BTEC LEVEL 3 DIPLOMA IN CREATIVE MEDIA PRODUCTION
Unit 49: Introduction to music technology
Assignment 1: Be able to connect, set up and test music
technology equipment
By: Sophie Samengo-Turner
Teacher:Mr
Winston
Over the course of this unit I have created three pieces of
music: a virtual performance, a remix of the virtual performance and an
original piece. I used two different types of MIDI computer software to create
these pieces of music, Reason and Sibelius. Reason is a sequencing system which
uses loop samplers. Each has different areas which need to be learnt in order
to use them. Here I shall explain how I created each piece of music and how
both programs are used.
Of paramount importance when dealing with any technical
equipment is the consideration of health and safety matters. The computers are
in a classroom studio. Connected to each computer is a monitoring system to
listen to the work created and monitor noise levels, these are headphones. These
headphones are placed with their designated computer which they are plugged
into. This is to stop confusion and the mix up of head phones. It is also to prevent
accidents such as tripping due to wires being spread across the room. This also
prevents damage to the headphones from such accidents.It is also an important
health and safety rule not to bring food and drink into the classroom. Crumbs
can fall into the gaps of a keyboard, sometimes causing it to be inefficient
and bad smelling food can be distracting. If a drink spills onto a wire it can
destroy whatever the wire is connected to; potentially electrocute the user and
spilt sugary drinks cause surfaces to become sticky and unusable. Another
important health and safety measure taken in the studio is the Air Conditioner
(AC). There are over twenty computers in the classroom each releasing heat,
along with that, there can be over twenty students in the room all emitting
body heat. This environment can cause the users and PC’s to become tired and
over heat.Although the computers each have a fan built into them, it may not be
strong enough to cope with these conditions and so the computers can overheat
causing the power to amplify, this can cause system failure. So, it is
important to use the AC to keep the classroom cool.
In case the computer does fail or a program freezes I think
it is incredibly important to save work regularly and not just in one place. If
the computer does break down and the only place in which my coursework is
stored is the computer hard drive, I would probably have to restart all over
again. All my course work is saved on my USB in case of unforeseen events.
It is possible to add a MIDI (musical instrument digital
interface) keyboard. That means that you can plug a keyboard into the computer
and using programs such as Reason or Sibelius, you can record music and it will
playback on the computer.
Sibelius does not have such equipment. Noise has to be
adjusted from the computer instead of the program. With the use of expressions,
one can change the volume and speed of the music throughout the piece.
To
Elise:
For the virtual performance I used 'To Elise' which is
classified under the romantic classical genre. This piece of music was written
by Ludwig Van Beethoven.The music is played on an A minor scale with the time
signature of 3/8. The top number is the beats in a bar and the bottom number
shows type of notes being used. In this case that means that there are three
beats in a bar and the eight means that quavers are being used in this piece.
I recreated the song, 'To Elise' on a program called
Sibelius.Once you have logged onto a computer and selected the correct program
a small rectangle will come onto the screen introducing the program. Moments
later a second item will appear showing the files available on the computer. To
open the program you need to find a section where you would like your work to
save. This box asks the user whether they want to open up a new document or
whether they wish to open up a previous piece of music.
Once you have a plain score on the screen you have to look
at the sheet music and then copy that onto the screen. There are two ways to do
that, either step input or using a MIDI keyboard. Step input is easier because
using a keyboard you have to stay in time therefore I used step input. In this
case the first two beats are quaver rests. Simply click on the rest symbol and
then the note of the correct translation in beats, in this case, a quaver, and
then click where you want to add it. This is repeated throughout, if rests are
not needed then you just add the note on the correct line.
When I first started using the program I had difficulties
with rests. If I made a mistake where I used the wrong note (e.g. a quaver
instead of a semi-quaver) and then changed the note, it would leave a rest
which was not wanted. I sometimes found it complicated to replace the rest with
a note. I overcame this problem with practise. I learnt that you cannot erase a
rest and so learnt to just replace them. I also found it difficult when the
music changed clef near the end of the music. I found it difficult to change
back once I needed the treble clef back.
Once I had copied all of the notes and expressions from the sheet music
into the program I listened to a recording of someone playing the song and looked
out for the differences between what I had repeated onto a computer and what
someone was using a piano to create. The main difference that I heard was the
difference in volumes at different points. Whilst my computer copy of the music
was the same volume all the way through, the piano version had moments where
the music became climactic by growing louder and then releasing the tension by
going softer again. To recreate this change in volume I included crescendos and
diminuendos.
