The electronic instruments were all designed using sounds from the Xpand!2 plugin on ProTools, using sounds such as various kick drums, hi-hats, snares, toms, crashes, and typical electronic synth instruments. I decided to use Xpand!2 as my go-to sound generation source because it offered a really wide range of sounds for me to use in my music, and allowed me to use a nice variety of sounds which suited each of my 5 songs. With the changes in beats per minute in the different songs, and velocity changes on the different notes, I was able to sequence drums and synths to create 5 completely different kinds of songs.
The first song was recorded at 120bpm, which is a moderate pace according to the Storyblocks website. The website also states that faster songs are more exciting, while slower songs are calmer, which influenced my decision accordingly because I wanted a middle-ground tempo that did not show excitement by being too fast or seem dramatic by being to slow.
When I recorded the bassline, I wanted it to be simple, repetitive and relatively calm, becoming something that someone could possibly have in the background while they are studying or relaxing. Trying to create this feeling using Xpand!2 was an interesting challenge, because I had to try and find the perfect synth (something softer and not as loud) to try and help get that feeling across to the listener, as well as writing in a rhythmic drum pattern to back the whole track up, and using the velocity feature to help the sounds all feel more realistic and varied.
The drum tracks include a kick drum, snare and hi-hat sound, each on separate tracks to make the track easier to edit. I purposefully designed the drum parts to be rhythmically in sync with the bass guitar, in order to keep the structure of the song flowing nicely through its repetitious verses and choruses. Furthermore, it allowed for that connection between the drums and the bass to be built, making the track seem more lifelike by drawing attention away from the drums overly repetitive sounds, which I tried to minimize by using a lot of different velocities, helping some sounds play at different volumes and intensities. Using sequenced drums with real life bass guitar playing helped give the song more life as a result, which was exactly the effect I intended to have.
The synth, however, was a lot tougher to place. I had to browse the majority of the Xpand!2 sounds to find the one I wanted, which finally led me to the Polysynth sound “D Something 2”. This synth was softer (not a lot of force applied to the sound) than most of the other synthesized sounds I had encountered so far, but not soft enough to be buried in the mix under the drums and bass. It also came with its own reverb, making it a rather ‘wet’ (where the effect of the reverb is audible) sound in comparison to the dryness/lack of reverb of the other sounds. With some helpful usage of velocity, I was able to get the correct tone, allowing the synth to sound like a gently chiming electronic bell. This was the perfect sound because it was slightly similar to (or at least inspired by) a piece of lift music I heard a while ago, which served as inspiration for that one synth sound (listen to the first 15-20 seconds).
The bell sound is similar to a xylophone or glockenspiel sound, and that whimsical sound is something I wanted to try and translate into this song to help the listener feel a little calmer if they had the song in the background, similar to the purpose of the lift music. And, also similar in regards to the lift music, I wanted this song to be a way to pass the time, a background song for the more important things in someones life (getting from A to B, relaxing, studying, etc), not one that would stand out compared to the other songs in the EP. While this may not be the most spectacular song due to its repetitive and meek nature, I believe it would serve its purpose well because of the inspirations and choices made when sequencing this song.