Sunday, September 17, 2017

Behind the Soundtrack -- "A Chance to Really Play"

SPOILERS AHEAD: Please note that in order to continue blogging about the I AM DRUMS Soundtrack I will have to step into mild spoiler territory. If you haven't read the book yet, do that now.


This is the first song I wrote for SONGS FOR SAMANTHA: the I Am Drums Soundtrack.

I didn't know it was going to end up on a book soundtrack when I wrote it, but it's the first one I completed. I have an early recording of it with electronic drums somewhere, and I remember it was a lot slower and moodier. In some ways I really liked that sound for this song, but in the end I realized it was an inherently optimistic song and needed a quicker tempo to give a feeling of forward motion.

No mix is ever perfect, but I can at least appreciate the drum mix on this one because it made each hit feel like a punch in the face (which is an image Sam herself uses earlier in the book).

I had a lot of trouble figuring out what moment it would go with. It was originally titled "Fight Back" and went with the opening scene of Sam getting in trouble for clocking Danny with a mallet, but since Sam eventually learns better ways to deal with Danny it didn't make sense to dedicate a celebratory song to attacking someone with a musical instrument.

It was also briefly titled "Knocking on Pete's Door", but I retitled it to keep the reader guessing as to how she would eventually get the chance to really play.