Starting off with choosing my direction on the final piece, I had to decide whether to use first- or second-weeks project, which, it ultimately led to the first one since I preferred the sound. Also, I know it needed touch ups all around along with adding my second part, so it made the whole process interesting. For the first part of the track, I want to go with a groove sound like how the band Gorillaz makes their music. As for the last 16 measures, I wanted to make a transition by making it sound different with the same bpm but making it feel slower and calmer.  

 

For the structure, I preferred to stay simple with using 120 bpm and using C major throughout the track. Opening project 1, I wanted the drums to have a different sound, so I completely changed the drum instrument choice. The backbeat was the foundation to keep the first 16 measure intact and not lose groove, so it was meant to sound simple and not technical. As for the hi-hat, I referred to my liking of rap/hip-hop music by adding a roll like in most songs today in that genre. For the last 16 measures, my drums were kept calm and collect as they didn’t interrupt the vibe it was giving as it gave the chords and melody space to be the stars of the show. Finally, was the bass track, in which it took a while to find a bass sound that I like. I wanted to bass to sound funky but not too much at the same time, so I went with using the Liverpool Bass while adding chorus to it make it sound more alive. In the first 16 measures, I had the notes constantly repeating after each other to create the groove. And for the last 16 measures, I had them follow the chords to have a smoother appeal.  

 

In my harmony, I wanted every 8 bars to be different throughout the track but making sure to voice the chords so that it doesn’t sound choppy in any way. Using 4 chord progressions, the focus was to make it sound basic but not to basic as I wanted the first 16 measures to sound happy, and the last 16 measures to have a smooth groove. As for my melody, I went extra with the first 16 measures due wanting the Gorillaz sound in it and changing the Chinese Guzheng Zither to a different instrument using alchemy. The second melody is different due to having a simple pattern and going along with the higher keys of the harmony. For reference to my chord progressions, I used the following: 

I - V - vi - IV 

I - iii - vi - IV 

Iii – vi – IV – I 

IV – I – iii - IV 

 

For my audio track, I originally intended to have a friend sing throughout the 32 measure with back-up vocals using reverb effects but that fell through. So, I just went with recording my fan and added flanger and reverb to it to create a wind flowing sound to create white noise for the first 16 measures. I did not want that track sounding empty after deleting the original loop, so this was my go-to. When it came to creating my sample sound, the idea behind it was having a transition sound to the last 16 measures and not using a sound that’s already made. Using the EX24 Sampler on track 11, I created my own transition sound and it sound perfect to me as soon as I added it. As for the synth tracks, I used the opportunity to make the melodies having the synths using alchemy and the tracks being 6 and 7. Alchemy has a long list of synths to use with its stock settings so I picked out 8 light years from here and metallic bell atmosphere.  

 

One of the main dynamics I used was the EQ, in which I used it in the drums and for the melody. I used the EQ on the melodies to cut the low ends. For the snare, I felt that it was a must to add it to it as I did not want to hit so hard; along with that, it goes with how I added the EQ to the bass to make sure that it's not harsh sounding and keeping that groovy sound. For the time-based effects, I knew I had to use one for the audio loop on track 10 by adding Chroma verb with the vocal ambience effect. I felt like it added to the vocals by spreading them out more and not sounding plain. Also, just like I mention before on the last paragraph, in track 9, I added the space designer reverb and flanger to give a wind sound to make sure the first 16 measures are not empty. With the dynamics and time-based effects, my main idea of them being used was making sure all 32 measures align with each in some way, while transitioning mid-track.