Song#7 Eternity - Composing and Arranging Stage

Part two up!

1. Idea Stage
2. Composing and Arranging Stage
3. Recording & Mastering Stage
4. Final Product & MV

Much intro, much wow

Arranging

With electronica/ EDM/ nu-jazz, I observe that repetition with/without an over-arching melody line is most prevalent. So, I roughly sketched out the flow:

1. Intro 1
2. Theme 1
3. Variations
4. Transition
5. Intro 2
6. Theme 2
7. Solo variations
8. Outro

Both themes follow a rather simple progression, i.e.:

1. Introduction of harmony instrument
2. Voice-over
3. Introduction of leading bass instrument
4. Drum entry
5. Melody begins
6. Variations
7. Selective removal of either one instruments, and/or silent sections

The usage of voice-over is reminiscent of chill-hop/ nu-jazz music where artists usually samples old-timey speech recording for their mix. I thought up some random speech related to 'love' and 'space', and finally settled upon these two sentences:

In the far reaches of the cosmos, there exists nothing but love - for eternity

For love is the greatest force in the universe, love conquers all and unites all

Haha, I guess it's rather cheesy sounding, something from those new-age books.

I decided upon two themes, just because I had drafted out the Theme 2 bass-line first and was at lost for ideas on how to link it back to the space-eternity theme. While I was discussing the drumbeats with LCC, I searched for inspiration from old master Nujabes and came up with the melody line on keyboard for Theme 1.

>Post song release note<
The explanation you read on the YouTube and Facebook post for the song is actually just something I made up on the song release date, as some deep-thought analysis of the two themes. :P Revelations aside, I felt it's indeed representative of the yin and the yang, the male and female parts of any couple, as Theme 1 is meant to be rather laid back, except for the distortions to the melody - representing the female insecurities and mood swings. Theme 2 is upbeat and heavy bass just like the male counterpart, with the solo representing the alpha male tooting his horn - so to speak.

Composing

For this, I started off by selecting the pad synth on Novation's V-station VST that best suit this song's style. I repeated the same for AAS's Lounge Lizard where I selected Rhodes as the melodic instrument for theme 1 and Glidesynth Lead for theme 2. The main instrument of the lot was the Moog Bass, taken from the Novation's Bass-station VST as well.

Here are the chords for each theme:


Theme 1
CM7 Ebdim CM7 BM7
CM7 Ebdim G7 Abb7-E7
(repeat)

Theme 2
Cm7 Caug7 (intro)

Cm7, C#m7,
Cm7,D#m7-Dm7
(repeat)


I introduced a A# for the BM7 chord section in the melody for Theme 1, as something different than the listener expected, which makes the chord major. On the other hand, the solo for Theme 2 was based on the Blues scale which I admit to impromptu solo playing, using the Launchpad.

For the bass line in Theme 2, I referred to a great guide on YouTube, which they gave 6 hacks:

• Hack 1: Create Strong Melodic Intervals
• Hack 2: Make Motifs
• Hack 3: Add Syncopation
• Hack 4: Add Non-Root Notes 
• Hack 5: Add Octaves
• Hack 6: Add Rests

Given the nature of the bass in this song being prominent and up-front, I needed a catchy tune that serves as the hook throughout the whole song. Just like the guide, I started off by playing the root of the chords, and moving in swing notes. I made sure to utilise the notes of the lower and upper octaves, and used passing notes as well as non-root notes of the chord (like 3rd, 5th or 7th)

I added arppegations (using the V-station presets) keyed to the same chords as the pads were. This made it easier for MIDI entry without the need to manually arppegiate the chord voicings. Finally I used the samples from the included free Loopmasters pack for the 'Hey' sounds (other vocalisations samples were scrapped later on). I planned for the 'Hey' clip to be pitched like an instrument and for rhythmic sounds, but that's for the next post.

Since LCC scripted up the drum beats, I won't discuss it here, other than the fact that he chose 16 beats on the hi-hats for Theme 2.

Stay tuned for Part III of  IV for this song!

Song#6 Mei Mun Hang Fook Di Mei Loi (美满幸福的未来) - Composing and Arranging Stage

Considering the fact that this is the next post, this has to be part 2. Wilkommen!

1. Idea Stage
2. Composing and Arranging Stage
3. Recording & Mastering Stage
4. Final Product & MV

This is da introduction blog desu~

Arranging

Drawing inspiration from existing classic hits of the same genre, I worked out a rather simple structure of a generic pop song such as:

1. Intro
2. Verse 1
3. Verse  2
4. Chorus
5. Verse 1
6. Verse 2
7. Chorus
8. Bridge
9. Final Chorus
10. Outro

Composing

The selection of instruments this round started with listing down what instruments typical power ballads use - which was rather similar overall, like strings, piano, bass and drums, clean and/or overdrive guitars.

For this song, I thus selected all the above, but added my signature favorite instrument - the vibraphones/vibes, as a device to spice up the mix and mirror the vocals to some extent. The guitar was decided to be recorded using my Custom Acoustic cutneck acoustic guitar with help from my neighbour again, LCG.

Initially, I wanted to help out with the background vocals, but since I suck at reading Cantonese. So, I asked Clement to handle all the singing, while I plan for vocal thickening mixing later on.

This round, I modified an older composition which I shared to Clement as an draft idea at the start of the year, which you can hear below:





Both versions were rather plain, and don't match up to the quality of chord progressions of power ballads today. Fun fact -  those Random 6s were composed 4 years ago!

Therefore, I needed to spice things up creating a proper bridge, a pre-chorus leadup and a key change (F major> C major) in the chorus that is as smooth as butter. Here's the overall chord progression of the new song:

Verse 1
F Bb C7 F-Em7
Dm Gm7 C7 F-C7
(repeat)

Verse 2
C7 F C7 F-Edim
Dm7 Bb Gm C7 D7

Chorus 1
G C D7   G-D
Em7 Dbm7 D G-D
G C D7 G-D
Em7 CM7 D D7 G-C

Chorus 2
G C D7 G-D
Em7 Dbm7 D G-D
G C D7 G-D
Em7 CM7 D D7 G-D

Bridge
G CM7 Em G-D
Em C D7 G-D
Em7 CM7 D G-D

I learned a lot about closely-related keys here where F major - C major - G major are the closest. Basically it refers to moving between keys with the least amount of key signatures like F and G, with C major being the 'home' key. That was what I did to the Verse section progressing to the Chorus section.

The intro to the song was revised from the original Random 6 - to mirror/suit the chorus motif and mood feel. The original would have suited other piano only song, but this is after all a power ballad. I also repeated the intro as the outro, albeit a simpler form.

For the melody/vocals, I opted for a typical swing beat in order to have some flow to the lyrics. Plain singing to the beat suits slower songs, but tends to get boring after a while. After all, swing beats created the jazz style and Broadway hits like Fly Me to the Moon.

For the accompanying instruments like the strings, I tried copying runs for the bridge part, and ordinary three part voicing for the chords section. Then, I added an arppegiator electric piano as a bonus instrument for the verse 2 section. Piano accompaniment was varied in styles throughout to create musical flow, especially the emotional bridge section.

Lyrics

Clement and I went through several discussions regarding the overall theme of the lyrics. All of them included something to do with romantic encounters of couples, but we had to present some coherent plot to the overall lyrics. Some ideas included:

1. Boy meets girl and fall in love
2. A couple already in love and drifts apart
3. A long distance relationship
4. Boy sacrificing all just to be with the girl
5. Guy sending mementos of their relationship to remind his partner, a career successful woman traveling abroad

In the end, we included most of the above into the song. Considering the difficulty of writing beautiful lyrics that not just convey the meaning but sound nice in Cantonese, Clement decided to repeat the verses after the chorus to save effort :P ( it is apparently harder to write than in English - thanks Clement!)

On another note, LCC and Clement brainstormed the title (which had to start with the letter 'M') as the title of this post :  Mei Mun Hang Fook Di Mei Loi (美满幸福的未来)  which means a Happy Future, apparently ;)

Here is the lyrics (Traditional Chinese just like in Hong Kong) in totality:

Verse 1
當天廣場前 遇 見你 
你已經 深 深 吸 引 我 目光
即使當時人群 極 多
我 眼中 只得你
相戀多時感 到 幸福
我感激 你 給 我 甜 蜜 回憶
結識再多人 但 始終
在 我心 只得你

Verse 2
你傷心 我陪伴你 
別再哭 抹去 眼淚
我會給 你快 樂的 記憶
我帶你 遠走 高飛

Chorus 1 & 2
在 這 刻     
我 但願  時間 停頓
和你 在這 擁吻
不想跟你再分 離 
祈求 一起
和你 一世 我願意
還 記 得   
你面前 曾經 承諾
對你 不離 不棄
即使一起面對 難題 
任何 困苦
而 我  …… 
一生都 愛護 你


Bridge
啊……
我要跟你在一起
你 的確 十分完美
我 怎麼 會放棄
啊……
要一世 都歡喜
我跟你 幸福生活
會感覺到圓滿
要 幸福生活
會感覺到圓滿

Chorus 3   
我 但願  時間 停頓
和你 在這 擁吻
不想跟你再分 離 
祈求 一起
和你 一世 我願意
還 記 得   
你面前 曾經 承諾
對你 不離 不棄
即使一起面對 難題 
任何 困苦
而 我  …… 
一生都 會愛 你


I'll put up the English and Simplified Chinese translation in the MV later on, so stay tuned to the final section of this song!

Stay tuned for Part III of  IV for this song!

Song#5 Yang Ku-cinta Itulah Kamu - Composing and Arranging Stage

Without further ado, here's part two!

1. Idea Stage
2. Composing and Arranging Stage
3. Recording & Mastering Stage
4. Final Product & MV

Intro intro intro blog...

Arranging

For this song, I had trouble deciding the parts for each singer, male and female. Sometimes the chorus is repeated for each singer to have a turn, sometimes they sing together. Certain songs call for verses to be sung in turn prior to the chorus. Taking all that into consideration, I decided upon:

1. Intro
2. Verse 1 & 2  (male) 
3. Verse 1 & 2 (female)
4. Chorus (together)
5. Instrumental
6. Verse 2 (male)
7. Choruse (together)
8. Instrumental
9. Bridge/Verse 2 (female with male voiceover)
10. Final Chorus
11. Outro

Composing

For this song, I stuck to basics with the base key C major. Verse 1 & 2 was fixed to a 8 bar progression, while Chorus was a 18 bar progression. I mostly decided the chords by ear and wrote out the three / four voices chords names later. Sorry I couldn't be more technical on these stuffs for now, but as usual, add the 7th or the 9th for jazzy feel. For those interested in playing out the song yourself, here are the chords:

Intro
 C, G/B, F/A,C/E 
F, G, C, Em-5 
Dm,C, C7 
Dm,Dm7
G,Gaug 

Verse 1/ Instrumental/ Outro

Cmaj7, Fmaj7, Fm7,Fm7(b5) 
Cmaj7, Fmaj7, Fm7, EMaj7

Verse 2 
Am7,C/E, Emaj7, Am7,C/E, Emaj7, 
Am7,C/E, Emaj7, F7, Dm7, Dm7(b5)

Chorus
Cmaj7, Fmaj7, Fm7,A#m7, 
Cmaj7, Fmaj7, Fm7,A#m7, 
Fmaj7, Dm6, Bdim7, A#m7 ,A#dim7 
Cmaj7, Fmaj7, Dm7, Dm7(b5)

Lyrics

Here's the lyrics in Malay where basically the gist is couple typical banter and the guy is on the short end of the stick, but loves the girl anyway.

