syncupation - disturbance in flow of regular ryhthm
135 -harmony
dynamics - when its lower instrumentation of pre-chorus
when dynamic is slow :
piano plays throughout on semi quaver (semi quaver is a measure) of type of note semi is quite quick other instruments play on the first beat on the bar and lets it ring out
crescendo -increasing instrument volume, palm muting guitar for sharp build up
3/4 or 4/4 typically simple chords, usually 3-4 chords in a song
midi and blues scale on acoustic
blues acoustic
EXTRA NOTES IN CLASS:
MULTI TRACKING PROCESS
TEMPO
GUIDETRACK
DRUMMER
BASS
GUITAR
MIXING EFFECTS
VOX
FINAL MIX
PLUG INS (FAIRY DUST)
PIANO
A2 FUSION TASK Plan :
Jazz and hip hop .
Originally the idea was to create a fusion on Midi however i have now decided that i'm going to do a live performance to showcase my A2 musical fusion . I have written some lyrics for a jazz song that managed to develop i gave Maya some chords to play on piano I got Oli to play guitar , Barnaby to play the drums and Dylan to do a bass section. And we created the first verse of our song
What i need to do:
Analyse the two genres
record what we already have in the studio , edit it in studio
book practise rooms to rehearse
write more lyrics ( punk vibe short memorable lyrics )
jazz elements , extended chords brass section ( could add a trumpet )
figure it out in studio , learn about
I'm going take a video of the end performance as my evidence
SONGS THAT INSPIRED DUPLICITY ( FUSION )
Nina Simone feeling good
Nina Simone's socio-political album, in 1965 was inspired by the civil rights activism of the time making the album an anthem of liberation. Her jazz cover of Feelin' Good uses lyrics to depict ' sun shining high ' and 'birds flying' to give a sense of comfort ,liberation and hope something that was very much needed in the time that was still plagued with Jim Crows' laws. The song was originally in the musical 'Roar ' , a play about class power and race , it was more saccharine and childlike then Nina Simone's version which had a more down to earth ruggedness to it , that gave it the qualities needed to inspire a generation . Achieved with her arranger , Hal Mooney , they brought it to life by adding a big band , swing and kick , riveting piano triplet and a rebellious vocal performance to capture that desire and passion for freedom and equality .
INSTRUMENTATION :
heavy trumpets, saxophones 4, trombones ,piano, drums, clarinet , vocals
DYNAMICS:
Quiet a cappella intro
At the end of the second verse instruments are added increasing volume and adding more dynamic range to the song
There volume of the violin increases in the pre- chorus but when the song hits the line ' and i'm feelin' good ' some instruments get stripped back ( violin, horns) get temporarily stripped back decreasing the dynamic .
There is a bridge at the end containing quieter played held notes that add tension and when it gets to the lyrics ' feeling good ' the instruments come back in with a louder vocal singing the last 'feeling good' higher then the previous times ,adding a higher dynamic for a strong ending. The reasoning behind this is to make it seem like a release of tension and that things will turn out fine giving comfort and hope to the listener.
Structure and LYRICS
The structure consists of an intro ,refrain, verse 1 , refrain, verse 2 , bridge , refrain and outro. It is common for jazz songs to have an AABA structure B ( bridge part ) tend to have a difference in words, melody and harmony.
This structure isn't surprising , in jazz its typical for a song to be played as AABA , with the song being split into two different parts. We can see this within feelin' good with its bridge section.
MELODY
The Melody has a strong blues feel to it ; this isn't surprising as jazz has blues roots and shared a lot of its qualities such as the swung notes and syncopation . It uses the g minor pentatonic scale ( G, Bb, C, d, F, A) a common scale in the blues genre ; this is an unsurprising quality for jazz as it has blues roots.
Rhythm and beat
The song has a tempo of 79 bmp ( adagio) this is relatively low energy and slow but adds a sense of calm and presence to the piece with a time signature of 4 beats per bar the song could represent consistent journey however the dynamic range across the song with its powerful ending and isolation of the words 'feelin good' from instrumentation sends a message that it will all be fine .
The structure of mockingbird is typical of most hip hop songs with an intro two verses a hook and a chorus we hear twice. Mockingbird is written in the key of e minor ,the progression being em, c, d ,em am7. The minor key creates a melancholic feel to the piece allowing you an insight on the emotional importance of the song as the lyrics are personal to him.
