Student number 1425727
Module 6SW001
PROFFESSIONAL PROJECT
Report 2067 words
The original idea for this project was to split it into two smaller projects and do half of it as subgenres of hip hop and half as scoring short animated films, but after scoring for another project I realised that this would be to time consuming, after much deliberation it was decided that it would be better to just do subgenres of hip hop so I added a few more to make it up to 30 minutes of music.
The subgenres I chose to do are, Boom bap, Trap, Grime, Break beat, G-funk/West coast, Gangsta, Neuro funk, Dupstep and Trip hop, I tried to choose subgenres that were diverse from each other but also that I had some knowledge in.
Early on it was decided that these would just be instrumental tracks as I wanted to have them sounding as authentic as possible and knew I wouldn’t be able to get an accurate vocalist/rapper for each subgenre.
The Boom bap track will be the easiest for to complete as this is already what I produce so have a good knowledge of the genre and how it should sound aesthetically.
The trap, grime and trip hop will be the most challenging as these are the subgenres I have least knowledge in so I will spend more time listening to and analysing these genres so I can produce tracks as accurate as possible to the genres chosen, although as with all the tracks I’m not to bothered about the arrangement fitting the genre so much as I am about getting the right type of sound.
With the break beat, G-funk and gangsta subgenres, I hope to find a little easier as I grew up listening to these styles of Hip hop, so I feel I have a pretty good understanding of these sub genres already.
I will be looking to use sample packs from each genre to get the right sound as well as sampling records for drums, instruments and vocals and also using midi to build each track, I will build them in my sampler then export the stems to pro tools to mix and master.
I had originally made a trap track that I used in my presentation but I had a made this in pro tools and wasn’t happy with it so scrapped it and started again in my sampler using more authentic sounds.
I also showed clips of a Boom bap track I was going to use but I felt it was too chilled and I felt I had better tracks that represented the genre.
Trap
I spent some time on YouTube listening to trap music, but not the dance orientated trap that sounds similar to dub step, the style I’ve chosen is the American trap style made by artists such as T.I, this style originated in Atlanta and is similar to Crunch.
After listening to a lot of trap I chose to have a simple synth line going through the majority on the track, as this seemed to be the norm for this style of music.
Production
I used several sounds from a multitude of different sample packs, the main synth is a loop I added a flange effect too as well as using a low pass filter controlled by automation to bring it in gradually in certain places. The drums are different individual hits from different sample packs. I’ve got a kick, snare and the signature double hats, there’s also an 808 kick tuned to the same key that drops in on the heavier parts.
I used a big orchestra stab to make it punch at the beginning of each bar; this is another signature sound for trap.
I used another sample for the piano and for the dark ripping bass then I built around the piano with some midi synth combing a Reese bass and aggressor synth patch which was altered slightly.
Mixing
I added a bass boost the kick using an eq plug-in and liked it so left the kick that way, with the snare I eq’d out some of the low end (as I did with all the high instruments as to give to low end room to breath) and added some reverb to give it some depth, the synth sample was a bit tinny so I eq’d a little off the top.
I the mix bus I eq’ d a little more adding some low end and finished with a maximizer
I didn’t use any compression in this track as I didn’t feel it needed it.
Boom bap
Boom bap is the classic Hip hop style made famous by artists such as Biggie, Nas and the Wu tang clan and is what is regarded as the golden era of Hip hop; this style is predominantly made by sampling old soul and jazz songs, mainly from the 60s and 70s.
Production
I sampled 2 different songs for the beat combining to different jazz samples and then the drums were sampled separately, there is also a break beat chopped up and rearranged, making this I just tapped everything in by hand to my drum machine, the verse was one I already had and I thought I went well with beat and was very similar in style to the old style of hip hop were they used word play and talked metaphorically.
Mixing
On the vocals I took out the low end up to 80hz to tighten the bass up and made a little notch at 150hz to get rid of some boom, I compressed them to bring them forwarding the mix, then I eq’d them again to bring out certain frequency’s in the higher range then added a very small bit of reverb to help them stand out more.
I removed any low end from the high instruments and panned the main sample slightly off centre, the drums were mixed together then bussed together and compressed and I side chained the kick into a compressor on the bass to help the kick step in front of the bass when they played together.
Grime
Grime is similar to trap in that its synth driven rather than sampled like Boom bap, the main difference is that’s it’s a British genre derived from the garage scene in the late 90’s and early noughties and brought mainstream by artists such as Wiley.
