From first taking on this project, the thing that I was most worried about was creating a composition that I felt was at a good enough standard to be used in someone else's project. I had originally set out to create this composition on Ableton Live, taking control of its MIDI compatibilities. However, after a few gruelling hours and becoming slightly frustrated with the fact that I was not getting the hang of the software, I decided to research what else I could use to digitally create some music. I was also unhappy with the basic sample packs that Ableton provides for orchestral instruments (that being said, with these things you get what you pay for, and I was paying... well, nothing. I am also aware that Ableton Live is built for more electronic production purposes). At the end of this day in the dumps I discovered Avid's Sibelius, the sister product to my beloved and trusty Pro Tools. A score-writing program, Sibelius is a bit different to the digital audio workspaces (DAWs) I have been introduced to before, and does require a bit music theory knowledge, seeing as the program is essentially a digital sheeting writing program. But it did allow me access to the kinds of sample sounds that I was after, a more realistic, human-like sound that I could alter to be more expressive in the phrases that I 'composed'.
kWith this program I am limited only to my imagination - unfortunately, I have never been the confident composer. In previous years such as in high school I had shied away from opportunities to try composition (mostly for fear of putting my creative skills 'out there'). Over the past week I have been trying to compose a few minutes of music, with the aim of creating a scratch track for the Carbarian team, however I am not too pleased with anything that I have written so far, with thoughts that it does not sound comedic enough or that the instruments flow together nicely. This is especially true of my first attempt, which featured many different instruments, an attempt to emulate the Looney Tunes music I had been researching last week.
Sensing that my mistake was in trying to do too much too fast, I started again with less instruments, and a more basic composition structure.
I started with a saxophone trio, with an alto, tenor, and baritone - the alto line served as the main melody and the tenor and baritone phrases served as backing chords. I also added a flute line that acted as a second melody to give the piece some intrigue.
Instead of focusing on trying to make my music sound very Looney Tunes-ey, I decided to try to emulate other aspects of the game. Apart from the fast-paced comedic atmosphere I had been focusing on thus far, I began to think about the themes of the game, and used the idea of pizza and Italian music for inspiration for this new composition, in particular using a syncopated rhythm that is common among Italian folk music.
My latest composition attempt can be seen below;
I think this composition is more promising because it more simplistic.
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