This week we started our work with the collaborative project. Through working with my proposal, me and other co-producers in my group all spoke with one another in an early-stage meeting. The Main topic that was spoken about was the type of sound we are looking for, which was Ambience. We also agreed that we would like to fuse these sounds with aspects of Trap and Hip-Hop, using the same type of bass sounds and drum kits commonly found in Trap production.
Here's an example of the type of tracks we are looking to create: The track's main melodies and chords are ambient, and share the uplifting themes we are looking for. The drums are also a good example of the different types of techniques we would like to use.
https://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/10-tricks-every-trap-producer-should-know-638684
This article on Trap production techniques explains some of the same techniques my group will be using. The tips featured on 808s and drums are a good guideline to go by in order to fully incorporate the Trap aspect into our tracks
UPDATE 2
This week my main progress through my project involved some solo work outside and inside the college. I wanted to meddle around with trying to create some ambient sounds and loops using Logic Pro X's stock sounds.
The use of pad instruments in Ambience is very common and contain dynamics and timbre that can create a good ambient sound. I started to look at some of the pads available to use within Logic and trying out melodies and chords with them. I liked a lot of the airy textures to them and felt they were a good starter in order to get some basis ambience sounds.
While researching into reverb and the effect it has on Ambient Music, I came across a very useful method which can turn any regular sounding instrument into an airy atmospheric pad.
While experimenting with this method, I found it to be useful in giving me more freedom when creating the Ambient sounds I was trying to create. Instead of looking through stock pad instruments that I wasn't really liking, I could source a regular instrument that I did like and turn it my own pad like sound, adjusting the settings accordingly.
UPDATE 3
This week, I expanded my progress with Ambient production using some VSTs known for holding good the ability to create quality Ambient sounds. Omnisphere is a synth VST that has a very big selection of sounds and presets and is used commonly in both Ambient and Trap production
Here is a loop I created using Omnisphere, specifically the 'Airy Piano' preset. Using my music production knowledge and past experience in melody and chord production I was able to create an uplifting melodic sound. I have found this loop to be a good example of the vibe we are trying to create and will continue to create loops like this
Here is a video sharing some tips for creating Ambient melodies and some instruments and presets to use. The creator of the video is also using Omnisphere and shares some of the best Ambient presets within the VST.
UPDATE 4
This week, me along with the others in my group, got down to creating and finalising at least two loops we are going to use within the tracks. We are doing this in preparation for our final sessions where we will create and produce drums and 808s around these loops. This will even out the workload over time, so that we will not be trying to create every aspect of the tracks in only a couple sessions.
In these loops and all Ambient sounds, reverb is used heavily. This article explains how to use reverb when creating Ambience and the effect it has on the sound. To fully master the effect of reverb, I will need to
http://sound-museum.org/how-to-use-reverb-for-ambient-soundscapes/5
UPDATE 5
This week I wanted to create some drum kits for the tracks. As we have finalised the loops, they are gonna need some 808 sounds as well as drums. similar to the loops, my collaborators and I decided that the drums should be made beforehand in preparation for the session.
Using and creating drum kits is something I am already adept in, so the method and technique to doing so is not an issue but I wanted to get some extra info on sourcing these sounds.
PRODUCTION SESSION 1
This week, my peers and I within the group got together to create a beat for the EP. We did this at my bedroom studio and used Logic Pro X to produce the instrumental. We started off by using a loop made by D'Angelo, who made the sample in preparation for the session using his sound-design skills with 'Nexus' plug-in. We liked this one for the airy, ambient vibe to it and the sound featured a good layering of melodies and chords.
After inserting the loop, we wanted to modify the sound and clean up some of the frequencies. We first started with some basic EQ adjustments, using a 'high pass' filter to cut out unnecessary sub/low frequencies and a 'low shelf' filter to clean up some of the muddy high frequencies. This is what the EQ looked like afterwards.We also transposed the sample by 4 semitones, which shifts the key of the sound by the selected amount. by doing this we slightly switched the overall tone of the beat, making it sound darker than the original.
After we established our driving sound, we moved onto placing in some drums and bass sounds. We decided to use my personal selection of drum kits that I had previously made in preparation for the session. We created a drum loop that consisted of some lagging hi-hats, a heavy kick and a punchy snare. This helped establish the trap element of the track
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| SNAPSHOT OF THE DRUM PATTERN WE MADE |
After placing the drums, we then wanted to place an 808 into the tracks. We used a preset I had used for previous projects and placed in a pattern that went with the melody as well as the kick.
