Paradigm

This piece is about my best friend who I feel I am slowly losing connection with. The purpose of this song is for me to say all the things I wouldn't usually say to him, due to the dying connection and the transparency we slowly grew to be afraid of.

I don't really know how this piece differentiates but I guess you can say the lack of instrumentation variety gives a kind of stripped sense of vulnerability which you would feel when you are at a state of losing someone. I think the idea of losing a friend is really relevant to most of us, but most of the times, we step away from being too attached enough to really feel hurt by a simple friendship. In this case, I explored the pain of really knowing someone just to slowly not know anything about them.

In terms of delivery, the arrangement brings out the message of the song due to it's naked and vulnerable style. With only just a piano and voice most of the time it does feel like you're the only person in this room without that friend of yours. The melody in the chorus part of the song where it gets high and intense is the part that delivers the desperation that I am holding. It's notated in a higher range that the singer (AJ) will have to force out as much as he can from his comfortable singing range, which is a delivery of being desperate when the intenseness of his voice rings out. The next line of melody has a more dimming factor to it as it is notated in steps and at a lower range to give a sense of melancholic acceptance and resolution. 

Lyrics:
Blood in my veins
Hands on my heart
Remain insane
Friend of the dark

And I know you can see the loneliness that I've known
When the sun has stopped shining will you leave me on my own

Everything will be gone if you choose to live in the dark
Let me see your face that you have showed me right from the start

And I want my friend that I made in the past
Breathing all these moments as we fall apart

And will you accuse me if we made the same mistakes
Oh please drop your pride I can't afford this price to pay

You know my name
Six years away
No one to blame
I am okay

Credits:
AJ helped me sing
Rest is midi
I wRoTe AnD aRrAnGeD iT aLl\
crappy mynah birds chirping their asses off outside the window of my hse

mics:
AT4040 for vox oni
rest is midi

Location:
at home!

Dear friend

summary

I wrote this song based on the inspiration revolving my so called 'daily routine'. Of which involves a calming, passing afternoon with nothing but literally bread and cigarettes, to a not so calming and kinda sinister nightly escapade involving some blood and sinful acts. 

I think what really makes this song special (if I had to say why it is special) is the idea. It is the idea of a meaningless journey of good and evil that most people wouldn't relate to in such a fashion of bliss. It is with this idea that developed the calming rhythmic chords underneath the surface of unstable lyrics.  

The journey goes in a chronological order from day till dawn, as some parts in the first section of a passing afternoon hints the disorder of the second section, with words like 'pour some gasoline'. The middle bridge that bridges the first and second sections of the song would hint of some form of instability with lyrics like 'someone out is knocking', suggesting a wanted 'criminal' vibe. The second section would then bring out the true dark nature of the persona (aka me) with the main line of 'blood and sinful acts'. All of which from the start till the end, holds the repeating calming chord progression. This acts as a metaphor that while you think I am a different person between night and day, I don't really feel so on the inside, as I've gotten used to this way of life and it has just become a routine. Hence, the underlying chord progression is a hint of what I really feel amongst all these 'changes'. The drum beats start coming in only on the second part since this is where I feel starts to get more exciting. The night time. This is where I literally wrote that 'I can't fall asleep' and thus I am 'gonna do something so silly', as compared to the day when I don't want anybody to 'try and bother me'.

lyrics:

Bread and cigarettes bread and bread and cigarettes, 
they are life that's in between.
I am home asleep,
don't you, try and bother me.

Bread and cigarettes bread and bread and cigarettes,
they are life that's almost clean .
Pour some gasoline,
never ask me how I've been.

Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Home asleep on a sunny day
Home asleep on a sunny day

Someone out is knocking,
And this door ain't holding,
And I am keeping nothing,
If it's about regrets I mean.

Blood and sinful acts blood and blood and sinful acts,
It's just life that's in between.
Cover over me,
gonna do something so silly.

Blood and sinful acts blood and blood and sinful acts,
It's just life that's not so clean.
I can't fall asleep,
this night is so confusing.

Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
This moon is playing deputy
Drowned in this calming misery

Credits:
AJ for vocals again haha
Me on guitar and all the mixing arrangement shit
stupid birds that keep chirping outside my house again alamak

Mics used:
AT4040 for vocals
SM57 for guitar
rest is mei dei

Bread and cigarettes

for perp lol

Summary:

The whole idea behind the song is based on production and consumerism, god and follower. It's the idea that the world resolves around the system where there is a small percentage of producers and the majority being the consumers that consume what producers produce. The perspective of the persona in this piece is that of a person who is really the master behind the puppet of god.

Differentiation factor: 

At first, I would say the differentiation factor would be the harmony, as it isn't the standard four chord progression nor is it copied from another song with a unique chord progression. It is a progression which I formulated using the idea of a reverse resolution where the chords continuously un-resolve. However, after going further in this piece, I realise the bigger differentiation factor comes in the way the message is delivered, which is having the topic of consumerism in a reggae-like genre.

