A different Child

Contests for Composers Christmas Music Contest (2020)
#1

Track Description : Christmas carol.

My Creative Vision : When I think in music for the end of the year, I remember the songs I grew up with. I supose that eveyone has his/her own vision of what a christmas song must contain. This is what I chose:

  • Must be simple, “cantabile”, something we can sing along.
  • Percussion easy instruments, bells, tambourine…
  • Animous, happy and/or conforting feeling.
  • Vocals with the appropiate lyrics should be (I don’t have vocals this time :confused: )

Composition Overview : There is a emotive intro and outro, with some strings, but the main part has a rythmic folky sound. It has a 3/8 guitar carpet, and wind and percussion instruments playing the melodies.

Main Sounds :

Strings (chellos, violas, violins)
2 pianos
guitar
brass (horns, trombones, trumpet, tenor sax)
winds (flute, recorder, whistle)
percussion (2 bells, udu, tambourines,…)

I hope you enjoy it. Please, stay safe. Enjoy prodently.

The link is:

4 Likes
#2

Really wonderful piece Vicente! The mixing was very well done on this one; very clean and all the instruments fit together nicely. The sax + flute was an interesting choice for your main woodwinds, but I think they worked well. I could almost hear a female alto voice with the flute’s melodies (truth, I just listened to Beethoven’s 9th, so I hear lots of voices in my head right now :rofl:) I think that would’ve work well.

Great piece my friend. I’m going to have to up my game on mixing :smile: Happy Holidays!

1 Like
#3

Thank you for your words. I hope my new monitors helps me to mix and master in a cleaner way.
I think is a song “ready to sing”. Maybe in the future it will have some lyrics, and the instruments that hold the melody will become second voices. And the title also suggest a focus for the story to tell.

2 Likes
#4

Love to hear it again with vocals!

#5

Vicente - I like your vision of what Christmas music should sound like. I love the positivity, chimes, guitar, and percussion. Nice ending slowdown. Looking to your vocal version as well. :wink:

Happy Holidays!

1 Like
#6

Very nice! I can picture carolers singing this melody. Nice instrumentation. And I really liked when the bridge came in at about the 2 minute mark.

1 Like
#7

This is really beautiful and a charming Christmas tune. The melody is enchanting and your choice of a flute and sax really changes up what might be a predictable “Christmas” sound. Good production and I love the shift in keys in the middle section. If anything I would build up the ending a bit more, you started to do that, even more would take it over the top and lead nicely to the sweet, uplifting ending.

#8

Thanks for your words, Brandon. Vocal version…maybe next year. :stuck_out_tongue:

#9

Glad you like it Mike. I really imagined the song with a family group singing and playing around a table, in the afternoon of christmas eve. Except for the intro and outro with strings sections, I think that the rest can be played with instruments easily found at home, even by children. That was my idea.

#10

I thank your words, Suzanne. I love that specially you find my wind melodies good.
You’re rigth. The outro is like the intro with a very little variation. I liked the way this strings prepare us for an emotive moment, but there is a big contrast with the main part that is much more folky, easygoing and homemade, so I decided not to give a heavier weight to strings.
Once I finished the song, I thought that maybe the strings part theme could be developed as an independent song. :thinking: Too many ideas and life is so short… :rofl: :rofl:
I wish you enjoy this days. :christmas_tree: