The fourth original song I’ve decided to release is called Looking Ahead. It’s my most complex piece to date in terms of the intricacies of the melodies. Read on more below for details about the songwriting process. 

Instruments used: 
Piano, Drumset, Double Bass, Piano 2

Time Signature:
4/4, Quarter Note at 80 Tempo

Song Structure:
Verse 1 - Chorus - Verse 2 - Chorus Remixed - Bridge - Chorus Remixed - Ending
 
Behind the music:
This song has been almost 3 years in the making. As with most of my songs, I started off with the piano part. I first wrote the chords back in 2018 after feeling uncertain about a decision I had to make about my future. I added in the melody for the verses the same day, with a specific message lyric-wise that I wanted to convey. 

Once I came up with the melody for the chorus, I thought I would experiment with layering the verse and chorus melodies against one another, similar to a fugue (for a quick explanation, a fugue is where one or two themes are repeated or imitated by successively entering voices and contrapuntally developed in a continuous interweaving of the voice parts, made famous by Bach). To my pleasant surprise, the melodies not only sounded great together, but I was also able to express exactly how I was feeling at the time of writing the song; a part of me wanted to move forward and see what was in store if I went with one decision (the hopeful sounding melody), but another part of me felt trapped and unsure (the ominous sounding piano melody plus the double bass creeping in the background). One can definitely hear the tension building throughout the song.

I couldn’t figure out a bridge after this point, and this song sat on my computer for almost 3 years, up until this past week (2021) where I decided to revisit the song. Just like in 2018, I was feeling unsure about a decision I had to make. I was then able to write a bridge and ending that completed the song and ultimately give myself some closure on expressing the feeling of wanting to move forward but also feeling uncertain about the future.  

Behind the song's image:
The cover art for the song is a photo I took in Summer 2020 at Barnet Marine Park. The structures you see in the photo are what remains from one of the old docks. I thought the picture did the trick of describing the song in two ways. First, the perspective of looking through the framing of the posts provided a sense of gazing through a lens towards the future. Two, the fact that the structures are old and somewhat dilapidated calls back to the past. Despite the deck being completely gone, there’s a calming sense in knowing that the structure was able to survive the weathering over the years and still provide a sense of beauty and interest for those that happen upon this section of the park.

Looking Ahead

Decided to challenge myself by actually releasing some of the songs I write and churn out some new ones this summer. Here's the first one. It's a short but strong prelude of sorts to a variety of music I hope to share over the next 4 months. Enjoy! :)

Behind the music:
Every song I write starts out differently. This song in particular started out with some tinkering of piano chords on my tablet, followed by a melody line for the chorus. I then set about writing the notes into a score in MuseScore. Adding the strings next gave it the touch of drama and urgency that the song initially lacked. The hardest part was probably figuring out how to write a verse section that differed from the chorus but still provided a sense of commonality to tie the song together. I wasn't sold on the bridge section I had written initially as it had only the strings ascending up the melodic line, but the piano layer assured me that the bridge fit appropriately with the rest of the song.

Behind the meaning of the title and song's feeling:
I've been feeling uneasy the past month; I'm not going to go into the specifics but this song was the perfect way to express that unease. The title I chose, "Soaring Tides", felt appropriate for expressing the emotions of the song and my mindset over the past month.

Behind the song's image:
I chose a picture I took last summer of a perfect summer day. It was a blue sky day with beautiful white clouds, and a calm day on the lake. For the purpose of the song, however, it seemed right to remove the colour altogether and apply grayscale colouring.

Soaring Tides

Decided to challenge myself by releasing some of the songs I write and churn out some new ones this summer. Here's the second installment. This one takes on a more ambient pop sound compared to the classical and dramatic sounding prelude I released a couple of weeks ago. Hope you enjoy!

Behind the music:
I kept this song simple in terms of the instruments involved; a piano for the melody and a seemingly simple beat of the kick drum and closed hi hats. However, if you listen carefully, the rhythms of the piano and drum beats are slightly delayed or sustained in certain areas to provide a relaxed and unexpected soothing groove to the song. I began by coming up with the melody of the first chorus, trying out different melodies on my keyboard. Once I was happy with the unique sound, I experimented with making different beats. In the end, I discovered that keeping the simplicity of the kick drum and hi hat, but varying the rhythm, was the way to go in achieving the feeling I wanted to portray in this song.

Behind the meaning of the title and song's feeling:
Given the meaning behind the music, hopefully you can understand the reason behind my choosing of the title “Unknown Conundrum.” Conundrum can be defined as a difficult or confusing problem or question, but it may also mean a riddle or brainteaser. Therefore, at first the listener may feel as if the melodic line and rhythm is simple, but upon closer examination, the song reveals somewhat of a riddle; hence the title, “Unknown Conundrum.”

Behind the song's image:
If you’ve been to the Vatican City in Rome and visited St. Peter’s Basilica and the Pio-Clementine Museum, you’ll recognize the double helix staircase for this song’s image. I took this photo during my second visit to the Vatican City in 2011. This staircase, also known as the Bramante staircase, is the modern version of the 1505 one designed by Donato Bramante. The modern one was designed in 1932 by Giuseppe Momo and features two staircases such that users may ascend and descend without meeting the traffic of opposing directions (which was the purpose of the original staircase as well). This staircase’s purpose of opposing traffic not meeting, loosely reflects the way the piano and the drum beats don’t match or meet up in many parts of the song.

Unknown Conundrum

The third original song I’ve decided to release is my first attempt diving into the jazz music world! I had a lot of fun writing this piece, which took about a week to compose. In order to prepare, I researched about the different instruments to consider and include in jazz pieces, as well as certain stylistic elements to incorporate. I hope you enjoy this piece, as it is the one I am most proud of so far!

Instruments used: 
Piano, Double Bass, Drums, Trombone, Bass Trombone

Time Signature and Rhythm:
4/4, Swing

Behind the music:
I definitely grew and learned quite a lot in terms of instrumentation, dynamics, and as mentioned before, the style of jazz music itself. I learned about writing for the trombone and base trombone, and incorporating glissandos for these instruments. I also expanded my knowledge of seventh chords and the role it plays in jazz music. I enjoyed taking the time to study the basics of the walking bass, and making an attempt in writing one that complemented and synched to the drums. The pair of the two instruments maintains a strong foundation that carries the melody forward. I’ve come to understand and appreciate all that I have learned in my 10 years of piano and harmony lessons, and as a result, tried my best to work towards better harmonies in the song. I also ensured that certain instruments had their chance to shine through a solo or through having a more intricate or dynamically louder section.

Behind the song's feeling:
As I was composing this piece, I wanted to write for a jovial and playful feeling one has when strolling through a park with friends or a loved one. I also want to share that some people felt the song reflected one that would be played at a fancy party or one that reminded them of Autumn or even Christmas. IT made me happy to hear about the different ways the song was interpreted or how it resonated with people!

Behind the song's image:
Truth be told, I had 5 contenders for the cover art, which narrowed down to 2 potential pictures once I received some feedback from some close friends. The 2 pictures ended up tying after putting them to a further vote, and it was ultimately up to me to decide which to use. To reflect the cheerful and light feeling the song emotes, I decided to go with the one I took in Hyde Park in Sydney, Australia from my 2013 trip. The image best depicted the feeling I was trying to reflect while composing the song.

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