The Sonic Storytelling of Song ‘Virgin or Whore’
Divine Affliction: Perception Through A Feminine Lens Part 9
Divine Affliction: Perception Through a Feminine Lens Blog Series presents an expansive view behind the music production of album Divine Affliction. An expression of the feminine aesthetics in music. A sonic portrayal of the duality of divinity and affliction, a journey through the female experience. The album is a shorter album consisting of seven songs and would be defined as experimental electronica with raw, introspective, brooding, emotive music. This album presents an aural representation of the female processes and application to music production. The musical compositions are inspired by my own experience of the intersectionality of gender and music production along with the preliminary research uncovered in the 1st four theoretical blogs of this series. This blog dissects my creative process, with visceral accounts on the sonic storytelling of song — ‘Virgin or Whore’, narrating my music-making process. By highlighting how I implement the song concepts into the musical composition, audio processing, and lyrics, you observe the creative experience through the lens of a female producer.
‘Virgin or Whore’ Sonic Storytale
The Song Concept
A representation of the duality of divine and affliction can be seen in the duality of virgin and whore…represented in the above image. The song ‘Virgin or Whore’ expresses the afflictions I have with the intersection of gender and music production and the misrepresentation of females in music media. Media representations of women in music are coded with token identities. A diva, a dancer, a girl next door, a dainty songstress (Saxelby, 2014). These identities are an inauthentic representation of the female gender. Other representations deem women as either the virgin or the whore. Stuck with outdated archetypes demonstrated by the church, with the pillaring of the Virgin Mary and the condemning of Mary Magdalene, the whore. Or Eve, who in both form and symbol, represents woman, along with the prevalent belief that all women are by nature; disobedient, weak-willed, naive, prone to temptation or evil, disloyal, deceitful, and seductive (Whitley. 2003, p, 88). These outdated representations are due to the church’s fear of feminine sexuality. These patriarchal ideologies bread into media and penetrate the beliefs of society. A portrayal of the representation of females and sinful sexuality is illustrated in the image below of ‘The Cursed Woman’.
Snakes and the feminine have been connected due to sin and sexuality, and have been used in the promotional images portraying the song ‘Virgin or Whore’. “Medusa, Cleopatra, Lamia, and Salammbo have all been brought into association through a perverse communion with snakes. As a personification of sin, there is the possibility for a range of depictions and descriptions, from the subtly symbolic to the overtly pornographic. Arguably, all relegate woman’s personal identity to her sexuality” (Whitley. 2003, p, 88). I wanted to express deep feminine sexuality in this song as empowerment from these outdated archetypes of virgin or whore and deliver the reality women face with these representations. Following is how I depicted this concept into musical form.
The Musical Composition and Audio Production
The musical compositions and production of the album Divine Affliction are done in my home studio with; Logic Pro X Digital Audio Workstation; UAD Apollo Duo Audio Interface; Native Instruments Komplete Package and Serum digital musical instruments and synths; along with my host of third-party plug-ins including suites from Universal Audio, Fab Filter and Valhalla. I compose the lyrics and sing the vocals, though collaborate with my creative community to record other vocalists, this is known as a session vocalist. I use the method of completing the sound design on instruments as I’m composing the song, which is like semi-mixing and helps in the final stage of the mixdown. This blog is written to follow this same process that I use in my creative practice. I started this composition with the drums and sound FX, then led into the bass lines and melodies. Unlike the previous videos in the blogs where I show each instrument section in solo, in this blog I’m going to show how it progresses with each layer of instruments added, to understand how the song composition is built.
The song, ‘Virgin or Whore’ is a down-tempo song with a 4/4 tempo at 95BPM. I composed it in the key of Eminor, choosing a minor key as theories on aesthetics in music correspond the feminine with minor scales. Stoltzfus explains that “musical expression can provide orientation for the entirety of the inner life” including the characteristics of gender, heard in the metaphors of the masculine and feminine in the major and minor keys (Stoltzfus, 2006, p. 81). This was explained further in earlier blog https://medium.com/orthentix/the-sonic-storytale-of-song-the-phenomenological-ecriture-of-motherhood-5768d9e10346 Hobbs describes in blog Musical key characteristics & emotions that the key of Eminor as “Effeminate, amorous, and restless” (Hobbs, 2018).
“A key that can carry grief, mournfulness, restlessness. Like a princess locked in a tower longing for her rescuer and future lover” (Hobbs, 2018).
This grief and mournful restlessness felt in the affect of this key is a prime representation of these same emotions I feel with the representations of the female as either a virgin or a whore. The effeminate characteristic of the key will aid in representing that this is form the female perspective, her story. This song was written in a pentatonic scale to depict an ancient exotic feel to the song and feminine aesthetic in the music. This is using a feminine modality of music production, with the approach to producing Asian inspired melodies that are different from western melodies. Macarthur analyses Anne Boyd’s use of Asian melodies in the work ‘Cycle of Love’. She explains that oriental prose and music are different, seen as feminine, compared to western music and prose, which is designated as masculine. “The East is positioned as other to the West, which is, arguably, to designate femaleness or femininity” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 119). The E MINOR Pentatonic scale uses the 5 notes of E — G — A — B — D depicted in the following image on the keys of a piano.
