Three weeks after the conception of our project, and we were starting to make real progress towards actually creating some sound! This week, the team and I focused on creating a scratch track, which would act as a temporary placeholder until a final arrangement had been agreed on. Each team member created their own scratch track which would predominately be influenced by our reference tracks and the qualities that we found interesting within them (if you would like to read my analysis on a reference track, look here). From my analysis of The Last of Us' The Quarantine Zone, I decided to focus on a layering technique with the instruments and the idea of using instruments to direct emotion and atmosphere.
Using the digital audio workspace Ableton Live 9, I used a Korg Microkey as a MIDI input to start creating my own track, which I found was a much easier and quicker method to grasp compared to manually selecting the individual notes that I wanted to play. I assume the preference for tactility comes from my previous experience as a musician.
Although the track is somewhat basic, I am still very happy with this product, as at the beginning of this week I was not comfortable using a new DAW outside of ProTools, and while I still find the layout of Ableton Live unfamiliar, I am happy that I am beginning to understand the structure of this new program and the new range of skills it will give me.
If you would like to listen to the scratch track that I created, please click on the video below.
The track has a very simple structure, and acts as a way to communicate my ideas about the fearful environment and the feelings of tension that I would like our project to emulate.
The song can be split into two parts, or 'movements', with the first forty seconds of the track drawing inspiration from the calmer sections of the game, where the player is exploring the setting and whilst still in very obviously frightening surroundings, is not in immediate danger. This section uses an isolated flute to emote that 'light' but eerie feel, with the strings of a cello to support the spookiness.
The second half of the song drastically increases in tempo, and the instruments become more accented and staccato. This is to emulate the more action-packed sections of the game, where the character is in foreseeable danger, sometimes even in a situation that could risk the death of their character. For this section, the instruments have changed to layers of clarinet and bass clarinet, which I think emphasise the idea of layers and complexity that I admired from my reference track. The use of similar sounding instruments also infers the feeling of overwhelmingness or confusion, which would add to the fear felt in the player. The sections ends suddenly witch four single cello notes as the other instruments cut out, leaving a haunting effect.
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