and mix.
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-06/entertainment/ca-454_1_pop-music
After discovering how sampling was used, I then had a thought that artists or producers may not like being sampled. This could be a controversial topic, so I did some research on the topic. The verdict from the article I read was that, although critics 'don't deny' the creativity of sampling they don't believe that enough credit is given.
My second base of research was discovering how to time stretch the tempo of the sample, to a BPM I was constable with. The video actually took 5 minutes for the information to start on how to begin. This particular youtube had created previous tutorials which had helped me before so I was confident that I would be able follow the instructions. This tutorial changed me from completely cutting up every little vocal sample to changing the tempo of one specific area.
http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/music-websites
The third source of research was finding out which websites were the most successful when coming down to releasing music and listening to it as well. This area of research was only partly done online as I was also able to create a survey to find out an answer locally. The websites layout was clear and simple with numbers to back up the point statistically. This website favoured Google play and Soundcloud out of my selection. My local survey was finalised as this:
Between the two combined my final answer was to pick Soundcloud over them all.
When looking through my music as a whole, one of the key instruments used on this project was the 808. This was such an important drum because it is the typical sound of Trap. So when adding the different samples from different genres, you need to establish what genre you are transforming the sample into. The 808 tutorial was incredibly helpful as it showed me how to make it from scratch step by step. It originally started of a synth that was then re arranged and EQ'd into an incredibly heavy bass drum. I had a small idea of what worked well and how to create the sub bit of the bass, but his techniques were allot easier to follow. This research was by far one of the most important bits of the project.
Once my tracks were completed I was given and extremely helpful one to one session with Phil. He helped me completely mix one of my final tracks. This session not only helped me when it came mixing the track, but it also has helped me for the future when it comes to what softwares to use and plug ins. For example I was told to use the compressor to squash it and set the range to then turn it up through the output. This gave my mixes a final balance to them and boosted the volume for each one, I tried to replicate the technique used for the other tracks.
These are five points of my evaluations of the research that was complete.
http://www.capitalxtra.com/features/lists/famous-hip-hop-samples-loops/
This website was the first bit of research i used in my project. I initially wanted to find out more about samples used and converted into different genres. I got given many different examples and information on the top samples that have been used. The one track that stood out for me was Drake track 'Pound Cake' that used Ellie Goulding's 'Don't say a word' sample. The Capital Extra website included many examples of the top samples. This particular one inspired me to find a vocal that I can cut up and mix.
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-06/entertainment/ca-454_1_pop-music
After discovering how sampling was used, I then had a thought that artists or producers may not like being sampled. This could be a controversial topic, so I did some research on the topic. The verdict from the article I read was that, although critics 'don't deny' the creativity of sampling they don't believe that enough credit is given.
My second base of research was discovering how to time stretch the tempo of the sample, to a BPM I was constable with. The video actually took 5 minutes for the information to start on how to begin. This particular youtube had created previous tutorials which had helped me before so I was confident that I would be able follow the instructions. This tutorial changed me from completely cutting up every little vocal sample to changing the tempo of one specific area.
http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/music-websites
The third source of research was finding out which websites were the most successful when coming down to releasing music and listening to it as well. This area of research was only partly done online as I was also able to create a survey to find out an answer locally. The websites layout was clear and simple with numbers to back up the point statistically. This website favoured Google play and Soundcloud out of my selection. My local survey was finalised as this:
Between the two combined my final answer was to pick Soundcloud over them all.
When looking through my music as a whole, one of the key instruments used on this project was the 808. This was such an important drum because it is the typical sound of Trap. So when adding the different samples from different genres, you need to establish what genre you are transforming the sample into. The 808 tutorial was incredibly helpful as it showed me how to make it from scratch step by step. It originally started of a synth that was then re arranged and EQ'd into an incredibly heavy bass drum. I had a small idea of what worked well and how to create the sub bit of the bass, but his techniques were allot easier to follow. This research was by far one of the most important bits of the project.
Once my tracks were completed I was given and extremely helpful one to one session with Phil. He helped me completely mix one of my final tracks. This session not only helped me when it came mixing the track, but it also has helped me for the future when it comes to what softwares to use and plug ins. For example I was told to use the compressor to squash it and set the range to then turn it up through the output. This gave my mixes a final balance to them and boosted the volume for each one, I tried to replicate the technique used for the other tracks.
Friday, 2 June 2017
Mid-point Presentation
Final week 8 EXP
This week was very successful for me as I experimented with different applications and was able to create a music video to one of my tracks. I was helped allot by chloe on how to create it and get an understanding on how to edit the music video. Uk producers (especially London based) promote there music on websites like Soundcloud, Spotify and other similar websites made for music, although in recent years more producers have released music on Youtube. This new craze encouraged me to try and promote my work on there.
