Those Javanese eyes - Musical Notaion

A bit busy this week with work. Just finished the musical arrangement and preliminary audio mixing. Can't do the vocal recording now because my daughter's boyfriend is here. Also my grandmother is here.

Here are the musical notes:

Those Javanese eyes - The Poem

Those Javanese eyes
by Azly Rahman

I dreamed of a Javanese girl
bright eyes
jet black hair
pink cheeks
smile like a million rupiah
lipstick borrowed from her Bugis mother

That Javanese girl
she may have been twelve
or thirteen
maybe younger
lips so red
Her mother's lipstick
Maybelline maybe
Estee Lauder maybe
that worn by Christina Aguilera maybe
Home-made... from dried red roses maybe
she wants to grow up fast
that Javanese girl with eyes like sunshine
she wants to meet the world

In Kuala Johor
lipstick stores are rare
in Singapore the kampongfolks hunt for their ware
group tours they dare
To cross the causeway at discounted bus fare
Lychees
munchies
oodles of cloth
imitation Oshkosh B'Gosh
Doraemon dolls
Barbies from Padang Besar malls
multicolored hair clips and all
extra strong men's cologne
Brut, Drakkar Noir, Polo, Ralph Lauren, and all
the Kuala Johor folks will buy them all

Those Javanese eyes
shining bright as the Bali sun
sparkling as the sage Hamka's lakes in Medan
To see the world she must
what will she see?
what will she see?
what will she see?

Only those little red Javanese lips will tell
A story will multiple endings only Kurosawa could foresee

Scream of Conciousness #1

"Gangsta City Now, Jay Bee?" is canceled due to technical reasons. Here is another piece of Project Illuminations previously posted at FB.

Neo Maya, Neo Malaya – The Music Video

While waiting for the new arrangement for Gangsta city now, Jay Bee? to be generated, here is a piece previously posted at FB.

Gangsta city now, Jay Bee? – Rap/Hip Hop Cancelled

I have tried it for so many times but have failed. There are two main reasons:

a) Rappin requires some kinda attitude in order to get the right tone. It is too fast for me because normally I don’t speak as fast as those young people rap. I’m not sure how do they manage to rap those words that fast.

b) I failed to get the right mood because I always forget the lyric. The length is not the problem but since rapping is not really melodic, with the non-melodic in rapping, it is difficult to memorize the words. Usually, it is easier to memorize the lyric when words have their own melodies. I tried to rap sentence by sentence and later on cut and paste to own measure but this technique killed the tone badly. The attitudes are not there and it sound so not honest.

I am sure now that rapping is something I cannot do. Since the vocal recording has failed, Samsara is not getting any singing samples for her to rap too.

‘Gangsta city now, Jay Bee?’ shall be accompanied by an instrumental fusion between rap/hip hop and rock sound. There shall be no poem reading and singing ... just music.

Phaedrus II - The Music Video

I still having problems trying to rap - outta tempo, diction and all so meantime, here is previously posted at FB.

Gangsta city now, Jay Bee? – The Beats

The computer has come up with the beats. However, rap or hip hop is good at playing around with the accompanied music which is not yet brought in. The past experience in recording shows that it is better to have the beats then the vocal recording before any harmonious sound coming along. As expected that there shall be no progressions so my main worry now is, will I rap well or not. So next is vocal recording and samples to be sent to Samsara. Hope she will cover the rapping better.

Here are the notations:

That Light - The Music Video

The computer is still having a hard time learning rap ... hahaha ... so might as well post this one. Previously posted at FB.

Gangsta city now , Jay Bee? – The Genre

The musical genre selected for this poem is Hardcore Gangsta Rap. We have a major problem because I have never heard of this kind of music before. Straight away I wikipedia what it is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangsta_rap

It is a subgenre of hip hop music.

Okay, but what is hip hop music?

Wikipedia again:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_music

Not that I have never heard of hip hop or rap but I don’t really listen to them.

So it is going to be quite an interesting project. First thing first, I need to listen to the music so I went to www.youtube.com :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scILa5iPBcg Original Gangster by Ice-T

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ia1IuX0jDY – Writing the classic “Saturday Night”, an interview on how Schoolly D write rap music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHaOul8gVVc Gangsta Gangsta by NWA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De_N7Yaz2pE New York New York by The Last Poets

All the sudden, rap or hip hop (I’m not sure which is which) is a lot more serious music than I thought. So I decided to do more researches and experiments and created another blog for the purpose:

http://miditowaves.blogspot.com/

Interesting enough to know that with some grey hair in my nose, I’ll be related to this kind of music … hehehe.

Gangsta city now , Jay Bee?

Gangsta city now , Jay Bee?
By Azly Rahman

Yo .. yo … imaginary powers that be
You’re angry reading the poem “Sin City, Jay Bee”?…
You feel violated seems to me
Let me tell you a story

Lost I am in this sin city Jay Bee
T’was a decade before 2020
Was my last visit to my homies
When they said the city will be safe and stress-free
This regime’s election guarantee

Yo Jay Bee
Wassup yo Jay Bee
From Ulu Tiram to Taman Pelangi
I feel like I am in Gangsta city
Worse than in Harlem and East Philly
Crime City Gangsta city, what I knew of Jay Bee

Beautiful names you have
Those ending in “Indah” and “Jaya”
Of “Tamans” and “Kampongs” and “Wadis” entire
Beautiful names yo

Ah.. Ulu Tiram
You are no valuable oyster
Ah … Pelangi Indah
You are no rainbow as I see her
Ah … Masai
You are a shame to that African tribe
Ah … Setia Indah
You are not loyal to those elections promises
Ah .. Johor Jaya
What victory lies in snatch thieves one too many?

