MU 2300 Tyler Vu

Tyler Vu - MU 2300 Final Project

I have about 10 years of performing arts experience while playing and studying Suzuki piano and trumpet at the Hartt School of Music. I've had the opportunity to perform and compete with orchestras and ensembles such as Opus 89 and the Greater Hartford Youth Wind Ensemble. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with composition so this is project was a fun challenge for me.

For this project I made a hip hop beat using GarageBand as well as some of the aspects of music technology that we learned in class.

To start the project I used the midi inputs from my computer keyboard and recorded 2 variations of a 6-2-5-1 piano chord progression in F-minor and I adjusted them in the piano roll. Coming up with the progressions and other melodies was the main challenge of this project. From there I added a beat using a drum kit and added a synth and a bass for some filler between the chords. These aspects made up the majority of the intro and outro (the track has three sections).

Then for the mid-section I recorded a new progression on 2 simultaneous string ensembles and added a new beat to it. I also recorded the synth playing the same chords, but subdivided on the off beat. Additionally, there is a live recording of the commotion in Daka ("the POD") that plays over this mid-section to add some flare to the piece. I recorded this at around 12:30 PM when there is the most traffic, so I could get a uniform sounding commotion.

Once I had these three sections arranged I started optimizing the sound of the instruments using the equalizer and adjusting the some of the effects like reverb, compression, etc. Then I automated some effects including volume, pan, echo, and high shelf gain. This allowed for better transitioning and unique effects to the sections.