So I have decided to do a piece on Lo-Fi Afrobeat because it is a unique genre of music
Lo-Fi music is a mellow type of music which started to become popular during the 1990’s
Lo-Fi was intentionally shortened from the term low fidelity.
The main reason Lo-Fi music started to become recognised as a style of popular music when it became alternately referred to as DIY music.
The amount of ‘Bedroom’ musicians expanded following the rise of the D.A.W ( Digital audio Workstation ). In the late 2000’s Lo-fi served as the basis of the chill wave and fused with popular music genres like hip hop and jazz.
Structure
The structure of this music is very basic there is a little bit of development but there is a lot of reoccurring ideas and it doesn’t really move at all. It repeats lots and ideas come in and out of the mix.
Melody
Melodies in lofi music are repetitive. They use counter melodies. They also sample other peoples pre-recorded audio for their melodies.
Harmony
In lofi music they use a variety of chords. They use major and minor chords. They also use extension chords in lofi hip hop and in lofi jazz music. They also use seventh chords as well. This is shown in the video.
Instruments
They use lots of different instruments in Lofi music. Depending on lofi jazz or hip hop or chill. They use lots of synths, strings, samples, effects like chorus, EQ to create interesting sounds. They use filters and compressors and lots of effects to create the sounds.
Rhythm
They use drums in lofi music. The patterns change depending on the style of lofi. The speeds are generally slow because that suits lofi music. it is generally chilled.
Music Technology Developments
Music tech is used to make lofi music. DAW’s are used and lots of effects are used. Vinyl scratch sounds and sampled sounds are used. To get these you need a sampler. A DAW can do this for you. Fruity loops is a great DAW to use.
Sources of information
Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lofi+afrobeats
Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lo-fi_music
https://music.avclub.com/5-new-music-releases-we-love-whispery-lo-fi-gender-tr-1835521933
My lofi piece
I used many different melodies to make it interesting instead of plain and purely just repeating throughout the whole sound i added some more effects to the sound that were repeated to and just to give it that extra effect i used a couple countermelodies to make it sound even more appealing.
I had the kalimba in harmony with the arpeggio bells and the roll deep marimba
This is the genre of the piece of music
first off i decided to start with an beat that gave the afrobeat kick to the song
then i used the last episode bells to add a fidelity sound to it
here i have used some marimba to give the cultural addition to it as i use the roll deep marimba
i added the nightclub marimba because i thought it was a good addition when the roll deep marimba wasn’t playing
i have added some bells the bells are to transition into a new part of the song then to become part of it
i have used the kalimba to add a counter melody on the roll deep marimba
the last instrument i added was the warm sun flute to give it that lo-fi feeling
I decided that the piece was too fast so i slowed it down.
It needed more midi so i added a synth and a classic electric electric piano.
this is the layout of the whole piece of music
and this is the final piece and what it sounds like
I think that my piece is lo-fi because it has a chilled groove and the instruments that i have used are soft and melodic. Which can also be turned out to be low frequency music.
I also think that my piece is lofi afrobeat due to way it moves groove wise and the way it can vibe yet be soothing to ear at the same time the main attribute to it being an afrobeat piece is that the drum beat moves in its own fashion and grooves.
I think it is pretty good. It has met the brief because it is the right length although its slightly too long.
In terms of improvements i think i had too much audio and not enough midi. I could have experimented with more midi sounds.
Overall, it is ok i think. If i had more time i would have played with the effects because they do this a lot in lofi music.