I love the sound of that name Tampoi
Signifying the psychopathology of the politics of the new and old
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
Straight from the conveyor belt of progress progress progress

Yo gangsta city Jay Bee
Wassup with you chillin’ in your crib?
What justice to humanity is this “my G”?
As you failed the youth yearning for a life of sanity?

Cybernetic technology
Cybercafes aplenty
Gangsta city’s mantra of informational technology
Plagiarized from Cyberjaya and Silicon Valley

Those who disagreed with that poem “Sin City”
Don’t get me mad, yo
Don’t get me mad, yo
Don’t get me mad, yo
Just clean up MY city
Its spirit, mind, and body

What has become of this beautiful city
I grew up in
safe and happy
T’is a decade before 2020 we have these killing the city;
Snatch thieves way too many
Mat and Minah Rempits those one-wheeled hellraisers and damn happy
Foul-mouth kids multiplying linguistically
Gambling places way way too many
Glue sniffing youth stoned cold crazy
Decaying city traffic crawls like crazy
Sin city gangsta city Jay Bee not safe to raise families
Hills shaved bald for housing projects deforestation what-me-worry


Yo yo yo gangsta city Jay Bee
Shape up yo
Do you want Lee Kuan Yew to tell you what to do?
Or New York Mayor Guiliani to give a free advice on how to run the city?
Don’t get mad … you servants of the people imaginary powers that be
Get cracking with your job in running this city
So that I may be proud again of what this city means to me
And my grandchildren and yours will not beg on the streets across Johor Disney

Gangsta city, sin city, Jay Bee … to be or not to be …

Sin City, Jay Bee - The Music Video

Sin City, Jay Bee – The Overall Idea of the Video

Not much is changed as far as the video properties are concern. It is going to 320 x 240 pixels as the song is still considered lengthy.

The video is still going to be of still pictures but I intend to put up the text line by line with changing places.

Pictures are taken out of the internet. Basically they are maps of JB and some pictures of JB too.

NOTE: THE PIECE IS EXPECTED TO BE UPLOADED AROUND 8-10 PM TOMMORROW (MALAYSIAN TIME). ANY SUGGESTION ON THE VIDEO IS WELCOME BEFORE THE EXPECTED UPLOADING TIME. TQ.

Sin City, Jay Bee – Verse 3 and 4 and Overall

When comes to the final mix of the whole song, the idea was to have some transition music between Verse 1, 2, 3 and 4 but I found everything is more interesting with those sudden changes of verses. It was something I have never encountered but I like it. I canceled the original idea.

Also I thought of having a duet with Samsara on Verse 3 but after many trials, the idea failed. We both shared almost the same vocal frequencies and that was a major problem. I then gave some rock effect to Samsara hoping the key frequencies to align well with the musical arrangements and it works.

Luckily also, there is nothing to change at all when comes to musical arrangements. Samsara hit the right key and notes. All I had to do was to boost her frequencies of 215-378 and 344 Hz together with 430-495-558 Hz. These allowed me to play around with the notching and boosting frequencies of the music particularly the piano and the strumming guitar.

The computer changed the beat of the poem reading to fit well with 129 BPM of 4 beats per measure. I decided to have some slight changes on the instrument selection. The reading is at F Major Key Scale.

Luckily also the whole mix is 7 minutes 49.864 seconds.

Sin City, Jay Bee – Audio Mixing – Final Mixing Intro + Verse 1

Phewwwwwwwwwwww … I got it … I think.

Once vocals, guitar solos and rhythms got into the groove, things start to screw up. The least a lesson learned.

First the kick drum and the basses which are now, I have nothing to worry about. I think I know some tricks. Next are the snares and the rhythms. Vocal recording should be done sooner which is next before the guitar solos.

Only then, the rest of drums and percussions should come in.

Also, I learned that I must apply compressions selectively.

I have some tricks for my vocals to sound a bit rock. How I wish Project Illuminations has a true male vocalist particularly rock. This one is torturing … hahahaha.

Sin City, Jay Bee – Audio Mixing – Verse 2

The earlier intention was to write a New York Jazz but after studying the genre, I find New York Jazz is very difficult when comes to audio mixing. I’m not sure why New York Jazz prefers to hit both melodies and rhythms at the same time with almost at the same frequency range. I’m sure it is artistic because the musical instruments have both fast and slow attacks and vocals compliment the elements. However, to do this art for a sound engineer who is still a beginner is risky.

So instead of New York Jazz, I come up with Jazz Ballad. I however do play around with the Melody-Rhythm-like on Acoustic Piano based on a preset written long time ago.

Samsara did a very good job on singing the verse. I was taken aback on her dynamics and her tempo. The melodies also hit the right key signature. Next was to boost some frequencies:

559-602-645 Hz, 301-344-387 Hz, 473-516-559 Hz, 215-258-301 Hz, 258-301-344 Hz, 602-645-689 Hz, 732-775-818 Hz, 818-861-904 Hz, 516-559-602 Hz, 775-818-861 Hz, 172-215-258 Hz, 344-387-430 Hz, and 387-430-473 Hz.

The vocal range is between 172 Hz to 904 Hz which is coincidently very typical jazz tone.

Earlier on I thought of improvising the music a bit but after so many trials, I decided not to take the risk.

Still the acoustic piano and the vocals play about the same range as how Jazz is. The tick is not to boost any frequencies of the piano. In fact, I like the way it originally sound.

