© S. Wilkins 9 April, 2005

Advanced Sequencing Activities

1. Composition 1 - Susanna
2. Listening 1 - Rock Around the Clock
3. Listening 2 - Can't Help Falling In Love
4. Listening 3 - 4 bar riff

1. Composition 1 - Susanna

WHAT TO DO:-

1. Open Cubasis and load the midi file entitled susanna.mid and play it.
2. By arranging the pattern of notes used in the piece in order from C upwards, what notes do you get?
3. The scale you obtained is called a pentatonic (5 note) scale derived from the major scale with the 4th and 7th notes removed
4. By studying the tune carefully, write a piece in a similar style of 8 bars in length.
   
   SOME HINTS:
   • Use simple rhythm patterns
   • Don't use too many leaps in your tune Use only the given notes C, D, E G and A
   • Start and end your tune on C
   • Don't be satisfied with your first attempt, change notes around a little till you are 100% happy with the results
     
5. EXTENSION:- Write a suitable bass line and drum pattern for the tune.

2. Listening 1 - Rock Around the Clock

WHAT TO DO:-

1. Open cubasis and load the midi file rockclockex.mid.
2. The first 24 bars of the song are contained within the midi file with the tenor sax playing the melody. Complete the missing notes of the melody. (You might need to listen to mp3 of the song)
3. By cutting and pasting the various sections complete another verse of the song
4. EXTENSION:- By adding a sax/brass part, complete the solo section from the original version of the song by Bill Haley. You may need to listen to the Mp3 of the song to do this.

3. Listening 2 - Can't Help Falling In Love

WHAT TO DO:-

1. Open Cubasis and load the file canthelpub40.mid
2. By listening and studying the tune carefully noticing the various patterns, complete the missing parts of the tune, drum and bass parts
3. EXTENSION:- Add a percussion part from bar 10 till the end - choose from congas, cowbell or tambourine

4. Listening 3 - 4 bar riff

TASK DESCRIPTION:-

Recreate the 4 bars of music you hear when listening to the MP3 found here. Use the information provided below to work out what each instrument is doing and recording each part in Cubasis VST.

WHAT TO DO:-

1. Choose your preferred method of recording the music – use a keyboard or enter the notes into the SCORE, LIST or EDIT windows – it is up to you.
2. Make sure you make the appropriate settings as described in the table below.
   
   

   TRACK No & NAME SOUND	DESCRIPTION (including notes)	SETTINGS
   1. Drums	Bass drum, snare, closed hi-hat and open hi-hat.	Standard Kit
   2. Bass	Notes are A, G, F, C and B. Work out the rhythm yourself	Acoustic Bass
   3. Strings	Am (ACE), G (GBD), F (FAC), C (EGC)	Strings – Pan slightly right
   4. Synth	Notes are A and G. Work out the rhythm yourself	Bass & Lead – Pan slightly left

   
   
3. Also, make sure you ...
   • PAN only where indicated
   • mix VOLUME levels appropriately
   • set TEMPO appropriately

HINT: Refer to the Music Basics page for some music theory basics including names of notes, a picture of a keyboard and note values