As with the trap track I’m not as familiar with this genre so spent some time listening to grime tracks on YouTube before making my track, I also decided to use several Grime sample packs as the basis for the track to get that typical Grime sound.
Production
I used different samples from sample packs for this track, the main riff is a single hit sample that I used and I play out the melody on my midi keyboard, the drums are also from the a sample pack as are the vocal hits.
The welcome sample is from a movie and has been manipulated in different ways over the course of the track.
I just went for a dark eerie vibe on this one with lots of minor keys as to me that’s what grime is.
Mixing
Mixing was much the same as the other tracks, cut out any low end via eq, added some low end boost the kick to make it bang, eq’d the hats to put the up in the tweeter and give them some air and boosted the sub bass.
On the master bus, I added eq and maximizer to boost the whole track up without it clipping.
Break beat
Break beat is a more dance orientated style of hip hop that mainly consists of the break beat section of a soul, jazz or funk record, chopped up and used as the main rhythm with added synth, keyboard or instrument sections.
Production
With this break beat track I was thinking more Prodigy so based my production around this using trance style samples mixed with break beats and then layered some heavier drum hits over the top, I couldn’t really find any break sample packs so just used some sample from various other sources.
I chopped a break beat out of an old record as my main drum loop then layered some single hit drums over them. I used some big brass hits to give it a jump up vibe.
Mixing
The mixing was much the same as the other tracks with some eqing of the instruments and boosting of the kick, I also doubled up the bass in this track and eq’d the top end out of one version then mixed them back together to fatten up the low end.
Dub step
Dub step is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London, England. It emerged in the late 1990s as a development within a lineage of related styles such as 2-step garage, dub, techno, drum and bass, broken beat, jungle, and reggae.
Production
I used a loop from a sample pack for the intro melody, and the vocal has been taken from a film and manipulated, the bass is a midi synth from inside my sampler and the other vocal sample is from a record.
I also had to give it the obligatory wobble bass.
Mixing
Mixing was much the same with some eq on the high instruments and some panning on the drums, instruments and vocals, and then I added an eq and maximizer to the master bus.
Neurofunk
(also known more informally as just neuro) is a subgenre of drum and bass which emerged between 1997 and 1998 in London, England as a progression of techstep. It was further developed by juxtaposed elements of heavier and harder forms of funk with multiple influences ranging from techno, house and jazz, distinguished by consecutive stabs over the bassline and razor-sharp backbeats
Production
I used a bootsy Collins p-funk style sample as well as using samples from a glitch hop/funk pack, I added a break beat and then layered up more drums over the top, I found a nice bass sample and chopped it up in my sampler then added it in.
Mixing
Mixing was much the same with some eq on the high instruments and some panning on the drums, instruments and vocals, and then I added an eq and maximizer to the master bus.
Gangsta rap
Gangsta rap started in the mid 80’s by rappers such as Ice T and Schoolly D and had evolved from hardcore hip hop into its own genre; it became more popular in the late 80’s thanks to groups like NWA and in the early 90s became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop.
Production
I used Dr dre as inspiration for this and made a piano riff similar to the one in still dre, I also used a Dr dre drum pack and used individual hits to make up my drums, all of this track was made using midi, then I added the snoop dogg and dre vocals to make it more authentic.
G-funk/west coast
G-funk is a more melodic version of Gangsta rap and often contained high-pitched portamento saw wave synth leads and was heavy on bass and keyboards, it was pioneered by Oakland rappers Too short and E-40 and made big by artists such as Dr Dre, Snoop dog and Warren G it included samples from 70’s P-funk, and emerged from west coast gangsta rap in the early 90s
Production
The production on this was very much the same as the gangsta where I used single hits from sample packs and built everything using midi, I used a Warren G vocal like the gangsta track to add some authenticity.
Trip hop
Is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as “a fusion of hip hop and electronica until neither genre is recognizable, and may incorporate a variety of styles, including funk, dub, soul, psychedelia, R&B, and house, as well as other forms of electronic music. Trip hop can be highly experimental.
Production
I was thinking massive attack when I made this so used a break beat chopped it up and slowed it down then added saturation to get the drums dirty and distorted, I added some more drums hits over the top and then just added various instrument samples and string arrangements through the track.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed breaking out my box into different sub genres and will pursue making a couple of them more often, but I feel I probably didn’t spend enough time listening to each genre so I will be taking in more genres to expand my knowledge of music from now on, I also felt I rushed a couple of the tracks as I spent too long on others so I need to spread my time more evenly.