Film Music Composition #6

Final Composition

This was my last lesson to work on my composition- I finished quite a lot in school and for homework all I had to was some tweaking and adjusting. I am quite pleased with my composition, as I have managed to compose a piece from my own creativity which is very different from the original but it is still portrayed as an expedient audio piece for it. To continue on from last time, after adding the reverb transition and pulsating cycles, the listeners meet the most dramatic part of the composition. A mixture of bells and chimes are played for a spooky yet magical affect- as when this is played, it is the scene showing the witches and wizards of Diagon Alley. This is played in the dynamic of forte to have the appearance of dominance over the wizarding world. It's powerfully joint with sharp notes of the brass but contrasting delicate atmosphere of the choir. With a long drone of the lower octave E, a powerful and intense melody of the violin join in to intensify the mood. There is a repeated addition of the chamber choir and brass- however the brass uses a different rhythm but keeps the same notes. This is met with the staccato playings of the cello- for a lower and rich sound as part of the strings family. The ending is one of my favourite parts of the entire composition. It ends with choral tension vox pad met with sharp brass playing- that lead the composition on with suspense. The use of silence before the end keeps the listener waiting and on the edge of their seat. In conclusion, my favourite part of this project was the music structure- I loved organised which instruments went where and how to arrange it. However, for next time, I will ensure to learn how to include crescendos and decrescendos in my compositions from GarageBand.  From this project, I have definitely ameliorated my skills of music structure- it was quite challenging for this composition, but I have managed it reasonably well.

This is the video of my final outcome in addition to the Indian Mission Impossible I did before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwhRhMxEjaM 

Film Music Composition #5

Progression of composition

Today's lesson was quite productive as I finished quite a lot during the 1 hour of class time- I'm nearing the end of the song. To continue off of last time, I was at the area where there was percussion from tambourines and trumpets involved. After this, the orchestral strings join with the notes F# G# Bb, harmonising with Eb F F# from the lower octave to thicken the layers and add a soothing touch. This sounds really nice with the tambourine, because it creates a unique effect. Then the trumpets are repeated playing the same notes Eb F# Bb Eb using the same canon technique. The idea of repeating some of these sequences is for the listener to feel some familiarity and attachment to the composition. However, a transition affect called Reverse Vocal is used to transition the trumpets into my orchestral melody line. It's played with staccato to contrast the legato trumpets from before and add variation. This melody line is perfect for the clip as it sparks excitement and tension together. 

As an owl flies into the alley, a sound affect for a bird sound is played so that there is again that sort of attachment towards the composition. Right after this, there are many overlapping layers involved to set the atmosphere. The first layer is a chamber choir with the notes Eb F# G# and Bb. The second layer to this sequence is called the noisy vox, it's sets the mood of a busy town- which is exactly what is displayed in the video. The third layer is another choir however it is a female choir so it has smoother and more refined vocals. The last and fourth layer to this sequence is the most significant as it dominates the others- it is played by brass. This sequence goes on for 12 bars, adding in and overlapping segments one by one. Then I played pulsating cycles and added a transition for a smooth transition of the coming dramatic part of the composition. 

Here is a video of what I've done so far: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgeb4o22Jm0

Film Music Composition #4

Initiating the composition

This was the first lesson to work on my composition. I was very excited to compose my piece of music as I wanted to show dimension and diversity in my skill- as the clip am I composing for is of a different genre. In the previous project, I already composed a DJ remix composition. This time I want to show even more flexibility to my skills by composing to this clip. This is a link of the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-WEzhyc3DY It is from the Harry Potter Diagon Alley scene. It is the first time Harry meets eyes with the world of magic, he has several mixed emotions bubbling inside of him: excitement, astonishment, confusion, shock and many more. And I wanted to capture all these an intense yet riveting piece- which is hopefully what I'll achieve. 

I spent today's lesson figuring out how to mute the audio for the video and compose my music over. My initial plan was to download the youtube video onto desktop by transferring the video into an app called ClipGrab. Then I would insert the video onto iMovie, and select the entire video by dragging the mouse across it in the 'my media' section. And above the preview video section, the voice control icon is what I would have used to mute the sound. Lastly, all I would have to do would be to add the video to the section in which you edit the content selected and upload the video into a file on the desktop. However, there was a much, much easier version to achieving this task. All I did was download the video and then import the video in garage band. From there on, it was really easy, as all I did was mute the sound of the original video and begin composing over it. 

In today's session, right after I figured out the technical elements, I decided to make a start on this piece. It's in the key of E minor and is in the tempo of 120 with a 4/4 time signature. I decided to begin the piece with an interesting leading melody to envelope the listeners into my piece. I used the instrument of bells to recreate a sort of ethereal yet magical atmosphere. The notes I used were Eb F# Bb (High octave) Eb. I held the first note and added in each of the notes after 2 beats to texturise and create an echoing illusion. Right after this, I tried to include a sound effect for the bricks when they arrange themselves and unleash the secret passage to diagon alley. This was the first sound effect I included so far. I wasn't really that interested to include that many sound effects because it ruins the melodic touch to the composition. Then right after the orchestral instrument of the trumpet joins in for a rich touch. It plays the same notes Eb F# Bb (High octave) Eb using the same canon technique but in a lower octave. In sync with the trumpet, percussion from a tambourine is played for a lighter feeling. This is a screenshot of what my garage band looks like so far: 

Film Music Arrangement #3

Completion of my Mission Impossible Indian Arrangement

This lesson was the last lesson I had to complete my indian arrangement- however since this is very limited time to work on, I did the majority of my arrangement at home. I am very pleased with my arrangement as I successfully transformed into an Indian version of Mission Impossible. To continue on from where I left off from last lesson, I continued playing the main melody of Mission Impossible in the instrument of sitar. Melodic instruments such as the sitar have sympathetic strings the vibrations of which create a distinctive shimmering texture. These are the notes for the leading melody: D D D D D D F G, D D D D D D C Bb. This melody is overlapped with the strings playing from a low octave D to high octave D and by the fast rhythms of the tabla. This sequence is repeated two times. A drone of D is used. 

