We Shine
This is my first Portfolio project. I started this song with the beat, which was 4/4 timing with a tempo of 90 bpm. "We Shine", has two sections with one in a major key and one in a minor key. As the song progressed, the second part was written first.
​
I tried to keep the beat for the second part simple with the snare on the 2 and the 4 as the backbeat. The beat reminds me of Phil Collins, "In the Air Tonight". The key is in F Major and the melody follows the notes of this key. The harmony chords are Dm/F/Am/Gm. This section sounded really open, like clouds parting and the sun shining through. The image I pictured informed what my first section would be.
​
I made the first section feel and sound like a dark rainy day that did not break yet. I used the original beat, rearranged the kick, snare, and added extra high-hats. The key of this first section was in D minor with the melody following the notes of the same key. The chords I used for the harmony were Dm/Gm7/Dsus4/Gm and Dm/Gm/Asus4/Am. The lyrics of this song are only in this section and are, "when the clouds part, we shine". The lyrics bring both sections of the song together.
​
I used a Shure SM57 to record the vocals and the beat boxing part. For processing, I used a channel EQ on the kick, snare, hi-hats, bass, sampler, harmonies, melodies, and the beat box track. A compressor was used on the kick, snare, hi-hats, bass, sampler, and harmonies. There was chorus on bus 1 for the melodies and reverb on bus 2 for the harmonies. I also used a flanger on the sampler part of the vocals.
​
This project was challenging, inspiring, and fun. My favorite part was having the honor of bringing my son along in the process, and hearing the creativeness of his part. It is a mirror of who I am in sound. I hope you enjoy it.
​
​
​