Purpose Of Music Block 1
The function of my first music block is to accompany the player while they are exploring the level, I have learned through my contextual research that level I am composing is a dark dungeon that is leading up to the final boss fight of the game.Therefore in this composition I will be using my research on locational scoring to create a piece of music captures the ancient and magical setting of the location. I will also be using narrative scoring to foreshadow the evil presence within the cave (final boss) through creepy minor chords and haunting melodies. I will try and build up tension in the music to alert the player to the presence of evil within the cave. This composition has been inspired by the Scape Cave theme which I have analysed as part of my research, as I think the music works very well with the gameplay and suits the aesthetic of the video game I am working on.
Week 2 – Commencing March 14th
Before I began writing writing melodies and harmonies for my composition I first began thinking about the foundation of the music such as tempo and key. To decide the tempo of the music I first thought about the purpose of the music within the game, which is to play as background music as the player explores the cave. Throughout my research on ambient music I learnt that ambient music often has slower tempos to avoid the listener from focusing onto it, from this information I decided to start my composition with a tempo of around 65 BPM. However when I began writing my harmonies later on I decided the music was dragging too much therefore I increased the tempo to 90 BPM, which made the music sound more comfortable and natural. When deciding the key of the music I first thought about the context of the location of the level and it’s visual aesthetic.
Through my play through on the Wise Adventure Game I learned about the context of the game and its significance in the narrative experience of the game. In the game the location is meant to be the source of the evil where the monsters are coming from, therefore I wanted to reflect on the theme of evil by writing the music in a minor key and by using dark and foreboding chords. Through my analysis on scape cave I learned that moving between semi-tone intervals in a chord transition creates an evil and forbidding tone within the music. Therefore I used this in my composition by starting on the chord F sharp minor and moving down to F minor. This transition worked very well as it created a creepy and forbidding tone within the music. The chord progression of this music block is; F sharp minor, F minor, F sharp minor, C minor, F sharp minor and Bb diminished. I ended the chord progression with a diminished chord to create a sense of tension and mystery within the music to foreshadow the upcoming boss fight within the game. By looking at this chord progression you may realise that it does not stick to one specific key, this is because I wanted the chord progression to constantly swap between keys to give the listener a sense of confusion and unpleasantness as they do not know the key of the music, which reflects on the evil atmosphere inside of the cave.
After I came up with the chord progression I began to experiment with melodies by playing numerous melodic ideas and resolving the phrases within the harmony to allow it to harmonise with the chord progression. After developing the melody to fit the full chord progression I decided put the melody on the Oboe track. This decision was inspired by the Scape Cave soundtrack from Rune Scape, this is because the Oboe had a very haunting timbre which I believed would work very well with the visual aesthetic of the video game. After recording the melody into Logic I recorded the violins playing the 1st and 3rd note of the harmonic progression in the G3-G5 frequency range. I chose this frequency range of the violins due to my research on instrumental characteristics, which suggested to use this frequency range when trying to give the violin a mellow and dark tone. Furthermore I used this range as the tone blended with the evil and dark context of the cave level. I then decided I wanted some rhythm in the music to reflect on the movement of the main protagonist as they explore the dungeon. This rhythm was implemented via a 2 octave harp arpeggio pattern which played along with the chord progression. This arpeggio pattern constantly rises and descends in pitch creating a magical and unstable theme in the music. I wanted this tone within the instrument to reflect on the dangerous environment and magical surroundings such as the wizard and grand library setting. Due to the semi-tone intervals between each chord the arpeggio has an underlying dark and foreboding theme within the music
After finalising the arpeggio I decided I had the foundation of my composition such as; the melody, harmony and rhythm. However I then reflected on the context of the location and how the music corresponds to the narrative significance within the plot, after thinking about this I decided the music did not foreshadow the upcoming boss fight enough nor did it accurately reflect on the evil within the dungeon. Therefore I decided to add a dark droning cello and bass with pitch ranging from F sharp 0 – F sharp 1. This extremely low frequency of these instruments created a horrifying evil instrumental texture beneath the music. I decided for the droning cello to play a tremolo to create an atmosphere of tension and instability within the music to foreshadow the upcoming boss fight. The final track I added to the music in this week was a choir, I chose to add this instrument due to it’s link to ancient architecture which is present in this level. I wanted the choir to give the location a intimidating and foreboding theme to reflect on the boss fight. I gave the choir this tone by making it move in semi-tones, this technique has been used famously in the theme for jaws as the main motif is just a not moving up and down one semi-tone.
Evaluation and Reflection
What went well?
