Lost - A Review

When recoding and producing a song, it’s the ‘unique personal identity with which they infuse their productions’ (Burgess, 2013) that ultimately affects the quality of the sound of the song, making it different than the usual charted pop song. When recording ‘Lost’, I kept this in mind in trying to set it apart from the mass of generic songs and feel like I did do this justice, simply by just recording guitar and vocals, the rawest form of music.

My decision to record both the vocals and guitar separately worked well because it meant that it was easier to edit when both tracks were done, but also it meant that I could solely focus on the one task at hand – the main reason as to why it only took me two takes to record the guitar to a good standard. I feel like if I had recorded them both together, I would’ve either lost the strumming pattern or the strumming would’ve drowned my voice out. When I first played the song through using my fingers to strum, the sound was quiet and soft (which didn’t work well with the acoustic rock sound of the song) so instead I used a celluloid 0.88mm pick, giving a richer sound, producing a more vintage tone. If I could experiment, I’d like to use an acrylic pick with a thinner tip, to create a brighter and more focused sound. This became a small issue as I am not used to playing with a plectrum however I feel like I coped well with the challenge and overcame it, producing a cleaner, more rock-styled sound.

When it came to editing the track, I was interested in the effects that were used such as reverb to add a bit of warmth to the voice, as the room that we recorded in wasn’t a proper sound booth. Furthermore EQ ‘Provides mid-frequency controls in addition to bass and treble’ (Self, 2009) which meant that the high pitched sliding on the guitar could be cut out as well as the low breathing and background noise, while the mid range frequencies that could not be heard as much were brought up. And what impact did it have on your finished piece? Remember to evaluate your learning.

For next time, I think I’d be more confident, especially when it comes to recording the vocals. ‘In a state of flow, there is no room for irrelevant thoughts’ (Kircher, 2011) so by entering this state a flow, it would allow myself to feel more confident and ultimately feel better about each take, whether I like it or not. The small recording studio made me more nervous as it meant I could hear myself back as well as having someone else in the room making it feel as though they were judging me. Also, I would have liked to play more around with the effects of the vocals to give it a cleaner sound, instead of being slight ‘fuzzy’, possibly using less reverb would help to achieve this.

Finally, to develop the song even further, using a program such as Protools to create a drum beat as well would make the song more substantial as I feel like ‘Lost’ as an acoustic song works well however turning into something more rock sounding, being played on electric guitar would also work as well.

Bibliography:

Burgess, J, R. (2013) The Art of Music Production: The Theory and Practice. New York: OUP USA

Kircher, J, M. (2011) Incorporating flow into practice and performance. USA: IOS Press

Self, D (2009) Audio Engineering Explained. Massachusetts: Focal Press

Recording Continued (Bringing It All Together)

Having recorded both the guitar and vocals for my song, I was both relieved and happy when hearing it back (despite my detest for my own voice) as I finally had something I was proud of and wanted people to listen to (as opposed to the Soundcloud version which was recorded using my laptop, not quite the same).

Then came the the more technical side of the process which involved adding the effects and mixing/altering things to get it sounding as clean as professional as possible.

-Starting with the vocals, first reverb was added to give it more of a 'smoothness; and 'ambience' to suit the song, as opposed to the vocals sounding 'dry' and a bit lacking.

-Then the EQ which is a spectrum that shows the frequency in voice was looked at. It's where you can cut off the low noises (background noises) and also the very high pitched sounds (which there weren't any), however it also brings up the bits that are hard to hear to round off the piece, using a good mic means you don't have to do much with that (with was made apparent because not much needed to be done).

- Finally, the same copy and paste that was done for the guitar part, was also used for the vocals as there were bit's that I didn't like.

The guitar editing was similar to the vocals with the EQ to bring up the the quieter parts of it however there were a few other things that were used.

- One plug in that was used is a compressor which is important for a guitar - specifically when being picked as it evens out the dynamics. You can set thresholds to to louden quite notes and visa versa, which again, rounds out the piece, making it cleaner.

