Timbre

Some examples:

• Layer in guitar, then bass, then drums, then voice for intro and into verse. Add piano in chorus. Drop piano and bass in bridge.
• Chorus has lots of vocal harmony, verse has solo voice

Some exapmples:

• Guitar is picking the chords in the verse and strumming in the chorus
• Piano is playing broken chords in the verse and block chords in the chorus
• Piano is playing lower register in the first verse and chorus, and then moves to the higher register in the second verse and chorus
• Voice is rapped in the verse and singing in the chorus
• Guitar amp is set to distortion/echo/reverb in chorus but clean in the verse.
• Guitar amp is set to distortion in the instrumental solo
• Drums - use brushes then change to sticks
• Drums uses hihat and snare in verse and changes to ride cymbal and snare in chorus
• Bass is plays long low notes in verse, and then moves around more on higher notes in chorus

Here are some examples:

• Guitar - play around with the settings on your amp to get different timbres
• Computer based compostion - there are lots of ways to adjust the way an instrument sounds on your computer - have a play around with your program.
• Piano - try the pedal, experiement with playing higher or lower, long notes vs short notes.
• Keybaord - try different keyboard/piano sound on an electric piano (rhodes, organ etc)
• Drums - snare on, snare off. Sticks on stands. Stick across snare. Try different cymbals.
• Bass - try different playing techniques (plucking vs slapping). Explore playing higher or lower.
• Brass instruments - add a mute
• Voice - can you change the way you sing? husky, sweet, smooth, rough - depending on the lyrics.