WE’D BE DANCING
Composition by Sidney Kennedy
About Composition:
We’d Be Dancing is a composition written and produced (composed) by me featuring a Brooklyn (New York) based vocalist, Tangina Stone. It was composed using the software Ableton Live 9 which is an industry standard application used by professionals along side platforms such as Avid Pro Tools and Logic Pro X.
Structure:
As marked on the lyrics above. The following is the structure for this composition:
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Intro
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Verse
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Pre-chorus
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Chorus (Instrumental)
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Verse
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Pre-chorus
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Chorus (Instrumental)
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Breakdown
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Chorus
The decision for using this structure was quite nature. As I was writing and composing/producing the song I always focused on the feeling that I wanted to portray and how the structure was going to support/guide that. I tried to make the song feel like it was always going somewhere, I did this by using structure and either cutting, adding or transposing layers (instruments). For an example after the second chorus is the longest chorus (consisting of 16 bars) in the composition so after that second I made sure it dipped down by removing layers and bringing back the simplistic chord progression with a piano.
Process:
The song started after I came up with the chord progression on the piano. I then went and put that into Ableton Live and composted a rhythmic idea behind it. The lyrics and concept of the song came a little while after the instrumental.
As I mentioned earlier the song was produced on a piece software called ableton live.
Ableton Live is a software music sequencer and digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows. The latest major release of Live, Version 10, was released on February 6, 2018. - Wikipedia
Below is a screenshot of the chord progression of the song and how it is laid out visually in Ableton Live. It is a four bar sequence.
Press play to listen to the chord progression below
Below is a screenshot of the melody in the chorus (instrumental). This is an 8 bar sequence.
Press play to listen to the lead synth below
Drums
The following is screen shots of the individual drum parts - Kick (top) Snare (middle) Hi-hat (Bottom) drum parts
Lyrics:
[Intro] - [G] [F] [Am] [G]
[Verse 1]
[G] [F]
My body likes to run a-way I can’t take it
[Am] [G]
All this pain
[G] [F]
Our love is like the tide so blue
[Am] [G]
When the moon is in our eyes it's just me and you
[G] [F/C] [Am/E] [Dm] [F]
But if you were still around then we’d probably be dancing We’d probably be dancing
[G] [F/C] [Am/E] [Dm]
Telling all your friends What we used to say What we used to say
[F]
But I don’t care anyway
[Chorus (Instrumental)] - [G] [F/C] [Am/E] [Dm] [F]
[G]
Running from the law
[F]
To escape
[Am] [Am]
Drowning in the thoughts We can’t replace
[G]
I wish I could show
[F]
You the proof
[Am]. [Am]
But now I’m alone I just inhale the fumes
[G] [F]
Oh oh oh we are hell bound
[Am]
But I still think about
[G] [F/C] [Am/E] [Dm] [F]
But if you were still around then we’d probably be dancing We’d probably be dancing
[G] [F/C] [Am/E] [Dm]
Telling all your friends What we used to say What we used to say
[F]
But I don’t care anyway
[Chorus (Instrumental)]- [G] [F/C] [Am/E] [Dm] [F]
[G] [F/C] [Am/E] [Dm]
Ohhh x3
[G] [F/C] [Am/E] [Dm] [F]
I don’t know if we can get there Give me your heart if we get there
[G] [F/C]
My mind is conversating babe
[Am/E] [Dm]
My heart is on the pavement
[G] [F/C] [Am/E]
If you were still around, We’d be dancing
[Dm] [F]
We’d be dancing
[G] [F/C] [Am/E] [Dm] [F]
If you were still around, We’d be
[Chorus (Instrumental)] - [G] [F/C] [Am/E] [Dm] [F]
After finishing the song I started approaching vocalists that I found online. One of them being Tangina Stone. She just released her debut album and I heard her voice and thought it would fit the tone of the song nicely. I then went and emailed her management with the result being that they loved the track. After e mailing her back and forward she send through the vocals. Soon after the song was released.
Distribution/Promotion:
The song is available on many streaming platforms such as the following:
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Spotify
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Apple Music
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Youtube
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Itunes
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Tidal
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Google Play Music
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Soundcloud
I used a service called TuneCore to distribute my music to majority of those platforms. It allows independent artists (an artist not supported by a major label) to distribute their music to major music streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Itunes etc.