Heavy drum and bass track with roller vibe and heavier synth elements and a drop. Also Including audio clips of well known quotes. Targeted at the UK drum and bass crowd specifically Brighton Bristol and London. Generally the age range for my target market is younger people aged between 16 and 28 due to its intense nature and high intensity. I am making the track to my own taste and what my friends and I enjoy listening to. The track needs to cater to DJ’s and be easy to mix in with other DnB tracks. The target audience enjoys raves, festivals and other events with drum and bass. Artists I would compare my track to include Mozey, Hedex and Bou.

You can hear two tracks playing at the same time which have been beatmatched to the same BPM (175) using the tempo sliders, as taught in an earlier lecture.

While mixing I do a process called chopping, quickly cutting parts of the song in and out using the volume fader for each track.

Finally, you can hear that the two songs compliment eachother well for the drum and bass genre, from the reaction from a freind "ooHHhhoooho". This shows that the skill of discovering and pairing new songs has been developed.

As someone who DJ’s regularly a great deal of time has gone into the research and planning for my mixes and production. Through word of mouth, social media, and manually searching through similar songs I put together a playlist of some of my favourite songs which go together, inspired me to produce, and compliment my own composition. I spent considerable time pairing the drops and build ups of different songs to see which ones go together.

I then did a practice mix at home before recording my DJ performance at the venue. I wanted to showcase my ability while minimising mistakes and producing a mix that would go down well with my target audience as well including my own track.

I successfully mixed together a variety of tracks for 25 minutes which was above the required time without any major mistakes. I utilised queue points to align double drops through the mix as well as keeping the beat matched using jog wheels at the same bpm without using beat sync. I also included my own track fluidly into the mix with two double drops at different points.

In the performance I was slightly overusing the effects and not using them in a professional way. Rather than using flanger at a set level or slowly bringing it in I had too much fun with it and overly played with it. Similarly, I can see there are moments where I brought the new track in too quickly and didn’t adjust the levels and kept both of the low trims up rather than swapped the lows before the drop for impact.

Overall, I am happy with how the mix and performance went and intend to post the mix on YouTube to increase the amount of content I have online showcasing my ability for potential future gigs.

Initially I studied International relations, something I ended up not particularly liking or enjoying.

I brought my DJ decks to university and while living on campus I threw loads of house parties, eventually becoming known as the campus DJ and getting ask to play at various other parties.

I then began to take DJing more seriously and met a bunch of people who are in the music scene in Brighton including some Waterbear students. This ultimately lead me to change course and to Waterbear, a place where I can work on my passions and get a degree.

Health and safety considerations can be split into different key areas with different aspects in the studio and live environment. As a DJ specialising in drum and bass, live performance spaces can be hectic and dangerous at times. For example, in a recent gig an intoxicated person fell over the decks and possibly damaged the equipment. A Key consideration therefore in the live environment is that adequate venue risk assessments have taken place, with separate taped areas for performers with step and trip hazards made obvious. As well as this all equipment should be secured and lighting aspects considered so that hazards are obvious.

Other elements that should be considered in the live environment include: lighting, emergency exits and hazard protection, medical preparedness and personnel, Security and equipment, Alcohol and substance management, communication, Disability and Accessibility provision.

Moving on to the Studio environment, different things are to be considered. Without large amounts of people involved the studio environment could be considered safer and less unpredictable.

Some key things to consider in the Studio environment are: Electrical safety and equipment assessment, fire safety, trip hazards,  acoustic safety and sound levels.

The final choice of music I presented was my track ‘Special Powers Dub’ by Ego Trippin and Mr Traumatic. I am actively involved in the drum and bass scene, an active listener and performer who has been DJing for a few years. Drum and Bass is one of my favourite and most listened to genres, so producing it is a logical progression as I can work on something I am passionate about. The music industry is a rapidly changing genre especially with key events like the coronavirus pandemic and technological advancements accelerating change. I am interested to see how AI and other technological advancements can be used in production and I think Drum and Bass is a great genre for this technology due to the complexity of some songs and the variety of sound compositions. The music industry runs on attention and even since I started becoming active, I have watched the ebbs and flows of attention coupled with the use of social media change artists careers. Drum and bass as a genre has been growing in popularity worldwide and I think now is a good time for me to improve my creative abilities and produce music in this genre.

Creative depth of drum and bass as a genre

Drum and Bass has a wide variety of sub genres including: Jump up, Rollers and Belgian with many artists incorporating different elements and genre bending adding things like dubstep and jungle into their tracks. In my learning this term I have learnt to dissect and break down the components that make up tracks for my own production.

Finding good sounds and samples is a skill I have honed and improved on this term especially. I have been made aware of sampling sites like Spliced and YouTube downloading software which has allowed me to isolate different sounds or instruments. In my own composition I used the YouTube downloader to capture different gaming sounds from Super Mario, I then cut these samples and warped them to get them to play for the right duration at the correct BPM.

Similarly, Spliced has a wide variety of pre made samples which I browsed through for ideas and to give my songs characteristics and sounds that the Ableton presents could not. I changed the snares and bass from the Ableton ones I had found to the Spliced samples as it made the track a lot punchier and in line with the genre.

Ableton Live is the main DAW I have been using for my compositions and through this term I have been learning how to use more features and at greater detail. The Waterbear keyboard and Mac suite have been great letting me practice things like chord progressions that we learned in lectures. On Ableton have used different pre-sets and changed the instruments in pitch, duration and other elements.

In the ‘Special Powers Dub’ I produced for this module I broke down the commonly used structures, sounds and elements in other music in order to give me the foundational knowledge and structure to create the final piece. Initially I didn’t realise I wanted to make a remix of an existing song. I started selecting a typical BPM of 175 then adding a typical drum pattern with a kick and snare. Following this I added shakers, synth noises and bass.

Contribution to the finished piece

In terms of other people’s contribution to my finished piece, one of my lectures helped me with the mixing and mastering in one of my later lectures of the term. He listened to the song explaining his reasoning for specific things and I then adjusted it further once components were added.

I used AI to separate the lyrics from the rest of the song and then warped and chopped it to align with what I had produced.

Learning taken place

Research and planning

As someone who Dj’s a great deal of time has gone into the research and planning for my mixes and production. Through word of mouth, social media, and manually searching through similar songs I put together a playlist of some of my favourite songs which go together, inspired me to produce, and compliment my own composition. I spend considerable time pairing the drops and build ups of different songs to see which ones go together.

As someone who DJ’s regularly and has recently begun his journey DJ’ing clubs, the DJ performance element was something I was fairly confident with. This term thanks to Waterbear’s excellent equipment and facilities I have been able to practice on similar equipment to what is used by industry leaders in nightclub venues and it has really improved my mixing and performance skills. In lectures I have practiced beat matching, using different effects, mixing different genres, using queue points, mixing acapellas as well as going back-to-back with different people to have a collaborative performance.

Recommendations for future improvements.

From listening back to the track, the recorded DJ performance and showing it to colleagues I can see what went well and what can be improved.

I successfully mixed together a variety of tracks for 25 minutes which was above the required time without any major mistakes. I utilised queue points to align double drops through the mix as well as keeping the beat matched using jog wheels at the same bpm without using beat sync. I also included my own track fluidly into the mix with two double drops at different points.

In the performance I was slightly overusing the effects and not using them in a professional way. Rather than using flanger at a set level or slowly bringing it in I had too much fun with it and overly played with it. Similarly, I can see there are moments where I brought the new track in too quickly and didn’t adjust the levels and kept both of the low trims up rather than swapped the lows before the drop for impact.

Overall, I am happy with how the mix and performance went and intend to post the mix on YouTube to increase the amount of content I have online showcasing my ability for potential future gigs.

Brighton city

The party's live

And the girls are pretty

Pretty ladies

Getting wavy

Done a key

Yeah maybe

Chalky on monday

Then c u next Tuesday

Pryz on Wednesday

Patterns on Thursday

Fuckup on friday

Feeling quite hi day

Slap up a satty

And Dj at flatly

Had my breakfast 4pm

fuck it here we go again

Last night it was snowin in

Snowing en Bodiam

Friday night

what we saying

bros at concord

hedex playin

Couple people

Got the k in

Yeah im on it

What u saying

Cheers for that

Student loan

Couple weeks

And that be gone

Maybe we some

Alcoholics

another party

Yeah im on it

BeST city

No dont @me

Calm motives

Monday to Satty

Rhythm in musical composition refers to the pattern of sounds and silences over time, organized into regular beats that form the foundation of the music's tempo and groove. Beats are the basic units of measurement for rhythm, marking the regular intervals at which musical events (like notes or accents) occur within a measure or bar. Together, rhythm and beats create the framework that musicians use to synchronize their playing and create a cohesive musical experience.

Basic harmony in musical composition refers to the simultaneous sounding of different pitches to support the melody. Chords are formed by stacking intervals of thirds and provide the harmonic foundation that complements the melody. Understanding chord progressions and their relationships is crucial for creating harmonic interest and structure in music compositions.

Basslines in musical composition are foundational low-pitched melodies played by instruments like bass guitars or synthesizers, providing rhythmic and harmonic support to the overall musical arrangement. They often outline the chord progression, establish the groove, and contribute to the overall feel and structure of the music.

