I know a ghost

I figured I would write up a new blog post since the last time I did so was in May, and because I wanted to write about a great show I went to recently. Here is the entrance of one of my favorite bands, Christian metalcore group The Devil Wears Prada, performing on 11/24/09 at the Town Ballroom in downtown Buffalo, NY.



I will start off by talking about the openers for the show, Haste the Day and Story of the Year. I knew of Haste the Day from watching the music video for the song "Stitches" on YTV. They started off the show with and energetic and inspired performance. Thought I wasn't familiar with any of their songs, all of them sounded very good. The vocalist had a beautiful clean singing voice, as well as good screams. The bassist did backing harmony vocals which sounded great. The two guitarists performed their parts while headbanging admirably. The drummer played very well, even lifting up the hi-hat during one song, which was very cool and funny. Haste the Day were amazing.

Now on to Story of the Year. Very good performance. Their sound is more of a hardcore pop-punk fusion and the guitarists and lead singers moved and jumped around the stage accordingly. One of my favorite parts of their performance was when one of the guitarists did a back flip off of an amplifier and the band started a song right when he landed. Even though I didn't know their most popular song "Until The Day I Die" I caught on to the catchy melodic chorus easily enough (until the day I die...I'll spill my heart for yeouu). The buildup to the intro riff for this song was really cool, as the guitarists played riffs that had you thinking they were going to play something else, and then they go in to the memorable intro. I really enjoyed Story of the Year.

Then came one of the co-headliners of the Napalm and Noise Tour: All That Remains. The last time I saw ATR was in New Haven, CT at Toad's Place when the co-headlined with Trivium. Here is footage from the concert, performing the song "Six".


All That Remains played great. I was familiar with a good number of their songs, and the performances didn't disappoint. Oli Herbert, the lead guitarist, played some wonderful leads throughout their performance, and the lead singer had a nice speech appreciating the fans' financial support, which I liked. ATR ruled.

Last up were the band I came to see, The Devil Wears Prada. TDWP were the highlight of the evening. I finally got to see them live and they didn't disappoint in the slightest. The had a really wicked breakdown style intro that segued into Sassafras. In fact, they had really cool little intros that segued into songs throughout their set. I don't remember the setlist, but they played all of the songs that I wanted them to play: Hey John, HTML, Reptar. Their closing song was Danger:Wildman which was incredibly exciting and crazy. Everybody in the place went nuts went the song started and Mike sang the famous words: I know a ghost. I really enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada, had a great time at the entire concert and I look forward to seeing them in the future!

Here is a link to the user who posted some videos from the show.

http://www.youtube.com/user/irishdrunk211

A Night To Remember: Juraj Kojs Final Project

Here is my trance track, entitled "A Night To Remember", my final project for Professor Juraj's Introduction to Electronic Music course. Fittingly, I am posting this around midnight. This has been one of my favorite and most enjoyable classes at Yale, and both Professor Juraj Kojs and my TA, Matt Barnson, have been wonderful and informative instructors. This track is a culmination of the all the things I have learned this semester. And, I am glad to say, I am immensely proud of it.

Working on the musical projects in this course has improved my musical ear, and allowed me to immerse myself in the constructive process of creating electronic music tracks. I would like to describe my final project below.

"A Night To Remember" started out, as all my musical projects do, with a riff. I wrote the synth riff that begins a quarter of the way through the track at the 1:00 minute mark. Then I created, with the ultrabeat drum machine in Logic Pro software, the drum beat that starts off the track.

Next, I resorted to three resources: Rick Snoman's Dance Music Manual, trance tracks that I have listened to (especially Smith and Pledger's "Black", which I recently reviewed on this blog), and Professor Juraj's trance track "recipe" from his lecture slides on trance music and culture. Snoman's chapter on trance helped me develop the drum beat after the drops, my listening knowledge of trance guided my development and arrangement of my track, and the trance "recipe" provided me with stylistic cues like the cymbal hits throughout the track (most notably at the beginning and end), instrument choices and timbres, and developmental ideas such as the buildups to the drops.

