Background
For this unit, we had to compose three pieces of music; a song in our bands to perform live, a song to go to an awards ceremony compilation video, and a song to go to a shakespeare sonnet. The sonnet video was created by the media and performing arts students, and we had to communicate with them to find out what they wanted. The awards ceremony video we all got the same one, and got to choose ourselves what type of music we got to put to it. Our band composition we got to do what we chose and had total artistic freedom.
BAND
Context
This unit is our composition unit for the band composition. For the band composition, we simply had to write a song that would be performed live at the underground in Bradford. Although we had some assistance from tutors in terms of arranging, we had total artistic freedom for this composition.
Research
For our research we individually listened to songs and analysed them to better understand composition and gain inspiration. One of the songs I analysed was ‘all the small things’ by blink 182, which is quite a simple song in terms of its arrangement and composition. It is in the key of C major and uses chords I, IV, V throughout the whole song. This made us understand that a song can use a simple and common chord progression, with simple techniques and still be world famous.
Another couple of songs we looked at and compared were Canon in D – by Johann Pachelbel, and Basketcase –by Greenday. We compared these songs because they use the same 8 chord progression and virtually the same structure but in different keys. The chord progression of Canon in D is: I, V, vi, iii, Iv, I, IV, V. the chord progression for Basketcase is: I,V,vi, iii, iV, I, V, V. this was interesting to learn about since Canon in D is a classical piece, and Basketcase is a high energy pop punk piece but they use the same chord progression. Because of this, we learned a lot about arranging. We learned this through the differences in the songs, such as; Basketcase having a more pushing rhythm, using modern electric instruments (guitar, bass, drums, vocals), and having chords on the main melodic instrument instead of like Canon in D having a melody played on the main melodic instruments.
Practical skills
Our song is called lonely road. The first thing we did for our composition was come up with a musical style. We decided we would go for a slow modern hip-hop feel, trying to go for the same feel as Stan by Eminem. The next thing we did was come up with a key, we chose c major, we then chose the chords for the song, which were: vi, iii, ii, IV, V. we did this randomly by each picking a chord number in order. We decided that the last bar would be split and have two chords in it to give it more variety and make it stand out more. The chords were Am, Em, Dm, F, G. we played through this a couple times and all agreed that it sounded good as a chord progression. I then sat down at the drum kit and played a number of different beats in progression. The first being a 12/8 beat which we agreed sounded too much like a ballad. The next beat I played was a slow and basic 4/4 rock beat which we thought sounded too slow, so instead I played semiquavers on the hi hat instead of playing quavers. This gave it a more classic hip-hop drum loop feel. We agreed that this sounded good for our composition and so we stuck with it. We then jammed through this progression a couple times and veronica improvised a vocal melody over it, which we stuck with. Ant later wrote lyrics to rap during the song. During one session, Cain and I wrote the guitar parts for the guitarist. We had simple bar chords but with a funky strumming rhythm. Throughout the time we were practicing the song I added more ornamentation in the song such as open hi hats and little fills throughout the song. We also added a two beat break on the ninth bar of each verses in sync with the vocal rhythms. Once we had the structure of the song down, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus. We decided that we would have a breakdown section in the song after the second verse. In this section, we agreed that all of the instruments would drop out apart from the guitar, bass, and piano. The bass stays the same whilst the piano and guitar play a harmonised melody, the guitar playing the same rhythm as the piano but the 5th of what the piano is playing. This would go on for two bars before the rapping comes in. after two bars, I came in with a crescendoing beat for four bars before we all come back in for the chorus. This whole section is 8 bars long. The structure after we’d finished writing it was; verse, chorus, verse, chorus, breakdown, chorus, and chorus.
Evaluation
I think that our song went well and sounded good during the final performance. Our composition was in the style of a hip-hop song and it sounded very hip-hop. It was also quite slow moving and moody which suited the meaning of the song, which is about a troubled young boy. The structure we formed was interesting and the different instrument parts worked well together. The lyrics were deep and meaningful and we had a catchy chorus line.
However, I think that we could have improved our dynamics in the song to make it more versatile by being quieter in the verses and louder in the choruses. Also I think the song would have been better if we had some instruments drop out during the verses such as the keyboards and guitar.
SONNET
Context
In this unit we had to compose a piece of music to put to s Shakespeare sonnet and a video that the media students had created. Our music had to be appropriate for the style and mood of the sonnet. I was advised that my piece should be minimalist. My sonnet was sonnet 18, which is quite an upbeat sonnet about good times and the summer, which meant I would have to use major chords and make the composition sound summery and happy.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
As you can see, the poem is very light hearted and pleasant to read, therefore appropriate to have a piece of music that has a positive vibe to go along with it.
