Shaurya Grade 10 Music Process Journal by Shaurya Singhal

Pre making the song

What is the original piece of music? To which genre and style does it belong?

The original piece of music that I am using is Sajan Das Na, and the style of music it belongs to is Indian Pop.

Who was the original COMPOSER, as well as performer? When was the piece written and released? In what format was it released? (I.e. single, album track, musical,)

The original composer of the song is Xulfi and Abdullah Siddiqui. The singers of the song are Atif Aslam and Momina Mustehsan. The piece was written and released on January 23, 2022. It was first released on Youtube as a music video first and then released on audio platforms.

What are 3 defining musical elements for this style of music the original piece is in? (The 12 musical elements: Tempo, Dynamics, Melody, Rhythm/duration, Harmony, Texture, Timbre, Structure, Metre/pulse, Pitch, Articulation, Instrumentation)

The answer to this question is where you show you have listened carefully to the original song, and hopefully, more pieces of music by different artists within this genre also.

3 defining musical elements for this style of music are melody, texture, and tempo which are very important as focusing on the duration of each note is a defining part of the song, and the change of notes while singing even one word is quite important as well as showing a pattern of notes. The melody is quite distinctive as we can see in Indian music that it moves across an entire scale quite quickly and notes go from one scale to another. Tempo is also usually quite fast and remains that way for most of the song. The texture is quite interesting as it makes use of some traditional instruments that add some unusual texture to the music.

During the song making process

To which genre and style does your cover belong? Why have you chosen this style?

The genre that I am choosing is R and B. I have chosen this style because it looks very interesting to me and is similar enough to the genre of my original song that I could make this in the time available.

What might be a challenge for you? What do you hope to learn from this project?

This might be a challenge because looking at a genre across two different languages means there might be more differences than I think there are. Incorporating instruments part of the original song that are not capable of being part of the cover will be difficult.

What are 3 defining musical elements for this style of music your cover is in? (The 12 musical elements: Tempo, Dynamics, Melody, Rhythm/duration, Harmony, Texture, Timbre, Structure, Metre/pulse, Pitch, Articulation, Instrumentation) The answer to this question is where you show you have listened carefully to music within this chosen style.

3 defining music elements that are part of this song, include the instrumentation, where previously it was driven by guitars it is now driven by the use of keyboards, drums and synthesisers. Another key element is rhythm where they use very syncopated 8 beat rhythms similar to rock and roll. The last key element is the dynamics which have to be quite loud.

What impact do you want to have on your audience? What are 2 musical decisions you are making that will have this intended impact?

I want my song to have an energetic vibe and give sort of motivation to whoever is listening. I will make sure that it has fast tempo and quite repetitive rhythms and pitches having very similar notes throughout the song.

Compare your end product to another song in your new chosen genre/style. What are 2 musical elements that they have in common?

The energy of the music is quite similar with upbeat tempo and consistent rhythm and pitches.

Finish the sentence in a PEA structure: “I have grown as an artist throughout this process because…”

I have now understood the process it takes to record a song and change it as well as how many times it takes for someone to be able to record vocals. My vocals were recorded multiple times and required effort to understand how to problem solve and understand how to take a complex song with multiple layers and turn into a more simple song with more emphasis on piano and vocals. Thinking also about how to learn the chords of the song as it was quite difficult to find and instead looking at singing and then trying to find chords instead is a new experience for me. Trying over and over again helped me understand how important it is to keep going and be resilient with pieces of work in music and understand how time and effort always pays off in this way. Using synths for the first time was also an experience where it was helpful to understand how trying out and going with the flow is also a vital part of music.

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