I spent many hours moving and subtly changing melodies until a "body" for my track emerged. This process was one of the most difficult parts of the project. Speaking of difficulties, the two most difficult areas of my track were the following: the chord progression in my "trance strings" instrument (synth strings pad), and physically performing the synthesizer melody that comes in at the 2:25 minute mark of the track. I have no music theory knowledge, so I had to play around with the MIDI controller (keyboard) keys while the main riff was playing until I came up with a simple, but satisfying progression that comes in at the 0:33 minute mark. As for the synthesizer melody, I slowed down the tempo of the track and keyed in the notes, but as I have no keyboard playing experience at all, I really had to practice the melody to get the finger motions right. On top of making the physical motions required for the melody to sound smooth, the melody is played on the off beat, compounding the difficulty.

Next, I came up with the introductory bass line that starts in the key of the piece, B minor. My next intention was to work on the drops. I recorded snare rolls by lowering the tempo, and I played around with my instruments to produce as much energy, intensity, and exhilaration as I could for the drops. Since I wasn't able to produce a glissando (which was my original intention), I recorded pick slides from two guitars and added chorus and phaser effects to them. I then recorded a note with a motion sequence synthesizer and I had my drops ready.

As my track progresses, I make slight variation to the synthesizer melodies, add and subtract harmonies, and change up the bass line. The third drum beat was done to accentuate the focus on the percussion and you can recognize because it's the one with the syncopated kick drum when only the synthesizer is playing along.

Finally, I finished the musical elements for my track and proceeded to edit it, mix it, and master it. I adjusted the amplitude levels using the mixer and then fine tuned them with the volume automation tool. I spent a considerable amount of time making sure one instrument was not too soft or too overpowering, listening through different kinds of headphones (the nice ones in Stoeckel Hall and shitty iPod ones), as well as laptop speakers and a 2.1 sound system in my dorm room. I made changes to the track itself by re-recording some melodies to sound smoother, polishing up snare rolls, perfecting the drops, and changing up the drum beat. Then I mastered the track using a preset. Finally, I reached a sound I was satisfied with and completed "A Night to Remember".

I would like to include two screenshots of how the project looked like in Logic Pro software. The shot below shows the anatomy of the second drop.

This next shot shows the mixer and the associated amplitude levels of each track, as well as the effects placed on them.

I hope you have enjoyed listening to my final project, and my other assignments as well. It has been really fun writing and creating electronic music and I will definitely continue doing so in the future (I almost filled up my "www" pantheon space, which is a GB, with musical ideas, riffs, and licks in Logic that I didn't use for any project--some of those ideas I posted earlier in this blog, some of those ideas...well, wait and see!). I am very proud of all of the work I have done this semester in Music 295 (well, on second listen, the ringtones and the RadiaL loops...didn't turn out that well), and most importantly--my blog and my musical pursuits will continue! If you are a fellow Juraj Kojs disciple, I look forward to hearing your track. I saw a couple of people bring electric guitars into Stoeckel Hall, so (especially since I'm a guitar player myself) I'm excited to hear what other people came up with.

Track Review

For this blog post, I will be reviewing a track by Smith and Pledger called "Black".



The track begins with a straight-forward beat characterized by a bass drum, hi-hat, and snare. A four-to-the-floor bass drum pattern enters, and a bass line comes into the mix as well. A simple melody line then enters the fold and is repeated. A synthetic voice pad outlines a chord progression. A glissando then leads to almost all instruments dropping out, and a new but similar bass line emerges followed by a melody, snare roll and massive drop.

The drop is accentuated by percussion dropping out right before all instruments go back in, and a glissando becomes the focus of the listener. I thought this technique was very effective, and I hope to use it in my final project.

The second dropping out of instruments is followed by the introduction of percussion, and then a bass line, changing it up from before. The synthetic melodic line comes back in as well as the voice pads and another drop.

