awesomejordanhendricksblog
Composer Challenge
"We are the music-makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams"
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Making stuff up and I think you should hear. Pretty much loving the new rig #dittolooper #drummachine #voicelive #tchelicon #tcelectronic #reverb #electricguitar
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Video doesn't do justice, Drab Majesty & Cold Cave killed it #drabmajesty #coldcave #bunkhousesaloon #downtownlv
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Brought in the New Year on the Vegas strip eating pizza. Let's make this year worth remembering #happynewyear #2017 (at Giordano's Pizza)
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Final Word
It has been a challenging 30 days...erm 72 days. Well don’t mind the numbers. The final product is what really matters and instead of going on about all the things I LEARNED, I’d rather say that what this experience has truly taught me is that you can’t be afraid to go out of the box and try something new. GO with your instincts and NEVER doubt yourself, especially when you’re feeling creative. The world NEEDS thinkers like that, who aren’t afraid of being different or weird.
There’s a lot of homages going on with every track you hear. I spent countless hours absorbing different kinds of music, games, and television. There’s so much out there than we had when we were kids (well I mean I’m 24 soo). That’s not to say it’s a bad thing though. There’s countless more genres, and the ability to do things ourselves has never been better.
We now have the ability to market ourselves. The technology has given us the chance to record great quality tracks on a budget, use outstanding DAW interfaces (Sonar Professional), and having access to easy to use sites (like Tumblr haha).
I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to listen to my work. These are all ideas that I plan on perfecting in the near future and hope that when listening you write some feedback (it’s greatly appreciated).
I put all 30 days in to one easy-to-listen to track. I narrowed down the ones I didn’t particularly love at the moment, and also showed off the one’s I did, but hey don’t feel like you have to agree with me, be honest!
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/30-day-compilation-1
Thanks for listening!
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Day 30
Average Time Spent: Still being determined, haha no but really like 4 days
Key: Fm - G
Tempo: 4/4 - 128 BPM
Instruments: MIDI (Orchestra parts, Electric Piano, Piano, Synths, Drums)
These are what the tracks look like,
Day 30...but more like 60 haha. This 30 day challenge has been indeed a challenge. And I’d say a bit more demanding than expected. I’ll get in to my overall experience once I put all the tracks together, but for now I’ll talk about today.
This one took me longer than all the other not only because I wanted to spend time perfecting the sounds and mixes, but also because I wanted to end on a rather high note.
I was mostly inspired by the game “Child of Light” which is beautiful to watch and play. I also listened to all my other tracks and in a way sort’ve discovered that I have a tendency to mix both natural sounds and crazy out there electronic sounds.
I decided to take this a step further and put all the electronic-like sounds on the left side and all the natural-like sounds on the right.
I started with orchestra. This I knew would be the BASE of the track. The Bass in the right which I changed (modified with flanger) to sound electronic but still bassy.
Next I applied some harmonious cellos in the middle that feel a bit “lost”. They have a slight reverb and “underground” sort of sound.
After that I added 4 different violin parts and made them sound very natural with nice EQ and slight reverb.
I’d say I spent hours upon hours just experimenting with different possibilities; many of the “possibilities” I deleted, but you can still see some blacked out up top in the picture which I plan on possibly using.
The key change happened by accident really. It was late, I was tired, and I started playing something different and thought about putting the two together.
I know this is suppose to be a 30 day challenge for composing video games but I think I was aiming more for movie scoring on this one. You tell me, I could see it at a menu screen or movie sequence.
In the future I’d love to add more ideas like moving instruments across the speaker from electronic to natural (vice-versa). I’d love to also perfect the orchestra some more, but hey for now, this is Day 30. Thanks for joining me.
Listen HERE !!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-31
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Day 29
Average Time Spent: 7 hours
Key: E
Tempo: 4/4 - 130 BPM
Instruments: MIDI (Piano, Orchestra, Electronic Synths, Harpsichord, Ambient Noises)
These are what the tracks look like...
There are also a few tracks I couldn’t quite fit in the picture but you get the gist. My apologies for making you wait for me to post Day 29. My program unfortunately crashed and after a week of trying to fix it I finally caved and bought a newer platform.
This of course took me another few days to learn the “how-to’s” for the newer program (Sonar Professional, incase you’re wondering). I’m happy to say that I’m confident now and that this day in particular is one of my favorites.
I started with an easy-to-listen to melody and added layers and layers.
I bought myself an expression pedal (I know, why did I go so long without one?). This pedal has helped shape a lot of my orchestra and making it sound much more realistic. I didn’t use as much here as I would’ve wanted because I’m still learning the technique, but be sure to check out the following “Day.”
I knew I wanted orchestra and piano but also electronic sounds. After getting cello’s and piano together I felt like the electronic could be more of a rhythm which could play over just about everything.
The harpsichord was an experiment I decided to keep. I thought about just keeping the melody and changing out some of the instruments throughout the song to keep is “loopable” but not annoying.
My ambient sounds are some really fun plug-ins that I can’t help but feel like belong in almost everything I do haha. Perhaps you could be the judge, but I think the ambient sounds add that sense of “suspense” and I think filling the space in any way is good (most of the time).
