international song collaboration.

this song was an international collaboration with a musician, rinfraz, in edinburgh, scotland. the initial crossover was facilitated by our university studies but ultimately it was a challenge undertaken on our own. this experience taught me ways to navigate difficulties in the collaborative creative process, and the additional challenges that come with it being international, such as the 10 hour time zone difference, writing and recording separately, managing project files, and communicating over text and video-call.

the creative process.

the process began with me writing the first and second verse after a wave of inspiration struck. i struggled to find a melody for these words or a harmony to put underneath them for a while, but with a different guitar tuning and guided by a little bit of intuition, i stumbled into a simple progression that worked.

i fleshed out a vocal melody for the verses and chorus sections, and solidified the instrumentation for the bridge section. erin (rinfraz) wrote her piano part which fit perfectly in the melodious and peaceful soundscape. between her voice matching mine in the chorus, the piano, the synths and some strings, the whole song, but especially its ending has an ethereal and soulful feeling i was not able to capture as beautifully before as i did with this one.

with some more production focusing on the final chorus, introducing strings and bass subtly into the mix, petrichor was just about done.