Portfolio I
Welcome to my portfolio! Here you’ll find a first look into a selection of my Compositions/work that I have produced myself from my studies.
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This Piece has a bpm of 113bpm with a Meter of 4/4. For Section 1 of the song, the rhythm followed a more kick-heavy backbeat with variations every couple of measures. Section one transitions into section 2 with a slight drum breakdown before hopping back into its rhythm. Section 2 maintained most of the same fills and variations. In addition, the sounds in the Kick Drum and Snare’s Kit were changed to give a more laidback and less aggressive groove. The Kits used in Logic were the “Vox Box” kit and the “Asian Kit.” The Bass part accentuated beats 1 and 3 while also maintaining its own timing and groove, adding more passion to the composition.
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I stuck with the Key of C Minor throughout with a focus on a longing sadness, or intensely passionate/overwhelming mood. The Chord Progression in section 1 is: Cm Ab Gm Ddim, and in the Second section it is: Gm Ddim Cm Gm Ab for bars Bars 17 - 29 and Gm Ddim Cm Ddim for Bars 29-32. The Change in Progression of the chords supported the melody and emphasized the “Longingness” of the piece. The melody was mostly crafted by ear but still followed most of the rhythm from the drums and keynotes from the chords.
Final track 1
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When making this track, I wanted to aim for a mood of complexity, longing sadness, and passion. When you have a passion for something with great worth in your life, it can be filled with complex feelings, not just happiness. This track focuses to emulate some of the aspects of longingness and potential burnout while also still having a passion for what you love or care deeply for. These emotions lead the way to the selection of the key, longer resolutions in the Chord Progressions, and kick-heavy beat.
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Each audio track was recorded through a Scarlett 18i20 Interface. For the first audio track, I recorded myself taping a glass cup with a pen; I dropped another glass in the first glass cup used in order to record the second audio track. The ESP and Sampler were used for synth sounds, “ ESP (Synth 1)” and “Nature Sounds (Synth 2)”. The overall sound of the ESP settings resulted in a thick, almost “creamy” sounding synth; It inhabited a long decay, medium sustain, and release, as well as a semi-fast attack. It took a bit of messing around with to get the sound I wanted to achieve, but after increasing the wah and balancing the wave types, it started to fit the mood. The Quick-Sampler sound was originally made by me called, “Fan Blowing (Sampler)” which utilizes a toy fan sound to give the low end of each diminished chord more depth.
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When mixing, I maintained a focus of balance between each track. This was done by keeping the Melody at the forefront with some of the rhythm-driven tracks underneath to the support and the harmony as the lowest (levels-wise) to glue everything act as the glue of the mix. Automation was added to various tracks throughout to accentuate the overall mood of the track. I used compressors on various tracks as well as EQs and a Gate. This overall cleaned up some of the track's sounds and made room for everything to blend well together. A Drum Reverb with the “Chroma-Verb” Audio FX as well as Logic’s “Space Designer” Reverb was set for most tracks. The Durm Reverb has an EQ on it to clean up its slightly harsh-sounding reverb.