Delivery:

The way the message is done in such a raggae style and in such a chord progression is a support of what I really mean. Most often, distractions and products come in many unexpected forms. For example, something as simple as Facebook can contain so many ads and distractions like games that keep you away from doing what you really need to do. Thus, with the song packaged that way, it seems as if it's about something chill but it really means something much darker.  

The chord progression develops by un-resolving outwards, and somehow at the same time, creates an enveloping feel that seems as if the harmony is getting smaller and smaller, until the second section where the harmony opens up into quartal then to power chords. The idea was written with the chord progression in mind. The idea that the producer relies on having consumers consume them, while consumers rely on producers to constantly produce substance. Hence, just like the progression, it results in the continuous cycle of producers taking in money and then giving out products.

The title comes from the thought that God would've known all this, being the creator, yet his followers would probably not. The irony. God knows, both a phrase that gives the illusion of a meaning of how the fuck would I know, and a phrase that speaks the reality of a meaning that god knows and is in control. A direct indirection.

Lyrics:
Would it be so bad
If I didn't say that
Would they have read it in another way

Pass me the control
And only god knows
Cause I wrote the things that he will say

Trust me, love me, as I keep you entertained
Use this, buy this, part of your god's plan
Narrowed by the things you chose

Would you like to change that
This position you're at
I am afraid that you can't have a choice

Something to notice
Somebody's raised fist
Were you distracted by the loudest noise

Credits:
AJ for vox. again.

things:
MXL 990 for vox
Recorded at AJ hse

god knows

Summary:

A canvas of a night sky. So wide and so empty. And just a duo of friends under it. There's nothing left to fight for, nothing left to lose. There's so much pain left unsaid, so many bad memories to be forgotten, and under this night sky, it was all over. All over the dark abyss of space. Yet, it was melancholic. No verbal communication, no sounds of unwanted trouble, just an unspoken and unanimous feeling. A feeling of pain and vulnerability seemingly absorbed by the large open fields and the never ending skies. A feeling that's being shared upon an unbreakable bond.

Differentiation factor:

One thing I can say about this piece being different is that this piece holds no deep meaning, or even any meaning at all. It is just a piece of a moment and an emotion. While working on this, I didn't really care about writing differently, but as I look back at it after I was almost complete, I realised I had accidentally made use of the phrygian mode, which added a darker overall feel during the middle sections. One last thing that I feel makes this piece different from most songs is how the guitar was added and used. The guitar was used as a 'voice' for the persona, especially in the solo transition, and it was added very unconventionally into a soundtrack sorta piece.

Delivery:

The whole structure of the piece is based on this journey in the environment of an outdoor nocturnal atmosphere. The journey starts with being exposed to this environment, and just chilling in this place. Then, with such a vulnerable atmosphere, one would eventually unwillingly be haunted by bad memories and be led to agony. Yet, the night would slowly drain your pain out as you step into the wide open space and let loose of everything.

The structure of the piece is done in such a way too. A calm start that slowly develops and envelops you into a fiery moment of sounds which would then gradually dissipate and leave you back to where you started as the initial riff plays but this time on the guitar.

At the ending, the background of fiery sounds return but the focal point of the main jarring sound(in the flashback section) is replaced by the guitar playing the riff from the very beginning. A symbolism of how one has now overcome the painful memories as he is now able to speak up after 'drowning' for so long.

solidarity

Summary:

A chill lullaby kind of song that you would wanna listen to fall asleep to. It's a duet song that features a guy and a girl conversing (singing) to one another as the bask in the moment of falling in a drowsy love for the first time.

Differentiation factor:

The instrumentation of the piece doesn't develop and maintain constant throughout. The only thing that changes often are the lyrics and the person that's singing. Also, the chorus part of the song goes towards a lower range in terms of pitch, and becomes less busy in terms of rhythm. At the same time, the two vocals merge together as one, making the chorus seem to have a heavier weight all together. This is different as most choruses give you the feeling of having  a light hearted and pleasant release into the main catchy motif, while the chorus in my song prefers to be held down by gravity and just dwell in the density of this strong and innocent emotion.

Delivery: 

I made this song a duet song as that's how a reciprocating love between two people works. If I were to allow only one person to sing the whole piece, and even if he/she were to sing in the opposite perspective from time to time, it would still feel like a monologue and just feels like a one sided story in the end. Hence, I thought of writing the lyrics in two perspectives to match the two personas I had. The instrumentation of the piece would remain undeveloped as I feel that it suits the vibes of an outdoor nocturnal environment, where pretty much nothing dramatic happens and its just the whole world between the two of you. Hence, the only thing that changes really is the interaction which is delivered by the inter-layered vocals.

