Song Structure (pt.2) - Intro, Bridge, Outro

Now that we are getting really comfortable with the Verse/Chorus format for our songs, let's take the time today to talk about a few other common parts of song structure that are used to make music more interesting: the Intro, Bridge and Outro.

Intro

• The opening to the song.
• Purpose is to builds suspense up to when the song really gets going (usually at the first Verse or Chorus).
• A very common technique is to start with either the melody, or the drums but not both. That way, the listener is waiting for that missing element and is more excited when it finally comes in.
• Can be as long as you want (just don't let the listener get too bored!). A common length is 4-8 Bars.

Bridge

• A short middle section that is different from either the Verse or the Chorus.
• Often comes in after the second or third Chorus.
  
• Helps to break up the pattern of Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus and keep the listener interested.
• Usually 8 Bars.
  

Outro

• The end of the song.
• Brings everything to a close and makes the listener feel like they've come to the end of the story.
• There are a few common ways to do an Outro: 1) just have the music end suddenly, 2) have it fade out, 3) bring in a new sound/instrument.
• Can be as long or as short as you want, but it should feel natural for the song.

Let's compare these elements in a few tunes now:







So, for today, you are going to be finishing up the songs you started on Tuesday. By the end of today, I want everyone to turn in 1 (preferably 2 songs) that have all of the following parts:

• At least 3 Verses, 3 Choruses, an Intro, a Bridge, and an Outro (fade out).
• Verses should have at least 4 instruments
• Choruses should have at least 5 instruments, including a Combinator.
  
• Some variation in the instruments on the Verses (different instruments coming in at different times).

When you finish, put them into the Student Work folder on the Media Share drive. (Macintosh HD>dolly>Media Share>Student Work)


Please be sure to save these files with your name in the filename:

Example: your name_Song 1, your name_Song 2

Song Structure (pt.1) - Verse & Chorus

Now that we know our way around the keyboard and most of the instruments in Reason, I want to take a little time to really learn about how songs are put together...

There are lots of different ways you can structure music and different types of music tend to have their own rules about it. Generally speaking, in most types of popular music, you have two or more parts that trade off, go and repeat throughout the song. Why do you think this happens?

I would say that there are two main reasons:

1. Repetition - people tend to like it when they hear a part of a song that they have heard before. Since they remember it and know how it's going to go, that helps them to sing along, dance, and experience the music.
2. Variety - If you just repeat the same part over and over again, it gets boring pretty fast! But if you switch it up a little by having a couple of different parts trading off, you can keep things fresh for the listener.
   

Since in this class we're mainly working with various types of Western pop music (hip hop, rock, etc.), we are going to focus on a Pop song structure. Today, we're going to focus on two particular parts: Verses and Choruses.

Verses

• are the parts of the song where the story is told.
  
• The lyrics usually change from verse to verse, but the instrumental (rhythm and melody) generally stays the same.
  
• There are often fewer instruments and the music is more mellow in this section. This helps the listener concentrate on the lyrics and hear what the singer/MC is saying. It can also help the Chorus seem more exciting when it hits.
• The length of a verse can vary; in a typical hip hop song, verses are 16 bars long.

Choruses (aka "hooks")

• are the parts where the music and lyrics are repeated throughout the song.
• are usually the most exciting parts, where the energy (and volume!) are the highest.
• are the parts that people are most able to sing along with; they usually have fairly simple, easy to remember lyrics.
• usually have more instruments than in the verse.
• is usually shorter than the verse; in a typical hip hop song, choruses are 8 bars long.

So let's take a quick minute to practice our listening skills. See if you can pick out the Verse and Chorus of each of the following songs:

Get Up Stand Up - Bob Marley

Me Against The World - 2PAC

In each case, was there a difference between the melody in the verse and the chorus? What about the actual instruments? Also, how did the two songs start? Which part came first, the verse or the chorus?

For today's assignment, you will be focusing on developing solid verse and chorus sections in your beats, and then developing them into basic song structures. Then, on Thursday, you will be adding some additional parts, such as Intros, Outros, Bridges and PreChoruses.

Today you have 2 things to do:

Part 1
1. Create a Verse section for your song.

• At least 16 Bars long
• At least 4 instruments

2. Create a Chorus section for your song.

• At least 8 Bars long
• At least 5 instruments
• Uses a Combinator

3. Now Copy and Paste these two sections so that you have at least 3 Verses and 3 Choruses in your song. Start with whichever one you like.

4. Add any additional touches to your Verses to keep them interesting. If you get bored listening to a whole verse section, try to think of what you can add or subtract to keep things flowing.

5. Save it!!!

Part 2
Go back to one of your old beats and create a structure for it in the same way as you did for the above.

(Part 3 - if you have time)
Try to come up with an original intro to your two songs. Figure out how it should begin before the full beat really drops.

