Review and Reflection

Review and Reflection



The main goal of this project was to sequence a track a Logic that is representative of the genre hardcore punk. I feel as though I was successful in this project, despite the fact that aspects of my initial plan did not come to fruition. I feel as though my track is an accurate representation of my chosen genre, it has the very fast and frantic feel of hardcore punk tracks with very simplistic power chord riffs, iconic to the genre.

The guitars were recorded into Logic using digital amp simulators rather than recording them in the studio as I had initially intended. This was due to the time restraint given, however I feel as though I was able to craft a guitar tone that fit the genre regardless and allowed me to become more famaliarised with Logic and more confident in my ability to record using the software. The guitars themselves I feel were dialed in appropriately; they are distorted enough to make it sound aggressive and intense whilst also not being too distorted for the riffs to be discernible. The bass in the guitar amps were turned quite low, with high mids, and the treble sitting around 12 o'clock on the dial. This allowed for the guitars to stand out by themselves and not get drowned out by the bass or drums.

 The playing style is very rough and somewhat out of time. This was done intentionally in order to emulate the playing style of hardcore punk bands in the 80's, which were often very loose and out of time due to the inexperience of the artists.

As with the guitars, the drums in the track are programmed using Logic rather than recorded in the studio. This was due to drummers being unavailable for me to collaborate with. However I was able to create a drum track using Logic's drum programmer that sounds genuine and human by utilising the humanise feature in Logic to make the drums slightly out of time, giving the track a much more loose feel, appropriate for punk. This feature also varied the velocity at which the drums are hit, adding a further dynamic to track. The drum patterns themselves are typical punk drumming patterns used commonly in the genre, except for the chorus in which I created a very fast and intense drum pattern that fit the chorus riff I had created well.  Despite this, I feel that the track would be greatly improved with a genuine drummer since programmed drums will always have somewhat of a syncopated feel to it that feels unnatural with this style of music. I feel as though this is one of the biggest shortcomings in the track and something I would work to change if I could redo the project.

The mix of this track is slightly more polished than records of the genre usually were at the time due to the artist's inexperience. It was for this reason that I felt it necessary to give the track a more detailed mix in order to showcase my abilities and how I have progressed over the year. I used compressors on each of the instruments except the bass in order to separate the instrumentation slightly and give them more clarity. I also used E.Q with a low and high pass filter in order to filter out any low frequencies that may be making the recording muddy and remove any high end that may make the track sound fizzy and fragile. This isn't completely representative of the mix in 80's hardcore punk recordings, however I feel I was able to create a balance between the rough recording style of the genre at the time with more modern influences, allowing all the instrumentation to be heard with clarity while maintaining the chaotic feel of the genre.

The biggest shortcoming in the track is the lack of vocals. This is something I would have liked to have added to the song but couldn't due to time restraints. I feel as though vocals would have tied whole song together and been a good representation of what the genre was like at the time. My intention was to use the typical shouted vocals of the time with political lyrics as this was a very common theme at the time. Even though I wasn't able to add these lyrics, I feel I still achieved my goal of making the track political in a certain aspect with the intro; using the snare rolls reminiscent of military marches with the rough and out of time guitar lead, emulating an anthemic lead melody in order to create an almost mocking and sarcastic interpretation of patriotic national anthems. This allowed me to make the track vaguely political without adding any lyrics.

The structure of the track is very simple, as is common with a lot of hardcore punk recordings due to the artists' inexperience with music. The structure in this track is as follows-- intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-verse-outro. This is a very simplistic structure that represents the song structure that bands would have made at the time as there was not much regard to it.

To conclude, I feel as though I was successful in my goal of sequencing a hardcore punk track in Logic; the guitar riffs are fast and intense but clear enough that every note is discernible, the drumming follows typical punk drum patterns with a tempo of 180bpm to create some quick and frenzied drumming at points much in the style of hardcore punk, the bass in the track follows the guitars in order to create a really thick and strong guitar tone. The two main aspects I would improve in the track would be the drumming, in that I feel the song would be improved with a human drummer in order to give it a more genuine feel. I would also add vocals in order to tie the whole song together and make it completely apparent the track is a hardcore punk track.

Collaborative Project

Collaborative Project

For the collaborative part of my project, I worked with George Cassel to create a guitar solo for my track. I began by creating a rhythm section appropriate for soloing over, this was done by creating a very simple but driving riff using 2 power chords being tremolo picked in order to create an aggressive and fast sound. Being that the rhythm guitar riff is a very simple two note riff, it made it simple to think of an appropriate scale for the solo. The two notes of the rhythm riff are E and F, for this reason I felt it would be most appropriate to use an E minor pentatonic scale for the solo.

