Newest song: 10PM

28 Jul 2016

• Song

Name: 10PM
Programme used: Logic Pro X

Instruments used 

• Steinway Grand Piano
• Polka Accordion
• Burning Pad
• Dark Pad
• Synth E-Bass
• Crotales
• Nylon Synth Piano
• Caribbean Steel Drums
• African Marimba
• Celesta
• Neo Soul (Drum Kit)
• Boutique 808 GB (Drum Kit)

This song is created from scratch. The bpm is 230.

This song, like 9PM, is quite different to the other ones I have created. It has a bizarre, strange feeling to it.

The Burning Pad is the main background instrument. As well as the simple G chord notes, it creates an accompanying percussion sound with it.

The Nylon Synth Piano, Steel Drums, Marimba, Celesta and Crotales play simple, happy progressions. 

A constant bassline and drum beat plays throughout most of the song, backing up the other instruments. There are occasional tambourine taps and clave hits (these come from the Neo Soul and Boutique 808 GB drum kits).

At the end of the song, when the Burning Pad notes turn into Piano notes, Dark Pad and Accordion chords simultaneously play to close off the song.

 Overview

 The Burning Pad notes. This instrument also creates a percussion-sound along with it.

 The bass notes.

 The Nylon Synth notes. Cheerful and simple.

 The Steel Drums, which I feel are very ambient and atmospheric.

 The Celesta. There are three deep notes playing alongside the high notes.

 The Marimba notes.

 The ending Crotale notes.

 The ending Dark Pad and Accordion chords respectively, adding to the ambiance.

(Please note: the screenshots show a different instrument in the green box to what they actually are. This is an error caused when the instrument is changed after the green boxes are created and the name does not update)

Newest song: 9PM

24 Jul 2016

• Song

Name: 9PM
Programme used: Logic Pro X


Instruments used 

• Steinway Grand Piano
• Wurlitzer Classic
• Pulse Legato Bass
• Neo Soul (Drum Kit, Maracas)
• Wurlitzer Modern
• Marimba
• Glockenspiel
• Polka Accordion
• Steel String Acoustic
• Bright Mk II Blackface (ambient electric piano)

This song is created from scratch. The bpm is 205.

The feel of this song is different to the others. This one, while relaxing, has a more foreboding and melancholy ambience, compared to the happy tone of the other songs.

The piano is dominant in this song. Its notes are fairly repetitive but have a different twist each time, pursuing that dark feel.

The Wurlitzer Classic chords are minor, which further adds to the grim feel. There is no drum kit in this song. The only percussion present is consistent maracas.

The song is structured in a particular way. It begins with a piano introduction, and then the maracas come in.
It then proceeds into broken chord notes played by the Wurlitzer Modern, before going back to the piano.

When the next Wurlitzer Modern section appears, it is accompanied by Marimbas, and then continues to play alongside the next piano section.

The Bright Mk II Blackface plays throughout the whole song apart from the end, and this gives the song a more celestial ambiance. It is, however, much quieter than the other instruments and may not be noticeable. There are also constant guitar chords playing throughout the song. The chords are similar to the Wurlitzer Classic chords, being minor and grim.

The song then ends with sustained Wurlitzer Classic notes, a completely different piano progression, and an accordion. The feel of the ending is a little less dark than the previous sections, which could be interpreted to give a feeling of optimism and hope in a pessimistic song.

 Overview

 The Wurlitzer Classic chords

 The Pulse Legato bass that supports the Wurlitzer Classic.

 The broken Wurlitzer Modern chords.

 The broken Marimba chords. They are simply octave notes.

 The piano that plays throughout the whole song, and is the main component.

 The accordion that helps to conclude the song.

 The guitar that plays the same chords repeatedly.

The Blackface electric piano. They are the same chords as the guitar but produce an ambient background noise.

(Please note: the screenshots show a different instrument in the green box to what they actually are. This is an error caused when the instrument is changed after the green boxes are created and the name does not update)

Newest song: 7PM

23 July 2016

• Song

Name: 7PM
Programme used: Logic Pro X

Instruments used 

• Wurlitzer Classic
• Pulse Legato Bass
• Dark Pad
• Curly Wurlie
• Yahama Grand Piano
• Boesendorfer (Bösendorfer)  Grand Piano
• Glockenspiel
• Ghost Piano
• African Marimba
• Polka Accordion
• Vibraphone
• Audio 1 ("woo" sound, sampled from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c7Kgf0d2qk)
• Carribbean Steel Drums
• Boutique 808 GB (Electronic Drum Kit)

This song is created from scratch. It is meant to have a chilling, relaxing feel to it. The tempo is relatively slow at 110bpm. The Wurlitzer Classic piano, Pulse Legato Bass and Boutique 808 GB electronic drum kit constantly repeat in the background, acting as the base. All the other instruments play on top of it, following a simple, mellow progression.

The Curly Wurlie and Ghost Piano instruments have an echo to them, which creates a 'lost' and 'open' sort of atmosphere, as if you were alone in a forest at night.

