MIDI Song Project

Included in this project:

MIDI Song & MIDI Song Reflection

Groove Pizza

Resources

MIDI Song

My MIDI Song is titled "Don't Worry About What's Up!" It's a mashup of "Don't Worry Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin and "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes.

MIDI Song Process Reflection

I had fun creating this track! Several years ago I was at a gathering with music folks and I sang a song I wrote that could be mashed up with Don't Worry Be Happy. One of my friends pointed out that What's Up? uses the same chords as Don't Worry Be Happy and therefore could also be mashed into my song. Ever since then I've been meaning to do something about this, and this was my big opportunity.

I downloaded some free sheet music from MuseScore for Don't Worry Be Happy, and I recorded each of the parts separately into MIDI tracks using my electronic keyboard with a click track. The bass part was giving me a hard time, so I decided to just input the rhythm on one note and then manipulate the piano roll to correct the pitches. That felt like a weird hack but it was easier to fix than putting in the correct pitches but having the rhythm be wonky.

Then it was time to decide what instruments to have play each part. I experimented with several combinations before settling on clarinet for the melody, flute for the high harmony, a Rhodes piano for the two tenor lines (recorded together) (this is a shoutout to my dad who used to play a Rhodes), and an electric Motown bass.

It took some trial and error to figure out how to cut and paste the repeating parts just right, and then I had to create the arrangement. I started with the bass because it was so cool sounding, and then put in the tenor and melody, and finally the soprano. These all served to build up the idea that we're about to hear Don't Worry Be Happy, but when the vocal comes in, it's 4 Non Blondes instead! This cracks me up every time I hear it. I decided to use the acoustic Lo-fi effect for my vocals because we'd been talking about Lo-fi in class and I liked the sound of it.

To round out the arrangement I layered some of the Don't Worry Be Happy interlude in with the 4 Non Blondes chorus, and then sang some of Don't Worry Be Happy and switched the flute over to playing the 4 Non Blondes chorus near the end. When I was figuring out how to end it, both of my little dogs decided they needed to be on my lap, so they made their way into the ending, as they make their way into most things.

I played around with the volume of each track, the pan and the reverb until it sounded just how I wanted it, and that was it! I like how it turned out, and it makes me laugh, which is always a good thing. If I had unlimited time and ability I would figure out how to do the vocals better. The mic was really hot no matter what I did - SoundTrap had a feature where you could sing into it and it would fix the levels so you wouldn't clip, but it kept clipping anyway. I ended up having to turn away from my laptop and sing the loud parts rather softly, so I couldn't get the grungy, angsty effect that What's Up? needs. Despite doing music on Zoom throughout the pandemic, I never did get an external mic set up. Perhaps a condenser mic and some kind of audio interface is in my future.

Side note: My first attempt at the MIDI project was downloading the Legend of Zelda Overworld Theme from one of those free MIDI sites and messing with it, but I loved it just the way it was and didn't feel like messing it up by being creative with it.

Groove Pizza

Here's a link to the Groove Pizza beat I made. I started with a blank slate and worked by trial and error. I put the bass in first, at a beat that I was just feeling at the time. I then added the hi-hat and messed with it until I found a pattern I liked. Next I wanted to add some hand claps, and that ended up taking the longest time. I decided to make a four-beat pattern with all the same bass and hi-hat, but with the hand claps building as the four patterns progressed. I played around with the locations of the hand claps until I settled on the ones I liked.

If I had to assign a genre to this beat I would call it "Trap Country." I feel like there should be some kind of hyperactive line dance created to go along with this beat.

Resources

I checked out these resources because I was least familiar with them of all the choices:

• Jae Deal – Synth Bass Masterclass – Jae Deal walks us through the process of creating bass sounds on a classic Moog synth.

• Ten Classic Roland TR-808 Patterns – The 808 drum machine is one of the cornerstones of hip-hop. It remains as popular now as it was in the 1980s for its deep, rich kick, punchy snare, and other distinctive sounds. Vintage 808s are expensive collectors items now, so most rank-and-file producers use samples or software emulators.

• Egyptian Lover builds a beat on the 808 – Programming a drum machine is different from playing a drum kit. Although we might not have access to a Roland TR-808 the concept is the same as making a beat with Beat Maker in Soundtrap.

These were really interesting to me and pretty far out of my realm of experience. I think kids would have a lot of fun experimenting with the infinite different beats and sounds they can create on these machines, or, more likely, web-based music making apps which are free! I think this kind of activity would get a lot more kids involved in music classes than participate in traditional band, orchestra, and choir programs.