George and I briefly communed via email(seen below) before meeting up to discuss and record the guitar part. During the recording process, I provided an example of how I wanted the solo to sound, as well as providing solos from popular hardcore punk songs to use an inspiration. After this, we recorded dozens of takes into logic, each time discussing what was working with the solo, as well as what needed improving. During the beginning of the process, we found that it may be difficult as George does not typically play lead guitar, and the scale used was unfamiliar to him. This lead to multiple takes during the beginning in which George would play a wrong note or make a mistake; this resulted in us discussing what was going wrong and found that George was struggling with the distance between the notes he wanted. We combatted this by using the higher register of the guitar, above the 12th fret as this was where George felt most comfortable playing, and also creates a brighter sound, making it stand out more.


In the end, we decided that the two main techniques that felt appropriate to the song were fast, frenzied tremolo picking and slower bends that match the rhythm of the rhythm guitar playing. This allowed for a further frantic and fast-paced sounding section to the track, making it seem it more intense, whilst simultaneously adding some different dynamics to the track with the bends.

I feel as though the end result we created was good recreation of the playing style used in hardcore punk, it is accurate to the genre and fits well into my track. The main difference between this solo and the solos that were recorded during hardcore punk in the 80's is that this solo follows a scale, with the key in mind. Most punk bands during that time wouldn't have been conscious of the key and wouldn't have used a scale as this wasn't thought about during the time, since most of those artists were just beginning to make music and so didn't have that knowledge. However, I added one in this case as it allows me to showcase my musical knowledge whilst ensuring there are no notes that sound out of place.

Hardcore Punk Updated Draft

Updated Draft

This is an updated version of my original draft. The main change for this draft is that the original bridge section in the track has been replaced as I felt it did not fit with the rest of the song. I also wanted to add a solo to the track, and I felt that it would fit appropriately at a minute and a half into the track, where the bridge is, though the original bridge riff had a strange rhythm, making it difficult to solo over. For this reason I changed the bridge riff to a simple two chord power chord riff as I felt this would create a very driving and powerful sound that would be simpler to solo over the top of. The new bridge is also twice as long as the old bridge in order for the solo to be longer and more notable.

The other major change to the track was the mix. Previously, I had done very little to improve the track via the mix due to the fact that early hardcore punk tracks had very basic mixes, usually consisting of simply just a balance. However going forward I felt that it was more important for each element of track to be heard with clarity than to purposefully give the track a very rudimentary mix in order to keep it true to the genre. In order to achieve this, I added a E.Q to every channel and added a HPF up to 60db in order to remove any low end that may make the mix sound muddy as well as a LPF to prevent any high frequencies that may make the guitars sound fizzy and fragile. I also added compression to every channel except for bass in order to separate each piece of instrumentation slightly so they are audible as their own element of the track.

The final update I did was to do a small amount of mastering with a compressor over the stereo out channel in order to make the track slightly louder whilst bringing each element of the track closer together in order to create a tighter and intensive sound. I also used a limiter in order to boost the track slightly with the gain.

Origins of Hardcore Punk

Origins of Hardcore Punk

Hardcore Punk originated in the late 70's; bands such as Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, and Black Flag picked up the simplistic playing style and political lyrics of previous British punk bands such as the Clash and the Sex Pistols, as well as American punk bands such as the Ramones. Along with this they also took influences from British heavy metal from bands such as Motörhead, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. These bands would then go on to greatly increase the tempo, adding highly distorted driving guitar riffs and drumbeats, as well as typically a yelling vocal style, creating a new, frenzied style of music.

Black Flag Performing in 1984

There were four seminal cities throughout America in which Hardcore Punk existed and progressed in their own separate bubbles. These cities were Los Angles, San Francisco, Washington D.C. Los Angles was home to some of the very first Hardcore Punk recordings, two EPs were released in January of 1979; Middle Class- Out of Vogue and Black Flag- Nervous Breakdown. These releases paved the way for the Hardcore Punk style as records were extremely important for the Hardcore Punk scene at the time as it allowed the distribution of music to different cities throughout the US. Shortly after these releases, many either bands either formed or changed their style to a more Hardcore sound. Bands like Fear(1977), the Germs(1977), and the Circle Jerks(1979) all came into form around this time and went on to shape the sound of Hardcore Punk. Other bands formed in Los Angles at a later date include Bad Religion, Suicidal Tendencies, the Adolescents and Wasted Youth.

