Josh Burgess 24100610

Over the last sessions, I have found myself playing in several roles to contribute creatively. The 2 roles I played: a pianist and a DAW producer. These sessions posed a challenge for me, as I adapted to complex harmonies or clustered sounds. I didn’t have a set goal with the other musicians; I personally aimed to contribute without detracting from others’ main ideas. As a producer, it is my job to break down ideas, understand them, and refine them to deliver a better final product while staying close to the original idea.

There were 3 distinct challenges to navigate: the first was the music’s style, the second was how to use the different instruments, and the third was the presence of different people each week.

To address the 1st challenge, we initially considered making a heavy, breakbeat-style track. A few songs that would be a good starting place: wish me away by Xxadist, Perpetual Decent by tokyona and Tired of Running by soulworn. These tracks are sub-genres of Breakbeat; they would be a good starting point, given the instruments. With drums being a large part I could fill, and the other instruments playing chords and subtle fillers to help the track flow more fluidly, contrasting the chopped drums’ sounds.

Even with my personal goal set, I decided to take the initiative to make breakbeat drums in Logic. The reason for this was to lay a foundation, since the group didn’t have one, making it hard to write music. I find it easier to write if I have a foundation, like drums or chords, that match the style of music. I also noticed that once we had the genre idea, it was easier for others to craft a sound they liked. I had planned to use an external MIDI controller (Launchpad) to play the iconic breakbeat drums with samples I created (Appendix A). The reason for this is to allow more freedom with tempo and flow, since the other musicians played guitar, keyboard, and vocals. This means if a drum pattern was ‘on a grid’, players had to play straight notes with a click to ensure everything lined up with the drums. This is harder to achieve; it requires more technique and strips the track of the expressive nature of live playing, which I felt was necessary for the style.

Creatively, I have not attempted this style. I enjoyed the process of finding a sample and chopping it up (Appendix B), then trying to program the drum samples onto a Launchpad.

The results from the first week held promise for the breakbeat genre, with a cool guitar layer (Rec 1).

I was not available for the next session, but I still followed the first week’s style and refined the drums further to make it easier for me to use.

I found out in the 3rd week that the vocalist decided to try a drum machine to fill the space I left while I was gone. For the style I had in mind, this was a bad idea; it meant the other players would have to play perfectly with the drum machine, or the track would sound out of time. Listening to the recording, I can hear that the genre has shifted from the original idea to indie pop-rock, which is drastically different.

This was a surprise to me; I wasn’t expecting the genre shift and the change in instruments. I did not like the sudden change; however, I decided to take it as an opportunity to see if I could adapt to a major shift in music (Rec 2).

In the 3rd and final week of recording, I abandoned what I had before, as the shift was too dramatic. This meant that I could not contribute the same way I originally planned. Now, I have two ideas that could add to the track creatively without altering the new style. Idea 1 was to scrap drumming since there is a drum machine; instead, I created sound effects to help the song transition (Appendix C). The benefit of this approach is that I can add new elements and make the final sound more cohesive. Opposing the idea is that it takes me time to find/make the right sounds blend into the track without it sounding out of place, which would only make the track sound more chaotic than it already is.

The 2nd idea is to make a new drum loop as a ‘bridge’ in the new song style (Appendix D). Doing this enabled me to create a moment with drums that have a more natural sound than the drum machine.

Finally, having different people for the 3 weeks made it a challenge for everyone, as we had to adapt in the moment and adjust what we had done the previous week (Rec 3). This is useful to me because it has helped me improve my improvisation skills. Alternatively, it meant we could not continue an idea that would allow us to develop a different set of creative skills, such as subtle tone-crafting and better structure development.

In the 4th week, there was only one other musician with whom I couldn’t develop any ideas. We decided to reflect on what we had done, what we would have done differently, and what our thought process was in the moment.

What would I have done differently?

The 3rd week showed me that I had a very messy and unorganised way of finding and layering sounds (Appendix E) that meant I had left a 1 bar count in on the drum loop, which is audible in ‘Rec 3’ (at 3:55). In the future, I will have a process and a more organised way of working under pressure.

I would take a more direct approach and guide the group to make a good, finalised project. This would have made roles clearer and provided a better guide for a genre.

After speaking with the keyboard player, he said his instrument was too loud on the recordings, and I agree. He could not hear how loud he was because the speaker was in front of him, so he needed someone to direct him. This is something I didn’t consider during the session; in retrospect, I could have shifted my focus from finding samples to directing the group’s overall dynamic.

The project was a good way for me to learn, although I am a producer, I can still take initiative and songwrite to improve the results. Also taught me that I need to be more adaptable when I’m working with a group with varying ideas.