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].