Intros (continued)

Today I want you to finish working on your 2 Intros. First, we're going to listen to 3 songs and analyze how they use Intros to grab the listener's attention...

• "C.R.E.A.M." by the Wu Tang Clan
• "Return the Favor" by Keri Hilson ft. Timbaland
• "Hail Mary" by Tupac Shakur
  

As we're listening, ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the emotion of this song? What is it about?
  
• How are the music and/or lyrics setting the tone for this emotion in the Intro?
• Does the Intro tend to build up to the main part of the song, or does it drop all at once?
  

Remember, that for your assignment I am looking for two different styles of Intro:

1. A buildup, where instruments come in one at a time. Call it: (your name)_buildupintro
2. A beginning with just a Sound Effect and a drum. Call this one: (your name)_fxdropintro

When you finish, let Mr. Runde know so that you can copy your files to his jump drive.

Intros

Today, I want you to concentrate on making different types of Intros. Please do the following:

1. Create a 2-bar loop that uses 4 different instruments. Please include at least 1 melodic instrument (NN19/NNXT/Subtractor/Malstrom/Combinator).
2. Now copy and move your regions around so that the instruments come in one at a time, every 2 bars.
3. Save this beat as: (your name)_buildupintro
   

Now create a second beat, same deal: 2 bars, 4 instruments, only this time, I want you to do the following with it:

1. In addition to your 4 instruments, also create an NNXT sampler.
2. Load a patch from the FX folder (Reason Factory Soundbank>NNXT Sampler>Sound FX) and find a sound that helps to set the emotion of your song. Please no gunshots or sirens - they are PLAYED OUT.
3. Start the first 4 bars of your beat with just 1 drum sound (eg. a clap, a hi hat, etc.) and an FX sound. Have all the rest of your instruments start on bar 5.
4. Save this as: (your name)_FXdropintro

Turn both of your beats in to Mr. Runde.

Your suggestions

Thanks for typing up and giving me your feedback yesterday. It helps me to get a sense of what you're interested in and what we should spend more time on. I will really try to help you learn what you want to learn about music. If you have more ideas, please email them to me at crunde@bavc.org.

Some of the things people found hard from the last term included:

• musical language; the names of the different things in Reason
• the quizzes
• mixing
• doing fades
• using the piano (timing)

Some things people want to work on this term include:

• Intros
• finding sounds that work together
• using the piano 
• counting bars and beats
• crunk beats
• creating original music (rather than imitating other artists)
• panning/FX
• creating original musical works (instead of just imitating other artists) 
  
• quantizing notes
• recording vocals

I think that the best way to become a better musician/producer is to become a good listener. Meaning that you should be paying close attention to the music that you listen to and learning how other artists put their music together. Then you can pick out the stuff that you like and incorporate it into your own music.

So...

Your assignment is as follows:

1. Pull out your iPod or go onto the internet and find a song that you are really feeling.

2. Listen to it and pay close attention to the following things:

• Tempo - fast/slow?
• Types of instruments used (not just drums)
• How does the artist build up the different parts of the song?  (Intro/Verse/Chorus)
• What do you think works really well about this song?

3. When you are done, type up your answers quickly in Word (don't type an essay, just make little notes.

4. We're going to go over these songs together as a class, so be prepared to talk about yours.

Welcome to Music Production! (Spring Term)

Welcome back to Music Production! For the Spring Semester, we will be getting deeper into digital audio production using Propellerhead's Reason software. Working on a variety of projects, we will be learning more about of musical arrangement and composition, production techniques and multimedia applications. 

The Blog
Class instruction will continue to be centered around the use of this blog (jocbeats.blogspot.com). The blog will feature lessons, informational materials and links to different media. Expect to use it every day.

Grades
Here is how grades for the class will be broken down.

60% - Projects and quizzes (daily assignments, weekly quizzes, possible homework, etc.)

20% - Final Exam

20% - Participation (class discussions, asking questions, blogging)

If you have any questions or concerns about your grade, as always, please feel free to come and talk to me before or after class. You can also email me at crunde@bavc.org.

Expectations

• I expect you to treat this class like any other class. Attendance is mandatory and all school rules apply. If attendance or behavior become a problem, expect to get a phone call home.
• I expect you to complete all assigned work, quizzes and projects.
• I expect you to ask questions and participate as a member of our classroom community.
• I expect you to challenge yourself as an artist and to constantly push to make your music better.
• You can expect the instructors to listen to you and respect your opinions.
• You can expect the instructors to give you the help and advice you need to complete your assignments.
• And lastly, expect yourself to make music that you like - that's the whole point!

The Final

For your FINAL EXAM for the semester, I want you to make a full song that incorporates all of the main areas we have covered in Reason, including:

• Song Structure
• Mixing (volume, panning, FX, fade outs)
• Use of different types of instruments
• Exporting audio out of Reason
  

So, without further ado, please make me a song that includes all the elements listed below. Please note that in order to get FULL credit (80 points), you must turn in both a Reason session file and an audio file of the song. Good luck!!!

