Having started a band recently, I proposed the ideas I had for this project to them and they were enthusiastic to record and perform the EP. This gave me an unusual ensemble to work with, the line up being harp, guitar, bass, drums, saxophone and vocals. While this was initially daunting due to the many different textures I would now have to consider, I soon found the limitations, e.g. the harp can't change key, singer has a limited range, provided me with a faster route towards my decisions.
Movement 4 is now finished but I had to make the tough decision to completely scratch my composition for the first movement. It sounded far too much like a Billie Joel inspired song and so it didn't sit within the same environment as the neo-soul inspired 4th movement. The shift was jagged and ugly as opposed to complementary.
The only movement I have yet to start on is movement 3, as this upbeat and dancey track I have decided should be made on an audio interface with a very repetitive chord progression, if I were to write it on a piano like the rest it would become an overly-complicated song. I will also write it in triple time to make it different to the rest and to match the waltzes often used in the 3rd movement of a symphony.
By this point all the pieces are made in my head and on some ugly scores on Musescore, so in order to show my band what I have come up with I made some demos on Ableton. This also allowed me to listen to the lengths of different sections to decide what needs to change in the structure. To make the demos I recorded myself playing guitar and bass and singing. I used stock sounds for the rest of the instruments. This resulted in a lot of revisions of structure wherever my imagination was different to the outcome. I also ran the demos by my friends constantly to see what feedback a fresh set of ears can give.
With performing live still an aim, I made a list of all the venues I could see our band playing in and sent an email off to each of them, each one tailored to the venue and advertising our band. By this point we also had some videos of us playing in a university concert to share with them.
Below - Our band playing in Firth Hall
Below - The later disregarded leadsheet for the first movement
