This theme plays when the character enters combat with small plant enemies within the first and second rooms of the level, this music was needed for the game to give support to the action taking place on screen. I wanted this music to be intense due to the context it plays within on screen, however I did not want the music to sound too dark or evil as I wanted the combat theme to contrast with the boss theme, this is due to the combat the player engages in prior to the boss fight being much easier than the final fight. The combat theme is made up of the same harmony as the exploring theme before it, which is the two chords; F minor and F# minor. Using the same harmony allowed me to naturally blend the two sections of music together within the game. During this fight sequence I decided to use brass instruments and percussion into the music to reflect on the dangerous and intense combat scenario.
Before I composed the main theme for the combat loop I decided I need a short introduction to naturally bring all the instruments into the music without sounding too abrupt. To do this I composed a small build up introduction to the block consisting of a cello, french horn, metal percussion and a timpani. I decided I wanted the timpani and french horn to play a crescendo, as I knew this would help me build up anticipation towards the climax of the block of the action block in just a few seconds. This worked very well and created a short build up of tension just as intended, however the french horn sounded very thin and weak in texture. Therefore I decided to add some more texture to the instrument by adding some harmony. Due to the danger and intensity of the combat I decided I wanted the harmony to sound dissonant to make the listener feel uncomfortable due to the instability in the music. Therefore I made the french horn crescendo play the two notes F# and G in the crescendo, as these two notes have a 1 semi-tone interval it created a very evil and dissonant tone within the music. These two notes are also melodically related to the main theme of this block, which is the staccato strings playing the same notes (F# and G) in an aggressive rhythm. The final instrument playing during the build up is the cello, which is playing a chromatic scale from A to E. This instrumental is played over two different octaves to give it more dominance within the music, it is also played in a tremolo to give the music a rough and unstable tone. I chose to play a chromatic scale as it builds tension in the music due to the constantly raising pitch.
After the initial build up in the music the battle theme enters the main motif of the composition, this musical theme is very simple as it is only playing an F# and G in a quaver note rhythm. I wanted the main theme of the battle music to be intense and exciting to reflect on the action packed and exciting combat taking place on screen. The rhythm of this motif creates a drive within the music which successfully supports the action packed gameplay by keeping up with the fast pace of the combat. This motif repeats throughout the whole first half of the battle theme, which builds tension within the music as the repetition makes the listener expect the music to develop. This theme is played in 2 different octaves by the violin and viola and the double bass. The high strings give the main theme a sense of presence, as I learned through my research on string staccatos that writing high string instrumentals in the higher frequency spectrum makes them sound more present in the mix of the music and audible to the listener. The double bass however gives the music a sense of danger and evil as its growling harmonics lie beneath the other instruments. The dark tone of these instruments successfully reflect on the danger of the battle and personify the evil unnatural nature of the enemies the character is fighting, furthermore making the music effectively blend to the visual and narrative theme of the video game.
After adding a melody to the battle theme I decided I wanted to add more texture to the music, to do this I took the choir, brass, cello and violin and made them play in unison together. In this theme they are playing; F#,G and E in a slow rhythmic pace. These three notes are based around the main rhythm and notes from the main melody of the battle theme, therefore giving the music a clarified and clear melodic and rhythmic structure for the listeners to follow. I made the cello and violin play a tremolo to give the music an unstable and dangerous tone to reflect on the danger of the combat scenario. I also made the choir and brass play together in a unison staccato articulation to give the music a sharp and exciting tone which stands out from the rest of the instruments. The staccato brass tone also has a very aggressive and raspy timbre which gives the music a dark and sinister tone to it. Before the music transitions into the second half of the battle theme (staccato section) the motif the strings raise up on octave to a C#. This creates a moment of tension within the music as the C# does not belong within the harmony or melody of notes present within the battle theme, therefore it sounds very unfamiliar and unsettling. This note on the strings is also played for 1 bar which sustains a moment of tension within the music, as before this moment in the theme the music has been constantly moving and developing. Therefore when the music reaches this stop it brings a sudden and unsettling halt to the music, I did this to reflect on the unpredictable outcome of the battle and the danger it presents. This motif the brass, choir and violin play is very successful as the use of the full frequency spectrum makes the music sound full and energetic furthermore supporting the thrill of combat. The slower rhythm also contrasts the faced paced melodic motif which furthermore gives the music a sense of movement, which successfully compliments the fast paced actions present within the battle sequences.