I however notched the lower frequencies of the strings and boost the 904-2000 Hz frequencies.

For drums and percussions, I decided not to modify anything on the presets and let the drums play as intended. Jazz drums are too artistic to be mutated. I get this feeling that Jazz is itself a mutated genre.

I am yet to do the cross-over between Verse 1 and Verse 2 which is supposed to be the introduction of 2 measures of Verse 2. It will be just the hit crashes to end up the rock genre and some added guitar sound and the changing tempo from 180 to 97 BPM.

Below is the Preliminary Audio Mixing of Verse 2:

Sin City, Jay Bee – Audio Mixing – Introduction + Verse 1

Band Pass Filter and Boosting

There are three melodic instrument sounds – acoustic piano, overdrive guitar and fingered bass converted from MIDI to waves. For the first time, I separated each note of each sound into own wave file. Each wave file was edited with the Band Pass Filter to cut out the low and high end frequencies. Then I boosted the key frequencies through parametric equalizer.

To cut the low end frequencies, I calculated the 13th semitone below the note.

For an example, the 13th semitone below note A4 is Bb3. A4 is perceived to have the frequency of 440 Hz therefore the 13th semitone below A4 is perceived to be at 210 Hz.

To cut the high end frequencies, I calculated the 47th semitone above the note.

For an example, the 47th semitone above note A4 is Bb8 which is perceived to have the frequency of 6746 Hz.

The Band Pass Filter then is given values Low = 210 Hz, High = 6746 Hz with order 40.

At the same time, I boosted the frequencies of each note.

Adobe Audition 1.5 gives the spectrum of frequencies by 43.065 Hz. To boost the note A4 or the frequency 440 Hz, I first note which band the frequency is in which is between 430 Hz to 473 Hz. I use parametric equalizer to boost with 5 db with Q = 10. I may boost the frequency more than once.

Drums and Percussions are more complicated because they are not the melodic type of musical instruments. I have to take a very good look at the spectrums in order to determine their key frequencies.

Cutting the low and high end frequencies and boosting the key frequencies depends on how I think they should sound.


Volume

I assigned the snare to have the standardized volume level and the fader is given the value 1. The average peak volume for snare is calculated to be at -6.69 dB.

Say the average peak volume of fingered bass is -13.61 dB. The fader then is set to be at -13.61/-6.69 = 2.

However, the average peak volume for High Tom 1 is higher than that of the snare at -3.96 dB. The fader is set to be -6.69/-3.96 * -1 = -1.7.

Exceptional to the solo play (by overdrive guitar), the fader is set twice higher after the calculation.


Compression

Kick Drums – Compressed according to Kick Drums Compressions
Snares – Compressed according to Snares Compressions
Overdrive Guitar – Compressed according to Electric Guitar Compressions
Fingered Bass – Compressed according to Bass Compressions
Acoustic Piano – Compressed according to Synthesizer/Keyboards Compressions

The rest of the musical sounds are not compressed.


Panning

All musical instruments are panned accordingly.


Sound Effects

Some musical instruments are given some sound effects accordingly.


Overall Compressions

Once all musical instruments are mixed, overall mixed compression is given.


Multiband

Multiband Filter is applied to increase more volume to the overall mix. As the genre is Rock, Normal Master Hard Multiband was applied.


The Audio Mixing

The mixing is not yet completed as I have not yet done the rhythm guitars, more solo overdrive guitar and vocal recordings. So this is still preliminary.

Project Audio – Test 03

Basically the testing is completed to know which frequencies should be boosted, or notched or totally eliminated. I’ve learnt a lot although without doubt, there are so much more to discover. I still have no idea how some people can come up with good reverbs and chorus and all those effects. I guess, as long as I live, I get the chance to keep on learning.

First it was MIDI Programming. That took me too many years of programming. Then the AI Programming where I learned music theory and write programs to write songs. I still remember the day the computer composed its first song. I was like, ‘Holyshit! I wrote that program??!!’. That was nice and I thought that was it.

All the sudden I discovered audio mixing. That was two years ago. I wonder, after 20 years of audio programming, how come nobody ever told me this thing exist?!

So here I am, at 47 and the days of programming are so over. Now that I know audio mixing exists, I have no choice but to do this manually. I really want to buy a book on it but bloody hell, nobody is selling including Kinokuniya and the internet is so stingy!

So it is back to testing and experimenting and listening (listening is hard) and here is the third test. It passes the radio frequencies in mono:

Project Audio – Secondary Drums and Percussions

Project Illuminations has preset musical instruments considered as Secondary Drums and Percussions. Some are Chinese Cymbal, Cowbell, Vibra Slap, High Bongo, Low Bongo, and Open High Conga among many others.

The Secondary Drums and Percussions are important not just because they provide the beats and control the tempo and major during transitions, they also help to harmonize the music and give more timbres.

As they are secondary, to determine their key frequencies are more difficult because they may overlap key frequencies of previous tests.

Project Audio – Test 02

I think the result is satisfactory. I’m glad that the guitar mixes do well. I have no problem listening to the frequencies.

At the moment, I just want to listen to the frequencies with hope they sit well. There shall be a lot of frequencies boosting later on and of course a lot of guitar properties like pitch bending, modulation and all.

Arrangements are still key but now I notice I should start reading on final mixes and mastering.

Next is more drums and percussions to harmonize things up.

The test is conducted via radio frequency on car stereo in mono file.

More tests will follow through of course :-)

Project Audio – Guitar Challenges

As far as computer programming goes, writing audio programming on guitars is the toughest of them all. Too much to say about guitars so I guess I better cut the whole thing focusing on audio mixing.

