Eastern Drone

A Drone-Inspired Arabic Fusion

Composition Background

I wanted to concentrate on some of the "drone" elements of Arabic music and fuse them with an electronic beat.

This is my first composition of this exercise where I am incorporating "live" Arabic instruments, namely the Saz Baglama

and it was recorded a few days after my Saz arrived. It incorporates both Saz strum and solo sections.

The composition is backed by a breakbeat rhythm and a percussion-heavy rhythm loop.

Composition Structure

I try and vary my compositions, rarely staying with a set formula for the arrangement. This composition

consists of the following sections :-

Composition Development

I had already composed a melody, which I had played on a MIDI instrument, so when my Saz arrived, it was a matter of

replacing the MIDI parts with real instruments.

The drum and percussion parts consist of a breakbeat drum loop, together with a percussion loop and

some additional Arabic percussion in the breakdown sections.

The bass parts consist of a fuzzy bass synth and some bass mallet arpeggio sections.

The Saz was played live for both melody, which was doubled, with one track being lowered an octave

and some Saz strums.

I used the Halion 7 spectral synthesizer to provide an atmospheric backdrop and paired that with an apreggio pad.

The melody was then underpinned by a Mejwiz virtual instrument using "Eastern One".

The breakdown keys consist of a simple melody played using a simple saw wave synth pattern.

Finally, I added a Saz sample at the beginning and the end.

Reflection

My first composition incorporating live Saz playing, so this required a fair bit of practice before I attempted to

record my first Saz take.

I had to carefully balance the orchestration so it enhanced the drone effect, plus the addition of arpeggio

elements added to the musical diversity.

An Arabian Adventure