Project 4

EDIT: Imeem has recently changed how they host songs, and you can only listen to 30 second in the player. You can click "Play full song here" on the player to hear the full song.


Project 4 was to create a 2 minute track in a certain style. I chose to do mine in the style of trance.

I am not completely satisfied with the project. I feel like it is Trance lite, not quite as heavy and driving as what I would have liked.

I used the Snoman book to help me with the essentials. I started with a nice simple drum beat to drive the piece forward. I first tried using ReDrum but could not find a kit I like. I then opened up the drum program in Logic Pro and used the Trance Remix kit. The beat itself is 4 to the floor with 16th note high hats, and snare on 2 and 4. I really wanted to overlay a snare and a clap, but the kit didn't have a clap so I used two snares to really make it snap.

Next I recorded a bass line. I used Rewire with Reason for all my sounds. I found a really smooth tone in the subtractor that I thought would sit in the mix nicely. The bass just plays on the up beats where there is no kick.

Snoman then suggested to write the motif rather than a chord progression. The key to trance is to keep it simple. I think I achieved my goal since my friends are humming the melody after I show them the song. I then added an arpeggiator over the top to add a little more texture. I ended up adding delay to thicken it up a little.

Before I went into another repetition I would use a drum fill, using the snare and hi hats, to signal a change. The next section had a very similar melody line but with a different tone. In order to keep it interesting, the next section had a new melody line. The new melody repeats and I add in new chords.

After a drum fill, everything drops out except the arpeggios and the lead line from the beginning. By dropping so the bass and drums have a really strong on the dynamics. It then goes from the slowest part to the heaviest part when the drums come back in with the bass and the altered lead line. The arpeggios continue on after 8 measures along with a kick drum and slowly fade out.

I am pretty happy with the song structure, but I do not feel as if I really encapsulated the driving feel of trance. I need to listen to more trance music to get a better feel for it.

Trance - Sean