Blog#01

If I were to be asked what kind of music producer I am, I would have to say that I see myself as the kind of music producer who creates music for the sake of the enjoyment that I get out of the creating and releasing process. I would definitely say that I am a highly prolific artist that focuses largely on experimental forms of music.

I am mostly familiar with genres and subgenres that are on the more experimental and hardcore side of things (some examples being Speedcore, Splittercore, Extratone, Harsh Noise, Industrial, et cetera.) This being said, I also often experiment with genres that are very different than these, such as Ambient, Drone, Microhouse, Glitch, and many more.

I am the type of music producer that cares about the art, and experimentation above all else. When it comes to this course and my time in this university, what I’m aiming to do is to continue practicing my music production while also being able to learn new production techniques and other pieces of useful information on the general subject of music creation. There are also opportunities that are available at UAL that I would like to take advantage of while I have the chance, a significant example being the chance to collaborate with other students to create something that I would be unable to create on my own. Creating music in a band is a good example.

To completely summarise the kind of musician that I believe I am, I think that I am somebody who is intensely passionate about the subject, genuinely excited to create music, and willing to try a large variety of new things that I may not have tried already, as well as being willing to practice what I have already learned during previous education.

Blog#02

For this blog’s task of analysing a track produced by RZA, I have chosen the track C.R.E.A.M. from first Wu-Tang Clan album.

During the class we looked at some examples of RZA’s production style, we discussed the usage of Kung Fu movie samples and how it relates to intertextuality in music, especially how music can be inspired by other forms of media.

The song that I’ve chosen to look at and discuss in this blog doesn’t utilise these movie samples, so instead I’ll be focusing on samples taken from other songs.

The first thing that I noticed is how some kind of filter-sounding effect is added to the spoken vocals in the introduction of the song, within the first second you can hear how the speech has been edited, I would guess that this has been achieved with EQ. The first word spoken is noticeably high-pitched before quickly reverting to a lower pitch, I think this is an interesting choice, despite how short this part is, it does have a jarring effect, which can grab a listeners attention immediately.

The spoken vocals continue and are accompanied by a quietened sample in the background, when the vocals come to an end, the sample comes forward, increasing in volume, indicating that the introduction has come to an end.

Two songs are sampled throughout the track, the main sample which makes up the instrumental of the song is from the song As Long As I’ve Got You by the Charmels, from 1967. Then there’s the second sampled song called Hey! Love by the Delfonics, from 1972.

These samples have been edited by RZA, who has changed the feel of the music by doing things such as changing the frequency and utilising some time stretching.

There were a couple of vocal elements that stood out to me, such as a couple of times throughout the song where RZA uses ‘echoed’ vocals. One example is at around 1:19, where a word is repeated at a lower volume, with reverb added to it in order to create an echoing effect. This effect is then repeated at around 3:00, where two words are repeated in a similar away, but this time at a higher volume and with more noticeable reverb.

One more thing I noticed about the vocals is that towards the end of the song there is a consistent usage of background vocals which pan from left to right.

There is also a part where multiple sources of vocals are introduced into the song briefly, creating a more cluttered and busy atmosphere, but this only lasts for a short amount of time, the song slowly coming to a end soon after.

While this song doesn’t utilise movie samples, it does still have influences from other music, so the concept of intertextuality still applies to this song. One could argue that it is incredibly important to the creation of this song that the sampled songs already existed, and that those song would have also been influenced by other sources of media.

Sources for Blog#02:

Tracklib. (2023). Sample Breakdown: Wu-Tang Clan – C.R.E.A.M.. [Online]. YouTube. Last Updated: 19 August 2023. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrZr_Ww0g1o [Accessed 13 October 2024].

Multiple. (2006). As Long As I’ve Got You / Baby Come Get Me. [Online]. Rate Your Music. Last Updated: 30 January 2015. Available at: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/the-charmels/as-long-as-ive-got-you-baby-come-get-it/ [Accessed 13 October 2024].

