MUSIC
Sample Track
I made this track under the influence of many styles and times. I am big fan of pop music in the 80s but I grew up in the 90s and 00s listening to country and hip hop so my structure and instrument choice is not what you would expect in this piece. As a hip hop producer I enjoy piecing together work from whatever I can put a good beat behind as you will see or should I say hear.
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This track was very fun to make as I started with a slow/ storytellers/ hiphop tempo of 95 beats per minute and set my drums to a standard 4 on the floor to start my pattern and adjusted creatively according to what i felt. As I already said I love my hip hop so tossed in some constant hi hats in the first measure with some complex patterns, and for the "second 16" I slowed the hi hats down a little by cutting out almost every other sixteenth note but kept the complex parts. Of course. The snare fill or changeup was a sample i like and decide to put through the sampler to make something new. Bass is one of my favorite parts I always try to make sure it is not covered but not overwhelming. I just love the funk era and it influences me to make sure that bass is heard and felt.
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The harmony and melody for this track was meant to be more inspirational. With the tempo being slower than typical dance music like the four on the floor in the drums suggests, i decided to use the key of A minor for the the "first 16". Utilizing the chord progression Am, Dm and G for a full measure and breaking bar 4 into C and Am on a piano feeling synth to create an anxious feel. Matching the melody keys to my chord progression using a brighter more uplifting synth was the next step to bring it the feel i wanted. During the "second 16" I brought that feeling home by changing the key to C major. when changing to C major i borrowed the chords G and C but to add more swing to it I made the C chord a Csus4 for measure one and then G for half a measure and I stepped F for the half. Reusing G I added a note to make G7 for measure 3 and measure 4 was split with Csus4 and a stepped Em chord.
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I created two custom synthesizer sound utilizing the ESP synth in logic. Both of these were used to support to harmony throughout the composition. one was a near replica of the lead piano and the other was similar but i adjusted the ADSR and waveform to get a more plucked sound. I couldn't decide on an instrument to support the melody on the high end in the "first 16" so i recorded my own and adjusted it creatively in the quick sampler. It wouldn't be right if i didn't add my hiphop beat tag though so i threw it in at the beginning to avoid cluttering my composition.
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Mixing this track was much easier than expected. seeing as I had mashed so many genres together I was afraid it wouldn't go well but i had done most of the work before i got to that process. The drums share a reverb setting to keep the feeling of being in the same room together. Being the hiphop fan I am i utilized stereo delay on the hi hats to add some extra complexity to them. Every track track received a little EQ and kick drum always gets compressed for a tighter feel.
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Hey everybody my name is Jerry Abshire. This would be my first hip hop cue I have written for production and film. I was very excited when I assigned this task a few weeks ago. I wrote this cue with a slower more hip hop genre BPM, I wanted to make something that would go great for sports clips and sports apparel commercials. Incorporating orchestral instruments to help give the extra feel and presence of what is happening in the piece. Keeping a steady rhythm held with the cello and utilizing instruments to create dramatic drops makes great for high action, short sequenced sports clips that would be great for highlights or sports apparel advertisements. I used classic hip hop mixing techniques influenced by some of the greatest artists and engineers such as Dr Dre and DJ Khaled, hip Hop and hip Hop inspired cues have been part of American culture since before I was a young child. I remember growing up watching the Ninja turtles and listening to the theme song being wrapped by vanilla ice and I knew back then that I wanted to someday write music like that, not just hip hop but "themed" music. Music that was written specifically for a movie or skit. Compositions like that always makes the piece feel more special and intent driven.