About
“Heavenly Journey” is a piece inspired a poem entitled “Heavenly Journey” by an anonymous poet. Our task was to capture the essence and nature of the lyrics in music. This was a rather short poem and song. The lyrics are:
Do you float down out of space
Night with your silver wreath
Does the soft luster of dark
Lift me up towards your eternities
When writing this piece, I tried to capture the introspective and thoughtful nature of the lyrics as well as the ethereal quality that they imply.
I composed "Heavenly Journey" using my digital audio workspace and recording software. I first freely composed two synth parts on my keyboard. I then recorded vocal parts. I started with the lead line with several different takes, singing along with my accompaniment until I was happy with the result. I then created three other harmonies to accompany this melody and add to the ethereal nature of the piece. I enjoyed creating new and interesting harmonies using my voice. I think that writing and recording in this way helps me to expand creatively and create more unique chords than I may have simply using a notation software. I tried to bring the words to life with my voice. Additionally, I used many effects such as equalization, chorusing, and reverb. I also utilized synth effects and delays in order to create interesting colors and qualities.
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For live performance I incorporated Max MSP coding in order to create two different delay lines to process the keyboard and the cello live. Additionally, a great deal of reverb was added to the vocals for live performance. Performing "Heavenly Journey" live was a very exciting and fulfilling experience and I received great feedback from this performance.