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© S. Wilkins 9 April, 2005

Key West Activities

Homework 1: The 12 Bar Blues
Homework 2: Musical Styles
Homework 3: Song Documentation

About Key West

Key West is a piece of software (from Evolution) that creates backing tracks and auto accompaniments for songs, in a similar way to the well known Band In A Box.

Basically, you enter the chords of the song and then choose a style, such as R&B, Rock, Blues, Disco, etc. Key West does the rest.

Key West has three windows.

  1. The Chord Sequencer: This is where the chords of the song are entered in order and where the style of the song is chosen.
  2. The Mixer: Volumes, sounds, effects and panning are controlled here.
  3. The Keyboard: Play or record a melody over your accompaniment

Activity 1: Entering a Chord Progression
  1. Enter the chords from Step 4 of Acid Activity 3 into the Chord Sequencer
  2. Choose a Style that best matches the style of your Acid track
  3. Choose the parts you want to hear by turning the red buttons on or off. (These buttons are labelled Acc1-4, Bass and Drums).
    Experiment with different combinations to see what sounds the best for each bar.
  4. Adjust the chorus, reverb, pan, volume and patch settings in the Mixer window.
  5. Save your file as KW1

Research Homework 1: The 12 Bar Blues

 Find out about the 12 Bar Blues by completing each of the tasks below.
  1. Explain what the 12 Bar Blues is and how it is used.
  2. Write out the Formula used for the 12 Bar Blues using roman numerals.
  3. Write out the 12 Bar Blues in the key of C and in the key of G.
  4. Provide references (URL's, books, articles) of where you found your information.
  5. Produce a report using a Word Processor and save it as KWHW1.doc.

    DO NOT HAND IN MORE THAN ONE PAGE

Activity 2: Entering the 12 Bar Blues
  1. Enter the chords for the 12 Bar Blues in 2 different KEYS (eg. C and G) and in 2 different STYLES.
  2. Use appropriate instruments for each part.
  3. Mix your arrangement by adjusting the effects, pan and volume controls.
  4. Save your Key West file as KW2
  5. Prepare a Word document containing the following:-
    • Instructions explaining to a new user what you have done
    • A screen shot of the Key West window. (use PRINT SCREEN button, then the PASTE command)
    • Description of what each instrument plays for each style
    • Save this document as KW2.doc

Research Homework 2: Musical Styles
  1. Find out about each of the styles you chose to use in Key West Activity 2 (above).
  2. Use a Word Processor to produce and hand in a ONE PAGE report and save it as KWHW2.doc.

DO NOT HAND IN MORE THAN ONE PAGE

Activity 3: Workplace Scenario

SCENARIO
You are an arranger working for a music company who makes instrumental versions of well known songs. Your recordings can be heard in lifts in shopping centres, hotels and office buildings around the country.

YOUR BRIEF
A new hotel development on Hayman Island in Queensland has recently enlisted your services. They have requested a version of the well known Calypso song Island In The Sun.

Your brief is to make a version of this song that has a real tropical island, holiday feel. The hotel wants their guests to feel like they are on a tropical island somewhere in the Bahamas.

Choose the instruments and musical styles carefully to ensure that you create the required atmosphere.

What to do:-

  1. Click here to view the music for Island In The Sun. Note that the chords to be used are written above each bar of the song.
  2. Enter the chords for the song. These are written above each bar of the music.
  3. Follow the specifications below to create the song STRUCTURE:-
    • INTRO: 8 Bars as follows
      • b1-2 - drums only
      • b3-4 add bass
      • b5-8 add accompaniment. CHORDS for b5-8 are |G |C |G |G ||
    • VERSE 1: 8 bars
    • INSTRUMENTAL: 8 bars (chords as for verse) - vary from VERSE 1
    • BREAK: 4 bars - as for bars 1-4 of INTRO
    • VERSE 2: 8 bars (as for VERSE 1)
    • END: b40 is last bar
  4. Choose a style that has a holiday atmosphere
  5. Use appropriate instruments for each part.
  6. Mix your arrangement by adjusting the effects, pan and volume controls.
  7. Either do it yourself or "hire" a musician (from your class) to record the melody over the top of your backing track in the two VERSE sections.
  8. Save your Key West file as Island In The Sun

Research Homework 3: Song Documentation

Whenever you record a new song for a client, you have to be aware of its history and any copyrights associated with the song.

For legal reasons, your client needs to have a detailed report about the origins of the song and its history. The report must also contain a description of your finished product.

The report must contain:-

  1. A detailed description of your version of the song, including:-
    • the instruments chosen and why you chose them
    • a description of what each instrument is playing
  2. The composer(s) of the song
  3. Year the song was written and/or published
  4. Artists who have previously recorded the song
  5. Musicians, producers involved in the recording of the song
  6. Record company that released the song
  7. Pictures of album or single covers on which the song was published


HINT: Try searching online record store for recordings of this song. Sites such as CD Now and Amazon often have extra information about recordings.

Use a Word Processor to produce a report and save it as Island Details.doc.

DO NOT HAND IN MORE THAN ONE PAGE