Serendipity is the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. As I mentioned in my project proposal, every track on my EP is improvised on the spot at the time of recording. The outcomes were unexpected but they generated beautiful sounds which is why I decided to name my EP Serendipity. I enjoyed bouncing off ideas I created in each loop, this often included melodic patterns and extended techniques. Some of these techniques included knocking on the soundboard, xylophonics (one hand mutes the strings by pressing them with the fingers close to the soundboard whilst the other hand plays the strings normally) and harmonics. All tracks used my reverb pedal as I wanted to create an ambient and spacey sound across my EP.
Periwinkle
‘Entering a dreamy soundworld with cascading glissandos, Periwinkle is an ethereal soundscape. This calming track flows with arpeggios with a graceful melody dancing away.'
This dreamy 4 chord progression was achieved using an unusual lever setting on my harp. I set my lever up to achieve enharmonic notes across my strings with Db, Eb, Gb, Ab and Bb being the only notes used. I started with a build up of the chord progression in my recording but when I added in glissandos, I knew I wanted the track to start from there. I did a solo over this loop and I tried to keep it simple to avoid making the piece busy. I really enjoyed playing with the percussive sounds on the harp in this track, it adds a whimsical and fun vibe. Periwinkle is a lavender blue colour and is also a type of flower. It symbolises womanhood, love and affection, fidelity in friendship and remembrance. I am a very sentimental person, I love reflecting on things and being nostalgic so I feel that this represents me nicely.
Introspection
‘Take a breath and flow with introspection.’
This track takes inspiration from work by Brian Eno. It uses simple atmospheric chords without any melodic lines yet the entry of chords is unpredictable. The only thing I had in mind when recording this track was to let there be space in between each chord. Introspection regards the examination of one's own thoughts and feelings. I hope listeners take this chance to be still and take in their own feelings through my music.
Daydreams
‘Let your thoughts float away in your daydreams.’
Last but certainly not least, Daydreams makes use of the loop pedal, delay pedal and reverb pedal. Another simple chord progression this time in D major, I let my musical ideas spontaneously build up with the use of my extended techniques and melodic patterns. I used a long solo line in this to demonstrate my improvisational skills. At the end, the delay returns as the daydream floats on. This track represents a combination of tracks 1 and 2 and all my demos with the ambient sounds and textured layers. I always catch myself daydreaming and it’s probably how I’ve ended up making such dreamy music.
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