Throughout this academic year in our ensemble class, we worked on four compositions/projects. One of the most memorable and rewarding, in my opinion, was our third project Narcissist. This reflective essay will focus on our piece ‘Narcissist’ and how we collaborated, not only musically, but also in terms of structure and creative direction.
We wrote down ideas on the whiteboard and focused on the themes of pride, ego, ambition and eventual downfall, we then came up with Narcissist. These themes give the piece emotional depth, and we chose to embrace this challenge. I played the synth or piano, however, I also contributed as a producer, suggesting structural ideas, textures and giving my input when needed.
During the beginning stages of ‘Narcissist’ our collaboration helped drive the momentum and the instrumental further, as we were still waiting on more concise lyrics. Even though we didn’t have a solid structure yet, we had a sense of direction. We ended up leaning on the idea of an R&B, atmospheric piece.
By February 6th, the project had developed a lot. Anthony introduced a 6/8 beat to the group, which we all liked and therefore decided to keep. Doga also used a drum sequencer in tandem with the acoustic drums, giving us more creative freedom and allowing us to explore more options. We had developed the structure of an intro, 2 verses, a chorus and an atmospheric outro. The atmosphere was built on Emre’s synth and Anthony’s use of mallets on the high-hats and the cymbals. Imani and Imogen harmonised together on vocals and added more texture due to their contrasting vocal ranges. This inspired me to think more about the texture of the piece and how we can layer certain elements together to create a better sound. For example, me and Lucas had discussed me playing more complicated melodies on the synth, but I thought it wouldn’t be appropriate because of the delay and reverb effects on the synth. These effects would make the piece sound muddy and overwhelm the texture, rather than add to it. We stuck to Lucas playing the arpeggiated melodies.
Lucas’ guitar transitioned from soft background harmonics in the intro to block chords in the chorus using a start/stop groove, which created a lot of rhythmic tension. We added a guitar solo as a bridge into the final chorus, which helped with breaking up the repetition in the piece and gave us more momentum for the outro.
During this stage, we reflected critically on what worked and what didn’t, me and Anthony both believed that the intro was too long, almost a full minute. While it helped set the mood, we felt we needed more variation or a quicker build up. We also reached the conclusion that the piece needed more contrast in terms of texture, perhaps a bass. I was very happy with the fact that everyone was open to feedback. This kind of collaboration taught me how valuable communication is in ensemble work and that we must balance our creative ideas within the genre. We all reflected on the last take we did and felt very positive… ‘It went well; I think that was the best one. […] I listen back to the second to last take and its almost a full song’ (Lucas 2025)
By our final session on February 13th, we revised the piece again. I added tremolo and delay on the synth to deepen the atmosphere. Imani also revised her lyrics and delivered them more clearly and with more intonation. Anthony adjusted the drums, so they built up more gradually rather than coming up suddenly, in-between the intro and the first verse. After the session we had a chat in which we all agreed that the piece needed a bass line to fill up some of those lower frequencies. We felt that the deep and moody atmosphere wasn’t being fulfilled without a bass. We also realised that mic levels needed adjusting, as quiet vocals made the lyrics hard to hear in many of our takes.
As a production student, if I was to record this in a studio, I would also perhaps add some brass instrumentation in a very low octave, something that would complement the synth. I would double up the guitar, to thicken up the texture. I would also enquire about a bassist, or a very simple bass line being played on either a synth or a midi keyboard. While recording, I would give Imani a Ribbon microphone to bring out the warmth of her voice, and I would give Imogen a condenser microphone for harmonies, to further bring out those high-end frequencies that I would want to accentuate during the piece. As Rick Rubin said, ‘The ability to look deeply is the root of creativity’, I wanted to express more of my creativity by the end of this project, as I became more confident in my abilities.
In conclusion, Narcissist stands out as one of our best collaborations. I learnt a lot by working with such a diverse group of people, all coming from different backgrounds and courses, coming together to work on a piece and genre most of us had no idea about. I learned about the importance of developing a structure, dynamics and how sometimes quality over quantity is what matters in a song. As a keys/piano player and a production student, this collaboration has given me more insight into how bands work together to create pieces and has given me the confidence to give them my honest opinions to better their songs. As Sarah Newbold (2022) said, ‘You’ve got to have a real curiosity’ to succeed. I learnt that collaborating in a group is not just about playing your part but rather listening and adjusting your ideas to allow for more creativity.
Bibliography
Principal Chairs (2022). In conversation with Sarah Newbold. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oQNtXaQQz8 [Accessed 1 May 2025].
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. (2023). Sarah Newbold. [online] Available at: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/staff/sarah-newbold [Accessed 1 May 2025].
Rubin, R. (2023). The Creative Act.