I am giving this track 5 out of 5 stars for the following reasons. First, all of the instrumental lines are compelling. This includes the beat, melody, bass line, and pads. These elements have a simple, yet very effective progressions, melodies or beats.

Second, the arrangement works very well. This is an eight minute track, and Smith and Pledger develop each theme in different ways, as described above. After the second drop, for example, they come back in with percussion instead of bass. A lot of this arrangement work is very subtle, yet it lends a lot of professionalism to the track, and engages the listener.

Third, the energy of the track is pumping. It starts off slow, crescendos, maintains energy, and slowly fades away. It is very "danceable", and the well constructed drops lend to the exhilarating quality of the track.

In my final project, which will be a trance track, I hope to replicate what makes this track work well, and incorporate it into my work.

Drum and Bass, Go

Here is the link for the fourth and final short assignment in Professor Juraj's electronic music course. I created this track in the drum and bass style with a fast tempo of 190bpm. I had fun with the ending. 



Happy Easter!

Project 4 ideas

Here is a link to some ideas that I created in Logic for Project 4. I am creating a drum and bass track, and I have come up with a neat bass line that I now have to develop melodic ideas around, and arrange and develop a two minute track.

Ideas

Final Project Proposal

For my final, four minute track, I would like to create something in the trance genre, my favorite type of electronic music. I was really inspired by the trance lecture Professor Juraj gave, and I appreciated the trance track "recipe" he has provided us in his lecture slides. 

Given certain parameters for creating a trance track, I realize that a lot of my work will focus on development and arrangement. The key to a good trance track lies in exposition, and not necessarily the amount of musical material you have. The Paul Van Dyk track that Professor Juraj played for us in class, "Namistai", illustrates this principle well.

I hope to play around with four programs for this final composition. Logic will be the main piece of software that I will use. Specifically for this software, I will need to familiarize my self with the ultrabeat drum tool in order to create the percussion required for my trance track. I also will need to compose musical ideas and riffs that will form the basis of my track.

I will probably use Reason to supplement Logic (pun INTENDED). Finally, I hope to use ReCycle and RadiaL to get some small sampling into my track. Right now, I'm looking for samples that I could use. Two cool things I am thinking of sampling are from the post-hardcore music genre: the intro to "The Downfall Of Us All" by A Day to Remember, and the middle section to "HTML Rulez D00d" by The Devil Wears Prada. However, I have to develop my musical ideas first before figuring out if and what samples I can incorporate into my track.

Assignment 3 Review

For this post, I will review the work of another classmate, Nicholas Simmons-Stern. Given that the assignment parameters called for a one minute track, and Nick submitted a three minute track, I will selectively describe things that stood out for me in his composition.

The track begins with an ambient mood as synthesizers and pads create an aural landscape in a minor key. Nick includes some vocals in the background as the track progresses, creating a neat effect. The beat and tempo are well situated to the laid back, trance-like atmosphere that the track creates. 

I really like the way that instruments fade in and out in the track. It is clear that Nick spent time arranging his piece and it shows in the final product. Nick switches back and forth from one bass line to another as the track progresses.

Overall, I thought the track did a great job of creating a mood. The trance-like mood was facilitated by the attention to detail in bringing instruments in and out. As I am hoping to do a trance track for my final project, I hope to pay as much attention to arrangement as Nick did in his stellar track.

Reason Track

This is my one minute track in Reason software. I applied chorus/flanger, foldback distortion, phaser, unison, and envelope controlled filter to my Thor synthesizers.

Reason Track

Wall of Death

I've been looking through youtube to find videos from the ETF concert and I couldn't find any good quality Attack Attack! clips, so I'll just post the wall of death during ETF's set preceding the song "The Guillotine".



If you are interested, the youtube user ariaslucia posted the entire concert on her account.

Sickkk

I went to NYC last night for the Escape the Fate concert, supported by Black Tide, William Control and Attack Attack! It was a really sick show. Here is Escape the Fate performing "There's No Sympathy for the Dead" at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza, where the concert was held.



I'm going to try to tie in some stuff about electronic music in this post as well.