Despite the many elements of this track that need to be improved their was many things that went well. One thing that went very well this week was developing the light motif for the harp which created a mysterious, eerie and magical tone to the music. This was very successful from a gameplay perspective as it encouraged the player to keep pushing forward through the dungeon due to its rhythm. The minor tone of the instrument also accurately reflects on the visuals of the level, furthermore making it blend into the level seamlessly. Another successful aspect of this track is the use of the tremolos which create a subtle sense of instability within the music which suggest that the player is unsafe. The harmonic progression I cam up with has been very successful as it captures a haunting and creepy tone due to the semi-tone intervals between the chords and there minor tones. The final part of this track that I am proud of is the break in the middle of the composition, this transition sounds very natural and prevents the music from being boring to the listener. The seamlessly transitions within the music create a professional and creepy tone within the music. This further reinforces the element of danger present in the level.
What Needs To Be Improved?
On Wednesday this week I tried syncing my music to the gameplay using a laptop, however after syncing the music up to the gameplay i realised it did not work. One weak point in this music was the Oboe, this instrument drew too much focus to its self, my main goal for this composition was for it to support the gameplay as an ambient track and to avoid the players focus beneath the gameplay. The melody also was very repetitive and became annoying after a couple of minuets, therefore frustrating the player and negatively impacting the players in-game experience. To fix this error in the music next week I will remove the melody from the composition and make the music more harmonic based, this is because I think any melody I make in the ambient track attract the same issues as the previous melody, this is because the main intent of a melody in music is to draw focus, therefore I will base my music around the harmony to make it blend in more with the visuals of the level.
Another problem I have with the music is that it does not complement the environment of the game nor its significance in the narrative experience of the game. In context to the story the cave is meant to be the source of all evil within the magical world and the hero is coming to destroy its source. However in my music it only has magical connotations and very light elements of danger such as tremolos and the minor chords. Therefore to improve this I need the music to sound more evil and dangerous to emphasise the presence of evil within the cave. To do this I will make the choir play down 1 to 2 octaves to give the music a more malevolent tone, this is because at the moment the choir gives of a magical and safe timbre which contradicts the environment and it’s context in the story. I also want to allow the cello to have to be more audible within the music, as personally I think the instrument has a mellow and haunting tone which will complement the dark visuals of the video game level. I will do this by making the cello louder in dynamics or making it play the top note of the harmony to make it rest above the other instruments in pitch.
In summary this week was not very successful as the tone of the music does not match the theme of the video game level, therefore in the upcoming week I must take time out of the project to fix it by arranging the music to focus on harmony. However there was some successful ideas and themes that came out of this first week which I hope to develop in the upcoming week such as the; harp motif and the use of the choir as a droning harmonic instrument. Therefore this week was also had some successful aspects to it.
Week 3 – Commencing March 21st
During my second week of composing I focused on re-inventing my week 1 music to sound more ominous and creepy to reflect on the upcoming boss fight within the game, along with the hostile enemies. One of the first amendments I made to this composition was removing the melody, I did this because it drew to much attention off of the gameplay and was also too repetitive. Furthermore the melody defeated the purpose of the ambient music I aim to compose, after removing the melody I decided to make the music more harmonically driven. This was successful as without the melody the music instantly sounded more ambient, therefore syncing to the video game more effectively. Another change I made was replacing the ‘church choir’ instrument with the ‘dark choir’ instrument. This plug-in had a much darker instrumental timbre which blended with the dark environment with the game, the church choir I believe sounded more light and holy than dark, therefore it conflicted with the environment of the level. In the music I adjusted the volume of the droning cello tremolo to be louder in the music to give the music a sense of instability and danger, I used a tremolo for this due to its unstable and shaken timbre which reflected very successfully on the presence of danger within the cave. This week I also added the dark choir into the intro of the music, I added a 4/4 triplet delay onto the choir to give it a spacious and echoed delay to reflect on the open and large dungeon room. I also added an ambient delayed choir into the intro. The role of the choir in this piece is to naturally evolve and become more intense throughout the music, as later on in the track the choir becomes more dominant and intense. Therefore allowing the choirs role to grow from being very subtle to dominant creates a steady and natural dynamic incline, successfully building up anticipation towards the boss fight at the end of the level. The intro music block will play when the player is first entering the cave up until they enter the first room with the stone statue.
