I composed this short piece for my Music Theory I class at LCC as my final project for the fall term of 2020. I set out with two simple goals:

1. I wanted to piano to be the central instrument in the piece since this is my first year studying piano

2. In addition to standard notation for all instruments, I wanted to use some effects and notate those

The initial rhythmic concept was conceived in 5/8, but it made more sense to notate it according to how the phrase was accented, which resulted in a time signature change in almost every measure. Later in the song, I created another part that was based on the initial 5/8 idea but is in 12/8 compound meter. I tied the two sections together with a stripped-down bridge where the piano rises and falls in a single note line and the core idea of the song was written.

The recording was done in my home studio and after layering other instruments including glockenspiel, Moog, and drums on the initial piano part I notated those additional parts and the FX manipulation I used to create some spacey effect.

One of the challenges in creating this piece was figuring out when to notate ideas immediately and when to go ahead and record ideas and worry about notating later. My takeaway is that both techniques can be used in conjunction. Initially, it made sense to notate the core ideas as soon as I figured them out. As I built layers upon the initial piano part there was no reason to stop and notate, so I let the ideas flow, then notated all of the extra additions when the recording was done. The vocals were an unnecessary addition.