Ok, so my computer says May 27th so I'm posting now!! Geoff had expressed some concern that we wouldn't have enough music for an EP so I decided to make sure we'd be ok. I arranged 'Metal' by The Translocator.
https://soundcloud.com/paul-levasseur-2/variations-on-a-theme-from-metal-by-the-translocatorTL;DR, this is an ambient / progressive rock / chip rock epic which is essentially based on a couple of riffs from Metal. I added a tonne of original material as well as coming up with many variations of the original material.
Long form: When I heard the track, I immediately knew how I wanted to proceed. I haven't done much ambient, chip, or rock sort of music. Much of my catalogue is orchestral thus far and I've been wanting to expand my portfolio. This is essentially a great excuse to have a deadline and have fun creating music for the heck of it. Not dealing with deadlines, directors, or performers. Just writing for me and for you guys!
My idea formed very quickly: ambient opening to introduce the main theme and then casting the main theme in a typical prog rock song form i.e. verse, chorus, verse, chorus, jam / instrumental, chorus, ending. This is the musical filling sandwiched between two ambient wafers at either end.
To create the work, I auditioned sounds in Massive, Absynth, Kontakt, and Plogue Chipsounds. I think there is a Scarbee P-Bass synth, a Rock Organ from Scarbee Vintage Organs, and the drums are Abbey Road Modern Drummer Sparkle Kit. (Likely a Pearl Reference) The piano is Alicia's Keys.
I'm using square waves and a pulse / triangle wave for the chipsounds. For the rhythm sound, I used two square waves which sounded unique from one another and I used complimentary EQing to make it sound wider and really pop. I used some EQ and compression on the drums to give it that crack, pop, and energy. I just sweep my EQ to really make the sounds jump out of the mix with tonnes of energy.
With the sound world created, I started writing. It's sort of like surfing, where you hop on the wave and see where the music goes. I didn't have much of a plan beyond the basic outline so I let my intuition carry me through the creative process.
Style wise, I'm not really sure how to categorize it. It's kind of an expression of certain influences of mine but I don't think that the influences define my art.
For process, I took two riffs that I liked from 'Metal' and I just ran with them. The 'melodic' riff is all over the place in the arrangement and it occurs in various guises. The 'chorus' melody is original as are the chord progressions, and the riffs in the instrumental / jam in the middle. But, you'll hear the main theme there too if you listen carefully!
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