{Make It Up!!!}

Some of you have missed some classes. Specifically, the following folks have missed the following classes:

Anthony - 11/10
Canique - 11/10
Eddie - 10/15, 11/12
Gerardo - 11/12
Jake - 10/15, 11/05, 11/12
Jose - 10/06
Madan - 10/20
Monica - 10/15

As a friendly reminder, you will NOT receive a stipend at the end of the Fall/Winter term unless you have done all your hours. To help you make sure that doesn't happen, you can do one of the following things to make up your hours:

1) Come to a MAKEUP LAB. The next one will be on Friday, November 20, 4-7 pm. There will also be another one in December. But keep in mind that if you have missed more than 2 classes, then it is already more hour

2) *Special Assignment*
I have been talking to some of the people who put out the movie, "Copyright Criminals" that we went to check out a few weeks ago. They were really excited to hear that we saw the film and would like to know what we think about it. I am willing to give you credit for 1 class (3 hrs.) if you do the following assignment:

• Write a 6-7 sentence paragraph about what you thought about the film. Specific things to talk about would include: what it made you think about sampling, how it changed/did not change your views, specific scenes from the film that you found interesting, whether you think it's good for producers/musicians to see it.
  
• Turn it in to me by next Thursday, November 19.
• I will proofread it and may ask for one round of revisions.

Minor, minor, synthesizer

Today we are going to keep on working with the two things that were introduced in the last class: 1) the Minor Scale, and 2) synthesizers.

So first of all, let's refresh our memories about the Minor Scale. The formula is...

W-H-W-W-H-W-W

Last time we started working and getting familiar with the Subtractor Analog Synthesizer. Today, we will continue working with the Subtractor and we will also get to know another Reason synthesizer, the Malstrom.
The difference between the two synths has to do with the way that they create their sounds. We will learn a little more about this later, but for now, you could say that the Subtractor is better at creating old-school, 80's style sounds, while the Malstrom is better at creating more complex, modern sounds.

So, let's just jump into today's lesson...


Part 1
Fill out the worksheet to find the notes of a Minor scale that you are going to work with today.

Part 2

1. Start a new Reason file.
2. Create a Redrum Drum Machine.
3. Set the Tempo to whatever you like.
   
4. Make a 32-step drum beat.
5. Move your R marker so that it is on Bar 5.
6. Zoom in so that you can clearly see Bars 1-5.
7. Use Copy Pattern to Track to put your drum beat into the Sequencer.
8. Make sure the Loop On/Off button is lit up.
9. Create a SubTractor Analog Synthesizer.
10. Click on the Browse Patch button.
11. Load a sound from the Bass, MonoSynths, or PolySynths folder.
12. Using your Minor Scale worksheet as reference, come up with a main melody to go over your drums. Record it. Remember, you can ONLY use notes from the minor scale you figured out!
13. Create a second SubTractor Analog Synthesizer.
14. Click the Browse Patch button and load another sound from the MonoSynths, Pads, or PolySynths folder.
    
15. Come up with a simple second melody to go with the first one. Just a few notes is fine.
16. Now Mute the second Subtractor by clicking on the M button.
17. Create a Malstrom Graintable Synthesizer.
18. Click on the Browse Patch button.
19. Load a sound from the Bass, MonoSynths, Pads, or PolySynths folders.
20. Come up with another simple melody to go over your original Subtractor melody.
21. Zoom out so that you can clearly see Bars 1- 17.
22. Copy and Paste (OPTION-drag) your drums and first Subtractor melody so that they end on Bar 17.
23. Click the M button on the 2nd Subtractor to un-Mute it.
24. Now move your 2nd Subtractor and Malstrom melodies around so that they are in an order that sounds good. For example: or
25. More the R Marker so that it is on Bar 17.
26. Listen to the whole beat play back and make any necessary changes.
27. Add any additional instruments you want.
    
28. Save this as: your name_MinorSynth

If you finish quickly, try moving your L Marker to Bar 17 and your R Marker to Bar 25. Come up with a hook section!

{Subtractor Assignment}

When you are working with the Subtractor (and the other synths in Reason), there are a couple different categories of sounds that you have to work with. Once you know a little bit about what these categories are, you will know how to find the sounds you want more quickly.

The main categories of sounds you have available in the Subtractor are:

• Bass* - These are low sounds you can use to add more thump to the rhythm of the song. You usually will want to press the Octave-down button on your keyboard to get into the low range.
  
• FX - These are weird sounds you can use to add atmosphere or flavor.
  
• MonoSynths* - These are really in your face kinds of sounds, used for playing lead melodies. You can only play one note at a time (i.e. no chords).
  
• Pads* - These are really complex sounds that can add lots of texture. You usually press a few notes at a time and hold them, rather than playing full melodies.
  
• Percussion - These are just synthetic versions of percussion songs that you can use to add to your rhythm.
  
• PolySynths* - This is probably the broadest, most general category of synth. Tons of different rich sounds that can be used for different reasons.
  

