Being a parent in this world requires us to put our child(ren) in daycare which, inevitably, will get us sick at more than one point or another. I’ve recently been hit with a dreadful bug that gave me night sweats to the point that I was sleeping in my bathrobe and using towels as my sheets and blankets and still sweating through them all.
I wasn’t able to play my guitar or sing during this time, but I was able, when I could finally muster the strength, to plunk away on my MIDI keyboard. So, with that all said, this week is about making an instrumental track using your keyboard and the sounds within your DAW (digital audio workstation: Logic Pro, Reaper, Protools, etc.)
Where do I start?
The same place as always, Pinky, the chord progression! Once you get a chord progression going, you can start to build melodies and themes in your head. Now, since I’m using Logic Pro, I am just going to use the sounds within the “Orchestral” section with the only exception being the “Grand Piano With Pad” which I used to choose the harmony for this piece – which is C major 7, A minor 7, E minor 7, F major 7.
After you have a chord progression (and tempo, of course) going, it’s time to start either improvising melodies on your keyboard or, if you can, whistling some melodies over top of the progression you’ve laid down. I chose to whistle and then transcribe (transfer) my whistling quickly to the keyboard.
What instruments should I use?
Whatever you want! I chose to use the following instruments in this piece:
- Flute – for the highest melody that comes in a bit later as a sort of counter melody
- Clarinet Solo – the main melody is first presented in this instrument
- French Horns – the main melody then transfers to this section and then builds to harmonize the melody
- Tubular Bells – this is used as a single note shot with each root of the piano pad
- Grand Piano With Pad – for laying down the foundation of the harmony
- Harp – this is for the change in timbre from the Grand Piano to a gradual arpeggiated section using the same harmony
- Celesta – this is the final melody that helps fade out with the Harp to add a further change in timbre and colour to close off the piece
The beauty of something like this is that it really doesn’t take long to make and can be quite comforting to listen to and work on when you’re feeling under the weather.
How can I fade out sections or instruments?
This can be done in many ways. I chose to write everything as a MIDI file in Logic Pro using my MIDI keyboard first, then I exported them all as individual .wav files so I could place them in the same project underneath everything else. To get them to fade out in sections, I selected the “Fade Tool” then clicked and dragged where I wanted them to fade to and from using the ends of files/sounds/sections as my targets so they would fade to nothing over a period of time.
Can I hear the piece you wrote?
Of course! I hope you enjoy the peaceful dissonance within. Here it is:
There are no lyrics or anything, of course, so that’s why I haven’t referred to this as a song, because it isn’t. It’s, more accurately, a tune or a piece of music. But those are just semantics, more than anything else. You’ll notice that there are some small parts where the notes are smearing together between the clarinet and flute sections. This is because I chose to put certain melodic and harmonic notes one semitone apart, so this will, inevitably and without doubt, cause a little bit of friction and dissonance.
Parting words
With being so under the weather and unable to touch my main instrument or properly help my family, I’ve been feeling particularly down and have tried hard to not kick myself for it. So, with that, I’m reminding myself as well as anyone reading this that we need to be kind to ourselves, even if or when we feel less than useful.
There are still things that we can do to be helpful within our own musical house as well as around our physical homes when we’re unwell. We just have to wash our hands (literally or figuratively) when we want to get working on something and understand that, if we aren’t feeling even close to 50%, it’s going to be real hard to put in 100% like we’re used to.
Sometimes, in all honesty, and in the words of my wonderful partner, the best thing we can do is just take time to rest and get back to our full selves. Remember when you were a kid and you thought that quick sand would be a big part of your life when you grew up? Well, I guess we could think of trying to push forward when we’re really sick as that quick sand because, if we don’t take the time to rest, we’re just getting more tired because we are expending so much energy to get nowhere.
Apart from the philosophical discussions on life and how to deal with being sick, I do actually teach music. You’re welcome to book a lesson or contact me for a better deal booking a package of lessons at your convenience. Check out my services page if you haven’t to see packages I offer. Remember to practice your instrument and compassion for yourself and others around you.
Thank you for your time and I’ll be doing my best to rest up and get back to 100% for you all.
All the best,
– Matt