Here is an example of another UK producer who has done something similar. Releasing music on Youtube is just reaching to another audience who may not use Soundcloud. I also know from personal experience that it is allot more entertaining with a video being played behind it.
I was able to find a video online matching the tempo of the track I had produced. I then downloaded the video to import it into Premiere Pro. This is the video I was able to use and edit so that it would play similar to my track.
The video worked well along side mine as the both were played at 140 bpm. The editing was easier as the beat was so similar. This was my first time working on Premiere Pro and although I feel that the video complimented my track, I believe I could have worked on it allot more affect wise.
With the effects used I changed the lighting to a blue lighting behind the video. I then added my name at the bottom left by importing some text 'Silent Tracks' I was then able to cut up part of the track at 1:30 again so that as the snares and crashes came
out, I set it to a calmer scene where everyone was walking instead of dancing. There wasn't allot edited as it was my first time on the program, but I still had cut up scenes by dragging them. When i create my next video in the future, I will feel confident in adding more affects.
Here is an example of another UK producer who has done something similar. Releasing music on Youtube is just reaching to another audience who may not use Soundcloud. I also know from personal experience that it is allot more entertaining with a video being played behind it.
I was able to find a video online matching the tempo of the track I had produced. I then downloaded the video to import it into Premiere Pro. This is the video I was able to use and edit so that it would play similar to my track.
The video worked well along side mine as the both were played at 140 bpm. The editing was easier as the beat was so similar. This was my first time working on Premiere Pro and although I feel that the video complimented my track, I believe I could have worked on it allot more affect wise.
With the effects used I changed the lighting to a blue lighting behind the video. I then added my name at the bottom left by importing some text 'Silent Tracks' I was then able to cut up part of the track at 1:30 again so that as the snares and crashes came
out, I set it to a calmer scene where everyone was walking instead of dancing. There wasn't allot edited as it was my first time on the program, but I still had cut up scenes by dragging them. When i create my next video in the future, I will feel confident in adding more affects.Week 5 EXP
This week I have been successful in finishing my second track but not being able to mix it.
This track used a Piano sample that i had come across in one of my old tracks from a year ago whilst i was looking for an old drum kit . I then reversed piano and had it cut up into different sections to create a slightly dark riff.
I was then using some of Taylor's drum kits like the snares to pan in and out the ears from left to right with echo. This was done to fill the track out. The echo added more to the drum beat as it repeats with more hits but at a lower volume.
I was then able to complete the rack using effects like low pass filter at the intro as well as adding the fade out at 00:19 which was just cut up and slowed down. My next target is to mix this track with phil in the studio I have booked
This track used a Piano sample that i had come across in one of my old tracks from a year ago whilst i was looking for an old drum kit . I then reversed piano and had it cut up into different sections to create a slightly dark riff.
I then added The same 808 used in the first track to boost the beat although I didn't EQ this one. This was because I wanted it to be powerful. I also changed the length of the 808 so that once it was hit it continue. This allowed me to change the pitch during the note fading out.
I was then using some of Taylor's drum kits like the snares to pan in and out the ears from left to right with echo. This was done to fill the track out. The echo added more to the drum beat as it repeats with more hits but at a lower volume.I was then able to complete the rack using effects like low pass filter at the intro as well as adding the fade out at 00:19 which was just cut up and slowed down. My next target is to mix this track with phil in the studio I have booked
week 4 EXP
This week I was mainly focused on mixing, Research and working on my website.
When fully mixed the first track I had realised that the 808 was to rough and was killing off the vocals when the were played together causing it to distort and fuzz in the beginning of a bar. This 808 that was used was a preset that I had played around with on EX24 on logic. It was a problem as i Have no 808s similar. This caused me to look up online how to create and 808 on another preset.
I had found a very useful 808 tutorial that helped me to make something similar.
When watching the video and creating an 808 whilst doing so, I had played around with the effects to try and give it less on a kick and add more bass towards it. I had also added some distortion to it at one point to give it a slightly gritty sound, but had disagreed minutes after. finally when creating the 808 similar to the one made above, it was still to punchy and had a small clip at the top. I then spent around 30 minutes EQ'ing it so that there was no clip and it combined well with the rest of the track.
I had fully mixed the first track adding a gentle 808 behind the vocals. This ran through the track smoothly but was a big impact when fading in and out.
The next thing that I wanted to do was post this onto my Soundcloud and link it to my actual website which was simply done. I then changed the background from my Soundcloud so that it looked nice and blended with the website.
Once this was all complete I was able to find time to find some samples to begin my 2nd track. I then came across a small piano sample that I was able download.
Next week I would like to have completed my second track and maybe even finish mixing it.