The Arrangement
The simple cyclic arrangement of this song with the intro — breakdown — instrumental — chorus — breakdown — chorus — build — chorus — outro was used to represent the cyclic nature of feminine sexuality. “The continuity and openness of feminine writing also reflect women’s sexual experiences [as] indefinite, cyclic, without set beginnings and endings”(Macarthur, 2002, p. 113). This song uses the compositional traits of counterpoint, call and response, and tension and release, to represent the duality of the virgin and the whore, and the restlessness I feel with these outdated representations.
Unlike my previous songs staggard introduction, the intro of this song starts with a simple bass instrument and an audio sample I recorded in the car. The audio sample portrays a mother in the car stopped at a traffic light while driving the child to school. The child asks “Mum why does the media comment on female rappers and muso’s as either the good girl or a skank?” The mother ponders with a “hmmm.” The song then leads in and out of the mother’s thoughts like a daydream building with the intense dynamics of the main synth, drums, pads, and bass, building tension to express anger to this representation of women. This intro leads into a breakdown section, where the song has fully entered the mother’s thoughts and daydream. This section depicts the whore and introduces different drums, piano melodies along with more basslines, pad harmonies, piano motif and a sound FX building in tension into the release of the instrumental build. This section depicts the virgin with beautiful piano melodies with a chord, rhythm, and lead line, and violin and cello harmonies. This finalizes with a lasting note and sound FX building in tension into the release of the chorus/drop section. The 8 bar chorus expresses the duality of the virgin and the whore with the same melody repeated from the instrumental build and with the main synth and drums from the intro. This section is dynamic, as is the female and comes in with the full instrumentation. This includes; full drums, percussion, sound FX, multiple basslines for texture and depth, the main synth, piano melodies, and a melodic synth line. The song then leads into the breakdown section again. The chorus/drop sections and breakdown sections have different rhythms and melodies to depict the duality of virgin and whore, though they are of the same instrumentation and key as both virgin and whore are both of the same, the feminine. This section again depicts the whore and introduces different drums, piano melodies along with basslines and pad harmonies, piano motifs and a synth harmony with a sound FX leading into an 8 bar chorus/drop section. Though this chorus has all the previous chorus/drop instrumentation, without the main synth line. It’s a melodic chorus. I then have a brief breath of reverb swirls with a synth sound FX leading into a 16 bar chorus/drop section. This final chorus/drop section has the main synth again along with full instrumentation and added harmony instruments. With a marimba and pizzicato violins to build up into the outro and add variation. The instruments in this chorus/drop overstep the final bar subtly into the outro section, to give a feminine ending. Musicologist McLary references Apel’s definition of feminine endings “that refuses the hegemonic control of the bar line” (McLary, 1991, p. 11). The outro section then leads into just the simple drone bassline and audio sample from the car hearing the indicator, and the car driving off as the light turns green. The outro drops out of the mum’s thoughts and back into reality as if she was in deep contemplation of the child’s question. When the light turned green she had come up with a conclusion, as in the daydream was a response to the child’s question.
Here is an instrumental version of the song ‘Virgin or Whore’ for an aural representation of the discussed arrangement.
Here is an image of the arrangement from the Logic Pro X project ‘Virgin or Whore’. Notice the build and dynamics of the instruments in the song as it progresses from start to end, along with the indefinite cycles of the breakdown — build — chorus — breakdown — chorus — build — chorus.
Drums
The drum samples used were Trap and Hip-hop drum samples and processed to sound similar to the Dubstep genre. The drums were written with a 4/4 tempo at 95BPM. The drums were created with a layer of samples to create a particular sound. The kick and a cymbal were the main two drums in the pattern. The kick had a shorted hip-hop kick layered with a booming bassier kick. In the intro and chorus/drops an 808 kick was layered over the regular kicks for a melody to give more texture to the drums and make them bigger and dynamic. There were other layers of percussion in the drums including a tom, trap snares, delayed rims, gun clicks, hi-hats, a crash, and big snares. The breakdown and chorus/drop section had the same drum sounds but arranged into different patterns to distinguish the two different parts. Though the background percussion in the second breakdown carries through into the second chorus/drop for intertextuality, connecting these two parts. Following is an image of drum arrangement in Logic X, for a visual representation of this discussion.
The drums are processed with equilisation, compression, and pitch-shifted to be tuned with the key of the song, with reverb processing on some of the drums. The reverb gives air and space to the drums and adds to the intense dynamic feel. Most of the drums were sent to a drum group for further parallel compression. This was not including the 808 kicks, hi-hats, bells or cymbals. To do parallel compression, the drums are sent to a stereo bus as a group. This stereo bus is processed with compression, equilisation, and saturation and then mixed in with the dry drums. The drums were all mono samples and panned to the center, except the high-hats which are stereo and panned left and right. Following is an image of drum processing in the mix view in Logic X, for a visual representation of this discussion.
