Music Portfolio

The overall feel of this track is laid back with a vaporwave vibe. Whenever I began composing this track I didn't go in with a set plan of how it would sound. That is how I make most of my tracks honestly. The more I worked on this track and experimented with different sounds, I had a better feel of what the overall sound would be. You could label this track as experimental in a way as well. After writing the first measure of rhythm, I decided that I wanted to slow the tempo to 90 BPM to get a more laid-back feel. The interesting aspects of the beat are the back-to-back kicks and the hi-hat rolls. The hi-hat rolls occur at the "and" of the second beat in every other measure. The back-to-back kicks happen at the third beat and the "and" after it. I chose the sound for my drums by perusing Ultrabeat for something that wasn't too minimal but also packed a punch. The rhythm does evolve because of the variation of the beat in measures 4 and 12 and the fills in measures 8 and 16. The recorded audio track is a rain stick that I used as a shaker to compliment the rhythm on the "and" of beats two and four. I experimented with it on different beats and found that this placement really drives and adds to the rhythm. For the second section of the rhythm, I added swing the drums to give it a unique groove from the first section. The bass-line works well with the rhythm and harmony of the piece. I used the kick drum trick to draw the notes of the bass-line. I then lengthened some of the notes where I thought they were necessary and also on the measures with variations and fills to let the rhythm shine through. The bass-line uses all of the root notes from the harmony chords, so they work very well together. The track is in the key of Cm. I chose this key because I wanted it to sound dark or sad but also approachable. The chord progression is as follows: 1st Section: Cm Eb Gm Bb | Cm Fm Gm Gm | Cm Bb Ddim Fm | Cm Cm Gm Fm 2nd Section: Eb Gm Bb Ddim | Eb Ab Bb Bb | Eb Ddim Fm Ab | Eb Eb Bb Ab I went with a shakey-sounding pad to add to the sadness of the piece and It turned out exactly how I wanted it. The melody contour for the first section is an arch. I matched the root notes of the harmony in every measure and also used intervals and motifs throughout to keep it interesting. The second sections harmony doesn't have a specific contour per se, but it does include motifs and intervals as well. The recorded audio for the first section is a rain stick that I used as a shaker to compliment the rhythm on the "and" of beats two and four. I experimented with it on different beats and found that this placement really drives and adds to the rhythm. The recorded audio for the second section is me playing guitar along with the harmony chords. The two synth tracks that I created from scratch are a snare layer and a harmony layer. I felt these complimented and added to the sounds of those tracks. The sampler track that I used is a cop show clav. I used the beginning of it as a transition between sections and also in the middle of the second section. The melody has a compressor that makes it sound full and allows for less fade in between notes. The snare layer has a compressor to bring out the added sound to the snare a bit more. The shaker has a high-shelving EQ that gives it the slightest amount of dullness. The guitar has a low-pass filter that gives the sound more darkness. There is a delay on the guitar to give it a bit of presence while the rest of the music is playing. There is also a delay on the transition to do the same and add to the transition aspect. Lastly there is reverb on the harmony layer to give it a more spacey sound. Thanks for listening!