Cameron Walls Essay – (SHR4C004M~003)
For this project, I produced a three-minute UK Garage track. The main goal was to make something energetic that would work well in summer by focusing on the rhythm and vocals mainly. I had a lot of influence by artists such as Sammy Virji and Oppidan particularly with their drums and vocal chops. I created the track in Ableton and use both audio and midi instruments/plugins.
I structured the track by following typical UK Garage conventions, including an introduction, build up, drop and breakdown. This keeps the track interesting and creates a good flow. When starting to create the track I created some chords to help set the overall mood, this allowed me to already have a vision of the track to therefore create some drums. In UK Garage, the swing of the drums is very important when it comes to anything to do with percussion, hi hats and snares.
As the track developed, there were elements that I decided to remove and other elements I thought would be a good addition at certain points to make sure the track doesn’t become repetitive. At the beginning of the track, I introduce all of the key elements, the drums, chords and vocal. As it builds towards the drop the energy build by using automation on filters, then as the drop hits, the bassline comes in and the energy hits.
The drums are one of the most integral parts of a UK Garage track, I wanted my drums to sound full, in order to do this I layered my samples, especially snares, claps and hi hats to give them more texture within the mix. This helps the drums stand out and sound more professional.
Another important part of the production was the bassline, which is a key role in UK Garage. The bass was designed to work in coordination with the groove of the drums. I made sure that the bass wasn’t overpowering and it sat well within the mix. Finally, I slightly adjusted the timing to match the swing of the drums to support the groove.
During the production process, I worked in stages rather than completing everything at once. For example, I focused on building the main idea first which was the chords, then developing the arrangement and lastly improving the mix. This helped me stay organised and made it easier to identify what needed improve at each stage and then helped in the final stage of the track too when I was working on a mixdown as everything was grouped correctly.
The main sample in the track is the vocal, I chopped this up and used it throughout the track in different ways instead of keeping it as one continuous phrase. Throughout the breakdown the vocal is cut in half, then in the drop it gets even shorter and turned into vocal chops which changes pitch throughout. I used pitch shifting to match the vocal to the key of the track and throughout some points in the track I change the pitch to add variation. Whilst producing the track I also decided it would sound better a little bit slower so I changed the tempo of the track which meant I had to time stretch the vocal.
I also experimented with layering the vocal with subtle effects, this helps to give it more texture. For example, in some sections I added slight reverb tails and automated them to increase before transitions. This made the arrangement feel smoother and the whole track seem more professional.
This style of sampling is common in UK Garage, I wanted it to be one of the main parts of the track, just like how it is in Sammy Virji and Oppidan tracks.
The vocal was recorded and processed so that it would sit correctly in the mix. I used fabfilter pro eq to remove low frequencies which was causing the vocals to sound muddy. I also used compression to even out the volume as the chopped vocal sections were a bit inconsistent in volume.
Also, I added reverb and delay to give the vocal more space. I kept them controlled so that it didn’t become too distant in the mix and would stay present.
Sidechain compression was one of the most important parts of processing when it came to this vocal, this is common in UK Garage. It allows the mix to sound cleaner as when the kick hits the bass slightly ducks.
In addition to the vocal processing, I also applied mixing techniques to the rest of the track. Compression was used on the drums to make them sound punchy and stand out, whilst using erosion on the bass for some bitcrush effect.
Overall, I think the track captures the main features of UK Garage, especially the rhythm, vocal chops and structure. These keep the track engaging throughout and helps it not feel repetitive.
Another strength of the track is how it follows current trends within UK Garage. Many popular tracks in this scene right now keep simple rhythmic ideas rather than complex melodies, which influenced my approach. By keeping the track relatively simple and focusing on rhythm and vocal placement it allows the main elements to stand out.
One area I think could be improved is the mix, ensuring that everything is in the right frequency range and working correctly with each other.
Another possible improvement would be to develop the arrangement further by adding more variation in the final section of the track. This could be through introducing new elements or changing melodies slightly to create more contract. This would help to keep listeners engaged/
In terms of the tracks commercial potential, the track fits well within the current UK Garage scene, especially alongside Sammy Virji and Oppidan. It would be suitable for both nightclubs and dance playlists.
