Critical evaluation



The process of searching for ideas and seeking inspiration towards the creation of my original composition came to mind when I first began narrowing down ideas that were drawn from my basic knowledge from prior musical writing. As I generally stick to a specific genre in terms of writing lyrics, which is my standard starting point when creating a song, I find that the melody of a piece comes easier to me once I have discovered a theme and created a mood which I can further develop into an original melody. There were several methods that came to mind when exploring ways to experiment with creating a musical instrumental background, such as online programs, which although initially complex in its use, was the only tool to aid me in writing music, as I have very little practice with playing musical instruments, however enough theoretical knowledge to create music with the support of musical programs.

My first idea came about whilst listening to a deep house mix I found on YouTube with a Jazz overtone (Peggy Lee - Fever (Stavros Remix). I liked the originality of the concept which was something I was inspired to further look into. My initial idea was to use existing deep house tracks and change certain elements such as the tempo rhythm and overall sound design of the piece. Furthermore I was planning to create a lyrical jazz melody to sing over the edited tracks with the use of the program ‘ableton live’, which was recommended to me. As this idea turned out to be more complex than expected with more experienced knowledge of track mixing techniques required, I decided to focus on something else.

My next source of inspiration snuck up on me while listening to evanescence. It allowed me to imagine a distinct foundation of what I wanted to base my work on. Due to her general repetition of piano melodies, drawn mainly from violin drones and simplistic drum beats as well as sustained vocal melodies for example one of her known songs ‘Hello’. I envisioned creating something similar, keeping in mind her dark and ominous overtone which is a genre of music I have previously practiced vocally on. I drew a liking to her quote, “I think that our lyrics are definitely dark, but I know for a fact that we pull our inspiration from a million different influences. We listened to everything growing up. Our music isn't just 'opera metal' or 'gothic pop' it's just Evanescence.” This rang true to me as one’s inspirations for songwriting tend to be the product of their environments and experiences rather than words that they thought of at the moment and matched to a melody.

After writing lyrics drawn from this concept, I seeked out the help of a friend in using the program ‘Cubase’ to create the melody as it proved to be the most comprehensive and complete professional toolset, especially if you have a windows computer as it is one of the most known programs for professional musical use by producers. With the use of a midi controller keyboard, I was able to compose a melody that matched the lyrics I had written, allowing me to create the song I had envisioned. I was then shown how to attach a new library plugin, where I included more instrument’s for every sound I wanted to construct on top of my created melody, giving my piece a richer sound as well as sticking to the original foundation drawn from evanescence’s musical tones.






BIBLIOGRAPHY





unknown. (2015). Evanescence > Quotes. Available: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/719723.Evanescence. Last accessed 14/01/15.

TooStepMusic. (Published on Feb 16, 2013). Peggy Lee - Fever (Stavroz Remix). Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvNlXpC4MlA. Last accessed 14/01/15.




TinaRR. (Uploaded on Feb 12, 2007). Evanescence - Hello. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih61MJ72v1Y. Last accessed 14/01/15.