Quick Links
Project Overview
I’ve been parading in the “music world” for quite some time. When I was a kid, I started with classical indian singing, pivoted to western piano, and then continued my journey playing the violin throughout grade-school. I played in official orchestras, but also in fringe bands. Since then, I’ve picked up a few more skills- playing electric and bass guitar, drums, and of course, producing music.
I believe it was during my time in high school when I first tried my hand at composition- at that time I was trying to create orchestral pieces. I loved the creativity I was able to put into it, but, even at that time, I remember thinking to myself that I haven’t “cracked the code”. The secret recipe that makes music fun to listen to- finding the right places for the right instruments at the right time.
Post-college, rediscovering my passion for music production has definitely been complicated. Especially the jump to trying to make indie pop songs- the type of songs I would enjoy listening to- quite the challenge. On one hand, I enjoy the art of making something new, and just the act of creating is enough. But on the other, I still desperately wish to crack the code- the one that makes all my favorite songs absolutely addicting to listen to.
“would you wonder at all” was my first step into this journey. Taking a single weekend to adventure into, what I hope to be, a lifetime of musical fascination and discovery.
Composition Approach
The idea for this song all started with a simple chords loop. I had recently acquired a new keyboard (FL Keys) which had a neat feature to play a variety of chords using the pads. After fiddling for awhile with different chords and rhythms, I found something I absolutely loved.
Up until this point, I hadn’t been able to complete a full song- and there was a reason for that. At that point (and arguably still), I didn’t really know how to structurally build a song. While it’s theoretically easy to understand concepts like part A, part B, chorus, etc., I often would get too distracted with taking the music in unique directions to mind those. By which point, I’d be stuck in a never-ending tirade of perfecting minor sections, or losing sense of the general direction of the song. So, for this song I used a song reference to help guide the tempo and part markers.
“Little Dark Age” by MGMT (excellent song btw) may have the exact opposite feel and genre for what I was going for, but what it did wonderfully was provide a clear direction for the song. After mapping out the tempo, parts, and general structure, I was ready to add on whatever else I needed to, to fill in those sections.
Artwork
There’s a lot more than just the music composition that needs to happen in order to release a song. One of those things is taking the artwork for your single, EP, or Album. I wanted to crate an art piece that was unique, but also not too complicated- for the sole reason of trying to finish this project as quick as possible. The idea I came up with was to take a picture, print out that picture, and take another picture with objects surrounding the printout. Creating a multi-medium piece allowed me to re-imagine the other-worldy feel of the song.
Animation
I wanted to create an animation that could play in Spotify song previews. In order to do so, I used OpenToonz and hand drew most of the frames (while of course copy-pasting reusable aspects). This type of animation yields a much more “homemade” feel.
Reflections
As I mentioned earlier, majority of this song was composed in a weekend. I took the week following to record all the vocals, and attempt to mix it with the limited working knowledge I had. Do I still enjoy this song? I probably wouldn’t say so. While I enjoyed making it, the real value the song holds for me is providing me with motivation to improve. There are a ton of things I would have changed about the song if I were to remake it, but retrospectively, I’m glad I was able to try something new. It’s often hard for beginners to put themselves out there, and for that I’m grateful.