Spring 2011 Final!!

Here's my Application Section of My LAST final at Metro!!

How To: Make a Lex Luger Snare Roll on FL Studios

Super Producer, Lex Luger

Here's my tutorial on how to replicate the famous snare roll heard in many rap songs, especially those produced by Lex Luger. He produced hits such as "Blowin' Money Fast" by Rick Ross and "H.A.M." by Kanye West ft Jay Z. Luckily for you and myself included, Lex Luger uses FL Studios which is an easily accessible, yet high quality program. Just follow these steps and in 10 minutes or less you will have one of the key pillars to not only a Lex Luger track but most Hip Hop hits!

This tutorial can be applied to ALL versions of FL Studios however I am using FL Studios 9 XXL Producer Edition.

Click Play and Enjoy! 
Feel free to zoom in on anything hard to read by clicking on it or moving the wheel on your mouse! 

tutorial on Prezi

Head over to my previous post entitled "Thesis Project Final Product" to hear this snare roll in action!

Thesis Project: Final Product!

I now present to you my latest creations... "Flexin' On 'Em" and "War"

Masters Research Notes

Master Artist:

Lexus Lewis (producer name) Lex Luger

Decade Most Influential:

Last decade - present

Three World Events: 

1. The election of the first African American president in the US: Barack Obama.
2. The death of Michael Jackson
3. Massive Tsunami in the Indian Ocean, causing devastation to many countries in Asia. 

Artist's Well-Known Works:

"Blowin' Money Fast" by Rick Ross
"O Lets Do It" by Waka Flocka Flame

His Creative Process:

Starting with a strong base line composed of multiple kicks at different velocities and a louder than usual 808 drum. Then adding in a variety of synths, VST's, and orchestra instruments with a signature "octave drop" after the first 4 bars. Finally, two to three different snare rolls that repeat every 6 bars. The beats force the rapper to be extremely creative because many of Lex Luger's songs sound similar so, it's the rapper's responsibility to push the track to a platinum selling level; to create a sense of uniqueness and originality to refresh listeners' ears. 


Equipment:

Fl Studios
MPC 2000 drum machine

How He is Innovative:

Lex Luger brings a new sound to your average rap song. He samples unusual sounds like circus themes and horror film soundtracks to create an uneasy yet purposeful clash between the instruments and the crisp snare filled skeleton of every track. He is the only producer who uses multiple snares and snare rolls at an obvious volume in order to fill in the time normally marked by a hi-hat. Also, his beats force rappers to guide the song instead of the instrumentation influencing the creative process of the beat. It does so by being simple and somewhat repetitive, that way in order to keep listeners' attention, the rapper must do something creative and/or spontaneous.

Senior Thesis Product Proposal

This is my proposal for my Thesis Project:

Essential Question:

Can a musical piece and/or style be recreated yet still reflect the originality of the artist?

Medium:
Audio
Software I will Use:
FL Studios, Garageband, and Mixcraft
Final Product:
1-2 original songs created with inspiration from top producers in the Hip Hop/Rap genre.

My Creative Process:

1. Choose 1-3 songs and listen to them to gain ideas.

2. Identify the common style based on the producer(s).

3. Create an outline of the style using similar instruments in FL Studios.

4.Personalize the song with my own style and method of creating an instrumental, making it more original.

5.Mix down in FL Studios.

6.Partially Master in Mixcraft.

7.Equalize and Master in Garageband.

8. Post to Blog (in video form).

*Do Tutorial.

Typeface Presentation

Here's the link to my Typeface Presentation on Courier!

https://docs.google.com/a/es-metro.org/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B9KIt64ySSYmMDgzYTdiZTktYjMxMi00MzBiLTkzNTctYzRkMTIyODJiYTAy&hl=en

Random Photoshop! #1

Since I use Photoshop a lot in my spare time, I'm going to post some of the images I create! Here's one of many. This one is inspired by photographer Andrzej Dragan. In all of his images, the subject is very sharp and emphasized. This was my first attempt at the "Dragan Effect" so, it's not completely perfect!

The first picture is one of his photographs and the second is my own creation.

Enjoy!

 This is the original image:

Narrative Project!

This was a collaborative effort with narration, commentary, interview, score and all!

Enjoy.

 

My Breakbeat Project!