The image above shows the percussion arrangement present in the boss theme, I wanted the percussion in this section to provide the music with intensity and aggressive rhythmic energy to support the action within the game. The timpani in this section of music is playing in a constant quaver note rhythm, this creates a sense of constant movement in the music furthermore encouraging the player to keep momentum in the battle so that they do not get overwhelmed by the enemies. After adding the timpani into the music it did not have much presence in the arrangement as it was being drowned out by other instruments, this took away power energy away from the timpani. To fix this issue I made the timpani played in two different octaves which instantly gave it more presence within the music, furthermore giving the music more emotion and impact. After adding in the timpani I decided it sounded very robotic and artificial due to the same velocity being hit, to make the music sound more life like I altered the velocity of the timpani to give a more life like sound. Using the velocity tool I made the timpani play an accented note on the beginning of each bar, this gave the music a powerful punch at the beginning of each bar which furthermore gave the music more realism and emotion. Before transitioning into the second half of the battle theme the timpani rhythm changes, by playing on each second beat. This helps create a unified rhythm in the music, as it this point in the theme each instrument holds on their final note before entering the staccato section. Therefore making the timpani play on each second beat keeps the music grounded, and also naturally prepares the music for the transition into the next segment of music.
One other percussion instrument I used in this battle theme was cymbals, I used cymbals to give the music a harsh and aggressive texture due to the high harmonic volume of the crash. However from my research on action music I learned that using metals too frequently in your music reduces their impact when used, therefore I minimised my use of these by only using them every couple of bars. I used the cymbals to accent beats at the beginning of every couple of bars to give the music and intense and aggressive tone, matching with the heated action packed gameplay present within the game. The final percussive instrument I added into the main boss theme was a tubular bell, this instrument has a very long sustain time. Therefore I decided to not use this instrument twice while it was still being sustained to avoid making a muddy mix later on in the project. I added the tubular bell to the battle theme to highlight the fights the player is in as a moment of significance, as I personally think the tubular bell sounds very grand and significant. Therefore I wanted to use the bell in my battle theme to communicate to the listener/player that the battle they are fighting in is very important in the narrative of the story due to them being so close to the end of the game.
In conclusion the percussion was very successful in this theme in terms of impact and movement, as the tone of the tubular bells successfully highlighted the significance of the fight in context with the story of the video game. Another successful part of this percussion was the cymbals which drove the music which an aggressive and full timbre, furthermore reflecting on the danger of the combat. One thing that could be improved however, would be the timpani as the rhythm is boring from a compositional stand point. As it is constantly only playing in a very simple and repetitive rhythm. This works well, however I believe with more experimentation on composing a rhythm for this instrument I can make a more interesting drum beat for the timpani. Therefore next week I will refine this composition by experimenting withy different rhythms over my track.
Battle Theme Second Section
There is two sections to my battle theme, one focusing more and melody and the other on rhythm, I did this to create contrast and unpredictability in my music to reflect on the unpredictable outcome of the battle for the player (life or death). Before transitioning into the second theme of the music the violin and viola play the main motif of the battle theme two octaves higher, this huge leap in pitch gives the music a surge of energy which makes the music ready to transition into the next section of music. When the strings do this the French Horn also played a crescendo with the notes F and F#. Due to these two notes only being 1 semi-tone away from each this horn creates a very dissonant and sinister tone within the music, furthermore reflecting on the danger of the battle in the game. As the volume of the crescendo increases so does the tension within the music, which therefore naturally leads us into the second section of music. To add contrast between the two different sections of music I dropped out the cello and violin, these were the two instruments holding the music together rhythmically due to their legato instrumentals. Therefore removing these two instruments made two sections contrast, as the second section has a more present staccato rhythm in contrast to the first section which has a tremolo droning on throughout. This musical transition section was very successful as the sinister tones within the music effectively personified the enemies you fight on screen, furthermore immersing the player within the video game by blending the music with the themes of the game.
In decided to add a second section of music to the boss theme in order to keep the player on edge due to the unpredictable musical transition, furthermore reflecting on the unpredictable result of the combat the player is in. The main motif of the second section is played by the double bass in a staccato articulation, the fast 16th note rhythm of the motif gifts the music with a drive of rhythmic energy which furthermore fuels the gameplay with excitement. The bass plays a chromatic scale raising up and down in semi-tones from the notes F to B, the semi-tone intervals in the motif gives the music a sinister and dark tone reflecting on the presence of the evil enemies within the fight. While the bass is playing this chromatic scale the violin and viola are playing a altered version of the motif from the first half of the battle theme, what is different about the theme is that it is only playing the first half of the motif before repeating. This teases the listener into thinking the music is going back into the main theme, therefore creating an unsettling theme of tension within the music. This string instrumental is also being played in octaves 4 and 5 which is at the highest range possible for high strings, furthermore this makes the instrument sound very strained and uncomfortable. I did this to make the music reflect on the high stakes of the combat and make them feel uncomfortable, as combat the combat leaves no time for comfort.
This screenshot shows the arrangement for the dark choir and brass during the second section of the battle theme in my composition. For these two instruments I decided to keep the same instrumental as they had in the first section of music, as this glued the second first half of the battle theme together due to their shared brass/choir instrumental. In the second half of the music I also used the french horn to create an unsettling and evil tone within the music, which furthermore reflects on the evil nature the enemies within the game originate from. I did this by making the french horn alternate between playing a F# and F crescendo in different octaves, as I mentioned before the semi-tone interval between these two notes creates an evil dissonant tone which personifies the enemies within the game.