Melody in musical composition refers to a sequence of musical notes that form a cohesive and memorable line or tune. It is often the primary focus of a piece, conveying the emotional and thematic core through its rhythm, pitch, and contour.

Sampling refers to the process of selecting a subset of individuals or items from a larger population to estimate characteristics of the whole. It is a crucial method in statistics and research for drawing conclusions about populations based on representative samples.

Some production tools helpful in my track arrangement include: Audio Clip Editor: To edit audio clips directly within the arrangement view.

Automation: Used to control and automate parameters over time, such as volume, panning and effects.

Audio Effects: EQ, reverb, delay and compression.

Sidechain Compression: Technique used to create dynamic relationships between tracks.

Routing and Bussing: Allows for directing multiple tracks to a single bus or output.

Logic Pro is a comprehensive digital audio workstation (DAW) designed for professional music production, providing tools for recording, editing, and mixing audio and MIDI tracks. It includes an extensive library of instruments, effects, and loops, making it a versatile choice for musicians, producers, and sound engineers.

In the lecture I spent some time going through the features and familiarising myself. I have more experiance with Ableton however so it is unlikely I will use this DAW as it will take more time to learn.

Ableton Live is a versatile digital audio workstation (DAW) designed for music production, live performance, and DJing, known for its intuitive interface and powerful capabilities for creating, recording, and editing music. It features a unique session view for real-time performance and improvisation, alongside a traditional arrangement view for detailed composition and production.

Ableton Live is my DAW of choice, I have made multiple songs using this software although they are of a lower quality and I am keen to learn more through lectures. We brefily touched on the location of different things I am unfamiliar with.

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that allows electronic musical instruments, computers, and other devices to communicate and synchronize with each other. It transmits performance data, such as notes, pitch, velocity, and control signals, but not audio, enabling versatile music creation and editing

In this lecture we learned about how to use the midi controller and different ways it can be used.

Audio sampling is the process of converting continuous sound waves into discrete digital signals by measuring the amplitude of the sound at uniform intervals, called the sampling rate. The quality of the digital audio is determined by the sampling rate and bit depth, with higher values providing more accurate representations of the original sound

Sampling is of imperative importance for the development of my electronic music production as it allows use of such a wide variety of sounds. I have been using Spliced as well as chopping bits of full songs in Ableton to use specific sounds as samples.

Drum programming involves creating digital drum patterns using software or drum machines, allowing precise control over rhythm, tempo, and sound. It enables musicians and producers to compose, edit, and arrange drum tracks that can mimic acoustic drums or create entirely new, electronic sounds.

After experimenting in class with the drum machine it is unlikely I will use it in my project going forward. As someone who wants to predominantly make drum and bass it is slightly challenging with high tempo to create the desired impact. The drum pattern is one of the most important features of my production therefore I intend to use Ableton.

Recording vocals involves capturing a singer's performance using a microphone connected to an audio interface, which then sends the signal to a digital audio workstation (DAW) on a computer. Proper microphone placement, soundproofing, and using pop filters help ensure clear and high-quality recordings.

In the future I intend to work with artists to create music with lyrics so recording vocals effectively is very important. I also MC and have spat bars before so understand the live recording proess

Compression is the process of reducing the size of a data file or stream by encoding its information more efficiently. This can be achieved through lossless methods, which retain all original data, or lossy methods, which discard some data to achieve higher compression ratios.

I have been saving my work as WAV files in order to make them smaller and more transmissible

EQ (equalization) adjusts the balance of different frequency components in an audio signal, enhancing or attenuating specific ranges such as bass, midrange, or treble to shape the overall sound. Reverb simulates the natural reflections of sound in a physical space, adding depth and ambiance, while delay creates an echo effect by repeating the audio signal after a set period, adding texture and fullness to the sound.

I have used a multitude of these effects in DJing and a recently been learning in my own production. Reverb adds depth to sounds and I have edited EQ to balance out different frequencies especially when mixing changing the filters and cutting out the lows for example.

Musical arrangement is the process of adapting and organizing a composition for performance by determining the structure, instrumentation, and orchestration of the piece. It involves decisions about which instruments play specific parts, how harmonies and rhythms are realized, and how the overall dynamics and textures are shaped to enhance the music's impact.

I have been using course content and YouTube to learn about drum and bass specific arrangement. For example putting hi hats on off beats to give a skippy type feel.

Mixing Process:

Balancing Levels:

Adjust the volume faders of each track so that no single track dominates the mix.

Use solo and mute functions to listen to individual tracks and their interactions.

Equalization (EQ):

Use EQ to shape the frequency content of each track.

Apply compression to control dynamics and ensure consistent volume levels.

Adjust attack, release, ratio, and threshold settings based on the characteristics of each track.

