RESEARCH
Atmospheric Creation & Composition Tools
Rhythmic tools:
Displaced Accents: putting accents in random places in a bar to create a drama/ action accompaniment.
Hanz Zimmer was the first to use computers to make orchestral music and the only authentic seeming noises made that way were short stabbing percussion, brass and string sounds and so they were used heavily in his music and still are everywhere else for this type of atmosphere.
Additive Rhythm: doing the same as above but changing and adding to the note values. This idea was taken from Igor Stravinsky's 1913 'The rite of spring' as it creates a pattern that is unpredictable and creates a false sense of time signature. Stravinsky also used poly-chords, mainly using E major and Eb Major at the same time.
Harmonic Tools
Chords with a Static Bass Note: Chord progression or spaced out single notes with drone note- creates dissonance
Using Semitones: Utilizing the natural suspense that semitones create to produce a dramatic/ fearful atmosphere.
James Horner's infamous four note motif to signify 'danger'- a succession of two semitone upward steps, followed by a semitone step downwards.
Example used: The Iron Giant- Michael Kamen
Creation of the Heroic Theme using:
* Ostinato: A repeating pattern/ primary musical idea which is quite often constantly rhythmic. Can be foreground or as an extra layer of accompaniment. Eg. Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield -used in the exorcist (widely influential)
* Modes
DISCLAIMER: just to note i am using the previous project notes to help me compose aswell
Composing a Hero / Adventure theme
When i think of this type of music, i think back to the soundtrack for games i used to play when i was younger; ones about heros and exploration that conjure feelings of invincibility in battle but also mystery and peacefulness while adventuring.
The rhythm of these two pieces are pretty much identical triplets that start on the 4th beat of the first bar. The only differences that i can hear are that the Dragon Quest theme has a slower tempo but the continual rhythm in the background is brass based, the same as Mario Galaxy's subtle version that starts at 00:20.
Super Mario Galaxy overture is much more complex in its melody with lots of different parts but both tracks use a significant amount of higher pitched instruments carry the melody as it sounds airy, peaceful and light. The brass used brings together both pieces and for the Mario overture, the brass joins in with the lighter instruments playing to emphasise the heroic feeling.
As i feel like this one for me will be the most challenging (not used to creating anything overall happy or major), i found some useful tips to guide me:
For the melody:
-keep it short and sweet as it will keep the audience focused and attentive.
-Utilize repetition to create familiarity and represent a main idea
-move in semitones or tones with occasional leaps to notes such as the dominant 5th of the underlying chord or a perfect 4th as they sound positive and fanfare like
-stay mostly within the same key or keep returning to the starting chord again for solidifying familiarity
-find rhythmic contrast between the melodies and the notes to keep things interesting and not have a boring and predictable main theme.
Harmony:
-A safe option would be diatonic chords as they will keep the audience familiar to the re-occurring idea and not stray too far from it.
-I could experiment with altered notes and modes such as the Lydian mode as it is commonly used for a giving a more uplifting feel with its sharpened 4th
Structure:
-I should choose a structure that would easily be repeated for multiple listens as this bodes well with game music (repeated for however long a level lasts and does not get boring); ABA, ABCA, ABCACA are good options for this.
-Familiarity is key on keeping that hook for the music (shifting to the resolve/ starting point)
Composing unsettling music
The minor key is often synonymous with:
-negativity
-fright
-sadness
-something going terribly wrong
The pattern of a minor scale takes these steps from the base note/ tonic note: Whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. Major keys share the same key signature with their relative minor keys which is three half steps down from the major key name. By using shifts between the relative minor and major keys, you can create an eerie melody.
As well as the chordal progression or melody being an important factor in creepy music, there's also tempo to consider. How a free time tempo can severely impact the music and allows from an unpredictable pattern and disrupted flow. Occasionally playing softer (piano) or louder (forte) creates dynamic contrast between each phrase and can further create an unsettling feeling.
I could also use the tempo as an indication of the story I am trying to tell. I could get into a repetitive pattern that locks into a very basic beat to signify a chase or suspense and use slow spaced out notes to express being alone and out in the open. I also thought about the use of my instrument in which the left- and right-hand melodies can come closer and further apart to represent the nearing or something close behind you.
Bad Encounter’ by Myuu
The tempo of this piece is 110BPM and it is in the time signature of 4/4 with a regular rhythm all throughout the piece that is very repetitive.
The key of this piece Ab major, however even though it is in the major key, it sound dark. The detuning that’s added on the piano makes the piece sound even eerier and creepier. This piece gives off a horror type of mood to the listeners due to its stylistic elements.
The melody changes and develops as the piece progresses and it is the main focus of the piece.
This music cannot be easily classified as one genre, but it can be said that it belongs to the film music genre, the horror movies more specifically. In relation to the creepiness of this piece, the piano is played repetitively and slowly to create tension and discomfort to the listener.
The texture of this piece could be considered quite thin due to the lack of any other instruments that could add to the tension that is being created.There is no identifiable structure, but it rather develops and changes as it progresses.
This piece seems to have been created by using electronic plugins, as the piano sounds unrealistic as well as the detuning of the instrument present throughout the piece.
The strength of this piece is the effect it achieves in creating a mood of fear and eeriness. The downside however bares more weight, in my opinion, as the quality of the piano sample sound is hard to get past when listening. But, that could have been a purposeful and stylistic choice that i dont think fits.