Percussive Sound FX
The FX were simple and used to add accents or build tension at ends of sections or to bring in sections with tension, and release once the section has started. The sound FX used was an eerie wine glass sound and record player static for an underlying static atmosphere in the intro and breakdown sections, these were left dry (without processing). In the previous song ‘Divine Affliction’ I recorded a wine glass with water and slid my finger to make a sound, using my Zoom H4n microphone. I incorporated this into ‘Heartcore’ and this song for intertextuality, which aids in tying these songs together, so they relate to each other when listening to the album. There was also a metal scraping sound and a reverse crash, which were processed with EQ and reverb. The FX were all stereo samples and panned to the center. Following is an image of sound FX highlighted white in the arrange view in Logic X, for a visual representation of this discussion.
Following is a video of the drums and FX of the song ‘Virgin or Whore’ for a sonic representation of the above explanation. With footage and audio of the intro — breakdown — build — chorus/drop sections.
Bass
The chord progression of this song is E — G — E — E GA over eight bars in the breakdown section. In the chorus/drop section the chord progression is E — G — E — E DB also over eight bars. The bass instruments play singular notes in the chord. There are five different basslines playing throughout different sections of the song to give texture to the bass section. The intro has the Blow Bass which is the main bass of the song and Serum SY Many Feels bass. The Blown Bass is a warm soft bass and is played throughout the whole song, even though the instrumental build where there are no other bass instruments or drums playing. This instrument was created with Native Instruments synthesizer Absynth and plays the slower melody of E — G — E — EGA throughout the breakdown section. In the instrumental build, it plays E — G — E — E DB, the same chord progression as the chorus/drop section of the song. Though in the chorus/drop section the bass plays the faster melody of E — G — B — G — A — D — E — G — B — EBD, and the root note of E throughout the intro, outro and last short build sections. The SY Many Feels bass is a darker sounding bass and picks in rhythm with the drums on the root note of the chord progression with the E note in the 1st bar, the G note in the 2nd bar, back to the E in the 3rd bar and in the fourth bar plays the notes E G A, throughout the breakdown section. Throughout the chorus/drop section, it plays in rhythm with the tom on the notes of the chord progression with the E chord in the 1st bar, the G chord in the 2nd bar, back to the E chord in the 3rd bar and in the fourth bar plays the melody EDB. The Session Bass is a bass guitar sound and plays the same rhythm line as the SY Many Feels bass in the breakdown section. In the chorus/drop section, it plays the same rhythm line as the main piano, with notes of the chord progression; E in the 1st bar, the G in the 2nd bar, back to the E in the 3rd bar and in the fourth bar plays the melody EDB. This Session Bass instrument was made with the Logic native EXS24 sampler. The Sinister Exaggerator was used in the 2nd and 3rd chorus/drop and final short build sections to build intensity at the ending of the song. This played the same rhythm line as the blown bass of E — G — B — G — A — D E — G — B — EB D and was made on Native Instruments Absynth. The Bamboo Bass plays an E — E — G — G — E — E — E — EG A over 8 bars in the breakdown sections, hitting the notes on the first beat of each bar. It is also created with Native Instruments synthesizer Absynth. Following is an image of the bass instruments in the arrange view in Logic X, for a visual representation of this discussion.
The audio processing on the bass instruments as discussed in the following is depicted in the image to the left. The bass instruments were heavily processed with EQ, so the different bass instruments could be heard while all playing together. As these had similar frequencies, without EQ the bass end would sound muddy with possible comb filtering. The Blown, SY Many Feels, and Session basses were all compressed as these were the main bass instruments. The Blown Bass and SYMany Feels bass were further processed with saturation for textured, grit and warmth. The Fab Filter Saturn was used for the saturation with a warm tube emulation. The bass instruments are all panned to the center.
Lead Synth
Th lead synth is made with the Serum LD Ring Scream and BA Complextro 1 instruments with LFO settings, giving an intense Dubstep sound. This plays the melody of E — E — E — E — E E — E — E — E — E — B — D — E, in the intro, 1st and 3rd chorus/drop sections. The E note is played over two different octaves noticeable in the following image of the lead synth MIDI notation.
Following is a video of the drums, FX, bass and lead synth of the song ‘Virgin or Whore’ for a sonic representation of the above explanation. With footage and audio of the intro — breakdown — build — chorus/drop sections.
Melodies
The melodies were made with a lead, rhythm, and chord stab piano instruments, and a marimba and synth accompaniment with the lead and rhythm piano for certain sections. They were written with a cyclic rhythm and melody to keep with the theme of composing from the feminine. “The continuity and openness of feminine writing also reflect women’s sexual experiences [as] indefinite, cyclic, without set beginnings and endings” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 113). The piano melodies have a relationship of counterpoint to each other to bring the feeling of tension to the melody section. Following is a breakdown of the melodies of the song ‘Virgin or Whore’.
Rhythm
The Piano rhythm was made with the Logic native EXS24 sampler and played the rhythm along with the drums hitting singular notes in the chord progression. With the E in the 1st bar, the G in the 2nd bar, back to the E in the 3rd bar and in the fourth bar plays the melody EDB, in the chorus/drop section. In the 1st and 3rd chorus/drop sections this rhythm was duplicated onto two synths as an accompaniment to add more texture and dynamics to these sections. These were made with Serum synth, PL Tinkerbell and PL Totem. In the breakdown section, the rhythm piano played the same rhythm line as the SY Many Feels and Session bass. With the E note in the 1st bar, the G note in the 2nd bar, back to the E in the 3rd bar and in the fourth bar plays the melody EG A throughout the breakdown section, though on a higher octave than the bass instruments. In the breakdown section, this was also duplicated onto the PL Totem synth. There was a second piano instrument playing a slower rhythm, though the same notes with an echo effect to give depth and space to this piano part.
