Conterra

‘Conterra’ was created as a response to CDR’s collaborative project, Dimension Sounds 2015:

Phase I (Local Audio) saw over 120 field recordings collected and submitted from across the globe. With sounds recorded from South America to Japan, Europe to South Africa, and the UK to Australia, the sound palette is truly representative of the day-to-day sonic differences and similarities throughout the world. Now entering Phase II,  underground electronic music producers are asked to manipulate some of the sounds submitted during Phase I and incorporate these into their own productions, creating original music for the festival soundtrack.

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Selection, Expansion and Development of the Initial Samples

Sample Selection

The intention for the composition was to create a melody out of non-pitched spoken vocal gestures, in the same vein as Pangaea’s ‘Hex’ (from 1:25), so the samples were scoured to find the most exciting hooky inflections, figures and gestures.

Debas – Approaching the Street Market (Sao Paula, Brazil)

This recording presented the most instantly arresting, characterful melodic material, something that was capitalised upon to create the ‘lead’ part within the composition. Four samples were taken, each consisting of a fairly similar melodic shape and inflection. Gestures were chopped from the up to create an instant, aggressive melody. The sample creeps in heavily verb’d at [1:27], then suddenly emerges totally dry in the Drop [1:45] and becomes the central hook in the track, providing the closest thing to a discernable ‘lead’ part.

Antwerp – Primary School (Hackney, London)

A short whistling timbre was taken sampled from the recording that was then layered with a kick drum to create the main kick sound, giving it a punchy, whistling character. A dotted 3/16 rhythmic pulse was created from the beginning of bar 1, though the pulse on the fourth beat of each bar was augmented to last a full beat, allowing the pulse to ‘reset’ each bar, whilst also giving it a sense of unpredictability and character, a rhythmic idea which really underpinned the entire compositon. The duration of the sample was gradually lengthened throughout the long building sections to build tension in anticipation of the drops and create a sense of expectation. This is most prominent at 2:53 where the duration of each note was lengthened to last until the next note, creating a sustained layer. This was then dropped out as soon as the second Drop starts [3:03] to create contrast between the two sections, and also create more space in the Drop itself, which is a very busy (perhaps verging on cluttered) part.

Janadam – Katowice 4 Child Laugh

A few snippets were chopped to create a stuttered loop that was shunted to the background with reverb to create an ethereal texture that underpins the entire track. Call & response was created by juxtaposing two samples – one with a simple ascending inflection, and the second with a simple descending inflection. This created an almost overly simplistic, child-like melodic phrase. The timbre of the child’s voice, coupled with this simple approach to inflection was intended to generate a feeling of naivety that could provide tangible contrast to the aggressive, insistent tone of those used in the drop sections.

Joakim Lartey – Chimney [Gong]

The metallic gong timbre  timbre was pitched across the entire keyboard to create an instrument akin to a rusty vibraphone so it could be played back like a keyboard instrument. You first hear this at [1:27] as a simple loop, which develops at [2:03], and again at [2:23] into a Steve-Reich / Gamelan-esque arpeggiated motif.

Filip Scekic – Catherdral of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Kings Saint Stephen and Saint Ladislaus

A couple of mechanical-sounding clicks stood out in this field recording due to their timbre, which was reminiscent of a finger-snap, so these were sampled to use as percussive textures. Due to the natural decay provided by the cathedral’s ambiance, the samples evoked a sense of expansive spaciousness and so were used in the build sections almost as risers/uplifters.

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Harmony

The intention of the chord progression was to create the sort of Deep House inspired progression that Disclosure made their name with in tracks such as ‘My Intention Is War (Fig II)’ and ‘What’s In Your Head’ (both 2012).

