Announcing the release of 'Circles': Crafting Music and Emotion at Musitechnic Montreal

The upcoming release of a cute and energic pop song, with a touch of retro.

I'm pleased to announce the upcoming release of a single titled "Circles".

"Circles" is the result of my work during the second session of my audio production course at Musitechnic Montreal in 2015. It was a prescribed exercise in orchestration and arrangement creation using an a cappella vocal excerpt from Loopmasters (Iconical Vocals Acapellas). Each of the students took on the task with the same vocal base, and the results, presented at the end of the session, were surprisingly diverse!

The lyrics evoke for me feelings related to the pursuit of happiness in love, shattered dreams, freedom constrained by others, untapped or wasted talents, disappointed or unrequited love, and even social classes as hindrances.

During the creation of the arrangement, I envisioned the story of a young woman infatuated with an unattainable "rockstar," battling her unfulfilled dreams. These lyrics resonate with my own personal challenges, although their meaning can be interpreted in various ways.

To achieve the final result, a significant amount of sound editing was required, including the addition of phrases that were missing from the original vocal excerpts. This exercise was both instructive and thrilling. These passages may sound more mechanical or robotic, but I tried to make them more seamless through various effects.

I had a blast playing the synthesizer keyboard! You'll hear several soaring moments, akin to virtuosos on the Wurlitzer or Rhodes, weaving enchanting symphonies of rapid notes.

The final arrangement has a somewhat "pop" sound with a touch of retro. The vocal nuances naturally called for some drop-outs and accentuations.

For composition and mixing, I used several software programs, including Cubase, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, and Pro Tools. The "vintage" sound of the synthesizer draws inspiration from bands like The Doors, among others. The bass, deep and warm, with a cavernous quality, blends influences from the '80s with rhythm & blues double bass. The "stutter" effects on the vocals were created using Izotope Stutter Edit, and vocal harmonies were fine-tuned with Celemony Melodyne and Apple Flex Pitch.

The vocalist's name is Scarlett Quinn. She is 36 years old and hails from Brighton, UK. She participated in the 2014 season of "X Factor," somewhat akin to "The Voice". Since then, she has embarked on an enchanting journey in the music industry, steadily building a remarkable career. Many other version of this song exist: head here to listen to a few of them on Spotify.

I hope you'll enjoy this rhythmic, colorful, mellow, and refined piece.

The song will be released on October 6, 2023, on all major platforms. This is the original 2015 version. Background notes on this song can also be read in the music section of this website.

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