Origin
RnB stands for rhythm and Blues. In the 1980s RnB started to be more influenced by hip hop.
STRUCTURE
This music uses a verse chorus structure. Sometimes R n B music is strophic. This means that the same sections are repeated. You sometimes get long intros and solos in R n B music.
Here is an example of the structure – This is a strophic Rnb song by Whitney Houston
RHYTHM
The drum beats in RnB are normally quite simple. The rhythm is a drum groove which is on a constant loop. There will be the occasional drum fill to add colour to the music. Technological developments have made it possible for artists to use loops as starters for a piece of music as they are pre-recorded to be used.
Melody
The Melody is mainly made up of high pitch instruments. The vocal is the melody in lots of RnB songs. Sometimes there is a piano that is mixed with the high pitch instruments. Technology advancements have made it possible for the melody to have electronic sounds that can be included.
Harmony
The harmony normally has major and minor chords. The chords make the music feel happy or sad. Lots of rnb is quite slow and can sound happy or sad. The most popular chord progression is the 2-5-1
Instrumentation
In Rnb they use:
Piano, keyboards, synths, bass, drums, vocals, strings, bell sounds, interesting effects. I used a tremolo in my piece to add an effect.
Where i got my information from
Wikipedia, the internet – these are the sites i looked at.
https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-randb-music-2851217
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_R%26B
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-defining-characteristics-of-R-B-music
My Piece
Step 1: I open a new blank document and set the BPM to 100.
Step 2: I added a new track. A Ghost piano I chose this because they have a built in reverb effect which is used a lot in RnB.
Step 3: After adding chords for a starting point I added some Drum Machines. I also made some MIDI with these.
I decided i didn’t like the way it started so i staggered it
Here is the final piece in terms of layout.
Step 4: Now I added a track that is rarely used in RnB but can be present. Its a Finger-style just boost that bass sound which is common in RnB music.
Step 5: Finally I added a drum kit just for a symball to make it sound unique which I like to add into my music.
This is my piece.
I realised my piece was too long for the brief so i cut it down
I re-bounced it
Review
Strengths of my piece- I have a constant melody and the timing in when other instruments join the piece. My drum machines work really well with it. My piece meets the brief because it has lots of instruments and it lasts between 2 and 3 minutes.
My piece sounds like rnb and i am happy with the structure of it. The structure is basic – i could have added another section. I think the bass and drums dont really sound like rnb. I think i could of added more of a melody or i could have got someone to sing over the song.
I used the technology to help make the piece. I added lots of interesting drums and i did this using quantise. When listening again some of the drums are out of time and the hi-hat is too busy.
If i could improve it i would definitely add more of a melody. also i think it needs another section because it is pretty repetitive.
Sources Of Information
Youtube
Wikipedia