Unfortunately, when I finally got to the venue, Attack Attack! were already playing (there was a long line outside). As soon as youtube videos of their performance are posted I will add them to my blog.

I caught three of their songs--Dr. Shavargo Pt. 3, Catfish Soup, and The People's Elbow. As I mentioned before, there is a synth element to their post-hardcore sound. I wish I had gotten a better look at their synthesizer setup, but I believe it was two Korg synthesizers stacked on top of each other. Their clean vocals were done by one of their guitarists and were processed, something you don't usually see in live vocal performances. This effect was used to mirror the one they use on their album, and it is a type of distortion or light vocoder (effects we learned about in class). Attack Attack's sound was unbelievable, and the mix was great too. I thought that, along with Escape the Fate, they sounded the best last night.

Next up was someone I was not familiar with, William Control. His music consists of industrial dance beats (think NIN) and vocals. He also had a bass player with him on stage. While his style of music didn't really mesh with the rest of the lineup last night, I warmed to his sound by the end of his set.

Black Tide came on next. The crowd wasn't too alive during their set, but I was really happy when they busted out an old-school Metallica cover, "Hit the Lights". A huge circle pit formed during that song. I like their old-school thrash metal approach, and the whole band had tremendous stage presence as well as instrumental chops (especially the drummer and guitarists). However, their live performance didn't get the crowd too excited.

Escape the Fate was a different story. When they came on, all hell broke loose, as they say. Mosh pits started popping up everywhere, and pushing, swaying, singing, screaming, and crowd surfing all took place. Their set list, to the best of my memory, was:

The Flood
Reverse the Curse
There's No Sympathy for the Dead
Something
You Are So Beautiful
Not Good Enough for Truth In Cliché
On to the Next One
Ashley
The Guillotine
This War is Ours (The Guillotine II)
Situations

There was a wall of death for "The Guillotine" which is where the crowd splits down the middle and runs at each other when the song starts, basically creating a crowd-wide mosh pit. I got pretty close to the front row and had a blast the entire time. Escape the Fate, Black Tide, and Attack Attack! will all be on Warped Tour this summer, so check them out!

P.S. The clip below shows how crazy the show was during ETF's last song (and you can see me on the right side of the screen with glasses at the 0:21-0:22 mark)

Music

I thought I would post 3 tracks that I am playing on repeat (on youtube, ha) right now. The first one is in the trance genre--"Summer Rain" by ATB. I am discovering the elements to a good dance track, and this one has a good loop that starts it off. This loop is developed with percussion for a good minute and a half. Then vocals come in, and the loop comes back and hits the "drop". Not a lot of musical elements, but a lot of work in development and structure (things to keep in mind for me as Music 295b moves into the dance music phase).



Next up is "Shockwave" by Black Tide, another opener for Escape the Fate in NYC on Feb. 21. I really dig the riff in this song, but I've been having trouble playing it on guitar. I think it's in some weird tuning.

Last, but not least, I am including "Through Struggle" by my new favorite band, As I Lay Dying. I have to warn you that it is very hardcore (especially the vocals), so at least check out the beginning and the vicious breakdown at the end (3:32). As I Lay Dying will be opening, along with Children of Bodom (whom I saw live at Toad's Place in 2006), for Lamb of God this spring. Unfortunately, the NYC show is right in the middle of exams, so maybe I will catch them in Myrtle Beach when the Seniors invade?

RadiaL Dance Loops

For our second assignment, Professor Juraj had us working with yet another neat program, RadiaL. Even with a simple 2 second click audio file, you can come up with some pretty interesting results. The following are the 3 dance loops for my assignment.

For the first dance loop, I kept it simple and only put the click file on 1 turntable. I DJed by manipulating the pitch and the tempo.

Dance Loop 1

For the second loop, I put the click file on 3 turntables. For the second and third turntables I selected portions of the sample file, while I kept the entire file running on the first turntable. Again, I used pitch and tempo shift, and I added an effect to the beginning of the loop.

Dance Loop 2

For my last loop, I put the click file into 4 turntables, and selected small samples of the click for each table. Before recording, I positioned pitch and tempo to different locations and then played around with them again from there, trying to make it sound decent. I also added a small section of switching the turntables on and off briefly at the end.

Dance Loop 3

New Dance Track

Here is a more polished version of the third track.

New Dance Track

I have found that working in Logic is super fun and addictive.

Playing with Logic

I decided to play around with Logic a little during my free time. I watched a simple, yet helpful Logic tutorial on youtube, which gave me the knowledge to create the following three tracks. The second one is a rock/metal track, while I tried to create a dance track for the third one. I apologize for the starts and stops in the middle of the third track, but I really like how the end of it turned out.

Logic

Rock

Dance

Logic Pro is a very powerful program, and I look forward to learning more about it.

Attack Attack!

Some of the "rock" genre music that I have been listening to recently includes a group called Attack Attack! who list themselves on their myspace as "screamo/electro" under genre. Screamo is a form of post-hardcore, which is an offshoot of punk.

The genre features, as the name implies, screaming vocals (sometimes mixed with melodic vocals and done by different singers), and harmonized guitars--to speak generally. A song will typically feature a "breakdown" which consists of a highly rhythmic phrase that people mosh to--kind of like moving to a dance track, except more aggressive, and at times, violent.

Electro is a genre that I had heard mention of, but had no idea what it was. Here is the wikipedia entry on it.

Basically, what this group is trying to do is merge screamo with dance music. Their song "Stick Stickly" includes a dance beat merged with guitars near the end of the song (turn down your volumes a little for the first vid, kids).



They have also done a dance/screamo cover of Katy Perry's popular song "I Kissed a Girl".



I think this band is really neat.



P.S. Attack Attack! will be opening for Escape the Fate in NYC on Feb. 21. Hope to see you there...

Soundscape Ringtones

Our first assignment was to craft ringtones in the style of soundscape, or in other words, to use daily sounds around us. For my first ringtone, I recorded the sound of my shoes walking (and crushing) icy snow in the stone courtyard of Saybrook, where I live. The recording for my second ringtone was of my keys jingling on a carabiner, with a heater providing background noise. I processed the ringtones using Logic Pro. The effects that I used were fade in and fade out, reverse, inverse, and pitch and tempo shifting.

Ringtone 1 (mp3)
Ringtone 1 (aiff)

Ringtone 2(mp3)
Ringtone 2(aiff)

Electronic Music That I Enjoy

Welcome to my blog for Music 295b: Introduction to Electronic Music.

To be honest, I have just started to really listen to electronic music. I have a passing familiarity with it because it is a primary hobby of my brother. I will use this opportunity to talk briefly about some electronic music that I like, and why I like it.

Genre-wise I am primarily into trance because of the strong emphasis on melody. From what I've heard, I also like house and drum and bass, although I'm not too familiar with those genres. Generically speaking, I like the build up and the "bass drop" that happens in a lot of trance tracks--it really wants to make you move.

Some of my favorite trance artists so far are Ferry Corsten and Tiesto. Ferry Corsten is pictured below.



Professor Kojs played a Ferry track called Beautiful in class, demonstrating its descending B minor scale melody line. It is a pretty simple melody, but it is very effective in a dance track, especially when the bass and drums come in. That's one of the things that appeals to me about trance: a simple melody can be addicting and make you want to move. Another Ferry track that I really like right now is Fire, which samples vocals of Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran. There is essentially no difference between this track and the Duran Duran song off of which it is based, called Serious, except for the dance drums and the replacement of guitars with a synthesizer. I like the vocals, melody, and groove of this track.

Tiesto is probably the DJ who is most salient to the public. I like his Adagio for Strings, which samples the classical piece by Samuel Barber. I also really like Going Up off of the compilation called "Summerbreeze". Tiesto has a great ear for melody.

Speaking briefly of house music, I am currently enjoying Human After All by the seminal French group Daft Punk. This track has addictive synthed vocals and bass.