[Poem to Song] I arranged PJ's song 'Dream of Running Away': I'll write down the whole process
The other day, I wrote on the Shirokuma Literature Club asking if anyone would like to set a poem I wrote to music.
It was PJ who, with god-like speed, created a melody for it.
Since this poem wasn't written as lyrics, I think it must have been difficult to create a melody for it.
Yet, it was brilliantly put together into a song.
The content of the poem is relatively dark, but by having it set to a song that feels like it's moving toward the future, the path ahead has become a brighter world.
And since I was given the chord progression for this song, I took the baton and arranged it further.
It ended up being quite 'Ohashi-style' ^^;
It was interesting because this was the first time I've created a song through a process where the poem comes first, then a melody is added, and then I arrange it.
Since I've come this far, I'd like to explain a little about this arrangement.
I don't usually explain my songs, but I thought the process of how it turned out this way after receiving the song from PJ might be useful to someone.
◎ Where to start the arrangement
Since I can't play any instruments, I create all my compositions by inputting musical scores into music software.
I use software called Reason.
It seems quite rare to use this as my main tool, though...
So, when I usually make a song, I start by thinking about the riff.
A riff is a repeated phrase or chord progression.
I think about the melody last, and the poem is thought of after the melody is finished.
This time, the poem came first, and then the melody and chord progression were added.
It's the exact opposite of my usual way of creating.
So, I first input the song's chord progression with a temporary bass sound, and then layered PJ's vocals, which I extracted, on top of it.
*It's the 21st century, where you can easily extract just the voice from the audio of the YouTube video PJ made.
I started by adding the riff to that.
This time, I created it with a simple arpeggio to match the tone of the song.
An arpeggio is when chords are broken up and played in sequence.
◎ About the rhythm
The BPM of this song is 150.
BPM stands for Beats Per Minute, which is the speed of the song based on the number of beats per minute.
150 is quite fast.
But I think this song sounds relaxed.
That is because it is made with a half-tempo.
Even though the beat is set at 150 beats per minute, I'm creating it with a feel of 75 beats per minute, which is half the speed.
It's hard to convey in writing, isn't it?
With this kind of song structure, you can start with a relaxed atmosphere and then make it feel like it's doubled in speed halfway through.
Since it's a song about running, I wanted to create a sense of speed, so I added a drum and bass rhythm in the second half.
Drum and bass is characterized by its intricate rhythms.
In the video, the beat starts to come in a little from the first chorus around 1:19, and it kicks in fully at 1:51.
◎ About the chord progression
I had the melody made with little variation in the A-melody and B-melody, and with the pitch starting to move in the chorus.
So, I thought it might be cool to create a sense of speed in the chorus, and I decided to go with a one-chord (keeping one chord) for the first chorus.
I wanted the second half to be emotional, so I introduced a chord progression for the second chorus.
◎ About the vocals
The A-melody has a melody with little variation.
Listening to this, I was reminded of the androids that appear in the foreign drama 'Legion'.
They (she?) spoke as if they were singing.
So, the A-melody ended up with this kind of harmony.
In most cases, I create my vocals by layering two identical phrases.
It's called a double.
The A-melody is a four-note chord, so a total of eight of me are singing.
I also used PJ's voice in the chorus.
By the way, I can't find the time to go to a studio, so I always sing and record at home. Sorry for the noise.
Since I don't have soundproofing equipment, I usually sing at about 30% output. That in itself is interesting because it's a different voice than when I'm performing live.
That's how I did this arrangement!!
It was completely different from creating a song from scratch, and it was a lot of fun.
PJ, thank you for collaborating with me☆
PJ is also currently planning a collaboration.
You should definitely try this out too!!