How I Did It
Tools I Used
Garageband
Samples I Used
Hey Bird Vocals by Orrisroot from cc Mixter
Garageband loops
Original Samples
None
Process
By ear, painfully
Other Notes
I wanted to see if I could create a convincing sounding piano piece just from the 18 Delicate Piano loops in Garageband. The Hey Bird Lyrics were sufficiently flexible tune wise to be fitted to the preexisting loops.
By ear I estimated the lyrics to be in the key of G Major and I slowed the tempo down from the original by 8%. I modified the voice sound to have a smokier/bar-room feel. I simplified the lyrics partly to tighten the lyrical story but mostly of necessity to fit the music - I would have ideally used more of the lyrics.
The Garageband loops were played originally on a Steinway piano. These are notoriously loud and harsh so I modified the tone to sound softer, like a European piano such as a Bosendorfer to better integrate with the voice.
A lot of work was needed to trim and overlay the loops to make it sound like a real pianist is playing. Although most of the time only one piano is playing it requires four tracks to replicate the way a pianist would actually time their keystrokes.
I didn't use all 18 loops but I did extensively cut up and rework the ones I did use.
Overall the musical idea is to for the singer to set the scene - dreaming about the bird in flight, there is then a musical interval where one can imagine the bird flying and then a recapitulation.
I'm very grateful to Orrisroot for the inspiration.
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