INTRODUCTION
For this blog I will be examining an electronic music producer/artist’s approach to synthesis in their music production. Before focusing on a particular genre to write this blog, many hours went into researching producers and their use of synthesis especially R&B and Hip Hop producers such as Timbaland and Big D.
The similarity between Hip Hop/ R&B and Dancehall production are the tools used to create the sounds. This includes MPC’s, vintage compressors, reverb units, patchbay, filters, pre amps, plugins, digital interfaces and the DAW. A selection of keyboards like the Korg Triton are used to achieve a big orchestral sound.
The hands on approach makes these genres of music exciting to produce. It is essential to have the tools to be able to put down ideas straight away, tapping drum machine pads and playing chords spontaneously when inspired.
RDX-KOTCH RIDDIM PRODUCED BY CASHFLOW EXTREME
I have chosen to explore a modern Dancehall producer. My reasons for choosing a producer of the same genre as my previous blog is mainly to do with the fact I am working on a Dancehall remix and for the use of synthesis in this song and in Dancehall music generally. The song I examined is “Kotch” by RDX produced by Cashflow Productions. This song was released in 2014 having a big impact in the Dancehall scene.
When producing the “Kotch Riddim”, Cashflow uses a 25 Keys Oxygen Keyboard with an interface and laptop running either Logic X or Ableton Live. He begins by constructing the drum pattern step by step beginning with the kick drum followed by the snares. He then finds a brass synth sound to add some lower chords followed by additional brass synth chords placed just after the lower chords.
Similar to the role of a rhythm guitar he again adds higher synth brass chords followed by very minimal percussion. The next step is to add the bass which follows most of the Synth parts. Finally he adds a synth melody that glues the whole song together.
When producing the beats many different synth parts are composed. Whether or not all parts get used depends on the song arrangement and the artists voicing the riddim. What I have noticed about this style of production is like Timberland the synth chords and melodies are played like percussive instruments working with the drums.
SOUNDCLOUD LINK TO RDX-KOTCH
THE MAKING OF RDX “KOTCH” RIDDIM INSTRUMENTAL
REFERENCES
En.wikibooks.org,. (2016). Sound Synthesis Theory/Introduction – Wikibooks, open books for an open world. Retrieved 28 February 2016, from https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Sound_Synthesis_Theory/Introduction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDbjEP9DHsc,. (2016). Retrieved 28 February 2016, from http://
Quora.com,. (2016). What kind of synthesizer does Timbaland use? – Quora. Retrieved 28 February 2016, from https://www.quora.com/What-kind-of-synthesizer-does-Timbaland-use
YouTube,. (2016). R&B/Pop Track in the making…WATCH IN HD (“Big D” Studio Session). Retrieved 28 February 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDbjEP9DHsc,. (2016). Retrieved 28 February 2016, from http://
AUSTRAJAM PRODUCTIONS 2016
AustraJam Productions 