New Tune in the Works
YES, there is a new tune in the works, and I thought it would be fun to share the process of how everything comes together. Allow me to preface that this tune is in its infancy; it has not been fully written and therefore not been orchestrated. But, this is how the process works (at least for me) …
It all starts with finding a groove, or a feel. Some people begin with a “thought or idea” and then put music to that feeling. In my case, I try to find a “groove” that feels good at that moment, and if it does, I then *try* and write a song around it. Piano players are fortunate in that we play an instrument with tremendous range. We can play a rhythm in one hand and a melody in another. Still, I find it easiest to work from “bottom up” so I usually begin by finding a rhythm that connects. Some people do it the other way by starting with a melody or “riff”, but since my music is instrumental, I find it preferable to begin with rhythm. The easiest and most convenient way to begin is to explore a wide range of “drum loops” – prerecorded audio files of professional drummers (sometimes famous ones) punching out a rhythm. With technology, you can “snap and glue” these loops together and create a full blown song if you like. In fact, that’s how it’s done in a good majority of R&B music. I simply use loops as a starting point because they enable me to quickly explore a wide range of options and play along on the piano until something “connects”. Here is the “Intro” and what I think will evolve into a “Verse”…
This MP3 is built on a drum loop (so nothing fancy, no fills, etc.). It is just a pencil sketch at this stage, but hopefully provides the foundation, the groove, and sense of feel…
Apart from the drum loops, everything else you hear is me. I’m using “technology” triggered by MIDI to generate the sounds: The funk bass comes courtesy of a Korg Triton; the sax is courtesy of a vintage custom-programmed Yamaha VL1m played with MIDI wind controller, the guitar chucking is courtesy of a Roland XV-3080, and the piano is a basic on board jazz grand from my Kawai MP8 (my master MIDI controller). These are just placeholder patches, and they’ll likely be replaced further down the line with stuff that sounds better, OR with live recorded instruments.
The name of the song? Merely a placeholder. For whatever reason, I find it useful to assign ONE WORD that describes what I think I’m hearing… That, in turn, begins to influence the choice of orchestration (instruments, who plays what where and when…)
So this is where I’m at. Embarrassingly, I think I wrote this over New Year’s weekend? Since then, I’ve been trying out different things and attempting to map the “direction” of the tune in my mind. It’s strange, but I know when I’m in “writing mode” and when I’m not, and I’ve learned not to force it. And after all, I’m a hobbyist so I can exercise the luxury of being massively unproductive!