Multiple. (2005). Tell Me This Is a Dream. [Online]. Rate Your Music. Last Updated: 19 April 2024. Available at: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-delfonics/tell-me-this-is-a-dream/ [Accessed 13 October 2024].

Blog#03

This week I was instructed to explore a new music production style inspired and informed by the work of RZA, mostly focusing on attempting RZA’s style of sampling, both digitally and with older hardware.

My first step in this process was to take a sample from an older song that could only be one second long, I chose a short section from the track Give Me the Night by George Benson (1980). I took this short sample and used time stretching to create an experimental and eerie atmosphere that would become the core idea of my track.

While the examples of RZA’s production that I’ve seen focus more on the Soul side of music, I decided to move in a slightly different direction for my second sample, deciding to take a couple of samples from the Blues Rock song Doncha Bother Me by The Rolling Stones (1966). I took some drums from this to make add to the atmosphere of the track’s intro, then adding some quietened guitars which I had altered with Phase Distortion.

For my third sample I decided to once again take inspiration from RZA’s process, while changing it up a little to make it feel like it fit me more. Instead of sampling a kung fu movie, I decided go take some sound effects and a small dialogue sample from the horror movie Alien (1979), something from another genre of film, but still classic. I used some distortion to alter the sample, and put it in the background of the track.

My last sample comes from a very similar place to RZA’s influences. I found a Progressive Soul song called Walk On By from the artist Isaac Hayes (1969). I altered the sample with some EQ, boosting the low end and cutting off some of the high end. The next thing I did was add some Phase Distortion, then I found a good section to loop and repeated it for the remained of the track, ending it with some automation to make the sample fade out.

What I have produced here is a strange Experimental/Avant-Garde mixture of Hip Hop, Industrial, Ambient, Soul, and Noise elements. I would describe my track as somewhat unusual and eerie at first, but as the track progresses and the main section kicks in, the experimental sounds and more traditional melodies merge together to create and interesting and enjoyable track.

This way of producing certainly has a lot of potential and can offer producers many things, even in modern times. The limitations of the hardware method especially create a situation in which the producer must be creative in order to make something interesting, sometimes it can be a good thing not to be able to do anything, creativity can often come from being limited.

In terms of myself, I’m not the kind of producer that would be interesting in using these techniques very often, but it was still an interesting process to attempt, and I enjoyed putting my track together.

Sources for Blog#03:

George Benson. (2017). Give Me the Night. [Online]. YouTube. Last Updated: 24 March 2017. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omnpu8mzX4c [Accessed 20 October 2024].

The Rolling Stones. (2018). Doncha Bother Me. [Online]. YouTube. Last Updated: 30 November 2018. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrfh6tY0M0c [Accessed 20 October 2024].

Movies and Popcorn. (2024). Alien (1979) Where is earth – Mother Scene Movie Clip Upscale 4k UHD HDR Sigourney Weaver. [Online]. YouTube. Last Updated: 19 May 2024. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxyY6GlYvOk [Accessed 20 October 2024].

Stax Records. (2015). Isaac Hayes – Walk On By. [Online]. YouTube. Last Updated: 25 March 2015. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFdR2LLM3bY [Accessed 20 October 2024].

Blog#04

For this blog I am analysing a track by Moor Mother, I chose the track The Blues Remembers Everything the Country Forgot from the 2020 album Brass created in collaboration with billy woods.

During the class we looked at examples of Moor Mother’s style of music, we discussed the usage of political messages and the meanings behind them. We also discussed her general style and influences by reading interviews.

The track I have chosen for this blog explores genres like abstract/experimental hip hop, and East Coast hip hop; the album in general also utilises elements of styles like jazz rap, conscious/political hip hop, and jazz poetry.

The track starts with a brief section in the first couple of seconds which appears to be inspired by traditional African music, which certainly fits Moor Mother’s style as she is inspired by African history and heritage. This small section then transitions into a more modern hip hop beat.