There are not many instruments in the song , during the verses we hear a drum machine which is a core instrument in hip hop; they're dominant yet soft to convey the fragile importance of the meaning of the song. The piano can also be heard
within the verse; it is played very softly and is a common instrument used within the genre . The dynamics of the song increase on the chorus due to the lower harmony and addition of the violin this lifts the chorus and creates more of a journey for the listener instead of it being flat and at the same level all the way through. The melody has a pitch not too low or too high ,the notes in the melody descend and are diatonic the simplicity of them create a catchiness to it .
During the chorus there is a lower harmony that adds a homophonic texture to the piece .
During the bridge of the song , as well as the instruments being played louder , automation is used to really lift the bridge compared to the the rest of the track this is to really distinguish it from the verses and ,like in Nina Simones's ' Feelin' Good ' ,this is done to add a sense of hope to the song. Midi trombone , inspired by Dixie group where trombone was first used and is now often connected with jazz due to it be frequently used and the size of the instrument .It is used in this section to bring a sense of rising and power .
TROMBONE PLAYED ON MIDI KEYBOARD :
Trombone I added on midi keyboard . I used automation to fade out the end of the notes as they were to overpowering towards the end .
lyrics
The lyrics are based around the idea of escape and liberation inspired by Nina Simones ‘Feelin good ‘ and most jazz songs due to the origins being from African Americans in a time of suppression . However duplicity has a more modern twist to it in the sense it’s less about actual physical suppression but mental and brings to light how in the dark the youth are when it comes to kickstarting your own life , issues with socialising and the detachment people feel from each other . From a generation raised out of covid , technology etc time has layered a lot of complication on the youth. This is where the hip hop idea for my song came in as it’s a more modern genre and the use of rap represents the profuse thoughts and words on the mind of a teen .
Beat and rhythm :
The song has a tempo 110-125 this is a moderate bpm not too fast or slow , and falls between the typical tempo of both hip hop and jazz .
The time signature is in 4/4 very common in hip hop and allows a steady rhythm for the rapper and during the creative process allowed improvisation which worked well for our jazz inspiration, for example , the guitar during the chorus was improvised over the Gm scale. The rap uses alliteration and assonance for a fluid rhythm in the rap , a common technique used hip hop.
Melody / key signature :
The song is in the key of G harmonic minor .And the song has a medium pitch. There are different tones throughout the song as in jazz it is common to shift the mood of the song. The intro and outro are the same they are punchy with the repetition of the same chords to add a catchiness to the end and beginning of the song . Whereas the chorus consists of fewer played chords and are left to be drawn out ( for example in the piano ) and the guitar is improvised around the Gm scale , this made the tone of the chorus more soft and fluttery . The bridge starts with a major chord and a different chord sequence to really lift it out of the rest of the song ,it has power .
( guitar and piano ) Verse chords : Gm,cm,Eb7,D7
CHORUS: improv over gm scale
Bridge : Fmaj7,c,Gm,Fmaj7,Fmaj7,c,Gm,Eb7,D7
( bASS) VERSE : G,C,D#,D
Chorus : Bb , d# repeated
Bridge - f,c,g,f -descending melody
Texture and harmony - the song has many harmonies throughout ( homophonic ) on the lyric ‘real ‘we sung harmonies in the 1st, 3rd and 5th to add a sense detachment from oneself such as the theme of the song.
BASS, PIANO AND GUITAR PARTS :
CREATION OF DUPLICITY ( JOURNAL ) :
I told the band the genre I wanted to work with ( jazz) and we worked on the individual parts; Maya was on the keys ,Dylan on bass , Tyler on drums ,and Oli on guitar . I figured out a chord sequence Gm , Cm , Eb7 , D7 and I got the band to jam with those chords and then I recorded it so I can now create lyrics and ideas tonight ready for college tomorrow.
For our next lesson I managed to write the intro and first verse of the song i added more melodic melisma's to add the jazz complexity to the vocal then ( for the fusion ) wen into a more hip hop style rap section for the first verse .
Today was our first performance of the class. I managed to figure out an idea for the chorus , i wanted it to have a change in tone i wanted it to be more loose and airy this is common within jazz for the song to have different tones . The chords on the piano were held for longer . Furthermore, i added a cajon for more presence of the beat as usual in hip hop and also in jazz but particularly in beats 1 and 3 ( played by Barnaby.) Feedback we got was for the lyrics to be rapped clearer however people knew it was fairly knew so weren't so harsh .
We spent today working more on the instrumental side of the song i wanted to add a bridge as typical of both the hip hop and jazz genre . Bridge : Fmaj7,c,Gm,Fmaj7,Fmaj7,c,Gm,Eb7,D7 .
