Darkscapes consists of electronically composed, produced, mixed and mastered tracks. They were created with Ableton Live 10 along with electric guitar, software synthesizers, and effects processors. Some of the sounds used were also sourced from field recordings. (What’s new in Live 11 | Ableton, 2022)
The compositions sonically lie in the middle ground between music and soundscape. They often begin with soundscape elements and over the duration of a piece, musical elements are introduced and interspersed with the soundscape elements.
The compositions can be viewed as drones as the arrangements often have layers which play consistently for the entire track duration. This provides an ambient sound-bed layer which serves to underpin the subsequent layers which are introduced over time.
Akira Yamaoka’s soundtrack for Silent Hill 2 was an inspiration for the noise and atonal elements used in the compositions. I drew from his use of distorted radio sounds as well as industrial metal impact sounds. His compositions inspire a foreboding sense of fear and dread which is something I also wanted to encapsulate in my compositions for Darkscapes. His tracks “Basement Dwellers” and “Blank Fairy” encapsulate this aesthetic. (Akira Yamaoka, 2001)
[Composition & Arrangement in Ableton Live 10 – Arrangement View]
Composition for the project was done using a combination of MIDI and Audio programming as well as hand-played recorded elements. Many of the elements are highly processed and further effected to fit more in line with the aesthetic of the project.
The following image is an example of some MIDI programming for a synthesizer patch which was used to make a sound reminiscent of rain droplets. The pattern is strange as I intended this element to feel random and arrhythmic.
[MIDI Programming in Ableton Live 10 Piano Roll]
To achieve the evolving and flowing textures of the compositions, automation is used liberally. In this example, the automation controls a filter which gradually opens and closes, allowing more high frequency content to be heard over time. The effect is applied to a highly processed field-recording of a train. The resulting sound appears to move closer and further away from the listener over time.
[Filter Automation on Train Sound]
Manipulated field recordings and voice recordings play a major role in the compositions. The concept behind this was to introduce elements which are organic in nature but have been ‘corrupted’ through heavy effects processing, giving the listener the feeling of something that alludes to being, but is not, organic. (Grimshaw, 2009)
“Here, the uncanny is created through the process of making the familiar strange” - (Grimshaw, 2009)
I made use of an electric guitar and e-bow (electronic bow) to create elongated textures. My process for this was generally holding long notes with the e-bow through the guitar, which would then be processed through an amplifier simulation plugin, the Neural DSP Archetype Plini and then through reverbs and delays such as the Valhalla Shimmer reverb. This gave the guitar sound a sustained abrasive texture. (The Amazing EBow, 2022)
[Valhalla Shimmer Reverb Effect Plugin used on Ebow Guitar]
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