- Fades were also used on both the guitar and the vocals to give it a nice intro to the song and to nicely fade out with the guitar part. Also, it got rid of the background noise on the tracks, the few seconds before I started playing/singing.

Finally, to complete the recording, the two tracks were exported then imported back in as a stereo track (combining both the guitar and vocals into one track), and the maximiser was used to give it more 'power', which meant that the idea was to get the levels as close to 0 as possible without it clipping, one thing that is done in professional studios to make it as loud as possible overall.

When it was finally done I listened to it back and was really proud of what I had managed to achieve (with some help). It was nice to see something become more 'real' and I honestly did enjoy it, even the part about playing in front of one person as it's still some form of performance, therefore help with the confidence part of performing.

Recording in the studio

Creating something and having it on paper is one thing but actually being able to turn into something a bit more real is another.
Having been writing songs for a few months and having enough material to create an 'album' which I put on Soundcloud meant that I had accomplished something I'd wanted to have done for a while now however it's only recently where it was made apparent to me that I could actually produce this and possibly have something to be proud of (possibly doing open mics/small gigs and being able to give out CDs that I made).

Recording something is always a nerve wracking task, even though you have as many chances as you want to get it right however it's always nice to get things done it one take, for a sense of accomplishment, as opposed to performing live where you only get once chance which allows for more mistakes. "A musician's fear of failure" (Fogle, 1982) can prevent the the piece being as effective, which in a sense is also true when recording because it was made aware that no take was ever perfect for me.

Cubase 7 was used to record and edit the tracks and like Protools, I think that if I were to play around with it, it would be quite easy to grasp and record things on my own (as opposed to being aided with the technician as I had no idea what I was doing). The recording was done in two 'sections'. First I recorded the guitar part, then when I was happy with that, I moved on to recording the vocals to the guitar part I recorded. I did it this was as opposed to doing it both together so I could concentrate more on getting on part right as opposed to having to split my attention 50/50.

Tech-y things that were used:

• DI Box which made it cleaner and better to mix
• Studio mics which pick up more clarity, as opposed to dynamic mics which can take more pressure (2 for the guitar, one above the fret board, the other below the sound hole. Never put the mic over the sound hole as all you'd get is the bass notes)
• Neumann condesner mic with a pop filter (the pop filter filters out the harsh blasts of sounds when made while singing certain letters - P or S for example, therefore softens the sound)

Recording the guitar part first, to get the levels I played a bit and when it was all set, proceeded to play the song. The first time I played I wasn't happy with the instrumental so recorded it again and found that I preferred the second take - however there a few mistakes. To create the mistakes, it was as simple as copying the good parts then pasting them over the bad parts (As an observer to that, as I didn't actually do it, it seemed pretty simple...but then again, the proof's in the pudding, maybe next time I'll do it)

Recording the vocals was always going to be my biggest challenge especially since I hate my voice and think I can't sing, even thought I've been told I can. Furthermore, only have one other person in the room was a bit nerve wracking so I decided to look at the wall and zone him out (I had a preference of playing to large crowds where I can pick out an individual face). 

At first, I tried singing hearing myself back however I felt that because I could hear myself breathe, it put me off, therefore when trying it without hearing myself back, I was more comfortable with singing. 

Writing A Disco Song

Disco's all about feeling good and letting go, which is something that the lyrics are all about and reflect feeling good. Heavily influenced by a range of previously existing genres such as:

• Psychedelic music - "And the scene's combination of overwhelming sound, trip lighting and hallucinogens was indebted to the late 60's psychedelic culture" (Reynolds, 2001)
• Funk
• Soul
• Latin (especially salsa) - "the fusion of Latin rhymes, Anglo-Carribena instrumentation, North American black 'soul' goals and Euro-American melodies gave rise to the disco music" (Lipsitz, 2001)
• Gospel
• Swing

Taking into account all of this inspiration, disco became the feel good genre that allowed the masses to become free, and instead of being the part of the counterculture that was against 'the man', it was more about individuality and feeling empowered, especially for the minorities "initially, disco musicians and audiences like belonged to marginalised communities: women, gay, black and latinos" (Nicholls, 1998).

