The 3rd piece has been fully tracked and using drumagog 5 in conjunction with the DTX550 module as a velocity trigger unit has proven to be a great success. Although this is the case, progress was disrupted last week due to the corruption of files towards the end of the final movement within the second track. These elements were therefore lost, resulting in two days of production being lost in order to regain our progress back to the same position. Re-Recording the ending of the second track however proved to be effective as the concluding result turned out to be better than the previous version. Once returning to editing the 3rd piece, inspiration was drawn upon by street drummers and furthermore that of percussion based performance group ‘Stomp’. (See video linked in research tab).
5/05/13
Today the fourth and final track started to progress, with the involvement of both the DRM1 drum machine and the Yamaha DTX550 electronic drum kit used to create loop stations and performance based loops. This track focuses around developing a piece simply from starting from a simple looped beat from the DRM1, transforming into a full progression incorporating multiple loops performed by myself and Ryan within the DTX550. This track further experiments with incorporated styles of production and playing showcased in the three previous tracks. In addition to this element, we aim for the progression of this piece towards the closing stages to experiment with the use of different layered time signatures and the sounding results that are achieved when these elements are blended together.
6/05/13
The final minute of the last track was finalized and edited today. All of the tracks have now additionally been level balanced ready to commence mixing and mastering tomorrow.
7/05/13
All mixing and mastering elements have been achieved within today’s final production session. Difficulties were encountered within the mastering stages due to a VST malfunction within cubase 5, however the final product has still been achieved In addition to the final mixing and mastering stages of production, all group paperwork compiled over the course of the project has been finalized and double checked by myself and Ryan, ready for the project submission tomorrow.
Progression throughout the recording processes for the EP have temporarily come to a halt, due to the independent study module taking priority over the past and coming fortnight. Ideas for the 3rd track have been discussed and we are currently in the process of getting household items such as pots, pans, and buckets ready for the next studio session
23/04/13
Yesterday we were able to gain access to the multitrack studio to record single hit elements of the household items ready for composition of the 3rd piece. Due to the high demands of the multitrack studio and booking system in place, each item was recorded individually with a variety of pressurized hits ready to be exported and edited for splicing to put into drumagog 5 as samples. After programmed into drumagog 5, these velocity variant samples should sound realistic when played via MIDI through the electric drum module. Out of all the rooms within the multitrack studio, the dead room provided the most clarity for the drum recordings, as the samples needed to be as clear as possible without any issues in regards to room sound, echo or tonality. The microphones used within this recording session included:
SE Electronics – SEx1
AKG – C414
Shure – SM57
24/04/13
The recorded hits from the multitrack studio have now been brought into a cubase 5 session and editing on creating samples ready for input within has progressed. I am over halfway through the edits and we are aiming to finish these edits ready for the next recording session where performance aspects will be the main focus.
Today we were back in the universities multitrack studio, where the rack and floor tom elements were recorded for the first piece. (See project photos Tab). Additionally experimentation with recording techniques was applied with the use of 4 microphones recording 2 to 3 drums at a time. Microphones used included:
2 Beyerdynamic M 201’S for direct miking
Shure SM57 – mid positioning to pick up tom blend and focused rim shots
AKG C414 – Overhead microphone
After initial tracking in the morning, both the previous edits from the last session and the current session worked upon have been exported and have been cut and edited in one of the audio suites on campus. These final audio cuts have now been re exported ready for editing, mixing and mastering within cubase 5 using my bedroom recording setup.
24/03/13
Yesterday myself and Ryan finished the editing elements of the first piece. Editing and layering all of the performed drum parts to interact in time with each other proved a tedious process, however with the help of drum pocketing the final result has proven to be effective. The overall result of the recorded snare has proven to pay off with very little post processing needed to be done. Although this is the case, we found that the rack and floor toms were quite top heavy within the lower frequency ranges and the recorded kick drum appears to be lacking punch and clarity. The kick drum resulted in being cross blended with another sampled kick drum within drumagog 5 – resulting in a positive result when equally blended. Additionally these issues with the other drums were eliminated through the use of compression, EQ and noise gating. After level balancing, all of the drums have been parallel compressed within this piece to give them an enhanced feel of space and attack that is consistent throughout the progression of the track.
26/03/13
Initial developments for the second track have commenced, with brainstorming ideas being developed on for the 4 genre bases covered within the second movement of this percussion EP. We discovered that to pull this off, the use of sampling some vocal accapella sections from popular tracks could be used to give an enhanced effect being triggered within the DTX550 Electric drum-set module alongside performed drum elements. Additionally the piece is a form of investigation into both production elements of electronic music and the associated styles of drum performance.
29/03/13
Today the beginning sections of the second piece were tracked, and experimentation with rough ideas and drum beats were tracked in a rough manner, in correlation to the diagram created in the last session. We decided that the progression of the second movement will begin with a transitional snare from the first piece into the second to maintain fluidity and flow throughout the entire EP. Furthermore, the genre order has been establish transitioning from R’n’B elements through to dubstep which will then progress to a dance style groove. The piece will come do a close with a tempo rise and progression in the form of popular music genre; drum and bass.
