Viva Voce 2024
A summary of scores, reflections, and project descriptions from Semester 2 at WAAPA
7 Minute Masterpiece
Disco Suite
"Groove All Night" is a disco tune in the form of a Rondo. It has six sections, with the recurring A section being the Chorus. This is the only track I have recorded vocals for, but for future use, I will write vocals for the other tracks.
This track starts with a drum groove that I like from Superstition by Stevie Wonder. Songs or ideas have inspired each "verse" section with most of the inspiration coming from Chic, or my Instagram reels.
The Hook had to match the energy and momentum of the track. I have used the strings in parts where the Hook needed more oomph behind it. I have the strings doubling the guitar since the piano and brass are doubled.
Most of the work is done by the guitar, bass and drums. The strings and the brass are used for flavour, and the E Piano is used for its timbre. The drums and bass don't stop the entire track.
'F in a box' is interesting, because I have switched to F# major. It is a bit jarring, but it works. I doubled the length of that verse so that I could build it up into a large chorus for the final round of the rondo.
I have used a fade-out at the end because all good disco tunes have a fade-out since no one knows how to end them. I have written this piece with an ending, but have notated the fade-out. I am happy with how some of the verses turned out, and every time the hook comes back, it transitions so well and I get excited. This is one of my favourite tracks for my Viva Voce, and I had heaps of fun recording and writing it.
Rondo - ABACADAEAFA
Groove All Night
This is the first tune of 3 as a part of my disco suite. Disco Shuffle has
a 'Verse Chorus' structure.
I have given the track a fade-in because I don't like that initial attack of
the brass, so to smooth it out, I have given it a fade.
I really like the key change that I have implemented into the first verse. I
was quite unsure as to whether I should have the key change in the
first or second verse, but I went with the first so that the second verse
feels different enough from the first.
The drum groove came from an Instagram reel that I saw, I have
adapted it to have open hats in the second and third choruses, because
open hats bring more energy, and I think it sounds great with an open,
dangling hat throughout the chorus.
The verse bassline was originally consistent with quaver-2xsemiquavers,
but I couldn't play it consistently enough. So I had to adjust the bassline
to allow for my incompetency, by playing the
quaver-2xsemiquaver-quaver-quaver. I like how this bassline sounds and
I think that it adds a sense of uniqueness to the track because I haven't
used this pattern in any of the other tracks.
The gang claps were fun to make. I tracked eight layers of claps, with
two layers of clicks. I had two tracks L, C and R, both clicks panned L
and R, and two more layers of claps on the 2 and 4 panned L and R. I recorded myself in my roommate's walk-in-robe, as that is the most acoustically treated room in the house. I also recorded the vocals for Groove All Night in that same robe.
Disco Shuffle was my favourite track to record, with about 70 guitar takes, and layering 10 layers for some gang claps. The early chord change adds a sense of syncopation without losing the groove of the Drum Shuffle.
Verse Chorus - ABABA
Disco Shuffle
This is my favourite track that I have produced for this Viva Voce. Inspired by a disco producer that I have recently discovered, JaFunk, this track was fun to record.
It is structured: Chorus, Verse, Pre-Chorus x2, with an Intro.
My favourite sections are the pre-choruses, especially those V7 stabs before the chorus. It builds so much tension and edge before releasing all the tension with the chorus. I also like how I have delayed the E Piano coming in, giving a delayed drop feel. In the second and third Chorus, I have used small voicings of the chords to sort of hide the Piano away, and then bring back the large voiced chords where the delayed drop was in the 1st Chorus.
The Synth Lead has 4 layers that I recorded with my Minilogue. I like this pre-chorus because I have used all real instruments for every track, and I knew that at one point I should include some synth action and there is no better place. It switches the feel of the track, whilst still keeping it groovy.
I have only just realised that the chorus is only 7 bars long, and the double chorus is 13 bars. I don't know how that came about but it doesn't sound off, so I have left it as a stylistic choice.
Don't Stop was so much fun to write and record. I plan to use this track as part of a disco-style EP that I am planning to write over the holidays, along with a shortened version of Groove All Night. I struggle to write lyrics, so that will be my main mission for this EP, but I look forward to learning this skill.
Radio Friendly - ABCABCA
Don't Stop
This tune is the first disco tune that incorporates two guitars and
distortion. I have never thought to use distortion in a disco track
before, but it works surprisingly well.
Midnight Hour is another Radio Friendly structure: Chorus Verse
Pre Chorusx2
I have double-tracked the guitar for the chorus, with one side
having distortion and the other side clean. The verses are a
single-tracked guitar, with no distortion, so you get that funky
scratchy feel.
Bass is just playing 8th note octaves, to keep that driving
momentous feel.
Hunter helped me voice the brass for the pre-chorus because he
is great at voicing chords with his Jazz background, so I asked
him to assist me in this task. I knew that I wanted the ii-iii-vi
because I have always been attracted to that chord progression
and I could walk the end of the pre-chorus up to the I. I chose to
write it like that because there was a lot of walking-type
movement around the whole track, so I thought it was fitting.
I had the distortion guitar play the power chords up the octave at
the end of the pre-chorus and after the second chorus to add a
bit of register contrast. This allows the two tracked guitars to not sound the same. In the last chorus, I also got the distortion guitar to play whole notes instead of ghost notes to keep the energy and once again, give it that uniqueness that it needed.
Midnight Hour is a great tune, but it isn't my favourite of all the tracks I have written. When it came down to selecting the chosen 3 for this suite the two tracks above were clear winners, but this one and another had to compete. Midnight Hour had more potential when I started the recording stage, so she made the cut. I had fun experimenting with ways to track the guitar and articulating the brass.
Radio Friendly - ABCABCA
Midnight Hour
Contemporary Dance - Collaborative Project
This is one of the largest projects I have worked on. I spent hours upon hours recording and mixing vocals, creating music using the reference tracks that the dancers had used for inspiration, and trying to make sense of what these dancers wanted!
It was a very rewarding task, as the final product was amazing to watch, and I am proud of what it became. I had a total of 127 tracks, and the file was 9.6GB, clocking in at my biggest project to date.
This was also one of my biggest projects. Once again, hours upon hours were spent creating, arranging and mixing. Leilani was the easiest dancer I have worked with, as she was pretty cruisy with all the musical decisions I had made.
I was proud to sit in the crowd and say I had written that music. This track had a total of 100 tracks, and the file was 3.34GB.
Electronic Music Producer - Collaborative Project
Jake and I created a banger. I focused on the release cut section and Jake focused on the Jersey Beat section. We worked together to produce the switch-up and the release cut finale in the studio.
We recorded Hunter's vocals in CMS2 using the lyrics that Jake had written. First take, he sang normally but Jake wasn't satisfied, so he suggested Hunter sing falsetto. That was one of the best decisions we made for the track. I spent about 3 hours mixing the vocals before dragging the stems into the main project.
Creating the release cut piano was a learning experience. I have never made it before, so it was fun experimenting. Jake suggested that I use a slap bass, which added a whole lot of character. I hand-crafted the synths for the arps and juiced them up with Crystallizer.
After Jake’s second drop, we decided a hard-hitting switch-up was the move. I made some gang claps, a heavy kick, and a distorted vocal. I grabbed Jake’s Jersey arps and pitch and formant shifted them. This brought back some familiarity.
Throughout the process, we both contributed ideas and experimented with different elements. Jake's dedication and ideas made him an excellent partner, which was the reason for the track's success. I am proud of the effort that Jake put in and appreciate the long, focused sessions we both had