Boomchaka

Well some more work happened tonight, and in fact I think I have done most of a section. The theme this time is "rhythm" (this is 2.3.1, 2.3.2 will be harmony and 2.3.3 will be melody). Let there be drums!

I'm working at 120bmp and the plan is that the rhythm will persist over the three sections, or at least the beat will (the pattern may change). So how do I fill 3 minutes with rhythm?

Well I have a "chorus" on the drumkit, and "verses" on other forms of percussion. Firstly hand percussion (sticks - which are actually in the drumkit samples, then shaker, then claves and finally triangle), then back to the chorus, peeling off the percussion one by one.

verse 2 is congas - but I cheated and used sampled congas - and a second instance of Kontact (the drum sampler from NI). Same idea, different sounds, different pattern - introduce them one at once, bring back the kit and take them away in the same order.

Verse 3 is clapping - not cheated at all, really done, mostly real time by me. 3 clapped patterns overlaid (using clever EQ and the stereo space to separate them) and the fourth is tapping my legs, including the coins in my pocket. Chorus again.

Verse 4 is sound effects, and for this I used a third instance of Kontact. At this point the computer started to go really slowly - because Kontact uses quite a lot of processor power and memory, so I spent some time working out which samples are not being played in the sample banks and deleting them - freeing up valuable memory.

So the plan is for verse 5 I will attempt to beatbox.