‘Conterra’ is in A minor, and was built around a progression that oscillates between C major and A minor – the third degree (and relative major) and the tonic of the scale:

III – i

This simple relative major/minor fluctuation produces quite a static, settled feeling which really affirms the tonic key. However, tracks in the intended style rarely use such predicatable, settled chord progressions – indeed the progression Disclosure’s ‘What’s In Your Head’ (Gm⁹ – Cm⁹-Ebm⁹-Fm⁹) is practically impossible to define in terms of conventional Western ‘functional harmony’. The progression throughout Disclosure’s ‘F For You’ fluctuates between A♭m⁷ and Fm⁷ throughout, and whilst this seems to embody a similar movement to simple III – i progression cited above, it has one crucial difference – the Ab chord is a minor chord, not the major chord found on the third degree of F minor (the tonic key).

This iii-i progression undermines the sense of a clear tonal centre – indeed, such is the ambiguity that the progression could be classified as either iii-i (where Fm is seen as the tonic) or i-vi (where Abm is seen as the tonic), and results in there being not one clear tonal centre, but two! This dichotomy serves to create a slight jolt ever time the harmony changes, creating an unsettled and disorientating listener experience.

To realise this in ‘Conterra’, the major third in the C chord was flattened from an E♮ to an E♭, to create a C minor chord. Like the Disclosure tracks mentioned above, the unexpected E♭ in the C minor chord creates friction between the E♮ found in the A minor chord, and this tension creates the same slight jolt ever time the chords change, creating the same ambiguous and slightly disorientating listener experience, especially given the C minor chord is heard before the tonic (A minor) chord in the track.

Functionally speaking, the C minor chord is a chord substituition and could be described as borrowed (from the parallel locrian mode), giving the following chord progression:

iii^(loc) – i

An additional passing chord was inserted in between each of the two central chords to inject a sense of movement between the two, although the passing chords chosen were in the opposite direction of the movement of the progression – with a Dm chord added in between the Cm and Am chord, and a G chord in between the Am and Cm respectively. The chord progression with passing notes becomes:

iii^(loc) – iv – i – VII

The contrary motion of the passing chords accentuates the jolt between the Cm-Am progression, and is accentuated further via the use of syncopation. Placing the Dm and G passing chords on the offbeat of the third beat of the bar in which they occur gives them an accent which helps realise the dramatic, lurching sensation, as well as giving the progression a more characterful rhythm. The rhythm happens to also give a nodd to the angular, dotted rhythm whic permiates many of the main elements in the track.

Progressions like the Disclosure tracks cited above are often characterised by the use of extended minor nith chords which capitalise on the “beautiful mellow quality often exploited in deep… house”. Harmonic extensions were added to each of the four chords to embue them with a sense of complexity and depth. Sevenths were added to the first three (minor) chords in the progression minor chords, though the fourth (major) chord was treated differently, with a sixth and ninth added. This enhanced the juxtaposition of the major/minor chords and helped the G chord stick out from the rest, further amplifying the sense of unrest in the progression.

The G chord was also played in first inversion which served two purposes: firstly, it generates a sense of expectation and build to the next chord, it being the leading tone of C, pulling the ear of the listener and giving the chord progression a sense of incessant drive. Secondly, however, the B♮ played in the bass serves to further contrast the jolt going into the Cm⁷ chord, highlighting the unexpected B♭ and the inherent difference in quality between the two chords, and subverting the sense of predictability and arrival that the progression would deliver if the C chord were major, not minor.

All the above considerations create a chord progression which essentially appears to modulate between two relatively unrelated keys every other chord, generating a progression with more than enough harmonic interest to sustain itself throughout the track without becoming overly repetitive. The resulting chord progression is:

iii^(loc)7 – iv⁷ – i⁷ – VII^6(add9)

Whilst the chords were initially programmed in root position, but notes in each chord were flipped up/down, partly to ‘open up’ the voicings of the chords, and partly to ensure smooth voice leading between notes in the progression (see below)

Rhythm

Rhythmic Counterpoint and Groove

The rhythmic placement of the samples was designed to establish a dialogue with the bassline, the rhythm of which consisted of four dotted 1/8th-notes followed by a full 1/4-note. The finger-snap samples were therefore placed on the offbeat of the fourth beat of the bar, where there was the most space and a perceived rest, allowing for a sense of call&response to be established (see below).