Chords
The Piano chords were made with the Logic native EXS24 sampler and played the chord stabs in the chord progression with the E chord in the 1st bar, the G chord in the 2nd bar, back to the E chord in the 3rd bar and in the fourth bar plays the melody ED B, in the chorus/drop section. In the breakdown section, it played the chords with the E chord in the 1st bar, the G chord in the 2nd bar, back to the E chord in the 3rd bar and in the fourth bar plays the melody EG A throughout the breakdown section, though on a higher octave than the bass instruments.
Lead
The lead Piano melody was made with the Logic native EXS24 sampler and played the melody of G — D — E — G — D — E — G — D — E — G — D — G — E only in the middle of the chorus/drop and instrumental build sections, ending these section with the melody EDB. These quicker ending notes of the melodies of each section add tension building into the release of the following section. This was duplicated on a Marimba accompaniment throughout the 1st and 3rd chorus/drop section which played the melody throughout the entire section. The Marimba accompaniment was made with the Logic native synth Sculpture.
The MIDI notation of the melody instruments discussed is depicted in the following image.
The processing of the melody parts is depicted in the image to the left. The piano’s were processed with a bandwidth EQ so they didn’t interfere with the bass instruments or the higher frequency instruments in the mix. As the piano has a large frequency band, it can tend to make the mix cloudy without this bandwidth EQ processing. The piano’s also had short piano reflection reverb to aid in giving it the hammer sound and depth needed to depict this. The chords and rhythm piano were further processed with compression so they cut through in the mix, as the piano was the main motive or hook throughout the song. The marimba and synth melody accompaniments were processed with EQ to fit them into the mix. Equilisation is used to separate all the instruments for clarity in the mix. The melodic instruments were further time based processed with bus processing with a short reverb, a longer reverb, and a delay. The delay was used to widen the piano chords and rhythm slightly, and the reverb was used for space and depth. The delay was sent back into the short reverb for extra sweetening. The melodies were all stereo instruments with the rhythm panned center, the chords slightly left and the lead slightly right, to depict them being played on the same piano as if one played a lower part and the other the higher section. This time-based bus processing is depicted in the following image.
Following is a video of the drums, FX, bass, lead synth and melodies of the song ‘Virgin or Whore’ for a sonic representation of the above explanation. With footage and audio of the intro — breakdown — build — chorus/drop sections.
Harmonies
The harmonies of the song were created with Pads, Cellos, Violins, and marimbas. These give a further counterpoint to the melodies. Following is a breakdown of the audio production and composition of these elements, along with the instrumental sound FX
Pads
There are two different pad sounds an ethereal sound and an atmospheric sound. The ethereal sound plays the melodies of E — G — E — EA in the breakdown section over 8 bars and E — G — E — B in the chorus/drop section over 8 bars. This ethereal pad was made on the Serum PD Centipad synth. The atmospheric pads were made with a layer of 3 different instruments; Serum’s PD Emotional More, and Native Instruments FM8 All Things Must Pass and Epic Movements. These played the same melody as the ethereal pad of E — G — E — EA in the breakdown section over 8 bars and the different melody of E — G — E — B in the chorus/drop sections. The pads played the root note of E during the intro section. These were processed with EQ and sent to the bus processing with the short reverb. The pads were panned mainly to the center with two of the instruments panned very slightly left and right for a little stereo width and separation. The pad instruments MIDI notation is depicted in the following image.
Cello, Violins, Marimba & Violin Pizzicato
There are Cello and Violin harmonies in the instrumental build and chorus/drop sections of the song ‘Virgin and Whore’, to give depth to these sections. These were made on the Logic native EXS24 sampler and processed with EQ, compression and a short strings reflection reverb. They had further bus processing with short melody reverb processing pre and post-fader, with the Cello panned left and the Violin panned right. The Violins and Cellos played the slow melody of E — F# — G — A E — F# — G — A — B over 8 bars. The Marimba & Violin Pizzicato played in the 3rd chorus /drop section to really build this final section, expressing her resentment of the representation of virgin or whore. The Marimba was made on the Logic native Sculpture synth and processed with EQ. The Violin Pizzicato on the EXS24 sampler and processed with a strings reflection reverb. These played the same melody as the main piano of G — D — E repeatedly, though ending with playing notes of the chords and not singular notes like the rest of the instruments. The arpeggiated Marimba was panned right and the Violin Pizzicato panned left. The Cello, Violins, Marimba & Violin Pizzicato MIDI notation is depicted in the following image.
