The Sample Spiral: Music's Endowment of Inspiration and Oral Tradition 

My first video transforms Imogen Heap's "Just for Now" into a beat with trap influences. I was inspired by the underground rap scene and its rise to popularity using sampling. "Just for Now" is infamously used by many former underground rappers who rose to fame such as A$AP Rocky and Lil B. Their songs,  "Demons" and "I'm God", feature this song, remixed by producer Clams Casino. The song is completely reversed, with different sections being spliced up. The split parts were arranged to create a fast, remixed beat, forming a steady, rhythmic foundation. These sections also include "stutters" building up to the beat drop. From this workshop, I learned the technique of reversing to create a completely different sound to remix. I learned to utilize the fade into the setting which helps sound sections faze into other regions smoothly. This piece demonstrates the importance of sampling in music and how it can provide a new perspective on a work. It elevates the narrative, adding a secondary element to the piece. This remix opens the song to a different genre as well, with it being reformed into a rap/RMB track. I enjoyed experimenting with this song to create my unique track. 

For my second video, I'll be taking a sample from a music genre and morphing it into a contrasting. I've selected "Baby Teeth" by Flower Face, a mellow indie track, and I'll be reworking it into an upbeat, rap-song. I chose this idea for my next scheme because I wanted to demonstrate the versatility that comes with sampling. Similar to the previous video, the original song chosen was transformed into an opposing genre, however with this one, I wanted to keep the original track to show to the extent it can be altered. To start, I created a beat using drum machines as the core framework. I then kept the original song at the beginning as an intro to the beat drop. I emphasized the genre switch by adding "stutters" in the intro and by adding a reverse sound effect. The next step was to reverse the original sample to find the lead-way and outro of the song. I found this by listening to the entire sample reversed. I believe this piece shows how music can be changed and altered to create a new piece of art. Similar to stories, songs add on to one another to create a new narrative. 

In my third video, I focused on creating a song surrounding a monologue, demonstrating how words can be expressed through rhythms. This was inspired by artists, like Kanye who sampled his mother's speech in his song, "Praise God". However, I added my twist by making the song directly surrounding the words spoken during the monologue and having it play throughout the entire track. I sampled the "Cool Girl" monologue from Amy Dunn, the main character in the movie "Gone Girl" where she confesses that she will fake her death to get back at her cheating husband. I started by importing the monologue to sound trap, where I would craft a beat and song surrounding it. To this, I added the "mellow", "horn", and "milky bells" synth to create a euphoric and atmospheric backdrop. Next, I added a drum beat to connect the disjointed tracks and to accentuate her speech. The goal for the final product is to mirror and amplify the emotional tones of her voice. For instance, this piece sounds more eerie and disconnected compared to my other tracks to show the mental deterioration of the character's mind. This track explores how music can enhance and add depth to spoken dialogue. It demonstrates music's unique ability to stand as a voice of its own, gaining autonomy and offering a new layer of interpretation when experienced by the listener.