A Flock of Light: The Journey from Concept to Creation

Fly, You Beautiful Thing

My first production is finally online – let's go!

"A Flock of Light" is a unique blend of my influences, most prominently alternative rock and orchestral music. This song marks my debut release, crafted entirely on my own from start to finish, including a music video. I’m excited to share a behind-the-scenes look at the production process for those who are curious.

At its core, "A Flock of Light" captures the numbing feeling of loneliness, the subtle comfort in knowing others might feel the same, and the hope that a guiding star will eventually appear.

Songwriting

The idea for the song began with a simple bass synth sound and a groove. From there, it evolved organically. I’m a fan of layering different sounds to create a unique sonic landscape, so I gradually added elements like drums, guitars, strings, and keys. After experimenting with countless (yes, countless...) ideas, I removed what was unnecessary until the song felt complete.

Despite all these layers, the song itself remained the most important element. It’s crucial to me that a song sounds good even when played on a single instrument, like a guitar. So, I frequently stripped the arrangement back to its core, working out the parts and transitions in their simplest form.

Recording

All the recording took place in my home studio. I recorded the electric guitar and bass directly through my audio interface, while vocals and acoustic guitar were captured with a condenser microphone. Although I generally prefer the sound of a western guitar, I added a classical guitar with nylon strings this time. Can you tell which parts feature the western guitar and which parts the classical?

The orchestral and drum parts were programmed via MIDI. Making these instruments sound realistic took a lot of time and effort. For example, I meticulously adjusted the dynamics of the strings to mimic the nuances of a live performance.

Mixing & Mastering

Mixing a song with so many layers and sounds was a real challenge. I quickly learned that cutting low frequencies in non-bass instruments was essential—far more than in a typical orchestral recording. It was also tough to separate the production process (choosing and editing sounds) from the mixing process (accepting sounds as recorded and fitting them together). There’s always the temptation to go back and tweak a sound, like switching from an electric piano to an acoustic one, which means starting the mix all over again.

The solution to this problem is experience. After failing and reflecting many times, you start to intuitively know how a sound will fit in a composition. It’s also crucial to know when to stop adding new elements—something I still have to remind myself of. My brain always thinks one more instrument will greatly improve the song, but that’s rarely the case.

When I was deep into a production session, taking a small break and listening to some of my favorite songs online was incredibly helpful. Using reference tracks helps keep you grounded and resets your ears.

Reflection on the Process

For future songs, I aim to be more minimalistic (at least I’ll try) and spend less time on each track. The longer the process goes on, the easier it is to get lost in unimportant details. I’ve found that early ideas are often the most intuitive and, in the end, the best.

Music Video

For the video, I explored the creative possibilities of generative AI. While writing the music, I already had a visual style and mood in mind. To bring this vision to life, I used an AI service to generate still frames for the story, much like a storyboard.

Next, I used another service to animate these frames into 8-second video clips, akin to a flipbook. After meticulously synchronizing the video to the music (down to the millisecond, of course), the video story about lonely birds in a big city was complete.

Now, it’s your turn! Listen to the song and let me know what you think.