When fully mixed the first track I had realised that the 808 was to rough and was killing off the vocals when the were played together causing it to distort and fuzz in the beginning of a bar. This 808 that was used was a preset that I had played around with on EX24 on logic. It was a problem as i Have no 808s similar. This caused me to look up online how to create and 808 on another preset.
I had found a very useful 808 tutorial that helped me to make something similar.
When watching the video and creating an 808 whilst doing so, I had played around with the effects to try and give it less on a kick and add more bass towards it. I had also added some distortion to it at one point to give it a slightly gritty sound, but had disagreed minutes after. finally when creating the 808 similar to the one made above, it was still to punchy and had a small clip at the top. I then spent around 30 minutes EQ'ing it so that there was no clip and it combined well with the rest of the track.
The next thing that I wanted to do was post this onto my Soundcloud and link it to my actual website which was simply done. I then changed the background from my Soundcloud so that it looked nice and blended with the website.Once this was all complete I was able to find time to find some samples to begin my 2nd track. I then came across a small piano sample that I was able download.
Next week I would like to have completed my second track and maybe even finish mixing it.
Week 6 EXP
I began the week by booking a studio and getting Phil to teach me how to mix down a track. I preferred to be taught and progress at the same time rather then finding some one online to help who could be mixing a completely different track. So whilst we were mastering I was interviewing him for is opinion on how we could work with it. This week was mainly focused on this track and posting it on the website.
This helped me by setting them all into groups and mastering them using busses to organise them. We then used the compressor to slightly boost it as well as the limiter. This session was the most helpful as I was able to finally post my second track on Soundcloud.
Once I had linked this to my Website I was then aware that there were allot of pages on my blog without enough information. This made me realise that I needed another key feature to be included on my blog. I then though back about how youtube was the second most successful music website locally. So for next week my goal is to post a track on youtube.
Week 1 EXP
This week I've tried to base a plan on what my EXP project will be:
Ive come to conclusion that I'd like to complete 3 tracks all including some sort of samples from Drum kits to loops that i can mess around with. Once these 3 tracks are complete I would like to have created a website to post them on. I'm not to sure what the music platform would be liked to too or even if they are only Wavs.
During the week I have been searching what samples work best with the style of music I am familiar with. I have done some research online and have found some great information on samples. The famous drake track 'Pound Cake' had a beautiful vocal that played through out the track. I then found out using Capital Extra's remix page that it is infact a sample of Ellie Gouldings 'Don't say a word'
This Sample begins 25 seconds into Ellie Goulding's 'Don't say a word' and 36 seconds into Drakes 'Pound cake' The sample is sung once in Ellie Goulding's track and is repeated throughout drakes.
I would like to use a vocal sample at least once because there is so much you can do with it to enhance it or make it your own.
Once i found this out I was eager to find some vocals online to create them into a track of my own.
So I booked the studio from Grant the following week in hope that I will find the perfect vox sample online.
Ive come to conclusion that I'd like to complete 3 tracks all including some sort of samples from Drum kits to loops that i can mess around with. Once these 3 tracks are complete I would like to have created a website to post them on. I'm not to sure what the music platform would be liked to too or even if they are only Wavs.
During the week I have been searching what samples work best with the style of music I am familiar with. I have done some research online and have found some great information on samples. The famous drake track 'Pound Cake' had a beautiful vocal that played through out the track. I then found out using Capital Extra's remix page that it is infact a sample of Ellie Gouldings 'Don't say a word'
This Sample begins 25 seconds into Ellie Goulding's 'Don't say a word' and 36 seconds into Drakes 'Pound cake' The sample is sung once in Ellie Goulding's track and is repeated throughout drakes.
I would like to use a vocal sample at least once because there is so much you can do with it to enhance it or make it your own.
Once i found this out I was eager to find some vocals online to create them into a track of my own.
So I booked the studio from Grant the following week in hope that I will find the perfect vox sample online.
'Pound Cake' samples Ellie Goulding's 'Don't Say A Word'
'Pound Cake' samples Ellie Goulding's 'Don't Say A Word''Pound Cake' samples Ellie Goulding's 'Don't Say A Word'
'Pound Cake' samples Ellie Goulding's 'Don't Say A Word'
Week 3 EXP
Coming into week 3 I was able to find the sample I liked and cut and time shift it into 120 bpm. I was also able to find some bells to play behind the vocals which worked well with the Vox. I had also found another section that could work with my track. I then pulled them both together on separate tracks before i moved it ahead and it had created a really nice harmony that I was not expecting, but will take credit for!The sample itself was fairly easy to edit as I added EQ to kill off the background noise and keep the vocals to how they were. I then added a small amount of reverb to change the sound of it slightly to how it is in the track although it sounded great originally. This was to give it more of my production and leave my mark on it.