When writing 'To The Groove', I took into account the idea of the feeling of letting go of all of the weeks troubles and waiting for the weekend to begin to finally let loose on the dance floor. The upbeat tempo of it and the repeating and catchy chorus and bridge helps to create the foot-tapping and hips moving beat which is emphasised by the funky bass line and the simplistic drum beat. 

After the second chorus, a simplistic bridge is repeated several times and it builds creating the uplifting theme that disco has. Building up helps to create a climatic finish and also enables the audience to join in with the catchy song, something that is also key in disco music.

"The rhythm and the dancing, makes you move your feet

The rhythm and the dancing, moving to the beat"

The simplistic bridge that is also repeated at the end of the song as well I think helps to round off the song in a fun an engaging way, especially if the audience join in.

Writing A Psychedelic Song

Utilising non-Western, specifically those used in "Indian Classical music such as the sitar and tabla" (Rubin & Melnick, 2007) and elaborate studio effects such as "backward tapes, panning, phasing, long delay loops and extreme reverb" (Borthwick & Moy, 2004), psychedelic music's main goal is to to replicate the effect when taking psychedelic drugs - such as LSD, originally promoted as a "potential cure for mental illness" (Farber, 2002).

When writing a psychedelic song, the feeling of being under the influence of the recreation drugs is important to get across. One of the immediate things thats comes to mind when I hear the word 'psychedelic' is the colourful and bright psychedelic art and the effect that it has on your eyes when you stare at it for too long (i.e: blurred vision, 'fuzziness' and a surreal visual exploration). Writing a song about the things that one would see when taking these drugs are exploring that would help to create the lyrics that help get across the feeling without actually taking them.

Coming up with the title 'Lights' helped to shape the rest of the lyrics that I wrote to do with being under the influence, with the lyrics being about hearing voices, seeing things that aren't there and time moving at different speeds. "Sensory perception become especially brilliant and intense", "colours seem more intense" and "Time may seem to slow down...or it may stop entirely, giving place to an eternal present" (Grinspoon & Bakalar, 1983). Just some of the general psychological side effects of psychedelic drugs, which I attempted to recreate when writing the lyrics such as "And it burns, the world turns. And I scream, it's a dream" which gets across the point that everything that happens isn't real. All the things felt are in the mind which is the bodies most powerful weapon and when under the influence of these drugs, the impossible can seem possible, no matter how bizarre.

Student Life

Listening to both Queen and Pink Floyd helped me to see how music had evolved from the 60s to the 70s. Rock became harder (therefore becoming heavy metal), appearance became a bit factor, more so than before (for example David Bowie and glam rock) disco became very influential, battling rock for music domination.

When asked to create a piece of music inspired by the 70s music (Queen/Pink Floyd), it was difficult to come up with one idea to try and create it around. Therefore, it was only logical to take parts from Queen, and parts from Pink Floyd.

Bohemian Rhapsody (one of the most well know songs by Queen) consists of several different sections. From a ballad, ending with a solo on guitar, into an almost opera style section and finally into a rock section. "At the time, it was the most expensive single ever made" (Cunningham, 1995).
Freddy Mercury, the writer of the song only stated the song is about "relationships; the band is still protective of the song's secret)" (Chiu, 2005)

"I think people should just listen to it, just think about it, and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them" 

Freddy Mercury (Davis, 1993, p. 20)

When taking into account both the fact that Bohemian Rhapsody has distinct sections, and that Pink Floyd's 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' is a concept album, a piece inspired by both would help to showcase the 70s better.

The main idea of this was first to build it around one specific thing (ala concept album/Pink Floyd). The easiest topic was to do something that we're familiar with: being a student. Then taking inspiration from Queen, it was clear that if it was in sections, it would help represent the life of the student that much clearer.

