journal

Piano or Organ for this section? The blue guitar or the yellow one on this rhythm part? Or I could double that part and use both? How much distortion do I want on this solo? Is that riff too bluesy for this piece? Should I harmonize the main violin line in 3rds or a 6ths? In the 3rd arrangement of this piece there was this cool moment, should I revisit that? Is this melody strong enough or did I just wreck this section? Will it sound better when my lousy sample of an electric violin is replaced by the real thing? Isn't "Still on Hold" a pretty dumb working title?

I'm still mucking with this new piece of music. Every night I get a little closer to something that is worthy of recording. At this stage I think I've got decent core musical ideas, it is simply a matter of getting the most out of them.

Regarding the dumb title, this song might be called many things, but it won't be called "Still on Hold". In thinking about writing this entry and the idea of choices I stumbled onto something. The overall mood of the piece might be described as somewhat sorrowful or haunting. The concept of bad choices and tragic consequences lead me to think about the greek tragedy. There is a component in the Tragedy called anagnorisis which can be translated literally as "knowing again". So I'm thinking I might go with "Know Again" as a title. That should vague things up a little.

While I'm still hammering that one out I went back and listened to the finale to Counting Stars, which was also a bit of a struggle to arrange. With the exception of the guitar solo that leads it off, it is built on themes that are used in previous sections of the larger work -- but all are presented in new ways. A different time signature or groove, in a new key, with a different harmony, different instrumentation, etc... The trick is making it different enough that it is fresh, but same enough that the listener picks up on a sense of familiarity. And I have to balance those compositional choices against what is best moment to moment in terms of having a good flow and emotional effect.

This balance is really a big part of the entire piece, as themes are introduced and revisited later on.

Anyhow, this is sort of backwards but I'm going to go ahead and post the finale first, primarily because most of the rest of the piece really needs the vocals in order to be enjoyed.

Listen to New Demo: Counting Stars pt5 (Demo)
[update: file removed but you can check out some mp3s from the new album here]

PS. Listening to programed drum solos is kind of absurd, I just use it for a placeholder. Rest assured A REAL DRUMMER will be doing the honors.