The first thing that worries me a lot about guitars is that the frequencies overlap vocals and bass frequencies. Once the guitars are playing the solos, things get even worse because I am afraid that the frequencies get buried and not clearly heard.

Guitars too are unlike others have these pitch bending thing, modulation thing, wah-wahs thing, sweeping thing, echo thing, distortion thing, overdrive thing, grunge thing, reverb dry and wet thing, tremolo thing, scratching thing, this thing, that thing and so many things which when I started audio programming, I did not write these sound properties. Not having these properties attached to guitar sound does not make any sense so I have no choice but to use software like Adobe Audition 1.5 for the later add on.

I prefer the frequencies to start at the mid-range so I will straightly cut those frequencies below 200 Hz. This should help me to avoid any overlap frequencies against basses.

Depending on where the vocals are sitting, I will cut down the frequencies at least by 9db. I may want to cut 15 dB if I had to. Exceptional goes should I need the guitars to be heard as hard as possible where I will cut down maximum 3 dB only. Q is set to be at 1 or 2.

Rock sound is problematic. I can’t imagine rock music without distortion and overdrive guitars. I will cut down the bass frequencies at 400 Hz by 3 dB with Q at 1. I will substitute it by boosting the guitars frequencies at that range by 3 dB also with Q at 1.

Frequencies around 800 Hz is usually problematic for guitars. Should I see too much of it, I will notch the frequencies by 6 dB with Q between 1 and 2.

I will boost frequencies around 6000 Hz by 2 dB with Q = 1. This helps the guitar sound to sparkle.

Modulation effects such as chorus and flangers can be added to give the interesting character. Also, I won’t leave to add studio stereo effect too with a 100 ms delay and one repeat you can achieve a nice doubling effect that stands out just enough, but still sits well in the mix.

For solos, panning should be around the center while for rhythm, I may go far left and right.

I will cut out the far end depending on the spectrum.

I also may want to consider tremolo, vibrato and pitch bending.

Do enjoy my cousin Az Samad playing his guitar:

Project Audio – Test 01

I am very happy with the result of this test on Kick drum, Lower and upper basses, Toms, Snares and Side Stick. Currently, the key to audio mixing is still musical arrangement. Frequency notching, frequency boosting, compressing and band filtering help too.

The test is conducted via radio frequency on car stereo in mono file.

More tests will follow through of course :-)

Project Audio – The Bass Challenges

Now onwards, Project Illuminations will download pieces only when they pass the test of audio mixing. The pieces will be tested through the worst-case scenario – Radio Frequencies on Car Stereo in Mono Files. The pieces pass the tests only when all the audio frequencies are clearly heard. This is going to be tough and challenging.

The toughest mixing to deal with is when the bass sound start coming in mixing with The Primary Drums and Percussions previously mentioned. The worst part is when mixing bass with drum kicks as they share almost the same key frequencies ranges. Basses dealing with toms and snares too are very tough.

Revision:

Key frequencies of Kick Drums, Toms and Snares:

Kick Drums: 40 – 129.1 Hz
Toms: 80 – 180 Hz
Snares: 128 – 220 Hz

Key Frequencies for Basses

I prefer that the desired key frequencies are between 128 – 550 Hz but for some artistic reasons, the key frequencies could go as low as 110 Hz. To make matters worse, sometimes I like it when the kick drums have the key frequencies up to 192 Hz.

Kick Drums VS Basses

To me, both musical instruments are major. I guess this has a lot to do with the fact that I like Boney M and Gilla way too much. In fact, in music writing (programming), I make sure that they both are the foundation of the music yet to be written. And today’s high-powered, high-tech, industrial-strength rock and roll is no exception.

The drum kicks provide the punchy beats that control the tempo of the music while the bass is essential in building up the chord progressions that later on creates the harmonies. To me, these both communicate the most that give that emotional feeling, pulses and give the idea of what the grooves, the chords and the riffs of the rest of the musical instruments. The computer is programmed to give a lot of attention to these two no matter what the musical genre is to be written.

Unfortunately, both instruments rely heavily on the low frequencies sharing almost the same places in the spectrum. This is very problematic.

Of late, Project Illuminations has received quite an attention via www.facebook.com by professionals. I receive quite repetitive comments that they are confused when the kick drums and basses compete against another. They are also frustrated when listening to the muddy mix lack of power. I’m not sure how do they manage to download the music videos from facebook. Is there a software somewhere?

It is also strange to know that the trend is, people expect you not only as a songwriter but also a musician and a sound engineer and the main problem is, I am not any of the above.

How I wish I knew this like 20 years ago where I had the ability to sit and do programming for hours and hours without rest, food and sleep. At this age, I can’t even sit more than 30 minutes without backache. This is very frustrating because I know that I have the thinking ability to re-write programs that cover songwriting, musical arrangement and audio mixing at the same time. The problem is that I don’t have the physical ability. The disadvantage of getting old is now clear.

Anyway, to solve the problem, I must do two things concurrently (manually of course):

a) The musical arrangements should be written where the instruments should not hit at the same time.
b) Improved audio mixing.

Another way to solve the problem is to do something I have never done (or programmed) before which is to let both instruments to act as one. The kick drums are to start the punching and attacking while the basses echoed giving the decaying sound. Hopefully it works but still, that has a lot to do with arrangements. Maybe this should also give the unique signature to the sound of Project Illuminations.

