I used the track Levels - Avicii because Avicii is my all time favorite artist and levels is what got me into EDM.

I basically know the beat by heart which helps, however I just spent my time listening to when the beat was the highest and let it play through until I found where it was the highest pitch again and I cut it right before that, so it looped flawlessly.

I thought it related to the theme of the music because typically EDM is very intense and gets the listener "hyped" up.  So I felt the phrase "Here we go!" was a good fit.  I tried a couple different audio enhancements, however I was unable to get the exact touch I wanted, probably stemming from the source of my voice being very monotone and low when really I need something more exciting and dynamic, but that was difficult to achieve in the recording environment.  I used a reverb/repeat type feature to try to spice things up a little bit more than the basic form which I felt fit well and would have been even better with the proper recording and vocalist.  I had to record the vocals to the tempo of the song and then I used the slider tool to move it around until I got it to fit in a spot where it meshed well with the beat.  

Daniel Levels Loop

The song I am covering is Young Wild and Free by Wiz Khalifa feat. Snoop Dogg.  I noticed that there was a bass guitar that was going along with the melody the whole time, when originally I hadn't heard that.  Along with that, there was some sort of shaker in the background, as you can hear in the very beginning, and so I added that for the whole track.   I faced a few challenges throughout the process.  One was that I couldn't get the verses right because I am not that good at rapping, but eventually through doing it over and over I got it to be decent.  Another thing I faced was making the piano melody.  It was hard and took a lot of research and I still fell short of perfection because I just couldn't figure out one of the sets of notes.  I am not very good at vocals, so that didn't turn out the way I wanted because I sound awkward and can't sing very well  Also, I didn't get the exact beats for a few of the instruments at certain parts, like the drums when they cut out and come back in, I struggled to match the fill.  I think maybe more time would help with these things and really going into depths of the song you might be able to get it close, but some of the instruments are just so quiet its really hard to get it right.  Also, if I knew the piano better I would have been able to better know the notes.  

Young Wild And Free Cover - Daniel Krupski

The message of Young Wild and Free I feel is that we are all here to have fun and no one should try to hinder that.  I felt this was portrayed in the music because its up beat with the piano, however the bass and drums make it serious in a light manner.  The changes I made to the songs content I centered around the backtrack and making it more electronic, but still on the chill side of things.  I enjoy "chill house" and I felt like the lyrics i put in the hook brought out the original meaning while still keeping the fun aspect of the song.  Challenges I faced while doing this was definitely trying to find lyrics that would fit with the beat and amount of time I had, and still fit with the meaning, all the while sounding natural.  I did not make changes to the melody and rhythms, just changed the instruments, which in turn gave it a seemingly changes melody.  The message of my new lyrics was to exemplify the aspects I felt were not clearly protrayed in the original version.  I wanted the listener to know that we are "young wild and free" but if you're not with that, you're against it.  I felt like the backing track matched it because it was a sharper sound but still "chill."  A discovery I made when making the lyrics is it would be easy to get caught up in what you want the listener to hear and feel in your lyrics, but in reality you should just be yourself and people who can relate will follow and see the meaning you feel in your heart.

Young Wild And Free Cover Mod - Daniel Krupski

You can modify and build upon existing ideas in music in many ways.  You can borrow beats from other tracks, but also I feel that you it is really hard to create something, a beat, from nothing.  What I mean by this is in my experience I found myself creating beats that I intended to be original, but I was realizing some of the features I was using I had heard before and it was just in my mind.  I don't feel this is copying other people but it is hard to make your own beat when you get your inspiration from your music taste.  I chose the song as a basis for my remix because I saw repetition and patterns, but I also saw opportunity for variety in the main beats Tiesto used.  I retained a small amount of original beats, however I think I did a good job of taking beats from other songs and putting them together in an original and unique way.  I intentionally changed the entire backing track, and replaced it with a mashup style of different songs I enjoy.  Also, I cut some of the lyrics in a different way than Tiesto did, placing main beats in spots that were different from his version.  I think the experience is different from the original version because the original one you can get bored and in my version I think there is a lot of unexpected variety.  Also, my version switches styles of edm and takes the listener on a journey of sorts, ending really tranquil and peaceful with broken arrows.

I used the vocals to Chemicals by Tiesto as well as portions of the following songs:
The Nights - Avicii
Revolution - Diplo
DJ Turn it Up - Yellow Claw
Broken Arrows - Avicii

I also used sound effects from the EffectsLibrary YouTube Channel.

Chemicals Remix - Daniel Krupski

The music helped the listener make sense of my story because of the effects I put on it.  I used fades to signal transition which really I think helps the listener visualize and understand what is happening and where I am going next.  I also tried to be very clear about topic sentences.  I also used the music very quietly in the background during the intro and conclusion to keep the listener interested, but excluded it when I was giving my content to keep the listener focused.

I used this song because of a couple of reasons.  First, it is an Overwerk remix, and Overwerk does songs that people use often for GoPro edits.  Additionally, this song was used in a GoPro edit so I felt it fit perfectly with my personality and the topic.  I thought the music fit perfectly for the intro and conclusion and also was a good track to open up a podcast with.  It was simple, yet energetic, which is what I was looking for.

This was not my track used.
Hyper Crush - Werk Me (OVERWERK Remix) - GoPro Edit by clemgrtn is licensed under a  Creative Commons License.

Persuasion Vol. 1 - GoPro by Daniel Krupski

After looking over everyone's uploads and reviewing them I just noticed that there are a lot of things that can be easily fixed that you wouldn't at first glance.  So, I stopped and listened through my cover mod all the way through and immediately saw what I needed to do.  My issues truly were in the vocals.  Also, the comments on my cover mod on the facebook page talked a lot about the vocals, so I was going to make them better. 

In the project, I revisited almost all of it.  First, I went through and I re-recorded all of the vocals.  I did this because I noticed the hook had a lot of white noise in it and also, the others I didn't do very well and had some hiccups.  So, I set up a little recording area with pillows like we were taught and re-recorded them and then messed with the EQ like we learned in class to make them sound ideal.  After cleaning up the vocals I looked at the backing track.  I changed the instrument on the bass to make it sound more impactful and increased the volume of the shaker.  I also put some of the bass sound to the left and put some of the kick sound to the right to allow for them both to have room to play.  I thought it turned out much better than the last one and I am proud of it.

Daniel Krupski

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