Introduction
- house-dance beat
- incorporate arab/indian melody -> maybe by taking indian classic (lata mangeshkar type)
Making a 2-Bar Measure
As I progressed through making a set of 2 bars I felt satisfied with, I noticed the cuts I was making to the instruments were really small, and I was arranging everything in a way that felt trappy.
I started with cutting an Indian melody that had tabla and strings that I found online. I made really small cuts and was able to isolate different parts of the tabla. I added in the flute, getting to a rhythm in the bar. I repeated both sequences into the next bar, adding some variety in the pattern by experimenting with timing.
As I started to build out the melody, I used a free trap beat I found online and warped it a LOT. I combined it with the same Indian instrumental I cut for the beat, but a different section, to get the final melody.
The last step was adding in drums from the breaks we practiced with in class. I used Ebony Jam, and chopped it up to create two drum layers that function like a kick and a hi-hat.
Building it Out
I looked up how a trap beat actually gets made, since I really wanted to focus on the buildup and close of my mix on this assignment. I wanted to experiment with different combinations of sound, and how I could manipulate my arrangement to be more engaging and tell a story instead of just a loop of sound. The different parts of the mix are:
-
Drums only
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Tabla intro
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Flute intro
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Indian melody intro
- Trap intro
- Final beat loop
- Cut drums
- Add chopped sitar melody
- Drums come back
- Tabla/flute cut
- Everything cuts except the melody
Final Product
The final product ended up being very close to what I wanted. I see a strong dance influence in the mix, and could easily picture Indian classical dancers doing Bharatnatyam or Kathak, two Indian classical styles, to the mix. I think if I had to continue working on this beat, I’d want to play with the melody more and try to make it more varied with a sitar.