Song Structure (35 pts. total)

• A 4-bar Intro (5 pts.)
  
• At least 2 Verses (10 pts.)
  
• At least 2 Choruses (10 pts.)
  
• An Outro/fade out at the end (10 pts.)

Instruments (25 pts. total)

• At least one Redrum drum machine - 5 pts.
  
• At least 1 Dr. Rex Sample Player - 5 pts.
  
• At least 3 other melodic instruments (NN19, NNXT, Subtractor, Malstrom, Combinator) - 15 pts.

Mixing (15 pts. total)

• Adjust volume in Mixer - 5 pts.
  
• Adjust panning in Mixer - 5 pts.
  
• Include at least one FX processor on a track - 5 pts.

Exporting (5 pts. total)

• Export an audio file (44.1 kHz/16-bit WAV format) of your song and turn it in with your Reason session file. - 5 pts.
  

Save your Reason file as: "(your name)_Final.rns".

Save your audio file as:  "(your name)_Final-audio.rns".

Turn these in to the BAVAC Dropoff folder (Pickupdropoff>BAVAC>Dropoff>Period 5).

Grades and Finals and Makeup Work - oh my!

So, we are just about at the end of this class and our time together is almost done. But before we go our separate ways, we have one last major thing to do - The Final!  The final for our class will be on. 

Wednesday, January 14

8:00am - 9:50am

"What will the Final be like?" you ask.

The Final will be worth 100 points (about 1/3 of your total grade for the class) and will be broken up like this:

-  20% Written Exam 

-  80%  An original beat.

Basically, I will be handing out the written exam first and then you will have the rest of the period to make a beat that meets a bunch of requirements. 

"But what if I don't have time to finish my beat by the end of class?" you ask.

I will be giving you extra time tomorrow (Friday) to start working on the beat - see below. You should have plenty of time to get everything done.

"What will the Final be on?" you ask.

Anything we've done in class at any point this semester.

"But I can't remember all that stuff from the beginning of the semester!" you say.

We will be having a review tomorrow (Friday) where we will go over material that you might expect to see on the written Final. Be prepared to ask questions about areas you were unsure of.

Speaking of tomorrow (Friday)....

The way it will work is that the first 15-20 minutes will be an full on-review. Everyone is required to pay attention.  After that, you will have the option of continuing to ask questions, or to start on making your beat for the Final.

That brings us to grades.

Today I will be meeting with each student to see where their grades are at going into the Final and what work is missing. Today is THE LAST DAY TO MAKE UP WORK. Please take advantage.  

Your priorities for today should be:

1. Makeup work.
2. Finish the Extra Credit assignment from this Mon./Tues.
3. Go over material from the beginning of class.
4. Work on some original music (just because it's fun and this will be your last chance to do that in this class.)

Live drums (Extra Credit)

Using the technique we learned yesterday for playing a drum beat live, please put together a short song. This will count for extra credit (up to 10 points).

This should include:

1. A verse drum beat (3 points)
2. A chorus drum beat (3 points)
3. Additional instruments (1 point each, up to 3 points)

Save this as "(your name)_Live drums.rns") and put it in the BAVAC dropoff folder (Pickupdropoff>BAVAC>Dropoff>Period 5).

Live Drums

Welcome back! Hope you had a lovely and relaxing break and are ready to wind up our last 2 weeks together. For the next couple of days I'm just going to give you a few different tips and suggestions that might give you new ideas for your music. Today we're going to work on making a drum beat using two different methods other than the way most of us are used to: playing live with the keyboard and using the Pencil Tool to draw in notes.

Why would you want to be able to play drums live, rather than just using the drum sequencer? 

Please do the following:

1. Open a new Reason session.
2. Create a Redrum and load a bass drum, snare/clap and a hi hat.
3. Set a 4-bar loop (L on Bar 1, R on Bar 5).
4. Make sure the Click Track is on and hit play.
5. Listen to the tempo of the click and adjust it if necessary.
6. Play some keys to make sure you can hear your drums. If you can't hear them, hit the Octave Down button once.
7. Find where your drum sounds are on the keyboard (probably the first 3 keys on the left side).
8. Find the bass and the snare/clap.
9. Practice playing a beat over the click and MAKE SURE YOU ARE PLAYING IN TIME WITH IT!   Hint:  Which drum goes on the 1st beat? What about the 2nd and 4th?
10. When you are ready, go ahead and record yourself.
11. Now go into the Edit View and check out the notes you just played.
12. Highlight them all and Quantize them (Edit>Quantize Notes).
13. Listen again and see if anything got moved in a weird way. If it did, just click on the bad note and drag it to the right place.
14. Now let's put in some Hi Hats...click on the Pencil Tool and draw in some notes on the Hi Hat lane.
15. Go back out to the Arrange View and use the Pencil Tool to draw a box around the 4-bars you just played.
16. Copy this pattern to make the whole beat play for 16 bars.
17. If you have time, go ahead and make a different beat for the Chorus section. 
18. Save this beat to your folder as "(your name)_Live Drums.rns". 

We will be working with this tomorrow, so make sure you have it saved before you leave today!