Creator Diaries: Part 3 - How I Make Music
Creating the demo for “MK8 Love” was my 2021 summer. I knew this song had to be made, and I finally plucked up the courage to buy a good microphone and start recording. Thank God I did, because I loved every second of it, and every second of every other song I’ve made since. But “MK8 Love” holds a special place in my heart. It is full of joy, fun and passion. I love the ideas I thought of, I love the sounds I created, and I love how the song came together. Hopefully many of you will have listened to the demo by now and have taken something from it. My goal is to be able to share a final mix of the fully produced track soon, but for now, let's take this opportunity to analyse the demo of "MK8 Love".
In this blog series, I want to share my experiences of creating music as a young, new musician. The series will track the process of creating my first song from conception to release. Through sharing my processes and experiences the aim is that artists and new musicians can find confidence, guidance, support and company in some of their musical challenges. I am by no means an expert in this, and I don’t want to pretend to be. I merely hope that my experiences can help other musicians who want to get their music out there and create the music they love. In this third post, I’d like to breakdown how I produced the demo for MK8 Love section by section and analyse how and why I made the decisions I did.
Before I dive into the analysis, it’s important to say that this demo is by no means perfect. With microphone recording, background noise and instrumentation issues, as well as problems with my own recording and timing, there are many things I want to change. Further, Pro Tools First (free) allows for only 16 tracks, restricting and constraining my ideas. If I had the space to make ten harmony double tracks like Jacob Collier, I may have more scope to realise my ideas. But this is my first attempt, and I’m cutting myself a bit of slack. The objective was to try and realise my song and make something that indicates my vision so it can be produced professionally. I’ve tried not to overly concern myself with how others would interpret the demo, as it’s more a canvas for creativity and experimentation. With this the back of our minds, let’s dive into the breakdown.
Starting From Half-Way
Because I was most recently inspired by my Fmaj7-Gmaj(add4)-Ebmaj7-Dmin7 progression, it’s where I started my recording – not from the beginning, but from the middle of the track.
After adding a click track to the session, I started by recording my electric piano through my Blue Yeti microphone (as I didn’t have a MIDI cable) using the Yamaha P-35’s combined electric piano and strings preset for a fuller, richer and more ethereal sound. I started with the chords because I already knew what the drums would sound like through my beatboxing, so I needed a track to listen to for recording vocals. Because of the limited tracks, recording lead vocals took me ages as I couldn’t do a few takes and filter out the best bits. I had to make sure I did a perfect (or at least good enough) take. Once I had the piano and lead, harmony lines were easier to write. I recorded a three-part high tone harmony to supplement the piano. Because the chords are so powerful alone, I wanted my harmonies not to distract from them, so the harmonies follow the descending progression. They are purposefully in a high vocal register so the sound isn’t muddied, which can quite easily happen when lower notes are clumped together, especially in something like an added fourth chord. I decided to build them on top of each other every four bars to add a bit of development so the section wouldn’t sound static.
The next task was to write a bassline. In my head I though of a new, syncopated line to sing, F-A-C-B-G-Eb-G-Bb-A-F, but I moved this down to the bassline and when I played it, I just started to smile. I beatboxed over the bassline with my recorded parts playing in my ears for at least ten minutes before doing anything else as this was a straight bop. I added some vocal whispers and breaths to add some dynamics and textures - everything I did just felt natural and playful.
The Finale
Recording the final section demonstrated to me how fluid and open to change songwriters and producers must be. My preconceived notion of the song’s structure had to be adapted to fit my new ideas.
After recording the melody, I found that I didn’t want to dive right into the “Lovin you…” section as it felt a bit harsh, and the staccato piano didn’t allow the listener to experience the new chords fully. I added eight bars and filled it with a harmonised vocal line, a slightly new rhythm and drum sound, and some vocal riffs. On the “Lovin you” melody then, I kept a singular backing vocal riff but removed the harmonies until the second half of the lead vocals. In this second half, I have three distinct vocal rhythms and melodies singing. One lead melody, a second riffing over it, and a three-layered harmony singing “I’m outta’ love with you”. I like this part as it creates musical interest by introducing textures and layers. The loud and belted riff acts as a transitionary tool by carrying over to and contrasting the new airy Fmaj-Cmin11 chords. It also manages to fill the space, with the synth solo piercing through the front while the riff echoes in the back of the mix.
In the solo section, I also changed my preconceived structure by adding another eight bars of the same chords but stripped it back, removing the piano while finding tone through vocal harmonies, and introducing a new melody with a staccato bassline. The melody came to me kind of off-the-cuff and was more of a why-not decision, that turned out to be very helpful for re-establishing a build to the climax of the song.