My next bit of research was on what platform of music i should link my tracks from the website to. This was done by a survey that was handed around my college.. The 4 websites I asked my Colleagues and friends which were the best to find music were Soundcloud Youtube Google Play and Apple Music. The answers were varied between Soundcloud and Youtube which was mostly expected as I use the same.
To then get a world opinion rather the just my area and friends I searched on the the most successful music websites. Although Soundcloud was fourth, I took my audience that my music would apply to over Google.
My final answer was Soundcloud
By the end of next week I will want to have been able to finally mix my first track and post it on Soundcloud and begin my next track.
To then get a world opinion rather the just my area and friends I searched on the the most successful music websites. Although Soundcloud was fourth, I took my audience that my music would apply to over Google.
My final answer was SoundcloudBy the end of next week I will want to have been able to finally mix my first track and post it on Soundcloud and begin my next track.
Week 2 EXP
This week I was able to begin in creating my website. So far I have created the layout of the page and added the number of pages I think will be suitable for this website. I've chosen 5 as I believe there will be allot of information stored as well as tracks and promotional pages. So far this is the layout I have decided to go with:
Once i had typed this up onto youtube I was able to find a number of useful sources and techniques in how to time stretch. This one was the most useful in my eyes although the intro was very very long! (A tip would be to skip 5 minutes in!)
After working out how to time stretch I was able to drag the Middle Eastern Vocal into Logic and follow the instructions to set it to a 120 Bpm. I learnt some key techniques when watching the time stretching video, for example this was the first time using the Bpm counter.
I had also found a sample earlier that I believe would work really well on a track of mine similar to the Drake vocal sample. It was a Middle Eastern with some strings played behind it. I found parts of the song that I could use that had nothing clashing behind it. There was one problem that I did have was trying to create a beat to the tempo of the vocals so I did have to do some research finding out how to get them to the tempo I would be happy with.
Once i had typed this up onto youtube I was able to find a number of useful sources and techniques in how to time stretch. This one was the most useful in my eyes although the intro was very very long! (A tip would be to skip 5 minutes in!)
After working out how to time stretch I was able to drag the Middle Eastern Vocal into Logic and follow the instructions to set it to a 120 Bpm. I learnt some key techniques when watching the time stretching video, for example this was the first time using the Bpm counter.
Thursday, 25 May 2017
My EXP Tracks
My final tracks have been completed and mastered to the way I have wanted them to sound.
The three tracks that I have uploaded all have similar features in them.
The track- East | Prod by @SilentTracks was my first sampled track. The sample used here was a middle Eastern vocal which I time shifted as well as cut up and edited to the way i wanted it, which is an american styled trap beat. The difference between UK trap and US is that the american style is more melodic and smoother. This is why this track there is less editing and and more instruments layering on top of the track to build it.
One of the keys areas I had to work on was finding out how to time shift the first vocals. Once doing some research on youtube I successfully got it to fit in. The tricky part was combining two vocals together that didn't work at the same bpm. I found out that the second vocal fitted 10 Bpm faster then the first. This took some time but I believed worked well at minute 1:50.
The second track is a style I am familiar with being a UK styled Trap/Drill. This style usually varies with a Bpm around 130-140. The main attribute for a Drill instrumental is the drum pattern. For this particular track I panned the snares to hit your ears from left to right on each beat. Then i added a half echo so that the delay would pan to the middle of both. This is followed by a heavy 808 hitting the first and half of every beat. As well as the drum pattern being a key feature, Uk trap is know for special effects, cut ups and filters used. The original sample that I used is in fact a piano but reversed with reverb added and cut up up a little. This sample repeats throughout the track but slightly changes at some points with pitch shift. This was another topic I had to do some research on. Once looking up how to pitch shift an audio clip, I bounced a particular part of the track at 1:10. This area included an 808, the sampled piano, the snare, high hats and a kick . Once i tried to pitch shift that 3 tones lower the 808 and kick collided with the track slowing it down and pulling it out of time. Once I had done some more research I had decided to not include the 808 or kick.
For my final track I had to decided to create an instrumental to one of the most popular current songs of this genre being K trap-David Blaine. This track had a simple Piano riff which followed the track throughout and a drum beat that panned to either ear with an 808 to back it up. This track was simple but affective.With this track I had sampled the drums finding the snare online and creating an 808 similar. This took quite a while to happen when finding and creating the drums. But when writing the track it became easy as I had the structure laid out in front of me.The hardest bit of composition was either the effects or creating the perfect piano riff to accompany the beat. This way of composing is usually the opposite way round.
The three tracks that I have uploaded all have similar features in them.
The track- East | Prod by @SilentTracks was my first sampled track. The sample used here was a middle Eastern vocal which I time shifted as well as cut up and edited to the way i wanted it, which is an american styled trap beat. The difference between UK trap and US is that the american style is more melodic and smoother. This is why this track there is less editing and and more instruments layering on top of the track to build it.
