In this assignment, I composed an instrumental out of samples from different loop libraries I had downloaded on my computer. I also used a drum sample from the library provided in this assignment. The song sample that I included in this instrumental was “Tekka” by Sweet Trip. The student sample I used was Issac’s clip from Rick and Morty. In order to make this instrumental “lively”, I made edits to each track every 2-16 bars. I also did a lot of EQ and panning automations as asked for in the assignment description. The goal was to meet all the requirements for the assignment, as well as making a song that I would be happy with.

Lively Loops

It took me a long while to find a sound that I wanted to go for with this assignment. With an assigned library of samples and loops, I had to utilize these restrictions the best that I could. All the sounds from the Cactus library I was given came off strange to me. I’ve never worked with unhinged sounds like these for my music, so this was definitely a learning experience for me. I eventually used these sounds as percussion, as they drive the groove and the rhythm of the track. It almost sounds tribal in a sense. I also used the Cactus piano samples to make a melody that sounds eerie, which was perfect for me. I used the Roland library to fill out the bass and soundscapes of the track. The random process I used was an Operator, which I used to make a sub bass sound to back the synth bass I had. The end result is something I’m proud of, and I’m glad I pulled this sound off with the resources I was given.

Roland Cactus Piano

The preset that I modified for this assignment is called Descenting Dreams. One of the characteristics of this preset is both of the oscillators. One oscillator is using the marimba waveform, while the second one is using the beauty vox waveform. Both oscillators are panned to the left and right ears for a sound that has stereo depth. Another characteristic of this preset is the filter. This wavetable is EQed to filter out lows at 280 Hz and highs at 4.15 kHz. I modified the preset so it will filter out lows at 191 Hz and highs at 1.24 kHz. The results are a more narrow and darker sound, compared to the original which was more shiny and treble-y. The last characteristic I like to mention is the unison mode. It is a mode that phases multiple oscillators together based on the settings you set. On the original preset, it was set to shimmer mode, which made the preset sound more high pitched. I changed it to noise mode on my edited preset. The result is a more fuzzier and moodier sound.

.als download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16PnycXjPrZnSS8jeHbv7r6K2lep67YOK/view?usp=sharing

Wavetable

I’ve never used the session view in Ableton Live in my whole life, so this assignment was definitely a big learning experience. For this assignment, I used both Cash’s and Juliet’s wavetables, as well as my own. I started out crafting and writing scenes in arrangement view because I was more comfortable with doing that. It was also easier for me to plan out automations in arrangement view compared to session view. Once I got an idea of where I wanted to go with the composition, I started dragging my scenes into session view and continued planning and writing in there. The end result is a composition and different variations that sounds cinematic and cyberpunk-ish.

.als download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T6fW8fMgwh2bF8AclgA1fAcU31K9EpsK/view?usp=sharing

Synth Scenes

New Technique Sketch 1

New Technique Sketch 2

For this assignment, I chose to use the Operator instrument as a new technique. I have had no experience in tweaking and making digital synth instruments, so this was a great learning experience for me. For the first sketch, it was just me jumping into the Operator with no knowledge of how it works and how to use it properly. I made my own synth by messing around randomly with numbers and dials to see what sounds they made. For the second sketch, I dragged in a wobble bass preset and examined it. I tried to learn what each number and dial actually meant. Then I made a new Operator track and I typed and adjusted all the settings until it sounded exactly like the preset. Even though I used the preset as a reference point, it helped me gain understanding as the sound shapes changed as I adjusted the settings. For the last sketch, I did a bigger rhythmic synth preset and made a new Operator track based on it, just like I did in the last sketch. I also crafted a bass synth entirely from scratch to back the rhythmic synths, and it came out really well. I’m more confident in using the Operator instrument after doing these sketches, and I plan on using them more on my final project.

New Technique Sketch 3

Final Project - Demo 1

Final Project - Demo 2

One of my favorite electronic genres is atmospheric drum ‘n’ bass. For this final project, I threw in an attempt to create a 3 minute atmospheric dnb track that is up to par with the genre’s standards. The characteristics of the genre include light melodies, warm bass, and a reverb-type production. Normal dnb is very high energy and sometimes chaotic, whereas atmospheric dnb is the more chill and relaxed child of the genre. These are all characteristics I wanted to emulate for this project. I used the Operator instrument as my new technique for the project, as it helped me create the synths and bass for the song. Here were my three imposed constraints:
- I only used the Operator instrument as my only MIDI instrument. I can have multiple MIDI tracks but they all have to use the Operator instrument.
- I only used one audio track. This was used for my drum loops and nothing else.
- I did NOT use any Operator presets for this project. All my synths and bass were made from scratch.

mlhawk2

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