My Research
My COMPOSITION
1950's Rock and Roll
Audio File of 1950's Rock and Roll Composition
Screenshot of Tempo
Screenshot of automation
Screenshot of song arrangement
Firstly, to create my track, I had to listen to three different drum loops I was given, for us to gain inspiration, then we were tasked with creating our own composition in the 1950’s rock and roll style. I set my BPM to 150, which is within the range for rock and roll, then loaded in the drum loop I had been given which was the same tempo. I next worked on adding the lead electric guitar to my composition and making sure it was in time with the drum loop. I used a MIDI sequencer to help me develop the 12-bar blues riff in the key of C minor as the melody for the track. 12 bar blues have the same pattern, which is 1, 3 5, 6, flat 7, 6, 5, 3, 1 (C, E, G, A, B flat, A, G, E). I do not play the guitar myself but knew the sound and style I wanted. Then I began working on the bass track of the composition, I wanted to use syncopation as this is a well-known technique used in 1950’s rock and roll and would give me the type of sound I wanted. For the bass, I added a simple bassline which followed the progression of the 12-bar blues. The notes I used on the bass are: C1, F0, C1, G0, F0, C1. The methods I used to develop the chords did go well, but they did not reflect the rock and roll style I was going for, so I had to rework the bass so that they were more appropriate for the genre. At first, I did not have the bass section running through the entirety of my song, I originally only had the bass in the chorus, but I decided to add it into the verse section as well to expand on the genre of 1950’s rock and roll and make the song feel more finalized and fit with the genre. I also decided to do this because it made the song sound fuller and added layers, which makes it sound less boring. I used automation to fade out the volume at the end of the track. If I were to create a 1950’s style rock and roll song again I would research the genre a bit more before I started the composition, to help me get a better understanding of the characteristics that make a song fit the genre.
Screenshot of song mixer with effects
Screenshot of song instruments used
Rock and roll music originated in the United States of America in the 1950’s. Rock and roll music was derived from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940’s and the combining of gospel-style call and response singing and harmonies with the down to earth subject matter, with the addition of the more aggressive rhythm and blues rhythm. Rock and roll were mostly performed and created by black artists but then was adopted by white singers and became popularized when the likes of Elvis started to perform it too. In 1951 a radio DJ by the name of Alan Freed from Cleveland, Ohio began playing the new music style and coining the term “Rock and Roll” on mainstream radio. While the music genre originated in the United States it was listen to and imitated all around the world. During my research of rock and roll music from the 1950’s I found out that syncopation was heavily used whilst combining the “12 bar blues” to give the distinctive and recognized sound that would become known as “rock and roll”. Examples of famous artists that performed rock and roll music in the 1950’s are people like Chuck Berry with songs like Johnny B. Goode and Elvis Presley with songs like Jailhouse Rock among many others. The genre was dominated by certain instruments such as the electric bass guitar and double bass, the acoustic and electric guitar, often bands would use two guitars; one as a lead guitar and the other as a rhythm guitar. The piano was another instrument that was popular in rock and roll music along with various brass instruments such as the saxophone and another instrument was of course the drum kit to play the main rhythm and beat of the songs.
Where is the history of 1950’s rock n roll? In the US it was derived from 1940’s rhythm and blues, combining gospel-style harmonies and call-and-response singing with earthy subject matter and more aggressive rhythm-and-blues rhythms. In 1954 Elvis came about.
Where did 1950s rock n roll originate from? In the USA. In 1951, Cleveland-based disc jockey Alan Freed began playing this music style while popularizing the term "rock and roll" on mainstream radio.
What are some examples of famous artists during this time period? https://youtu.be/Uf4rxCB4lys Jonny B Goode - Chuck Berry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj0Rz-uP4Mk Elvis – Jailhouse Rock
What were the dominant instruments? Bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, drums, saxophone, brass instruments, double bass
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The key of this composition is C minor