Discuss the texture - Polyphonic

Instruments:

Flutes
Oboes
Clarinets
Bassoon

Horns
Trumpets
Trombones
Tuba
Timpani

Describe the melody - Slow and random. Consonant at some parts and dissonant at others

Describe the tonality
Atonal

What is a Dies Irae. 20th century piece of music, would he have used this. 
Dies Irae is a famous melody of a gregorian chant. The song symbolises a reflection on the final judgement, this is used because the time period fits with the time of the story, as well as serving a purpose as a woman is burned at the stake for being a witch.


Find the augmentation: 6 mins in. The melody repeats itself a few times but adds extra parts to it making it longer and longer.

He's a Pirate

At 0:10 and 1:01 Finger movements causes screeching in the recording. To fix this I would record this part again till there is no screeching from the guitar, or use a noise gate to cute off the low frequencies to prevent the screeching from coming through.

The beginning notes and ending notes sound different. Recorded at different times possibly. I would have either recorded it again till it sounded the same or have taken the beginning recording and placed it at the end if i could not get the recording to sound the same. The beginning notes seem to include more of the high frequencies. Where as the ending notes are much more bassy and has more low frequencies in the recording.

Clicks happen due to glitches, might be from too much information going through at once. I would use a better computer or use better data cables such as USB 3.0.

Apologize

Beginning at 0:00 wasn't cut and you can hear performers moving/talking and instruments being touched, the metronome also can be heard at the beginning far off in the distance. The metronome is a very high frequency making it easy to hear. I would have cut out those parts which means it sounds more professional and the song starts at the beginning when you press play rather than waiting a few seconds. 

Piano sounds like it was recorded far away. Too much reverb, recorded using a condenser, this is because you can hear everything else in the room. I would either lower the gain of the condenser so it wouldn't pick up any other audio in the room or use a dynamic microphone. I would have also reduced the reverb by placing foam in the room to absorb it. I would have placed the microphone in a better position and close to the part that emits the sound this would also mean it wouldn't pick up anything else as there is a shorter distance between the microphone and noise being recorded.

Gaps in between vocals aren't cut out, meaning you can hear movement and swallowing, i would fix this by going through the song and lowering the gain using automation at parts of the song where the performer isn't singing so you can't hear anything else happening such as swallowing from the performer or them shuffling. 

Microphone gain isn't set right she becomes too loud at 1:14, when compared to the other parts of the song such as the beginning it is very different in volume, I could also change the automation of the gain during the track to make sure the volume does not peak. I would either record it again or use a compressor. If i recorded it again i would make sure the performer doesn't move around whilst recording.

No pop shield this created popping in the vocals. One pop can be heard at 0:46. I would record the song again and use a pop shield or try my best to reduce the pops by lowering the gain using automation when there is pops. 

Didn't cut the microphone audio at the end, can hear her taking off her headphones, i would cut this out and it would make it sound more professional. 

Beneath your beautiful

Bass is out of time. I would record it again till it is in time. 0:46 is an example of where this can be heard.

Drums are too fast compared to the piano. 1:36 is an example of this. This was probably because of them not being recorded first. I would restart the whole project again and record the drums first or record everything else till it is in time with the drums. 

Drums are recorded with one condenser microphone. Makes the drum kit sound whole, doesn't separate the different parts of the drum and single them out. This makes it harder to emphasise the specific parts of the drum kit such as the snare, bass and hi hat. Using separate microphones means it is possible to use EQ on the separate instruments which would make the overall sound of the drum kit sound better. 

Mic positioning on the piano is wrong sounds too airy and feels far away from the microphone. I would record the piano again making the microphone closer to the piano. 

No metronome was used this is evident because the other instruments are not in time. Possibly because the drum wasn't recorded first. I would use metronome and record the drum kit first which would ensure the whole song stays in time and sounds professional. 

Piano hit the wrong notes. I would record this again until it was perfect, or if necessary use a new performer who is more experienced. 2:02 is an example of when the performer makes a mistake on the piano.

Didn't cut the song at the end. I would cut this as it would make the song sound more professional.
The vocalist's microphone is too loud at some parts and too quiet at others. This is possible due to the performer moving further away and closer to the microphone. Or that other instruments just over power the vocals. 3:05 is an example is where the performer is very quiet compared to the other instruments. 

Sam's Listening Excerpts

Textures, HOMO, MONO, POLY,
Major or Minor
Instruments


1. Mozarts Clarinet Concerto
Major
Homophonic because there is the woodwind playing different chords than the strings. Strings are playing the chords where the clarinet is playing the main melody. It then picks up introducing more instruments making the song seem fuller.
Violin
Clarinet


2. Hall of the mountain king
Minor
Homo then when it starts picking up speed and introduces more instruments it becomes polyphonic.
Oboe, Strings, Pizzicato, Symbols, Double bass, Cello, Timpani

GagaRaga

Incorrect Notes – 0:49 1:29 2:10

Poor timing – No metronome 4:36 Seems like an echo where actually the parts should be played at the same time.

