Melody Research, Analysis, and Recording Project

Summary

This project is about researching how to write a melody and then writing one.

My First HookTheory Melody

I liked that I put random things and it came out okay.

Notes from Howard Goodall’s Melody Video

How Music Works with Howard Goodall – Melody

CueNotes
how did people figure out how music can be made by anythingyou can pick random notes and still have a melody
every culture shares 5 notes

Summary: music has many forms around the world and it all comes from these 5 specific notes

Melody Composition Terms and Definitions

The terms and definitions below are from the Basic Concepts of Music Theory podcast by Jamie Henke at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Her Basic Concepts of Music Theory video on YouTube

Theme: A long, flowing melodic idea.

Motive: A short, rhythmic idea (Beethoven’s 5th).

Period: 8-12 measures or a musical sentence.

Phrase: Usually 4 measures.

Antecedent (Question) Phrase: First 4 measures of a period.

Consequent (Answer) Phrase: Second 4 measures of a period.

Scale Degrees (C Major Scale)

Tonic: C (1, 8) – Stability and resolve.

Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant: D, E, A (2, 3, 6) – Moderate tension, useful for transitions and carrying on an idea.

Subdominant, Dominant, Leading Tone: F, G, B (4, 5, 7) – Causes the most tension, and leads to the tonic.

Steps: Any movement using half or whole steps.

Leaps: Any movement using intervals larger than a whole step.

Conjunct motion: Melody is built primarily out of steps.

Disjunct motion: Melody is built primarily out of leaps.

Repetition: Repeated material (i.e. motive) used to create a link between two phrases of the period.

Contrast: Two phrases that contain contrasting material to create tension and interest.

Variation: Halfway between contrast and repetition. The two phrases include some recognizable material and some varied material (i.e. taking ideas up an octave).

One of My Favorite Melodies

Dont Stop Believing

I like this melody because it makes me feel confident. the tonic was in the beginning and the tension in the middle

it gradually goes up and down then sometimes it jumps

My Second HookTheory Melody

I like how it sounds

I had it in the middle

What I Learned & Problems I Solved

I learned how to put together a melody

One problem I solved was figuring out how to make said melody

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM

Grammar and Spelling

Grammarly

Editor

Nadia

Resources

Assessment a Feedback

General Music Composition Rubric (Google Doc)

Period Melody Composition Rubric (PDF)

Hook Theory Tools and Tutorials

hooktheory.com/theorytab/index (Analyzing Songs)

hookpad.hooktheory.com (Creating Songs)

Hookpad Beginner Tutorial – Part 1: User Interface (YouTube)

Hookpad Beginner Tutorial – Part 2: Melodies (YouTube)

All HookTheory video tutorials

Music Theory

Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)

How Music Works with Howard Goodall – Melody

Melody defined at Wikipedia

iTunesU – Basic Concepts of Music Theory by Jamie Henke at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Her Basic Concepts of Music Theory video on YouTube

Michael New

The 4 Critical Parts of Writing a Melody

How Basic Chords Work – Music Theory Lesson 1

Art of Composing

Last two minutes of How to Compose Music – Lesson 1 – How to Write a Melody by Art of Composing

Inversion, etc.

How to Compose Music – Lesson 3 – The Musical Period by Art of Composing

artofcomposing.com/creativity-importance-melody

Free MIDI files midiworld.com/files/

MIDI file of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy from his 9th symphony

Coldplay Talk sample midi file

The musical notation interactive sheet music for Talk by Coldplay

MIDI and Music Notation Editors

onlinesequencer.net – online

flat.io – online

noteflight.com – online

MuseScore downloadable program

GarageBand

How to View and Print Sheet Music: Garageband X Tutorial

GarageBand Basics Screencast Video Tutorial

Melody Research, Analysis, and Recording Project Feedback Form (PDF)

Microphone Auditions Project

blue-microphone-2740

Summary

Talking into different high-end microphones and seeing which works best for me.

Microphone Audition Podcast

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jPj_R7nbcynokCsY7wAnrrcP0_GIz5Nw/view?usp=share_link

My Favorite Microphone

AKG C1000S

Terms and Concepts

  •  Microphones
    • Dynamic – The sound waves themselves create the electrical signal by moving the membrane diaphragm of the microphone. Very popular and very well known. It is good for the low and middle range, NOT the high range.
    • Condenser – The membrane has an electrical current that waits for sound. When the sound waves hit it, it responds instantly. They are all over the place, but they need an electrical charge {amplifier} from something {battery}.
  • Polar Patterns
    • Omni – Picks sound up from all directions equally. This is used for interviews because it can pick up more than one person, without having to have two separate mics.
    • Cardioid – Picks up one half of the microphone, also known as a ‘directional mic’. Most sensitive in the front, about 180 degrees. Shaped like a heart.
    • Bi-directional – ‘Figure of 8’, picks the front and behind of the mic, but the 90-degree angle on both sides does not get picked up.
  • Transduction – Converts one form of energy to another.
  • Voltage – An electric force or a potential difference shown in volts.
  • Phantom Power – Activates the condenser in a microphone. DC powered mostly between 12 and 48 DC voltages.
  • Sensitivity – Voltage at its known sound level. Can be called by its voltage or decibels. A higher number means more sensitivity, everything is mostly in negatives. Sound pressure.
  • Frequency Response – The range of sound the microphone can produce and how sensitive it is within the range. You want it nice and flat.
  • Transient – A variation in current, voltage, or frequency.
  • Placement – Placement of the microphone is key, depending on the sounds you want, it can just be the distance from you or the instrument from the microphone. This part of the microphone can affect others emotionally in a way to connect with the audience.
  • Proximity Effect – Decreased sensitivity to low mics, which reduces background noise and vibration and counteracts when used very close to the source.
  • Output – A place where the sound leaves the system.
  • Characteristics – This is the Relative Response and Frequency measured in a Hertz graph to show how good or bad the microphone is. This can show the quality of the mic.
  • Noise Rating – The signal (sound source) to noise ratio measured in decibels (dB). Noise is any sound in the background you don’t want. Electricity vibrates at 60dB so you want the ratio of the signal and noise to be higher than that. Preferably 90dB or higher.
  • Hardware
    • Clips – A clip is something that you use to hold a microphone on something {for example – stand }, but, using the wrong kind of clips can affect the performance, make sure it is tight so it has the correct effect.
    • Stands – This ties in with a clip, this is what the clip will connect to. This keeps the microphone towards the object you want to hear without having to hold it or keep it still.
    • Windscreen – Something that covers and protects the microphone, mostly a foamy material.
    • Direct Box – A device used to connect an instrument directly into the audio mixer.

What I Learned and Problems I Solved

I learned that different microphones can sound substantially different.

The problem i solved was editing in soundtrap