When I set out to write an album for my senior project, I wasn’t entirely aware of how time consuming it would be. Even considering the fact that I wasn’t recording any vocals or drums, the process of composition and developing musical ideas was a massive undertaking.
Most of my tracks begin with simple piano/keyboard licks or chord progressions. Then I usually add some simple drums to give some movement to the loop, and add bass and a countermelody (if needed). This was the process I’d gotten used to over my years of producing music digitally. One of the biggest challenges for me was being able to come up with B sections, or changing up the loop in order to not be too monotonous.
Ambient and lo-fi music isn’t exactly known for complexity, but I didn’t want my music to be a snooze fest either. I tried to strike a balance between ambient and lo-fi hip-hop, with some tracks being stripped back, mainly being driven by keyboard, whereas some other tracks have more going on and are more engaging.
The goal I had in mind was to make a fusion of classic ambient music (like Brian Eno and Erik Satie) with modern lo-fi hip-hop and chill-hop.
I’m really happy with what I produced, and I hope I introduce some people to a new type of music that isn’t too popular nowadays.
