My daughter persuaded me to watch K-Pop Demon Hunters while I was tired, and I only saw the first 15 minutes before nodding off. To make up for my lapse I decided I should challenge myself to a) watch the rest of the movie, and b) write a K-Pop song.
I’m looking for stereotypical sweetness, over the top vocal harmonies with multiple singers, squeaky synth sounds, clean, sharp drums and bass, and the de rigeur repeated melodic hook. Despite the name, a fair proportion of K-Pop is sung in English, so I wasn’t too concerned about my complete lack of Korean.
Like many of my compositions, the end result usually ends up being a bit different to what I intended; songs seem to have some kind of life of their own, and my role is to shepherd them in the general direction rather than be too picky; that happened here. I’ve ended up with a sweet, optimistic, high-energy pop song, but I’m not sure that it’s really K-Pop. I’m quite happy with it all the same.
Vocals are, as usual, by Synthesizer V, using the Mia and Solaria II voice databases for the main vocals, and Noa HEX for the rap section. I’ve not used SV’s rap mode before; it doesn’t sound very enthusiastic, but it works well enough.
That squeaky bass is by Logic’s venerable ES2 synth driven by a Logic player. Other keyboard parts are by ES2 and UAD’s PolyMax, which I really like. Funky guitar is by UJAM’s Sparkle 2. Drums are from Logic’s EDM drum machine, driven by a Logic player. The vocals in the second verse really remind me of Olivia Newton-John!
I’m pretty happy with the mix on this; quite a bit of testing in the car really helped keep the bass under control! I also made a point of backing off some of the layering, turning down reverbs to keep everything really up-front and positive, especially during the earlier parts of the song.
Like my previous releases “I’ve only met you once” and “Dancing by myself“, I submitted this song for release in a compilation album, this time “The Four Seasons of Bonkwave: Autumn Waves“; I love the whole bonkwave ethos, though it’s generally a very long way away from K-pop!
[Intro]
You make me
the best me
I can be
[Verse]
We’re taking it slow,
I don’t want you to go
Wanna savour every moment with you
Though we’re sometimes apart
you’ve always got my heart
Wanna savour every moment with you
When you look into my eyes
it shouldn’t come as a surprise
want you to savour every moment with me
[Chorus]
‘cause you make me the best me (I can be)
you make me the best me (I can be)
you make me the best me (I can be)
you make me the best me (I can be)
[Verse]
(rap)
You and me can be the best thing together
gonna be unstoppable, us forever
I wanna be the reason for your smile
match your energy, love your style
I wanna be the picture in your frame
find the spark to light your flame
Looking to the future I can see
that you make me the best me
(vocal)
I want to be the picture in your frame
find the spark to light your flame
[Chorus]
‘cause you make me the best me (I can be)
you make me the best me (I can be)
you make me the best me (I can be)
you make me the best me (I can be)
[Verse]
Since I met you
I’ve known exactly what to do,
never had a moment’s hesitation
You’ve made me see
how I can be the best me
never had a moment’s hesitation
I’m so sure we’ll be complete
I’m gonna jump in with both feet,
never hesitating for a moment
[Chorus]
‘cause you make me the best me (I can be)
(I want to be the picture in your frame)
you make me the best me (I can be)
(find the spark to light your flame)
you make me the best me (I can be)
you make me the best me
I can be
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