In case you were wondering the same thing! 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 minimal musical background, so my apologies to those who want some more music theory and deep analysis.
Case Study: 'At the River’s Edge' — BPM: 64, KEY: A-flat Major
For this blog, I’ll use the piece titled At the River’s Edge 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
At the River’s Edge begins with a layer of lush pads creating a place for everything else to sit on top of. These were created using synthesizer and piano. Within this background ambience, a few of the layers are actually repeating patterns, providing a feeling of constant motion. These background textures feel bright, positive and peaceful.
Over top of this ambience, long, slow synths swell in and out establishing the first main chord progression. You can hear this part isolated below. As the piece continues to grow, piano accompanies the synth chords along with celeste (a bell-like sound).
Photo by SKearns Photo @steveak
String parts for ‘At the River’s Edge’
Around 2:35, a soft cymbal swell marks the start of a new section in the track. In this 2nd half the energy increases a bit, with the chord changes now happening twice as fast. A layer of strings also come in here, starting very quietly and growing in dynamics to the end.
At the same point, a piano and guitar pattern begins as well, adding some more momentum. At 3:15, this piano/guitar pattern is doubled on violin. While the pattern was only a soft background element up to this point, once the violin comes in, it becomes the main melody. You can hear these 3 layers isolated below.
The track ends with everything fading away except for a single viola that continues playing, almost as if it were holding onto a memory of the piece and not wanting to let go.
Well there you go folks! 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 At the River’s Edge and opened your mind up a bit to some of the processes that I use when writing music.
Check out At the River’s Edge 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!