Tempo increases rapidly

All one instrument sounds like a big mess

Clipping 0:10

1:03 problems with tempo and all the parts clash. Very poor timing

In the GagaRaga Sitar cover the overall recording of the song is poor.  This is because the performer played each part separately and pasted them in Audacity. Since he recorded each part separately he didn’t use metronome to keep in time so when the parts are all put together some are in varying tempos.  This is evident at 4:36 where you can hear the main track play the main notes and then a second later you hear it again quietly. This is because the separate tracks don’t line up properly.  Playing without the metronome would also mean at some parts he is playing too fast and at others too slow. If I were to record this song myself I would use metronome to keep the recordings in time. I would also use other instruments to play the other parts of the song, I would also place in a drumbeat or something so the song sounds normal and provides the listener something to tap to.

The whole song uses one instrument for all the parts. This means it’s hard to distinguish which part is playing what as they overlap in keys. Usually sounding like a big mess of random playing, this can be heard at 1:03.

The performer also plays some incorrect notes, which can be heard at 0:49 1:29 and 2:10. To fix this I would have rerecorded those tracks until it was perfectly played.

The recording of the song is also pretty poor, from recording the parts separately and using a microphone to close mic it would mean he changes distance between the microphone, as well as playing at different levels.  To fix this I would measure how far the microphone should be and then alter the microphone’s gain till it was level with all the other parts on the sitar and make sure it wouldn’t clip.

Katy Perry Firework 2010 X Factor

Intonation – Flat at 1:54 and 3:12

Tempo (Out of breath 4:05)

Voice is very quiet at the beginning. 1:12

The song is out of tune all together. The original song is a few notes higher than what she is singing at.

The whole performance of this was flat when compared to the actual version released.  When listening to both songs you can hear that the live performance is a few notes lower than the original. Another difference is she starts to improvise some vocals at 2:40, this is sung entirely differently to the original song.  At 1:54 and 3:12 she sings some lyrics out of tune, this is possibly due to the performer not warming up properly or being ill during the performance.

To improve this live performance I would have made sure the performer was at their best. I would have made sure they have warmed up their vocals. I could also use pitchshifter on the vocals, this could have made the voice sound less flat and bump the notes the vocal is singing up to the correct pitch. However the improvisation might be unique and the audience might like it as it is original, I would have liked the song to to be sung how it was recorded as it shows professionalism and the performer is skilled enough to sing the song and make it sound similar to the recorded track. I would have also reduced the amount of dancing the vocalist does. This means the performer cannot become out of breath and can focus on singing and hitting the notes. It also means the performer and audience have a connection as the performer is focused 100% at singing to them rather than dancing around the stage in front of them which is the dancers' job. 

Ray Charles - Mess Around

The instruments used in this piece are commonly used in jazz music in the 20th century. Especially the jazz bass and the saxophone. These instruments are quiet different to each other offering a wide range of variety to sounds. The piano carries the main tune with the saxophone emphasising the main melody parts. The main tune is heard at the beginning of the song at 0:06. The bass and drum kit are used to keep the other instruments in time as well as making the song have a fuller feel to it. In the piano solo at 1:17 there is loads of trills in the right hand and block chords in the left hand. The saxophone solo at 1:36 is basic just keeping in time of the beats of the bar with some improvisation playing. The song is melody and accompaniment the whole way through.


The recording sounds like it was recorded with one microphone at the front recording all of the instruments at the same time, with a separate microphone for the lyrics. This means that some instruments such as the drum are quiet as they are further away from the microphone. I would have close miced the drum kit and had the bass and saxophone and piano on its own separate microphones. This would mean that all instruments are equally loud and you would have more control over how loud you want each instrument. If you were using just the two microphones with one for the vocals and the rest for the instruments then it would mean that if you wanted one instrument higher than the rest you would either have to raise the gain on the microphone which would increase every other instrument as well or use EQ to raise certain frequencies to make a certain instrument louder. This would however mean that other instruments that have similar frequencies would be louder as well.

Beethoven Symphony No.5 (Proms 2012)

The instruments used in this piece of music include the usual instruments found in an orchestra. Such as    the Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Contrabassoon, Trumpet, Horn, Trombone and Tuba. These instruments go well with each other as the string instruments fit well each other. They do this as they sound similar with slight alterations as well as being within the same key. In the Beethoven symphony there are many of the same instrument, playing the same notes, as this would create layers and give the song a fuller feel.

All the instruments that are the same are playing in unison as well as many other instruments playing the same note at the same time. This can be seen at 1:55 with most of the orchestra playing the same notes and then start playing separately again. When at the 1:55 mark the song is homophonic, with all the instruments playing in block chords of the same note together. At 2:05 it then becomes polyphonic with all the instruments playing separate parts that compliment each other. They do this as they are in the same key and play similarly to the other instruments blending well with the whole song.


I think the song was recorded using an omni-directional microphone. This is because the shape of the theatre is designed to have a specific reverb. However this meant that the audience can be heard throughout, such as a person sneezing at 0:17 and the audience coughing and moving about at 8:00. To prevent any of this I would have placed dynamic microphones in front of the groups of performers. The performers were split into the different groups based on what family group their instrument was in. Placing one or two microphones in front of these groups would mean that the recording would have been just of those instruments and there would be minimal disturbances in the recording. However placing the microphones in these positions would mean losing the reverb of the hall.

This piece of music is from the 19th century and is Classical music written and performed during the romantic era.