I had an interesting project to work on: writing music for a music awards gala show. This was again new ground to tread on, since I've never composed music for a live awards show before.The theme of the show was the circus. But we didn't want it to sound like your traditional circus but a more modern, a little macabre circus. Then again we didn't want it to sound like any other Finnish award show and so we opted to go big.
To get that massive sound I turned to Tonehammer's Epic Dohls and slave ships. You know the age old worn out image of slaves rowing and an obese guy in a loin cloth beating their pace. That's what I started from. To get that kind of driving solid beat at the core of the music. The same drums control the music in different variations from one cue to another. The music in all is percussion driven with several smaller percussions and electric and acoustic drum kits joining in.
The next step was to create the kind of circus atmosphere without going too traditional. Electronics was what everybody wanted. But what kind of electronics? You couldn't go too spacey and or too pop. In the end I chose to use some really odd electronic sounds to form the basic progression. They're on the border of being really out there, but still have an edge of familiarity. They also gave the music that desired macabre feel. Needless to say that I relied heavily on NI Absynth. An important element was also Tonehammer Phonautogram library.
On top of these core elements I wrote layers of stuff ranging from light string arrangements to rough and tough heavy guitar riffs via ethnic flavors and electronic buzzings. They come and go as the elements of the show require them to do so.
An interesting part of the project was writing background music for a magician performing there. This is where I broke the basic back bone which had dominated the other cues. It needed to be swifter than the rest and I think it needed a more mysterious air about it. The sound here is still dominated by the Epic Dohls, but massive brass and strings come out to play essential parts. The end result is a mixture of awe and fright. And I like it.
One of the things about this project was that I didn't actually get to see the results until the show was aired. Everything was being developed still on the day before the show I had no idea how all the elements would work together. In the end it worked well, which is always a relief.
As I've said all along this was an interesting composing project and I'm glad I got the chance to do it.
Update 6.2.2010: Finally I have these in presentable form so here's a bite of what the music sounded like.
The Nominee Categories is mixed from several different loopable elements, so don't mind the rough edges.
Gear I used for this project:
DAWs and editors:
- Cakewalk Sonar 8.5
- NI Kontakt 3
- NI Absynth 4
- NI FM8
- NI Massive
- NI B4 II
- NI Battery 3
- NI Koreplayer
- NI Guitar Rig 3
- QuikQuak Upstereo
- MeldaEqualizer
- Kjaerhus Classic Master Limiter
- Tonehammer Epic Dohl
- Tonehammer Phonautograms
- Tonehammer Gnomehammer Kazoo Ensemble
- NI Kontakt 3 Library
- NI Battery 3 Library
- Project SAM Brass
- Sonivox Flying Hand Percussion
- Ilio Origins
- Hollow Sun K3 Bass Station Library
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