For my video game music I would like combat music to play on two different occasions, one being while fighting the final boss and the other being when the player is fighting smaller enemies. Through this research I hope to learn how to compose intense and engaging battle music in my music for the Wwise Adventure Game.
Tips For Composing Battle Music
When composing battle music a strong and powerful percussive music is the most important element if you want to build intensity and power within your music. It is also important when writing rhythms to make sure that all instruments compliment each other within the percussive mix, otherwise this could lead to a messy and unorganised rhythm within the music. This will make the music sound weaker due to its poor rhythmic structure. Osinatos are very commonly used in combat music as they help build up tension as the melodic phrase repeats over and over. Many people associate combat music with brass instruments due to their powerful timbre and loud dynamics, in history brass instruments have also been used as a sign of war furthermore making them tie to the theme of war within music. The low range of the brass instruments are often used in combat music to create an intimidating and growling tone within the music, this makes the player tense during the combat player due to the music and the high stakes gameplay. Brass are often used in combat music for sharp and aggressive stabs, rips, powerful melodies and extra effects within the music
Epic Choirs can be used in battle music to signify a moment or importance and power, making the combat seem more dangerous and intense. As action music is often rhythmically based, when using a choir you may find it more appropriate to make them play staccatos and short articulations. Many medieval styled games such as the Dark Souls franchise use choirs to symbolise grand battles and powerful enemies. These choirs often use powerful chords and loud dynamics to signify this power, and it works very well with the style and context of the franchise. Battle music often uses musical accents to create an atmosphere of chaos and intensity, to accent a beat you must layer different instruments and sounds upon the beat you want to emphasise. This will create an accent in your music and create a chaotic and powerful tone in the rhythm of the composition. In conclusion battle music should be driven by high energy and fast tempos to signify an action packed and chaotic battle. Using slow rhythms and low energy instrumentals will make the music seem relaxed and take away aggression from the music.
Writing Realistic Staccato Strings
String staccatos are used very often in action music to deliver strong rhythms and aggressive accents to the music to signify moments of intensity or tension on screen. However string staccatos can be very complicated to write in a realistic and effective way, therefore I will be researching into an example of using string staccatos in music and what techniques where used. From this video above the producer users fast rhythms to give his music energy and drive, furthermore adding an atmosphere of tension within the music as the rhythm does not slow down at all creating a theme of restlessness. He also put’s the violin and viola staccatos in the high end of the frequency spectrum to make it more audible within the orchestra, in contrast he also put’s the cello and bass in the low end of the frequency spectrum. This makes the strings cover a broad variety of the frequency spectrum, furthermore making the music sound full of energy and thick in instrumental texture (Alex Moukala Tutorials, 2017). In this piece of music he layered the violin and viola to play in unison, this emphasise the instrumental and makes it stand out from the rest of the music. Therefore making instruments play in unison is very effective when wanting to emphasise a specific instrumental line in your music (Alex Moukala Tutorials, 2017).
When composing string staccatos it is very important to use dynamic variation throughout the piece as this will make the orchestra sound more realistic, as real player wouldn’t play at one dynamic level throughout the whole piece of music. Using dynamic variation can also help you emphasise beats or make instruments become more prominent in areas of your music, this will make the music sound more interesting and give it more energy (Alex Moukala Tutorials, 2017). The producer in this video also says that he used syncopated notes, a syncopated note when accents are displaced outside of the main/most emphasised beats within the music (Encyclopedia Britannica. n.d). Using syncopated notes gives your music more texture and keeps the listener engaged, as the rhythm in the music is going against what the listener expects within the music. String staccatos are used in to bring energetic rhythms to action music and support the rest of the orchestra. Therefore string staccatos do not sound powerful by themselves, however with a full orchestra they bring intensity and energy to the music. However if you don’t orchestrate staccato strings with care and avoid using the research found on this page, your strings can sound unorganised and bring your music to sound muddy when mixing.
Writing For Percussion
Writing for metals
Metal percussion such as cymbals and gongs are very important for filling in high end frequencies on the frequency spectrum, which will make the music sounds epic and full in texture. They can also make the music sounds more dramatic and due to their loud dynamics and powerful timbre. Metals are great for creating dramatic music, however using metals too much in your music removes the emotional impact from the instrument. This is because the listener will begin to expect them coming, furthermore getting rid of their initial shock in the music (Composing Academy, 2021). . Crashes on cymbals can help support the down beast of the music in a musical section. A suspended symbol roll can also help when transitioning into a new musical section, as they can quickly build up pressure in the music due to their loud dynamics. Cymbals are typically played with mallets in action music due to its aggressive and rough tone on the metal (Composing Academy, 2021). . Gongs are often used in music to symbolise the start of a new musical section, these are also played with mallets as stick are not strong enough in terms of material too hit a gong due to its heavy weight.
