Music App Composition w/A.I.

Make a 3 song playlist of your favorite songs or compositions and what you like about them (e.g. "Empire State of Mind" by Jay Z - It inspires me and encapsulates my feelings about being a New Yorker). This playlist will serve as a starting point for your first collaboration with Watson Beat A.I. Include a link to the song on YouTube if possible.

Student Work:

• "Someone You Loved-Lewis Capaldi" - I liked this song because of how well all the instruments and words went together.

• "Burn The House Down by AJR" - I love the beat, and the whole tune.

• "Riptide" - I love how it was played with one instrument and I also love the melody.

Please review these videos on how to mix in GarageBand while I convert your playlists into MIDI data for Watson Beat.

To Do - Write one takeaway sentence for each video. (e.g., I learned about the FX pedals in the pedalboard and my favorite was the flanger, which places a pleasant swirling effect on the audio). Write your responses in the comments section for this assignment.

Student Work:

• video 1: mixing should be done when everything has been edited and you are aiming for a certain sound. Things such as the effects rack and automation can be used for mixing.

• video2: Automation allows you to edit tracks and things such as the volume, effects, etc. Each track has different settings. With automation, you can edit your song wherever you want.

• video3: you can apply the effect after, which is very helpful because you wont have to start all over again if you forgot. The effects make your audio even better.

• video4: Equalizer allows you to change the frequency of any recording. You can get your perfect sound. You can change the points individually, each sound is made up of frequency and where it is on the line.

• video5: The amp designer lets you choose from a variety of amps, cabinets, microphones, etc. You can change the amp by moving the pitches. (for guitar players mostly)

Create a musical composition in GarageBand

• Length should be from 3-4 minutes

• Tempo should be 80-130 bpm

• Key signature should be anything but C major

• Time signature should be 4/4 or 6/8

• Instruments should include a variety of drums, bass, guitars & synthesizers

• Genre should be rock/blues, hip hop, hip hop/r&b, indie or funk

• Form should be A B A B C B B, with each section being 8 bars long (note: can be longer if necessary to fill out the time but should feel good to the listener)

• Form should include an Intro, which can be as simple as a drum fill or more complex

• Power tip: use the Arrangement Track (Command-Shift-A) to create section labels

• Your composition should use track plug-ins including compression, eq and various fx

• Master plug-ins should include a mastering chain that complements the genre

• Your composition should use track automation

• Your composition should include a fade out

• Please export your final composition as an MP3 file and upload it to google classroom

PEER FEEDBACK - please include a picture of the peer feedback sheet with a glow and a grow from 5 classmates as well as a brief reflection (2-3 sentences) describing how you incorporated their feedback into your final project

Student Work:

• Original GarageBand Composition

• Glow/Grow Sheet with student feedback (note: the student was absent on this day and received limited feedback)

After I have visited your computer, please compress your GarageBand project into a ZIP file and UPLOAD it here.

Student Work:

"Burn The House Down" by AJR - GarageBand with audio and MIDI melody for Watson-Beat INPUT

Please look at the link and choose a genre for Watson-Beat to use for your MIDI file.

MOODS: TEMPI, TIME ​SIGNATURES, AND​ INSTRUMENTS

Student Work:

• Pop Funk

Use the MIDI files Watson has composed for you and import them into GarageBand following the guidelines suggested by the WatsonBeat development team (see link). In this first step we want to assess WatsonBeat's work in order improve upon it, so don't be too creative in this step and keep your sounds simple. Upload your GarageBand sessions as ZIP files into this assignment thread so we have a record of where we have been and where we are going.

Watson-Beat MIDI Output:

• "Burn The House Down" by AJR - Watson-Beat *Pop-Funk* MIDI Output

Visit three classmates and listen to their Watson Beat compositions. Answer the following on the sheet provided in class and submit a picture of your completed sheet here.

• What did you enjoy most about this piece of music?

• What did you find lacking in this piece of music?

• If you heard this music outside of class (e.g. on a TV show or in a video game), would you know that this music was composed by artificial-intelligence?

