The Process of:
Missing You
This song was created in collaboration with my friend Danialle. We wanted to write a post break-up song, borrowing ideas from EDM-Pop artists that we both like. Some of our references were:
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Happier by Marshmello and Bastille
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Friends by Marshmello and Anne-Marie
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Good Thing by Zedd and Kehlani
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Our collaboration started with an idea that Danialle recorded and shared with me. After hearing her idea, we both worked on the lyrics. Then, Danialle created the first demo of the song.
My first impulse after many listens was to transfer the chord progression to a synth.
Next, I added a bouncy bass line that played in octaves.
For the beat, I used some claps, kicks, and shakers.
I created a two-part intro. The first part uses strummed acoustic guitar. The second part drops the guitar and introduces a synth chord progression.
Then I added some transition sounds, a rising pad and a filter pad, between sections.
My intention for the two-part intro was to present pop and EDM elements in isolation, in order to later reward the listeners with a seamless marriage of the two genres.
The verse maintains the beat from the intro, with added kicks,
The bass notes in the verse vary slightly from the bass notes in the intro.
The verse features an arpeggiated synth playing the chord progression.
To give the song a fuller texture, I added another synth with the same chord progression, but a different rhythm. I used a rising pulsating pad as a transition out of the verse.
In the second verse, I added a four-on-the-floor beat.
Here is the verse.
For the pre-chorus, I changed the rhythm of the chord progression and used two different synths to achieve a bigger sound and more variation.
The pre-chorus features long sustained bass notes and several different synths.
The guitar plays different strumming patterns in the first and second pre-choruses.
Here are both pre-choruses.
The chorus and post-chorus have the same instruments, but I added hi-hats to the chorus.
The chorus uses different synth patch and a different arpeggiator pattern.
The bass in the chorus is very similar to the bass in the verses.
For the second chorus and post-chorus, I added the guitar strumming from the intro.
Here is the chorus/post-chorus with and without the guitar melody.
The outro of Missing You features a rising bass line, which represents a new beginning, after a break up.
I brought back the intensity of the four-on-the-floor.
An arpeggiated synth reinforces the new chord progression implied by the rising bass line. A piano plays the 5th of each chord on a low octave.
Here is the outro.
Here is the entire instrumental with all the parts together.
I created this song in Logic Pro X. I used an EXS24 acoustic piano. Pads and synths are from Omnisphere and Serum. I used a combination of drum kits from Battery 4 and Logic Pro X. The guitar was from Kontakt 5. I used Logic’s arpeggiator MIDI plug-in on many instruments. I used Logic and Neutron 2 to create vocal effects.