Piano Motif & Instrumental Sound FX
The Piano motif was made on the EXS24 sampler and played E — E — E — E at the end of every four bars in the breakdown and intro sections as a tense accent. This was processed with EQ and a piano refection reverb. It had further bus processing with the short melodic reverb and was panned slightly to the right as it plays the higher notes, depicting the piano keys as the higher notes are towards the right of the keyboard. A Serum PD Emotional More synth was used as an FX at the end of the breakdown section to build tension into the release of the instrumental build section, and in the breath at the end of the 2nd chorus/drop section. There was also a Native Instruments Absynth Sinister Exaggerator synth in this breath part. These were panned to the center. White noise is used as a constant underlying FX throughout the chorus/drop sections to add texture to this section. “White noise is probably the most common type of noise used in music, especially electronic music. Because white noise has equal strength across frequencies, it can add texture and depth to your mix and interact with your instruments in interesting ways” (Kendall, 2018). These instruments are depicted in the following image.
Following is a video of the drums, sound FX, bass, lead synth, melodies, harmonies and motif of the song ‘Virgin or Whore’ for a sonic representation of the above explanation. With footage and audio of the 3rd chorus/drop section for an audio/visual representation of the build in the dynamics of this section.
Vocals
The vocals were recorded with the AKG P420 condenser microphone, with a sound reflector and pop filter. These were recorded through the TC Helicon Voice Play Live and the UAD Apollo twin interphase. I used a pop filter to capture the plosives like P’s and B’s and reflection filter to encapsulate the sound acting as a vocal booth. The chorus was recorded with a plate reverb with a double effect setting on the TC Helicon and the spoken word was recorded with a nice chorus setting. Using the two different settings on the vocal recordings of the different parts gives a unique sound to these parts, adding variation. The images of these settings are as follows.
With the chorus vocals, I used the close mic technique for an intimate quality to the vocals. I went for this type of sound for this part to represent the feminine. I wanted to capture the breaths and softness in the recording, making it sound whispery and gentle. I processed the vocals with EQ and compression, and sent them to a reverb chain, with a shorter reverb sent into a medium plate reverb. I made the chorus vox reverb quite wet in this song as I wanted that airy whispering quality. I also doubled the chorus vocals in sections and pitch-shifted these to give harmonies to these parts. I used a delay and echo processing on the chorus vox to add a feminine quality and variation to the vocals. The main vocals or spoken word had less reverb processing, harsher compression, and saturation to give them a stronger feel, depicting her strength and power. The compressor was side-chained to the kick and snare group to groove with the song. The main vocals were panned to the center while the chorus vocals were panned left and right. The vocals had automation on the volume to control certain sections and delay sends at the end of certain words, phrases, and parts to enhance the groove of the vocals. There was also a vocal sample in the intro of my daughter asking me a question about the gender marginalization of the music industry. This was recorded in the car with a Zoom H4n Microphone.
Mixdown
The final mixdown is the stereo mix that you listen to out of your speakers, this is mixed to level with peaks no higher than -3dB and an RMS of around -10dB to -15dB, ready to be sent off for mastering. A good RMS level can really give your song energy and power.
“The peak level is defined by the highest peaks within the signal independently of the amount of energy they are representing. The RMS level is proportional to the amount of energy over a period of time in the signal. It’s a little bit like calculating the average peak volume and putting it onto a new scale. To get the RMS value out of a waveform a time constant must be implemented” (K-pizza, 2019).
It is essential to ensure that you are 100% happy with this mix as it is the final version. Listening to the whole mix with nothing on solo, I adjust the volume, panning, then dynamic processing, and time-based processing, until I am satisfied with how it sounds. I also mute some elements in the different sections for a variation to adjust the arrangement. This song had quite a lot of instruments and was very dynamic, so the mixdown took longer than usual to get all the elements defined and clear. This was done with surgical dynamic processing of equalization and compression. A lot of time was spent bouncing the mix, listening to the bounce back on different references, for example, different speakers and headphones. The going back into the project file and adjusting things in the mix, re bouncing and listening back again on different references. Making sure that I am 100% confident with the final mix. The adjustments would be mild and usually around minus or plus 2dB, though these minute changes make so much difference to the final mix. Usually, this process may take me around 10 bounces until I am satisfied. This song took almost 20 bounces until I had the mix right. Mike Senior in Sound On Sound publication Why would I want to bounce out mixes for referencing? also has this approach to the mixdown.
“At each referencing iteration, I’ll build up a properly cross-checked list of tweaks I want to do, and then check the effectiveness of those tweaks at the next iteration. Once everything’s crossed off the list, I can feel pretty confident of signing off the mix” (Senior, 2015).
Here are some tips for the mixdown from Native Instruments and Landr to give you more understanding of the mixdown phase of music production.
Automation
The use of automation is what really helped with the mix. Automation is making things happen automatically like changing the volume on things or building reverbs and echos. I use volume automation on elements to bring them in gently or to bring down the level on sections so other parts can be heard or brought to the front of the mix. The volume of the melodic parts of the song had to get louder as it progressed as more instruments were added. The melodies had to be brought to the front of the mix, so automation was used to aid in increasing the volume on these during the song progression. The audio sample I recorded of the car, mother and daughter in the intro and outro was processed with reverb, emulating the inside of a car. For the outro I used automation on the EQ and reverb to emulate the car driving away, filtering off the higher frequencies which would get lost with the distance and lessening the reverb. I use automation sends to echos and reverbs on the melodies and harmonies at the end of drops/chorus sections so they fade out nicely into the next section. Following is an image of the volume, melodic reverb, and echo automation on the melody and harmony instruments.
