This song is a Celtic rock ballad, accompanied with an epic orchestral backing. The song
is descriptive, using imagery to portray my ancestral homelands of Malta and Scotland.
The score and storey, lends itself to a SBS World movie, depicting the plight of these
journeys out to Australia.
Recently I tracked down relatives now in their 90s from both sides of the family, resulting
in family histories and trees being emailed to me. Unseen photos of my great grand
parents was highly emotional for me, wondering what they were like, the risks they took,
and why they decided to come to Australia. This led to more research, both historically
and musically, and may explain why I’ve always been drawn to Celtic music & culture.
My aim was to write a beautifully shaped melody, using simple folk chords in a minor key
to depict hardship. Choosing traditional instruments specific to the lands, fused with a
contemporary rhythm section, resembling todays influence, in which I live.
The work consists of 15 instruments, 4 vocal, & 2 atmospheric tracks. The main
traditional instruments being Bagpipes, Accordions, Recorders, Acoustic Guitar, Strings
found in both cultures musics. Songwriting 2B with it’s research component, motivated
me to research both Scottish & Maltese traditional instruments. The Scottish Highland
Bagpipes are well known, however since the 17th century Malta also has it’s own
Bagpipes they call “Zaqq”, meaning belly, made traditionally from a complete animal-
goat, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl-EIUdzd6c Choosing a Crumhorn
(Germany) & Uilleann Pipes( Irish ), stems from a DNA ancestry test, resulting in my DNA
also comprising Germanic Europe was 4%, Ireland 12%, therefore wanted to represent
these influences through sound. Piano, Drum kit, Electric Bass are my influences, fusing
traditional with modern, but still retaining original character.
I played my fathers Piano Accordion, also as a cultural tribute, Acoustic Guitar,
Recorders, & Keyboards. The rest of the instruments use Kontakt samples, like the string
section( songwriting 2A). Environmental sounds, (wind & thunderstorm) influenced from
the research essay on ‘Close to the Edge’, add a haunting atmosphere, sets the highland
scene.
Melodically, Em dorian mode, rhythmically 6/8 were chosen to give a Celtic flavour. The
form is intro, verse 1, chorus 1, verse 2, triple chorus, instrumental bridge, bridge, verse 3,
chorus, outro. I wrote in this simple form to show I can write to a formula, following the
guideline “rules” suggested in Songwriting 2B, to appeal to the masses, employing short
intro, chorus before a minute, bridge before 2 minutes etc. However I put in a few twists,
like the triple chorus, with the 2nd ending on the relative major G, rather than the
dominant of the Em key. In addition to an instrumental bridge accordion solo, starting on
the subdominant in G major.
I recorded Alexia’s main vocal & harmonies in studio 2, choosing her beautiful tone with
perfectly controlled vibrato, as entirely suitable for this genre, carefully choosing her vocal
range for the melody. Only minor tuning adjustments were employed via flex pitch. Five
different reverbs, different panning were used to give a haunting, mysterious vibe, with the
backing harmonies being set back with more than the lead. Instruments were carefully
panned, the accordion was recorded in my home studio using 2 Rode M3 mics & panned
3 & 9 0’clock for fullness. Acoustic guitar has a touch of chorus pedal. Sampled high
strings were noisy so had to be gated, I did do some backing vocal harmonies, like the
performance, but decided not to use them. Waves plugins for eq, compression, & master
limiting, tonal balance, spread, & overall eq. My production tried to always be subtle.