When the Grand Piano is introduced near the end of the song (before it starts looping), the accordion and dark pads are also introduced, which produces a soft, tranquil environment for the listener. The song ends with a "woo" sound effect.

Overall views of the song

The Wurlitzer Classic that loops for most of the song (near the end, the repeated notes become sustained single notes)

The Curlie Wurlie and Grand Piano that play the same notes at the same time

The Ghost Piano and steel drums

The Ghost Piano and marimba. The marimba plays the same notes as the steel drums but the Ghost Piano has a small "diversion" from the usual notes and changes very slightly here.

The three images above show the ending of the song as played on the Grand Piano, Polka Accordion and Vibraphone.
The drum beat also changes, as there is now only the hi-hat notes and occasional bass drum notes being played.
I feel as if the ending of the song gives a mystified celestial feel, closing off the song softly, yet powerfully.
The reason for the red Grand Piano notes is its high velocity. The high velocity gives the song a dynamic and energetic finish.

(Please note: the screenshots show a different instrument in the green box to what they actually are. This is an error caused when the instrument is changed after the green boxes are created and the name does not update)

Evaluation

22 July 2016

Evaluation

• I did not consider some control variables before undertaking the experiment. The earphones/headphones were not the same manufacturer for every person, and should have been kept the same (though most people used the same brand). This may affect their performance as most headphones have different mechanical features which cause different outputs of sound.
• Furthermore, the volume was adjusted to suit the needs of each individual. I feel as though this should have also been controlled, as a louder volume as opposed to a quieter volume will definitely affect one's performance.
• The age group was very limited, as most participants were 16, 17 and 18. Results may have been different if older age groups participated, but with the experiment taking up a lot of time, it is restricted to who I could ask. Randomly selecting participants would not work because it is required to take up at least 2 days of their time, which would have been unlikely.
• The choice of songs used could have been better in my opinion; using 3 remixes and 1 from scratch is unbalanced. Unfortunately, my laptop was damaged and I was unable to create anything from May to the end of July, and the experiment was conducted during mid-July. I feel as if using 2 songs from scratch, such as 8PM, 9PM or 10PM, would have been ideal

Participant 14

13 July and 21 July 2016

No Music

Incorrect Answers: 1
Time Taken: 491 seconds (7:11 + 1:00 = 8:11)

With Music

Incorrect Answers: 0

Time Taken: 362 seconds (6:02)

Percentage Change: -26.3%

Songs:

• 5PM
• Soundless Serenity (4AM)

Questionnaire

Report

This participant improved their time. They also made 1 mistake in their first quiz, but 0 in their second quiz, which could mean that the music helped them concentrate and do accurate calculations. However, interestingly this participant treated the music more like background noise, so while it could've subconsciously helped them concentrate, other factors could've been involved to help improve their time.

Participant 15

15 July and 19 July 2016

No Music

Incorrect Answers: 1

Time Taken: 652 seconds (9:52 + 1:00)

With Music

Incorrect Answers: 0

Time Taken: 255 seconds (4:15)

Percentage Change: -60.9%

Songs:

• Graceful Aurora (8AM)
• Summer Evening (7PM)

Questionnaire

Report
This participant improved their time greatly and made no mistakes on the second quiz as opposed to the one mistake made on their first quiz. Based on their response in the questionnaire, it seems the music definitely helped them concentrate.

Participant 7

12 July and 19 July 2016

No Music

Incorrect Answers: 0

Time Taken: 691 seconds (11:31)

With Music

Incorrect Answers: 0

Time Taken: 268 seconds (4:28)

Percentage Change: -61.2%

Songs:

• Graceful Aurora (8AM)
• Summer Evening (7PM)

Questionnaire



Report
It seems that this participant improved their time greatly. There were no mistakes both times round, but according to the participant, their improvement could be influenced by the fact that she knew what kind of questions were coming the second time round. It may not have been the music.

Participant 11

13 July and 18 July 2016

No Music

Incorrect Answers: 0

Time Taken: 522 seconds (8:42)

With Music

Incorrect Answers: 1

Time Taken: 377 seconds (5:17 + 1:00 = 6:17)

Percentage Change: +10.3%

Songs:

• 5PM
• Soundless Serenity (4AM)

Questionnaire

Report

It seems music helped this participant improve their time, as evident from their improved time and their questionnaire. However, their second quiz has a mistake.
Overall for this participant, music most probabilistically helped them concentrate and focus.

Participant 6

7 July and 18 July 2016

No Music

Incorrect Answers: 1
Time Taken: 649 seconds (9:49 + 1:00 = 10:49)

With Music

Incorrect Answers: 4

Time Taken: 716 seconds (7:56 + 4:00 = 11:56)

Percentage Change: +10.3%

Songs:

• 5PM
• Soundless Serenity (4AM)

 

Questionnaire

Report
This participant scored incorrect answers in both quizzes, but noticeably had 3 more incorrect answers in the quiz with music. Interestingly, the time taken was shorter for the second quiz but with the penalty of 4 minutes added on, their time overall was longer.
Evidently, from the questionnaire, the participant found the music distracting, which could explain the inaccuracies during calculations, causing the overall time to increase for the second quiz.