• If yes, why?

Student Work:

• Watson-Beat Reflection

Choose your favorite artist and describe them as a mix of two other artists plus that extra ingredient that makes your favorite artist unique.

(For example: Bruno Mars = Elvis + Michael Jackson with a healthy dose of Hawaiian charm.)

Student Work:

• Ariana Grande= Whitney Houston + Mariah Carey with high vocals and high pitched voice.

What are some aspects of an artist's Musical Identity? (Select all that apply)

• Emotions

• Instrumental Timbre

• Backstory

• Influences

• Message

• Genre

• Language

Define Your Artist Identity in three sentences. Include 1-Musical Identity, 2-Lyrical Identity (what are you most interested in?), 3-Personal Identity (your backstory). Here are some examples of artist identity statements taken directly from articles about these artists. Alvvays: Alvvays make sun-streaked California rock songs that belie their Canadian roots. Their debut self-titled album included breezy tunes undercut by a sharp wit and a gimlet eye. (Think early REM meets Best Coast and Dum Dum Girls.) The five-piece earned many fans in 2014 with their jangly pop songs and driving backbeats; 2015 should bring more acolytes to worship at their altar. Natalie Prass: The songs on Nashville singer-songwriter Natalie Prass’s album, pair her countrified R&B voice with Motown-inflected pop hooks, the occasional swelling string movement, and a dash of big band flair. The result is a soulful pop sound with a retro vibe. Think Harry Nilsson meets Dionne Warwick with more than a little Dolly Parton in the mix.

Student Work:

• Emotions, Backstory, Influences, Message, Genre

• I enjoy listening to pop music, with high vocals and nice beats. I feel that beat is very important and it can make or break the whole piece. My lyrical identity will be a realistic one. My personal identity is that I want to be myself in my Watson Beat collaboration. I would like to express myself and who I am for real.

The final stage in your work using Watson-Beat is to take your favorite musical ideas which Watson-Beat composed and integrate them into a fully produced arrangement.

1. Setup Watson-Beat project in GarageBand. Choose musically appropriate Tempo, Time & Key. Save your file to USB thumb drive or equivalent.

2. Create your song sections using the Arrangement Track (Intro / Verse / Chorus / Verse / Chorus / Bridge / Chorus).

3. Develop your song using GarageBand loops and any and all production techniques learned thus far in class.

4. Make sure your composition uses transitions between the sections so that it flows smoothly.

5. Receive peer feedback (Glow/Grow Watson-Beat Sheet).

6. Incorporate peer feedback and submit your final mp3 mix, along with the graded rubric from your partner (take a picture of both the front and the back). 24 Points total. 24/24 = 100% (Watson-Beat Grading Rubric)

7. Include a brief description in two or three sentences on what you chose to keep from Watson-Beat and why.

Student Work:

• Watson-Beat Final Mix

• Watson-Beat - Glow/Grow & Peer Graded Rubric

Bonus Material:

Songwriters Hall of Fame Master Session featuring Aerosmith songwriter and producer Mark Hudson

Music educators, if there is time remaining in your school term, this is a great project to piggy back on the Watson-Beat project. At this point in the semester, your students already know how to use GarageBand (or a similar D.A.W. like SoundTrap). This is a perfect time to teach them how to add musical underscore and record dialogue to a video. I let the students use the Watson-Beat music created by the entire class for scoring, or they can compose original music, pending time considerations.

Query the students for ideas as to which videos on YouTube they would like to score. Keep the times between 30s to 90s, if possible.

1. Download the video

2. Drag the video into GarageBand (the program will import the QuickTime movie and create an audio track).

3. Transcribe the dialogue.

4. Mute the audio track and record new dialogue (in your voice).

5. Scan the video for spots at which you would like to add sound design/sfx (this doesn't need to exactly follow the original sound design).

6. Use software instruments, Apple loops and at least one outside MIDI file to create the musical score for the video

Rubric

Student Work:

Original Video

Student Video with new score and dialogue