Research
I’m two chapters in to the KLF book I mentioned in the last post. One particular quote from Chris Langham, co-writer of the Illuminatus! theatre production in the late 70s, stood out as particularly interesting if not hilarious: “If it’s possible, it will end up as some mediocre, grant-subsidised bit of well-intentioned bourgeouis bollocks. But if it’s impossible, then it will assume an energy of its own, despite everything we do or don’t do.” In the context of the book, it refers to a number of ambitious choices by director Ken Campbell and Bill Drummond, who designed the sets for the production. It’s a particularly resonant quote, despite being a bit ridiculous. I’ve often created my best works when at the very edge of my ability, so I think it’s a good drive to be a bit more ambitious with my works this semester (and for the remainder of the program).
I’ve also started listening to the podcast The Soundtrack Show after it was mentioned in Friday’s class. Naturally, I started with the Morricone episode, as his work is among my favourite soundtracks in cinema. I’ve only listened to the first part of the podcast so far, but I definitely got what I wanted from it: an analysis of his signature chord progressions. It was amazing to learn that what became his style has roots in American folk music, with his Western film compositions seemingly stemming from a cover version of Woody Guthrie’s Pastures of Plenty, created with American folk singer Peter Tevis. This strangely connects a few of my influences together, as I grew up playing bluegrass and country songs with my father, alongside some songs by The Shadows, who also covered Morricone’s 1971 composition Chi Mai. This connection, as well as discovering that Metallica* opened every show from the mid-80s onward with either a recording or a cover of The Ecstasy of Gold, really shows how important Morricone was for the development of my musical interests—and perhaps in a roundabout way, a reason why my tastes are so eclectic.
* – One of my consistently favourite bands, as much as I’m somewhat ridiculed for it among more experimental scenes.
I forgot to mention last week that the following video came up in my YouTube feed:
It came at a very appropriate time, given my focus this semester, and despite being a big ad for Felt Instruments’ product Helenko, it’s interesting not only as a study of how a soundtrack can affect perception of otherwise neutral visual content, but also acknowledgement that sometimes the visuals aren’t very interesting and serve a purpose as more of a transition between scenes, and may still require similar attention to soundtrack as more interesting content.
It was followed immediately by this, which is almost on the other side of the spectrum in terms of energy and variation:
Even more extreme in its differences (due to being created by several different producers), it really helped to show me how drastically the “mood” of a visual sequence can be affected by the music. For the record, Tori Letzler and Virtual Riot stood out as my favourites, mostly because I’m a sucker for ostinatos and arpeggios, but also because they took very different approaches to each other. In general though, I’ve paid attention to many things from that video, notably the use of chords, as I find that I do slip into a few “safe” chord progressions too often, and need to open things up a little.
Learning
The 4 Composers 1 Show video led to another Huang video:
Which, alongside some discussions in class on Tuesday, has motivated me to research chord progressions and their commonly associated emotions. While I have realised that theory isn’t everything, even when it comes to soundtrack work, I’m finding it valuable whenever I learn a little more about how to identify certain harmonic patterns, etc.
Friday’s class notes were written down on paper instead of my usual Google Doc, so I don’t have the majority of them, but I did take away a few things, particularly regarding “heroic” themes in music, and some ways to convey it (syncopation, major key, ascending melodies, and some interesting chord inversion play that I have been experimenting with already).
My other learning for the week has been on the technical side: learning how to use insert effects and automate their parameters in Pro Tools, for the latest assignment in the Sound Design specialty. I’m beginning to feel more comfortable working with it and am starting to lose my initial impression that it was clunky. I also experimented briefly with busses and sidechain compression, in order to have the master track be effected by a muted bass drum track, resulting in a “pumping sound”, or, as I’ve joked about in the past, “implied kicks”. I’ve done plenty of sidechain compression in Reaper, but the process is quite different in Pro Tools. Not too hard to get my head around though.
Alongside these, I’ve been continuing my somewhat unstructured piano learning (ie. thinking of a piece that I like and trying to remember/learn it by ear). This is a slow process, but I’m already noticing my playing getting better.
Project work
It’s been a slow week for project work, mostly due to other assignments taking priority.
I have, however, kept in contact with my collaborators, and for the projection mapping/installation piece, have received some information on when it will be shown, and some details about the space. We are in the process of coordinating a time to visit the space and evaluate whether my perhaps ambitious proposition of a 5.1 sound experience is possible or not; I’ve been told that it’s technically a 5.1 system, but has been configured for stereo. I’m confident that I can repurpose it, as long as I’m not stepping on any toes. A 5.1 mix could help to alleviate potential annoyance at a repeating one-minute high energy musical piece, especially if we create several slightly different versions. Perhaps, the main differences could be the positioning of sounds in the field?