This work is an original pop song in C major, with lyrics and vocal parts completed by myself. In terms of production, sampled drums are used, alongside basic instruments such as piano, vocals, and bass. Below I will describe my production process, sample handling, vocal recording process, and the commercial potential of the piece.

I used SYML’s solo piano piece I Wanted To Leave (2021) as my reference track, as I admire its ethereal piano sound. Based on this initial melody, I expanded it into a full piano track and arranged it using chord progressions in C major, forming the verse and chorus structure. Subsequently, I used Logic’s built-in ES2 synthesizer to craft a soft, slightly distorted background pad with a strong sense of space, by adjusting the filter envelope, oscillator waveforms, and reverb. This pad sits in a frequency range that avoids the piano’s mid-high frequencies, complementing the piano.

All drum parts were downloaded from the free sample website Freesound (2026). Instead of using a sampler plugin, I dragged all drum samples directly as audio clips into Logic Pro’s audio tracks and arranged them using manual editing. On the audio timeline, I cut, copied, and pasted kick, snare, and hi-hat clips one by one, arranging the rhythmic patterns for the verses and chorus like a jigsaw puzzle. Without using MIDI, I had clear intuitive control over the start and end points of each audio block, finally assembling a complete drum track. In addition to the drums, I also found a suitable thunder sound for the intro as a gradual build-up.

After completing all the samples and the backing track, I began writing the lyrics. The lyrics revolve around the meaning of life, using simple rhyme schemes, with the melody based on the C major scale of the piano track. The recording was done at home, using a Universal Audio Apollo audio interface, an AKG C214 condenser microphone, and closed-back monitoring headphones. To prevent plosive sounds during singing, I used a pop filter in front of the microphone. I recorded one main vocal track and two harmony tracks, to add thickness to the chorus section.

After finishing the recording and arrangement, I entered the mixing stage. I used Logic Pro’s built-in EQ, compressors, and other effects for detailed processing. My natural vocal tone is relatively thick and warm, rather than bright and crisp. Therefore, I applied EQ to the vocal track, moderately boosting the mid range to enhance presence, while gently attenuating the low and high frequencies to prevent the thickness from turning into muddiness. I then used compression to keep the gain reduction within a reasonable range, making the vocals more upfront and dynamically stable.

The raw drum samples downloaded from the free website were untreated and somewhat dry. To highlight the tonal character of each drum, I applied different effects to the kick, snare, and hi-hat respectively. All drum samples were finally routed in parallel to a bus, allowing the overall drum kit to glue together without losing individual definition. Finally, on the master channel, I added gentle master bus compression, a limiter, and stereo spread to raise the overall loudness to a level suitable for streaming, while avoiding over-compression that would damage the dynamics.

This work is precisely aligned with pop music，the most commercially valuable genre in the global music industry. According to the IFPI Global Music Report (2026), global recorded music revenue grew by 6.4% year-on-year to $31.7 billion in 2025, marking the eleventh consecutive year of growth. Meanwhile, music streaming has become the absolute pillar of the industry, accounting for 69.6% of total revenue, with global paid subscription users reaching 837 million. In terms of genre, pop music accounts for 60.72% of the repertoire on digital music platforms, maintaining its overwhelming dominance.

This means that choosing the pop route is choosing the largest target audience base. In addition, the melody of this work is simple and smooth, the lyrics are straightforward and easy to understand, and the overall arrangement is clean and warm, without complex technical overkill. It meets the public’s basic expectations of pop music，which is good to listen to, easy to remember, and easy to sing along with. The key of C major itself possesses the most natural auditory affinity, and paired with a highly repetitive chorus structure, it makes it easy for listeners to form a musical memory. This quality of being “simple yet not simplistic” is precisely one of the core elements that enable mainstream pop songs to spread widely.

Through completing this assignment, I have clearly recognized two main shortcomings. First, I still lack proficiency in vocal mixing. Since my voice is naturally thick and warm, although I boosted the mid range and attenuated the low and high frequencies with EQ, my control over the compression amount was not precise enough. As a result, the vocals in the chorus occasionally caused slight frequency buildup with the accompaniment, leading to a minor loss of clarity. Second, my drum arrangement is relatively one-sided. I mainly used very simple standard rhythm patterns, lacking richer percussion layers (such as toms, shakers, or fill variations), which makes the drive of the drum section somewhat monotonous in the middle and later sections. In the future, I will focus on targeted practice to address these two areas.

Through this assignment, I have developed a more comprehensive understanding of music production. From the initial melodic conception, piano arrangement, and synthesizer design, to the use of drum and thunder samples, then to lyric writing and recording, and finally to mixing, every stage has made me deeply aware of the flexibility and importance of sampling technology in contemporary pop music creation. Although there are still shortcomings in vocal mixing and drum arrangement, this has nonetheless been a learning experience that effectively combines creativity with technique.

Reference

freesound (2026) freesound. https://freesound.org [Accessed 20 Apr 2026].

SYML [Official Audio] (2021) SYML – “I Wanted To Leave” [Official Audio] [Video]. https://youtu.be/jVoyuNsAcg8?si=ZEDGyik57omTIlNr [Accessed 20 Apr 2026].

IFPI（2026）GLOBAL MUSIC REPORT 2026: GLOBAL RECORDED MUSIC REVENUES GROW 6.4% AS RECORD COMPANIES DRIVE INNOVATION. Internet edition. 18 March

https://www.ifpi.org/global-music-report-2026-global-recorded-music-revenues-grow-6-4-as-record-companies-drive-innovation/ [Accessed 20 Apr 2026]