Bass

The punchy bass part doubles the kick rhythm for the most part, adding additional decoration in the form of passing notes to create movement and melodic interest, similar to the bass in Throwing Snow’s track ‘Rheged’

Clap

A straight 1/8th-note metronomic pulse was added to the drops to contrast the angular, dotted rhythms in the majority of the main elements. By clearly marking the straight, unsyncopated pulse, the intention was to accentuate the dense syncopation in the bass, kick and vocal lead parts, drawing attention to every note played off the beat, whilst also creating rhythmic counterpoint and a sense of call-and-response between straight and dotted/syncopated elements. A short, aggressive clap sample was chosen to ensure timbral contrast with the darker, bassier timbres, as used in ‘Birth Control’ by Mr Carmack, ‘Power’ by Kanye West, or ‘Gunsmoke’ by Dominique Young Unique.

Rhythmic Synth Lead

The tracks most prominent lead synth part uses a blippy rhythmic sound that’s based on a tripled rhythm, but is slightly lazy so doesn’t quite ‘loop’ at the same time each time, creating a disorientating rhythm that creates tension and juxtaposes the otherwise metronomic elements that we’ve heard previously.

The intention for the second drop was to create a robotic but also asymetric figure similar to that in ‘Mercy (Boddikas VIP)’ by Boddikka & Joy Orbison (first heard at 0:46 then developed at 2:49) and Throwing Stones ‘Nought To Gain’, again first heard at 3:31, then more prominently in the breakdown section at 3:55. Whilst the figure is metronomic and robotic, delay and groove are used to shift the loop point slightly off the grid, creating a paradoxical sense of metronomic rubato.

Lead Synth Lead Drop 2 Countermelody

The synth replicates the dotted rhythm of the kick/bass but uses an 1/8th note delay to create an echoing effect between the two parts. This introduces a call&reponse relationship between the parts, similar to that found in Machinedrum ‘Dos Puertas’ which uses the same technique to create a similar relationship between melodic elements at 0:33.

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Organisation of Musical Material

Form:

The track is structured into a conventional dance track form as follows:

note to self: describe structural breakdown, list sections

The breakdown section aims to explore a middle-ground between the curious, naive build (driven by the child samples) and the darker, sparser aggressive drops, creating a sense of wonderment

note to self: how the structural form reflects the expressive/stylistic intentions

Arrangement

The harmony of the track is predominantly driven by a lush sounding pad sound that provides the main harmonic drive.

The simple chord progression was looped throughout the majority of the composition, so it lacked any further variation in its basic rhythm, harmony voicings, and velocities. To avoid this inherent repetition becoming boring and tedious, effects were used to add shape and drama to the part, in a similar way to Four Tet’s remix of Todd Terje’s ‘Jungelknugen’, which consists of 2 minutes of the same 4-bar phrase (comprised of an initial bar-long call followed by another bar-long responsethat itself then repeats twice). The part is made interesting and dynamic via the use of automation changes on multiple parameters (including cutoff, envelope/duration, and a massive, atmospheric reverb send). The same part returns at 2:40 in the track and builds to a dramatic climax at 3:56 where the reverb is allowed to decay naturally – contrasting the sharp, dry choke in the first drop. Hebden (aka Four Tet) uses the same trick again to usher in the final drop at 6:15, though with some variation in the arrangement.