Most Indian Art music uses a drone, a constantly sounding pitch or set of pitches which gives reference point to the ear in hearing the intricacies of the raga being formed. The drone is usually the interval of perfect fifth. An indian percussion instrument called Ghatam is added here. The Ghatam is one of the most old percussion instruments of South India. The pitch of the Ghatam varies depending on its size. Then following this the flute overlaps. These are the notes: E D B, D Bb A, G A. E E Higher Octave E, D D Higher Octave D, C C C Higher Octave C, C B. This sequence is repeated twice for emphasis and then leads back into the leading tune played by the sitar. Since this arrangement involves lots of overlapping, I over lapped one last instrument that is very popular culturally in india- the tanpura. This added a more classic touch and the notes Bb and F were played with sustained notes as a harmony to the melody. This spiced up the tune and added more texture by thickening the layers. Finally, the arrangement concludes by fading out. Since it is a soothing piece I wanted to fade it out rather than end it abruptly. This song only consisted of a few instruments but indian music is usually performed with small groups of music. This results in a chamber music feeling, encouraging more delicate dynamics. 

Here is a video of my Indian Mission Impossible Arrangement: 

Indian Mission Impossible

Film Music Arrangement #2

Initiating my Arrangement

In the second lesson, I was quite productive as I reached halfway through my arrangement. I initiated the lesson by listening to other indian versions of Mission Impossible for inspiration. There weren't that many clips on it, as it was quite a rare arrangement. But what I synthesised from all of these clips were that there was heavy use of the sitar as an instrument and more cultural beats like the tabla. This was primarily my starting point, as my ideas started to flow once I decided how to revolve my arrangement around these 2 aspects. There were 3 instruments that I used to begin and firstly start the piece to insinuate a sort of Indian atmosphere. They key is in Dm and the tempo is 100 played on a 4/4 time signature. I started the piece by playing a low octave D to a higher octave D while sustaining the note (played by sitar). Then used strings to play the note D E D, and overlapped it with the flute playing the notes A B D B A. This sequence was repeated for 3 bars, but it was more of crescendo, so it got louder in each bar, to diminish any repetitive feeling. Then added a small pause for suspense that dropped the beat with the tabla. This is different from the original as it portrays a different kind of rhythm. This is when the famous tune of Mission Impossible comes in, it is very familiar tune so it will definitely turn heads but however it is manipulated and is played using the instrument veena. This instrument produces a plucked string sound and is used mostly in Carnatic and Hindustani classical music. 

This is a screenshot of my garage band portraying all that I have done so far: 

These are my references:

http://piano.about.com/od/Tempo-Terms-Glossary/tp/Tempo-Glossary_A-D.htm 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuit3YrokuU 

Film Music Composition + Arrangment #1

Brainstorming and finalizing ideas

For this project, we are required to transform a film music composition. We can perform it, arrange it different or do a composition. The piece I have chosen to transform is the Mission Impossible theme song by Danny Elfman. This is quite similar to the classical piece transformation except this is with film music. Since I already used the idea of making a DJ remix, I don’t want to reuse it. But I have brainstormed 3 fresh ideas for this project. The first one is to diversify the piece by adding more instruments and augmenting the orchestrations, then completing it by composing my own lyrics following the melody line. This would be a very interesting idea to use, as it would express my twist on this piece and showcase my creativity in the lyrics. My second idea was to compose my own piece inspired by this tune for the trailer of Mission Impossible or any scene from the movies. And my final idea was to change the culture of the song to Indian, by changing the rhythm, instruments and adding little aspects I’ve heard in Indian songs. From all these brainstormed ideas, I have chosen to pursue my third idea. This is due to several reasons. First of all, I can’t exactly use my first idea because I don’t have the right recording equipment, it’s available in the music room but then I only have limited school time to work on it. Secondly, because changing the culture of the song is a very creative idea, and not many would end up doing this as it’s quite challenging. Not only that, it demonstrates my creativity and my cultural expression which is one of the global contexts.

Below is a table that evaluates the idea, portraying the advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages	Disadvantages
Demonstrates creativity	Time consuming
Allows me to express my culture	Difficult task to structure
Developing new skills
Diversity in my composition
Can display a variety of instruments, textures, and harmonies

As the table above demonstrates, the advantages of using this idea of transforming the culture of the mission impossible theme song, clearly weigh out the disadvantages and strengthening my choice for this project. 

This is a link of the original piece that I will be transforming: 
Mission Impossible Theme Song 

However, this idea is an arrangement. By doing an arrangement, the highest mark that you can score is a level 6. I wanted to aim for a higher grade so I thought I could try and do my third idea of composing my own composition for a scene from the movie. So I am extending myself and will try to complete both tasks. Since we have 6 lessons, I have devised my time to spend 3 lessons on each composition. 

For my composition I will compose a composition for the following video. 
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Diagon Alley

This is from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and it is the scene from when Harry first goes to Diagon Alley. This scene has a very magical touch to it, so it will be quite interesting to compose for. I chose to compose for a different film because Mission Impossible wouldn't really portray a more creative side to a composition, I want to display my ability in working with different genres, so this is why I chose to create a composition for this scene.