This image shows the second musical block of the level, which plays when the player enters the first room within the cave. When composing the music blocks I wanted the music to become more intense as the player journeys further into the cave, this is due to their rapid approach to the dangerous final boss. In this music block I wanted the rhythm to pick up in the music to create a rise of tension, to do this I used; violas and violins 1 and two to play a repeating rhythm. The dominant rhythm is played by the first violins and violas which play on every beat within the bar, this is a very simple and boring rhythm alone. However I added the second violins to play on the off beat to add more depth to the music and also create an unexpected rhythmic turn within the music. This rhythm repeats for the entirety of the second music block, however repeating rhythms are often a good way to build tension as the listener will be expecting a change in rhythm as it repeats more. In the second music block I also added a tubular bell to play as an environmental effect within the music, this decision was inspired by my favourite video game ‘Bloodborne’. In this video game tubular bells often play before a main boss to highlight the significance of the battle within the narrative of the game. Therefore I used tubular bells within my music for the same purpose, as the level is constantly leading up to the final boss I wanted the tubular bells to come into the music to reflect on the great conclusion of the quest and the boss fight. Due to the bells reverberant tone I decided to make it play only once every two bars so that the music did not become messy due to the reverberant tone.
The final instrumental addition I made to the second music block was implementing a legato ‘dark choir’ along side it’s delayed variation. I did this to create a sense of evolution within the music as the choirs role becomes progressively larger. The choir follows the chord progression of the music which I talked about in the reflection of my first week of practical work. I did this to avoid melodic focus within the music and to avoid the music drawing focus away from the gameplay, I did this by making the choir more harmonically focused as people tend to not pay as much attention to the harmony within the music. I also wanted the choir to foreshadow the upcoming boss fight within the music to make the player feel on edge and tense. To do this I made the legato choir play every two bars, allowing the delayed choir to played in the in-between the rests of the legato choir. The back and forth playing between these two instruments creates conflict in the music which reflects on the evil nature of the cave, constantly using these two choirs also removes gaps within the texture of the music. In the chord progression of the music the F sharp minor chord plays every two bars, meaning the legato choir ends up constantly repeating this chord each time it plays. The repetitive role of this instrument builds up tension within the music and makes it audibly easy to follow for the listener. This allows them to easily subconsciously listen to the music without them having to focus onto it, furthermore making the music not take away focus from the gameplay.
The image above shows a transition music block that plays when the player breaks a rock with a sledge hammer, once they break this rock they enter the second room. As this is a key part of the levels structure I wanted it to be a moment where the music stands out for the listener, so that they recognise it as a moment of significance. I also wanted this block to create a build up that leads into the music block to room two in the level, this music block is more intense than the past blocks I have mentioned. Therefore to create a natural transition I needed the transition music block to create a quick and impactful build up of tension that leads into the third music block. During my first week of composing I made a transition block for entering the boss fight room, I decided it was too early to be thinking of developing an idea for the end of the level so I left the idea aside. However I realised this idea perfectly fitted this scenario I was trying to compose for therefore I used it at this point in the level. This idea consists of the viola, harp and 1st violins descending in unison in a minor scale, I chose to play this instrumental in a minor scale and rapidly descend the scale to create a dark feeling of falling within the music. I wanted to do this to reflect on the characters perspective of journeying even further into the dark and ancient cave. To contrast the descending scale however the tubular bells and the cello jump up an octave within the music, this generates energy and intensity within the music. The cello still plays a tremolo, therefore the higher pitch of the ascended tremolo makes it more audible within the music. Furthermore creating an even more dominant feeling of instability within the music. The final part of this arrangement is the ‘dark choir’ which plays a Bb augmented chord. This creates a mysterious and tense tone within the music, which reflects on the reveals of the second room within the video game.
This image shows the arrangement for the third music block for my final project, for this block I wanted to reflect on how close the player is to the final boss fight of the game. I mainly increased the intensity within this music block by adding more rhythmic texture to the music. One way I added more rhythmic texture was by adding a timpani to the arrangement of the music, the timpani in this composition plays a simple and repetitive one bar rhythm. The rhythm plays a 1/4 note which is instantly followed by an 1/8 note, the rhythm then plays 2 1/4 notes before repeating. This creates a marching rhythm which builds momentum in the music, this provokes the player to keep moving forward through the level as they get closer to the boss. Through my research on action music I also learned that using timpani rolls can be an effective tool when building music towards a climax, therefore in this music block I used a timpani roll every 4 bars to build up tension, that will finally be released in the future when the player encounters the final boss. During this section the tubular bells also play once every bar instead of every to bars, this makes the music feel more like it’s moving at a faster pace, furthermore increasing the intensity of the music. The final change addition I made to the exploring music block was making the choir play up an octave, this increased the intensity of the music as it made the music feel more elevated. It also makes the listener expect the music to soon reach the climax due to the build up of tension. I also moved the choir up an octave due to the large amount of bass frequencies in the mix, adding too much bass in the music could result in a messy mix which I want to avoid. This is a problem I encountered in last years final project which I have learned from and will avoid in this project. In this music block I also removed the delayed choir to create contrast between the instrumental sections, to stop it from being too repetitive for the player. Furthermore this music block has been very successful as it foreshadows the upcoming boss fight in the level through increased tension and percussive rhythms , therefore making the listener feel immersed in the video game as they feel nervous for what is about to come in the level.
