Unit 49 Brief 2 - Sequencing a Pop Song

SOUNDCLOUD = https://soundcloud.com/user-4824654/rather-be-clean-bandit-tilly-wellard

How to set up a new project in Cubase

To set up a new project in Cubase I opened Cubase 6, clicked More and selected the option Empty then clicked Create or for a shortcut I could have pressed Command and R together on the keyboard. After clicking Create a new project came onto the screen as shown in the image.

Before adding any tracks I had to change the tempo at the bottom on the screen from the fixed tempo of 120 (which is circled in yellow) to 115 (which is circled in red)

 

How to add track

 

The first step to add a track was to go on Project > Add Track > Instrument.

 

 After following them steps and clicking on instrument a tab appeared showing No VST Instrument has been selected. I then had to change this in order to progress in creating the song. This image below shows I clicked on the box where it said No VST Instrument and clicked Synth then Halion Sonic SE.

 

 

 

I then had to change the amount of tracks I added. I did this, as I required a treble clef and a bass clef for the beginning of my track. After changing the instrument and the amount of tracks I could finally click add tracks.

 

Above is a screenshot of the main screen after adding the tracks. I then had to draw the tracks as shown in the image below with the pencil tool circled in the image below. To draw the tracks I selected the pencil tool, clicked on where I wanted the sequence to start and dragged it to where I wanted it to end.

 After drawing the tracks I was then ready to start adding the sequence into the tracks starting with the treble clef. I started by selecting the arrow tool at the top of the screen in the tool bar and double clicking on the track bar and in the dock on the Mac was an extra Cubase task bar icon appeared. (Shown in the image below)

 

 

 

Before inputting the midi data I changed the instrument to strings based on the fact that the score given to me stated the first instrument heard was strings. I selected this by clicking on the bar shown in the image above by the red arrow. I then used the search bar shown on the green arrow to find the most suitable sound fitted for the song by testing each individual sound. I think double clicked on the one I wanted and it was ready

 

Inputting midi data

I then started to add midi data into the track 1 starting with the treble clef, which is the track at the top. To do this I read the music score and translate it into notes such as B4 and D5. There must be 16 beats per bar. To ensure that there are 16 beats I had to zoom in to see the individual bars. Shown in the image below is how to zoom in on the software. The purple arrow shows how we increase the length size and the green arrow shows how we increase the width size.

I then began to add the midi data for the bass clef translating the same way as I did with the treble clef. Again I clicked the track and appeared in the dock was the same track bar as before however due to changing the track number when opening the track bar the treble clef did not appear it was now the bass clef. This also consisted of 16 beats per bar requiring the same rules.

 

The tool bar helps select the tools needed. The first tool need is the arrow tool, which is used to select anything on the screen. This is circled in green. Followed by the glue tool, which helps glue notes together. This is circled in red. Then there is the eraser, which is how we remove any incorrect notes. This is circled in yellow. Followed by the pencil tool; this is how we add the midi data. This is circled in pink.

 

After adding midi data to create a sequence the bars looked like this on the main screen. I could then extend to bars by dragging the bars further down the screen when hovering the mouse over the end on the bars, clicking the symbol and dragging.

Adding Vocals

 

After making enough progress on the strings section it was time to add the lead vocals, as that was the next thing to be added to the song. Due to not recording vocals until the full song has been produced I added another Halion Sonic SE track by going onto Project > Add Track > Instrument. I chose choir ahs to represent the vocals until I record the audio. I added the midi input the same way I added the strings section, however there was no bass clef in the leading vocal sequence. The midi data input is shown below. 

 

Adding drum track & Sampling packages

To add drum track I done the same process again Project > Add Track > Instrument.

This time I selected Groove Agent One as shown in the below image.

  

 Above is an image of a symbol circled; this is the icon I pressed to get the drum rack up which is the other picture above.

   

 I then needed to select the drumbeats I would like to use I do this by selecting Media > Media Bay.

The media bay is a sound bank and it then appeared where I could search for the specific beat. An image of the media bay is shown below.

 

To search I used the search bar shown by the arrow above.

 

Once I had decided on the beats I wanted I then overlapped the 2 tabs so I could drag the selected beats onto the rack. I had to ensure I stuck to the same rack, which was rack number 3 arrowed in the image above.

This is what the drum rack looks like with beats added. This is also known as a software sampler. This is because it uses samples, which is a short sound file and are small snippets of sound.

 

 

Once adding the beats into the pads on the rack I could then input the midi data. I did this by drawing a bar on the main screen as shown below and clicking on it to open up the keyboard like I did with the other tracks.

