This week I have been working on a new song, I haven't come up with a name yet. It's a club track so I'm thinking of making a radio edit as well as the original edit. It currently has no vocals but I am thinking of recording some, I can't sing but I'm thinking of adding some effects and just having more background vocals like a lot of club tracks have. I am aiming to write some lyrics today. I have decided for this track to make this version which is the club edit, and then make a sort of chilled dubstep downtempo version of it as well for my ep. I got really into the chord progressions and didn’t record much evidence.
I started off composing a chord progression which took some trial and error but I found one I liked. I played around with the velocity and got the sound I wanted, I then used serum to create some plucks and a lead and added reverb to them.
I used a piano but put a lot of reverb on it, and reduced the dry, and enhanced the wet to give it a nice dreamy sound.
I also added a melody and played around with the velocity to make it sound more humanised.
I played around with automation of the cut-off on serum, and also added a filter to the mixer channel (put them all on the same channel) and automated the cut-off I’ve found this gives it a rising effect where it starts tame and in the background, then gradually gets more intense, gives a classic club sound.
I wanted a build-up woosh sound, so I did a bit of googling and found out I. could achieve this by reversing a sample so it builds up rather than hit straight away and then fade. I chose a HiHat and reversed this, it came out sounding nice and perfect for the track as it's a club track.
I found a bass stab preset which gives it that sort of tropical house effect and I really liked this, so this is what I have used for the drop.
Throughout this song there is a lot of automation, I’m learning all sorts about automation and when I’m experimenting I've found that some of the stuff I’m doing sounds like some famous club songs, I just never knew that’s how they got the sound from that.
I’m enjoying making this track. I wanted to make just the chilled version, but the chord progressions sound so good as a club track. So I decided to make both, this is so my track can be played in a club or listened to at home, and broadens the horizons and the number of people that will listen to it, similar to having a radio edit. It will mean my track is more widely available and listenable by a variety of different crowds meaning I’ll be able to make more money.
I think I may end up sending this off to BBC Introducing, as I could see it being played on the radio in the summer.
Here is a preview of the song so far it starts off with the reverb piano, I then add some bass elements and as I had learnt earlier on in the project used automation to create a rise/fade effect, so added it to a mixer channel and put a filter on there, and automated the cutoff. I have used this a lot in this song, as it fits with what I am aiming for.
I then added some drums and gradually built up the song, I added a few different synthesisers and automated the filter cutoff on all of them. In this song, there is a lot of automation.
As you can see here automation is a big part, it creates a really slow buildup .
I then wanted a riser effect before the drop similar to what you would hear on a house track in a club, so I went on YouTube and watched a tutorial on how to make a riser track, I then set off to make one in serum by adding a long LFO that rises to the pitch channel of the oscillator, this gave a nice rising effect but didn’t have the right sound I was looking for, so I experimented with different wavetables put the LFO on the wavetable knob and automated it so it rises with the LFO, then added another oscillator, I then added some fx to the riser.
I’m fairly happy with the riser, especially since it was my first time, I think it’s usable for the song and I might tweak it a bit to get a better sound, but it was good to learn how to make one, as it’s essential for EDM tracks. People also sell risers in packs online, so if I improve on my skills I could end up making and selling packs of risers online, as a freelance producer, this is more passive income. I think it is an important skillset and technique to learn, is sound edisng and synthesis, as you can create exactly what sound you want, and also make money selling them in packs online. I would like to improve on this.
Here's a video of me creating the riser. once I have added the riser and built up the song, as you can see there is a lot of automation fading in and out. but I thought it needed more of a rising effect.
So I created a build-up snare drum by adding multiple snare drum layers and EQing them to get the sound I wanted. I then created an automation on the pitch of the drums and made it so it rises over time of the build-up, this created a really nice effect but it needed more, so I took the whole build-up keys and saved them all as a WAV file, then imported them back in, and automated the pitch on this to rise as well. This sounds amazing, it sounds just like most club songs, so I am really happy with it, and it's a very useful skill that I have learnt.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think the track is sounding really nice, and I'm looking forward to adding more elements and mixing and mastering it, I have learnt lots of different skills in the making of this track, using automation on almost anything, exploring different way's to use automation, how to synthesise a riser effect in Serum, how to create a rising effect by reversing samples. And by playing a round with different melodies and chords and learning how to make a club-styled track. I have also thought about how i want to release this track and further promotion and marketing strategies, and who the track is targeted at .Regarding the project as a whole, I am keeping up with my deadlines and am on track, although we only have a few weeks left now, and the deadlines I have given myself in my project plan needs to be sped up a bit.
over the next week, I am going to be writing lyrics for my third track, perfecting and mixing and mastering this second track. and mixing and mastering my first track, at the moment it is sound a little muddy in some areas I need to free up some of the frequencies because currently, they are all bouncing on the same frequencies, this is something I struggle with, but I have a book on mixing and mastering and have access to YouTube so I'm going to learn everything I can with the time that is left to mix and master this song to perfection.
I also have an idea for my fourth track down, but I want to watch some tutorials, and learn different production skills, as I don't currently have the necessary skills to produce it exactly how I want to. My aim is to make it a future bass song, and learn how to be as competent as artists such as Illenium, I have never made a future bass song, but am really liking the genre, and this track that I have thought out sounds really good and sounds like a future bass song. depending on how much I get done over the next few weeks, I might have to settle for 4 tracks, with one music video. I have accounted for this in my initial project plan. I have been recording footage since September, and have lot's in mind. I will need to learn how to be proficient in iMovie and Magic Visual studio. So during the holiday lot's of learning and applying it to my project.
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