Record a sequence and quantize it [10p]
• Minimum requirement C major scale: simplifying use basically the
keyboard white keys and start with C (or E or G) and end with C (or E) [10p]
• 20‐60 sec. [10p]
• Apply some concept from Belkin chapters “Beginning” or “Elaboration / Continuation I”, and also decide the basic form of it before starting
• Upload at Gallery the logic file (give link) and exported piece in mp3 (320 kbps, soundcloud and link) [10p] and give a short explanation
• Objectives of the piece and how they are achieved: think of tempo, mood, etc. [20p] • Relate to Belkin chapters and give the basic form of your work (AB, ABA...) [20p]
• Give critique for three works listing their names in your comment [20p]
You did really well at making a simple melody more dynamic and involved, especially by experimenting with the sound direction.
This was a really nice melody. The notes all flowed into each other really well, and there were no awkward pauses causing dissonance of anything like that. Definitely cheerful!
I definitely agree with the earlier comments of the sense of foreboding that comes into this piece when the notes become so short and the pause between them increases. It makes be think of the sound that comes out while turning a jack in the box, when you are just waiting for the doll inside to pop out.
The clashing instruments do create a tension for the listener as it keeps them on edge throughout the latter half of the piece. The melody is catchy but once they start mixing, it becomes confusing but interesting at the same time. Good job!
This is very well done! The contrast between the different instruments used invoked interest into the piece. The music in the background flowed really well with the main melody.
You captured the mood very well with the effects that you used for this song. I definitely agree with Amanda with the softer tone and the contrast to what kind of game it is really for. Great job!
There's a hair-raising sense of dread inherent in this piece. The "I Love You" song from Barney is a symbol of innocence: a simple, pure song for a children's show. By reducing the original song to just single piano key notes, and by quantizing to a fairly large quantum, you have made a piece that is unnerving. Gone are the voices of the little kids and their naive announcements of love; all that remains is the melody laid bare. Looking now at the original song, I feel uncomfortable with how carelessly it throws around the world "love," and your piece mirrors my unease.
I like the fullness and progressive feel of this piece. The sound of it is really rounded out by the major chords, having a variety of timbre present, and a deep beat.
The vacuous feel of this piece simultaneously creates a tension of expectance and a sense of relaxation due to its simplicity. I would expect these paradoxical forces to clash and generate frustration, but I found them to counteract each other such that the piece ultimately feels unified and very tightly designed. This piece showcases the impact that can come with having an economy of sound.
The drums are interesting, however you are not meeting the minimum requirement of C major key, since the drum set does not have any key. You should take care of the sudden cut fade out.
I like how you took something really simple in C major and made it sound musical. One complaint I have is that there might be a little too much empty space going on, maybe if there were just a few more notes like you already have going on there that would have worked better. And nice idea ending on a D instead of a a more "traditional" note like a C, E, or G.
There's a definite contrast going on in the second half of the piece that I think is kind of interesting because the notes are all in time but the two voices keep jumping in each other's ways. I think it might be a little too much but you definitely accomplished what you were going for, so good job on that.
Good Work! I appreciate especially the contrapuntal melody that you have added at the last part to the main one. Nice way to give variety. Yes, you could add some chords to make it fuller.
Good work. The structure you have written is exactly the harmonic structure (change of chord). Be careful with a little bit sudden end. You could add some layer to give it a bit more variety.
Some comment to improve the piece: take care to bounce or export only the piece (there is a rest at the beginning). And also there is some note sligthly out of rhythm. we will see how to edit that tomorrow.
Nice piece! To improve it: it would be nice to introduce a bass line during the second half of it to give variety. And one question: I think that the metronome click is there at least at the end. Was it intentional?
Good piece! Only take care of the sudden end (I heard a click because of a sudden audio cut). You could now add a bass line...
Nice piece. Here some comments to improve it: export only the piece (eliminate the long rest at the end), some notes that are a bit out of rhythm should be fixed. You did not explain the form or the Belkin concepts used.
It is true that in this case the quantization applied has been a bit too hard, make it sounding too squared. On the other hand, be careful that the crescendo and decrescendo cannot be felt. You can do it changing the velocities of the notes to make them really with a higher stregth and then lower. We will address that tomorrow at class.
Nice cheerful melody. Be careful with a bit too sudden end (it seems that there is a click at the end because of a sudden cut)
Nice piece. It might be improved with a little reverb, and also be careful that the end is a little too sudden.
Where did you send the email? Please use the address I gave you at blackboard. We can have a look at class.
Very nice melody. Be careful to export only from the real beginning of the piece (there are some seconds of silence at the beginning). The ending is opened, since it finishes in the fifth grade of the key (what is called half cadence) and this sligthly sad mood comes from that you are using a minor key (we can talk about that at class if you ar interested).
