Harmony In Life

I have been studying how to write harmony and mix music this semester. Music has always been a huge part of my life as I have been playing piano since I was five. I have also learned how to play violin and am currently playing trumpet. So I have always been around music, listening and playing alike, but I have never tried writing music or recording it. It has been interesting to say the least, but it has also been fun, and I enjoy learning about the different aspects of recording, mixing and music writing. To learn how to do both of these things, I chose to use the song “Say Something” by A Great Big World. I am writing my own harmony for it, and I am singing all the parts along with playing the piano part. I might add a bass part, but I am not sure yet.

Harmony is a completely new part of music that I have never tried before. It is a LOT more complicated than I originally thought. There are four different types of motion, for example. One is parallel motion. This is when two notes move in the same direction and stay the same interval apart. Another is similar motion, when notes move in the same direction but the intervals between them change. Contrary motion is when notes move in opposite directions and oblique motion is when one note stays the same, while the other changes. I have learned that voice crossing and voice overlap should be avoided when there are two different voices singing, but since I am the only one singing, that is not a big problem.

Mixing is basically taking a part of a track, say the main vocals, and putting the other parts, like background vocals or instrumentals, underneath it. When it has just been recorded, it does not sound very clean. It can sound very staticy depending on the environment it was recorded in or there can be feedback from other mics. Also, when people record, it NEVER sounds as good before it is edited! Effects have to be added, mistakes have to be fixed or recorded again, and unwanted noises have to be cut out.

I am close to getting my track done and I hope to write another post to tell you all about it!! Thanks for reading!

~Regan