Grenade Brothers, Project Portfolio, 04/27/2018

 

  The piece I created for this project is a lively romp that subtly uses the relative key of C major to create a counter-mood. I can’t really think of any influences for this, just basically what came out of my head. I imagined the solo synth/guitar melody as baroque sounding, utilizing the chromatic scale in major, relative and parallel keys. I think it would work best in the background music world (Muzak maybe), even though it would be a great for a commercial as well.

   The song is in C major, and I once again used Common time(4/4) because I truly felt it was the best meter for this style, laid back but hard driving as well.   4/4 leaves me space to do good fills without crowding song too much.  Section A is the major scale of C, Section B goes to it’s relative scale Am to change direction and mood. It ends on the C major scale. Section C is the ‘bridge’ part, and again it utilizes the relative minor with the parallel key chord Cm as the last measure before going into Section D. My favorite chord is that Cm because it is totally unexpected, but it works. Section D reverts back to tonic C major to end on a ‘happy’ note . The driving bass and rhythm go hand in hand with the weird synth sounds I created on the harmony layer. I also beefed up the regular bass sound with an original bass I created.

  Section A  C-F-G-G     C-F-G-Em

  Section B  Am-G-Dm-Am   C-Dm-C-C

  Section C   Am-G-C-Dm  Am-G-C-Cm

  Section D  C-F-G-G  C-F-G     C/F/C

  Section A utilizes the I/IV/V to set the tone of the song. The Em on the end of the first section is the ‘bridge’ chord and introduces the next section. Section B Am relative adds a more somber tone the first four measures, then reverts back to a happier tone the next 4. Section C is the Bridge ( in my mind), and uses relative Am and parallel Cm to create a darker, more unpredictable tone. The Cm at the end is weird and almost out of place, but a great introductory measure/chord to the last Section. Section D goes back to major C to reestablish the happy tone and ‘take it out’ as we musicians tend to say

   I recorded handclaps for my audio. The biggest problem was watching out for spikes as I clapped my hands. I realized I had to have my hands at a certain distance from the microphone for it to record properly. The bass track original sound I created was merely a matter of experimentation. I just played around with the ES2 until I got the crazy synth bass to accentuate the regular bass sound.

   Once again, I believe your mix is better if you only use what you need. Sometimes less is more. I think everything should be mixed in the tracks as much as possible before adding anything to your total mix. I utilized compression on some drums and EQ’d all tracks. I applied some chorus, reverb and delay to a few tracks per buss. I added Vintage Console EQ to the to final mix for warmth and the White/Blue compressor (SSL) for cohesiveness. I didn’t really use the compressor to compress, just basically for it’s ‘color’.