THIS WAS THE FINAL PRODUCT
Overall I feel this was a very good start and showed the qualities we were looking for. The sounds we used are of a high standard and we displayed a clear direction of what we are looking to create. Preparing the loops and
However, we weren't impressed with our decision flow as although everything we were doing was relevant to making the track, we felt we spent too much time deciding on the elements and aspects of the sounds being used. For example, there was too much time being spent deciding on the tone of our sample and whether we wanted it to be higher or lower. In terms of improvements for the next session, we will be looking to be swifter with creative decisions and will be looking to make the whole process a lot faster
PRODUCTION SESSION 2
This week my peers and I got to creating the second beat for the EP. The system of pre-preparing the drums and loops helped massively, so we repeated the technique in this session. This is the loop we used
We didn't want to change the sample too much as we already liked the tone and the ambient vibe it had. The only effect we added was some crackle and slight distortion using the 'Abby Road Vinyl Plug-in' which can be used to add vintage like characteristics to your sounds.
After this, we added some drill inspired hi-hats into the tracks as well as a punchy kick. These sounds were extremely similar to the sounds used in the previous tracks, which was done with the purpose to create consistency in sound. We then added an 808 bassline that went well with the sample.
UPDATE 6
This week my peers and I got to work with deciding a name for the EP as well as making a start on some artwork. Thinking of a name was difficult as we all collectively decided it had to be related to the theme of our project, which was Ambience. This took a detailed brainstorming session of researching and thinking to try and get a name. We started to look at other Ambient Album names for inspiration, many of which were unorthodox and somewhat ethereal in nature.
SOME EXAMPLES OF OTHER AMBIENT ALBUMS NAMES AND COVERS
Although we liked the unique sound of these titles, we wanted something that was more punchy and to the point. We also thought that the style of these names would fit better to an ambient album. While our themes and sounds will be ambient, we are looking to create an ambient-trap project so a name that sounds more modern and which would relate to younger people who listen to Ambient-Trap would fit more.
We also took into mind that we wanted our EP to have sounds related to the ambience of outer-space. This idea of a name sounding 'out of this world', reminded me of the use of ancient gods and goddesses names in popular culture. This inspired me to start researching through the names based around Greek Methodology, I found a couple that could match our theme.
1. APOLLO
Olympian god of music, poetry, art, oracles, archery, plague, medicine, sun, light and knowledge.
2. CHAOS
A god who filled the gap between Heaven and Earth and created the first beings Gaia, Tartarus, Uranus, Nyx and Erebos.
3. ASTERIA
In Greek mythology, Asteria or Asterie was the Titan goddess of nocturnal oracles and falling stars
After looking at some of these names, My collaborators and I liked the sound of these names and decided that one of them should be the name of the project.
We decided that although the sound of Apollo was good and catchy, it has been used very frequently in pop culture and wasn't unique enough to stand out. The elements Apollo is the god of also don't really relate to our project enough for it to be a sentimental name
The problems that came up with the name Chaos were the same as Apollo, the name wasn't distinctive enough and sounded too simple for Album name. The idea of Chaos 'filling the gap between heaven and earth' sounded appealing as a relation to our themes, but this we did not see to outweigh the negatives of the nameAsteria was the name that we decided to go with as we all saw it as very unique and sounded special when saying it out loud. The relation between Asteria and falling stars was a good enough link to our project for it to match and the use of the name has been very uncommon in past music.
UPDATE 7
After finalising the name of the project, D'Angelo and I (Collaborator) wanted to make an album cover for the project. While researching and referencing other pieces of artwork related to Ambient albums and tracks, we decided that the style of these covers was too unconventional and that we wanted to create an artwork that related more to the trap aspect of our EP.
We both started to develop a draft image together using Photoshop, starting with the text. We looked at a couple different Trap albums, looking for some inspiration of the type of font we were looking to create. My collaborators and I had to decide whether we were looking for a cover with text and an image or one with just an image. We decided on one with both as to show off our name and make it memorable for the listener
We found a font that we liked and made the text, featuring the name of the EP. We added some faint shadows onto the text as well as mixing some extra shades of purple in order to make it more compelling.
We then went on to add a marble background that we felt created a smooth and simple backdrop. The cracks within the marble we felt looked good with the shading within the text and added character
We then finally added the chain which was simply an aesthetic choice and made the artwork a bit edgier.
This was the Draft product we had created.
UPDATE:
After reviewing the cover we created, we wanted to make some changes for the final product. We decided to add colour and emphasise the blue a bit more. We also decided that the font was too simple, so we added a clipper mask layer to the text which will paste another image over it. In this case, we decided to layer the same marble image over the text which added a lot more character to the words.
This is the final product that we created.
UPDATE 8:
UPDATE 9:
After creating a beat with my peers this week, The block of sounds we had created needed to be arranged into a full track. This was something I had planned to work on personally, so I looked into some different arrangement techniques and advice. Here are the videos I found the most useful in getting some of this help.
From research and previous knowledge of arrangments, I was able to get a grip on how to arrange a Trap song and some of the techniques used to do so. To get started with my group music, I started to arrange the intro to the songs in 3 different ways and then decide collectively which one was best.
1. This set of arrangement follows a stereotypical trap/drill arrangement. The intro is for 16 bars and features the introduction of the 808s and hi-hats within the 8th bar, getting the listener attracted fast but not too sudden. The verse starts as the kick begins to follow the 808 and create a groove for the track
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