San Francisco had a comparatively smaller scene to Los Angles, though there were some majorly

The Dead Kennedys Performing in 1983

influential bands located there. The main band in the San Francisco scene was the Dead Kennedys, who had taken heavy influence from Black Flag when they formed 1978. Originally they played classic punk, but progressed to a much faster and aggressive style of playing in 1981 with their release of the In God We Trust, Inc EP. Some other notable bands that were from the San Francisco area were Crucifix and Whipping Boy. Other bands also moved to the San Francisco area to be part of the scene, such as D.R.I, Millions of Dead Cops and Verbal Abuse.

Bad Brains Performing in 1982

In Washington D.C there were two main influential bands. The first band, Bad Brains, formed in 1977  as a Jazz band but later developed the faster and rougher sound of hardcore punk, whilst still adding
elements of jazz and reggae into their music. Their music is very unique in the genre by incorporating many other genres as well as more complex rhythms and riffs. The other influential band from DC area was Minor Threat, who themselves were influences by Bad Brains. Formed in 1980, Minor Threat

Minor Threat Performing in 1983

were one of the last bands to define the hardcore punk sound, creating a standard for later hardcore punk recordings to come. Whilst similar to other hardcore punk recordings for the time, Minor Threat sped up the sound and created even faster music, as well being one of the first bands to utilise shouted vocals rather than singing. Minor Threat also started the 'straight-edge' movement in punk, promoting sobriety and critical thinking as opposed to the common drinking and substance abuse that occurred in the punk scene. Other bands to adopt the straight-edge policy were 7 Seconds and SS Decontrol.

Some of the most influential records in hardcore were Bad Brains- Bad Brains, Minor Threat- Minor Threat, Black Flag- Damaged, Dead Kennedys- Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, Germs- (GI), and Middle Class- Out of Vogue.

The Guardian. 2018. From Bad Brains to Cerebral Ballzy: why hardcore will never die | Music | The Guardian. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/20/hardcore-music-hard-fast-us-punk-rock. [Accessed 01 May 2018].

YouTube. 2018. American Hardcore | The History of American Punk Rock - Full Documentary [2006] - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjpMD-U-q1U. [Accessed 01 May 2018].

ThoughtCo. 2018. Hardcore Punk: Defining Musical Genres. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/hardcore-punk-music-2803394. [Accessed 01 May 2018].

Hardcore Punk Draft

Hardcore Punk Draft

This is the first draft for my hardcore punk track after I added bass guitar on top of the previous guitar and drum track. The only change to other parts of the track is that the intro was extended an extra 4 bars in order to incorporate the bass into the intro while keeping it so each instrument has a staggered introduction.



The bass in the track follows the guitars for almost all of the song to give the entire track a thick, driving guitar tone. This is extremely common in hardcore punk; it is a technique used almost exclusively by bass players in hardcore punk.

The only time the bass guitar does not follow the guitars is during the intro, in which it comes in after the 4th bar and emulates the drum pattern, creating a more intense intro, allowing for a smoother transition between the intro and first verse.

In terms of the mix, I gave the track a very light mix as most hardcore punk records used very basic equipment such as 8-track tape recorders and never had the capabilities to fully mix a track so tracks tended to sound like they were recorded live. This is sound I was aiming to achieve, though it proved to be difficult when using the in-built amp sims and programmed drums. I ended up mixing the track slightly to give it more clarity between the instruments, giving each instrument more definition, allowing for guitar riffs and bass lines to be more distinctive.

The first step I took was to balance the track so that the guitars were at the forefront of the track, as is common in hardcore punk music, I then balanced the track so that bass guitar was louder than the drum track as a prominent bass is common in hardcore punk. I then mixed the drums so they were the quietest part of the mix whilst still being clearly audible in order to keep the rhythm of the track.

I then panned the guitars right and left in order to get the guitars to blend together and create a stronger, more abrasive guitar tone. I left the other elements of the track in mono in order to create a strong sense of rhythm in the track between the bass and drums.

The guitars and drums were also compressed slightly to allow for more clarity in the playing, though I did not compress them too much as this would take away from the dirty feel of the track which is common in hardcore punk.

I also used a slight amount of E.Q. on each instrument in order to stop the instrumentation melding into each other, for example the kick drum and bass guitar. Doing this gives the instruments more definition and allows for everything in the track to be audible.

