MARCH WALTZ
from Roger E. Hosted by Roger E.
As most of my listeners know, the art of creating and recording original music is for me a constant process. The process itself is different every time I do it...sometimes starting with a chord progression, sometimes a melody line or phrase, sometimes a rhythmic figure, and if I'm very lucky sometimes a complete idea comes gifted from the Universe, often at 3:00 in the morning. After all, as the notoriously prolific Paul McCartney once replied when asked about his writing method, "It's not engineering!" Yet there are other ways of making original music, and March Waltz is a textbook example. I began at the piano with the melody, which was done by numbers...an alphanumeric method I use with my piano students. It's a very interesting way of getting a song started, especially when inspiration alone isn't doing it. As I often say, pure inspiration is great when it happens, but perspiration is much more reliable. The chords were done by ear...as the great Duke Ellington said, "If it sounds good, it IS good." After sketching out the basic arrangement at the piano, I used the extensive pallette of virtual instruments in my recording software to render the harmony with the sound of acoustic guitar and celli. I recorded the melody in one take on the Melody Flute, and added the virtual upright bass track last (yes, last!). A week later, the result of this process became something I didn't quite imagine until the recording was completed...a decidedly Celtic sounding tune! I think St. Patrick created the deadline for this one...
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