Defected intern Keelan Doyle continues his report on Point Blank's 4-week Deep and Soulful House Online production course.
This week was focusing on Chord Analysis and Tips, the Chord Memorizer, third Party solutions - Kontakt 3 Scripts, bassline analysis and creating basslines and riffs. Having no real musical background aside from DJing, I was looking forward to grasping the key musical side of production, which I’ve always found to be the hardest to get my head around.
Again I found the structure of the lesson great, first we looked at the theory behind what we were about to do, then being shown specific examples and project samples to then try and incorporate into my production piece.
One tool I found invaluable is the chord memorizer, which enables the non-musician (in this case me) to reach key combinations that usually I would struggle with. I also learnt some great tips enabling me to shortcut the hassle of midi-mapping, thanks to the use of Logic’s environment windows.
Some of the chord structures and melodies I learnt showed me that it’s important to pick your sounds according to the style you want to bring across, for example a lighter mood would suit an acoustic or electric piano.
Using the EX24 I learnt that you can place different sounds in various zones on your keyboard, enabling you to combine multiple instruments to the keyboard which is great for live recording i.e setting a brass synth sound to the key range C4-B4 and a deep bass synth to C5-G8.
I was then shown how the combination of a kick with a nice bass note can flow really well. This is a simple technique which really appealed to me, so my aim is to nail this idea and include in my final track.
Looking riffs I soon realized their importance and how they are used to hook a listener, and that it’s usually best to use a contrast tone like a flute or saxophone which I chose or even an effect sound, so it fits in nicely with the arrangement but will stand out enough to stay in the listeners head.
All the information was there for me to understand and start making my own unique melodies, of course its brilliant that I am not too pressured for time on this and can read through thoroughly and digest everything, even go back over videos or send a question to Alex on the forum.
Looking forward to showing you the fruits of my labours next week!
Keelan is studying Point Blank’s Deep & Soulful House 4-week course.
www.pointblankonline.net
