This is a song I made within a span of 3 days as a tribute to Sonic Generation's "Crisis City" soundtrack. There's not much to describe about it this time round. The song follows a tertiary (ABA) format and ends off with a recall of the starting melody to help with repeating the song. While not as vibrant as The Illusionist Of The White Night that I shared with some of you, this song contains a lot more dynamism and movement that is important in an action piece. This time i went with the idea that "less is more" and sought to reduce the number of instruments in the background. The result is a rather simple piece with some feeling of danger. More needs to be done in the area of developing and manipulating one's emotions though. To me, this song feels a bit flat after the 10th time listening to it.
That's all for this piece. Maybe when I'm free I'll upload a private version of "The Illusionist Of The White Night" here for you guys to enjoy.
This one took about 3 weeks in total due to commitments in University coming round. Having to juggle studies and an online life is tough, so I might decide to take a break from gaming for awhile. The piece this time contains a tad of irony for those of you that know me personally. But less of that and more of the song.
Description:
The story this time is about a group of air cadets getting their promotion, revelling in the new heights of the sky they are able to fly in and finally passing on that dream to a younger version of themselves when they return home. A short work, the piece describes an imaginary world where the ideals of men in the army triumph over the shortcomings of the people inside of it.
Analysis:
I went for a different style in composing this song this time. Focusing on the conversation between the strings and the brass, a round robin style is adopted in passing the melody starting from the middle range strings to the higher range strings and finally the brass. A solo then comes in for the strings to bring out the emotional scene within the hearts of the people graduating. That solo is then answered by the climax of the song which contains rich textures and heavy involvement of the brass instruments --- A stark contrast to the beginning of the song. At this point the theme of the song is more developed and becomes more memoriable. This is the point where the new warriors soar through the air with their new wings, both physically and mentally. This memorable experience of their first flight is captured in a clearly defined theme at this point. The last phrase is a solo flute section which echoes the theme in a softer voice, representing the scene of a child looking up wishfully to become a warrior some day. The song ends on a bombastic note, as though the child has found something that foreshadows his taking up of the mantle some day in the distant future.
The song this time has a very militaristic feel to it ---from the strong beats of the timpani to the patriotic sounds of the brass instruments. Some point halfway through the song, the piece sheds it's chordial nature and focuses more on the melody of the song at the climax. The piece adopts high leaps between notes in the beginning of the climax to give this uplifting feeling of soaring in the sky. Here the instruments all enter in full glory as though celebrating the act of being with the sky. I borrowed the feeling I get while playing Japanese pieces in the band back in Junior College here. Thus the instruments become more of a voice in the story rather than the background in the climax. I've always loved to write something emotional and melodious at the same time, so I'm happy to be able to sneak in such a style midway to the song. This style is a stark contrast to today's film music style which carries quite a bit of chords to colour the background of the film, rather than using the music to help tell the story. It would be nice if I could develop my style a bit more to incorporate ideas from both schools of thought.
Mixing:
This is a new section for today that needs to be added since considerable amount of time (1 week) went into personally mixing and cleaning the audio. This time round I culled off the lower frequency noises (up to 1kHz) to mix the sound specially for headphones. Lots of the lower brass and percussion instruments gave off a lot of excess signals upon ending a note. This lead to the overall master track becoming too hot at times. Culling these lower frequency sounds allowed for the more audible range of sounds to be processed and thus lead to a cleaner audio track. I did cull off a bit of the higher frequency ranges because I suspected there might be some signals I'm unable to hear that were cluttering the audio, but as of yet I'm uncertain of the effects. A trick I'm currently using is to reduce the volume (by a few db) of certain regions that are too hot using the ChannelStrip plugin provided by Pro Tools 11. It seems to allow for a greater amount of instruments to be heard at the climax without compromising the overall effect. Had to make use of the "depth" option to prevent the volume from dropping too low however. Over the next few days that I'm free I'll experiment and see what should be done to make the same effect on a stereo system.
