Task 3A - Cars - Refining your submission

General considerations Tempo shaping Notes Having taken care with your tempo shaping make sure that changes are not too abrupt. You don't need to have the tempo change more than twice in a bar on the whole. There is reverb on across the instrumentation this will help your mix to gel. The string lines will particularly benefit from careful reverb. Chose a couple of reverbs for the riff and string lines as well as the drums. Don't allow your reverb returns to contradict your panning. Consider the attack parameter carefully to get closer to the original sounds. Also, listen carefully for filtering and vibrato. Tempo changes are too obvious and extreme. Main synths and electric bass must be loud and punchy Vocal reverb Hi Hat velocities, semiquaver kicks and fills - get that kit performance sounding LIVE! Daisy's bridge synth? Good - an example to the class but appears to be doubled an octave up. Let's check the capture on all bass tracks and make sure it's got what is needed. Remember, bridge melody is a single synth line doubled by the bass NOT another synth. Keep synth 1 and 2 dry. Don't forget to use EQ to help you get your synths right. Make sure tambourine is panned correctly, has the correct accents and ends on the right beat in the last bar of each bridge. Broadly speaking, all class mixes are duller and less punchy than the original. Layer something on handclap to get closer to the brightness and 'clang' of the original? Is left hand synth a single oscillator? It is certainly more defined - thinner and brighter. Have they used the main string sound - or something similar - to play bridge melody? Set the string lines back with reverb. Second string line is modulated - try doing this with a phaser or chorus if you can't configure the synth to give you the right effect. Section Notes

Reverb

String lines and pads.

Drone

The drone sounds for approximately 6 seconds before the first beat of the first bar of tempo (not the first snare of the upbeat fill). The drone stops around the beginning of bar 7 Note. there is a harmonic a fifth above the A note drone. You can tune one of the oscillators up 7 semitones to give you this. Use EQ to cut copy the spectrum of the original drone.

Fill

Verse 1

Bridge

Use the isolated snare to get your snare sounding right. Try the snare on D1 in the funk Boogie kit as a starting point. Begin programming all synths (1,2 and string line) with simple sawtooth waveforms and consider modulation routing carefully. Drum fills must be programmed with attention to velocities so that the kit sounds like its been played live. Use the ESX 808 or 909 as a starting point for your handclaps. You can find both sounds on D#1 of their respective kits. Tambourine is accented on 2 and 4 and the tambourine rhythm in the 8th bar of the bridge varies subtly. There is a gentle filter sweep on the pad. Edit your melody synth for the bridge carefully. You can try 'Miami Lead' as a starting point.

Verse 2 Bridge 2

Watch for extra articulation in the bass guitar part in bars 5 and 6 of this verse. Don't forget to pan the tambourine and check the way it ends.

Instrumental verse Bridge 3 Outro cycle 1 and Each cycle represents once through the main chord 2 sequence. Outro cycle 3 and A second string line enters - don't forget to enter 4 this. Second string line repeats. Fade starts towards the Outro cycle 5 and end of cycle 6 - time your fade carefully so your 6 final audio mix is the same length as the original track.

Refining your submission

Comments and suggestions

Comments and suggestions