Delay was used to add further decay to the natural tail of the samples, creating massive atmospheric waves of white noise which padded out the build sections, almost like dry ice. This heightened the contrast between the fuller build sections and the sparser, drier drop sections, which were much sparser in texture

A similar approach was taken in ‘Conterra’ using both high-cut and low-cut filters and a reverb FX send. Initially, the high-cut filter on the instrument itself was used to remove all but the lowest frequencies to give the sounds a very dark timbre, completely devoid of any mid-range or high-end harmonics. Automation was then used to gradually introduce more and more of the instrument’s characterful top end, to build tension throughout the long Intro sections, before petering out at the end of Intro C, ducking back down to create a sense of intimacy and add further tension. The same technique was added to build tension through the Build section, though this time the filter was raised far higher than before. Resonance was also used to further accentuate the frequency of the filter to create a hugely dramatic timbral drive.  (see below).

To add a sense of intimacy to the Build section, the lower frequencies of the synth part were attenuated (see below), a technique that was also used to add contrast between not only the previous section but also the bassy Drop which follows.

Finally, to further add drama and shape, the synth was sent to a long reverb ‘wash’ on a bus send. The bus itself was also automated (see below)

The composition adopted a similar approach to Pangaea’s ‘Hex’ by superimposing fairly minimal layers over one another: the drop is left fairly harmonically sparse for the initial drop, then brings in some subtle harmonic layers later on which really shift the track into a different emotional space, a similar approach to DLR ‘One More Record’ (at 3:05), ‘Slip Scheme’ by Module Eight (at 2:15), and ‘Birth Control’ by Mr Carmack (at 1:01). A similar approach was taken in ‘Conterra’, leaving the drop devoid of any discernible harmony, aside from the sparse implied harmony created by the bass, then introducing some colourful harmonies halfway through, a part which grows into the breakdown section before morphing into the initial synth pad to lead into the second drop.

In the second drop initially, an improvisatory melody was superimposed to try and contrast and cut through the subtle gamelan-esque textures, drawing influences from ‘Apollo 69’ by Reso & Frederick Robinson. This certainly felt arresting but it didn’t suit the aesthetic of the composition as a whole. Instead, an almost clockwork-like intricacy was necessary, hence the inclusion of two new layers in the second drop:

1. An additional rhythmic layer (the complex mechanism that’s definitely ‘in time’ and linked, but in a complex polyrhythm).
2. An additional melody was created simply by accentuating the notes of the extended bassline from the mid, much in the same way that Hans Zimmer creates a melody from the triads of ‘Time’.

The aesthetic of the compositon as a whole is fairly minimal and pointillist, with various layers coking together to create a dense, polyrhythmic texture, almost reminiscent of gamelan. Influences were taken from some of Steve Reich’s compositions that were inspired by his trips to Indonesia (e.g. ‘Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ’ or ‘Music for a Large Ensemble’).

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Objective Evaluation

Harmony

Though the entire piece is based around just two chords, a high degree of focus in voicings and harmonic extensions creates really dense moments, which contrast with the darker, sparser drops where harmony is less over and more implied by single bass notes.

That being said, more movement could have been created within the part by varying the inversions and voicings within the progression to create a sense of call and response between iterations of the progressions, thereby essentially creating a longer progression with more ebb and flow. Variation could have been created both in the range of the chord voicings, as well as juxtaposing open and closed voicings.

Greater variation could also have been created within the chord progression itself. Disclosure explore the same i/iii chord pregression used within ‘Conterra’ within their track ‘January (feat. Jamie Woon)’, though this track adds variation to the progression via moving to iv and v to create a longer chord progression:

i – iii^(loc) , i – iii^(loc) , i – iii^(loc) , iv – v

Their runaway hit ‘White Noise (feat. Aluna George)’ also explores a similar chord progression in the build sections [1:00-1:30 and 2:40-3:03], though this section is used are used to punctuate the central i – v (-vii) chord progression used in the verse and drop sections. Furthermore, halfway through each of the build sections the bass enters underneath the chord progression in second inversion, creating an even more disorientating listener experience, ramping the harmonic tension up a notch as the progression appears to modulate onto the dominant:

i⁷ – iii^(loc)7, i⁷ – iii^(loc)7,i⁷ – iii^(loc)7,i⁷ – iii^(loc)7,
i⁴₃ – iii⁴₃^(loc), i⁴₃ – iii⁴₃^(loc), i⁴₃ – iii⁴₃^(loc), i⁴₃ – ,

This creates massive amount of tension, something Disclosure capitalise on by leaving the fourth cycle unresolved, essentially teeing up an implied perfect cadence that subsequently resolves back onto the tonic in the drop, thereby masterfully releasing tension at the apogee of the track. Similar harmonic devices could have been used within ‘Conterra’ to create more of a sense of journey and shape within the progression.