The Lyrics
The lyrics of the song ‘Virgin or Whore’ are a statement against the binary association of the female gender represented as either the Madonna or the whore. It is a call out against gender marginalization and suppression. A ‘screw you’ to patriarchy.
Virgin or Whore — Lyrics
Mum, why does the media comment on female rappers and muso’s as either a good girl or a skank? Hmmmmm….
Battling against the implementation, Of the social constructs and significations
Set for misrepresentation, Of the feminine population
Set for misrepresentation, Of the female population…
Virgin or whore, The Madonna or the whore…
Virgin or whore, Virgin or whore,
Virgin or whore, The Madonna or the whore
Whore, Virgin or whore, Virgin or whore
Virgin or whore, The Madonna or the whore…
Female misrepresentation, Repped with binary association
Virgin or whore, The Madonna or the whore, Ehhh
Gender marginalization, Fuck your patriarchal narration
Virgin or whore, the Madonna or the whore, Ehhhh…
Now can you relate to the cards I’ve been dealt, Or the shape of my fate
We can crumble from the pressure and the weight
Or learn to swim when the waves about to break…
Female misrepresentation, Repped with binary association
Gender marginalization, Fuck your patriarchal narration…
Female misrepresentation, Repped with binary association
Virgin or whore, The Madonna or the whore, Ehhh
Gender marginalization, Fuck your patriarchal narration
Virgin or whore, the Madonna or the whore, Ehhhh…
Now can you relate to the cards I’ve been dealt, Or the shape of my fate
We can crumble from the pressure and the weight
Or learn to swim when the waves about to break
Female misrepresentation, Repped with binary association
Gender marginalization, Fuck your patriarchal narration (Orthentix, 2018).
Here is ‘Virgin or Whore’ with the lyrics and vocals to gain an understanding of the above discussion and all the elements of the song.
A Female Music Producer in Her Realm: Reflection on My Creative Practice of Music Production
The following reflection is on the feminine aesthetics of my creative practice, music production. This leads to an understanding of how my gender affects my practice. This song spilled out of me with ease, like I had something to say and quite passionately. As discussed this song ‘Virgin or Whore’ expresses the afflictions I have with the intersection of gender and music production and the misrepresentation of females in music media. The media, along with academic and popular music discourse have been the structure of power and control in the culture industry, re-presenting reality bound by generalization, stereotyping and augmentation, aiding in dominant discourses distribution of masculine essentialism and ethnocentric perspectives, through use of media representations in media texts. These representations marginalize the female gender. The representation of the female as a whore brings the belief of a woman of lower standard and intellect, she is not trustworthy. The representation of the virgin leads to the belief that the female is quiet, shy, with no opinion, and no life experience, therefore, lower intellect. Either way, these representations breed the belief that women are lower than men, which creates gender stereotypes that marginalize the female gender. Rodgers's research into the intersectionality of gender and music production has found that many believe “women have been marginalized through biased media representations” which has led to gender discrimination in the music industry (Rodgers, 2010, p. 216–225). Artist Pamela Z explains that gendered representations in music media tend to reduce female otherness to a palatable symbol, “like the woman on the mud flaps of the truck as the symbol of the female form” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 216–225). The female becomes an object in this palatable symbolic representation.
The intersectionality of gender and music production and the misrepresentation of women in music media has led to identity issues for the female gender. Some female musicians and producers take ownership of these sexist stereotypes and capitalize on them for career advancement while others claim to not think about gender in context with their practice (Rodgers. 2010, p. 17). I interviewed female producers to research the intersectionality of gender and music production and also found that many participants had not thought of their music as gendered. Wood, an interview participant remarked that “music is math and emotion” and doesn’t believe in the cultural anthropological perspectives of music theory. She thinks “of herself as human” and found it hard to judge the femininity in her practice (Wood, 2019, personal communication). Rodgers explains that some female producers “prefer not to discuss or emphasize gender issues because they consider this to detract from their progress in gaining recognition as an artist rather than a marginalized woman artist” (Rodgers. 2010, p. 17). Farrugia notes the disadvantages female electronic music producers face with categorizing their music as women’s music, results in harsher criticism, distancing potential male fans, and lack of airplay as electronic music is consumed by the male domain of DJs (Farrugia, 2012, p. 68). Though Rodgers has found that “women make music and communicate about technologies in ways that are essentially different from men and that these differences should be validated” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 17). Publicizing the representation of females in the environment of music production and their differences or feminine aesthetic to music production will eliminate the sense of devaluation that many female producers feel with the intersection of their gender and practice, addressing the issues of identity and alterity that many females face with this intersection. Publicizing the representation of females in the environment of music production will also improve the marginalization of women in the field and misrepresentation of women as a palatable object. “If women were praised more frequently for their music, for their talent, or for anything other than how they look, many other things in the world would be different”, rapper Angel haze told the BBC (Nat, Saldaña, Fuentes, Antón, 2019).
