Switching up my approach was definitely the right move on this one. Using USB from my Mac to sync everything is making things move along at a much quicker pace, besides not having to faff around with tuning discrepancies. Having a palette of sounds ready to go also helps immensely. Overall, I'm very pleased with the workflow!
Revisiting the opening re inspired me to try a new compositional approach and as the opening credits are only about 30 seconds long it was also an exercise in being concise!
I typically break things out when I'm tracking, but in this case I'm just getting the balance right and recording Outputs 1 and 2 from the JV-1080 simultaneously (including effects). I like being committed to getting it right and then moving on.
The opening motive (FMaj - BbMaj - CSus4- CMaj - F) is simple and catchy and that V-I resolution at the end sounds great!
Fired up the Lyra-8 for the next two scenes, hopefully I’ll be able to come up with something suitable today. If so, I’ll be caught up to where I left off prior to switching from the modular to the JV-1080.
The Lyra-8 + sawtooth brass from the JV-1080 is a beautiful sounding combination. Glad I got the TU-3S, it made integrating the Lyra-8 shed loads easier!
Michael Johnson wrote: ↑Sun Jul 18, 2021 2:00 pm
Following this thread! This is an idea I've wanted to execute for awhile now, too. Rooting for you and I can't wait to see/hear your work.
Thanks! It’s still going strong, I had a small setback as I was trying to figure out how I wanted to do this, but now that I’ve got that settled, it’s full steam ahead!
A studio re-org put this on hold for a few weeks, but now that I have my modular set up for performance, I've been writing quite a bit of music and have found a way to kill two birds with one stone.
As I tend to write rather large pieces divided into sections, I am collecting the live pieces and using them to score the movie. My goals are the same: fill about 60 minutes of time with music; but as a live piece has different requirements from a film score, I will treat each section as it's own separate theme to be used (or reused if I'm setting up leitmotifs) where it fits the film better!
I'm really excited about this prospect and in having the same music being used in totally different presentations!
I think perhaps the most important/useful thing that I've got out of the re-org is a set palette of sounds; option anxiety had me doubting my choices and going back to the beginning over and over as I changed my approach. Now I have no choice: the sounds are what they are! This has forced me to get down to business and get on with it!
looking forward to this Ben!! Keep going! I envy your discipline having prevaricated over my own EP release….which I’ve now earmarked for Autumn rather than Summer I’ll be clearer on year soon
Good for you! I'm doing a lot of work on the house, but I've also been reorganizing and simplifying my studio, getting rid of things I don't use, prepping for what I figure is gonna be another lockdown winter. I hope to do better creatively this time. Maybe scoring a silent film would give me a project... I like to use material for multiple things too.
Ben Asaro wrote: ↑Thu Sep 09, 2021 11:59 pm
Okay, this project is officially on the second half, so I figured why not, I'll share a quick snippet with you all.
Please bear in mind that this is recorded live, no actual mixing has been done yet, and all the other not-ready-for-Prime-Time disclosures!
Wow - I just had a most wonderful experience while listening to this - I returned to the first post in this thread to remind myself that the silent film you were creating this soundtrack for was The Lost World, made in 1925, so I tracked down the film on YouTube and watched it (with the sound turned down) in sync with your music:
However, after the 2:30 of your Graviton Pulse Part 1 your music seamlessly continued with Something 3, just as the reporter fell into the office, and to my mind those two tunes followed the plot perfectly! Try it for yourself.
Strange or what? (and I assume that Something 3 ISN'T what you intended to follow on from Gravitron Pulse Part 1 - I shall feel very silly if this was the case )
Down to the last piece for the score! I’ve saved the most driving/uptempo piece for last, though I still need another 10-15 minutes of music in total. I am guessing that if I end up using leitmotifs, I should have more music that I will actually need.
Looking forward to getting this mixed and mastered!
Began charting out the final piece this morning -- so excited to get this one in the can!
The piece I finished last night came out great -- a tonne of layered melodies based on the classic Baroque chord progression of i-iv-VII-III-VI-ii-v-i, all 5 modular voices playing interweaving melodies over a simple drum pattern and then added poly strings and (very effected) choir. Sounds massive!
Tracked the modular parts of the final piece last night!
What was meant to be a quick, Berlin-school inspired piece kind of morphed into something a bit darker and more sombre, and runs around 6 minutes long. All that's left are the JV1010 layers (which will probably end up doubling the original length of the piece) and then I can begin mixing!
It's a huge relief to be at this point, though I realise it's only the 50% mark!
I finished tracking the final theme last night (a motive in A Phrygian) and after a break, sat down and ran down the whole thing…
Initial thoughts: it sounds like four months’ work; nothing sounds rushed or half baked, which is a relief! It’s also very dark sounding, and I think that’s due in part to the sounds themselves. There are a few moments of light which poke through and provide contrast but overall this is predominantly a dark, brooding collection of pieces.
It took a while to get the palette of sounds I needed, but once that was set, things started moving quickly. The other thing that amazed me was how stable the tuning was over the past four months! I only had to tune the VCOs about once per month.
I have a few favorite spots, particularly one atmospheric theme using the Lyra-8 and two modular voices and a couple of the canon sections.
Overall I feel like I’ve leveled up as a writer.
Mixing starts today! As I tracked everything with the effects already in place, this will be more cleanup and adding motion than anything else. The album versions of the pieces will then go out for mastering whilst I arrange the individual cues to the movie.
The next 4 cues are also complete but ... I don't think they will work well as a stand-alone piece, and it's kinda crossing over with my next project, so I think I will keep this one just as cues for the movie.
I placed a rough of Song #3 onto my iPad and had a listen today; this one doesn't need much work at all!
SIDE POINT: I don't know when this happened but the Music app on Mac/iOS now allows 24/44.1 wav files to play!!