For this assignment, we were given a choice of four songs, to recreate, in four different styles. The songs were Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys, Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes, and Happy by Pharrell Williams. The different styles we could recreate them in were House, Electro-Pop, Rock and Roll, or Reggae. I decided to do Seven Nation Army, in the style of House music.
House Music:
House music refers to a collection of styles of electronic dance music. Some of the earliest forms being from the mid 1980's. The genre is said to derive from Frankie Knuckles mixed old classics with Eurosynth pop.
However, many people believed 'house' music came from "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer. Early American Sci-Fi films, and the soundtrack to Doctor Who actually demonstrated a new generation of techno music. A lot of this was influenced by the psychedelic sound of bands such as Pink Floyd and Soft Machine. Although, none of these were really dance music, so it was a mixture of these electronic experiments, adding disco and funk, that led to the early forms of dance music.
Similar to dance music, house music shares the 4/4 beat, which is generated by a drum machine, or a sampler. It also shares the element of the solid bass line. House music is uptempo music, designed for dancing, and has a relatively narrow tempo range, which generally falls between 118 beats per minute, and 135, and 127 bpm being the average. One of the most important elements is house music, is the very strong, synthesised, equalised pounding of the kickdrum on every quarter note of the 4/4 bar. This often creates a "dropping" effect. This is commonly added to, with various kick fills, and dropouts (called 'breakdowns'). To build the basic framework of house music, you need to add hi-hats (on the eighth note offbeats) and a snare drum, and a clap on beats 2 and 4 of every bar. This pattern descends from "four-on-the-floor" drumbeats of the 60's. Due to the way DJ's used to mix records together, producers now commonly layer sampled drum sounds to achieve the ultimate, house sound, filling out the audio spectrum, and tailoring the song for large club sound systems.
Electronically generated sounds and samples of other music like jazz, are added to the foundation of the song. Vocal samples were traditionally of female singers, using no words/ minimal phrases. House music as a genre has ow been divided into sub-categories. For example, Acid House.
Acid house, is a sub-category of house music, which is characterised by the use of simple tone generators wit tempo-controlled resonant filters. It first began in the mid 1980's when producers of house music, found they could create unique sounds with the Roland TB-303 analogue bass synthesiser. They did this by applying simple changed to the resonance and frequency cut-off dials as they were playing. This category of house music became a central part of the early 'rave scene' in the UK.
Progressive House is another sub-category of house music, which first emerged after the first wave of house music. The earliest forms of progressive house can be traced back to the early 1990's rave and club scene in the UK. In 1992 and it was described as a "new breed of hard ut tuneful, banging but thoughtful, uplifting and trance British House'. A lot of sub-categories pf house largely influenced each other at this time, such as UK House, US house, techno house, etc. Progressive house was a descendant from the Chicago house sound.
Cubase:
For this assignment we used Cubase 6. We had the sheet music of our chosen song, and had to input the midi data onto tracks in Cubase. Cubase is a piece of music software, developed by Steinberg. It's used for music recording, arranging and editing, and creates a digital audio workstation. The first version was released in 1989.
To use Cubase you need to set up a new project. You then need to add a track assign an instrument to it. Next you need to input all of the midi data onto the track. you can change where you put each individual note, to alter the pitch of the song. To input the midi data, you need to select the pencil icon, and just click where you want the note. To move the note up or down, just use the arrow keys or drag it.
Creating The Song:
To create the song, I first looked at the skeleton score I was given. Then I listened to the original song, and listened to house music, to see what the features of house music. Then I started putting in all of the notes onto Cubase for the chords. I played these back to check the notes were correct, then I moved onto the melody. I put all of these notes in, checked them and moved onto the drum beat once these were in the right place. For the drums i just repeated a 4/4 beat, and played it throughout the whole song. I added claps, and an open hi hat at the end.
I Want It That Way:
The
song was released as the lead single from their third studio album Millennium.
Critics called the song ‘the pop ballad of the year’. It was nominated for
three Grammy Awards, including Song and Record of the Year.
The
song is considered one of their signature song, and it reached number one in
more than 25 countries.
Backstreet Boys:
Backstreet
Boys are an American vocal group, who formed in Orland, Florida in 1993. The
group consists of 5 members, A.J. McLean, Howie D, Nick Carter, Kevin
Richardson and Brian Littrell. They first rose to fame after their first debut
international album ‘Backstreet Boys’ in 1996. The following year, they
released a second international album, titled ‘Backstreet’s Back’. Their third
studio album ‘Millennium’ was released in 1999, and the follow-up
album
‘Black & Blue’ released on 2000.
Source: www.thetoptens.com/best-backstreet-boys-songs/
Name
Of Song
|
Album
|
Year
Of Release
|
Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely
|
Millennium
|
1999
|
I Want It That Way
|
Millennium
|
1999
|
As Long As You Love Me
|
Backstreet's Back
|
1997
|
Incomplete
|
Never Gone
|
2005
|
Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)
|
Backstreet Boys
|
1996
|
Shape Of My Heart
|
Black & Blue
|
2000
|
Larger Than Life
|
Millennium
|
1999
|
Everybody
|
Millennium
|
1999
|
Drowning
|
Unbreakable
|
2007
|
Inconsolable
|
Unbreakable
|
2007
|
Context:
The
difference between working for an employer and working for a client is that
work with a client is typically only a ‘one-time’ thing. Employers hire you for
a long-term contract, whereas working for a client, is a short-term contract,
typically only lasting a few days to a week. For this assignment, we had to
stick to a brief given to us by the client. We had to follow the instructions
on the assignment brief, to create the song the client asked for.
Market Assessment and Analysis:
The
original track has achieved over 250 million views on YouTube. Remixes of the
song are achieved anything from 50,000 to 162,000. Remixes are important
because they create a new sound to each song. It can modernise an old song, or
completely change the sound of a new song. They can also help boost sales and
views of the original track.
Product Analysis:
A
remix is taking a song, and changing chords or adding things to it, to alter
the way it sounds. The idea behind tem is to create something catchy that a
wide range of people will like. People create remixes because it’s a way of
earning money; by changing the way a song sounds. It’s easier to create a
remix, than it is to create a song. With a remix, you already have all of the
chords, notes and vocals ready for you to change/add to.