Kick drums, toms, snares and basses are going to be problematic. Solve the problems I will. Life is always like that :-)

Project Audio – Primary Drums and Percussions

Project Illuminations has preset musical instruments below as Primary Drums and Percussions:

Kick Drums – Kick Drum B2 and Kick Drum C3
Toms – Low Tom 2 F3, Low Tom 1 G3, Mid Tom 2 A3, Mid Tom 1 B3, High Tom 2 C4 and High Tom 1 D4
Snares – Snare 1 and Snare 2
Side Stick
Crash Cymbals – Crash Cymbal 1 C#4 and Crash Cymbal 2 A4
Hi Hats – Open High Hat Bb3 and Closed High Hat F#3
Ride Cymbal 1 Bb4

The Primary Drums and Percussions are important because they provide the beats and control the tempo and major during transitions.

Note: GEQ = Graphic Equalizer

Kick Drums – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 40 – 7630 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Notch frequencies of any possible vocal presence through GEQ
Step 3: Notch frequencies 500 Hz through GEQ
Step 4: Notch frequencies 200 Hz through GEQ
Step 5: Compress Kick Drums

Key frequencies = 40 – 129.1 Hz
Panning = +5 or -5

Toms – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 90 – 6160 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Notch frequencies of any possible vocal presence through GEQ
Step 3:
Notch frequencies 400 Hz through GEQ for Low Toms
Notch frequencies 630 Hz through GEQ for Mid Tom 2 A3
Notch frequencies 800 Hz through GEQ for Mid Tom 1 B3 and High Tom 2 C4
Notch frequencies 1000 Hz through GEQ for High Tom 1 D4
Step 4: Compress all toms as compressing kick drums

Key frequencies = 90 – 174.169 Hz with extension to 384.97 Hz
Panning:

Low Tom 2 F3 = -35
Low Tom 1 G3 = - 25
Mid Tom 2 A3 = -15
Mid Tom 1 B3 = +15
High Tom 2 C4 = +25
High Tom 1 D4 = +35

Snares – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 130 – 10000 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Notch frequencies of any possible vocal presence through GEQ
Step 3:Notch frequencies 400 Hz through GEQ
Step 4: Compress Snares

Key frequencies = 130 – 220 Hz

Panning:
Snare 1 = +10
Snare 2 = -1

Side Stick – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 300 – 10000 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Notch frequencies of any possible vocal presence through GEQ
Step 3: Boost frequencies 850-925-1000 Hz TWICE
Step 4: Compress as compressing snares

Key frequencies = 850 – 1000 Hz

Panning = +10

Crash Cymbal 1 C#4 – Audio Editing

Step 1: High Pass 300 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Band Stop frequencies:
1000 – 2000 Hz, Order 3
3900 – 4100 Hz, Order 7
9500 – 10000 Hz, Order 11
11000 – 12500 Hz, Order 5

Key frequencies = 3400 – 3700 Hz

Panning = +40

Crash Cymbal 2 A4 – Audio Editing

Step 1: High Pass 300 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Band Stop frequencies:
1200 – 1350 Hz, Order 6
1600 – 1900 Hz, Order 4
2300 – 2600 Hz, Order 5
2900 – 3400 Hz, Order 4
3900 – 4300 Hz, Order 3
4800 – 5000 Hz, Order 5
5200 – 5460 Hz, Order 10

Key frequencies = 3500 – 5000 Hz

Panning = -40

Closed Hi Hat F#3 – Audio Editing

Step 1: High Pass 300 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Band Stop frequencies 650 – 800 Hz, Order 5
Step 3: Boost frequencies 3720-3820-3920 Hz TWICE

Key frequencies = 3720 – 3920 Hz

Panning = -25

Open Hi Hat Bb3 – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 380 – 17550 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Band Stop frequencies:
640 – 900 Hz, Order 4
1200 – 1500 Hz, Order 4
1900 – 2100 Hz, Order 2
2240 – 2620 Hz, Order 4
2960 – 3700 Hz, Order 3
Step 3: Boost frequencies 3700-3790-3880 Hz TWICE

Key frequencies = 3700 – 3880 Hz

Panning = -25

Ride Cymbal 1 Bb4 – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 300 – 16000 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Band Stop frequencies:
900 –2100 Hz, Order 2
5200 – 5800 Hz, Order 6
Step 3: Boost frequencies 4700-4800-4900 Hz TWICE

Key frequencies = 4700 – 4900 Hz

Panning = -25

Project Audio – Introduction

It is time for Project Illuminations to have own music sound not only through music composition but importantly through audio mixing.

Audio mixing is important because it determines the best possible result of the music production. The objective is to have the ability identifying the key frequencies of each musical instrument so they won’t overlap each other while playing. This should give the listeners listening to the frequencies at any platform.

I admire the work of Andreas Viklund:

The song is Riders, Unite! Notice how he manages the key frequencies all over the spectrum …

Hope Project Illuminations will achieve this level someday …

Sin City, Jay Bee – The chord Progressions Verse 3 and 4

There are some minor changes in Verse 3. Earlier, verse 3 was to start from Your hunchback of Tanjung Puteri to Segget river, stinks to eternity BUT now the verse is changed from Your hunchback of Tanjung Puteri to Nusajaya Johoreans adore. The computer and I could not found the ending as planned.

So verse 4 which is the Poem Reading starts from Sin City … Jay Bee … Your economy to END … You will no longer be.

For the time being, the genre for verse 3 is folk rock. The only purpose is for the singing recordings.

Below are the note notations of the Chord Progressions for Verse 3. The key scale is B Flat so the Major chords are Bb, Eb and F while the minor chords are Cm, Dm, and Gm. The diminished chord is Adim. The accidental chords are Bdim, C#aug, Edim, F#aug and G#.