The intro vocals are by Wolf Weston, the featured artist on this track, who delivers some lyrics about dreams and memories. There are also some harmonised vocals that begin during this section and continue throughout the song. I also noticed that some of the percussive elements in the background of the instrumental for this track have a kind of ‘crackling’ sound to them, most likely achieved through the alteration of high frequencies with EQ and other effects.

The first section from the beginning of the track makes a return, now accompanied by some vocals playing over the top of it. After this, the first verse begins with vocals by Moor Mother herself. The first line is actually the title of the track itself, which is a somewhat abstract and metaphorical way of describing the genre blues and what it represents to Moor Mother.

The idea presented by this song is that the blues was historically created as a way for African Americans to talk about, and document the poor treatment that they had faced. What this lyric is saying is essentially that because the blues acts as sort of a documentation about the dark history of race relations in the United States, it can ‘remember’ what a lot of people today are not aware of, this being the meaning behind the second part of the line “everything the country forgot”.

Another lyric that stood out to me was the line “Lynch swingin’ on the block”, which is a reference to the actor, singer-songwriter, and entertainer Kenny Lynch, as well as his 1978 album Singin’ and Swingin’.

After the first verse concludes the section from the beginning of the song returns again, but this time transitions into the next verse with an EQ effect that removes some of the higher frequencies.

The second verse is delivered by billy woods, and something that I felt was worth mentioning is that for a brief moment the main drums are removed from the hip hop beat in order to alter the atmosphere of the track before quickly bringing them back into the mix.

The song ends with a spoken word section which talks about industry, technology, risk, mitigation, insurance and blackness. Which certainly makes for a memorable outro which connects well with the rest of the song and its lyrical content.

Sources for Blog#04:

billy woods. (2024). The Blues Remembers Everything the Country Forgot. [Online]. YouTube. Last Updated: 6 August 2024. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl7ETXNO86Q [Accessed 31 October 2024].

Multiple. (2020). Brass. [Online]. Rate Your Music. Last Updated: 11 December 2020. Available at: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/moor-mother-billy-woods/brass/ [Accessed 31 October 2024].

Multiple. (2020). The Blues Remembers Everything the Country Forgot Lyrics. [Online]. Genius. Last Updated: 11 December 2020. Available at: https://genius.com/Moor-mother-and-billy-woods-the-blues-remembers-everything-the-country-forgot-lyr [Accessed 31 October 2024].

Multiple. (Unknown). Kenny Lynch. [Online]. IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0528375/ [Accessed 31 October 2024].

Multiple. (2023). Singin’ and Swingin’. [Online]. Rate Your Music. Last Updated: 5 March 2023. Available at: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/kenny-lynch/singin-and-swingin/ [Accessed 31 October 2024].

Blog#05

This week I was instructed to collaborate with another student to create a track inspired and informed by the work of Moor Mother, mostly focusing on Moor Mother’s style of evolving rhythms and usage of political samples.

For this assignment I had the task of creating drums for the track, while the individual I was working with handled the non-percussive elements as well as the political samples. The first step in my process was creating a Logic Pro X file and selecting a tempo as well as a time signature, after some discussion we decided upon a tempo of seventy-eight BPM and a time signature of 9/32.

Next came the process of creating the drums, for this project I chose an electronic drum kit called Advanced Machines, I changed the EQ, added overdrive, bitcrusher, and distortion. I then began creating a base for my drums, starting with kick and toms which would create a more stable section for the drums. After introducing this section of drums I then added in some snare and ride, the most significant aspect of this new addition was that every time the drum beat looped I would make it so the snare and ride would change pattern.

The next section of the drums has the beat repeat again but this time at a stretched out tempo, this being achieved by stretching the MIDI sections to double the original length. I then took the drums and duplicated them, adjusting the various effects I had applied to create a second version of the electronic drum kit with a distinct sound. Next the drum beat from before returns again, this time being played by the new version of the drum kit, before switching to a new MIDI section which only utilises the kick, clap, snare, low tom, and hi-hats. This new pattern then repeats before the first version of the drums is reintroduced as they both play the same pattern simultaneously.