Observations of the feminine aesthetic in the song ‘Virgin Or Whore’ and my production approach are identified with an exploration of feminine performativity. The female sexuality I portrayed through the composition is noted with the cyclic nature of the melodies, rhythm, and arrangement. The cyclic nature resembles the female sexual experience. Macarthur explains, “as indefinite, cyclic, without set beginnings and endings” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 113). I also composed with this cyclic form to depict the snake and the connection of the snake to female sexuality. The female represents the cycle of life, as does the symbolism of the snake eating its own tail called ouroboros, portrayed in the above image, resembling the cycle of life with birth and death. “The first day should make the last, that the tail of the snake should return into its Mouth precisely at that time, and they should wind up upon the day of their nativity, is indeed a remarkable coincidence” (Wikipedia, N.d.). Expressing this female sexuality in this song was for empowerment from the misrepresentations of females as a virgin or whore. This expression of female sexuality exhibits feminine performativity in the composition and my approach to music production. Feminine performativity is also evident in the performance of the audio sample in the intro of the song with the mother and child voices recorded of myself and my daughter. This is a performance of my motherhood portraying female sexuality. Many female composers and producers also have this feminine aesthetic, portraying their female sexuality of motherhood in their works (Macarthur, 2002, p. 91). This feminine aesthetic of representing motherhood in music is a performace of the feminine in practice. The recorded audio sample of my daughter and I give this song intertextuality with the previously analyzed song ‘The Phenomenological Ecritre of Motherhood’, which aids in tying these songs together so they relate to each other when listening to the album.
There is feminine performativity in the delivery of the song ‘Virgin Or Whore’, expressed with a female voice from a feminine perspective. This song uses the compositional traits of counterpoint, call and response, and, tension and release, along with the choice of key signature to represent the grief and restlessness I feel as a female. This delivers the affect of the emotions women face with these representations. This is an affliction that only the female gender encounters. The key signature also expresses an effeminate characteristic, representing that this is from the female perspective, her story. The theory of gender performativity is connected to theories of feminist phonocentrism. Schlichter explains that feminist phonocentrism is noted in “texts that construct the female voice as the representation of an authentic female self” (Schlichter, 2011, p. 37–38). These texts assume a natural relationship with the voice and the female body and identity as the truth of the women’s self. Self-representation challenges and corrects the patriarchal misrepresentations of women. Western patriarchal ideologies represent the female as dispossessed of voice, therefore dispossessed of reason and power (Schlichter, 2011, p. 37–38). “Phonocentrism is the belief that sounds and speech are inherently superior to written text” (Wikipedia, N.d). Therefore feminist phonocentrism and self-representation of female’s authentic voices give females voice-as-agency, allowing for an authentic self-presence, correcting the misrepresentations of women (Schlichter, 2011, p. 37–38). This feminine performance of phonocentrism in my music and practice challenge and correct the female misrepresentations of virgin and whore, reclaiming voice-as-agency over these representations. Canakis, Kantsa, and Yannakopoulous have stated that the voice as an expression is a meaningful and politically dynamic representation of gendered performance (Canakis; Kantsa; & Yannakopoulous, N.d, p. 215). Coates agrees, with the use of Butler’s term of abject meaning that which is expelled from a gendered body or discourse, she explains that.
“The abject is always contained in that which is excluding or expelling it. The ‘return of the abject radically destabilizes that from which it was expelled, opening the site to reconfiguration and resignification. The return of the abject to a gendered formation or discourse is a way to question and open up terms, fields, and formations” (Whitley. Ed. Coates, 1997, p. 56).
By these means, with the music production of the song ‘Virgin Or Whore’ and the reclaiming of the voice-as-agency over these representations I have returned to the gendered discourse, music, addressing a reconfiguration and resignification of the female gender in music media. Rodgers states that many female producers and artists have conflicting feelings in regards to gender and music production practice and adopt various strategies to address this. She comments that “an artist’s attention to and interest in gender issues may change over her lifetime and shift situationally from the relative privacy of the home studio to the more public contexts of performances and media appearances” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 17). I believe if more female producers and artists also address their gender issues publically, the socio-political change needed in music media could become a reality.
Conclusion
This blog on the sonic storytelling of the song ‘Virgin Or Whore’ presented an informative view into the feminine realm of music production, delivering a comprehensive understanding of the female approach and process to music production. Please comment below if you have any questions or would like to further discuss the intersection of gender and music production. The following blog will dissect my creative process with visceral accounts on the sonic storytelling of song ‘Mulier in Ecclesia Taceat’ — highlighting how I implement the song concepts into the musical composition, audio processing, and lyrics.
Read the previous blog: https://medium.com/orthentix/the-sonic-storytelling-of-song-lecriture-feminine-ef1a52282af0
Read the following blog: https://medium.com/orthentix/the-sonic-storytelling-of-song-mulier-taceat-in-ecclesia-292d2fd9150a
Encore
Divine Affliction, experimental electronica with raw, introspective, brooding, emotive music. A journey through the female experience. A musical expression of the divine feminine and the afflictions she faces…She finds strength in her vulnerability and turns her affliction into a virtue.