Next is of course to write the musical arrangement but I cannot start on this one with the vocal and singing recordings. So allow me to take some time to do the sample recordings. Meantime also, I may want to standardize sound editing for Project Illuminations so that all songs onwards reflect the unique sound designed for the project.

As for Verse 4, I may want to only send the simple tempo progressions and let Samsara create the poem reading where the computer will then create the chord progressions based on her reading. Tempo is expected to be at 129 BPM as the folk rock.

Sin City, Jay Bee – The Chord Progressions – Verse 2

The length of the verse is projected to be 1 minute 34.02 seconds with tempo 97 BPM with 4 beats per measure.

The key scale is B so the basic chords are B, C#m, D#m, E, F#, G#m and A#dim with the basic accidental chords are Caug, Daug, Fm, Gaug and A.

Below are the notes that covering Verse 2:






So I am yet to convert the midi files into wave files and do the singing sample. Still, next is to write the chord progressions for the rest of the song.

Sin City, Jay Bee – The Chord Progressions – Introduction, Verse1 and Cross Over

The length of the combined grooves are projected to be 3 minutes 8.474 seconds (blank space included) with tempo varies from 120 BPM then increased to 180 BPM then slowing down to 97 BPM with 4 beats per measure.

The key scale is D Flat so the basic chords are Db, Ebm, Fm, Gb, Ab, Bbm and Cdim with the basic accidental chords are Ddim, Eaug, Gdim, Adim and B.

Below are the notes that covering The Introduction, Verse 1 and The Cross Over:

Sin City, Jay Bee – The Song Structure

There are some drastic changes in the way Azly Rahman wrote this poem where words are more rhyming but still there are very unstructured. This is cool as this is what chaos is all about. However, it is not so cool as it is a lot difficult that I thought in composing.

I’ve got some ideas on the melodies but then I had this problem where the poem is to be accompanied by different kind of different genres.

Azly Rahman prefers some combinations of genres – Hard rock + Soft rock + Some kind of New York Jazz. So out of what usually done, this time I had to take a very good look at the overall picture of what the piece supposed to be.

I came up with the idea to jump directly to Step 5 where The Song Structure has to come first:

Start
{
Introduction

Part 1 – Piano gothic introduction play
Part 2 – The rock sound with distorted guitar coming in.

Verse 1
Genre: Gothic rock.
Vocal: Fakhri
From: Where have all those memories gone
To: whose middle name is "filthy"

Cross Over
Genre: Gothic rock to Jazz Ballad.
Vocal: Fakhri
From and To: Ohh Jay Bee ... you are a soul that is one with me

Verse 2
Genre: Jazz Ballad
Vocal: Samsara
From: Jay Bee … Sin city … where politics stink
To: where the smell of ganja filled the air like a pissed-on fermented drink
… Ahh Jay Bee … City of Sins

Verse 3
Genre: Soft Rock
Vocal: Samsara/Fakhri
From: Your hunchback of Tanjung Puteri is dead and gone
To: Your economy, like a Segget River , stinks till eternity

Verse 4
Genre: Poem Reading + Jazz Ballad + Additional Background Sound (Optional)
Vocal: Samsara
From: Love is gone … Of the one my heart held on
To: You were once mine … You will no longer be

Ending
Genre: Jazz Ballad – Ending
}
End

Hope next is to write the preliminary melodies and the chord progressions.
It’s going to be tough.

Sin City, Jay Bee - The Poem

"Sin City, Jay Bee"
by Azly Rahman

Where have all those memories gone
Of the city that never sleeps
Sin-filled you are
... Offering life's panorama
A pandora box of a lushness of emotions

Jay Bee
You may be called a city of filth
Of gang wars and transvestite a galore
Of rock kapak geniuses conceived immaculately
From the womb of Papa Rock
Ahhh New Johor ... New York you may want to be
Thou shall never attain that notoriety

Sweet city sin city
Celebrating the velocity of money
It is there I knew love's inner beauty
As we walked up and down the Lido Beach
whose middle name is "filthy"
Ohh Jay Bee ... you are a soul that is one with me

Jay Bee
Sin city
where politics stink
where corruption gets a nice daily wink
where the power elites are the underground kings
where the poor are hoodwinked
where the children of the working class roam the streets in motorcycles with bilng bing
where the smell of ganja filled the air like a pissed-on fermented drink
Ahh Jay Bee
City of Sins

Your hunchback of Tanjung Puteri is dead and gone
Committed sepuku at the sight of what has become
Of you sin city Jay Bee
Si Bongkok died of a death he long-willed for
As the sight of the crooked bridge broke his heart that exploded with a roar
Ahhh... thanks to the Johor Corridor
And the Disney of Nusajaya Johoreans adore
Sin city
Jay Bee
Your economy, like a Segget River , stinks till eternity

Love is gone
Of the one my heart held on
As I walked countless miles
Along the Lido beach
Time has not been kind
To this city that never sleeps
To this sin city
That weeps
The yesteryears of the loss of pride that run deep
Love is gone
The deal is sealed
Sin city you are now sold
To the forked tongued nationalists grown old like ageing Disneys

Sin city
Jay Bee
You were once mine
You will no longer be

Project Illuminations - Work Flow

Project Illuminations is into Chaos and Complexities Theories through Poems and Music. Without doubt, a good work flow of connected steps are required to allow processes to be done accordingly and timely.

Year 2011, Project Illuminations has progressed with more elements of presentations where we have texts of poems, music, singing, poem reading and graphical footages.

