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The others wanted to do a song called "No No No" which they played me and I was up for it. I worked out the chords which were just 3 note reggae style chords. We played along to the track lots of times and I was struggling to establish when the sections changed due to me not hearing the song before. It was quite suttle the way it changed and there was no massive change from the verse to the chorus. No dynamic change ore fill leading up to it. I was expecting a crescendo to let me know when to change but there wasn't but after playing along to the track a few more times I had it down.

Luckily I was used to this kind of music so it wasn't dead hard to learn. I had played similar chords and rhythms when playing songs like "ghost town" by the specials and some funk songs that we had wrote in the past.

Because the guitar is syncopated when we recorded it and played it back the guitar sounded out of time. We decided to record it again and we ended up with a better recording

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Ben Guitar

We decided to write a hip hop song so i decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something different to what I usually play. I chose a delay setting on my effects pedal and tempo tapped in time with Johns beat that he came up with. This made it so what ever I played in time; the delay would be in time too.

I messed around with a D minor chord and tried several picking patterns. I came up with one that I liked and stuck with it. I had a bit of trouble getting used to the delay time because it gets confusing when you hear notes that you are not actually playing, but I got used to it.

What i really liked about the delay time was the dotted eighth time that was set. It made the delay note pop right after you hit a note. This made it sound like more than one guitar playing and it made the song sound more complex than it really was.

I only played two chords throughout the piece but hip hop songs mostly have simple instrumentation's anyway.

I was inspired to write a memorable riff by the song "The Next Episode" by Dr Dre and Snoop Dog. This song has a really memorable guitar riff that is instantly recognisable, and I really wanted the same with this song. However I took my guitar effect inspiration from U2s The Edge.

The Edge plays with delay in most of his work. And I really liked the way that the dotted eighth delay sounds.

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for the drums on this track we decided to keep to the reggae feel by accenting the third beat of every bar and by also having the bass drum play on the first beat which is a common feature of reggae that we tried to include in the drum part.

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for the drums we choose to keep it very simple by having a rhythm that represents that of hip-hop. we did this by using a simple 8th note hi-hate pattern with the snare playing on beats 2 and 4. we let the bass drum pattern change throughout to give the song more verity and techniques.

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No, No, No Cover

Vocals Chantelle & Ella

We decided that due to the female soul vocal in the original hit 'No No No, by Dawn Penn' it would suit our voices for the submission.
Once the boys had put together the drums, bass and guitar I suggested adding a dub-esque sound effect to keep it authentic to dub/reggae.
Ella performed the vocals whilst incorperating techniques used in reggae such as scatting and heavy vibrato. Dawn Penn seems to use these techniques in the song we have covered.
I then recorded some harmonies on the chorus to add colour to the cover song. Harmonies are often something that appear in reggae and most types of soul music.

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HIP HOP COMPOSITION

Vocals Chantelle & Ella

The song which influenced this song was Lauryn Hills - That Thing. We decided that seeing as we had two vocalists it would be a good idea to write a female empowering song about men. In the Hip-Hop industry a lot of women do this because Hip Hop is renown for political expression and equality.
We have included some rap verses to replicate the sounds of Hip-Hop.
In terms of flow, I decided to add variety to where the different syllables are emphasised. This just adds colour to verses and makes it more interesting to the listener.
I also included internal rhyming to the verses.
In reference to the Lauryn Hill song, we have included a catchy hook which sells the idea of dismissing men. Hip-Hop likes to use soulful vocals so Ella has included lots of adlbing around notes and attitude in the lyrical content.

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FUNK COMPOSITION

Vocals - Chantelle & Ella

For this piece, Ella and I took inspiration from James Brown - Get Up Offa That Thing. We applied his vocal rhythmic technique by having a shouty vocal come in on the first beat.
To achieve a soulful vocal we practised some vocal exercises such as scales to ensure we could jump around different notes with conviction in the way that James Brown and many other funk artists did.
For the lyrical content, we initially tried to deliver a dancing-feel-good theme but when humming the melody we decided that the term 'wantcha' just sat nicely on the bass part. It still has that uplifting feel to the lyrics.
Another technique we used to make the listener feel uplifted, was to sing an ascending scale on the vocal melody in the verses. This also gives opportunity for dancers to embody this in a party atmosphere.
Personally, when I sing funk I like to give the vocal a sharp cut whilst still letting breathe out, or releasing an UH on the following beat. This is something many funk vocalists use, particularly James Brown and even new artists like Anderson Paak. It's just a way of expressing the connection you have with the beat.