One of the keys areas I had to work on was finding out how to time shift the first vocals. Once doing some research on youtube I successfully got it to fit in. The tricky part was combining two vocals together that didn't work at the same bpm. I found out that the second vocal fitted 10 Bpm faster then the first. This took some time but I believed worked well at minute 1:50.
The second track is a style I am familiar with being a UK styled Trap/Drill. This style usually varies with a Bpm around 130-140. The main attribute for a Drill instrumental is the drum pattern. For this particular track I panned the snares to hit your ears from left to right on each beat. Then i added a half echo so that the delay would pan to the middle of both. This is followed by a heavy 808 hitting the first and half of every beat. As well as the drum pattern being a key feature, Uk trap is know for special effects, cut ups and filters used. The original sample that I used is in fact a piano but reversed with reverb added and cut up up a little. This sample repeats throughout the track but slightly changes at some points with pitch shift. This was another topic I had to do some research on. Once looking up how to pitch shift an audio clip, I bounced a particular part of the track at 1:10. This area included an 808, the sampled piano, the snare, high hats and a kick . Once i tried to pitch shift that 3 tones lower the 808 and kick collided with the track slowing it down and pulling it out of time. Once I had done some more research I had decided to not include the 808 or kick.
For my final track I had to decided to create an instrumental to one of the most popular current songs of this genre being K trap-David Blaine. This track had a simple Piano riff which followed the track throughout and a drum beat that panned to either ear with an 808 to back it up. This track was simple but affective.With this track I had sampled the drums finding the snare online and creating an 808 similar. This took quite a while to happen when finding and creating the drums. But when writing the track it became easy as I had the structure laid out in front of me.The hardest bit of composition was either the effects or creating the perfect piano riff to accompany the beat. This way of composing is usually the opposite way round.
Saturday, 8 April 2017
MIDI To MAXI Dairy: Week 4
week 4 recording all parts drums keytar bass fro first track
week 5 more recording different studio guitar bass ect
This week was a little of course from what I had imagined last week. I wanted to record the Keytar and Bass in the college studio, but the rooms were mainly booked and when they weren't, they didn't fit Jacks timetable. This was unfortunate as I could have complete one track there and then, but I had to use alternative facilities.
I arranged to visit a studio outside of college in Pecham where I would meet some performers who could help with my track. Earlier that week I had sent them Mp4's of what they would need to play and what techniques they could use to enhance the quality of it.
When i had met up with them they didn't have Logic to record with which was a minor set back. To prevent there being problems I imported the mp4 they had had onto Cubase so they had something to play along with.
We recorded the Electric Bass by leading it up to the breakout box and chose the clean effect to make the melody sound as smooth as possible. We then recorded a few takes then transferred them onto my USB. We did the exact same set up with the bass although we used a different plug in setting to give it a more punchy bottom to it.
Later on that week I had mixed the mp4's onto the Logic project so that it would sound great. We decided to take all the effects off the bass and guitar because sending them over as I thought that it would be easier to mix on Logic (which it was) I was able to add more in-depth EQ's and reverbs on both. I also added some delay and an echo on to the lead Guitar so that it would cover up any silent spots.
MIDI To MAXI Diary: Week 3
This week I was able to record with 3 other colleagues in the studio, getting down the drums for my second track with the help of Josh and recording the grand piano with the help of Tupac pressing the record button! We were fit into a 2 hour recording session where I had three tasks set out for me. To record the Keytar, Drums and Piano. The drums took a little longer to set up as we wanted to experiment with the sounds and microphones used, also the placement of the mics.
We disagreed a few times on placement and I accepted the opinion of Josh as he had recorded the drums on numerous occasions and this was my first. to be fair he did an amazing job when playing.
We used the Audix for the Hi tom and the middle and low part of the drum kit, the D6 for the kick and the Sm57 for the snare.
Allthough i was more then satisfied with the quality of the live sounds, we ran out of time to record the keytar. I knew the drums would take the longest, but I had to priorities them as well as the piano as they had to be done in the studio whilst the keytar could be played in one of the rooms booked.
My next task will have to be booking the studio again, but this time for the Bass and keytar. I will have to arrange that soon.
MIDI To MAXI Diary: Week 2
Week 2
This is the synth riff that I would like to record in my first session, on the keytar that I will borrow from Grant. There are a few layers but when recording it, it should be simple as it is very similar to a usual Midi keyboard so I wont have to get someone to assist me or play for me. I only have a few things to workout before I start.
This week I am gathering ideas on what instruments I would like recorded first. I have booked out one of the studios in college this week to get the Keytar recorded quickly for the deep synth line. This will require minimal plugins as it should simply connect to the breakout box.