After a small amount of repetition, the second drums begin playing a fully improvised section whilst the first drums continue repeating the beat from earlier, with a slightly time stretched version of it being used every few bars. Once this section of the drums conclude I introduced a third drum kit, yet again taking the drums and editing the effects to gain a new sound, this third drum kit plays its own improvised section while the other two repeat the previous section at the same time. After that, the first drum beat from the beginning of the track is reintroduced and played a couple of times before the track comes to an end.

After I was finished creating the drums, and the other student was finished with his portion of the track, we put them together to make the full track. This way of working was certainly interesting, it isn’t something I’ve done many times before, and it’s fun to experiment with new ideas inspired by other artists. Moor Mother’s style of constant evolution and experimental song structure can certainly make for a good source of inspiration, and lead to increased creativity for some artists.

Blog#06

For this blog I am analysing a song by Rashad Becker, I chose the track Dances II from the 2020 album Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. I.

During the class we looked at examples of Rashad’s style of music, we discussed the usage of experimental sounds and the effects, as well as how he uses them to create a strange and interesting soundscape. We also signification and how it relates to Rashad’s music, specifically how signification can be used to describe the kinds of sounds used in his music.

The track I have chosen for this blog explores genres like electroacoustic, electronic, noise, ambient, and ritual ambient; the album in general is also very experimental and even avant-garde in nature.

The track starts with a sudden and captivating sound that appears to be utilising automated oscillation as well as some light panning from right to left, and an adjusting frequency which causes the pitch to rise quickly, which immediately sets some expectations for Rashad’s style of music. The track then continues, playing a similar sound as well as a second layer of glitchy noise at the same time, creating a cluttered and clashing environment which will continue evolving throughout the duration of the track.

The intro vocals are by Wolf Weston, the featured artist on this track, who delivers some lyrics about dreams and memories. There are also some harmonised vocals that begin during this section and continue throughout the song. I also noticed that some of the percussive elements in the background of the instrumental for this track have a kind of ‘crackling’ sound to them, most likely achieved through the alteration of high frequencies with EQ and other effects.

Then a third, more melodic sounding noise is added into the mix, utilising high frequencies in order to create a less percussive sounding element that has a sort of futuristic feeling to it. These pulses of sound continue, and although the starting point of each element remains rather consistent, the end point of each layer differs, making for an improvisational and swing style of atmosphere for the song.

One sound that stood out to me at this point was something that resembled some kind of bell to me, letting out the occasional ringing noise that has a very atmospheric feel to it. As the track continues, Rashad makes the timings of each sound slowly change and evolve, causing the pulse-like nature of the track to morph over time until the layers of sound gradually begin to feel more like a continuous collection of random sounds playing at random times, and yet despite the random nature of it all, this track still feels organised and purposeful.

The track continues for a while longer, the sounds continuing to vary more and more as it goes along, escalating in variety and randomness. As it comes to its conclusion the patterns are almost unrecognisable, then everything cuts out, and the listener is left with silence for the last few seconds.

Sources for Blog#06:

Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. I (2013) Available at: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/rashad-becker/traditional-music-of-notional-species-vol-i/ (Accessed: 14 November 2024).

Rashad Becker (2013) ‘Dances II’, Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. I. Available at: YouTube Music (Accessed: 14 November 2024).

Blog#07

This week I was tasked with the objective to work with similar technology to Rashad Becker to create sounds similar to the ones he would use in his style, as well as to work with another student to develop sounds, using teamwork and inspiration from Rashad Becker to form the sounds.

The first thing I did during the class was follow instructions in order to learn the basics of VCV Rack, the software that we were using for this small project. I was able to follow the instructions without too many difficulties, and I was also able to add in an extra element to the sounds that I was generating; specifically I added some noise to the initial attempt at sound generation, allowing me to mix in the noise with the MIDI controlled synth that I had made.

What I had done was combine multiple kinds of sounds together (sine, triangle, square, and noise), I then took the created sound, edited its properties (attack, decay, release, gain, et cetera), and connected this to MIDI so that I could control when the sound played by using the provided MIDI keyboard.

