The song is in the key of D major and is in the time signature of 4/4.
The song starts with a 4 bar intro. This intro is just guitar for the majority, with the keyboard coming in to help bridge the intro into the next part of the song. The guitar is playing the same as it is in the chorus, which is an arpeggio of a D chord. This guitar part is one of the main focuses of the song, as it is the melody of the chorus, however, this guitar part does get repetitive as the song goes on.
It then goes into the chorus, which expands upon the intro. A bass, keyboard, and drum kit get added. The bass plays a simple part as it only plays two notes and follows the keyboard and guitar. The keyboard follows the guitar and plays certain notes of a D chord depending on what the guitar is playing. I think these three instruments work well together in the chorus, and come together to make a nice sounding chorus for the song, even if the guitar can get repetitive by the end of the song. The drum beat is just a simple rock drum beat, with some variations at the end of each bar.
It then goes into a verse that keeps the same instrumentation but swaps the keyboard for an ambient synth. The guitar plays chords here, with the ambient synth backing the guitar up. The chord progression is D major, G, D major, G, D minor. The bass creates the melody in this verse, as the guitar and synth are playing block chords. The drums have the same rhythm as the bass, apart from on every fourth bar. I like this verse, it is different from the chorus with a different melody and rhythm whilst still sounding like it is part of the same song. The ambient synth can sound a bit out of place, as it is an electronic instrument and most of the instrumentation sounds like acoustic instruments.
After the first verse, there is another chorus, which leads to this breakdown. My inspiration for this breakdown was “Killing in The Name” by Rage Against the Machine. The keyboard uses the same chords as what it is playing in the chorus, just with a different rhythm. The same goes for the bass. I personally really like this part of the song, I think it provides a well needed rest but it keeps the tempo up, fits with the song, and overall just sounds quite nice. After the breakdown it is a shorter chorus, it is half the length of all the others.
The second verse is identical to the first, but I added a lead guitar. I was inspired by Cottonwood Firing Squad for this lead guitar part. It is quite a simple part, as it just just playing an E and an F sharp note with quite a fast rhythm though. When the chord progression starts again, the lead guitar goes down an octave but plays the same part, and for the rest of the verse it alternates between the two octaves. This lead guitar part is okay, it adds some texture to the song, however I could’ve made it more interesting by adding different variations of it. There is another chorus after this verse to end the song.
Guitar effects. I used a digital amplifier to make it punchier and add a different sound to it, a chorus effect, and reverb to make it sound full and I also did an EQ. I think this guitar sounds great, however, I could’ve spent more time on the EQ as it was done quite quickly with only one listen to check how it sounds.
Lead guitar effects. I copied and pasted the chorus, EQ, and reverb effects from the main guitar onto this. I did add an overdrive effect, to boost the volume in a nice sounding way. The same improvements for the main guitar also apply here.
Bass effects. I used a bass amp to make it pop more, and a filter to remove the low end buzz this bass created. Both these effects do a good job, however an EQ and some reverb could’ve made this bass sound even better.
Drum effects. I used a drum buss, which acts as a compressor and as some other effects, and a drum reverb. I could’ve used an EQ on the drums, but as it is one drum kit and not a separate channel for each drum, I thought it would be best to leave the EQ so it doesn’t get messy, it also sounds good like this.
Ambient synth effects. I used a filter to cut off the high end sounds that weren’t needed, and an auto pan to make it bounce left and right. Compression would’ve been useful for this synth, as the volume of it is quite up and down.
Keyboard effects. I used a compressor, an EQ, a reverb, and a spectral resonator. They all combine to make a nice sound.
Overall, this song is a good first attempt at a song and something I can be proud of. Some improvements are to make the song a bit less simple, add a few more chords or a different part, add more variation to what already exists, master it as I didn’t attempt that, and make the panning of the track more interesting.