Week 7: Melody and MIDI

Sound Studio 1
This Week
Today:
1. about Midterm Exam
2. Show homework from last time
3. Lecture topic: Melody & the
Physics of Harmony
4. Terms to know
5. Practical Lesson: How to use
MIDI
6. In-class project: Make a Leitmotif
7. Show project results
Midterm Exam
useful terms

ostinato - (pl.
ostinati). A short,
repeated melodic
phrase.
Melody

The tune of the song

or voice, line, theme, or subject.

Sung or played in phrases, often like spoken sentences.

Harmony
More than one note playing at once, usually
to add color and context to the melody.
Harmony
Consonance-
Harmonies that seem
to be at rest.
Harmony
Dissonance- Harmonies that seem to
conflict.
Rhythm

the patterns of the beginnings and endings of notes in

time
accents (strong and weak)
Form / Structure
how the song or piece is put together

A-B-A
Elements of Composition
Melody
Harmony
Music can be seen as
Rhythm the flow between
Form/Structure TENSION and RELEASE.
(Texture)
(Lyrics)
old practices

melody has some (now very loose) “guidelines” that

go back many centuries

One guideline was:

● try to move the melody in small steps

● if you leap, you should try to relax that
tension in steps or another leap in the
opposite direction

think of it as being on a rubber band

MIDI ● Musical Instrument Digital Interface
○ digital data telling electronic instruments what to do
○ and a way to “record” performance information in
real-time
useful terms

MIDI controller -
any device that is
“played” and the actions
are converted to MIDI
data and sent to another
device where it is used
&/or stored (“captured”)
MIDI in action
● each note = an event
● can be used to “remote control” any
parameter
○ Patch/Bank
○ Start / End note
○ Pitch (middle C (C4) = 60)
○ Velocity (0-127)
○ changes to effects, pitch bend,
sustain pedal, etc.
Gordon demos MIDI in Bandlab
1. New project (+Create)
2. Instrument (MIDI)
3. live capture
4. Quantize notes
5. adjust Velocities
6. Loop, edit
7. show drum matrix (EDM)
8. done
Your turn...
1. open Bandlab
2. + Create
3. + Add Track (up left)
a. Instruments (MIDI)
4. make a Leitmotif with 5 or fewer notes
5. be able to describe it (verbally) in 5 words or less
6. Name it “[your name]-leitmotif”
7. Save, Exit
8. Download MP3 mixdown
9. submit to assignment (In Class PoC: Leitmotif)
10. Done
Back to Form - “Titanium” Sia - David Guetta
listen to this song
try to write down the FORM,
using ABC, or
Intro, Verse,
Pre-Chorus,
Chorus, Bridge, and
Outro.
No Assignment this week
...you’re welcome ;)
Next week:

● Midterm Exam
Sound Studio 1