Start/Inspiration/Loops
I watched some of the Waveform videos on YouTube and listened to many of the samples included with Waveform (and began to make a list of ones that I liked). I also downloaded the Imagina Drum Loops but didn’t end up using any of them.
I later listened to some samples in the SSLIB, and I was interested by the many variations of chirping birds. I’d already decided to have a relatively mellow song, and the birds inspired me to lead the listener through someone’s morning — a story. The birds start chirping, and a gentle jazzy piano comes in; later, drums (and then bass) come in, and there are sounds of running water and a razor (both of which I recorded in the bathroom using Voice Record) in the background (as the person is getting ready for school/work/their day). The music builds, but just as the listener anticipates the climax, a doorbell rings (a sudden interruption to the person getting ready). Everything goes quiet, except for the bell echoing. The birds slowly begin chirping again, and the piano from the beginning softly returns. The project ends with a car revving (a sound I also found in SSLIB).
The birds are most clearly chirping in the beginning and the end, but I used (and altered) the clips elsewhere in the piece. For example, when the drums first come in, there’s a sort of ‘whoosh’ on each beat — I took this from a bird chirp. Near the end of this part (right before the piano changes and the bass comes in), I used a quieter part of one of the chirping clips and applied “Step Volume”.
I got all my atmospheric sounds (birds, various bells, ) either from SSLIB or from my recordings. I also got two percussive-type sounds from SSLIB – the sort of rattling sound (which I also used reversed) and a kick drum. Other than those, everything else (piano, horns, drums, bass, the ‘whoosh’ right before the “doorbell”) was from the Waveform library.
Effects/Plugins
- Reverb: I definitely used this plugin the most. I added heavy reverb to the kick drum and the bass to give them a fuller sound, and I also added reverb to the drums once the bass comes in to make their sound change a little (to distinguish a new section). In addition, I added at least a little reverb to most of the other clips (other than the atmospheric ones).
- Delay: I liked using this one, too — I used it with the samples that I added heavy reverb to, for the same reasons
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Pitch Shift – the black part on the right Pitch Shift: I used this sparingly because I often found that shifting the pitch resulted in the sample sounding very unnatural. I did, however, like using pitch shift at the end of a sample and shifting it down (see picture, left) — it added a sense of momentum/sudden change.
- Warp Time: I used this once on the second recurrence of the chirping in an attempt to make the chirping on the beat — it worked, but there were a few places where the transition between one chirp to the next seemed sudden or cut off (though I think this is more of an issue with the way I “warped” the time than the way the effect itself works). See screenshot of orange clip, below.
Warp Time – the white markers at the top - LPF (and 4-Band EQ, which I basically used as a HPF): I added a LPF to the track with bird chirps in an effort to reduce low-frequency sounds — honestly, not sure how effective this was/if there was a noticeable difference in reducing such sounds; same with 4-Band EQ. I had one bell in the “birds” track for which I definitely heard a change (a loss of the low frequencies) — I moved this bell to a different track because I actually wanted to preserve the low frequencies there.
- Step Volume: This one does volume in “steps” — i.e. volume is on for a section, and then off, then back on, then off, etc… I only used this once, but I enjoyed the effect it gave! It entirely changed the clip and gave it a more beat-like vibe. See picture of blue clip, right.
Step Volume - Compression: I tried applying compression but honestly didn’t really understand the effects/hear a difference
Automation
I was definitely scared/confused about automation at first, but I ended up using it frequently because it gave me more control over how each plugin was applied. For example, in the picture above (orange clip “GO_BirdsVarious-12”), I used automation on the volume because I wanted it to fade in, get softer for a bit, and then rise in volume again. Another clip I used automation on was “GO_BirdsVarious-4”, when I just used the surrounding noise instead of the clear bird sounds themselves. This was the clip I used “Step Volume” on, and I used automation on “Volume” to make it gradually fade in and then fade out.
Notes/Errors
- I had one error: I had headphones in and unplugged them, and then plugged them back in. My solution was to close & re-open Waveform.
Error message - a note: some of my effects disappeared when I merged looped clips together, so I could no longer see what plugins I had added — I’m definitely going to avoid merging looped clips together until the end from now on
The Project
Hey Iris,
I love how you aimed to use the music to “tell a story.” The song does remind me of a morning routine. I love the running water and razor. They add a sense of energy to the piece with the fast-paced piano. I like how you used the intro melody for the outro. For me it provided a wonderful sense of closure, and the car rev at the end is an excellent finish that grasps the listener’s attention once more. The warp time plugin seems very cool. Amazing how you got the chirps in sync with the beat! Did you automate the pan of that horn sample that comes in at 0:07? It adds a great sense of space!
I also like how you point out plugins that showed no difference. It just makes me wonder what each of them does. That is going to be fun to learn!
In regards to the error message, I also had the same issue with the unplugging headphones. I switched audio input to “none” and switched it back to headphones and then it works rather than restarting waveform. I am not sure if that will help but maybe it will. Hopefully there is a better way to combat the problem!
I actually didn’t automate the pan of the horn sample! And I’ll try switching the audio input next time if I have the same issue with headphones – thanks 🙂
I really loved this piece because I felt like there was an ongoing theme with the bird chirps even as you incorporated different synth samples (I think I had one of the same synth samples in my final product or in my project at one point) and I really like the way you engineered the drum sounds to sound really clean. I also noticed that you had a slowed down fade out for one of the loops, and it would be cool if you included more of those!
Hi Iris! This is sooooo cool. Big picture, I love how you bring it full circle with that lovely piano arpeggio. On the groove in the middle, the low sorta pitched thump (was that the reverb-y kick drum?) at the beginning of each cycle gave everything so much depth and drive. I also thought that the time-warped chirp that leads into the drum entrance might be the coolest bass drop I’ve ever heard. I had the same problem with clipping/suddenness when I tried splitting a clip and time-stretching (Elastique Pro) the second part. The only half-solution I settled on was fading out the first clip and fading into the second clip rapidly, but not sure if that’s a great practice.
Great work! Love the rhythm and chords of that jazzy brassy intro sample. Both piano samples (the one at 00:28 and the one at 00:40, ) are genuinely really cool, and they flow really well together (it’s a great musical transition from the brassy intro sample, to the jazzy slow piano sample, to the quick sixteenth-note piano sample). It’s also great when you bring back another part of that first piano sample at 01:20! It’s cool how the chirping sounds at the end have a bit of a pitch to them, with the chirps kind of adding a fun polyrhythm on top of the piano ending!
If I were to make any constructive criticism it would be the volume of the other sound effects: I’d personally probably make the rattling sound a tiny bit quieter, etc. Really great all-around!