My Composing Process: biking while looking down (2022)

Dear Readers,

I have composed the latest edition of my “little pieces of improvised sound” series.

Let’s dive in.

Starting With The Drums

Like with “trees in motion”, I decided to build up the percussive elements of the piece before adding in the instruments/melodies. This allows for me to focus on developing a groove that is unique to the piece of music before adding in other elements.

The drum kits that I used were the 1975 Kit and Animal Kit from Spitfire Labs Vintage Drums. To build up these textures, I simply started improvising a repetitive rhythm and then looped it. That’s pretty much it. Once I had the foundational kick/snare/cymbal rhythm (four notes played again and again) then I added separate tracks for hi-hat, cymbals and more toms. It sounded like this:

There is a cool element in here that is comprised of crescendoing sixteenth notes in the toms and an edited + volume-automated track that I created using the Engine Room from Spitfire Labs Foghorn. I ran it through the Step FX in Logic (Endless Roll preset) to create a hectic, chaotic, hi-hate sound. Then I performed the toms to line up with it. The two tracks complement one another and also add a lot of momentum going into the next measure.

Crafting the Orchestra

Now that I had my foundational rhythm and groove, I started adding instruments to it. First, I picked the picked bass (Upright Ballad Bass from Logic X) and the Classic Bass (from Native Instruments). The bass line is quite simple, going from Cm to AbM twice and then down to GM (i - IV - V).

This has a funk bass sound to it that blended perfectly with the drums. I love the music of current artists like Claire Laffut and Dua Lipa, as well as classic groups like Earth, Wind & Fire and the Commodores. I wanted to draw from that sound in the bass line for this track. By the way, if you haven’t listened to Claire Laffut, I highly recommend you do. She’s absolutely brilliant. Take a listen to her debut album “Bleu”.

With the bass doubled across two tracks, I finally added the melody line. It grew out of the bass line:

This melody creates some really crunchy chords. While the bass line plays C minor, the organ plays a Bb major chord (essentially adding the fourth, flat seven and ninth). When the bass line plays Ab major, the organ plays Eb major with a ninth (F) and 13th (C). Now the initial groove sounded like this:

With the initial groove (comprised of percussion, bass line, and melodic elements) set, I was ready to craft what would eventually become “biking while looking down”.

Improvised Solos Galore!

Like the previous pieces in this series, I took the looped drum tracks and stretched them out a ways so I could build solos on top of them. For solo instruments, I opted for muted trumpet (from Native Instruments), jazz organ (from Native Instruments), synthesizer (Retro Mono from Native Instruments) and piano (Garritan Abbey Road). As an accompaniment instrument, I utilized one of the Little Brazil Studio Horn instrument packs in Logic X. It groups together six separate tracks of trumpets, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax and trombone into a performable instrument. This frequently doubles the main melodic line or has its own melodic parts.

For the solos, everything is improvised. I act like I’m performing in front of an audience, surrounded by countless other musicians. I try to put myself in a performer’s mindset. I also try to have the solos speak to one another. For example, the muted trumpet solo has a repetitive two note frame in its upper register and I repeat those same notes in the solo by the jazz organ.

Speaking of the jazz organ, I was recently inspired by the use of the organ in Deep Purple’s first album “Shades of Deep Purple”. I drew from that sound and overall aura.

I played around with the key in this piece. At one point mid-way through, the key shifts from C minor to C major. The picked bass starts to walk and the entire piece has a different feel. Also during the next trumpet solo, I briefly switch to F sharp major which causes the whole section to shift chaotically.

I begin these pieces without an idea of how they will end and how I will get there. In the case of this piece, it ends with all the solo instruments playing at once and then the entire piece stopping suddenly with a big band finish. It just felt right.

So Much Percussion!

12 of the 29 tracks in this piece are devoted to percussion instruments. I specifically wanted to create the feeling that the listener is surrounded by dozens of musicians, all playing at once. To do this, I utilized a number of different percussion instruments and spread them out across the stereo image. You can hear the claves in one section, the cajon in another, the egg shakers to your side and cymbals emanate from your right. I used the European Folk kit and the Latin Kit in Logic and separated out the instruments so I could edit the volume and also EQ them separately.

Having all these different percussion tracks allowed me to vary which instrument played when in the piece. This created a sense of improvisation and live performance. It does not feel planned. It feels reactive and immediate.

The Mixing Process

I printed out each of the different tracks in Logic, and ended up with 29 different audio tracks. When I mix, I do not print the audio tracks with the volume and pan automation. I also do not add equalization or reverb yet. Once I have all the audio tracks, I can begin molding the track.

I really enjoy this process because it feels like I’m sculpting the piece out of clay. Each track is malleable. I shape the volume and EQ each instrument to bring them out in the mix in a different way. I really used the EQ presets in Logic to my advantage. Each preset added a different color to the sound of an instrument. For example, the cymbal EQ preset placed emphasis on the higher frequencies. causing the cymbal to sound more crisp and bright.

It was in this stage that the piece truly came together. After adding EQ, reverb, and an adaptive limiter to the mix bus, the piece was complete.

Biking And Filming

I decided that “biking while looking down” would be a companion to “trees in motion”. They have a similar vibe and also a similar structure (for example, both begin with the picked bass). They are like siblings. So I set the video on a bicycle again. Instead of facing the iPhone upwards, I faced it downwards towards the wheel. I adjusted the angle so that it created a nice visual framing. Then, I wrote for 4.5+ minutes around my neighborhood.

The album cover for “biking while looking down”.

The footage turned out terrific. I love the hypnotic look of the wheel turning, and the way the sun catches the wheel and creates a mobile shadow. I also like the fact that you can sort of see the reflection of me biking in the upper-left-hand corner.

Like all the other pieces in this series, I paired the music with the video and they magically worked perfectly. The music captures the energy and motion of the bike ride. The soundscapes (from Paris, Prague, Barcelona, Maine, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Maryland), add a sense of space to the sound. I especially like that the abrupt ending lines up with me braking the bike. It makes it seem like the music was out of a dream.

For the album cover, I took a screenshot of a moment in the film when the shadow of the wheel was most apparent. Then I edited the RGB levels and made it grayscale and ended up with a distorted and moody image that matched the music perfectly.

Final Thoughts and Conclusions

This series of pieces is really starting to take shape. Each piece is it’s own little sound world but they all connect beautifully. I really enjoy these one-shot videos and I want to continue doing them to complement my compositions in the future. I’m currently developing a folk album, and I think one-shot videos of natural locations would be perfect for the songs.

The improvisation in these pieces is really helping me to hone my keyboard skills. I feel like I’m improving with every piece that i compose. My solos are getting more complex and my finger dexterity is getting better.

So, that’s the story of “biking while looking down”. If you have any questions about my composing process for this piece, or my music in general, feel free to email me at nicholasescobarcomposer@gmail.com.

Your’s Musically,