A great question! And one that I’m going to try to offer some insight into 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: 'Sunshower' — BPM: 41, KEY: B-flat Major
For this blog, I’ll use the piece titled Sunshower 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
Sunshower begins with a background ambience of lush pads creating an atmosphere for other layers to build upon. These were carefully created using several layers of synthesizer. Over top of this, a slow phrase of 10 notes is introduced on a high synth, reaching the end of the phrase every 30 seconds or so. You’ll also hear electric piano notes that are sent through a long delay, repeating many times before gradually fading away.
The tempo of the song is very slow at 41 beats per minute. But around 1:10, a pattern comes in on the electric piano (Rhodes) which adds some subtle momentum to the piece. The part is a continuous line of triplet eight notes repeating every bar. At first this part is almost inaudible, but it gradually gets more and more present as the piece progresses.
Photo by SKearns Photo @steveak
At 2:08, the first of several long, swelling string and synth chords comes in. These swelling chords become the focus of the piece for the next minute and a half, with each new chord getting more dynamic than the last. After the last string chord fades away, the track gradually fades back to the place where it began. You can hear the swells isolated below. I’ve also isolated some of the other production layers that fill out the track, including a very high frequency synth, a delayed celeste part, and a swelling guitar part (using a volume pedal).
So there ya go! 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 Sunshower and opened your mind up a bit to some of the processes that I use when writing music.
Check out Sunshower 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!
