For my first piece of research, I decided to listen to songs & projects that I enjoy from artists within the genre I would like to create, and pick out certain elements in the songs that make them stand out, and use them for my own songs in the project. An element I can take out from all the songs and pieces studied, is that the 808’s in hyperpop songs are always very punchy and loud compared to the rest of the song’s balance and audio in general.
An element from this song that stands out is the layered & panned vocals. You can hear the difference in tones between the vocals, one being more hyper and energetic, with the other set of vocals being softer and more relaxed. The point of these vocals being layered is to add more thickness to the vocals, and you can hear the EQ is different on each vocal, to make sure the same frequencies aren’t being pushed through both vocals, making it sound muddy. Another thing that stands out is the hard, punchy 808s that come in a double step pattern. The fast tempo instrumental for this song allows for it to flow continuously with no breaks, typical for this genre of songs.
My biggest take-away’s from this song and elements that I enjoyed is the amount of percussion sounds and random effects that are used. This allows for the effect of the song seeming like it’s moving at a fast pace, with a-lot going on at once. Another thing to notice in the song is the dynamics of the 808 pattern and sound in general, it appears to be louder than everything else in the instrumental for the song, this allows for it to stand out to the listener.
A big thing that can be seen in this song and a lot of songs before is the use of guitar loops and samples in the track. Most of the Hyperpop songs discussed here use an acoustic guitar to “mellow” out the vibe of the song. This influence is taken straight from pop and their use of guitars, but instead adding a more “hyper” and energetic sound to it all. Hyperpop seems to be the cross point between EDM and Pop in certain elements, with the sounds of the 808’s and the patterns, mixed in with basic pop elements and vocals.
Planning
In planning for this project, I think the first thing that should be done is the creation of the instrumentals for the song. From the creation of these instrumentals, I can then build from those into a full song and project. After having the instrumental finished I can then write lyrics over them, and then get to the recording phase by booking out time in the live studio. To help with this I’m also going to create demo versions of the songs at home, to help me know how the song is going to sound and how the vocals should sound over the track. After creating these, I can record the vocals in the studio with ease knowing how it should sound.
To help make a song from scratch, I had to research some pop punk chord progressions. This chart shows progressions from each key.
I’m going to develop on these progressions by asking a guitar player to play them for me and seeing what chords sound best for the song, and then going forward into making and recording the track from scratch.