To enter the beats we use the same process. Above shows the drum rack with inputted beats in. Pointed on the image above shows the letters C2 and D2. These letters are usually notes on a score but as drumbeats do not have a pitch the drum rack translate them in order to add a sequence of midi notes. The midi notes sequence is shown in the picture below.

 

 

After adding the sequence the main screen looked like this.

 

Adding synth track

 

 

Next on the score was a synth. I added another track via Project > Add Track > Instrument.

This time I had to select Sylenth1.

 

 

 I then added the midi data into the software the same as I did in the strings and vocals by looking at the score and translating. Below is a picture of the main screen after adding the sequence.

Changing the tempo

 

 Due to the tempo changing at bar 8 I had to create a tempo track in order for the software to change it automatically when playing the song. The image above shows how I added a tempo track.

Project > Add Track > Tempo.

I then had to ensure the tempo track was turned on. I knew it was turned on when the orange button appeared.

I then had to draw a dot with the pencil tool on bar 8 to be able to change the tempo at this point.

To change the tempo from where I added the dot I had to select the tempo and change it circled above.

 

To fade my track I had to click on the arrow shown when I hovered over the coloured bars on each track shown above. Once I did the settings shown below. I think clicked the letter R until it turned green. I then set the fade by indicating where the lowering of the volume would begin and where the fade would end with a dot shown below. The slope of the line shows where the volume decreases.

 

I then put all of the tracks down an octave, as I believe that sounded more like the original track. Shown below are the strings after being placed down an octave.

 Above is my track completed and finalised. I then had to export my file to able me to put my track onto soundcloud. Below shows the first steps of exporting my sequence and the settings I needed to export my track correctly.

Software Synthesis

Below is a screenshot of Sylenth. A Sylenth is a synthesiser therefore the sounds are not pre recorded.

Circled in red are the oscillators. This is generates a waveform for the sound. Below is a graph of the four different waves.

The sine wave sounds very fluffy, whereas the square wave sounds more digital. Followed by the triangle wave, which is a mixture of both the sine wave and the square wave. If you add the sine and the square wave together it makes a triangle wave. The final wave is the sawtooth which has a harsh sound. During my track of ‘Rather Be’ I use the sine wave, as it is similar to the original track.

Circled in green is the amplified envelope. There is 4 letters on the controls, A stands for attack; this is how quick sound gets to its maximum velocity. The higher the attack is the longer it takes to peak. D stands for decay. S stands for sustain. R stands for release. On my track ‘Rather Be’ the release is up to keep the notes longer.

Circled in yellow is the filter, which is similar to EQ. Circled in pink is the mixer. This is the main volume. The volume must be below the yellow lights shown on the right of the mixer, if the volume is above the yellow lights the sound becomes distorted.

Circled in blue is the LFO also known as the Low Frequency Oscillator. This changes the volume from high to low at a certain rate. The gain dial controls how much of the LFO you apply.

Operating System and Cubase

To recreate my pop song I will be using and Apple Mac computer and Cubase 6 software, which is a digital audio workstation (DAW). A DAW is an electronic device or computer software application for recording, editing and producing audio files such as songs, musical pieces, human speech or sound effects. (INCLUDE PLATFORMS AND OPERATING SYSTEM)

Midi Data

Midi files are a format that provides a standard way for sequences to be saved, transported, and opened in other systems. They contain information such as note values, track names and timings. They are usually referred to as SMFs.

Midi controllers are any hardware or software that transmits and generates midi data. They are most commonly used to trigger sounds and to control parameters of a musical electronic performance. There are 2 different types of controllers. The first type is a performance controller, which generates notes that are used to perform music. The other one transmits other types of real time events and may not send notes. Keyboards are the most common type of midi controller.

 

There are a variety of midi connections. The midi out sends a digital message from one midi device into the midi in of another device. Most devices do not copy messages from their input to their output port so a third port is used called midi thru. The midi thru connector receives a copy of any digital message coming from the midi in connection and sends a duplicate of the information out of the midi thru port and into the midi in of a third midi device. The main advantage of this is the user can have more than 2 midi devices connected as a studio. The midi thru port is receiving the midi in information and is passing it onto the next device as shown in the diagram below also known as the daisy chain network.

Midi channels are the number of channels or streams of data that can be sent down one set of midi cables to one midi instrument. Most midi devices are capable of playing 16 channels meaning you can use up to 16 instruments in a composition.

Hardware Keyboard Sampler

Each MIDI-capable instrument is equipped with a transmitter and receiver. Midi cables connect instruments by midi in, midi out and midi thru jacks. The midi in port receives incoming midi out messages, the midi out port transmits actions of the keyboard to other keyboards or a computer. The midi thru jack provides a direct copy of data coming into the midi in jack, providing the ability to "daisy chain" several instruments and devices together.