Compression:

Apply compression to control dynamics and ensure consistent volume levels.

Adjust attack, release, ratio, and threshold settings based on the characteristics of each track.

Effects (Reverb, Delay, etc.):

Add spatial effects like reverb and delay to create depth and ambience.

Use modulation effects (chorus, flanger) sparingly for creative enhancement.

Mastering Process:

Preparing The Mix:

Ensuring the final mix is in a suitable format (WAV for the Waterbear hand in)

Quality Control:

Listen to the mastered track on different playback systems (headphones, monitors, car stereo) to ensure it translates well across all platforms.

Make final adjustments based on these checks.

Mixing involves adjusting and combining individual tracks within a song to create a balanced, cohesive sound, often using effects like EQ, compression, and reverb. Mastering is the final step, enhancing the mixed track's overall sound quality and ensuring consistency across all playback systems.

In my own production I have mixed and mastered my final track, turning down elements like synths and vocals and turning up the kick drum slightly. I asked the lecturer for pointers and they gave me advice.

Venue vareity.

Large number of nighclubs and bars with places like volks and The Waterbear Venue giving aspiring DJs chances to play at different skill levels.

Localised learning opportunties.

Opportunities to learn and grow in a structured course wirth industry professionals with multiple insitutions such as BIMM and Waterbear offering relevant courses with a variety of content.

Large student population.

The large flows of students ensure the nightlife sector stays busy and there are opportunities fot artists to perform.

WEAKNESSES:

Competitiveness.

Due to the large population density and being a uk nightlife hub, Brighton can be very competitive for muscians with many other people moving here to try and be more successful. In Brighton it may be harder to stand out as it has such a vareity of people.

Cost of living proportional to other places in the UK.

Brighton is known as London on sea and it does live up to this name in the price department. The higher cost to live and grow a career in music here may stifle lower income musicans starting.

OPPORTUNITIES:

Cultural diversity

Brighton is known as a cultural hub of the UK and with such a diverse range of backgrounds gives people of different people of different backgrounds exposure to different types of music and networking opportunities.

Events and networking:

Brighton has a large amounts of events both social to corporate giving aspiring musicans the opportunity to go forward in their career. Brighton Music conference is an example of a recent networking event.

THREATS:

The rising cost of living.

The rising cost of living is impacting the music industry both locally and globally. People are cutting down on nightlife spending, equipment is becoming more expensive in proportion to income and people are having to work longer hours as their spending power decreases with inflation. A musician will have less money and time to pursue passions and progress, as well as getting paid less for performances. Brighton is already expensive in comparision to other UK areas so this problem is more pronounced.

Technological improvements.

Although improments in musical technology has benefits, as things progress more DJ's and producers will rely on automation and lose skills and creativity as more is done for them. Furthermore, the creative barrier to entry may be removed to such a degree that computer programs create music and the industry becomes even more saturated than it is now.

In addition a large number of Youtube videos have been watched

AI tool used to remove vocals for my track.

https://vocalremover.org/

Spliced - Sampling for production

https://www.splicedinc.com/

Celiamellowsrecordingblog - Health and safety considerations in the music studio.

https://celiamellowsrecordingblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/health-and-safety-in-recording-studio.html#:~:text=If%20you%20find%20yourself%20in,equipment%2C%20but%20possible%20electrocution%20also.

Riemannkollektion. - Faster arrangement in Ableton Live

https://riemannkollektion.com/blogs/techno-producer-knowledge-hub/how-to-arrange-music-faster-in-ableton-live

DJ.Studio - Studio setup and equipment

https://dj.studio/blog/dj-mixing-set

Blackbirdpunk -SWOT explained.

https://blackbirdpunk.com/2020/08/03/swot-analysis/

Youtube.com - STRANJAH How to Arrange Drum and Bass Music | Minimal DNB Ableton Tutorial [Part 1]

https://youtu.be/oxJBrhyQ5jk?si=xDF1juHhpChQCR7q

Soundcloud - Analysing music and ripping lyrics using AI for my track

https://soundcloud.com/mrtraumatik/special-powers-1?si=2dffd92ab1ee48409b167e1414836bbe&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

https://soundcloud.com/discover

Note - A significant portion of information displayed in this padlet has either come directly from lectures I have been to or is a written interpretation of the information I have seen in those lectures or online course content.

In addition, a large number of Youtube videos have been watched.

The song I found on soundcloud after listening to a few.

SOURCING (Also displayed in bibliography at the bottom)

Soundcloud - Analysing music and ripping lyrics using AI for my track

https://soundcloud.com/mrtraumatik/special-powers-1?si=2dffd92ab1ee48409b167e1414836bbe&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Spliced has helped me find punchy drums snappy snares and other unusual sounds that go well with my production style.