That's it for today! With university coming up and a few promised projects I may be posting less of my work here till time allows again. Look forward to the next one because my style may have changed by then. :)
So this is another piece that I've managed to churn out within 3 days. The week's been pretty hectic with another mobile game project that I've been working on so it's nice to kick back and finally do something I've been wanting to do. This is an emotional piece written with the idea of homecoming...except the one coming home is the king. We'll save that part for the description of the song right below. For the time being, enjoy the song!
Description: After returning from a long struggle against many enemies, the king finally returns to his throne to rule his kingdom. The scene appears stormy first but the clouds quickly clear away as the king walks up to the throne. Remembering his subjects, friends and family who got him to where he was today, he smiles and nods in appreciation at them as he begins his ascension. Upon reaching the throne, the ascension begins and a new tomorrow filled with hope begins.
Analysis:
To be honest the imagery I had while making this song was that of Simba
coming back to the Rock (Lion King) after facing off Scar. However I
could only attempt a Western rendition of the scenario since I currently
lack the instruments from the African side of the globe. Oh well we all
make do with what we have. Another point I'd like to make is that I didn't really think this one through...it just came out by itself. :/ Some principles that were used were the answer-call method between the strings and horns, exploration of the use of the piano being an accompaniment and a voice and a general dash of majestic feel thanks to a combination of both brass and strings. Nothing new was really done in this piece if compared to Dragon Hunting but it does carry a much more hopeful melody. I'll try to see if I've got more pointers for this song as time goes by...but for the time being I'm labelling this as Ad Hoc.
My newest song is complete! With this marks another milestone for me as I've become able to produce songs of such standards in shorter periods of time. This song took me approximately 1 day to complete (or 5 hours if you compile the hours together) making it one of the songs with the shortest amount of time I've had to work with since Alva. While the quality of the music isn't as impressive as Dragon Hunting, this song focuses more on trying to re-create the effects of winter while infusing the warmth of the sun melting the snow. To put it bluntly in this song I've experimented with mixing warm tones and cold, metallic percussion sounds to re-create the conflict and spectacle of winter and sunlight mixing together. Conceptually it seemed challenging but it seems I managed to achieve it by using "Reverb" on the bells and vibraphone to create a more echoey, desolate feel. Hopefully I'm not the only one who feels that way though. If the beginning of the song made you feel cold and desolate while the climax of the song filled you with awe and warmth, I'll be happy to let you know that those are the effects I've intended for you this time round.
Synopsis
The end of December is coming and with it the icy paths start to thaw under the warmth of the sun. The frost and warmth seem at odds with each other as morning dawns on these cold peaks...until it begins to snow one final time. The scene then evolves to a breathtaking landscape of snow, light and warmth slowly flirting through the canopy of trees as winter makes one final sigh and leaves.
Analysis
So this time round I started off with an echoey piano to stimulate the thoughts of a barren but large wasteland. I threw in the bells and the vibraphone next as many people associate these metallic bells with cold or Christmas whilst the vibraphone filled in the empty spaces created by the bells and created this general "blue" feeling associated with the coldness of winter. Standard soundtrack instruments includes the strings and horns playing in unison...but this time with the flutes and higher registers taking the lead so as to create a lighter feel throughout the piece. Not too sure if that made the song less "movie-like" but it seems to fit in nicely with the mood. The harp in this piece is meant to describe the falling snow along with the descending appegios played on the piano. They're used in the second half of the piece to illustrate snow falling gently while mixing with the warm tones of the strings which represent the sunlight of the scene. The song ends with a recapitulation of the opening but this time split up between the bells and vibraphone while the piano plays the full motif in the background. This is to create the sense of loneliness and hollowness as winter fades away and the year draws to an end. At the same time it sounds like the last snowflake landing on the ground before melting away. A nice touch as an ending scene in my opinion.
