One needs to eat the meal before one tastes the dessert. Yeah, but it’s kind of tantalising, isn’t it? That’s kind of how I’m feeling when it comes to the music. Besides, I justify, I’m going to need to do it eventually, why not look at it now? Not to mention, I add, the feel of the music and the images presented need to match, so one will affect the other. Also… ALRIGHT!
I give in. Pencils and Gimp down, I’m going to divert to score the theme for Adaptation.
Bring on Anvil Studio
Learning from the animation for The Bullet, I’m not even going to bother trying to sing or play an instrument. Midi is the way to go, and I’m a little wiser this time around. For starters, I’m not even going to bother with mucking about with the instrumentation or beat until after I’ve got the basic melody in place.
I had to reinstall Anvil Studio after the upgrade to Windows 10, no biggy, just an inconvenience. It works alright, only the Virtual Midi Synth, too, is knacked. It’s just a matter of downloading and reinstalling and… I’m done.
Now, the big question is where to start. I’m not writing a song for radio, after all, nor is it muzak to go with an abstract DIY YouTube clip, nor will it have words. It’s a theme. It’s musical. It needs a tune. Last time I had the tune stuck in my head. This time round I’m going to have to start from scratch.
John Williams I ain’t.
Humming doesn’t do it for me. Any indistinct tune tends towards an established one within a matter of bars. Da-dum-dum dum-da da-da-da bop boopeti-bop… and I’ve hit the Superman theme. A few attempts later, it’s Indiana Jones. Dammit! Lawrence of Arabia! And now Doctor Who.
You know what? I’ve got my old Yamaha keyboard in the garage that I’ve recently spruced up.
Let me go out there and tap on it for a bit and I’ll get back to you…
Getting back to you
Ah, that brings back memories. I wasted a bit of time remembering how all the bits worked. You know, the white keys and the black ones, chords, scales, tone-tone-semitone, tone-tone-tone-semitone. *sigh* back to business.
What did I find out? I found out that I’m not after anything hugely complicated. A simple 4/4 time, coupled with a simplistic tune is what I’m after. To reaffirm this, I went to YouTube and had a listen to some sci-fi themes to get an idea.
Blade Runner, Alien, Terminator, Doctor Who, Terra Nova, even Flash Gordon! It seems that the space related ones, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Stargate, are grand, epic themes with big cymbals, orchestras and drums. Alien, Terminator, Blade Runner and Flash Gordon are less about the overall tune, and more about the beat, sound and underlying feel.
Where does Adaptation sit between these two? Probably more toward the latter side.
So I figure what I’m after is a sci-fi ditty that I can prop up with a thumpa-thumpa beat or a jika-jang of a distortion guitar to bring it back down.
Ah, phooey. I might as well stop typing and start on the melody.
Three cheers for MIDI!
If you need some help to flesh out your ideas and concepts, y’know, from someone with a proper DAW and a plethora of proper virtual instruments, you know where to find me!
You know, I might just have to take you up on the offer. Of course, it’ll mean your name on the credits…