Creating This Composition:
I started this composition with a drum beat. The main drum beat uses a kick drum on beats 1 and 3 with a snare and hi-hat on beats 2 and 4. Originally however, this was different originally. I had hand claps and hi-hats on the third beat of every bar, a kick on the first beat of bar one and a snare on the first beat of bar 2 (see screenshot below). I did this because I wanted to make a dance track but as I added more instruments, it became more of an indie rock track.
The next instrument I added was a bass guitar. I used the notes C and A because I was using the chord progression A (chord 6), C (chord 1), G (chord 5) and A again. This however changed as I added a guitar to take over the melodic line. It now plays the root notes of each chord apart from on the fourth bar, where it plays the root for two beats, a C for 1 beat and finally an A.
Next came the guitar. I chose to use a guitar because it is a common instrument used in indie rock music. This uses the notes A, G, C and D. I used these notes as they fit well with the chords and therefore are strong sounding. I like this melody because it is very catchy. Once I had finished this, I had a verse.
After that, I made a pre-chorus. In this, the bass guitar plays notes descending from A to E a tone at a time whilst the guitar plays the fifth note of each chord. The drums remain the same apart from in the final bar where there is a drum fill made up of kicks and snares.
During the chorus, the drum beat changes and now has crash on bar 1 and 3 and ends the fourth bar with 4 snare rimshots within the final beat. This helps to differentiate between the verses and choruses. The bass guitar plays 4 crotchet beats of A in the first and fourth bars and a G in the second and third because the root and fifth notes of chords are the strongest notes and it therefore adds some power to the chords being played on the accompanying guitar, which just plays block chords due to the fact that the drums are the main focus during the chorus. All together, there are three choruses in this piece but the final one has a different vocal line (see paragraph about adding samples) this is because I have decided to use another one as it goes into the bridge section, which I decided to make instrumental.
Finally, I wrote a bridge section. I chose to make this 8 bars long because this is common in songs as bridges are also called a middle 8 based on their length (8 bars). The drum beat from the chorus continues throughout this section of the song. Similarly, the guitar during the bridge plays the same rhythmically as it does in the chorus but this time, the chord progression changes. It is now playing a Bm, D, A and Bm again. This is because the notes have all been moved up a tone. The bass is the only instrument that changes but that is only due to the change of chords. It now plays the root notes of each chord in crotchet beats just like it played the previous notes in the chorus.
Now that I had the music finished, it was time to add a sample. I wanted to add the “Ahh’s” from Billie Eilish’s Bury A Friend. In order to do this I had to find a studio acapella version of the song and convert it to mp3. I found it on Youtube, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTAB85SvdSw
Next, I cut the track to the parts that I wanted and added them into my song. I liked having the “Ah” before a section changed but this became quite repetitive so I did this only 4 times and added “bury a friend” to the outro as everything fades out.
Finally, I had to make some adjustments so that the track was exactly how I wanted it to be. The first change I made was the introduction. I made sure that not all of the instruments came in at once and introduced them one at a time. Starting with the guitar, then playing an “Ah” followed by a kick drum and finally bringing in the bass guitar. I then decided to fade in the guitar for the first 4 bars so that it feels even more like something is being built up.
After that, I made some adjustments to the volume of other instruments. For example, the audio samples were all a lot louder than the instruments so I changed them first. As well as this, I increased the volume of the drums during the drum fills before each chorus.
To finish it off, I panned the vocals in certain places to add extra effect to the lyrics.
The Finished Composition: