Shards of Glass - AlexGB231 ft Mai from Synthesizer V Studio & text from @alltooswift
Channel: AlexGB231
Date: 2023-05-30

Alright, so we're back with another @alltooswift poem to turn into a song, and it went really well, I think!

This one takes on a much livelier feeling to it compared to last time, as I felt like the poem did kinda call for that livelier interpretation of it. We have a constant swung rhythm throughout which really adds to the energy! On top of that, we modulate between E Mixolydian and E Dorian between verses and choruses respectively, which makes the choruses take on a much cooler mood that I really like!

For the bridge, however, it starts in a weird space between E major and E minor. The progression is A - G - E - E, and you can think of that as either E major with the borrowed bIII chord, G, or E Dorian resolving on a picardy third. After that, it switches to F#m - A - E - B, which is the same as the chorus progression, but a whole step higher, so it can be thought of as i - bIII - bVII - IV in F# Dorian. However, given that we were in the key of E for most of the song, and the melody spends some more time emphasising the E tonic chord still, it can also be thought of as ii - IV - I - V in E major if you're hearing E as the tonic. I like to interpret this section as the main character basically accepting what people think of her, as this is the part in the poem where this happens. People will still have their opinions about the character, but she's more content with it now, as represented by the bridge progression being the same as the chorus, but a whole step higher, and potentially even hearing the major root too.

As for the lyric restructuring, I actually mostly followed the actual structure of the poem for the most part. Other than switching the order of stanzas 2 and 3 and bringing them back as the pre-chorus and chorus throughout the song, I stick closely to the original structure. I felt like this poem as flowed really well as it was already, and it already kinda had somewhat of a rhythm to it beforehand that makes setting it to a melody pretty easy! Especially with short phrases such as 'she'd smile' - that was just begging for me to have it repeated in the backing vocals after the main melody for a nice little bit of call-and-response, so I did that.

Speaking of the backing vocals, I'm really proud of how they were managed here! Yeah, the main melody is awesome and catchy too, but the backing vocals play off the main melody really well, and when it harmonises with it too, it's just awesome stuff! There's a part during the bridge at 2:39 where the lead vocals sing in quarter note triplets while the backing vocals sing quarter notes, which creates a pretty cool 3:2 polyrhythm, which I love in that section! 

And speaking of the vocals in general, Mai is at it again, and this time, I also spiced up the sound of the vocals by adding some extra reverb in places too, especially during the choruses and the quieter parts of the bridge, but less so with the verses. That really helps to make the vocals blend in with the mix more, and I love how it sounds! Especially in the quieter sections of the bridge, and the chorus too!

With all that said, I hope you enjoy it!

The specific chord progressions, along with the lyrics re-structured for the song: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vQxU4ccxsqFxxhePRZfNbH6VqkaQcURr6yaky0lh6fA/edit?usp=share_link.

The original poem: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxoKdYvXGOgRNZXOLCtGbRhAkioyacGutA