There are a large number of loops, so it is useful to filter them by;

• Instruments

• Genre

• Character

• BPM

• Key

When you have found a loop you wish to add to your arrangement drag it to the main window to the left.

Hold ALT and drag the region.

Make sure to release your mouse before you release the ALT key.

In this mode Bandlab will play the highlighted bars on repeat. This is useful when you are working on a specific section of a song or piece.

Dragging forward from this arrow repeats/loops this region exactly for as long as needed.

NB - This also minimises editing later as any changes can be made to the first bar of the loop and will be changed in every following bar.

Hover the cursor over the bottom half of the region, it will change to an arrow, simply drag it back (or forward, if required) to resize the region.

This can be useful for reordering bars and working on a song structure.

It should be highlighted in BLUE throughout this task.

Create drum patterns for your remix;

• Choose a suitable drum patch (sound)

How will your drum pattern change in the different sections?

• Intro

• Verse

• Prechorus

• Chorus

Snare = Cat

Hats = Chick

Tom = Tom

It should;

Contain a minimum of 3 instruments (eg. bass, drums, melody)

Have 2 sections of 8 bars (Verse and Chorus).

Describe how the producer has changed the music.

We can reduce these to the numbers

1 - 5 - 6 - 4

Referring to chords in numbers helps us use the same harmony in different keys.

Switch to Smart Keys - Make sure the scale is set to D major

Switch on Smart Chords - Place the dot towards the bottom left of the square.

This will assign the correct 7 chords to the keys from A - J on your keyboard.

Try playing the '4 chord' progressions.

1 - 5 - 6 - 4 (A - G - H - F)

or

6 - 4 - 1 - 5 (H - F - A - G)

Record one of them if you can (or want to!)

Consider how you will change the progression for the different sections;

• Verse

• Prechorus

• Chorus

1st - 2nd - 3rd - 5th and 6th notes of the major scale.

It is commonly used in pop, rock, blues, jazz and folk music.

In the home key for Levitating - Dmajor this would be;

D - E - F# - A - B

Key steps

• ADD TRACK to create a new instrument for your melody part

• Double click the instrument icon to open the editor

• Change to SMART KEYS

• Make sure your scale is set to D and Major Pentatonic

Quantizing moves the note to the nearest line (or division set by you). This is useful for making ideas you play in more in time.

Key steps

Select the region you have recorded in the main window.

Click Midi Editor at the bottom

Select all the notes in the region

Click Quantise

NB - it is automatically set to 1/16, but if you have played in a simple melody 1/8 might give a better effect.

You should be aiming for a balanced mix

• Can you hear all the parts?

• Is the vocal the most prominent?

Binaural audio is also the most common - we listen on two headphones, 2 speakers etc.

Use the Pan function to position your instruments in the mix;

General rules;

• Lead vocals and drums stay in the centre

• Pianos, guitar, synths etc are positioned to the left or right.

• The higher the frequency of the sound the wider the pan position.

You can see in the screenshot above I have applied a fade in to my brass part.

PREES A to open the automation view.

• Click on the volume line to add a starting node (point) and then another for the end point of the fade.

• Drag the nodes up or down to apply the volume change.

• Press A again to close the automation view when finished.

Using the FX menu at the bottom you can explore the preset fx sounds and how they change the sound of your instruments.

Use the Top Left Menu

PROJECT>DOWNLOAD>MIXDOWN AS

Upload your final version to the TEAMS assignment for your assessment for this unit of work.