Today further research was established in regards to the promotion and analysis of the drum EP. Myself and Ryan concluded that the EP could focus around the changing aspects in culture and technologies within a music, paying particular attention to genre and the ways in which drums are recorded. The first piece will focus around a natural recorded drum sound, incorporating elements of marine corp and marching snare types of drumming. This track will highlight the traditional ways in which drums have been recorded, further developing into the digital domain within the second progression showcasing newer genres of music and highlighting the progression in the changes of music culture in comparison to the progression in technology. The 3rd piece will research into the musical aspects and musicianship of street culture and how many musicians are now using any items they can obtain to create musical performances, in particular that of street drumming culture through the use of buckets and kitchen items. In addition to establishing a motif for the EP, we came to the conclusion that the project would need a website to link all associated counterparts together, readily accessible from a single domain. The website would include photos, videos and updates of the progression of the project. It would additionally tie together all external links including that of sources used such as Soundcloud and YouTube in addition to social media including Facebook and Twitter.
11 – 14/ 02/13
This week the beginning elements of the first track of the EP have began to take place, with the rudimentary snare elements being recorded. To record these parts experimentation was used by myself and Ryan in terms of microphone placement and positioning to see what sound would be achievable compared to traditional ways of recording a snare drum. A total of 6 microphones were used in recording this element. Microphones used are as follows:
2 Rhode NTG-2’s as a mid stereo pair above the snare drum
2 AKG C414’S – One was used as an overhead/ microphone and the other to record the underneath the snare
Shure SM57 – This was used for traditional mic placement directly above the top snare head
Rode NT1A – Was used as a room mic to capture resonant sounds
Today myself and Ryan improved upon the development to our research proposal before the regular weekly meeting’s with Dave on Fridays.
Our main focus today was to focus upon narrowing down our target audience for the EP. Further research for the first track was undertaken, developing the rudimental elements which we want to incorporate throughout a lot of the recorded snare drum sections within the marching snare style format. We also took a brief look at the approaches in which would be taken in regards to promoting each section of the EP as an individual art piece rather than a collective collaboration. We felt that taking this element into consideration, it would increase the overall target market for the EP. By attempting to use a range of radio outputs, we feel that this will be the biggest source of media promotion, drawing attention for listeners to check out all supporting online material. Key radio stations including 6 Music, and Resonance FM are well known for playing a vast array of experimental music. These stations will provide a large audience who are familiar with types of music regularly played on the stations, and we feel that some of the tracks on the EP could draw interest to their listeners.
Alongside Ryan, I have been looking into examples and ideas for inspiration in both performance elements of the pieces and further techniques and mixing styles used for specific genres of music. Some of the links below have provided vital inspiration for the progression in the writing process of each track.
Track 1: As this piece is focusing upon marching snare elements and similar jungle rhythms, I have been able to take ideas and inspiration from both Textual and visual analysis. My main inspiration for the first track of the EP has been that rudimental book from drumming icon Buddy Rich. This book contains a variety of drum rudiments and snare rolls in a musically written format which can be practiced and performed to a click track or to backing tracks of music. Coming from a sight reading background, I have been able to relate to some of the featured rudiments within the book and combine the use techniques including various types of paradiddles, flams and ghosted notes to use within my performance aspects and elements of the first track. This has further helped in practicing technique and could count as the part of the pre production process for the EP.
Buddy Rich’s Modern Interpretation of Snare Drum Rudiments
Video’s on YouTube including that of the Drum Marine Corp have shown examples of how some of the rudiments demonstrated in the Buddy Rich book are used in practical manner. One video in particular of the Swiss Drum Corps demonstrated many of these rudiments performed in a effective manner and further reflected similar elements in which myself and Ryan are hoping to achieve with the first piece.
(Top Secret Drum Corps – Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2009)
Track 2: With this piece focusing upon sampled sounds I have conducted research into both production elements of sampling and retriggering drum sounds, combined with the playing styles of many drummers associated around the popular genres. Programs including that of Drumagog 5 and Steven Slate Trigger offer the option to retrigger selected drum sounds with a variety of different velocity sensitive samples which can be manually programmed into an electronic triggered drum set. Software including these programs will prove crucial to use throughout the second track of the EP, enabling the freedom to create custom drum sets out of digitally manipulated sound effects and open the option for the use of loops, samples and sections of acapella vocals.
Drumagog 5 – Triggered Drum Replacement Software
As we will be combining drumming elements of four popular genres of music, I have drawn inspiration and interest from a variety of popular drummers, covering a range of genres including that of R’nB, D’n’B, and Dubstep styled genres. These genres can often combine the use of speed throughout various sections whilst maintaining the relaxed groove of the song. Two of the main drummers I took inspiration from included that of famous zildjian artist Arron Spears, famously known for many of his performances with Usher.
Aaron Spears – (Caught Up) Live at the Modern Drummer Festival 2006
A further inspiration included that of later Pendulum drummer KJ Sawka, who often performs both with the band and stages solo appearances utilizing the use of sampling and DJ software throughout his performances.
Track 3: I began to look into areas of research for the third EP piece focusing around a more street cultured aspect of drumming. As this piece will be performance based leaving little to manipulation in editing, my main inspirations included that of focusing upon the popular drumming theatre group stomp and that of both American and Brazilian based street drummers. This helped to gain an insight into what different object we may be able to use to achieve particular percussive sounds within this section of the EP
