GCSE Music
Unit No 9
Moby
‘Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad’
From Play
Name:
Form:
Classroom: B43
Teacher: Mr Gibbs
Haslingden High School Music Department
GCSE Music Unit 9
LO – to understand the history of club dance electronic music.
Club dance music became popular in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Dance music has many different
genres and sub-genres, each of which has its own set of influences and characteristics.
List below as many different genres of dance music as you can.
Electronic music is any music that uses electrical devices or instruments to produce and alter
the sounds used in the music.
The tracks on Play were written and played by Moby and then recorded and mixed using a
sequencer at his home studio. The equipment Moby used includes synthesisers, a sampler and
drum machine (Roland TR909).
1. What is a synthesiser?
2. What is a sampler?
3. What is a sequencer?
Haslingden High School Music Department
GCSE Music Unit 9
4. What does MIDI stand for and what is it?
5. How are loops used in electronic music?
6. What is a sample?
You can use a virtual recording studio on your computer to alter and manipulate your samples.
Logic Pro, Cubase and Pro-Tools are programs that are widely used.
List some of the main ways that samples can be altered.
Haslingden High School Music Department
GCSE Music Unit 9
LO – To understand the characteristics of the set work ‘Why Does My
Heart Feel So Bad’
Listening Activity
1. What is the time signature used in this song?
2
4
3
4
4
4
5
4
108
128
2. What two keys are used throughout this song?
3. What does BPM mean?
4. What is the BPM of this song?
68
98
5. This piece has a very simple structure based around two-chord sequences arranged in 8
bar blocks. Complete the chord sequences below.
Chord sequence 1
Bar 1
Am
2
3
4
Em
5
Gm
6
7
8
D
3
Am
4
5
6
C
7
Am
8
Chord sequence 2
Bar 1
2
C
6. Moby uses two different vocal samples from a recording of a gospel choir taken in 1953.
a) This is the first, it is used in the verse – try to play it on the keyboard
Haslingden High School Music Department
GCSE Music Unit 9
b) The second is a two bar sample used in the chorus – try to work out the notes and write it
on the stave below.
7. Describe the different sections by completing the table below.
Theme
A1
Description
A2
A3
A4
A5
B1
B1
A6
A7
B2
B2
B2
A8
Haslingden High School Music Department
GCSE Music Unit 9
Composing Activity
A) Follow the steps below to create a dance track using the apple mac computers.
1. Start by programming a drum loop or importing one from a sample library
2. Create or use a simple hook line. This may be a simple vocal, keyboard or bass riff
3. Write a chord sequence
4. Build up the texture in the same way as the set work
5. Experiment with different effects like reverb, delay and pan to enhance your track
B) Follow the steps below to create a DJ megamix
1. Listen to the songs from a recent chart music compilation. Write down the approximate
tempo for each track
2. Decide on the key of each track. Use the keyboard to do this
3. Select five tracks that are similar in tempo to mix together
4. Listen to the tracks and decide on the points where you could fade in or out
5. Use the computer to cut the sections of the songs and paste them onto a new track
6. Line up the tracks so the pulse is the same for each song
7. Use the appropriate techniques to fade/ cross fade the tracks
8. Add anything else to your track: samples, MCing, loops etc
Haslingden High School Music Department
GCSE Music Unit 9
Keywords
Looping
Reverb
Sampler
Sequencer
Synthesiser
Chord
Verse
Chorus
Delay
Panning
Distortion
Echo
MIDI
Haslingden High School Music Department
Computer
EQ
Phaser
Studio
Cutting
GCSE Music Unit 9