I used these two expressions because rit (ritardando)
gradually slows down the music and accel(accelerando)accelerates the speed of
the music. I found that these expressions were effective in giving the music
more expression rather than letting it sound like it was being processed by a
computer.
Virtual
performance remix:
My remix
is a fusion between the Bangra and Asian dub genres.
Since
‘To Elise’ was already in the A minor scale I had to keep to that scale,
although, at times when there were no A minor music loops I used the C scale
available since that was the closest scale available to fit with the song.
On my
computer, I often cannot hear music through my headphones then one of thetwo following problems may haveoccurred. 1.
The headphones are not connected to the right socket or; 2. I selected the
wrong option when setting up the program. To correct number 2 click on ‘Edit’
and scroll down to Preferences. Click on the first item labelled ‘Page’ and
change to Audio. Change the ‘Audio Card Device’ and click on the previously
mentioned option.
The main difficulties I had with this piece were changing
‘To Elise’ from a three beat song to a four beat song. This was to make it into
a more modern style. Since the music was in A minor I was able to stick to that
and just add in a few extra notes in that chord after changing the key
signature from 3/8 to 4/4. This made the music easier to add other loops to and
made it into a more modern dance style.
I had a problem with the re-drum because every time I
attempted to change the drum pattern the first pattern reappeared immediately
after. I learnt to push the drum patterns into the right place and could see if
it fitted in by the black line that symbolised the change.
I decided to start my piece by
introducing the audience to some of the instruments in the music. I started off
with the drum beat and Dr REX 1 because they were simple beats to ease the
listeners into the music. I then layered in two other loops to keep the
listener interested. I made them fade in because I disliked how, at the
beginning and end of my piece, the music suddenly appeared or disappeared. For
the instruments that play ‘To Elise’, I added in a digital reverb effect. I
used ‘Pan Room’ which causes an eco which continues the noise of the music even
after the instrument has stopped. I did this because I thought the eco sounded
effective and made the music flow more. I made the tempo of my music slow so
that you could hear each instrument in detail but also because the original ‘To
Elise’ is delivered at a slow pace, I kept it that way. I used two different
instruments for the two different sections of ‘To Elise’ so that part A and
part B of the music were more defined. For part B I also used one of the loops
which I had only used in the introduction. People were used to this noise since
they had heard it at the beginning so it did not sound like a completely different
song.
Original music:
To create my original piece of music I used Reason, the same
program I used to create my remix. The set-up is exactly the same apart from
the fact that you do not need to transfer music from Sibelius.
For my original piece I made it in the style of house music
using no specific genre.
I created the music in C minor. When I created my original
piece it was my first time using the program. It was also the first time I
attempted to create my own music. I was stuck with the problem that I wasn’t
sure which music loop would work with a different loop. I decided to start with
a loop that I enjoyed and then worked around that. I went to the sound library
on the computer containing all the loops and looked through them. Once I had
found a few loops that caught my attention, I started mixing them together.
Some loops did not mix together and so I waited until I had created a part A
and then I would try and add them in as a part B
My first loop takes a break after repeating itself four
times and my twelfth loop replaces it. This change created a change in the
music keeping it interesting whilst allowing me to enter another loop that I
enjoyed. I decided that apart from a few background noises I wanted part B to
be very different with a varied texture. This gave the music more variety which
is important to keep the audience interested.
Whilst using this program I learnt how to adjust where I
wanted music, deleting unwanted bars, ungrouping loops so that I could adjust
them. I also learnt how to add the click
on to make sure that all the music was in time and fitted together.
I decided that to ease the listener into my piece I should
start off with just the drum beat and then layer the loops. The first loop I
used is present through both sections A and B, a Tabala. The second loop I
added thickness to the texture of the music. I added a hook in the middle of
part A to keep the audience’s attention. Using it also changed the feel of the music
for that section although I had only changed two things, getting rid of Dr REX
1 and adding Dr REX 12. Although Dr REX 3 lasts three beats, I wanted to keep
to round numbers and so added in Dr REX 2 and 4 for one beat. This kept the
music to round numbers in my opinion. For part B I kept Dr REX 5 so that it the
music didn’t change completely. I also changed the pattern to Dr REX 4 and 8.
The audience is familiar with these sounds from part A and so I wanted to keep
that familiarity. As I mentioned at the beginning, there is the possibility of
changing a loop/redrums original sound when using a mixer. I had the
opportunity to adjust the equaliser to allow the listener to hear more of the
bass noises in my music but I chose not to because I felt that the original
loops sounded better than when I adjusted them. I also did not use editing
techniques to alter whether a two bar loop only played for one bar since this
music was created in house style, meaning everything was done in round numbers
such as four.
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