Workshop 8 2010 - Present Afrobeat
Afrobeat track
My Composition
For this week we were asked to create a track in the style of a genre of our choice, from 2010 to the present, I chose to create a track in the style of Afrobeat's. The first thing I did was listen to some Afrobeat's tracks, to gain some inspiration, I listened to a song by Burner Boy called Last Last. After listening to the track, I made a start on my own composition. The first thing I did in my composition was to look for a good drum loop to structure my song on, I found a good loop on the website looperman of an afrobeat's drum loop. The loop I chose was at 185 BPM, so I set my composition BPM to match the loop I had chosen. I used a 4/4 time signature for my track, as this is the most commonly used time signature for most genres, however afrobeat's songs will often use a 3-2 or 2-3 rhythm called a clave. The next element I worked on in my composition was the bass for the track; I selected a picked bass guitar instrument as I wanted to layer it as best as I could with the drum loop. Afrobeat's songs usually have simple clean-sounding bass guitars which is why I picked the instrument with this sound. On the bass guitar, I used a bass amp plugin to boost the tone of the guitar and I also used a compressor to boost the volume of the guitar. Next, I added an organ instrument called Preachy Hammond to my composition and played my chords for the track with this instrument. I selected an organ as they are very common in afrobeat's songs, and I wanted to replicate this as much as possible. For the chords, I decided to use a major key to keep the track a bit more upbeat so that people could dance to the song. For the organ, I added an EQ to boost the low-end and the high-end frequencies to make it clearer in the mix, I then added a space designer plugin to give the organ some reverb and make it sound more natural, I only added a small amount of reverb, so it did not sound like it was in a giant empty space. Next, I added a synthesized horn sound, called analog horns, to be played as my melody. For this sound, I added an EQ and boosted the high-end frequencies slightly and then I added a compressor to tighten the sound up nicely. The next thing I added to my composition was another organ, but this one had a much slower attack than the first organ instrument and I decided to use this as part of my harmony. I added an EQ to this instrument and reduced the low-end slightly, then I gave a small boost at around 600Hz, and the high-end from 2000Hz up. As my second organ instrument had a slow attack, I wanted to use another instrument to work with the second organ and play the same notes but with a different sound that complemented it. I chose to use a percussion-sounding instrument from the synthesizer Alchemy called Sticky Percussion. I used a step sequencer and trackpad to input all my notes and chords and keep them in time using a quantizer.
My Research
For my research, I decided to listen to songs of the genre to gain inspiration and learn about afrobeat's music; I listened to a few afrobeat's artists such as; Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Yemi Alade. Afrobeat's music, sometimes called Afro-pop or Afro-fusion, originated in Nigeria, Ghana, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. The genre takes inspiration from musical styles such as British house music, hiplife, hip hop, dancehall, soca, Jùjú music, and highlife. Afrobeat's is not to be confused with Afrobeat music, which is a clearly defined genre. Afrobeat's is more of a wider term for contemporary West African pop music. Another difference between Afrobeat and Afrobeat's music is that while Fela Kuti, an artist credited with helping to create afrobeat music, used his music to discuss and criticize politics, afrobeat's typically avoids this topic making it less politically charged than afrobeat music. Afrobeat's music is known for its signature driving drumbeat rhythms, whether electronic or instrumental. In afrobeat music, the beat is not just a base for the melody but instead acts as a major characteristic of the song, taking a lead role that is sometimes equal to or of greater importance than the lyrics and almost always more central than the other instruments. Another major characteristic of afrobeat's music is the notably West African, specifically Nigerian or Ghanaian, accented English that is often blended with local slang, such as pidgin English, as well as local Nigerian or Ghanaian languages depending on the backgrounds of the artists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrobeats
In the screenshot above you can see all the individual instruments I chose to use in my composition.
In this screenshot, you can clearly see my composition and the instruments used. You can also see in the top box, the time signature of the track as well as the BPM and key, which is C major for this composition.
Here in this screenshot, you can see the mixer window, which can be viewed by pressing "X" in Logic, in my Logic project, which shows all the instruments and the plugin effects I have used, as well as the levels of each track.