General Thoughts
Time for another section! As you can see by the title, I’ve done two of these before, and this is yet another continuation from where I left off in Composition Brain Goop #2. I hope to have the fourth one out soon as well, because I have it in my head, it’s just a matter of expanding it and putting it to words. I know my ideas will change slightly as I learn more about what I can and can’t accomplish with the equipment, knowledge, and time at my disposal, my ideas with shift and I will have to make some compromises, but I need a base to start from, so I need to get my ideas out of my head and examine them so I can move on. That said, let’s dive into my idea for the third section of this piece!
After doing something bold and shocking in the first section (kind of like a fanfare that announces the arrival of something), and transitioning into something familiar and folk-like that incorporates soundscapes as background accompaniment in the second section (like a soothing second movement to contrast the chaos of the first), we will move onto a more ethereal third section with the background being like an inner soundscape of emotions as we reflect inward. The third section will be less stable than the folk-like section, but more stable than the first section.
In terms of creating the sounds for this section, I want them to sound shimmery and distant. I want harmonies to frame the lyrics, and I don’t know if they will be pre-rendered harmonies, or if I’ll find a way to detect the pitches of the vocalist and generate harmonies on the fly either by using a virtual instrument or just using effects on the input of the mic and crafting a vocal line that can harmonize itself nicely via reverb or delay or something.
The Goopiest Section so Far
If you didn’t read the first Composition Brain Goop post, you totally should go read it right now, otherwise, here’s a general overview of how I’ll be notating my piece below for brainstorming and documenting my process/progress:
Lyrics will be notated in regular text. Comments will be in brackets. Electronic idea descriptions will be italicized. Electronic trigger actions will be bold – R for tilting the head right, L for tilting the head left, F for tilting the head forward, and B for tilting the head back. After each tilt, it is assumed that the head be brought back to center.
[Here’s the last bit of the second section and the transition into the third, just to get us situated.]
And romanticized prose about sailing. [This last line with gusto! Like a punchline that acknowledges the cheesiness of everything that just happened.]
B Line up the trigger with ‘man’ in ‘romanticized’ to schedule the drum to end in 4 measures. Keep the backwards tilt natural, coming back to center by ‘sailing’ to emphasize the last word of this section. The end of the drum triggers another transitional morphing section in the oceany water sounds to a fuzzy kind of white noise (which sounds very similar to rain) to switch into shimmery ethereal spacey sounds meant to be something like a soundscape of the mind.
[In this section, the sensor will be extra sensitive to shape the soundscape, like brushing a feather across a still pond: just to add occasional ripples to catch the light and shimmer differently.]
With so many possibilities, how can I just sing about sailing?
So much pain in the world to heal…
So much division…
Cracking my world to pieces…
B Looking up, as if to some higher power, this time don’t go back to center right away, just look up and let the sound surround you for a while. A sound will emerge from the soundscape, it will probably be a theremin, because they imitate humming really well, and it will do the first fragment of Garnet’s motif from Steven Universe: C G F Bb G. Then as it does the second fragment, return the head to center position: C G F Eb C. Join in for the closing fragment singing ‘ah’s: C G F Bb C, and fade out. The electronics will play two cycles of a four-chord progression in 8th notes in 6/8 time. Enter on the third note of the last chord of the second progression.
[One pitch per syllable. I’m leaving rhythm out of this post for now.]
We’ll fill up the cracks, [C G F Eb C]
And make the world whole, [C G F Eb Bb]
Fill the spa-ces in-be-tween. [Bb Bb G Ab G Eb F]
We’ll fill up the cracks, [C G F Eb C]
And make the world whole, [C G F Eb Bb]
Fill the spa-ces in-be-tween. [Bb Bb G Ab G Eb F]
With lo-o-ove [Eb Eb D C]
Fill it with lo-o-o-o- [F Eb D Eb D C]
o-o-o-o-ove. [C G F Bb G] [This has a meter change, and the electronics have been looping the same chord progression through this, so once it does so many loops, it will not only switch meter, but it will add more echo-y reverb goodness to the the vocals to make this bit sound super spacey with a fade-out like we’re zooming out on a scene.]
B Looking up again, as if to some higher power as sounds shift and morph into the next section.
I should have the next section up within a week! Then I can really get into things and at least properly notate the vocals to schedule a workshop session with my vocalist to make sure the range and everything is good for her! I’m still learning a lot about the electronic side of things, so those details will be added much later.
Have a lovely day, and choose kindness!
Electroacoustic Playground 