This blog is the center of the operations.

Steps taken to systematically build the texts of poems into music videos are as follows:

Step 1: Poems written by Azly Rahman

Poems to be converted into music videos are posted by Azly Rahman onto his facebook pages. The poems then are copied and pasted onto this blog.

Step 2: Suggested Musical Genres to accompany the poems preferably by Azly Rahman

Azly Rahman informs me via facebook or emails regarding this.

Step 3: The preliminary singing melodies to the poems

I (or the computer) write the preliminary musical notes and send to singers in MIDI files where the musical notes can be read through free software that can be downloaded at www.notation.com.

Step 4: The recording of the preliminary vocal melodies

Step 4 is required to determine the singers’ vocal frequency waves to the melodies in order to project the suitable Musical Key Scale. Singers are required to record the melodies either in MP3 or M4A. Other wave formats are not acceptable.

Other tools suggested for the recording:

a) A recording software or an iPhone
b) The microphone
c) The earphone

Of course the preliminary melody notes can indicate the Musical Key Scale but the singers’ expressions on the melodies can generate other Key Scale. This is more important.

All files are sent via emails.

Step 5: The writing of song structures and chord progressions

Basically the song structures are:

a) The Introduction
b) The Verses
c) The Chorus
d) The Breaks
e) The Solos
f) The Ending

I (or the computer) write the song structures and the progressions which then are posted onto the blog.

Step 6: The Preliminary Musical Arrangements

I (or the computer) write the preliminary musical arrangements for the songs which then are posted onto the blog.

Step 7: The Singing / Poem Reading Recordings

I send the musical arrangements in MIDI files to the accorded singers together with the singing samples in MP3. Singers are required to record the singing / poem reading parts in MP3 or M4A with as low background noises as possible.

All files are delivered via emails.

Step 8: The Vocal Frequency Waves Editing

I convert any M4A files into MP3 and edit the vocal frequency waves through Adobe Audition 1.5. All background noises shall be eliminated as much as possible.

I (or the computer) determine the main vocal frequencies.

Step 9: The Final Musical Arrangements

I (or the computer) write the final musical arrangements that should have the following properties:

a) Minimal notes / frequencies overlap as much as possible.
b) Less than 10 minutes of arrangement including the blank spaces.

The final musical arrangements are then sent to the members of Project Illuminations in MIDI files for APPROVAL.

Step 10: The Audio Mixing

I edit and mix all wave frequencies.

Step 11: The Overall Audio Mixing

I edit and overall mix the wave frequencies. Now onwards, the final mixing shall be tested via radio waves which determine either the waves are acceptable to all possible platforms.

I then send the final mixes to the members of Project Illuminations in MP3 files for APPROVAL.

Step 12: The Suggested Preliminary Video Footages

Members of Project Illuminations are highly recommended to suggest anything regarding the video footages. The projected video files sizes however must not be more than 20 MB.

I also suggest the footages which then are posted onto this blog.

APPROVAL REQUIRED for all suggestions via email or via this blog.

Step 13: The Making of The Music Videos

Once the music videos are completed, I post the videos onto this blog and facebook.

Mao of Love: Preamble - The Music Video

Mao of Love: Preamble – Vocal Recording, Overall Mixing and Panning

As usual, the vocal recording was done the same as here. The musical instruments were arranged via MIDI then converted to waves. The rest of the mixing processes are the same as previously written. For some reasons, I did not document a thing due to lack of time.

Panning:

Kick Bass – Left 5
Snare – Right 10 Volume -3
Claves – Right 10 Volume -3
High Wood Block – Left 15
Low Wood Block - Right 15
Vibra Slaps – Left 45
Chinese Cymbal – Right 45
Splash – Right 45
Crash Cymbal 1 – Left 45
Crash Cymbal 2 – Right 45
Closed Hit Hat – Right 25
Acoustic Bass – Right 5
Synth Bass – Right 45
Harpsichord – Left 100
Electric Guitar Clean – Left 100
FX Rain – Right 100
Koto – Right 100
Acoustic Grand Piano – Right 20
Pedal – Right 100
Strings – Left 30
Pad Warm – Left 50 and Right 50
Synth Strings – Left 50 and Right 50
String Ensemble – Left 50 and Right 50

Mao of Love: Preamble – Poem Reading and Overall Harmonies

Although the vocal frequencies vary, still I have to narrow down the key frequencies which was decided to be between 600 Hz and 1000 Hz. So this area was boosted:

Adobe Audition 1.5 > Effects > Filters > Parametric Equalizer:


The musical instruments selected for the harmonies are arranged to not really disturb the frequencies above but to make things safe, I protected the frequencies:

Adobe Audition 1.5 > Effects > Filters > Scientific Filters:


Same thing was done on other harmonic instruments for the whole piece.

Mao of Love: Preamble – Poem Reading and Chord Progressions

The poem reading was done without music. The idea is to have Samara expresses the expression on the poem – tone, pitch, tempo, pace and all. So it was the reading first not the music.

As the reading is very passionately done and sounds so serene, I thought of accompany the reading with the Inspirational Serene grooves. The genre is a bit different from the singing part and that should add more colors to the piece.

So how does the music sounds like?

The poem reading determines the music. This is possible because with the varieties of the key frequencies given by each word give own chords. Since this is possible, I wrote a program to determine the chords related to the words.

It was too random so I decided to filter out some chords to fit only those of C Major Scale. It works so we have the poem reading with inspirational serene music. Why I didn’t think of doing something like this 20 years ago?! The way I look at it, all people’s readings can be turned into music!