During this class we were also instructed to download some modules from the library as opposed to only utilising modules found in the VCV Rack software by default. In my attempt I was able to find a couple of different modules that seemed interesting to me, although I did run into some confusion when it came to the various different types of modules and what they were used for.

Eventually I did download some modules that I thought would be useful for me, and I was able to add these to my project in order to alter my sound, and make it a little more interesting.

Another part of the class included an introduction to a randomisation system involving a form of timer module, which allowed the sounds to be controlled and altered automatically at different speeds and with various timings. This technology seemed interesting to me, however I found it a little difficult to follow along with, and therefore I didn’t learn this part of the class as well as I would have liked to.

Once the independent section of the class had come to an end, I was then put into a pair with another student, where were spent a good amount of time attempting to create a new sound that combined our ideas and styles together, as well as the inspiration from Rashad Becker, of course.

The results could have been developed further given more time, but we did accomplish the assigned task, which was then played along with the sounds created by the other students at the end of the class.

This form of music creation has a lot to offer artists, especially those who are interested in experimentation and randomisation, as well as those who simply wish to create noises that are more unique than you might find in a regular DAW. This was an interesting experiment, and was worth the time invested.

Blog#08

I am analysing a song by an artist called ‘LeaF’, I chose the track Aleph-0 from the 2018 album Doppelganger. The aspect of this song I want to focus on during this analysis is the structure of the track itself and the effect that is has on me as a listener.

The artist explores genres and styles of electronic music such as; J-core, artcore, breakcore, happy hardcore, and most prominently featured in this track, IDM (intelligent dance music).

This song begins with a quick synth fade in and build up before it’s suddenly interrupted by a series of glitching synth noises, immediately setting a common aspect of the structure, that being abrupt and complex changes/progressions.

A fast-paced drum beat is introduced as a brief melody plays in the background, seemingly having been reversed which creates a ‘disorienting’ feel in the track which fits the atmosphere very well.

This only last for a few seconds before switching once more into a slow but stable drum beat with a simplistic melody accompanying it, almost as if the artist is attempting to trick the listener into thinking the song will become less chaotic.

After a few seconds the beat and melody increase in tempo, the beat itself becoming a little more complex in terms of arrangement. This beat seems stable for now, but it is occasionally interrupted by the glitching noises heard before from the intro.

Suddenly the tempo slows again, now introducing a piano playing in the background which rises and falls in pitch, making for an unstable feel to the track, as if it’s building up to something.

The beat ends, being interrupted yet again by the glitching effects, now being replaced with a new drum pattern at a slightly higher tempo, which gradually increases alongside the frequency of the track to make for a feeling of excitement or anxiety. During this build up, the beat is briefly interrupted by a vocal sample, the word ‘temptation’ being heard before quickly returning to the beat.

Although it seems like the build is going to conclude, it suddenly changes direction, starting to reduce in tempo and pitch, as if the artist is defying the listener’s expectations. Everything slows down as the vocal sample is played again, then suddenly everything speeds up again, even faster than before, then slows again abruptly.

The drum beat begins to build in complexity again, before being interrupted by the reversed melody from earlier, which cues the beginning of a slower and ambient-like section. Strings are introduced to the song, which I believe creates a climactic atmosphere as the track reaches its conclusion.

This section is abruptly sped up, an incredibly fast drum beat being transitioned in and out of usage at seemingly random intervals. Distortion is added to the track, which intensifies over time, this section culminating with the tempo being pushed to extreme levels. As the track becomes almost overwhelming, it cuts to the glitching sounds again, before fading out completely, ending the song. To me, this track causes excitement and anxiety due to the structure being so unpredictable.

Sources for Blog#08:

Doppelganger (2018) Available at: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/leaf/doppelganger/ (Accessed: 29 November 2024).

LeaF (2018) ‘Aleph-0’, Doppelganger. Available at: Spotify (Accessed: 29 November 2024).

