This track has a comfy laid-back feel that you can listen to while you relax. I've always enjoyed listening to Lo-Fi and this track is very reminiscent of that genre. As soon as I discovered the drum sound I knew exactly what the drumbeat was going to be and what vibe I wanted. I was looking for a way I can have a hard-hitting drumbeat while creating a lush and relaxing atmosphere and I feel like I accomplished that with this track. 

        

        This track is all in 4/4 and can be broken up into 4 sets of 8 bars. Each section has its own personality but they blend together seamlessly thanks to the consistency of the drum and bass sound. The drums hit hard and the bass provides and warm and full sound that the entire track relies on. Both of these tracks together give the entire track a very strong backbone which makes you feel comfortable listening to the track just as if you'd feel comfortable on a stable surface. 

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        The key of A minor is used all throughout the track with varying chord progressions in the harmony. The chord structure goes as such: 

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 Bars1-8: | Am | C | Bdim | F  G | 2x (i III iio VI VII)

 

 Bars 9-16: | Em | F | Dm | Am G | 2x (v VI iv i VII) 

 

 Bars 17-32: | Fmaj7 | Cmaj7 | Gsus4 | G | 2x (VI III VIIsus4 VII)

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        In the first 8 bars the chords are being playing on every downbeat in short bursts because the sound I chose for the harmony is a synth with a long release time as well as delay and reverb which fills up the space. The second 8 bars the chord progression changes and they play a more rhythmic pattern also in short bursts. The last 16 bars the chord progression changes again and is played in mostly dotted quarter notes each chord being playing for 2 bars. The melody closely follows the chord changes throughout the track and is never too rhythmic or complicated mainly consisting of 8th notes and long tones. 

 

        For the audio recording I recorded my claps, which can be heard in the first 8 bars, and my snaps, which can be heard from bar 9 to the end. The claps are on a couple up-beats in each bar while the snaps are on 2 and 4 the entire time. One of the custom synth tracks was made using the ES1 plugin. The first one I called the "Wow synth" because it makes a "wow" sound and can be heard shortly after every chord change. I gave this synth settings as if it were a pad, so I set all of the envelope settings high so that it has a slow attack, long decay, sustain, and long release. The other custom synth sound I made using the ES-P plugin and called it the "wave synth" because it's a swell of white noise that sounds like a wave from the ocean that pans from left to right and right to left. One of my favorite sounds in the track is the sampled track. I scrolled through some Apple Loops and came across a loop that mostly sounded like random crowd noise and sampled part of it which can be heard in the last 16 bars. It's rhythmic and acts as a nice sound to signal the transition of the next chord progression. 

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        In terms of the mix, every track except for a few all have both an EQ and a compressor which allowed me to dial each sound to my liking. I wanted to make sure that the kick and the bass didn't fight over the low-frequency range so I made a space in the EQ for both of those tracks so that they can both be clearly heard within the overall mix. For time-based effects the snare has a subtle stereo delay on it to provide a space for the backbeat. The harmony has an ensemble on it to give it a bigger sound. The bass has a chorus on it to also give it a bigger sound. The claps and snaps each have their own reverb dialed to fit their unique sounds. The snap reverb in particular is something to keep an ear out for because it is very wet and it allows the snaps to sort of ring out nicely which adds to the calm vibe of the track. 

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