For this task we were asked to go back and choose one of our productions and develop the track with at least five changes; the track I decided to go back, and change was my Afrobeat track. 

  

The first change I made to the track was that I added a short four-bar intro to the track, I used a synth instrument in Alchemy called 8mm Film Sequence, I chose this instrument as I felt it fit quite well with the other organ-sounding instruments already in my composition. I came up with the chords and progression by trialing out different chords and using the step sequencer within Logic, I also like to connect the thirds and fifths in my compositions, sometimes I will connect the thirds and fifths by using fourths as well as seconds. Adding the introduction benefitted the track as it enabled the composition to flow more naturally into the main body of the song, instead of just jumping straight into the drop. Next time I would try to add more instruments to my layering to give the song more variety. 

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The next change I made to the track was that I extended the length of the track to 1 minute and 12 seconds, or 56 bars long. I copied and pasted the section I already had in my first composition and then created a B section using the Analog Horns instrument to give the track more variety. The changes I made benefited the track as they added more variety to the track, as it would give an artist more to work with if they wanted to perform vocals over the track. Next time to improve the track I would try to add a bridge section and more instruments in my layers so that there was even more variety to the track. 

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Next, I decided to change the names of some of the tracks I had to a more specific name including the section the instrument was for. In Logic, you are able to change the name of a track by double-clicking on the name, and then you can rename it from there. Changing the names of the tracks helped me to distinguish what each track was for more easily and enabled me to have a more efficient workflow with the project. If I was to do this again I would utilise the Marker tool and notes sections to write down my ideas for the tracks and what each section is, such as chorus, hook, verse, bridge, etc.

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After this, I wanted to add some automation to the end of my song. I did this by adding reverb to my chords instrument; Preachy Hammond, this gave a nice tail to the instrument instead of it ending quite abruptly. I also used automation on the drum loop track, but this time I automated the volume of the track to fade out. These changes made my song better, as before I made the changes the instruments and song both ended abruptly and did not sound professional in my opinion, whereas now the song fades out and the instruments fade with it due to the reverb on the main chords of my composition. If I was to do this song again, I would try to use automation a bit more and use it at the start of the track as well.

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The final change I made to my Afrobeat song was trying to mix/master the song a bit more. I mixed the levels of my tracks by bringing down the volume of certain tracks; so that they fit better with each other instead of all the track fighting for presence in the song, I also reduced to overall volume so that the song did not clip. These changes made my song sound more professional and cohesive, which is a must for music projects produced by any producer. Next time if I was to retry the song I would try to use my own mixing effects on things like the EQ and compressors etc. instead of using presets. I would also try to balance the sound levels better from the beginning and I would also try to utilise panning a little bit more for different instruments.

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