[MUSIC]
So we've reached the final lesson in our course.
I want to take a moment to think about how music moves forward.
We've focused a lot on the individual sounds.
And I really want to be again focused on the overall form.
Last week we spoke pretty in-depth about the listener's perspective and
so much of it was I want the audience to be focused on this one element,
and that's kind of a static thing, right?
We're saying, I'd like the listener to be focused on the arpeggio now, or
I'd like the listener to be focused on the bass during this section.
But I'd like to think about how we can give a sense of forward motion.
And to me I relate this back to harmony,
because when I was studying at Berklee we studied harmony so much.
And what I found over and over is that our sense of forward motion was kind of based
on that in a lot of the music we studied.
There'd be this dominant to tonic relationship.
Dominant sets up tension and the tonic was this relief.
And every time we had this tension we felt like we needed to move forward and
then we'd have a release and we felt like we arrived somewhere.
And then again there'd be more tension and there's release.
But in a lot of these electronic music styles there isn't much harmony.
And I find that harmony is not really used in that way so
much here, but I still feel the sense of forward motion.
I listen to this music and I know we're going somewhere.
I listen to this music and I know that I'm supposed to start jumping during a certain
moment and everyone does, right?
So there must be something in the music that's pushing us forward.
What is it?
For me what I notice,
at least the different aspect, some of this music will use harmony that way.
But most of it is using sound, an evolution in sound, to push us forward.
They're using sound as a way in my intro to make me think about the next section.
Very often it's a linear motion, right?
Something that's going [SOUND] right?
This kind of riser sound.
No matter what's going on in the music,
if I hear that in the background I know something's happening.
I'm thinking about the next section.
And that's the kind of perspective I'd like you to have
in your active listening this week, and also in your creation.
Every section of your music,
I'd like you to give the audience a clue as to what's coming next.
Remind them that they're on a journey at every at moment and
do so with evolutions of sound.
And so we'll explore sequenced elements, which are like constant pulses,
really nice for giving a sense of groove, but also great to add slow motion to.
Again, if you have slow motion, you're implying you're on a journey,
you're going somewhere else.
We'll look at special effects, like these kind of noise sweeps and
risers that are specifically there to give a sense of forward motion.
A kind of dance floor instruction, right.
You know by the sound what's about to happen.
You're thinking about the next section because you hear this thing.
And then we'll also look at this really interesting category, we call it textures.
And really they're there to create vibe, a certain feeling.
Really nice during breakdown sections to create kind of a contrast, and
kind of an open, spacey, introspective moment.
Your classmates are going to be really engaged
as you create this kind of final stage for this course.
But recognize that this really is just a draft.
It really is one stage in a much longer journey,
just like this course is one stage in your larger journey of being a music producer.
So don't feel that this project, though it is the last one in this course,
don't feel that it has to be complete or done.
It's still part of a longer process.
[MUSIC]