For the second half of the battle theme the timpani is playing in unison with the three notes (F#, G and E) from the main instrumental on the brass and choir. Making these three instruments play in unison gave the music a powerful and strong rhythmic accent within the theme, which made it stand out within the mix of the other instruments. I made the timpani also play less frequently in rhythm for the second half of the theme to avoid making the music rhythmically crowded, as there is many the rhythms going on in the music from instruments such as; the double bass, violin and viola. Creating too many rhythms would potentially make a muddy musical mix, therefore I decided it was best to make the timpani play less frequently. However this is a video game loop and the timpani suddenly looping from a slow pattern to the fast rhythm it was playing in the first half would sound unnatural, this is why I composed the music for the timpani and strings to loop back to the start of the action block seamlessly.
To make the music seamlessly loop to the start of the action block I brought embedded the introduction block into the end of the music block, this meant adding the tracks such as; timpani crescendo, cello tremolo and the french horn back into the music. I did this as the introduction block did a very good good at quickly building and releasing tension within the music, therefore I believed using this at the end of the music block would build enough energy and intensity to naturally lead the music back to the start of the music. The music loops back to right after the introduction block initially plays. Looping this music block was successful as it naturally lead the music back to the start of the loop, however the timpani suddenly went from playing infrequently to playing constant 1/8th notes. This made the loop sound very abrupt and rushed, therefore to fix this issue I made the timpani play 1/8th notes when the introduction block at the end of the piece. Due to the high quantity of energy built up within the introduction block, this allowed the timpani to effectively speed up in pace without seeming sudden or abrupt.
Reflection Summary
What went well?
I think this week was very successful as I have achieved to compose a whole music block for combat in 1 week. There is many things that can be improved about this music, however there are many things I am proud of that I have done well. One thing that went well this week was personifying the enemies the player is fighting within the music. In the game the enemies originate from evil and are very dangerous, therefore to personify these creatures I used dissonant tones and chromatic scales. In the second half of the theme I used the aggressive tone of the double bass to play an ascending to descending scale in semi-tones to personify the enemy, this was successful as the growling timbre of the instrument created a muddy and dark tone which created a dar which accurately resembled the re-occurring theme of evil within the level. Another way I personified the enemy successfully was by using a dissonant french horn crescendo to create an unsettling tone within the music, this was successful because as the clashing and sharp harmonics of the music accurately represented aggressive nature of the enemies.
Another thing that went well with composing this week was making the music block seamlessly loop back to the beginning of the music, this is because I evaluated the differences from the end and start of the action block then I changed the end to sound more similar to the beginning of the piece. Furthermore creating a smooth loop back to the start of the piece, it is important for video game music blocks to have seamless loops otherwise the music can become irritating and obnoxious due to the abrupt musical loop. Another successful aspect of this weeks practical work was creating a tempo/rhythm for the action loop that matched the pace of the combat on screen, this is important as it helps create an immersive gameplay experience as the music blends with the pace of the combat. This was successful because the rhythm of the string staccatos was not too fast paced for attack animations and speed of the combat, furthermore the music accurately synced up to the pace of the enemy attack animations within the game.
What could be improved?
After reflecting on the music composed this week I realised I have neglected to make a harmonic progression, this prevents my music from effectively evoking emotion and developing musical character. Without harmony the music also sounds empty and thin, therefore in the upcoming week I am going to experiment with harmonic progressions that fit with the main motif of the theme, this will help give my music character and texture. Another thing that went wrong this week was making two separate music sections, upon listening back to this theme I have realised that the music switches to a completely new musical idea after 15 seconds. If this music block is in a constant loop this constant and rapid musical transitions will tire the listeners ears from the constant transitions. Therefore next week I am going to delete the second section of music and instead expand my melodic idea from the first theme using various experimental techniques (rhythmic modulation and inversions). The final thing I would improve from this section of music would be to use more velocity modulation throughout the block, as this would make the music sound more life like and exciting. As varied velocity’s replicate a live human playing the instrument, therefore making the music sound more believable to the listener.
In summary this week was unsuccessful, as I did not develop a full music block like I had hoped to do. This is because I composed two very contrasting sections of music within the theme which will eventually tire the listeners ears due to the loop, therefore in the upcoming week I must re-write the second half of the music to expand the motif from the 1st half of the theme. Furthermore meaning I wasted a lot session time developing an idea that will not be used in the final product of the music. However there was some success to this week as the music I composed matched my creative visions by matching the aggression of the battle and personifying the enemies. The main motif of this section is also very exciting, therefore meaning I do not need to improve much from the 1st motif, however just need to expand the theme to a longer length.
update week 6: I am now no longer going to be developing this music block, as when I synced the music up to the gameplay I realised their was no space for this music block in the game. This is because of how quickly the player moved in and out of the level, therefore I have over estimated how much music I should have composed for. However I am going to be using my staccato theme idea in my new music block, which I will talk about in my week 6 evaluation and reflection. To avoid this issue happening again in future I will analyse the gameplay more careful to more precisely judge how much music I need.