We have to bear in mind that this are very short pieces and then if we want to give a sense of completeness we have to build a bit better the endings. The piece is basically composed with repetition and then the second voice starts to build its own way (a different melody): this is related with the concept of continuity at Belkin's book: the melody that repeates gives continuity and the one that changes gives variety, all in a smooth way since one of the melodies continues repeating.
Be careful: the end is too sudden. And I am not very sure about the quantization, some notes sound a bit out of rhythm. It would have been nice to establish a bit of contrast or building up at some point.
Very good piece! i would not say that the form is ABA: really you repeat the harmony four times building up with more instruments, appearing the nice melody on the fourth repetition. Is more like an introduction and then the melody. Take into account who all the changes happen at groups of four beats. That comes from the classical music and is so typical in pop music too.
I commented on the MIDI marimba, Random Noises, and the Walking Bass Line.
The walking line is well done and demonstrates a good understanding of jazz form. The ending is a bit abrupt - you do well to keep the listener going until the end, so it seems a bit odd to just drop the listener with the one short note. I like how you commented on the levels associated with each key - one of the hardest parts about new software is figuring out all the kinks!
The contrast is definitely evident! The transitions are sharp, but in this case, I think that's part of the piece, and therefore makes sense. I like the three sections you use here, and think that the crispness of the notes speaks well to the effect of quantization. Nice job!
Good comment by Amanda. The final section leaves the piece open because you used a new motive at the end and also because you finished in D instead of in C or E.
Taken individually, each section is nice! My only gripe is the transition between sections - and that in particular is perhaps just a personal issue. It just seems to me that you had a nice theme at the start that is sort of abandoned in favor of the one note transition - maybe look to extend the theme? But otherwise, I like the story, and think this is a good piece!
I think its interesting that you used the echo effects on this tune that usually doesn't have it. It creates a softer tone for this melody which is associated with a more action-oriented game. It definitely brings more attention to the contrast between the two halves of the piece.
Because of the timing of your notes at the beginning, there is a sense of expectancy to the rest of the melody which I'm not sure was realized by the end of your piece. Also, what kind of form do you think this piece is? I think it might be ABA, but the variations between the two different A sections might be too large to call it that. The piece is also a little bit simplistic. It's supposed to be mellow, but I mostly just got the vibe of you hitting notes near each other on the keyboard one at a time; maybe add a slow beat to it?
I agree with Dan about using the two different instruments for the same melody, the different tones of the instruments does enough to capture the listener's attention with discord even though the melody is quite harmonious. The only problem with the piece is that it stops quite abruptly without really ending the phrase.
It's a very nice feel to it, and it flows. The notes are very precise and don't feel too robotic.
The organization of the note placement via Quantization is very interesting, as it does not follow the time signature of the original, giving the piece a different feel.
I really agree with the two distinct note playing feels. The longer notes add a sort of echo effect that is quite nice. Well done!
I like how you break your piece up. The way you've set up your Marimba is pretty interesting as well. The little bit of echo adds a ton of character. One question, how did you manage that last section? It seems like you used a single track for the rest of your song, and branched into two or three for that last part.
I found it incredible that you made all those tracks manually. Thats really imaginative of you. And the tracks do come together really well. I particularly like the underlying guitar riff of the entire song.
I really enjoyed this piece! You chose instruments that are sound nice together. They way you layered in percussion and and the glockenspiel (or xylophone?) was done very nicely.
I like your tune a lot! However, your piece has around 3 minutes of no music, because your end marker continued past all of your content.
First off, I want to say that I've always loved this tune! I liked the way you played with note length to add contrast.
Some of the arpeggios were done built in, some of them were significantly more annoying :P Well, the form I was going for was an ABA, I'm not sure if I pull it off!
I think you build a mood very well. I agree with Amber in that the crescendo was pretty well done. Going forward as well, the vibe your piece gives off is...kind of mysterious I'd say? I like it!
I commented on "Twinkle twinkle little star", "adventure time" and "Lost Wood Quantized."
This is an example of how quantization can make a track sound more robotic. I think this would be good for a title sequence in Yoshi's Island--for some reason all of the tunes in the game sound similar to this.
The tempo and instrument help build on the playful quality of the track, kind of like a baby's crib. It's an interesting take on the original theme song!
This is awesome. I agree with Dan, the structure of the tune helps create a sense of progression (which is appropriate given that progression and improvement is the goal of RPGs)
I commented on "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "ochestral mix" , and "Random Noises"
This sounds really awesome. Did the specific instrument you use make those arpeggios or did you do that yourself? Either way, I can definitely tell the use of quantization here, it's very clean. However I'm not completely sure of your form here, since the 3 sections here are quite different from each other.
