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se fue el tiempo

 

se fue el tiempo


    I fell in love with a lot of the distorted examples that Johnie showed us in class, especially, The Red Crayola. As soon as I got back to my dorm for class that day, I got to work. I wanted it to feel fast, but I didn't want it to be fast, so I put my bpm on 68 and started programming the drums that you hear in the song. It's a pretty simple pattern. However, I went and reprogrammed them after, adding, removing, and repeating various elements, giving the drums a more chaotic element that sort of engulfs you into the song itself.

 I am also a big fan of JPEGMafia, an independent rap artist who has dropped some of the most amazing music in the last few years. I wanted the lead to reflect that, so I went for this guitar MIDI plug-in, and I got a version of the melody that you hear in the background. After this, I transposed it a bit so that darker more somber tone would come through, and then I added an amp to both the lead and the drums. 

This is where all the fun distortion comes. There's a few ways to create the effects I did through automation. That's what's very fun about DAW's, It's almost about making the program work for you, and not the other way around. I began by automating the volume knobs of the amp volume itself, so in various parts you can hear the crunch a lot more than in others where it sounds a lot smoother. Additionally, I added some EQ Automated Filters. These are just frequency shifter knobs on the EQ Eight plug in, most of the plug-ins I use are stock Ableton plugins, since external ones can get a bit pricey. (the internet is an awesome place so I've managed to snag myself a couple... I DIDNT EVEN PAY FOR ABLETON HAHAHAHA)

The lead also has some pan automation going on. It is moving from left to right as the song progresses, and the drums were duplicated, then panned to the left 3 and to the right 3. The drum duplication makes the drums stand out on top of the lead, and it's almost pressing down on it, choking it. I made sure the end of the guitar portion rose in volume so that you could feel the squeeze of the drums fully. 

After I mastered it once, I went back and mastered it a second time. This time I wanted to focus on volume consistency, and so I made sure the mix wasn't too punchy, but I also went in and added a special effects rack I made that I meant to simulate an SP-404 Sampler. Some effects include LOFI distortion, more filters, High-frequency isolators, and FX Loopers. These are heard throughout the song in various ways, adding to the chaotic and almost hopeful emotion that I wanted to achieve. 

Overall, I wanted this song to feel like a good dream, like one of those that you remember after you wake up, and you'd wish you could dream of it again. I added a few vocal samples that I had in my Hard Drive because I wanted to convey that feeling of talking in your dreams, it feels like an amalgamation of everything you know, so you create these complete visual landscapes that have incomprehensible faces and indistinguishable voices. It doesn't even matter what they're saying. 

To be honest, this project has sort of refueled me in a very nice way. I was lacking on my music making before this project, but now, I sort of got that beginning spark back, and I just feel like creating and creating and creating!! Overall, I'm very happy with the outcome of this project!!! 



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