100 Years Later

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I began this composition by working through some of the "Loops for Live" folders and found loops which would give me a dark mood. I transposed all the loops to A, and created a laid-back energy by putting the bpm to 118. I assembled the loops in a way which created flow in the song, making gaps and space, and adding a low conga sound for the second half of the song. I added some effects to the tracks, including delay and some reverb. As I listened to the mood of the song, I realized it made me think of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech, so I found an audio recording of it on-line and used the opening portion of the speech with the music. I was amazed to learn how rhythmic Dr. King's speaking is, and what his pacing of the opening of the speech really emphasizes the idea that 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the US had not come very far in equality. I mixed the song so that Dr. King's speech could be heard clearly, by separating the sound in the left-right spectrum, and also reducing any frequencies which were similar to Dr. King's voice.