New Song - Winter

[davie]

Hey guys, I hope everyone is well. After working on my craft for a number of years, I'm finally starting to follow through with one of my goals. It has been a long and tough process but this month I managed to fully produce and release my first original song. It has been a huge learning experience in many aspects such as in vocal production, songwriting, arrangement, recording and more. I didn't have much musical talent when I first started, but I kept at it and eventually over time I felt comfortable enough to create my own music. My hope is inspire others to take on similar challenges. I believe that if I'm able to do it then anyone can do the same. Here's a link to my new song if anyone is interested to check it out. Feel free to discuss, post questions or comments.

New Song - Winter

[kickingtone]

Nice!

Did you create all of the backing track, as well?

[davie]

7 hours ago, kickingtone said:

Nice!

Did you create all of the backing track, as well?

Thanks KT.

Yes, I played and arranged all the instruments in the track myself, except for the drums. I had help from my friend who played the drums.

I also mixed and engineered the recording myself as well.

[kickingtone]

Impressive stuff. Composition sounds smooth and the vibe is very relevant.

Must have been quite a journey (as well as a baptism of fire).

Lyrics first, or music? Or a lot of back and forth?

[davie]

On 2/23/2020 at 9:53 AM, kickingtone said:

Impressive stuff. Composition sounds smooth and the vibe is very relevant.

Must have been quite a journey (as well as a baptism of fire).

Lyrics first, or music? Or a lot of back and forth?

Thanks, it definitely has been quite a gruelling process, especially since I'm doing almost everything myself. It might be difficult for the casual onlooker to understand how much work was put into this effort. I'm also planning to carry on with more songs soon. I plan to release songs on a regular basis going forward.

Regarding the whole songwriting approach of this song, it varied a lot. I actually began this song years ago, but shelved it because I did not know which direction to take the song.  I believe the first thing I did was write the melody of the chorus and bridge together, with the chorus having partially completed lyrics. In my earliest versions of this song, the chorus used to be the verse and the bridge used to be the chorus. However I felt that this arrangement didn't provide enough movement or impact to complete the song. Some time later I revisited the song, and I decided to add in another section, a softer, mellower part, which became the verse in the song now. The lyrics and melody of the verse came to me simultaneously. After this change, I rehearsed the song with a band, and everyone felt that the mellow first verse gave off a pretty strong emotional response, so I finally knew that I was going in the right direction for the song.

[kickingtone]

Would you say that you played it more by ear than musical theory, or vice versa, Davie? Was there a lot of theory involved?

I'm just asking from the standpoint of someone who doesn't know any.

[davie]

9 hours ago, kickingtone said:

Would you say that you played it more by ear than musical theory, or vice versa, Davie? Was there a lot of theory involved?

I'm just asking from the standpoint of someone who doesn't know any.

I'm not much of a music theory person. You can say that everything was played or written by ear. I just try playing around with different melodies, harmonies, rhythms and see what fits or how they complement each other. The way how I composed the music was by layering on different harmonies together. Every instrument is playing something different and distinct. There's the synth line playing on the left side. The piano and guitar fill playing on the right side. Bass guitar underneath playing its own harmony as well. And on top of all that I have the vocal melody.