Research
One song that I used as research was sonnet 18 by David Gilmour in which he uses the sonnet as lyrics in a song. In this song it is in a major key and has a flowing feel with droning synth in the background and major chords on the piano. It also has a repetitive riff on the piano, which is an arpegiated major chord. It also has string instruments flowing in the background, which gives it a pleasant sound and feel. I used this song as a big inspiration for my composition.
Another song that I used as research was metamorphosis by Philip glass. This was because it is a well-known minimalist piece. It has just one piano and slowly introduces different musical ideas throughout, some so subtly that you may not notice them. This was good for me because it helped me to understand how you can do a lot with little instrumentation, and how you can introduce and remove ideas without it being so abrupt.
Practical skills
I started to compose this song by picking a key, I chose C major and chose to base my composition around the C major chord. I started with a drone in the background of a low C on a deep synthesized instrument. This was my base for the composition. I developed on this to form the rest of the piece of music. I then faded in a C major arpegiated chord sequence on the piano, this idea would repeat throughout the piece, it would be the main melodic idea in the piece. I had different drones introduced throughout, such as the low C then playing the octave above. I also introduced a harp in the piece, again playing an arpegiated chord. This was effective because it brought back the previous arpegiated sequence but on a different instrument which added more diversity and gave a noticeable difference to the piece. At the end of the piece, I had an oriental scale played on a distant sounding plucked instrument. This, along with the drone in the background gave it a flowing summery feel, which suited the sonnet perfectly.
Evaluation
Overall, I think that my music suited the video and the sonnet, it was summery and free sounding because of the drones and major arpeggios. It was the perfect length for the video, as I had to cut some out since the video was shorter than expected. The media students who I worked with said they liked it as it was and didn’t want anything to change. All of my ideas worked well with each other and faded in and out without any clashes.
However, if I were to do it again, I would give more variety by switching up the drones because it started to sound a bit fuzzy towards the end. Also, I would add some sort of nature effects like animal sounds or wind blowing to again make it more summery sounding.
AWARDS CEREMONY
Context
For this section of our unit, we got given a compilation video that we had to put music to that would be played at an awards ceremony, this composition could be in any style we wanted and we didn’t have to meet any demands from the clients apart from that it needed to be at least 2 minutes 30 seconds long.
Research
One song that I used for research was Ben Howard’s version of call me maybe. I used this song because it shows how different you can make a song with different arrangement techniques and musical appropriation. This was an interesting song to analyse because he took quite a simple pop song and completely changed the instrumentation and rhythms. So much so that if he had changed the lyrics you wouldn’t be able to tell it came from call me maybe. This showed me how simple it is to borrow an already existing idea and alter it to make it your own.
Another song that I used for research was winter winds by Mumford & sons. I used this song because it has little instrumentation complexities and technical complexities. Because of this I could easily understand what was happening in the song, such as the fact that it had a thumping rhythm that you could easily dance to, yet it uses folk instruments and techniques.
Practical skills
For my awards ceremony I went for a funk and rock inspired piece. I started with a driving rock drum beat at 140 bpm that was relatively simple but had some odd bass drums that would add variety to the rhythm. Now that I had my drum beat I needed to add melody and a bass line to it. I decided to have my song in the key of C major and chose the chords I, IV, iv, V after thinking they sounded good whilst messing around with ideas on the keyboard. These chords were C major, F major, A minor, G major. I now had a chord progression that I could base my composition on. I put a chugging guitar over my drumbeat playing a C power chord playing quavers. Then I added a bass line that was again playing a C but with different rhythms to the guitar. This was how my piece would start. In the next section, I changed the drumbeat to half time to give it a lazier feel and introduce the new arpegiated C chord bass line. I also added a fuzzy synth that was playing the 4 bar chord progression. The section after this everything drops out because there was a shot in the video that I wanted to emphasise. All the instruments dropped out and a string section was the only thing playing. It was playing the same chord progression but one chord every two bars, this made it more free feeling and flowing. Also, instead of playing chords, it just played octaves, then octaves with 5ths. This gave more dynamic and textural contrast to the piece. I slowly crescendoed the half time drumbeat back into the piece, as well as the arpegiated bass line and synth chord progression. The next section was the same as the first, but then has a key change going from C major to D major. This was effective because it gave more variety to the song and stopped it from sounding too similar. For the ending, I had all of the instruments crescendo for one bar and then all end on the I chord which was D major.
Evaluation
Overall I thought that my piece sounded good and fit the video well. I had certain section changes that fit in with the video changes that highlighted different sections. Musically it was diverse and had some interesting concepts such as the drum fills I used and the ways I faded instruments in and out.
However, my music was not the length of the entire video, which meant that it could not be played at the awards ceremony. Also, I could’ve used the instruments equaliser better. For example, I thought that the bass drum sound I used sounded a bit hollow and not very substantial. I could’ve used the equaliser to make the bass drum have more punch and generally sound better. Those are some things that I will keep in mind for next time I have to compose a piece of music.