Orchestral Articulation, Music and Drama & Portfolio Evaluation (Unit 10)

To Create the accompanying music & sounds for these videos I had to use a range of techniques. Including some that I discovered when researching different film composers. I gauged the mood & vibe of each video by looking at what was happening in different scenes, the camera angles, how fast scenes changed and the coloration of videos. This gave me a place to start when creating the sound tracks.

Orchestral techniques

One of the main techniques I used was orchestration. As orchestral instruments are a staple in the film industry. These orchestral instruments can be played in many ways know as articulations. The four that I had access to were Legato, Pizzicato, Staccato and Tremolo. Legato gives a of a calm feeling due to the smooth flow with no pauses between notes. Pizzicato is when a string instrument is plucked rather than bowed, this is great for fast paced sections(3). Staccato is a bowed style of playing but "notes have space, or silence, between them"(2) this is great for Rhythm sections and building up suspense ". Tremolo is when a note(s) is played very quickly, it is great for holding suspense and introducing new sections.(4) 

Another thing that I discovered when researching orchestration is that all the instruments are grouped. Orchestras will have Violin, Bass, Cello, Viola & other sections depending on size. Musicians within these sections generally play the same notes with some small variations. So to give my midi orchestration an authentic feel I will use this technique. The 'strong attention-grabbing effect'(1) is when all the section plays the exact same notes. This adds power and force to the notes and really grabs the listeners attention. It is great for introducing new sections in the film & grabbing the viewers attention at a important point in the film.

The relationship between music and drama

The first thing I realised is that the drama is making viewers feel emotion and is the primary reason that people are watching the film/show. The music is there to aid and develop the intended emotions that the film is portraying. Eg. A scene where a couple breaking up in the rain wouldn't have the feel intended by the director if the music accompanying it was an aggressive rap instrumental. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn9V0cN4NWs. This film clip with different types of accompanying music shows how the choices we make when scoring for film.

Surround sound mixing

This is a great technique for adding to the realness of films/programs. With sound panning back to front, left to right and diagonally composers are able to pull the viewer into the position of the characters. This makes scenes more effective. It also adds a sense of movement around the viewers. This helps hold audience attention better due to human nature that sounds coming from behind us or areas we cant see make us alert. However not all cinemas and home systems have surround sound built in so a separate dub in stereo would have to be created. As I don't have access to surround sound facilities I will be using left and right stereo spreading/panning, this is a similar technique but with less effect. (5)

BBC One Rave Indent

As the clip was quite simple I kept the accompanying music simple only using percussion.

To give the effect of a large space I ran everything but the kick through a reverb unit with just wet signal as the output. I didn't put the kick through the reverb because it sounded to distant as well as the fact that it gives the simple beat more of an impact. Also as the camera zooms out I automated a high pass filter to increase in cut off frequency as the shot widens.

EQ filter automation

Mixer

Reverb

The beat I created matches the scene and the highpass filter indicated change as the camera panned out. However to give the pan out more impacting I could of added musical elements using techniques similar to those of the spaghetti western composers when they emphasised scenes opening up vastly.  


BBC One Dance Duo

Recording acoustic guitar I tried to compliment the videos calm vibe. I achieved this by having the musician pluck a riff softly and layer it with chords. Because the shot had a panoramic view I used a airy woodwind type synth to give the impression of a breeze.

As there were two dancers in the clip I added a shaker to give the music a percussive element. By having spaced out slow hits I used the shaker to further add to the calm vibe.

When composing for this video I found it hard to find a suitable tempo, by further developing my ability with the tempo calculation tool I might of been able to find the a more suitable BPM. When we recorded the guitar it seems that the gain wasn't set high enough. Although the low level adds openness to the scene recording the guitar parts with a proper gain structure would of given me more control when mixing it with the other components.
BBC One Basketball Dancers

This clip had a lot of energy that built up quickly. To reflect this I used percussion sounds and built up the beat quickly having a new sound appear every bar. I used percussion sounds because they allow you to add rhythm to the clip without drawing the viewers attention to the music as much as drum kits do.

Because the indent was of hip hop dancers I wanted to keep the music very rhythmic. I created a simple melody that followed the pattern of the bongo. I did this because it complimented the rhythm of the beat.

Melody following the rhythmic pattern of the bongo

Beat build up

I think that the piece I created matched the scene well but is very basic. I had manage my time working on the videos better I could of created something that flowed better and developed the mix of the track more.  

The Commuter Trailer

I split the commuter into three sections when I composed it. 
So that my score would be synced to the trailer I used this film music tempo calculation tool and hit points. I found that the trailer matched 129.5BPM.  
I used chords in the B minor scale for the first section because they sounded joyful but slightly dark as well. I Played them with Staccato violins in a relaxing rhythmic style because this section had people smiling, joking and looking relaxed.
For the second section I used Staccato and Legato Violins with Staccato Basses all playing parts of a Db Major chord that slowly increased in volume to build up tension. 
In the third section I continued the use of the Db Major chord using electronic elements and added percussive elements. Because there was a lot more action in this section switching to electronic elements allowed me to give the chord even more of an impact than in the last section. 

The trailer sounded empty without any foley so using https://freesound.org/ and the apple loops I gathered sounds that fitted with the video and added them locking their smpte position so that if I changed the BPM for any reason they would be locked to that time in the clip. I found that although the sounds where synced to the video the way the came in and came out sounded mechanical. Using volume automation I was able to blend the loops in and make them fit the video better. 

2nd section orchestral build up

1st section chords

3rd section electronic elements 

Adding hit points to the video

Loop and foley volume automation

SMPTE Locking loop and foley

Overall I feel that I used orchestral elements and the classical scoring technique effectively in my commuter trailer to build up tension and suspense. However if I had of added other musical/sound elements on certain scene cuts and hit points I could of given the trailer more of and impact. Also there is a lot of dialogue missing, this was because I didn't have access to a female voice actor. In my planning stage of sourcing sounds I should of took into account that I would need female and male voice overs. This would of given me time to find a female voice actor.

Index:

1 - https://www.quora.com/Classical-Music-Does-everyone-play-the-same-notes-in-the-orchestra-while-playing-a-symphony-or-do-composers-write-different-notes-for-each-instrument-in-the-orchestra-while-creating-their-music
2 - https://www.studybass.com/lessons/bass-technique/legato-and-staccato/
3 -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcrJEGRrU-c&index=9&t=177s&list=PLTkwuKZgcX_c_rl8k6fvigcsMZjZ_FYCv
4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E8rMLHIpag
5 - information on surround sound mixing gathered from - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTSbEDNP2MM&t=309s