Well to wrap it up this song will mark the end of 2014 for me as a musician. It's been fun starting this blog and noting down the different techniques I've tried so far. Hopefully 2015 will yield many more different songs and opportunities to compose. This is Sevian signing off for now~
It's been a full month now since I started on this song....and it's finally complete! Pour the wine and celebrate with me as I commemorate yet another leap forward in my musical journey! The past few weeks have been packed with composing music for a tiny horror game project (which I haven't received permission to share here yet!) and other meaningful distractions. However it is heartening to see this song grow from a few measly whimsical notes to a full fledged movie-soundtrack-like theme. I still have ways to go in the area of composing and making full use of my DAW...but I'll get there eventually. For now this is one small step for me and another hopeful dream to nurture.
Song Write Up (note if you've read my previous posts, you might want to skip to the last paragraph):
The song's about a band of heroes who undertake the nigh impossible
task of hunting a dragon. I based my inspiration for this on the various
MMO's I've played and some movies I've watched about struggling against
tragic outcomes. Dragons come from a very medieval setting and as such
you'll notice the constant use of gothic themes throughout the piece.
One common method of indicating a struggle that I've noticed is to make a
lot of use of Strings on staccato. Somehow the short, striking tones of
the strings gives this impression of hard breathing, strenuous effort
and grim determination. Thus I gave the voice of the humans over to the
staccato strings and the strings playing the higher notes. The voice of
the dragon lies with the horns and brass as together they give a very
heavy, overbearing effect. Accompanied by the strings not only do they
echo like a dragon's roar but also build this large presence that seems
to squash the air out of your lungs. Lots of movies use this technique
when describing a insurmountable task or vast environments such as
space, so I thought I should give it a go this time.
After
the encounter between the heroes and dragon comes a brief period of
respite for the heroes. This is meant to build tension and to sort of
describe the difference in standing between the powerful dragon and the
meek humans that try to overcome it. The lack of the dragon's voice in
this phrase also indicates the wariness of the dragon towards the humans
after the initial encounter, as it is now searching furtively for the
humans who have gone into hiding. I thought this was a good way of
describing how the combined efforts of the heroes had actually been
effective enough to pose a threat to the dragon...while at the same time
making out these heroes to be human as they could not keep up such
efforts continuously.
The next segment of this song
involves the humans standing up against the dragon shakily...almost as
though they have been reminded of how small and human they are, but yet
still filled with the will to surpass the insurmountable. The
instruments come in one by one, repeating a motif that changes slightly
each time it's repeated to represent the individual heroes these people
are made out of slowly standing up and altering the spirit/effort of the
battle. This scene describes how an insurmountable task is conquered by
the individual taking the first step and the group contributing to
create a strong will and hope enough to achieve what the individual
cannot.
The last segment is the final engagement between the dragon and the humans...in which a confronting but slightly sorrowful phrase enters. This reflects the lost of life as the hunt reaches it's final stages and the dragon falls. I decided to use a sorrowful tune here as I felt that even when hunting a great beast, the lost of the life of such a magnificent and grandiose creature was kind of a loss in the world I visualized. To me the fall of the dragon signifies the fall of a great monument of this medieval world and thus although the final efforts of the hunt are strenuous, they are also marked with a hint of sorrow as we bid the dragon goodbye. The humans then proceed to deal the final blow as the strings end of with a chain of C notes, similar to the final strike in a battle.
Well it's been a huge load of fun tinkering with the DAW to create a more movie-like environment for the song to thrive in...as well as putting notes together to form a decent song. Hopefully the next one will be more magnificent and amazing!
In the end I did decide to upload this video as an unfinished manuscript. I know I said I didn't like unfinished songs but I guess it should go up here as a sort of milestone for me. For all I know I'll be picking this up again in the near future once I'm done with the horror game project.
The song's about a band of heroes who undertake the nigh impossible task of hunting a dragon. I based my inspiration for this on the various MMO's I've played and some movies I've watched about struggling against tragic outcomes. Dragons come from a very medieval setting and as such you'll notice the constant use of gothic themes throughout the piece. One common method of indicating a struggle that I've noticed is to make a lot of use of Strings on staccato. Somehow the short, striking tones of the strings gives this impression of hard breathing, strenuous effort and grim determination. Thus I gave the voice of the humans over to the staccato strings and the strings playing the higher notes. The voice of the dragon lies with the horns and brass as together they give a very heavy, overbearing effect. Accompanied by the strings not only do they echo like a dragon's roar but also build this large presence that seems to squash the air out of your lungs. Lots of movies use this technique when describing a insurmountable task or vast environments such as space, so I thought I should give it a go this time.
After the encounter between the heroes and dragon comes a brief period of respite for the heroes. This is meant to build tension and to sort of describe the difference in standing between the powerful dragon and the meek humans that try to overcome it. The lack of the dragon's voice in this phrase also indicates the wariness of the dragon towards the humans after the initial encounter, as it is now searching furtively for the humans who have gone into hiding. I thought this was a good way of describing how the combined efforts of the heroes had actually been effective enough to pose a threat to the dragon...while at the same time making out these heroes to be human as they could not keep up such efforts continuously.
The last segment of this song involves the humans standing up against the dragon shakily...almost as though they have been reminded of how small and human they are, but yet still filled with the will to surpass the insurmountable. The instruments come in one by one, repeating a motif that changes slightly each time it's repeated to represent the individual heroes these people are made out of slowly standing up and altering the spirit/effort of the battle. This scene describes how an insurmountable task is conquered by the individual taking the first step and the group contributing to create a strong will and hope enough to achieve what the individual cannot. It ends there however, as the song has yet to be complete. Perhaps one day I will finish this song...perhaps not. I will however keep composing...and keep searching for new adventures to write about...for new worlds to create. Such is the life of a musician.
This song describes the magic of the forest slowly coming to life as night falls. In the beginning of the song you have the slumbering fauna and flora slowly awakening with nightfall...first as soft whispers through the forest and then slowly as deep strong murmurs that resound through the forest itself. It is then that the magic of the forest truly begins. Now fully awakened, the flora and fauna converse in their own hidden language as though they were living spirits filled with an abundance of life. This life now saturates the forest and a new world is slowly revealed. Softly they play their song for those who would listen, bringing forth a new world yet unseen. A new world full of magic and illusions that eventually fades away like a dream.
Ok so this time round I tried to work more with chords to make it feel cinematic...and by that I mean I consciously studied the chords in each phrase before adding each note. Hence the song feels a bit more dreamy and more passive...you'll notice there's also a lot less movement as compared to my previous songs. That's also the effect of concentrating on chords alone. I did add a melody line in the end as it sounded too dead to me with only chords...but this time with a little trick. I passed the melody from the bells in the beginning to the strings, then the horns, then the strings....etc. It was quite tedious to pull off but I'm glad the effect came out the way it did. To me it sounds like various inanimate objects coming to life and conversing with each other...which is kind of magical in a sense too.
Unlike my previous 2 songs this one sits at 2mins long...the reason being that the song describes a mini scene instead of just an emotion, hence more shape was needed to craft out this scene. The song can easily be divided into 4 sections that is the beginning (bells), the body (orchestra comes in), the chorus (harp strums upwards) and the ending (piano mimicking the bells from the beginning). Each section represents the state of the forest from coming alive, bringing forth the magic, changing the landscape with that magic and then going back to sleep again. I used the bells, glockenspiel, the piano and the harp to create this cascading effect like stars falling down to the ground to create this magical feeling. However it was also quite tough to balance these effects out with the rest of the orchestra as I had to keep in mind that while these instruments had a prominent role to play they were just props at the end. The strings and horns in the background were the real stars of this song with the way they passed the conversation between each other so those had to come out more. Thankfully this song had more ambiance to it than melody, so it worked out in the end.
Truthfully I wonder if my songs are beginning to sound a little different again...like they're maturing. (i hope!) Maybe with a bit more work I can begin infusing a bit of modern techno into my songs just like the many movie soundtracks I hear these days. A bit of techno couldn't hurt....