Whilst that room is booked I will ask Josh if he is free to put down some drums for my second track. We are most likely to record with the Sm57 and Audix for the drums. these mics will also be useful for putting down the piano for my first track. This session is a 2 hour slot and because of the similar mics used we should have enough time to record a couple takes on each instrument. The piano being played will only require me to record as it is fairly simple. I am likely to record this with the Sm57 directly over the piano, but I will decide on that later. This is to capture the Hi and low frequencies being played.
Friday, 17 March 2017
Career plan Unit 9
My name is Kit Farino and I'm 17 years old and I'm currently studying music production at Westminster Kingsway College. This is my 2nd year and my final one too as I look to adventure on to University. Although I have enjoyed the course this year and last I feel that I would prefer to study something else next year, between Business Law and Marketing and advertisement.
When im not in college studying music i'm either at work or trying to get work experience from law firms to studios. This is also aside work on the weekends. I'm learning new skills everyday at college mid week whether they are when producing or for the life after this course.
When putting my music up on sound cloud I would gain a small following of people who enjoy the tracks that I create and some who comment on them as well. They follow me on Social medias like Snapchat & Instagram and would help towards my final project as I am going to be creating a website to promote my music and the music of others.
For my extended project I am going to be working on creating a website to promote music and media platforms of artists and myself. The tracks that will be featured will be tracks that have at least one sample involved that can be vocals, instruments or a section of the track itself (with permission) This will introduce me into areas of copyright which is a headstart to my future course which will either be music law or marketing and advertisement.
When it come to creating this website I will be focusing on promotions and being able to advertise it. This will come with allot of research in musical websites such as Soundcloud, Itunes and Spotify. As well as this being a task that I feel comfortable on, it eill also help me and give me an insight into what makerting and advertisement will include. This will also help me promote my own music in the future whether it be a small fan base to add on to my many fans! Or the website it self could take off. This will all determine on how much research I do and how much of it works.
Friday, 3 March 2017
My EXP proposal
Proposal
For my final major project, I am going to create a website using the program Wix. On this website I will want to be able to promote mine and others music. The tracks I will be posting will be remixes of songs that either musicians or my class mates have made(with their permission!) The website will consist of 4 or more pages, with a variety of features on each one, from the tracks that have been created to the social medias and sound clouds of the artists used. When creating a website like this, it will involve a lot of research. I have already done allot of research into what musical websites are the most popular and reasons why, what style of genre is the most successful when it comes to remixing and what instruments are mostly sampled. Each week i will keep a diary of my progress whether it's research or me producing.. There are also many questions which i will need to find the answer for like; Is the website more likely to become popular if people were able to download the tracks for free or should they be able to by them to gain some income? Should there be a separate page of the samples I used so that the audience can notice the sounds from scratch? How many tracks should I post on the website and should there be any exclusive ones? These questions will be answered along my journey as I gain a clearer idea of what would be best for me which will come with allot of research. So far my website consists of some fancy font, a dark background and Soundcloud linked just as an example of the layout. At the top there a different pages to choose from being Artists featured, media, about, epk and contact. Most of these were the selection that were given to me by default. Once i have decided what areas are going to be key for me, I will change them to the necessary headings.
When exploring the different genres that combine well with the R&B, Rap and Trap style I will focus on tracks from artists like Jack and Alex as jazz is one of the most sampled genres to switch up the style of a track. This is just from basic knowledge I have on the subject. I have also had experience with sampling vocals, Piano samples and Guitar solos, so I feel confident in using online sources or a classmates work. It will just determine if i stick to a genre I am familiar with or if I try and explore different ones. So my final project is to create a website and promote tracks from myself using samples from colleagues. I will also have separate pages promoting there Soundcloud's and social medias. The research will include different ways of promoting music, different genres that work well. Another way of promoting my music could be through Youtube where other producers release there work. This will have to be thought about in the future as I'll have to learn how to use the software.
Timeline
Week 1Research In samples
Looking for samples
Week 2
Creating the Layout of my Website
Finding samples
Starting my first track
Week 3
Completing a survey on what websites people use the most for music
Progressing on my track
Building information for the website
Week 4
Posting my first track on Soundcloud
Researching Logic techniques
Discovering more samples for my second track
Week 5
Completing my second track
Posting my first track onto the website
Adding social medias onto the website
Week 6
Final mixing of my second track
Posting my second track on Soundcloud
Starting my final track
Week 7
Finishing my final track
Starting to edit my own video for youtube
Week 8
Finish my Music video ad post it
Link all tracks to the website from Soundcloud
Link my music video to Youtube
Week 9
Finalising all website information
Completing all tracks and posting them
Week 10
Finishing all bits on the blog
Completing my evaluation
Finalising everything.