Punk Guitar Track

Punk Guitar Track

The guitar section of this track consists of two guitar tracks recorded through Logic's amp simplifiers, utilising two different virtual amps in order to get a mix of guitar tones, creating a strong and powerful guitar track.


The guitar comes in after the 4th bar of the intro, playing a short lead melody over the drums, as is common in hardcore punk music. This short melody then transitions into the first verse riff, which is uses 4 simple power chords repeatedly strum. This very simplistic and power chord-based style of riffing is extremely common in hardcore punk songs as many of the musicians did not have very much experience with their instruments.

This verse then switches into the chorus, which is another simplistic power chord riff, however the strumming rhythm and chords used themselves are completely different to the first verse. The chorus in the track is very short at 6 bars long, this is due to hardcore punk typically being short, with vocals consisting of a couple of sentences. The track then goes back into the verse, before going into the back into the chorus.

The track then transfers into the bridge of the track, consisting of two power chords, an open E power chord and a F# power chord, in slower-sounding and heavier riff in order to break up the repetitiveness of the track.

The track then goes back into the chorus, before going into the outro, in which there is now a tempo change to 160bpm in order to incorporate a slower, groovier riff as the track approaches the end. The outro riff still consists of power chords, though it also uses fret hand muting in order to give the track a different rhythm to the rest of the track.

Changes to the drum track

I have also made some changes to the drum track I created earlier in order to fit better with the guitar. One of the main changes I made was switching the type of drums in order to mix each individual piece of the kit to allow for better mixing of the drumming. I also increased the length of the intro by four bars, increased the length of the verse by two bars, and shortened the chorus by two bars.

Hardcore Punk Drum Track

Hardcore Punk Drum Track

On May 8th I programmed the drum track for my hardcore punk track, making me ahead of my FMP plan. I will use this extra time to record guitar and bass earlier, allowing me to use the studio at an earlier date. This drum track was created using Logic and will  later be recorded in the recording studio in order to give the track a genuine and less clean feel to it. The track is played in 4/4 as this is what every hardcore punk band played. The track has a BPM of 180 in as almost all hardcore punk bands would use a high tempo.
The track starts with with an 8 bar intro that utilises a rolling 16th note snare roll which is followed by two hits of the kick, snare, and low tom, which is then followed by a subsequent hit that transitions the beat back to the beginning. I chose to use this beat for the beginning of the slow as it provides a slow introduction into the track, which is common in punk music. I chose to use snare rolls as I felt that this would emulate the sound of marching drum snares used in the military, linking the music to a political theme, much in the same way a lot of hardcore punk bands would theme their music. In order to achieve the rhythm of the drums I wanted, I slowed the tempo down to 120bpm for the intro, before it transitions up to 180bpm. This allows me to achieve the marching rhythm I wanted, whilst also making the verse sound more intense when it starts up.

The beat in the track then changes from the intro to the first verse of the track. The beat used for the verse section of the song is an extremely common drum pattern used in hardcore punk, using an alternating kick and snare drum pattern, with an extra beat from the kick drum on the off beat of every 3rd beat in the measure.

The beat then changes again as the track transitions from the verse to the chorus. This drum pattern is the most intense and frenzied drum beat in the track, allowing for the chorus to be the most aggressive and abrasive sounding when the track is complete. The beat consists of an 8th note kick pattern with a quarter-note open hi-hat pattern, as well as quarter note floor toms with an extra hit after the first hit. On the 4th beat of every bar the pattern changes slightly and the floor tom and hi-hat are hit on the off-beat of the 4th beat.

The verse and chorus then repeat before transitioning to the bridge in the song. The drumbeat used for the bridge is known as D-beat and is extremely common in punk music after being popularised by bands such as Discharge and the Varukers. The beat itself uses a kick, snare and crash cymbal with the kick and crash cymbal played in unison. The kick and crash cymbal play on the first and third beat of every measure, between the offbeat of 1 and the start of beat 2, as well as between the offbeat of 3 and and the start of beat 4, and finally between beat two and its' offbeat, and 4 and its' offbeat. The snare is played on the offbeat of every beat.

This then transitions back to the chorus, which then goes into the next verse and then back into the chorus, before going to one short measure, which utilises snare rolls in much a similar way to the start, linking it back to the beginning. The tempo changes back down to 120bpm just for this bar in order to achieve the same feel rhythm the drums had at the start of the track.

There also some very fast drum fills played on the toms and snare at the end of each part of the track to tie the track together as a whole. The drum track may change as I add guitar and bass to track and may find better ways to incorporate the drums with the guitar and bass.