Lyrics:
Hey, bring me closer
Take me higher
To the moon and the stars in the sky
I love, the way your eyes look tonight

Don't, take me down
And even if so
Please stay with me till we are gone 
Goners
Tonight you and I belong to ourselves

You and me
Let's just see how
Stars start to dance beyond the blue

Drunk, half asleep
Just tuck me inside
The clouds of blankets I'm alive
With you 
I have with me now the truth so amused

Scent, of your hair
Draws me inside
The cradle that turned to your lair
How sweet
My darling I can't believe you're with me

You and me
Let's just see how
Stars start to dance beyond the blue

You and me 
Lets just see how
Life starts again here with you

Credits:
AJ and Hanni for vocals!
AJ again for his smol room
AJ for lyrics

you and me

Summary:

A jazzier approach this time, this song is based on the inspiration of loneliness. Feeling lonely within a group, a society, the persona wishes to escape to a better place, perhaps even die to escape to a 'paradise'. 

Differentiation factor:

The vocals in the song are made to sound box-y, as if it was played out from a jukebox during the 1950s. This is different from modern vocals, which just sounds very polished and bright, or mellow and cold which still has a very modern vibe to it.

Delivery:

Just a very simple arrangement throughout, with bass, brush drums, piano and vocals. The piano is just almost as important as the vocals, as it plays runs during the intro and interlude parts to give the song the mood its supposed to have. A lonely kind of vibe. The bass does it job grounding the song, while the brush drums gives the song the jazzy swing kinda feel. 

I made the harmony of the verse with only 2 chords, and gave the first chorus more chords to add more weight and development. This was in line with the story of the song I had, where the story just goes about like it is, and doesn't develop much, until it needs to. The lack of a prominent chord progression also allowed much much more freedom for the piano to do its runs and the vocals to sing as it wishes (even though it doesnt since the persona is one that would wander about one single place). The piano though, doing its runs, would sort of act as the inner voice of the persona, being wild and creative on the inside, which isn't really portrayed from the outside (via the voice).

Lyrics:

Traumatised
I see you holding, my, demise
I see you loving the, sea on my eyes
There's no other way

Scarified
There's a dream that I, wouldnt say
There's a word that I'm, still okay
But why am I...

Still here
why am I still here

Minimised
To the shadows of your face
To the winds that we embrace
And somewhere I

Somewhere I
Somewhere I can feel so alive
Somewhere up is my paradise
Just so goddamn alive

so goddamn alive
so goddamn alive

credits:
AJ for vocals and location

desolation

Ignore the pic I just needed an excuse to show my love for edward scissorhands

Summary:

Pretty much just soundtrack music. I was inspired by the frequent nightmares I always have. The funny thing about these nightmares is that I often don't feel scared when I wake up, but after some time, and looking back at my dreams from last night, I would often realise how messed up it was. This piece thus delivers the haunting atmosphere of my frequent dreams.

Differentiation factor:
Although this is a soundtrack piece, what differentiates this piece from most soundtracks is that this piece uses a metal influenced guitar riff to get the piece going. Although it is not distorted, the notes of the riff are based on the natural scale of guitar, E minor/G major, which are scales frequently used in metal songs. This thus already changed the dynamics of the piece before the other parts were even made. The piece gradually sounded more and more aggressive, due to how we (or at least I) associate E minor to aggressive metal music. Hence, this piece differentiates from other soundtracks with its metal sounding influence.

Delivery:
This piece is aimed to depict a very direct story of the scenes of a dream. In this case, it was like a mountain at midnight kind of vibe. There's this low growling sound that's coming from a cave nearby, but you can't really do anything about it as something gradually appears right at you. That something would be a monster represented by the synth overdrive sound, and welcomed by the aggressive drum hits. 

There are some effects here and there that act as spices to slightly give a more alluring mood to the piece, like some crystal sounds and radio signal sounds. There is also the use of pads and riff that sort of act as the gel to the whole piece, and the use of a howling voice melody that would act both as a foreground, and a transition to the climax part where the 'monster' appears. 

A lot of reverb were used in the process to get the big atmospheric sound I wanted, and most sounds came about with the help of Alchemy.

Monster In A Dream

Hold yourself together  
This raving insanity
Destructive fetishes
I can't wait

Ain’t a part of you
Breathing suffocation
Subdued emotional
Thoughts of hopeful imperfection

Like a liar
In contention
I don’t drive this car
Of destruction

Waking up in hopes
That they will grant you absolution
Lingering obsession
Just don’t act on your reasons

You will haunt you when your
Thoughts give nothing but frustration
Constipated memories
Of all the forced confessions

Like a liar
In contention  
I will leave(live) this house
Of treason 

Like a liar 
In contention 
 I will find my way
My answer

jinxx