When first working on this piece I tried to rush it and make it so I can just say I was done with it. I had a lot of school work to do and I just tried to get this out the way. Compared to this one, the first beat I made was...yikes. This beat is a combination of a new school drum feel, with the soul and feeling of an early 2000's hip-hop melody/chords. I tried to give just head bob feel, when I make beats, I try to get if it a groove but also a feel of just wanting to bob your head like...1, 2 1, 2.

1 - >40

When I first thought of the idea of sampling, I always wanted mines to be different. Not just in a class setting but for all my future productions. For me I growing up listening to a lot of R&B, I haven't heard a lot of sampling of gospel songs. So that's what I strive to do. Take those gospel we all know or the ones we grew up on and flip into amazing jams.

Lively Loops 32 Bar Comp

This track was just pieced together from some old ideas that I had. This was probably one of the first chord progressions I've ever came up with when I first started to produce/make beats. Now that I was actually able to put in it a software, I used it. The random sound in the piece was in the middle, I slapped the top of a peanut butter jar 5 times, just because it was sitting in front of me. I love peanut butter and jelly, that's just a side note. But the only way I was able to remember what chords to play is because I saved some melodies from me just playing the keyboard just in case for times like this. With the help from God, I was able to remember them and make something I never was able to make before.

Simpler And Drum Rack

The drum sound was being controlled by three main factors. One was the LFO 2/OSC1 the static sustain on the backend of the drum sound. The LFO 2/Unison when turned off, drowns the basic hit away from the bass sound. So their is no layering. Lastly if you turn the Filter 1 Frequency of then their is completely no sound at all.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/13XgY5LAAO8b9yWJ0Kp7KXe1wvyjkFRsb/view?usp=sharing

Wavetable

For this track, it just happened. I didn't have any idea where I was going to take it until I actually started. While making this composition, I was envisioning a game in outer space. The scene is a war and one planet is dominating another and you can hear that in the composition. One planet has more weaponry and people than the other and it's apparent. For the actual sounds, I used my own but I also took to off my classmates which really were key factors. So I used Noah's low wub for the drive of the bass line and kind of dramatic feel. I used Russell's space sound to give it the outer space vibe and feel like you weren't on Earth. 


https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1sABYT_PkqTQxJX_dfax0nm5owUS0Kf4i?usp=sharing

Synth Scenes

This melody was inspired by a friend who I talked to on the phone before I made it. We were just talking about music and she was telling me how she wanted to start singing more and I told her I could make her a track. The chords in the melody came from just playing the keyboard and letting the music flow through me. These are from a Db major scale, which is one of my favorite scales to play in. The time constraint actually felt good, and made my mind work a little harder but easier. I didn't overthink, I just let it happen, which is the best way for music to be made in my opinion.

Melody #1

The chords came from a C Major scale and the progression is I-IV-II-V-VI-VII, with some inversions of course. I was envisioning a slow scene in a movie, where something drastic is happening or has happened and it's just movement. For an example, a couple just breaking up or on the contrary a motivational scene, where someone is saying push harder, or you got this in a sports environment.  There are so many ways to look about this. As far as the sounds, I used an underlining bass and higher pitch bass, both to hold the dramatic part of the song.

Melody #2

Melody #3

Final Project Rough Draft

In this project I decided to tap into a different side of my musical mindset. I took the storytelling/movie scene approach. To some people it may sound like an interlude on an album, in which that can work too. What I pictured though when making this piece was a build up of a normal day then it it gets intense from there. I made the music so quickly it flowed so smoothly, from the strings to the horns, to the drums to accompany. Adding the lyrics was the tough part because I couldn't figure out what I wanted the story line to be. At first it was a parent teacher conference with an undercover spy who was holding a superhuman captive. But the superhuman escaped and so-on. I was going to right a script for it but I decided to let it flow and not restrict/think about it too much. So I just hit record and let my personality loose. Straying away from the traditional beat or song was a fun experience and took my mind to aspiring one day to make music for movies, plays, etc. Still enjoying and wanting to make gospel, r&b, hip-hop, pop, etc. But understanding that there is more music to tap into, I want to be different and do as much as I can, not being one dimensional.

Jameel Stephens