New synth challenge -- scoring a silent film!

[Ben Asaro]

Time for an update!

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!

[IAA]

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

[Ben Asaro]

I find that the only way I'm productive is if I'm tough on myself with deadlines.

In the words of Douglas Adams, "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

[resistorman]

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]

First 20 minutes of music is nearly in the can; it's on the rim.

The synth freight train is now at full steam and it looks like I might hit my deadline after all!

[Martin Walker]

First 20 minutes of music is nearly in the can; it's on the rim.

The synth freight train is now at full steam and it looks like I might hit my deadline after all!

Well that sounds positive!

Still looking forward to hearing some of it in due course.

Martin

[Ben Asaro]

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!

https://soundcloud.com/asfollowswriting ... lse-part-1

[Martin Walker]

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!

https://soundcloud.com/asfollowswriting ... lse-part-1

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:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJaXxY3citM

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 )

Martin

[Ben Asaro]

LOL nope, that was a happy accident, Pink-Floyd-Wizard-Of-Oz moment!

When you mentioned the scene, I could see it in my head, I've watched the movie 100 times now lol.

[Martin Walker]

LOL nope, that was a happy accident, Pink-Floyd-Wizard-Of-Oz moment!

When you mentioned the scene, I could see it in my head, I've watched the movie 100 times now lol.

Chance sometimes IS a fine thing

Martin

[Ben Asaro]

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!

[Ben Asaro]

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!

[Ben Asaro]

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!

[Martin Walker]

Just remember that the final 50% might just end up coasting downhill easily to the finish line.

Keep on keeping on!

Martin

[Ben Asaro]

Thanks, Martin! Yup, other side of the mountain now ...

[Ben Asaro]

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.

[Martin Walker]

Looking forward to hearing it when the mixing process is more advanced.

Martin

[Ben Asaro]

The first song/4 cues are complete.

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!!

[Ben Asaro]

I completed the mix (pending how well it 'travels' on my commute today) for song #3 last night -- the kids were at the dentist and I had the place to myself for a couple of hours and was able to mix the entire thing with my monitors at reference level; always a good time. This also produced the next two film cues, so we're almost to the finish line!

The three main pieces completed thus far:
Lost Tempel of Poliphane 19m10s. There is a truncated version of this piece on the SOS compilation album, along with the amazing bits Eddy Deegan added. This version is the original version of the piece.

Graviton Pulse 12M14S. Tonally, this piece doesn't match the other three and I doubt will make the final cut to the album, but as film cues it works perfect.

Far Light 11m36s. This was the first piece where I started using my new effects chain with the TC MIMIQ, so there a lot of stereo elements from mono sources added.

Ancient Overdrive 6m50s On this piece I really try to keep true to the Berlin School of sequencing and I'm very happy with the result.

And that's where I am at! I already have ideas as to which cues will work where, but I'm sure there will be quite a bit of experimentation when lining them all up, editing them to fit the scene, etc.

[Ben Asaro]

Mixing is complete!

I have about 47 minutes of continuous music. The movie is 60ish minutes long, if I recall correctly, so I may have to write a couple of cues on the spot or have some cures serve as leitmotifs; I will have to see how it goes.

Onward!

[Eddy Deegan]

Well done Ben - looking forward to hearing the final result at some point

[Ben Asaro]

About a month out, is my guess. Getting closer!

[Martin Walker]

Well done Ben - looking forward to hearing the final result at some point

Me too of course

Martin

[Ben Asaro]

Almost have the first 1/3 of the movie scored. It’s amazing to watch this take shape and see how different themes can change the feel of each scene. I also gave the score a couple of blind listens and even with the pieces ‘out of order’, the flow is very good thus far from one piece to the next.

It ALMOST sounds planned.