Evaluation and Reflection
What went well?
This week I made a lot of great progress and there is many different things that went well in my composing than last week. One thing that went well was the use of delay on the dark choir, this created a sense of space within the music which reflects on the environment of the open cave. It also makes the music sound more thick in texture, furthermore making the music sound more complete to the listener. Another element that went well this week was making the music more harmonically based by removing melodic elements from the music, this makes the music blend into the background of the gameplay furthermore directing the players focus to the game instead of the music. The harmonic music also allowed me to create a haunting soundscape using the choirs, which reflects on the evil presence within the cave. I am also very happy with how the tubular bells work within the music, as it gives the soundtrack a gothic and Medieval tone which reflects on the time era and theme of the level. Due to the powerful timbre of the instrument it also lets the player know that the cave is very significant in the narrative of the story. Therefore the tubular bells are very effective in the composition. The use of percussion within the third music block also went very well this week, as the repetitive rhythms created a build up of tension within the music which is anticipating the future boss battle. The percussion is very effective in this sense as the instruments aggressive timbre gives the music an aggressive tone which suggests the player is not safe in their current location. Furthermore putting the player on the edge of their seat while playing through the game. One other successful aspect to this weeks progress was composing the string staccato rhythm, as the violin playing on the off beat successfully created rhythmic texture and interest within the music making it sound more full and life like. The final thing that was very successful this week was composing the timpani crescendo in the music block for the second room. This build up of dynamics teases the player into thinking the music is going to develop, furthermore building up tension within the music successfully foreshadowing the upcoming boss fight within the game.
What Needs To Be Improved?
To improve this music block I must structure music to come to a natural conclusion so that it can be released as a stand alone track at the end of the project, and can be used for casual listening. As at the moment the music ends very abruptly, to bring my music to a natural end I could slowly take instruments out of the arrangement and eventually fade the dynamics into silence. It would also make the track a little bit longer, my track is short however it does not need to be long as the level I am composing for is very short and can be completed very quickly. Therefore I do not need a lot of music to accompany the player, however making the music a little bit longer would suit the music for casual listening as a stand alone track.
Another way I could improve this music block would be by adding some dynamic automation, this would make the music sound a lot more interesting and realistic. As dynamic variation throughout a track adds energy and life to the music, which furthermore captivates the listeners interest within the music. However the dynamic variation I would add would be very subtle due to the music blocks purpose as background music, adding drastic changes in dynamics would take focus away from the gameplay and potentially tire the players ears. This is because the dynamics would go from loud to suddenly quiet as the music loops back to the start. Along with dynamic automation the music also needs to be panned, this give the music a sense of space as the instruments are moved around the in stereo mix of the music. Without the panning the music sounds very flat in terms of space at the moment, therefore in the future the music must be panned to create a 360 degree audio environment within the music. Before panning my instruments I will do research into the best way to pan orchestral instruments, as I am aware there is a formula to panning an orchestra which matches the arrangement of a real life orchestra. However I do not know how to pan them so I will do research into this before panning the orchestra myself.
The final way I can think of for improving my music would be by mixing each individual instrument in the arrangement using compression and EQ. This would make the music sound more clear by giving each instrument their own space within the frequency spectrum. Much like panning I do not know how to mix and orchestra therefore I must also do research into this area before attempting to mix the orchestra. However these are elements of mixing, therefore I will get to improving this music block near the end of the project, where I have completed all my music blocks and have time to mix them all to a high standard.
In summary this week was very successful in terms of my practical work as I managed to improve my mistakes from the previous week in my music and also managed to compose for the second room of my music, while including a transition block. There was some ideas that failed however using perseverance I developed these ideas into working pieces of music that fit the game, the main reason I have been successful this is Week is by being very work efficient. This is because of my dedication to do written work outside of college time IN had all the time in college to work on my practical work, furthermore allowing me to make as much progress as I did in this week.