Introduction
As my obsession with electronic music is based in the so called “deep house” genre, I thought I would use this soapbox opportunity to share my thoughts, findings and discoveries.
Part one of my first topic concerns...
Arrangement
It’s interesting to see different song structures from various Producers and come to understand their producing and arrangement techniques. In the same way Cinematographers can study light by observing where the shadows fall.
Some call it, reverse engineering.
As much as some traditional Musicians go through Classical training theory, arrangement and History it is equally valid for Electronic musicians to do the same, albeit, through self instigated study and learning.
I have found I get better results by working out an arrangement structure for a track ahead of time. Doing so really facilitates the track coming together so much more quickly. Rather than struggling half way through the creation process and sometimes even abandoning ship, I find with preordained structure I achieve more finished tracks. I find it fascinating as we live in a world of the continuous mix, it is within the song form that breakdowns exit to give the listener and dancers a chance to rest before the next drop. Where once there was a gap between records on a single turntable.
A great way to build a template is to load up an audio of a reference track into Logic Pro X and create song markers for each section which you can name and colour.
I find working with song markers in Logic Pro X really helps me flesh out a track more quickly, and with a degree of confidence. I like to move from first ideas to a rough blocked arrangement as quickly as possible. I have found, that you can lose a lot, when a track is painstakingly coming together over a long period.
I love using an iOS app on my iPad called Blocs Wave to create an intial scetch. One which contains the essence of an idea for evolving into a more fully fledged track. I’ll export the audio elements across to my computer and reproduce them with soft synths and drums. But first I will do a rough arrangement of as much of the song as possible only using the scetch elements which are often anywhere from two to eight bars long.
Song markers make this process of song creation a breeze.
There are two types of markers in Logic, plain vanilla ones and arrangement markers which actually let you move all the MIDI and audio below them as entities. These can allow you to explore new song structure options after the fact.
I used to start looping and building 2-4 bar drum structures right from bar one then, migrate them out to later points in the track. Now I find it better to start on bar 33. As the sixteen bar intro beats and the build up to the end of bar 32 is relatively easy to flesh out and address when you have your main structure decided.
As you work on and build up your drop, It’s worth considering what elements you will hold off from the first and save for the second drop. Having a song build is critical otherwise the second drop won’t be a climax but instead a repetition.
I know I can happily spend a 3-4 hour session layering my hats getting them just perfect, no matter what mood I am in. But 3-4 hours in rough blocking and arranging can deliver the majority of the song structure.
To achieve this I have a folder of empty Logic arrangements where I can copy and paste the song markers from across into my current working track.
I have found it interesting to study arrangements in my favourite tracks and Producers and look for points of interest or new ways of composing that add interest to my own records. Some put breakdowns and drops in completely unexpected spots, others run the build up far longer than I could ever imagine. Others are rigorous in respecting form and conventions.
That said there are some interesting things happening lately in deep house with long sustained single note bass lines. Some are held for as long as six bars before they switch pitch. They feel monolithic and powerful. Practitioners like Yotto and Lane 8 remind me of some of the great work done by Artificial Intelligence in the UK drum and bass scene of the late nineties and early 2000’s.
Also in regards to vocals, deep house tracks don’t resemble traditional verse chorus song structures. I feel they are more chorus-like only minimal stripped back and repetitive. This probably came about as a result of sampling acapella words and phrases in source tracks. All at points clear of too much music. As when working with singers, many Producers still opt for less is more style with the use of vocal cut ups and 3-4 word lyric lines. The traditional verse, chorus, verse, bridge structures are absent.
When considering structure Shorter Radio edits are also a consideration. Whether you will opt for two drops and two breakdowns, or three drops and breakdowns?
Elements that reoccur at 2, 4, 8 and 16 bar intervals bring familiarity. Familiarity is good but perhaps not predicticability? Also what about the effect of adding different elements at odd intervals? Or elements which appear once only?
Most of us know there is 32 bars of intro and Outro beats in a dance track to aid the DJ in mixing in and out. The first 16 bars of intro drums are generally lightweight aiding the cross fade / mix through from the end of one song into the next. Oftentimes there is a distinct kick, cymbal, sound effect or melodic element on the first one of the track.
Techniques include;
Pulling or reducing kicks for the shift into any new passages or sections. For example four bars of low level or absent kicks leading into bar 33, home of the first drop. This inarguably allows the drop to feel more powerful.
Points to consider;
- Sound effect or single kick on the one of bar one. ( Helps cueing )
- First eight bars contain a light kick, on bar 9 the solid kick commences. ( aids the cross fade mix through)
- First occurrence of the bass
- Drop or eq the low end of the kicks before section changes.
- sound effects and sonic elements that only happen once or twice in the track
- 32 bar intro and 32 bar Outro.
- Builds
- Breakdowns
- The benefits of filtering and automation to blur the loop based production form.
All said and done the listener comes with recognition of structure and innately recognises the road map as it’s presented.
In my next instalment I’ll show you some pretty pictures.