Malay version (Blue for male, Red for female and Green for singing together):

Intro

Wahai sayangku, inilah laguku,

Lagu baru digubah untukmu

Dengarlah musik, nyanyi b'samaku

Rentak irama, melodi

In-dah~

Verse 1

Kalau kita, bermain komputer,

Meskipun Kita sudah dewasa,

Tembak-tembak , bom bersama,

Gelak ketawa berguling sel'mba

Verse 2

Ohhhhhh, kau suka bela binatang

Oooooh, kucing, ikan, kura-kura,

Oooooh, terpijak tahi-lah,tapiiii

Yang kucinta itulah kamu v

Verse 1 

Wahai sayang, kau sering lupa,

Lupakanku 'pabila minum makan,

Hello sayang, kau lupa lagi

Masa tengok gajet di pameran

Verse 2

Ohhhhhh, apalah kau begini,

Woooooh, pelupa lagikan cuai,

Ohhhhh, ingatla pesanan iniiii,

Yang kucinta itulah kamu v

Chorus

Sehingga kita bertemu,

Ku sediakan Maggi kari,

Campur Milo dengan keju,

Makanan enak untukmu,

Bridge

Ohhhhhh, apalah kau begini, (Maaf sayang aku lupa,)

Woooooh, pelupa lagikan cuai, (Cuai tapi aku pantas)

Ohhhhh, ingatla pesanan iniiii, (Ku juga ingin berpesaaan)

Yang kucinta itulah kamu

And the translation...

Intro

Oh my love, this is my song

A song written just for you

Hear the music, sing along with me

Rhythm and tune, melody

Beautiful

Verse 1

If we, played computer

Even though we're adults

Shooting, bomb together,

Laugh out loud, rolling on the floor casually

Verse 2

Oooh, you like to rear pets,

Oooh, cat fish and turtles,

Oooh, stepped on shit, but

Whom I love is you

Verse 1 

Oh my love, you always forget,

Forget about me when drinking and eating,

Hello my love, you forgot again,

When looking at gadgets on display

Verse 2

Oooh, why are you like this

Woooh, forgetful and careless,

Oooh, but remember this,

Whom I love is you

Chorus

When we meet again,

I'll prepare Curry Maggi,

Mixed with Milo and cheese,

Delicious meal for you,

Oh my god, why do you want

Hohohoho (to fatten me)

Eating together with you,

Whom I love is you

Bridge

Oooh, why are you like this (Sorry my love I forget,)

Woooh, forgetful and careless, (Careless but fast,)

Oooh, but remember this, (I also wish to say this,)

Whom I love is you

That's all for this section!


Stay tuned for Part III of  IV for this song!

Song#4 Reaching (out for you) waltz - Composing and Arranging Stage

Yosh, next part here!

1. Idea Stage
2. Composing and Arranging Stage
3. Recording & Mastering Stage
4. Final Product

Here's the intro blog for this whole setup.

Arranging

In line with the classics, I tried sticking to a rigid format of:

1. Minor Motif
2. Major part B
3. Minor Motif with variation
4. Major part C
5. Minor Motif again
6. Outro

The instrumentation (ie choice of instruments) were lifted from Shosta-K's waltz. Due to me being a beginner in composing orchestral classics, I opted to copy and learn. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The instruments in entirety are:

1. Piccolo
2. Flute
3. Oboe
4. Bb Clarinet
5. Bassoon
6. Contrabassoon
7. Horn in F
8. Trumpet in C
9. Trombone
10. Tuba
11. Timpani
12. Glockenspiel
13. Tubular Bells
14. Percussion (ie drumkit)
15. Harp
16. Violin section
17. Viola section
18. Cello section
19. Contrabass section

In writing the waltz, I first started composing with the Piano, my natural instrument of choice. From there, I can test out complex chords and melody flow before expanding it into orchestral format. Drawing lessons from Shosta-K's waltz, I learned that each instrument families work together as a unit (ie four note chord distributed between the each instruments in the family) and sometimes playing off one family against another works well (like brass and woodwind). Other than that, scoring for full orchestra is very much a repetitive work - dividing the piano LH chords into individual instruments per family.

Piano score

Some difficulties I ran into while scoring it in Finale 2014 was keeping in mind the range limits of each instruments. Fortunately, the program was smart enough to shade the notehead yellow if it reaches beyond the instrument range (though not the theoretical range as the range depends on the playing level toggle - Beginner, Intermediate or Expert).

I've put up the link for the music score below for your download purposes. Enjoy!
PS It's not in concert pitch

DOWNLOAD MUSIC SCORE PDF

Stay tuned for Part III of  IV for this song!