Creating an Original Song

This week's challenge was to compose an original song.  It is a complicated process.  I frequently arrange songs or write melodies for existing text.  I am quite comfortable with that aspect of composition.  During this process, I realized that I do not have much if any experience as a lyricist.  When I began my composition, I started with a children’s book.  Children’s books are often where I draw my inspiration and this particular book has been on my shelf for several years.  The book has no words, just pictures.   I looked at the visual storyline, jotted down some ideas for lyrics, and made some marks for vocal contour.  From there, the composition process took a different direction. 

I started working on melody the way I teach my students.  I came up with a simple melodic line and created a set of elemental phrases.   I tend to be a visual learner so I used Noteflight in this part of the process.  My phrases automatically centered on the I, IV, and V chords since that is where I spend most of my time teaching.  After I had my A section, I created a contrasting B section of the same length.   I now had thirty-two measures of melody but no accompaniment. 

After accompanying myself on my guitar, I decided to experiment with garage band and see what I could do there with multiple instruments.  In a way, it felt like cheating to have the app play my music for me, but it also seemed like the smartest way to approach making an mp3 for the purposes of the assignment.  It was fun to play with the smart guitar and smart drums.  I found a guitar groove and percussion timbres that seemed to work well together and enhanced the guitar part. 

Lyrics.  That is where I got stuck.  I am a vocalist and have always used words to convey music.  Ironically, when it came time for me to use my own words, I could not find them.   The book I had chosen as inspiration was not inspiring me.  I could not find the right words to match the melodic line.  As a vocalist, I knew what vowels I wanted for certain notes, but the story didn’t fit where the song was leading.  I decided to forgo my original book inspiration and go with the vowels and the words that kept coming to my head for the chorus.  This change of theme worked as a springboard in the writing process.  My melody and lyrics led into what could be classified as a ballad.  There is room for several verses to tell the story of a maiden and her lost love, but the audience will hear the abridged version in my recording.

Garage Band for iPad was frustrating when I could not figure out how to see the entire song.  After searching a number of tutorials and not finding the “puzzle piece” icon on my version of Garage Band for iPad, I decided to rerecord the song as a complete unit of 45 measures one track at a time.  I was concerned about some of the pickup notes in the vocals not being precise.   After recording the three tracks – guitar, percussion, and voice, I played with the reverberation and echo effects.  I decided to add a little reverb as it fit the seashore setting of the song.  I also added an introduction, interlude, and coda. 

Finally, I needed to create some images for my audience to see as they listened to my song.  My eleven–year–old gave me some helpful hints about creating an iMovie and how to import music and images.  I will say that the most frustrating part of using technology is when it does not cooperate.  I had issues in the uploading stage.  It is a very stressful feeling to have finished product that is locked in a device and will not come out. 

I feel I learned a lot from this process, both as a musician and as a tech user.  The tech tools we have been learning about for the last few weeks were put to good use in the creation of this project.  As for application in my classroom, song creation would be a good experience in bringing multiple skills together in one project. 

The Maiden’s Love by Karin Schatte

A maiden walked alone by the edge of the shore

Thinking of her lover gone to war

She came to the place where they’d made their last vow

La loo la loo la lay

O why, Love, why did you go

And leave this pain in my heart to grow?

O why, Love, why did you go

And leave me here all alone?

The maiden walked along with the wind in her hair

Along to the churchyard to pray for him there

One single rose she placed upon his grave

La loo la loo la lay

O why, Love, why did you go

And leave this pain in my heart to grow?

O why, Love, why did you go

And leave me here all alone?

You left me here all alone.

La loo la loo la lay