Coming to the song’s end, I knew I wanted to resolve and finish strong on the Fmaj. After playing around on the keyboard I decided to extend the final part of the solo and do a 1-3-4-3 run over Fmaj followed by a 5-7-1-7 over an Fmaj7. The super-suspenseful 7th note wants desperately to resolve, which made returning to this massive Fmaj with added 2nds (functionally heard as the root or resolution) that fills the entire keyboard even more satisfying and powerful. I love this chord so much because it perfectly encapsulates the euphoric satisfaction of completing a journey, or, in keeping with my theme, finishing a Mario Kart track.
Coming Full Circle
With the second half of the song complete and drums and effects added, I recorded the first half. Largely, I followed how I had written the song, implementing a few vocal harmonies and riffs over the main lines. I wanted to keep this section simple and like pop song. The 808 drums and bassline are consistent but include various fills, while atmospheric wisps provide an elevating space feel and harmonies provide some countermelodies and texture. Yet, the track still sounded a bit empty and disparate. First, the transition from the original “Time After Time” sounding progression to the fun “Human Nature” sounding section wasn’t smooth. Second, the opening was lacklustre and didn’t effectively introduce the track.
With the introduction, I wanted the scale of the track to be represented and thought it would be interesting to foreshadow the melodies and motifs in a cinematic fashion. To do this, I reduced the pace of the track by elongating the chord lengths from one bar to two and added a melody which sounds almost like an arpeggio but deviates on the 3rd chord and includes various second and fourth notes to provide a more adventurous feel. I also foreshadowed the final section by transitioning into a bassline used later over the finale’s chord progression and slowed down and altered the pop synth melody to finish on an F, ready for the move to the main progression.
Although the first section was over, I didn’t want the next section to feel like a bridge and needed to smoothen the transition to imply the musical development. To fix this, I doubletimed the main progression with a fast beat, then dramatically stripped back the drums and melodies, so that the chords provide room for the strong bassline groove, F-A-C-B-G-Eb-G-Bb-A-F, to burst through. This seemed like enough to smoothly transition into the new section…but I couldn’t get the bassline out of my head. I kept humming the bassline an octave above, and I thought, “damn this is a vibe”. So, I added twelve bars of Fmaj7-Gmaj(add4)-Ebmaj7-Dmin7, reduced the beats to a steady kick drum and held a two-layered “ooo” harmony over them. I just started singing…
“Where did the bass go, baby I don’t know…Where did the bass go, guess it’s a no show.”
I took out the bass to mimic the lyrics, recorded the vocals, and felt like I had something really special. It was so playful and fun. I kept adding little whispers and vocals to sit in the background and make the section feel intimate and personal. I then wondered how I’d bring the bass back in. I chose to remove the first four bars of the bassline from the “restless nights…” section and then belted out “Here it is!” before the bass punches back in on the next bar. This is my favourite section of the whole piece because it perfectly encapsulates my personality and adds flair to the track. It is also functional as well, helping to signify that the song is transitioning into a colourful, upbeat banger.
Transitions and Vocal Effects
With the song complete the next problem was bringing it all together. I wanted every transition to feel natural, like the listener expected it to go there, and when it did, it wasn’t a sudden jolt of change. The idea of “MK8 Love” was to feel like a natural journey where the listener was being guided through the experience. The song would thus benefit from smooth transitions, foreshadowing and natural changes.
When transitioning between the Fmaj7-Gmaj(add4)-Ebmaj7-Dmin7 to the verse’s Fmaj7-Gmaj(add4)-Emin7-Fmaj, and then into the “Lovin’ you…” section’s Fmaj/C-Dbmaj7-Gmin7#5-Fmaj progression, I made sure to include a short alternative progression, Fmaj7-Fmaj-Gmaj(add4)-Fmaj7-Fmaj-Cmin11. I filled this short section with high reverbed call and response “woahs”, and more elongated notes in the bassline, trying to evoke a floaty atmosphere to contrast the strength and power of the previous section. Not only did this help ease the transition into the new sound that the “Lovin’ you…” section would bring, but it foreshadowed the upcoming Fmaj-Cmin11 synth solo section. I had managed to naturalise the transition and foreshadow the development of the song simultaneously. For other transitions I used a variety of vocal lines like “to see if I’m alright” and wisps to crossover chord changes, or used short, vocalised sounds like “Yo” and whispers like “5,4,3,2”.
With some minor changes I exported the mix and had my first track. “MK8 Love” was now complete.
I may have been limited in how I created this track. But limitations can breed creativity, and I feel mine has come through. “MK8 Love” is my first demo, my first full song, and hopefully soon to be my first release. I’d like to emphasise that I’m not an expert in this and that this breakdown is by no means exhaustive. But I hope that my experience and analysis can help others develop their music, and that many of you can take inspiration or ideas from how I’ve managed to produce "MK8 Love".