Well it’s simple… you just… you know, like… hmmm! Okay I’ll do my best to answer it better than that :) 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: 'Reverie' — BPM: 60, KEY: A-flat Major
For this blog, I’ll use the piece titled Reverie 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
Reverie is a soft, dreamy piano piece. I wanted to make it quite sparse, both melodically and instrumentation-wise. I first began by creating the very subtle ambience layers beneath the piano, which are there throughout the entire song. These layers are not really meant to be noticed consciously. It’s when they’re removed that you feel their absence and realize the nice atmosphere that they create.
The track has an A-part and a B-part. Both parts are introduced with solo piano in the higher register of the instrument in the first minute or so. The chords played form a 4-note melody, followed by a 5-note melody. The final chord of each melody phrase is held for a long time. Around 1:22, we repeat those 2 parts with additional layers. Now the piano has dropped down an octave to a slightly lower register, and a high electric guitar is introduced, doubling the melody line. Synthesizer pads fill out the background.
Photo by SKearns Photo @steveak
Sheet Music available at music-within.com/sheet-music
Around 2:44, we’re back to the original high piano version of the A-part. Instead of just playing the parts exactly the same again as the start, I change it up here with a descending line (3:03). This basically begins the set of phrases that conclude the piece.
Fun note: In this piece I use a cool reverse technique on a few of the long piano chords. To do this, I bounced out (music production term for exported) the desired piano chord. I then flipped the chord in Logic so that it plays in reverse. I then lined it up so that the climax of the reversed chord ends right as the next chord begins. I really love this effect! It happens 3 times throughout the piece, around 0:35, 1:57, and 3:22. The first and second times are at the transition between the A-part and the B-part.
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 Reverie and opened your mind up a bit to some of the processes that I use when writing music.
Check out Reverie 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!
