As the title suggests, this post is where I download an EDM song,
which is Levels by Avicii, and change it up so that it becomes MEDM, or
My Electronic Dance Music. I begin by opening up an unaltered midi file
in Garageband:
Before
starting the editing process, I listen to the track several times, also
listening to each track individually. I immediately delete tracks that I
think are undesirable. I begin this process with 17 tracks, and I
finish with 15. I am going for a classic rock band sound, so I
change the main piano-oriented progression to a clean electric guitar,
the main melodic line from a dreamy ambient tone to a brash, high-ended
electric buzz.
As
I continue to monkey around with the tracks, they all progressively
become more traditionally sounding. All the electronic sounds become
clean guitars, organs. my favorite sound here for the main melody is the
Wurlitzer.The only sound to remain the same is the Boutique 808 GB. At first listen, it is almost so non-present that it could be deleted,
but when I hear it, I realize that it adds in a very small way that helps make the song.
My
next step in making this song more old-school is taking away the loop
quarter note bass beat and adding in a real drum sound. For this I go
for the "So Cal" drummer, and give him and exceptional high rate of snare hits, as
well as a swing feel, similar to old jazz standards. My next step will be to loop this drum track
through the whole song.
I
continue to add some different instruments. Since I am interested in
Avicii's syle, whose tendency is to use very unelectronic sounds, such
as brass intruments to create EDM (as in Hey Brother, I do the same. The lower melody is
played by a trumpet and the upper melody is played by a string
orchestra.
The
upper melody, played by the electric, has notes in it that are very
dissonant when played with the major rhythmic chords, so I change the
opening not by a half step. Dissonance solved. On a side note turning
the electronic solos into clean guitar solos is the best move I've made
yet. When it "duels"with the soft square lead there is a fusion of old
and new sound that is very excellent-sounding. Its fade-out to allow the
next mid-section, which I made electronic, flows very well.
The old guitar and the new soft square lead solo together:
To
wrap up the song, I add a fade out feature that leaves the drummer
alone playing, ending the song the way it began; with a simple swing
jazz drummer, telling us to remember the old days of music. I am very
pleased with my work here:
This
song went from sounding almost exactly how it sound on the to sounding
as if The Rolling Stones and Steve Aoki were sharing a stage. In my
ears, it brings together two worlds, and I feel I have done this well. The final picture is a checklist of all the various actions that I have taken in this project.