Blog#09

I was instructed to read and analyse a book from the university library so that I could write about it for this week’s blog, the book that I have chosen to look at is Folk Music: A Very Short Introduction by Mark Slobin.

In the first section of the book, the author begins his exploration on the topic of folk music by establishing his thoughts on the definition of the genre itself. It is immediately stated that the author is not aiming to provide a definition, rather he utilises what Slobin calls “the principle of “we know it when we see it”.” (2011, p. 1).

After my reading of the book, and analysing the first section, I believe that I have found the main point that the writer is attempting to make. Slobin appears to be making the case that the concept of folk music in general is tied to western culture, and how people in Europe and North America value the countryside cultures.

People in these regions appear to have a desire to identify and immortalise the feel and history of rural areas and small communities. Slobin states: “When educated Europeans started writing down folk music over two hundred years ago, they said the songs were doomed: the old ways will soon be lost, so let’s preserve them.” (2011, p. 6).

The writer continues to explore this concept of how many cultures value their history, especially in the form of music, and points out differences between various places; for example, he points out how American folk music often focuses specifically on the idea of a simple and comfortable lifestyle, while European folk music tends to have more of a focus on specific regional identities and cultures.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the text that I had read and analysed was a portion where the author speaks about his experience travelling to Afghanistan in 1967, where he talks about how the people in Afghanistan have significantly difference values when it comes to music history and tradition.

Mark Slobin explains how the history of Afghanistan’s music culture is not recorded and immortalised, compared to how Europeans and Americans believe the recording of such history to be incredibly important. Slobin said this about his trip: “I simply could not tell what their grandfathers had played and their grandmothers sang, and how much that had changed over the generations, since no one had written it up and there were no recordings.” (2011, p. 7).

To conclude, I believe the main point being made in the text that I read is that European and Northern American cultures have an interesting love for keeping music traditions and history alive, especially when it comes to music created in the countryside and the traditions of small communities, which isn’t shared by every culture around the world.

Sources for Blog#09:

Slobin, M. (2011) Folk Music: A Very Short Introduction. 1st edn. New York City: Oxford University Press.

Blog#10

During this first assignment I have developed multiple skills, both ones that I had some experience with previously as well as some skills that I was learning about for the first time during these classes. While looking at the first producer, RZA, I developed my knowledge and experience with hardware samplers, experimenting with the idea of sampling old songs as well as movie clips for use in my own work.

Moor Mother was the second artist we were asked to analyse and take inspiration from. During this experience I was able to look at the ideas or using improvisational-sounding instrumentals, as well as looking at the possible political elements of music. This research was then put into action when I worked with a partner in order to create a track that was directly inspired by Moor Mother, which certainly added to our experience both with the style of music, but also with our ability to work collaboratively.

In the course of our time analysing Rashad Becker we looked briefly at the concept of drawing various different shapes in order to represent the different aspects of sounds, like; duration, frequency, fluctuation, and dynamics. Although we didn’t focus on this for very long it was an interesting concept to learn and discuss.

The remainder of our time discussing Rashad Becker was spent learning about modular synthesis using VCV Rack, we experimented with how to use the software and how modular synthesis worked, then worked in pairs to develop some more advanced sounds through teamwork.

My final analysis task allowed me to choose an artist I wanted to talk about so that I could analyse one of their tracks. This task allowed me to develop my experience with analytical writing, which was a good connection to the main assignment tasks of writing a one thousand word analysis or another artist’s track, as well as creating a presentation about it.

These examples of more independent research and writing were vital in developing my skills when it came to finding sources to back up my work, my ability to talk about a topic in an in-depth yet concise manner, and multiple other skills. All of the analytical skills I have developed will certainly impact how well I am able to complete university work, while the musical side of things will allow me to develop my skills when it comes to my production.

In the future I would like to further develop my ability to find reliable and useful sources for research, and when it comes to the music side of things I would certainly like to continue exploring new techniques, and I believe experimenting further with modular synthesis would be very interesting for me personally.

Nothing to See Here