Friday 23 October 2015

Project 3a Creepy Scene Soundtrack - Gr. 10 and 11

Creepy Scene Video Project

You will replace the audio from a creepy movie scene.

Complete this BEFORE completing the "Spooky Music" Project

Get details on the project here on the project sheet. 

Updated Instuctions

 Add scrolling credits at the end of your video identifying yourself as 'Sound Editor." Watch this video to learn how to put titles into your video.



Monday 19 October 2015

Project 3 Spooky Music

It is time for Halloween music!

Your task is to make a clip of music that tells a spooky Halloween story using music and sound effects from Mixcraft.
Length Requirements:
Grade 10: Minimum 30 seconds, Max 2 mins
Grade 11: Min 60 seconds, max 3 minutes

Basic Requirements:
Grade 10s; Use loops to make your song
Grade 11s: You must use at least one MIDI keyboard part in your song.

Both Gr. 10 and 11:
Use musical sounds to make the mood music AND "Sound Effect" sounds to tell a spooky story. Make it creepy, scary, and spooky!

Try importing any sound effects you don't find in Mixcraft from these sources:
Incompetech
Sound Bible
Free Sound

Try creating all of your own sounds using a variety of Virtual Instrument MIDI keyboard sounds.


Thursday 8 October 2015

Project 2: Texture and Layers

Grade 11s:
You will be composing a piece in Mixcraft that demonstrates your understanding of textures.

Your composition will:
  • start with one sound alone 
  • add a new sound every 4 bars 
  • have a minimum of 4 layers (drums, bass, chord instrument, melody) but no maximum
  • melody is made by YOU with a MIDI keyboard (use white keys on keyboard)
  • If using loops, set Key to C Major so your white key melody will sound good
  • Have one "Drop" where in rhythm or beat drops out and then is reintroduced.
  • Optional:  compose any or all parts yourself using MIDI
  • End your piece with a reverse texture by removing one part at a time in 4 bars intervals until there is only one sound left.  
  • Length: Minimum 56  bars. No Maximum

Grade 10s:
 You will be composing a piece in Mixcraft that demonstrates your understanding of texture.

Your composition will be:
  • start with one sound alone 
  • add a new sound every 4 bars 
  • have a minimum of 4 layers (drums, bass, chord instrument, melody) but no maximum
  • Have one "Drop" where in rhythm or beat drops out and then is reintroduced.
  • End your piece with a reverse texture by removing one part at a time in 4 bars intervals until there is only one sound left.  
  • Length: Minimum 48 bars. No Maximum

Monday 5 October 2015

Layers and Textures

Grade 10s and 11s

There are a few important textures in Music

Monophony (Mono=one, phony= sound)
Once voice or instrument sounding a melody alone without accompaniment.





Homophony

This is most common in popular music.  It consists of a melody sung or played over chords.



Polyphony
This is multiple lines of melody and counter-melody at the same time.



Texture can be thick (many layers of instruments at once) or thin (only a few layers of instruments at once)

Exercise: 
  • With a partner, choose a song from an online source
  • Identify the layers of sound that you hear in the first 30 seconds.  
  • Identify what kind of texture it is (monophony, homophonic, or polyphonic) and whether the texture is "THICK" or "THIN" 
  • Use "Paint" or a similar program to map out the texture you hear from each instrument or voice like the image above. 
  • Label you line drawings with instrument names and texture terms
  • Put a timeline across the top in seconds to mark where important textural changes happen.
  • Label your file with your names and the title of the song.   
  • Save as "Your Names Texture Drawing.jpg"  JPEG format
  • Due at the end of class.  Submit to "Texture Drawings" folder. 





Friday 2 October 2015

Submitting your Work

There are two places you must submit your work:

  • Soundcloud  
and
  • Moynihan AMM2O1 or Moynihan AMM3M1 Dropoff Folder

Soundcloud submission:

  1. Make a Soundcloud account.
  2. Mixdown your song to MP3 and listen to it all the way through. 
  3. Upload the file to Soundcloud.
  4. Tag the project #gr10amm or #gr11amm 
  5. Title the Track to match the Project - Eg: "Project 1" 
  6. Check to make sure it is searchable by searching for the tag.  Click "Everything" to see your file. 

Dropoff Folder Submission:

  1. Mixdown your project to MP3 - Title the file "Project 1 Your Full Name. mp3"
  2. Copy and Paste the file to "Moynihan AMM2O1" or "Moynihan AMM3M1" and the correct project folder.
  3. Save As and rename your mx6 file to "Project 1 Your Full Name.mx6".
  4. Copy and Paste the file to "Moynihan AMM2O1" or "Moynihan AMM3M1" and the correct project folder.
It is your responsibility to ensure your projects are submitted properly.