I have never done composing before except project 2 level 2. In music I pretty much only drum I mess about with learning some stuff on guitar sometimes but not a lot. Project 2 this year and last year are where I learnt almost everything I know on keys and abelton. This project is always a bit more challenging and boring for me as its not what I really want to be doing in music however I’m still here to learn and it’ll definitely help me become a better musician. The way I went about the project was to write simple guitar parts that I can play on keys for the composition. Since I wanted to do more of a heavier track for the composition the guitar was a lot easier to do too since I didn’t have to worry about creating a chord progression.
If I were to do this again I would probably focus more on writing better guitar and drums to go with it as with the drums I feel like I was very lazy on it especially considering I’m a drummer , but I really don’t like how programming drums work or sounds.
Jaws
Jaws theme works really well as it feels like danger is coming like a heart beat getting faster as danger (the shark) is approaching. The instruments that are used also give it an ominous feel to it. There’s also a lot of tension that gets created by the slow deep duh du. At the start there’s only a couple of instruments playing then as the shark gets closer more join , it gets louder higher pitch and faster creating more fear and panic when the shark starts biting the dissonance happens.
Since most of the time you can’t see the shark the music fills in that void allowing the audience to know where it is by the intensity and tempo of the music.
The instruments that are used in jaws are a cello , tuba , horn , low brass , trumpets , trombones , bass drum , snare drum , cymbals , double bass , French horn , harp , saxophone and piano I think there’s also more percussive instruments but I can’t find them.
Star Wars The imperial march
The imperial march is used to let you know that Darth Vader is coming he’s the main villain in the story so they make it very dramatic and menacing for Darth Vaders presence and power which is also shown by using dissonance. Since it is him approaching it also had a build up to it making it more tense that works well with the camera angles in the movie making it all very dramatic.
The rhythm is in 4/4 and feels like a feels like a menacing force marching towards you by using aggressive triplets this creates a forward driven beat.
The theme is wrote in a minor key which we associate with sadness or darkness/gloom. The writer avoids major key as it is associated with happiness and would not fit the piece.
I watched the films I haven’t got any ideas for any of them or know which one to pick.
After struggling on what to pick I decided to do the matrix one as I can write heavier music over the action based clip which is easier for me to think of.
I started off with a guitar part that slowly gets louder to make it more tense as the guy approaches and goes through the metal detector. Which then goes off and he reveals his jacket full of weapons. I then stop the guitar for the dramatic effect and then once he initiates the action the drums and guitar come in.
When they the backup arrives and they get in position I stop the music again till the guy shouts freeze and the gunshots and action starts again. I then wrote a different guitar part that is quite simple because im not good at keys or guitar but I hold down the notes on some of them to add more tension as well as panic chords to add more intensity. With this guitar part I also make the drums have more kicks in to go with the intensity of it.
It then goes to a section where the drums stop and the guitar continues as it goes into slow motion. I then stop the guitar as one of the security shoots a shot gun allowing you to hear it making it a bit more dramatic. Then I go straight back into the music with a slower kick pattern beat until it goes back to slow motion where I made a slightly breakdown drum beat (half timed).
When the last burst of action starts it goes back into the faster other drum beat while the main character starts taking out the rest of the guards and ends when he walks away with the bag.
