Today I’m introducing you to the Canadian composer and piano player Michael Emenau and his track Floating on Seven. Michael spends his time between Montreal, Quebec and California. He started playing the drums at the age of 14 and received a bachelor of classical music in percussion from McGill University. He is self taught on the piano.
The track Floating on Seven was released as a single on the 14th of January, but will also be part of an upcoming album.
Tell us something about your track Floating on Seven!
This piece came out of a thought experiment which I often do when I have a mental block. On the day I wrote this piece I was being very repetitive and writing things that I had already written or music which was not particularly original. In these situations, I will create a series of rules or limitations to help me focus. When I can write whatever I want, no limitations, the skies the limit, my mind tends to wander and I end up writing nothing.
So, for this piece I created these restrictions.
- Melody/harmony should be in Lydian mode. I am currently in love with Lydian, it’s so bright and calming, a perfect antidote to a dark snowy winter
- The time signature is 7/4. – 7/4 forces me to be on my toes and aware of the phrasing and rhythmic motion.
Once I played around with these parameters, the piece you hear came about rather quickly.
Thank you for this Michael!