Mid to High Drums
Using mid drums later in your composition can help build intensity within the music as the percussion slowly layers in. Using repetitive mid-drum patterns can also help build tension in the music and keep the listener engaged, as the listener will begin to focus on the repeating pattern. Adding high toms pitch to your percussion can also help accent beats in the music, furthermore allowing you to put emphasise on down beats. High toms can be used in your percussion to act as a rhythmic glue and to also create a constant rhythm in your music. Low toms can be used to add aggression to your piece of music by accenting specific rhythms in your percussion. It is worth noting that in an orchestra only up to 4 toms will be available for using different pitches, therefore it is important for you to stick to only 4 pitches when composing for toms (Composing Academy, 2021). . Snare drums are very useful for sustaining energy within your music by playing repeating patterns/rhythms in your music. Snare drums can also be played as single hits and rolls in a performance.
Writing Examples Low drums
Bass drums should have space between hits, this is bass drums are often very reverberant and having too much bass played in a short time can lead to a muddy mix in the music (Composing Academy, 2021). . When composing for bass drums and percussion in general it is important to use variation in velocities to replicate a humans performance on the drums, as a real performer would not hit all the drums at one velocity. Bass drums have a very powerful and loud tone compared to higher drums, this makes them great for creating rhythmic support in the music as well as being the rhythmic anchor of the composition (Composing Academy, 2021). . The timpani is a low end drum that is great for reinforcing the bass line with rhythmic accents, therefore it can bring much more depth to the percussive section of your music. However at timpani player will only have up to 4 drums in a live orchestra, therefore you should not use quick rhythms when the player requires time to change pitch on one of their timpani. When trying to build tension towards a climatic section in the music a timpani roll crescendo is very effective, as the dynamic increase and rhythmic intensity creates a surge of tension in the music. Taikos are low end drums recently made popular in film and video game music by Hans Zimmers film scores, these drums can be played as singles rolls and on the edge of the drum (Composing Academy, 2021). . Another popular low drum in action music are Surdos, these drums are very good when adding an addition layer of mid to low end energy into your percussion. Surdos also have a very short attack, therefore they are often used for adding energy, aggression and excitement in music due to this instrumental feature (Composing Academy, 2021).
Metric Modulation
Metric modulation is when the tempo of the music is modulated to a faster or slower tempo. However for this tempo change to be defined as a metric modulation the new tempo must be rhythmic pulse of the old tempo must relate to the new tempo. Metric modulation can be great for increasing intensity within your music when reaching higher tempos, or creating a relaxed and restful tone within your music by decreasing the tempo (Johnston, M., 2019). If you are to play the tempo of your music twice as fast this is called double time, however if the tempo is slowed down to half the speed this is called half time. There are times when writing music however where you may not want the music to go neither half or twice as fast, this is where implied metric modulation comes in. Implied metric modulation makes it sound as if the tempo of the music is being modulated, however it is remaining at the same tempo (Johnston, M., 2019). However it is using rhythmic sub-divisions that exist within the tempo to create the effect of the tempo speeding up or slowing down. For example if the drums play 1/4 notes on each beat then it speeds up to playing an 1/8 note triplet rhythm in the same tempo. Using the sub-division from 1/4 notes to 1/8 notes creates the effect that the tempo is speeding up, however it is remaining the same but using faster notes (Johnston, M., 2019). Metric modulation that uses cut time and half time often stays at that modulated tempo for the rest of the song, however implied metric modulation only stays at that modulated speed for a couple of measures (Johnston, M., 2019).
In conclusion metric modulation can bring intensity and rhythmic texture into the arrangement of the music and give it a sudden burst of energy. However it is important to note that metric modulation has to relate to the old tempo of the music, otherwise it is just a random tempo change within the music.
Extract (Pokemon Diamond and Pearl)
This is image is an extract from the Lake Theme from ‘Pokemon Diamond and Pearl’. The time signature at the beginning of this piece is written in 6/8 time, the 1/8th note rhythmic pulse in this music takes up three 1/8th notes per beat due to its time signature. However later in the music you can see the time signature is modulated to a 8/4 time signature, the music still keeps its 1/8th rhythmic pulse. However in 8/4 time this means only two 1/8th notes fit into one beat of the measure. This creates the illusionary effect that the music is speeding as before it took the music three 1/8 notes to fill a bar, to only taking two. Furthermore making the music sound like the tempo is speeding up
Source List
Alex Moukala Tutorials, 2017. How To Write Epic & Realistic Staccato Strings. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XDP-lv9fpQ> [Accessed 14 April 2022].
Baggström, M., n.d. How to Compose Battle Music (5 Tips + Live Examples). [online] Professional Composers. Available at: <https://professionalcomposers.com/how-to-compose-battle-music/> [Accessed 14 April 2022].
Composing Academy, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX6lW_zcOx8. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX6lW_zcOx8> [Accessed 14 April 2022].
Encyclopedia Britannica. n.d. syncopation | music. [online] Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/art/syncopation-music> [Accessed 14 April 2022].
Johnston, M., 2019. Drum Lesson: Understanding Metric Modulation. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5SkUZsb0uU> [Accessed 14 April 2022].
Kahn, O. and Masuda, J., 2021. Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum – Lake Theme. [Online] Tokyo: MuseScore. Available at: <https://musescore.com/user/31978058/scores/6621175> [Accessed 14 April 2022].