Starting off with a slow string and synth sound, it represents getting up in the morning and everything feeling a bit groggy.
As the guitar comes in, it helps to give it a bit of rhythm, getting into the swing of things and actually doing something. As the piano comes in, it helps to back up the guitar and make it more pronounced, keeping the string\synth sound in the background (because students are always tired). The removal of both the guitar and piano helps to create a more fluid song as it rises slightly then drops, helping to create a nice 'wave' of sound. All at once, a beat is 'dropped' and things start to build up immediately, which contrasts the previous sections. This helps to give the song a change in dynamics and also represents the party aspect to a typical student life. A more prominent synth sound is still present to recreate the feeling of being dizzy and almost drunk. The piece ends with a sudden stop of that fast beat and into the beginning however this time with almost a beat, bringing it full circle, from the moment a student wakes up, to the moment they go to sleep.

This was made using Protools (which I am still getting use to) however I am pleased with the result of it. One improvement is that the middle section is a little out of the time (the piano is with the strings). Although I know it's wrong, it could be interpreted as a blur of the two sections from waking up to every day activities.
Also, I think that maybe a sound that lasts the whole piece would help to give it more of a foundation. Maybe utilising another thing from Pink Floyd (music concrete). The sound of static, faintly in the background would help to represent the brain of a student and how they aren't fully taking anything in (almost a sense of being broken)

Disco in the 70s

Synonymous with the 70s is of course disco music. The groove became big and took off, clashing against the previously dominating rock music.
It contains elements of pop, funk, soul and even psychedelic to create brand new genre that people had not experienced before and were ready to get down to.
Well known performers such as ABBA, The Bee Gees, Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor became the frontrunners for disco music and is the reason it is so popular now (everyone knows a bit of ABBA whether they like it or not)
The main music components of disco music include piano, synth string,  and electroacoustic keyboards, however the core of disco relies in the beat and the prominent bass line on a bass guitar. Backed up with layering using high pitched instruments (to create harmonies) such as the violin, harp, flutes, saxophones and other wind and brass instruments.
With a heavy inference from latin music (such as the samba and the rhumba(, disco relies on a steady four on the floor beat being aided by a rhythm guitar (however it is not as present in disco compared to rock).
All of the instruments used create a soaring and uplifting tune that people associate with having a good time, which disco was all about.

Formed in 1972, ABBA (an acronym of the first letters of all 4 members) are known as one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music (after winning Eurovision in 1974 and becoming the most successful to date)
Selling over 380 million albums worldwide, they quickly dominated the 70s with their disco music and are still the second most successful music groups.

The Bee Gees started out their career as a 'rock' band in the late 60s however in the 70s, they took on a more disco feel to their music and perhaps was one of the most successful career choices to make. Famous for their signature and recognisable 3 part harmonies, the three brothers quickly made a name for themselves and have managed to sell 220 million albums worldwide, again like ABBA, making them one of the best feeling music artists of all time.
"Only Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees" (1997)
Agreeing to participate in the creation of the Saturday Night Fever was the pivotal moment in their careers where they experimented with disco, prolonging their success as well as disco's.
"Fever is credited with kicking off the whole disco thing - it really didn't. Truth is, it breathed new life into a genre that was actually dying" (Kashner, 2007).
'Night Fever' charted at number one in both the UK and the US with other songs such as 'Stayin Alive' 1 in the US, 4 in the UK

In today's music scene, disco is still present in some songs. In particular, 'Meet Me In The Pale Moonlight' by Lana Del Rey features a funky guitar in the background, very disco. Furthermore, 'I Want It All' by Karmin also has a disco feel with the funky bass line, the horn sections in the chorus, the rhythm guitar and the faint 'cowbell' sound in the background. Finally, 'Take Back The Night' by Justin Timberlake is a fusion of both disco and R&B with its use of high vocals (falsetto), horns, guitar and keyboard.