The Chorus

As of last week we have learned the basics of how to make drum beats in Reason using the Redrum. Adding Loops from Dr. Rex. And creating melodies and bass lines using Soft Synths and the Matrix and the Keyboard.

Today, we are starting a new section of the class. We will be turning our beats into full songs, converting them into mp3 format, and then posting them on our blogs.

But first we have to understand the different parts of a song. We will start with the chorus.

The chorus is the theme of a song, where the idea is delivered. Melodically, the chorus is the catchy, repetitious part of a song that you can sing along with. The chorus is also called the Hook because it's the part of the song that "hooks" you in. Lyrically, the chorus' job is to summarize the idea and emotion of the song in a general way and to hammer home its title.

The chorus is typically 8 or 16 bars long, which is 4 or 8 lines of lyrics.

The most important part for the chorus is to have the same melody and the same lyrics each time the chorus is repeated.

1. Open Reason.
2. Create an M-Class Mastering Suite Combi
3. Create a Mixer 14:2
   
4. Make a beat that would be the chorus of a song.
5. Start with your Redrum Drumbeat.
6. Make it either a 16 step or 32 step drum pattern with...
7. A clap, snap, or snare drum on 5 and 13
8. A Bass Drum on 1 and a few other boxes
9. At least two other sounds from the High Hat folder, Percussion Hi, Percussion Other, FX, or Glitch.
10. Copy the Pattern to Track.
11. Create one of the Soft Synth Instruments (Subtractor, Malstrom, NN19...) and either the Keyboard or the Matrix.
12. If you use the keyboard move the Right Loop point to R3.
13. Make a melody, record it and quantize it.
    
14. If you use the Matrix, make a melody with the volume up on between 3 and 7 notes. Make the melody in either Octave 4 or 5.
15. Copy Pattern to Track.
16. Create a Dr. Rex and load a loop to go with your beat.
    
17. Copy Pattern to Track.
18. Add either another part using the Dr. Rex or another Soft Synth with a Keyboard or Matrix using the lower octaves.
19. Record or Copy Pattern to Track.
20. Save the beat in your folder as (Your Name) First Chorus.
    
21. Now, go online and find a song that you like.
22. Open your email, compose a new email, and answer the following questions.
23. What is the title of your song?
24. Write the lyrics of the chorus.
25. Where does the title appear in the chorus?
26. How many lines are there in the chorus?
27. How many bars are there in the chorus?
28. What are the different instruments you hear in the chorus?
29. Send your email to mrprice@ccpaedu.com

Making a Stronger Melody and a Drum Beat

Today, you will be asked to create a melody using notes from the C minor scale that goes along with a drum beat.

1. Open Reason
2. Make sure you have a Mixer 14:2
3. Set Tempo between 70-110 bpm
   
4. Create a Redrum and make a 32 step drum pattern using a Clap or Snap, Bass Drum, Hi Hat, and Percussion. Make sure you put the sounds on appropriate boxes!
5. On the Redrum, Copy Pattern To Track.
6. Create a Dr. Rex and get the sample from me.
7. Do a remix of the sample and record it.
   
8. Now Create Subtractor: choose any instrument in the Subtractor/Monosynths Folder
   
9. Create a melody using notes from the C minor scale. Use between 3 and 5 different notes.
10. When you have finished making your melody, quantize it.
    
11. Create a Dr. Rex. Load a Percussion Loop and put it "To Track."
12. Try adding some more parts using other Soft Synths (Subtractor, Malstrom, NN19, NNXT)
13. Let me hear what you got.

C Minor

On Tuesday we remade T.I. Rubberband Man, which is a melody in C Major.

Today we are going to create the C minor scale using the keyboard.

The difference between the C Major Scale and the C minor Scale is that the 3rd, 6th, and 7th notes of the C minor scale are one step below those notes in the C Major Scale.

1. Open Reason
2. Make sure you have a Mixer 14:2
3. Create a NN19 Digital Sampler
4. Click on the Folder in the upper left hand corner of the NN19.
5. In the Patch Browser, click Reason Factory Sound Bank: NN19 Sampler Patches: Guitar: ACGUITAR.smp
6. Now that we have our sound loaded we need to play the scale on the keyboard.
   
7. We want to use the Keyboard to play a C minor Scale both up the scale and down the scale.
8. Push the Click button on the transport and change the tempo to 80 bpm.
9. Practice playing the scale with the click.
10. When you have it under your fingers it's time to record it.
11. Change the Right loop point from 9 to 3 on the sequencer.
12. Hit Record and Play, let the cursor go through the loop and start playing the scale when it gets back to the L.
13. After you have recorded the scale, highlight the notes and quantize.
    
14. Save the project in your folder as C minor Scale.
15. Now open a new Reason file.
16. Create a Drum Beat on the Redrum.
17. Add a melody in C minor using the NN19.
    
18. On your blog, answer the following questions.
19. How does the C minor scale sound different from the C Major scale?
20. What's a melody that uses the C minor scale?
21. What's your favorite instrument?
22. What's your favorite song right now?