Rhythm

The compositon contains a high level of rhythmic intricacy and detail, approaching rhythm in an explorative way. Indeed, the track verges on manifesting as a ‘study’ into offset dotted rhythms. This creates a congruent groove which, given the multiple levels of call & response between elements, generates a high level of spritely, incessant energy.

Whilst angular rhythms are used effectively to create rhythmic counterpoint, they are used fairly mathematically, and therefore feel a little robotic and un-characterful resulting in a lack of listener engagement. Syncopation and rests/ties could be used to disrupt the metric regularity of a lot of the repetitive rhythms, creating more character, definition and shape. This would undoubtedly result in a more ‘human’ and expressive feel, as well as more engaging and more memorable rhythmic hooks.

Also, at times its rhythmic complexity makes the track feel a little overly academic, with rhythms often lacking significant variation. Rests could have been used to create simpler, bolder, and ‘hookier’ rhythms that stand out more. Simpler and more characterful rhythms would also be easier to subject to variation (via e.g. muting notes, syncopating elements)

The intention behind the constant metronomic clap pulse was certainly realised and definitely drew attention to the rhythmic features of the bass/kick and vocal elements. However, the regular and predictable nature of the clap’s rhythm results in a very pedestrian and utilitarian part that’s so simple it’s not only wholly un-memorable but also becomes almost invisible to the listener, much like a metronome. By developing and embellishing the rhythm of the part, a far more interesting, characterful and memorable part could have been created, whilst still preserving the metronomic nature of the rhythm for the most-part. Given the prominence of the part itself, it could even be used almost as a bell pattern/clavé, as the clap motif is in both Mr. Carmack’s ‘Birth Control’ and, even more prominently, in ‘Do The Jazz’ by Swindle, where it functions almost as the leader in a samba band, cueing all other elements (which take the clap’s rhythm and then use it as a point of development).

Melody

One limitation with the samples was a lack of inherent melodic contrast within the samples that were chosen, and whilst a minimalist approach was taken, on reflection, much more variation would have resulted in far more characterful and engaging topline, the absence of which is perhaps the weakest aspect of the composition overall. The primary melodic reference, Pangaea’s ‘Hex’, contains an awesome amount of timbral and melodic variation within the topline that’s able to sustain itself over a fairly repetitive track for without ever becoming boring. A similar approach could have been implemented in ‘Conterra’ via much more thorough manipulation of various aspects of the samples. For example, transposing the pitch of individual notes within the samples up/down would create intervallic variation which could be used to give definition and progression to the melody, whilst inverting, augmenting and reversing some of the melodic gestures within the original samples would create many more layers of call and response, resulting in a much more playful and engaging topline with a greater sense of a ‘journey’.

The melody in the second drop follows the inflection of the bassline which leaves it feeling a little one-dimensional. Hans Zimmer’s ‘Time’ creates a melody out of the chord progression, but then uses simple octave transpositions to create a contrary motion with the movement of the chords, creating a sense of counterpoint. A similar approach could help the melody stand out from the bass line, giving it its own independent movement which would surely create much more definition.

Arrangement

The choice of timbres is effective in creating contrast – both between sections and between parts themselves, with gradual changes keeping the track moving. That being said, the track still feels a little repetitive, so greater bredth in timbral variation within parts could be worth exporing. Greater variation still could be achieved by multing lines (i.e. splitting lines up between several different voices/tracks) to achieve klangfarbenmelodie.