Mr. Matsuis Music Class

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Project 2

For our second DAW project — we will create a 16 measure long track, that incorporates drum programming, sampling original sounds, as well as bass and SFX.

Form

We’re going to organize our music in 16 measure form, with new instruments added every 4 measures. The measures are indicated in a DAW on the grid at the top. Each number indicates the number of measures. 

Drums

For this project, we’re going to program our own drum sounds using kick, snare, and hi hats

Because we’re organizing our music in 4 measure units, we’re going to have different combinations of drums drums every 4 measures

The choice is up to you. Maybe you can have: 4 measures of kick, four measures of kick and hi-hats, then 8 measures of a full grooveOr maybe, we can have 4 measures of silence, 4 measures of hi hats, 4 measures of hi hats and snare, then 4 measures of a full groove

After you’ve created your drum groove, change the drum sound from the default “Machines | Vanilla” to something else of your choice. 

Sampling

In addition to the drums, we’re going to have 2 tracks of sampling. One track of sampling will be a sampled loop

Your sampled loop can play for the entire duration of the music, or you can add them somewhere in the middle.

The second track of sampling will be what we call a one-shot, meaning the sampled sound will play just a few times, to add surprise to your track. 

Bass & SFX

Our project will also include bass and SFX. We’ll drag these in from the loop library

Your bass can play the entire duration of your music, or as with sampling, you can add them somewhere in the middle. See how the energy changes depending on where in your music you choose to add your bass. 

Same with SFX. In most music, sound effects aren’t randomly placed. See if you can use SFX to announce different sections of the song. 

Organization

Once our project is done, we’ll press save. Go to the title of the song and write your name, class number, and a name for your loop

Your goal is to create a sense of form, so that the music feels organized and has a sense of momentum. 
This project will have more room for your own personal decision making — which means there is room to be expressive, but also room for making mistakes. Try out different options, and see what combinations of feel the most interesting and expressive to you. Have fun!