Ah that ever elusive question! I’m going to try to offer some insight into what the title is asking using some pieces that I’ve recently written as specific examples. I’m trying to make this accessible for those who have little to no musical background, so my apologies to those who want some more music theory and deep analysis.
Case Study: 'Waking Moments' — BPM: 52, KEY: F-sharp Major
For this blog, I’ll use the piece titled Waking Moments from my latest album Finding Stillness II. I hope most of what I describe becomes clear once you listen to the track.
While writing all of the music on this album, I had a few general ideas or overarching concepts running through my mind, which helped guide my decision-making. They included things like:
Create beautiful, calming ambient-cinematic music
Write music that can help the world slow down
Introspective, reflective, and meditative
Waking Moments begins with a layer of lush pads creating a place for everything else to sit on top of. These were created using an electric piano played into a long reverb. The tracks were exported, and the files were played forward and reversed creating a constant pad-like sound. I thought they offered a dreamy backdrop to explore.
The piece alternates between a bar of 7/4 and a bar of 9/4. Originally it was all in 7/4 but I ended up adding 2 more beats every other bar to have a longer pause between the melody phrases. Below you can hear the main melody, which is played on piano. Do you hear the extra long pauses now? There’s also a guitar and synthesizer playing an ascending line in unison at the end of every phrase.
Photo by SKearns Photo @steveak
At around 1:30, there is a slowly developing chord progression starting to play out beneath the melody. These chords are introduced in the low register of the piano. Layered with the chords are strings and synth pads, for added fullness.
At around 2:44 the music remains in 7/4 (no longer alternating to 9/4 every other bar). This results in the whole piece gaining a bit of momentum, as the pauses within the phrase are now shorter. At that same spot, there’s a new layer of quarter notes being played on a quiet plucky synth, a distant piano, and glockenspiel which also help pick the track up and give it more movement. The piano melody is doubled on celeste here as well (a bell like sound).
So there you have it! A brief description of the piece with some of the parts isolated for clarity. Obviously I’ve only scratched the surface here, but hopefully it has opened your ears up a bit to what’s happening in Waking Moments and opened your mind up a bit to some of the processes that I use when writing music.
Check out Waking Moments and the full album Finding Stillness II. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
If you do enjoy the music, maybe you’d consider buying it - every little bit helps. Available for purchase on my Website or on Bandcamp. Following and streaming helps as well!