Thursday, 23 February 2017
Unit 11 Dissertation
Trap
Does the media' s portrayal of Trap affect the success of UK musicians who focus on that genre?
Trap is a worldwide genre with artists from different backgrounds, heritages and upbringings. It brings A different variety of people together and mixes them into one big culture. Although gang violence still occurs on a regular basis, I still believe that this genre has a positive future for musicians.
The Trap genre has often been criticised for encouraging violence and gang culture. This is mainly because of the lyrics and actions used in music video's. Before Trap, artists would usually clash in rap battles which often caused tension. In the UK scene right now artists and groups are doing similar things, but are acted on. As bad as it sounds, most people who listen to Trap are usually engaged to the violence and are looking to find the most Savage (violent) artists.
Sky news worked on the subject last year where they had taken footage from Edmonton rappers and their music videos and used them to almost protest against the acts. The footage showed up to 5 people with weapons before the song had started playing. The chorus then worded "Anything Green Get Bun" which is basically shouting that anyone from the other side will get shot. The Sky reporter told us that "social media is playing an increasing role in gang violence" which is true, but not just in gang violence. In fact Police reports show that social media-related crime reports an increase of 780% in four years. Crime has always occurred to this day and will continue for many years to come, as social media becomes more powerful, It becomes easier to blame the younger generation, especially if you voice it to an audience, which most Musicians do in Trap.
(KAII TV, 2016)
Although some groups are creating this style of music to boost their reputation on the street, some artists have become successful coming off the streets doing Trap. The way most artists blow is if somebody famous notices one of their tracks. For example, Rita Ora originally liked a Section Boys track and danced to it online. This brought all kinds of attention to the group's music. Section boys then went on to make a track with Chris Brown, which obviously brought them a lot of new fans from the UK and US. When rappers decide to make more mainstream music, it just becomes brand management and how you can promote your music. Another rapper who has recently blown up (who in fact attended a college with most of my friends) is Santan Dave. He was our age, creating music that we liked, which helped him gain a local following. The way he blew up was actually quite random. Millionaire artist Drake has recently been involved in some of the UK scene, as he "fell in love with the UK sound", by listening to Grime artist Skepta and BBK. He even got a tattoo on his right shoulder saying 'BBK' and this brought a lot more people to investigate the UK music scene. Drake heard one of Dave's songs 'Wanna Know'(Santan Dave, 2016) and remixed it at his studio. When this released, the UK went mad hearing the track. This showed Dave a different side to music industry, as he was offered promotions, signed with Nike and had him travelling on some of Drake tours around the world.
Music, just as an art, takes teenagers off the roads and gives them another road to choose for their future.(Drake, 2016) Local rappers from Camden NDubz started off with underground rap locally, but added melodies to the mix and got recognized instantly by gaining world wide tours, TV shows and nearly winning CBB. There's an endless amount of potential to become successful in the music industry with Trap. It's a worldwide genre that is vastly increasing in size of its following. Artists are looked at differently and are especially judged by their characters, as well as music with Trap, These are artists from Germany who create similar music, but have a different feel to the UK.
(IMMER READY, 2016)
The Trap music in Germany is dumb lit. The beats are are almost exact to US type beats, for example they use the same sample packs from Lex Lugar. This is mainly the snare drums instead of 808's. It's very hard to tell 808's apart. In this track the artist Morten was singing in the track which is more of an American style from artists like Future, Kodak and others. Saying it is more American Trap to UK doesn't change the genre feel. It still involves key aspects including the visuals, which were really well done from my point of view. There was a lady in a Bally breaking down weed. This is more of a US style because of the work put into it. UK artists have recently been putting a lot more into visuals, but aren't this style.
(16BARS.TV, 2016)
My second choice of German Trap was called Balkon (balcony) by Jumpa ft Chima Ede. This track was a lot more like UK Trap. This was every aspect, from vocals to visuals. The visuals have a group of men on a balcony and in the middle of an alley. The effects used on the video made it all a bit grey and white. That could be another reason why it had a UK feel, they showed us some of the UK weather! The track had the Foreign Trap feel though, with the acoustic stringed instrument with effects on it. The vocals were rapped and had a faster flow, until the chorus which was slowed down and had a melody over the top. This track was similar to an old school 67 style, one of the more successful groups.
(Link Up TV | Music, 2017)
This track's by the group 67. They are well known musicians who are taking off in the UK Trap scene. These two tracks (Balcon & Waps) are very similar when it comes to music, but the video creates a gritty atmosphere, which is a typical for UK Trap and gives the whole track a different feel. Although 67 are a music group and have sworn to be dedicated to music alone, they struggle to tour, as 'Feds keep shutting down shows' (the Police stop them from performing) because some are on music bans, or linked to individual crimes.
Artists like Skepta and Stormzy have very recently blown up from bringing out albums and individual tracks which have almost branched out to a higher end and wealthier group of artists.
(BBC Music, 2016) Since Skepta won the Mercury award over David Bowie, there has been a lot more talk about UK artists, in the papers, musicians and the public, who are being encouraged to embrace UK Trap. This recent move has shown the audience another side to the UK scene. The speech he gave on creating his album showed the audience that he really is doing this for the music and the success, which is a point many artists have tried to get across but failed. Stormzy is another artist who has been persistently working to become a successful musician. He recently performed at the BRITS with Ed Sheeren in front of a pretty well known audience! The two performed brilliantly as they mixed both genres into an incredible act. Social media enjoyed the funny moments between Stormzy and the actor Bradley Walsh. He was almost giddy as Stormzy approached him and congratulated him on his success. The two then took a picture after the awards and performance. Small gestures like this can give someone an entirely different perspective on the person and his background. Also performing that night was Skepta from BBK who had a lot of controversy to his name after performing. He performed his most recognised song 'Shutdown' to the thousands in the audience, only for some of the words to be muted because they weren't allowed to be said, although the presenter had sworn several times during the show. A minor act like this is almost used as a metaphor to show how UK rap is observed. As bad as the media are, with stories of this type, on the youth in the UK it can be helpful in some ways to artists like this. Being looked at as an underdog gives people more of a reason for them to do well, For instance, if Skepta was an average American hip hop rapper and won something as great as the Mercury Award, it would have been an amazing achievement, but because of his background, style of music and raw passion for the scene it makes it that little bit better.
Although the media are very persuasive and can change people's opinions on certain subjects, for instance Trap music, they aren't the only ones who control the internet platform. In March 2016 UK rapper Nines posted a video of himself with North London rapper CBiz's chain and watch.
(UKG Music, 2016) This video went viral and created a huge amount of tension between the two. People were locked on to see how CBiz and ER (CBiz's group) would react. As the viral spread across the UK and US it caught the eye of bloggers and reporters. In the same week an innocent civilian was shot in the head in Harlesden (Nines's area) and was killed. The immediate response, which flooded the internet, was that CBiz had committed the crime with one of his friends. Because of the coincidental circumstances, the Police had arrested CBiz because of the the way the internet had reacted. After many trials and court appearances there was not enough evidence to prove that CBiz was the murderer. This shows that, although the media have a huge impact on what people think, social media has the same amount of power, if not more.
My conclusion is that Trap is a genre that is easy to criticise because of the dark and gritty affect it lays out for an audience to see. It's being brought up by the youth of the UK and is almost becoming an accepted genre, as it is slowly, but gradually, building different types of following and is winning awards whilst doing that. The media doesn't cover the genre too much when it comes to success, but has a headline of 'London Rapper Showkey stabbed to death'. They are quick to pick up on faults, but are slow to recognise positives. If the media were to cover more on the genre and the success it can come with, there would be less artists writing about killings and gang violence (as that's the only part you'll see). It's almost easier to get fame through taking one's life than to earn it by selling a record amount of albums. The success of UK Trap can be easily gained because of the humbleness of the culture and could become a major genre if it was appreciated more by the media.
Bibliography
16BARS.TV (2016) Jumpa feat. Chima Ede - Balkon (16BARS.TV PREMIERE). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/
BBC Music (2016) Skepta wins the 2016 mercury prize. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/
Drake (2016) Wanna know ft. Drake - Dave (official audio). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/
IMMER READY (2016) Morten x abermillion (prod. By morten) (official 4k video). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/
KAII TV (2016) A1FromThe9 (Edmonton) and Poky (AP) were on sky news (8/5/16). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/
Link Up TV | Music (2017) 67 (monkey x Dimzy x LD) - #WAPS (prod by Carns hill) [Music Video] @Official6ix7 | link up TV. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/
Santan Dave (2016) Dave - wanna know. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/
UKG Music (2016) Rapper NINES robs C BIZ’s chain and watch. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/
Will CT (2017) ED SHEERAN feat. STORMZY - shape of you - live at the BRIT awards 2017. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/
Citations, Quotes & Annotations
16BARS.TV (2016) Jumpa feat. Chima Ede - Balkon (16BARS.TV PREMIERE). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/
(16BARS.TV, 2016)
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I replied in that the research has changed the ideas of what samples I was going to pick. One of the them being the Drake sample from Ellie Goulding. It also has helped me use effects and editing my tracks. It was also helpful to let me choose what styles of trap i would be producing being American or UK.In what way has your research affected your music?
What problems have you experienced so far?
My first problem is finding enough samples to use as i only can only find a few online that would work with my style. The final track hasn't started yet as i has taken me a long time to find some samples that i can use
What is the next step in your project?