Composition Story:
“Still Alive” is a piano composition that tells the story of a life that feels like it’s repeating, like the days are just repeating. This is shown by the repetition of each little riff. Gradually, we hear the right hand pick up more, which reflects the persons thoughts of needing to do something about the repetition, something to ignite some reason to live. After we get the repetition in the right hand, we get a sense of urgency in the right hand, it’s repetition is continuous and louder. The way it repeats two times, on four different chords, really keeps the urgency playing in the listeners mind. This little motif then comes to an abrupt end, symbolising the persons metaphorical death. There is a bar of silence before the repetition of F#. The repetition of the F# acts as the hospitals heartbeat monitor, showing that the persons life has been restored. Finally, we have a much lighter tone in the left hand, showing their rebirth into a new life and a new chapter. The ending is purposely meant to sound ‘unfinished’ because it’s showing how this person just lived in survival mode for years [the repetition] but now they’re able to embark into a new part of life. The ending sounds a little ‘unstable’ because some notes are outside of the key, like D# and F, but it’s to reflect how life isn’t stable, and you’re meant to feel unstable sometimes, but it’s ok.
Writing Process:
To begin with, I had a little riff that I wanted to work around, like an initial idea, even though it didn’t actually end up making the final piece. In the end, that riff inspired a story line that I wanted to create. Once I had the riff, I figured out what key that riff was in, which turned out to be A major/F# minor. Then, I sat with the riff for a little while and formulated the story, using solely the left hand. I focused more on the left side because I wanted it to sound heavy at first, meaning that the left would be leading. At the start, I had many different ideas that I wanted to incorporate, such as arpeggios, octaves, crescendo/decrescendo, for effect etc . Then, I kept playing and writing until I felt like I could hear the story that I envisioned. From my first composition, I remembered being told that motifs were important so I made sure to include motifs, using arpeggios over different chords. Overall, I created three drafts, taking three hours over the course of three days.
Once I figured out what story I wanted to create, I had two initial ideas. I went with ” Still Alive” because it gave me the opportunity to end on a lighter tone. I think the ‘unfinished’ feel really compliments the “Still Alive” title, and the end of the story is reflected really well in the title.
I wrote the “1,2,3,4, 1 —” because it’s the count inside of my head. I felt like the story notation, “repetitive – life”, was really helpful in keeping on track of where I was in the story, so I could lead easier into the next part of the story.
The final had a strong right hand, which carried the heaviness on the story, and the arpeggios in the right hand really pushed the movement from each part of the story. The left hand handles the emotions, heavy feelings, and the right hand reflects on the different stages of the person, in the story, is moving into different chapters of their life.
I indicated when I wanted to turn the volume up on the piano and how it reflected on the story. The “pulse” is saying how the F# is reflecting a heart monitor. I felt like it needed to be isolated and played on a higher volume because, after the silence for a bar, it causes suspense.
Noting how it goes out of key is important to the story because it reflects on how life is unsteady, and it stops me changing the ending to fit back in the key.
Motif 1 was the initial starting point. I took it out of the final piece because I didn’t feel like it fit the story or the piece very well. This draft was very messy and it was more about writing down my initial ideas and melodies that I had in mind, so later I could move them around and see what works. A lot of these didn’t make the final piece but they did help me formulate the story.
Draft 2 was more about keeping the melodies that fitted well together and moving them around to tell a story. In this one, there was a little decrescendo part, that I really like the idea of because it created suspense, but it didn’t make the final piece. However, that part did help me realise that I wanted the F# to act as a hospital monitor, so basically it finished the story so I could write it.
Cover Photo:
The cover photo is a piece of poetry that I wrote a few days ago. I felt like this poem really reflected the fable story, it’s basically telling you to find the beauty in the story, feel everything and just experience life, instead of living in survival mode. By the end of the composition, this is what you should be feeling, or at least see that the person in the story is feeling this way. I like the little detail of putting it in the “reminders” to really express that this is the mindset that this person has at the end. To begin with, I had two different ideas for a cover photo. My first idea was to have tarot cards on the piano, like the “death” card, because at the end, the person in the story has a new life and it’s like the old person died. The cards would also have created the enigma of “what died”? This would have reflected really well on the story because it was initially gloomy, however, I was afraid that people wouldn’t have understood the lighter toned ending if I had the title, beginning and the cover art all dark and then just a lighter toned end. Due to this, I felt like the poem really reflected ending really well, and it kind of gives the listener something to leave with, they get a new mindset and it’s like a fresh start at life for them too.
Improvements:
Although I am very happy with the outcome, I still would have loved to flesh out some parts more. For example, I still need to work a lot on my timing, so I can hear myself fall, slightly, out of time. However, I think it could also reflect the instability of life again, so it works well for the story. The levels at the end were very bad because I had to film on my phone, at home, so I couldn’t check the levels. If I was to do it again, I’d prefer to mic up a piano properly, and check the levels to begin with, so it wouldn’t sound so distorted at the end. I, also, would have preferred for certain parts to be more fluid, like not as many little pauses where I had to check where my hand was. Lastly, I’d love to have filmed something with water, like rain or the ocean, to symbolise the heaviness of the piece, and set the tone. However,, I feel like filming my hands made it more intimate and it allowed you to just listen.