Composing
Electronically
When attending a resonance University talk, one of the lecturers spoke briefly about realism with keyboard instruments and orchestra sounds such as strings. He said how it's not just about the quality of the sound that determines realism but how you mimic the instrument, advising to watch for how long you make the strings play for and when using a keyboard to imitate a guitar for instance, be realistic with the chord types and amount of notes instead of just playing triads. He encouraged us to be mindful of instrument capabilities such as ranges but also breath when it comes to woodwind instruments. Having a fast paced and melody with no gaps would be impossible to play as the performer would run out of breath in the middle of the phrase. This got me thinking about how i could have this in mind when creating music electronically on applications such as Logic Pro X.
Chord voicing will need to have ranges in mind, stretching out each note and section of a chord and building layer by layer with each instrument to create a fuller sound.
Here are some useful tutorials i found:
‘Canyon Race 1: Drift Itsumo’ by Trevor Morris
The tempo of this piece is 142BPM and has the time signature of 4/4. The rhythm is almost never simple and slightly repetitive (only for a few bars) in this piece as it has many syncopated accents and pauses.
This piece is in the key of F# minor. Since this piece is used in a chase/racing scene of a game, the piece is made to be intense and energetic and has not got any chords or chord progressions to speak of.
This piece is focused on the loud ‘tribal’ drums, and all the other instruments (like the strings and Asian woodwind instrument) are creating the soundscape, giving the piece an eerie and creepy quality.
This music is easily classifiable as game music as there is no specific structure that the piece is following and it is heavily themed.
The balance of the electronic instruments is well done and there is no instrument that is too loud or too quiet.
The strengths of this piece are the well balanced and the well defined stylistic elements of the genre. What could be improved is the texture of the mix as it sounds thin in some parts where the drums drop out for effect. My opinion is that overall the music serves its purpose to nhce the experience of the game's thrilling scene.
The Romantic Style
While looking into heroic themes and adventure composition, I learnt that most of them stem off a romantic style theme (as love is usually present where there's a hero story) Using this knowledge, i decided to find out the musical "rules" of romantic music and play about with my hero theme, using it as inspiration for it and tweaking these constants to better fit the material i had already.
When composing romantic music on the piano, there are certain key elements a composer has to keep in mind. The Romantic Piano music genre is definable by its key musical elements, such as the slow-paced chord progression with little movement in-between chords or the mildly-fast-paced chord progression with a thick layer of moving notes in-between chords etc.
On top of this, Romantic Piano pieces often times contain melodies that span across four to eight bars (if in 4/4) and repeat all throughout the piece, acting as a an ‘earworm’ - a compositional element smartly integrated by the composer of the piece so that the listeners is hooked onto the piece and wants to hear more of the same music (or same piece). Together with the melody goes a chord progression that usually spans across the same number of bars as the main melody, supporting it harmonically and helping the melody develop in some cases.
In these pieces the tempo usually ranges from 60BPM to about 110BPM with the dominating time signature of 4/4, though most piece are written and performed in free time (which just means ignoring time keeping).
Composers of Romantic Piano pieces sometimes also include a part B of their composition, which serves as a lift whilst the melody slightly changes/develops to fit the new chords of the second part (part B)- In the progression of my heroic theme I created a contrasting section B to solidify the idea of heroic compositions to be somewhat romantic in style.
‘Evolutionistically Yours’ by Jozef Gatysik
The tempo of this piece is around 111BPM however it is not rhythmically steady can be considered in "free time" as the piece drags out and lags behind a bit with its flow.
The key of this piece is F major and it is diatonic as it stays in the same key for the whole of this piece. The tonality of this piece sets a calm and fulfilled mood for the listener.
The melody is played on the higher octaves of a piano and it is accompanied by the chords played on the lower octaves (left hand).
The melody could be considered as simple as it does not use any notes from other scales, does not contain intervals of more than an octave. As the piece progresses, the melody does so as well but it stays close to its original notes without steering away from the main theme of the beginning.
This piece is easily classifiable as one genre : New Age – which is a subgenre of Ambient music. The elements that represent this genre is the calming, piano only, unobtrusive music. In relation to this, the piano is played in free time, which adds to the overall calming mood.
The texture of this piece is homophonic (melody and accompaniment) and follows a simple structure of ABA, where the B section serves as lift so that the piece does not sound the same all throughout. It is also very repetitive as the A part goes on for a considerable amount of time and it is repeated as whole part twice.
The recording of this track is live, i think as the performance sounds real and authentic. As the piano is the only instrument, the quality of the recording is pristine and the sustaining of the notes is very clear (rather than becoming incoherent and blurred together by using the pedal too much)
The strengths of this piece are the high quality of the recording and the serene nature. The only downside would be the lack of any string instruments that could support the piano and add more harmonies. Overall, it is a great example of Ambient music.
I had an interesting idea as an exercise for this project to get me into the swing of showing passion in composing. I took an original piece composed for a netflix show and remember not that well and challenged myself to recreate it in 30 minutes as best i could with my keyboard, recording the parts and then analysing the finished product. I tasked myself with a vague challenge, decided i wasn't allowed to look up the official score to learn it and instead would go by memory without listening to it again. I managed to get the basic theme almost exactly the same but the beginning was improvised. Despite the start being completely different, I tried to influence the same emotions i remember that the original piece did even without getting it right note for note. I sent out the "cover" to a few of my peers to truly test if i had managed to do what i set out to. My feedback was overwhelmingly positive and confirmed that it made them feel quite emotional. The only thing i could have done different was listen to it again so i could more accurately cover the beginning section for the piano if i wanted to fully test my skills.
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