@Amber Jones, there are three tracks of flute in the beginning, I pick one of them to be the ending(just copy and paste).
I love your use of multiple tracks and dynamics here! The beginning crescendo was definitely a good application of the Belkin reading. When I first listened to it, I didn't actually realize that to do the ABA form, you repeated the melody of the flute at the beginning. Was this done by repeating a loop?
I like how you use two different instruments to play the same melody, it sounds like they are fighting each other and it creates a sense of tension for the listener. It definitely grabs listener's attention, and listener will not be distracted by other things, and will focused on the "fighting".
The quantization definitely makes a noticeable effect. It almost makes it sounds robotic, or video-game like. The way the notes are played + the instrument you used almost makes it sound a bit like Animal Crossing to me.
It sounds very mysterious. I really like how you put contrasts in this piece, this first part is longer and the second part shorter. If it is a background music for a game, the player can definitely feel a progression in the plot that is indicated by this music. Also, the transition part is also nicely done. Although there are two contrasting parts in the piece, it still flows really well.
This is really great, it sounds very lively and energetic. I like how you mix the low pitched and high pitched sounds together, this contrast makes this piece sounds more interesting. Also, The overall structure of this piece is also very organized. It flows really well.
I agree that it is likely that some of the notes seem louder because of the pitch rather than the actual volume. This was a pretty solid walk. It would be cool to have some other sounds going on with it!
I think this was a fun little beat, and that you made good use of the different tones with the layering effect.
I think this was a great example of ascent/descent. I couldn't tell if anything was in the wrong beat. It sounded solid to me!
The left and right oscillation is definitely the most interesting part of this piece. Even though you only had one solo melody, I feel this helped you achieve the effect even more if that's your primary focus.
This has a really cool vibe (futuristic-sounding)! I really like the rising 8-note-progression (for lack of better description) throughout the piece. I would suggest speeding up a little earlier than 0:56 though, as the middle section was a tad repetitive.
This is well done, the drum beat is very on point, and the variations in the middle achieved the effect of putting a groove and it stuck to the roots as well. I feel you could really expand on that part and make this a piece that people can listen to just for the drums.
This is pretty cool! I agree with Kristen though and wish the jazz section could be longer. It didn't seem to pick up until near the end of the song.
I really really like your bass and drum, if you manually made it that is very impressive. Though I feel the melody kind of sticks out too much. I think adding some chords and harmony would help a lot in your case. Overall nice work.
I like the instrument choice and slowed-down tempo-- there's a very light and playful feel to it. A few places felt slightly staccato/abrupt (perhaps you could hold the previous note longer?) but other than that, I enjoyed it.
I like the idea of experimenting with drums in Logic! It was a really fun listen, and I wish it went on for longer. The transition between the rock and jazz sections was pretty cool, and didn't seem forced or jerky at all (which it easily could have if not done right).
I liked how the sound oscillated left and right. The melody was cool too - I like that song. Overall, good job.
I really like this! I liked the moment when the drums came in, and how after that the piano came in - that progression was really nice. The background melody near the end was really cool as well.
Wow you made this with the Logic piano? That's pretty impressive in itself and the composition was good too. This was well done, nice job.
I like how you managed to keep the listener's attention despite not having a melody. The shift in tempo and mood towards the end was captivating, though I felt like you could've stuck with the jazz vibe a bit longer (I recognize that the piece could only be so long but maybe the jazz portion could've been larger proportionally). It felt like it was just starting and gaining momentum right before it ended.
Yeah that was definitely a good walk you had going on there I don't know if ever actually heard a piano walk before. Yeah I'm not sure what was going on with some of your notes being stronger I think it might have just been pitches. Just curious about why you used a piano instead of an actual bass for the instrument?
This piece was really interesting, and you used Belkin's concept of introducing instruments separately really well. I found myself jamming out to this piece-- the bass line was wonderful. The soft piano notes that you end towards the end were nice. I figured you finished building in instruments but then I heard the soft notes, which contributed to the piece well. I felt that the ending was rather abrupt-- you could have gradually ended the same way you began. Overall, though, I really liked the liveliness of this composition.
It sounds like a pretty simple melody, but the way you arranged it made it pretty interesting. Making the music switch back and forth between headphones was pretty cool (and a tad headache inducing). The instrument that you chose was interesting as well-- seemed like an electric organ or something. It created a mysterious effect, and that was presumably what you were going for.
Curiosity
I commented on I Love Youu, black orpheus, and Cheerful Mix,