Unit 49 - Composing using Music Technology

Composition

https://soundcloud.com/user-4824654/malala-tilly-wellard

Structure

I used a verse, chorus, verse; chorus structure for my composition to keep is similar to the conventions of most songs in the charts.  I didn’t include a bridge/middle 8. The chorus has a hook and is very repetitive so it is remembered. I used the chords G F C and G.

Form

The form I used was A-A-B-A. This then develops a verse with a 16 bar progression.

Genre

I followed similar conventions to the pop genre. However, the composition is Kygo inspired who is a tropical house artist. With the use of an inspirational speech the genre could differ the genre to spoken words music.

Repetition

My composition repeated throughout. I ensured the chorus was repetitive so that it was catchy and memorized by the listeners.

Inversion

I used an inversion on the chord C. An inversion is when you flip the chord around.

Originality

I used an inspirational speech as the vocals of my composition, which is original.

Composer’s Rights & Copyright Issues

The rules in the UK about composer’s rights consist of 2 important rights in original copyrighted work. They are Intellectual Property (IP) and Moral Rights.

IP is something original that you physically create. IP rights are legally recognised exclusive rights to the minds creation. An idea alone is not intellectually for example an idea for a song is not IP but a song you have physically written is.

Moral Rights in the UK is part of the copyright law that protects the personal interests of the composer and the copyrighted work. They include the rights of attribution, the right to have work published and the right to the integrity of the work.

Making an arrangement of a copyright work is a restricted act under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This means: you cannot legally arrange someone else’s work without their permission. You must have the permission of the copyright owner, not the licensee (Agency permission in the UK is not enough since it is extremely unlikely that the Agency will own the rights to the music).

Copyright is the exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material.

In general, sample clearance is required only if you plan to make copies of your music, distribute the copies to the public and start to make a profit. If the samples are in the public domain they are free to use without permission. The sample I used is not in the public domain.

Sampling Techniques

For my composition I used a speech from the Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai as my sample. I downloaded this speech from Google and imported it into my Cubase track.

Waveform Editing Techniques

I wanted to keep the sample as original as possible however I used a delay editing technique for the first sample in the composition.