In our next lesson i managed to think of a melody to sing for the bridge We worked on the lyrics for it at home and brought them to college to see how it would sound
I felt like the song needed a deeper vocal on the rap section as I wanted a very different vibe for the verses, a lot more hip hop style, I felt the lower male vocal worked well with this . So I asked my class friend to rap for me ( Blade.)
10/03 /23
Today was the first day with the male vocal on the rap i believe it sounded better adding more of a dynamic and worked with song as it added more of an emotive feel as the lyrics are about someone trying to find themselves and feeling alone in the process however might not be alone as they think. Furthermore we worked on the bridge and harmonies . We added a 3 part harmony to the end of the rap verses ( 1ST , 3RD AND 5TH harmonies )
Using Dolby on we recorded our work
We performed in front of the level twos and teachers for our unplugged rehearsal . Had to find a good mix of the voices stuff that fit our ranges
The bridge meant we had to stall the entrance for the chorus chords however didn't change anything drastically.
14/03/2023
3 DAYS BEFORE UNPLUGGED GIG
Today we decided to brush up on the harmonies and figure out understudies to dep for people if they are not here. We learnt the harmonies however it was making sure we were all singing at a level so the voices could mash that was the issue. I decided to not use a microphone so we could hear the voices equally. After showing it to the second years we received feedback to not use the cajon and to try tambourine instead after using it i decided the high frequency of the tambourine didn't fit with the tone of the song . Furthermore as my piece is a fusion of the style of hip hop and jazz the tambourine didn't fit in with either of these genres so I decided to leave it out. We got a video and added it to our Instagram stories to advertise the gig on Thursday .
RECORDING PROCESS :
After booking a recording room we started recording Duplicity we had to change rooms as the mics and equipment had been taken out of the other room.
Unplugged Gig
Today we performed and got a live recording of Duplicity in the Holy Trinity Church it was the first official performance of Duplicity. When we did the sound check the pace of the song was too fast maybe due to nerves but it made the rap difficult and affected the harmonies , but this was what the these kinds of rehearsals are for ! Our actual performance of the song went really well the jazz genre mixed with the hip hop worked well combining a more new age sound with an older one worked with a large audience of people as we got feedback from a variety of different people. The harmonies in first third and fifth worked really well together creating a spacy and empty tone after the bombardment of words in the rap section previous.
Recording Duplicity
We clarified a day and booked a recording room however on the day of recording Blade ( rapper ) was ill so we did the recording with me rapping and decided to use my vocal as a reference for Maya's harmonies but to delete my vocal track and record Blade's the next day . After booking a recording room we started recording Duplicity we had to change rooms as the mics and equipment had been taken out of the other room.
RECORDING VOCALS .
First I recorded the instruments as the room was fairly small and we did this to avoid bleed from vocals and into vocal mic . We overdubbed one of the Harmonies where I sang over it twice, one of my over dubs were homophonic and the other heterophonic to add an array of textures maya and blade were singing in harmony .
We did a few retakes of blades second rap verse as I wanted it more punchy and with less vibrato . Blade struggled with the harmony so I added a pitch correction to his vocal.
This is less common is jazz however very common in hip hop as a lot of rappers want that robotic sound that can harmonise with the backing track it’s used by people like , snoop dog , Kanye west and other big artists .
Guitar- After recording the guitar I put on a compressor after using an expander , the logic behind this is that using a compressor before would make it difficult to find an effective threshold to differentiate between the lower and higher frequencies , it's better to do the expander first. This gave the guitar more presence . I also added reverb , to connect to the jazz genre I added a small space reverb as jazz is commonly played in places like clubs and smaller rooms / venues.
Drums
I took away the low end of the snare ( humans cant hear under 20 hz ) case its the mud. Using eq I raised top end to give it air and space to make it more present. I tuned the snare to the track as this is common method within hip hop cause it allowed the drums to groove within the track better and harmonise with it which worked well the flowy jazz vibe I wanted .Tuning the track also means the drums required less dampening because the ring gets absorbed into the music and the snare ring can make the perceived size of the drum within the mix larger ( for a more dominant drum sound ) I wanted a dominant drum sound as the beat and sound of the drums is very important to jazz as it is so integral to the origins of the music.
Busses :
Bus: for the drum kit ( OH , kick , snare )
Bus2: vox ( me, Maya and Blade)
I added a small space reverb and and compressed and eq the vocals in a bus just to level them out a bit .
Bass
i added eq , gain and space designer reverb to the bass amp .
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