'Foggy Mirrors' - 20 Minute Jazz Songwriting Challenge! - Electronic/Ableton Instrumental + Walkthrough!
Last night I decided to do another
timed challenge, and try and write something 'jazzy' in 20 minutes or less, so I focused on Track 1, our piano, and then used that progression to fill in the bass, marimba, and bells that come in, and then just made a drum track that was pretty basic but worked pretty well. By the end of 20 minutes, I was surprised how "complete" it all seemed! Let's go through it!
Listen to Foggy Mirrors here.
Track 1 is our main piano
and provides all the harmony for the rest of the track. Like the previous song I shared, I initially mapped out some basic diads and triads, then added extra voices to spice things up. I was actually really stoked with how this came out, I spent probably 10/15 minutes of the 20 getting the harmony to where it fit, so I suddenly realized I had 5 minutes to create the rest of a track haha. Which gave me a bit of inspiration actually, and I decided to utilize some midi effects to achieve that.
Track 1, the main progression, described above.
Track 1, the main progression, described above.Tracks 2 and 3 are the next instruments
to come in, both of which are mirrors of the progression Track 1 plays. However, I added an arpeggiator to them, one at a swung 1/8th note rhythm, and the other with 16ths I believe. Since I only had 5 minutes or less at this point, this little trick worked pretty great. Makes it sound like a different instrument playing something unique, but really its just the same chords, broken up into different arpeggiated patterns.
Listen to Foggy Mirrors here.
Track 4 is our drums
which I also added an 1/8th note swing groove to, which made that ride that comes in fit with Tracks 2 and 3. We then add the kicks and snares, which I sort of developed accidentally, just sort of dropped things in to save time, and it worked out decently with a little editing. Track 5 is our last track, which is the bass, and also the progression from Track 1, arpeggiated, but with a swing too, so it feels a bit like a walking bass line, despite the fact that I didn't edit the harmony at all.
Granted, an arpeggiator wouldn't be the best thing to use if I was actually composing each part individually, but under a time crunch, and with no other options, it actually turned out great haha. That's why I like doing these timed challenges, it forces you to find little tricks or timesaving effects to get you by, which can be useful in later song-writing! Hope you enjoy the song!!
||| EP 1 - Bandcamp | EP 2 - Bandcamp | EP 3 - Bandcamp |||
||| EP 4 - Bandcamp | EP 5 - Bandcamp | EP 6- Bandcamp |||
