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: 'Expanse' — BPM: 42, KEY: D Major
For this blog, I’ll use the piece titled Expanse 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
Expanse is a track that’s built around an almost mantra-like piano melody. It repeats over and over, developing throughout the piece. While the melody remains constant, the chords shift beneath it from D major, to B minor, to G major. As this fixed melody is played over those different chords, it changes its tone and feeling.
On this track, I also spent a significant amount of time creating the background layers that provide the pillow or cloud-like space for the piano to sit on top of. The main layer was created from the reverb tail of an electric piano chord – meaning you don’t really hear that attack of the instrument, just the spacious tone as it rings out. I exported multiple versions, panned them left and right, faded them in and out, and created an interesting texture that has some great motion to it.
Photo by SKearns Photo @steveak
Later on in the track, I’ve added other layers added, such as soft strings, effected electric piano, guitar swells using a volume pedal, and celeste (a high bell-like sound). You can hear those layers isolated below.
Viola! A quick description of the piece with some isolated audio examples 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 Expanse and opened your mind up a bit to some of the processes that I use when writing music.
Check out Expanse 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!
