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6
Chapter
At this point, we'd like to focus your attention on the
key at the top of the screen. Currently, it is not set
to a value, so "-" is displayed. You can think of the
key as the "Characteristic pitch of the song" or "The
main note in the melody". Even if you leave the key set
to no value, you can still make a song. But, the parts
contained in the loops have been played in different
keys. If you do not consolidate to a certain key, you will
end up making a strange song with instruments played
in different keys. For the moment, set the key to "A".
• Searching for a drum loop
When making a song, it's easiest to first decide on
the rhythm, that is, the drum part. To search for a drum
loop, click the icon in the lower left of the screen
("MediaBay Page") to open the "MediaBay" page. This
page is used to search for loops.
A variety of instruments, such as Accordion, Bass, and
Brass, are listed under the "Category" heading. First,
we want to search for drums, so click "Drum&Perc"
(drums and percussion). Next, select the type of part
or tone that you want from those listed under the "Sub
Category" heading to the right of the Category list. For
this example, let's select "Beats".
This will narrow down the list of drum loops that
are displayed on the right side of the screen to only
performances of patterns. Try clicking one of the
entries. The selected drum pattern is played back. By
clicking on different names of loops and playing them
back, you can search for the drum loop that you want
to use.
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Drag "Rush" to the position labeled as "1". "1" is the first measure. This means that it is the start
of the song.
Just like when you were working with the demo project, the track is created, and the loop's
waveform is displayed.
That's all it takes to create the drum track. Easy, isn't
it!?
• Now let's make the bass track
Now that the drum track is complete, let's make the bass track. Let's choose this from the list
of loops as well. Under "Category", select "Bass", and under "Sub Category", select "E.Bass".
"E.Bass" is short for electric bass. From the list of
loops, choose "Funk City". Drag this loop to the first
measure, under the drum track.
Play back your song, and give it a listen! The bass is
played together with the drums. See? It didn't take
long at all to make something cool!
• Let's toss some piano in there
I'm sure that you know what to do by now. Next is the
piano. Let's use some E.Piano (electric piano) for this
one. Under "Category", select "Keyboard", and under
"Sub Category", select "E.Piano". From the list of
loops, choose "Acid Jazz City". Drag this loop to the
first measure, under the bass track.
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