Hey everyone!
Here's my entry! Sorry for the sub-par mix, I had about 30 minutes to mix it and less than a day to compose it, I'm new to this forum and I saw the songwriting challenge posts a bit late
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LjQcex ... drive_link
Here are the lyrics of my track :
So many stories of the sky are written in the ground
Where the sunrays are always to be found
Some say its memories are flooded
The earth is such a vast page to fill in
We cannot forget, no we cannot forget
We cannot forget, no we canno tforget
If we took all the time we've left
Like a moment to harvest
To bale the straw and protect the nest
We'd feed the grown plants beating in our chest
Hope you'll like it!
Instruments Used
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Drums :
- EZ Drummer 3 (played on electronic drum kit)
Elec Guitar :
- Telecaster Deluxe going through my Audient ID44 with Amplitube 5
- Amp used : Tube Vintage Combo with a bit of spring reverb
Acoustic Guitar
- Seagull going through the ID44 with a DPA mic
- Amek / Neve Channel In A Box Preamp
Lead & Backing Vocals
- Slate Digital ML1
Brass
- Fracture Sound Brass Band Soloists
- Spitfire Audio Studio Brass Professional
Strings
- Spitfire Audio Studio Strings Professional
Lap Steel Guitar & Banjo
- Ink Audio Nashville Toolkit
Mandolin
- Spitfire Audio Hearth & Hollow
Bass
- Ik Multimedia Modo Bass
Shaker, Tambourine & Claps
- UJAM Groovemate ONE
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- SSL Native Channel Strip 2 across all the channels
- SSL Native Buss Compressor 2 on the mix buss
- UAD GEM LA3A Compressor on Acoustic Guitar
- SSL 4KB Channel Strip on Vocals
- UAD Pultec EQ on the Mix Buss
- Native Instruments RC 48 reverb as a send
- Arturia Rev Plate as a send on the vocals
- Nomad Factory Echoes on the lead vocal
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Time signature : 4/4
BPM : 102 BPM
I started writing the song by playing the acoustic riff that can be heard at the start. I wanted to have a traditional folk vibe to the main guitar riff.
I quickly added the brass section and that brass band tone worked very well at representing the kind of warm tone that I had in mind for the song.
If found the chorus melody while orchestrating the brass. The length of the notes of the intro brass section and the length of the notes in the vocal melody aren't the same, but the idea of the melody is similar. I like the fact that the melody is repeated multiple times while having variations in harmony, rhythm and instrumentation throughout the song.
The lapsteel guitar and the electric guitar in the track give (maybe?) a more American / country feel to the song.
Funnily enough, the lyrics paint the picture of the fragility of this world through the sun rays and the wealth of the earth. I looked at the picture a couple of times when entering the challenge and didn't think about it anymore while composing, but I was surprise to see that the sun rays, the earth and the bales of straw are all represented on the picture and I didn't really think about those anymore while writing. So I feel like the imagery may have had an impact on my writing on a subconscious level.
This song is also about not taking things for granted, about not forgetting the importance of the elements around us, and about how nature makes us truly feel.
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- Composing in a very short time is beneficial to start something and finish an idea as far as I'm concerned
- Having too little time on the other end, doesn't allow you to mix properly and fine tune the details
- It may be easier to feel a strong emotion when the feeling is new, when the song has been rehearsed multiple times, you have to re-act the process of feeling the song
- Brass instruments can easily clash in the midrange with vocals, I did what I could with the little time I had, but it's the kind of thing where a good arrangement is the best mixing tool
- Adding rhythm variations (even small ones here and there) can add excitment to a song