The reading then was adjusted to sit well with the 4-beat measure of 60 BPM.

Mao of Love: Preamble – Poem Reading and Frequencies Editing

3 poem reading files were received in m4a format so the first thing to do is to convert them into mp3 or else there is no way I can mix the reading with the rest of the piece.

The recording was well done with quite acceptable noise level so the next thing to do was to eliminate the background noises as much as possible through Adobe Audition 1.5.

The wave amplitude was quite problematic. The frequencies were something I have not seen for a very long time where they vary from the low frequencies of the basses to as high as above 15 000 Hz. So I decided to listen to the reading instead of being too technical to the properties.

I was surprised. I thought poem reading is just another reading but that was stupid of me. There must be reasons why they call it poem reading.

It was a very passionate reading. That should explain why the frequencies vary.

Having discovered that, next is to edit the amplitude:

Adobe audition 1.5 > Effects > Amplitude > Dynamic Processing > Attack/Realease:


However, there were problems with certain waves which did not yield strong enough amplitude so I have to select those waves and edited them again as above.

Introducing Samsara

This year Project Illuminations has got to be progressive. Last year, it was the poems in texts and the music supporting the poems. This year we want to add more elements in our presentations where besides poems and texts and music, poem reading and singing should be included. However, we encountered this problem where I can’t really sing and and poem reading is even worse, so we had no choice but to look for singers and poem readers.

Project Illuminations is very fortunate to have Samsara as a new member. Preferably as an anonymous, she is very essential in helping out for the improvements.

In future presentations, Samsara is the main vocal of the pieces.

Project Illuminations is Words by Azly Rahman, Song and Music by Fakhri and Vocals by Samsara.

My Audio Mixing – Closed Hi Hat

I consider Closed Hi Hat as part of the cymbal-like instrument. The frequencies spectrum does not overlap much with the bass and anything between 40 Hz to 100 Hz and 300 Hz to 600 Hz.

The main frequencies for Closed Hi Hat are detected to be between 3680 Hz – 3880 Hz.

Steps taken to mix Closed Hi Hat:

1. Boost the frequencies between 3680 Hz to 3880 Hz:

Adobe Audition > Effect > Filters > Parametric Equalizer:


2. Compress Cymbal-like Frequencies

My Audio Mixing – Crash 2 Cymbal

I consider Crash 2 Cymbal as part of the cymbal-like instrument. The frequencies spectrum does not overlap much with the bass and anything between 40 Hz to 100 Hz and 300 Hz to 600 Hz.

The main frequencies for Crash 2 Cymbal are detected to be between 2650 Hz – 2650 Hz.

Steps taken to mix Crash 2 Cymbal:

1. Boost the frequencies between 2650 Hz to 2650 Hz:

Adobe Audition > Effect > Filters > Parametric Equalizer:


2. Compress Cymbal-like Frequencies

My Audio Mixing – Crash 1 Cymbal

I consider Crash 1 Cymbal as part of the cymbal-like instrument. The frequencies spectrum does not overlap much with the bass and anything between 40 Hz to 100 Hz and 300 Hz to 600 Hz.

The main frequencies for Crash 1 Cymbal are detected to be between 3250 Hz – 3450 Hz.

Steps taken to mix Crash 1 Cymbal:

1. Boost the frequencies between 3250 Hz to 3450 Hz:

Adobe Audition > Effect > Filters > Parametric Equalizer:


2. Compress Cymbal-like Frequencies

My Audio Mixing – Chinese Cymbal

I consider Chinese Cymbal as part of the cymbal-like instrument. The frequencies spectrum does not overlap much with the bass and anything between 40 Hz to 100 Hz and 300 Hz to 600 Hz.

The main frequencies for Chinese Cymbal are detected to be between 2220 Hz – 2420 Hz.

Steps taken to mix Chinese Cymbal:

1. Boost the frequencies between 2220 Hz to 2420 Hz:

Adobe Audition > Effect > Filters > Parametric Equalizer:


2. Compress Cymbal-like Frequencies

My Audio Mixing – Splash

I consider splash as part of the cymbal-like instrument. The frequencies spectrum does not overlap much with the bass and anything between 40 Hz to 100 Hz and 300 Hz to 600 Hz.

The main frequencies for Splash are detected to be between 3470 Hz – 3670 Hz.

Steps taken to mix Splash:

1. Boost the frequencies between 3470 Hz to 3670 Hz:

Adobe Audition > Effect > Filters > Parametric Equalizer:


2. Compress Cymbal-like Frequencies

My Audio Mixing – Compressing Cymbal-Like Frequencies

I must admit that more researches should be done on how to compress the drums instruments that somewhat cymbals hits. Meantime, to compress frequencies of the cymbals hits – crash cymbals, hit hats, splash:

Adobe Audition 1.5 > Effect > DirectX > Sonitus:fx > Compressor:

My Audio Mixing – Vibra Slaps

Vibra Slaps is part of Drums and Percussions. The frequencies spectrum does not overlap much with the bass and anything between 40 Hz to 100 Hz and 300 Hz to 600 Hz.

The main frequencies for vibra slaps are detected to be between 890 Hz – 1090 Hz.

This one is a bit tricky. The frequencies overlap with the targeted main frequencies between 600 Hz to 1000 Hz. The best way to deal with this is to arrange vibra slaps not to coincide with the vocal frequencies.

Steps taken to mix Vibra Slaps:

1. Boost the frequencies between 890 Hz to 1090 Hz:

Adobe Audition > Effect > Filters > Parametric Equalizer:


2. Compress Drum-snare like