I would like for you to start getting familiar with what sounds in these categories actually sound like. If you are done with the previous assignment, please do the following:

1. Start a new Reason file.
   
2. Create a Redrum Drum Machine and make a beat.
3. Create two Subtractors.
4. On the first Subtractor, load a sound from the MonoSynths folder.
5. On the second Subtractor, load a sound from the Pads folder.
6. Make a beat that is at least 16 bars long (ends on Bar 17).
7. Add any additional instruments that you want.
8. Save this as: your name_SubtractorAssignment

Keyboard Basics (pt. 5) - The Minor Scale

Last week we spent a good amount of time focusing on the Major Scale and getting to know the sound of it. Today we're going to spend some time getting to know the other main type of scale used in Western music, the Minor Scale...

So, we already know the general feeling that the Major Scale creates (happy, upbeat, etc.). In contrast, how would we describe the Minor Scale? Let's quickly use the looknohands website to listen to the sound of the A Minor scale:

1. Click on the link to go to the looknohands.com website.
2. In the Scales column, click on A.
3. In the list of REGULAR SCALES, click on Melodic Minor (Descending).
4. Click on the Play button to hear the scale.
   
5. When you've heard enough, click the Stop button.

So what's the general feeling or vibe?

Here are a couple of tracks built around minor scales:



"Glamorous Lifestyle" by The Jacka ft. Andre Nickatina (produced by Traxamillion) - key of B flat Minor





How would you characterize the emotions of each of these songs? Very different, right?
As you can hear, the Minor scale can actually be used to convey a lot of different feelings. But I personally feel that the thing that they all have in common is a certain intensity of emotion; whether it is sadness, or anger, or a taste for living a "glamorous lifestyle", I feel that all the artists from the songs above are expressing an intense, passionate feeling through their music.

OK, so just like with the Major scale, the Minor Scale has a certain formula that it is built around. The formula is:

W - H - W - W - H - W - W

Using this formula, let's quickly figure out the keys of the C Minor scale on the picture below...

So, for today's assignment, you are going to be using C Minor. There are three parts to this assignment....

Part 1

1. Hit Command-T on your keyboard to open a new tab in your Internet browser.
   
2. Copy this URL and paste it into the address section of the new tab: http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/
3. In the Scales column, click on C.
4. In the list of REGULAR SCALES, click on Melodic Minor (Descending).
5. Leave this tab open so that you can refer back to it for the next two parts.
   

Part 2

1. Start a new Reason session.
2. Make sure you see a Mixer 14:2 at the top of your rack.
3. Set the Tempo to 80 BPM.
4. Create a SubTractor Analog Synthesizer.
5. Click on the Browse Patch button in the upper left corner of the Subtractor.
6. Go into the Subtractor folder called PolySynths (Reason Factory Sound Bank>Subtractor Patches>PolySynths) and find a sound that you like.
7. Make sure the L marker is on Bar 1 and the R marker is on Bar 5. (You may need to zoom in on the Sequencer to see the right numbers.
8. Make sure that both the Click and the Loop buttons are lit.
9. Hit Play and listen to the tempo of the click.
   
10. Practice playing the C Minor scale up and down in time with the click - each note should be played on the click. If you need to, feel free to slow the tempo down. Feel free to look at looknohands.com for reference.
    
11. When you are ready, hit Record and record yourself playing the scale up and back. Don't forget to wait to start playing at Bar 1!
    
12. Hit Stop when you are finished.If you don't like your performance, delete it and do it over. Keep working until you get it right!
13. Save this as: your name_CMinorScale.
14. Go to the Media Share and put a copy of your file into the Student Work folder. If you're not sure how to do this, raise your hand and ask an instructor.

Part 3

1. 1. Open Reason and create a new file.
   2. Create a Redrum and load some sounds into it (bass, snare/clap, hi hat, percussion, etc.)
      
   3. Make a 32-step drum beat.
   4. Set your L marker to Bar 1 and your R marker to Bar 17.
      
   5. Use Copy Pattern to Track to put the beat into the Sequencer.
   6. Now, click on Pattern 2 and make a 2nd drum beat (16-step is fine).
   7. Move your L marker to Bar 17 and your R marker to Bar 25.
   8. Use Copy Pattern to Track to put the beat into the Sequencer.
   9. Now Create a SubTractor Analog Synthesizer.
   10. Click on the Browse Patch button and load any sound into it that you like.
   11. Move the L marker back to Bar 1 and the R marker back to Bar 5 and hit Play to listen to your beat play back.
   12. Using only the keys of the C Minor Scale, come up with a melody to go with the beat. When you've got it down, record it.
   13. Use OPTION-drag to Copy out your melody so that it ends on Bar 25.
   14. Now move your markers so that the L is on Bar 17 and the R is on Bar 25.
   15. Create a 2nd Subtractor and load a different sound into it. (This one can be from any of the Subtractor folders - Bass, MonoSynths, Pads, etc.)
       
   16. Again, using only keys from C Minor, come up with a second melody to go over the first one during the hook.
   17. When you're done, move the L marker back to Bar 1 and play the whole thing back from the start. Sound good?If not, what can you do to make it better?
       
   18. Add any other instruments that you like.
       
   19. Save this as: your name_CMinorBeat