The Divine Affliction album will be released — December 2019! There will be a Divine Affliction Poetic Documentary published on Youtube — January 2020. The documentary is a lens into my intersection of gender and music production. Divine Affliction, a story of me, a female and a producer. The documentary hosts intimate footage at home with my daughter, performing live and expressing in my realm of creativity. With narration discussing the song concepts along with excerpts of songs from the album. Experience her story of music production through a feminine lens, a feminine perception of music production…Excited? I am. Stay Tuned via the following link to my Youtube channel!
Reference List:
Canakis, Costas; Kantsa, Venetia; & Yannakopoulous, Kostas. (N.d). The gender of voice: Transgressing the boundaries of bodily sound [Article]. London, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Hobbs, Jared. (November 29, 2018). Ledgernote: Musical key characteristics & emotions [Blog]. Retrieved from https://ledgernote.com/blog/interesting/musical-key-characteristics-emotions/
Kendall, Jaclyn. (April 4, 2018). How to turn nasty noise into a creative mixing tool [Blog]. Retrieved from https://blog.landr.com/how-to-use-noise-mixing/
K-pizza. (2019). Mastering tip: What are RMS and peak levels? [Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.productionmusiclive.com/blogs/news/mastering-tip-what-are-rms-peak-levels
Macarthur, Sally. (2002). Feminist aesthetics in music. Greenwood Press, CT: USA. ISBN: 0–313–31320–2.
McLary, S. (1991) Feminine endings. London: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978–0- 8166–4189–5.
Orthentix. (2019). Virgin or Whore [Audio file]. Retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/orthentix/virgin-or-whore
Orthentix. (2019). Virgin or Whore — Instrumental [Audio file]. Retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/orthentix/virgin-or-whore-instr
Orthentix. (2019). Blog: Virgin or whore — Drums & sound FX [Video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/350282146/ab95784478
Orthentix. (2019). Blog: Virgin or whore — Drums, sound FX, lead synth & basses [Video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/350284231/216a64469d
Orthentix. (2019). Blog: Virgin or whore — Drums, sound FX, lead synth, basses & melodies [Video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/350290131/bc4e382d5d
Orthentix. (2019). Blog: Virgin Or Whore — Drums, sound FX, lead synth, basses, melodies & harmonies [Video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/350290131/bc4e382d5d
Rodgers, T. (2010) Pink noises: Women on electronic music and sound. NC: Durham, NC USA: Duke University22 Press. ISBN: 978–0–8223–4673–9.
Saxelby, Ruth. (October 30, 2014). 13 Women on how to change male-dominated studio culture: Why aren’t more women becoming music producers?[Media Press]. Retrieved from https://www.thefader.com/2014/10/30/why-arent-more-women-becoming-music-producers
Schlichter, Annette. (March 23, 2011). Do voices matter? Vocality, materiality, gender performability [Article]. Nottingham, UK: SAGE. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X10394669. Retrieved from http://bod.sagepub.com/content/17/1/31
Senior, Mike. (2015). Sound on Sound: Why would I want to bounce out mixes for referencing? [Article]. Retrieved from https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/q-why-would-i-want-bounce-out-mixes-referencing
Stoltzfus, Philip. (June 5, 2006). Theology as performance: Music, aesthetics, and god in western thought. New York: TT Clark. p 81 & 101
Vollert, Brett. (July 2nd, 2013). The Pentatonic Scale: The music of humanity?[Blog]. Retrieved from http://matterundermind.com/the-pentatonic-scale-is-this-the-global-music-of-humanity/
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Whitely, Sheila. (2003). Too much too young: Popular music, age & gender. New York, USA: Routledge.
Wikipedia. (N.d). Ouroboros [Website]. Retrieved from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros
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Wood, Catharine. (2019). Quoted from a personal conversation/interview via zoom.
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List of Figures:
Figure 1. Virgin Or Whore — Song Offical Promotional Image. Photography by House of Pheonix Eleven. Image editing by Entoptic Media. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 2. La Femme Damnée (The Cursed Woman), Nicolas Francois Octave Tassaert, Oil on Canvas, 1859. Retrieved from https://www.reddit.com/r/Art/comments/as13h5/la_femme_damnee_the_cursed_woman_nicolas_francois/
Figure 3. Virgin — Song Promotional Image. Image by House of Pheonix Eleven. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 4. Whore — Song Promotional Image. Image by House of Pheonix Eleven. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 5. E minor pentatonic scale. Retrieved from https://www.basicmusictheory.com/e-minor-pentatonic-scale
Figure 6. Arrangement of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 7. Drum Arrangement of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 8. Drum Processing of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 9. Percussive FX Arrangement of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 10. Bass Instruments Arrangement of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 11. Bass Instruments Processing of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 12. Lead Synth Instrument Arrangement of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 13. Melody Instruments Arrangement of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 14. Melody Instruments Processing of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 15. Melody Instruments Bus Processing of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 16. Pad Instruments Arrangement of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 17. Cello, Marimba, Violin Harmony Instrument Arrangement of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 18. Piano Motif and Instrumental Sound FX Instruments Arrangement of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 19. Recording the vocals of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figures 20 & 21. Vocal recording processing of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 22. Automation on the Melody and Harmony Instruments of song Virgin Or Whore — Logic Project File. Copyright Orthentix 2019.
Figure 23. Ouroboros. Wikipedia N.d. Retrieved from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros
