This is a piece I wrote most recently, I called it reflections because the piano melody came to me when I was observing myself in a mirror, considering the difference in my aesthetic over the past few years. I used drum patterns similar to that of "trap" because I'm an active listener of Hip-hop music and had heard these elements being used in recent hip-hop music. The piano piece is neo-romatic inspired; the introduction being free form but progressing into 4/4 and I guess that the whole piece is a heavily variated Rondo form piece because the sections are A1, A2, A3, A4 (The release), back to A3 and then A5. I deliberately used inversions in the chord structure to deepen the minor tonality and create a slightly awkward/uncomfortable tone but also give a sombre feel to it. I haven't yet been able to find a rapper who's timbre fits the track perfectly but I am searching, I'm currently looking for a grime-type vocalist with a "Devlin" inspired rapping voice; e.g, A voice that's quite aggressive in delivery but can also deliver emotion through their lyrics, not just aggression. For the sub bass, again I took lots of inspiration from American Hip-Hop; just followed the route note of the main chord in the piano progression, in the big release I used the octaved-rhythm to end the phrase because the piano phrase ends on an DsharpminAdd9/5(A, Dsharp, E triad(?); the sub sitting at an Csharp(major 3rd interval) to create a major/minor tonality clash to further the uncomfortableness surrounding the song, the octave are used purely for dramatic effect. (again, another element from American Hip-Hop I heard and picked up) The glockenspiel in the main release plays the third and fifth of the inverted triads used in the piano to harmonise, to refresh the ear slightly from the daunting augmented minor sound.

Demos

Reflections

Reflections Second Mix (Instrumental)

This song was written in my first year at uni; the guitar is in open C Major 7 (C G C E B C); I found the tuning by accident when tuning into open C5 (C G C G G C). I'm not sure of the semantics of the scale used etc because where it's such a weird tuning I haven't been able to work every chord out but the song follows a classic "pop" chord progression; 1-4-5-6 are the chords of the scale used, you can observe this with your ear. I took a lot of inspiration from Ed Sheeran, mainly vocally in the way that I wrote the vocals. I can't completely break the writing process down because it isn't a structured process, however the middle 8 "R&B" section was done deliberately with the guitar ascending through the 3rd, 4th and 5th bass root whilst the vocals descending for the first half, this was done deliberately for tonal contrast and to be refreshing. I also consider this section and the first verse to be the main hooks, however I feel that each section is a strong hook and that's what makes it quite heavily "pop" to me. The second verse is just a deeper-arpeggiated version of the first verse; exact same chords but the picking pattern is faster and more complex to make the song feel like it's picking up a bit, otherwise it would have felt like it was dragging a lot. I also deliberately placed the first chorus within the first 1 minute of the song as this is a strong Pop writing technique; to keep the listener engaged. During the recording process I experienced several problems, mainly to do with lack of understanding with live recording, mixing; EQ etc. I will post the lyrics beneath here because I feel like they're important to get the full feel of the song:
(Performed by myself and Megan Lara-Mae Santer)

[Verse 1]
Sleep, then;
The morning will peak.
Darling, don't weep.
Darling, don't weep.
For weeks,
You've been dragging your feet through this,
Just let it be,
Just let it be.

[Chorus]
Is this what you require?
To be hanging from a wire?
Lay all that you've seen before me.
Is this what you desire?
To be thrown into the fire?
So just breathe.

[Verse 2]
Sleep,
I know you won't have the answers right now;
Give time for your mind to breathe,
Give time for your mind to speak out.
There's other ways to let this bleed,
Slow down;
Don't weep.

[Middle 8/Bridge]
And let me save you,
Keep your head from drowning.
I'll be on your side;
I'm still on your side.
And save you,
Keep your head from drowning.
I'll be on your side;
I'm still on your side.

And save you,
Keep your head from -
Keep your head from drowning,
I'll be on your side;
I'm still on your side.

(Back to Chorus)

Sleep then, the morning will peak;
Darling don't weep.

Anthony Alfred Hicks