Just before the first week of school, I already had enough programmed song material for an album 40 minutes in length, but no real album concept. This was worrisome for me, because I wanted my capstone album to have a special concept and meaning rather than just be a compilation of songs I had written over some amount of time. However, the Wednesday before school started I was playing the piano inspired to pick up the guitar hanging on my wall and record some chords. I like playing the piano a lot so when I play certain chords, I think they will sound good on the guitar as well, maybe voiced slightly different to accommodate an ergonomic hand position. I cannot fluidly play guitar, but I know some theory. Music theory that is, not much guitar theory… I have learned the shapes of the major and minor scales on the guitar, but I still couldn’t play the instrument for a can of beans. So I recorded a few chords, strumming and arpeggiating them. After that I recorded some melodies on top of that. I soon found out after not being a guitar player, that you should probably check your tuning more than at just the beginning ;). In 3 days of doing this, re-recording parts over and over, I came up with about 10-15 minutes of material that I just knew I had to use. I decided that I wouldn’t use any of the material I had before, because it sounds too different now. The sound of this music made realize something and an album concept came to me. Here is the tentative album plan:

THE IDEA:
My capstone is going to be an all-original representation of what I consider to be a multi-concept album. There are several ideas and concepts that I plan on incorporating into the production and execution of this: my very first self-produced full-length recording. The genre I have planned for this album is ambient, easy listening, spatial and emotional music with 4 or more instruments. Drums, bass, guitar, and piano will definitely be included in all tracks, and a few synthesizers. More instruments will be included if necessary. My idea is that the album’s music will be instrumental, leaving the music open for complete emotional interpretation by the listener. Undistracted by words, the music will capture the attention of the listener and take them on a journey through what will feel like outer space, huge and open, free, floaty, and relaxing.

THE CONCEPTS:
One concept of this album is that all of the tracks will connect and bleed into one another. Every song will be connected by a synth, guitar, percussive, or piano interlude. The second but most important concept to me is the incorporation of the stars and the ocean. My reason for this is that 6 years ago, a month before my dad had passed away, I remember holding his hand and him telling me to think of him when I look at the stars and the ocean, and I do every time. It was such a powerful moment that will resonate with me forever, and I am choosing to share it through this album. To connect the stars and ocean to another concept, I plan on including the sun and the moon and this is how they will share a relationship: they are opposites of each other and the sun is a star, while the moon plays a part in controlling the tides/ocean. The song names will be named after constellations, oceans, and stars. Instead of lyrics, each song will have a passage of meaning and relevance, whether it be spoken word or simply inside the album cover as small explanatory paragraphs under the corresponding song title.