Overall I’m happy with how this came out. In the future I’d love to re-do the orchestra parts and add some different instruments and variations, for now, this is Day 29.
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-30
Thanks for listening!
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Day 28
Average Time Spent: 6 hours
Key: G
Tempo: 4/4 - 142 BPM
Instruments: MIDI (Synths, Tambourine, Percussion, Strings)
These are what the tracks look like...
I ran in to an audio problem which took me a few days to figure out before I could take the time to create today’s track. I wanted to do something more fast paced and maybe even “electronic-y”.
This will be unbearable to hear for some of you audio engineers but for this track I started to integrate some light “ducking” techniques which I had been lacking.
To be honest the process is a bit long to explain because there are many tracks and different effects and side-chaining.
More or less I started with the synths you hear from the beginning and looped those with some variations throughout the song in a 4/4 sequence.
Next, I added percussion i.e. tambourine, a nice kick (side-chained to the Master track), and an electronic synth which sounds more percussive than actual notes.
I then added some orchestra strings. The low end bass helps give that low end and the plucked strings provide a smooth melody.
I wanted some more ambiance and the track seemed a bit ominous so I thought I’d push it even further and add my “Ghost” plug-in. I placed this in the back to give that ominous (right behind you) feel. This is a good trick to put a really low (and slightly off) frequency to add an element of fear.
After spending some time with EQ/reverb/compression/FX’s I’m happy to say that this is one of my more favorite tracks. In the future I’d love to add more variations and possibly change up the sound of the strings. I’m still not sure if I love them quite yet, however, for video games I do love how compressed and easy to the track is altogether.
Thanks again for still reading AND listening. You guys are awesome! Here’s Day 28!
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-29
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Day 27
Average Time Spent: 4 hours
Tempo: 6/4 - 145 BPM
Key: D
Instruments: Synths (MIDI)
These are what the tracks look like...
I scanned my library for an “electronic organ” and then of course modified the sound (eq/compression/etc.) I copied this and used in another similar sounding “electronic organ”.
I panned these away from one another and thought I could use a melody that was more harmony driven.
The low end seemed a bit dead to me (even for video-game standards) and ended up using some light “bassy” synths in the far left and right and used some light volume changes to make it more interesting.
As I mentioned in my last thread I wanted to have more time to explore more of the mixing side of things; and even “mastering” side of things. I feel like this track as a whole is much more sound (no pun intended haha) and since having more time to edit, much less hiccups.
In the future I'll probably explore different instruments with this but for now, this is Day 27
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-28
Thanks for listening!
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Day 26
Average Time Spent: 5 hours
Tempo: 4/4 - 125 BPM
Key: A flat
Instruments: Autoharp (mono), Guitar (mono), Drums, Synths, Piano, Xylophone, Orchestra (MIDI)
These are what the tracks look like...
Day 26. It’s almost over haha. This challenge has helped me come up with many of my own ideas and has given me a better understanding and proper time management.
Therefore, consider this an amendment; I’ll be releasing these last 4 tracks every OTHER day.
This will give me more time to work on them and release them without feeling dissatisfied with the completed work. I’d say I know what I’m doing 90% of the time when it comes to recording and editing, but this is all about experimenting and pushing my limits so expect these last few tracks to be some of my better ones.
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I was out of town for a few days and when I got back I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I did know that I wanted to tune my autoharp (which feels like an eternity) and put it in my next track.
The progression is composed of 3 separate parts which I wrote on autoharp and then added all other instruments.
This track was more about “layering” on and then taking pieces away to make the track as a whole sound much more elaborate.
I copied the guitar track and placed one in the center and the other 50% right to get a “middle-right” SOUND while also filling up the space.
I used this same technique on the autoharp, but symmetrically placed them “middle-left”.
The synths I added for bass and to fill out the further “left’s” and “rights”.
In part of Section 2 and 3 where the autoharp gets softer, I wanted to add something different here. And YES, when recording you should always think about the POSSIBILITIES you might use for later. This is where editing comes in handy.
Altogether I think it sounds smooth and easy to listen to, however I do wonder if maybe the tempo should be slower, or maybe the key changed? I’m sure I’ll come back to this one in the future, for now, this is Day 26.
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-27
Thanks for listening!
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Day 25
Average Time Spent: 4 hours
Tempo: 3/4 - 112 BPM
Key: D
Instruments: MIDI (Music Box, Cellos, Percussion, Synths)
These are what the tracks look like...
Today I thought I’d explore the video game world and find something new for me to use as a palate. This killer game called “The Room Two” which according from the trailer looked sophisticated, beautifully ornate walkthrough, but also somewhat dark and mysterious.
I thought I’d start with a colorful sounding music box and panned away from each other.
Thereafter, I added a nice cello section track and placed it in the center.
The parts without the cellos sounded very dead to me so I thought I’d add some interesting synths and sounds that are panned a bit more complicated to create that slight sense of confusion (unless you’re listening to this through your “5 year old laptop” and all you hear is one sound).
After about 3 hours everything was just about done but today I thought I’d spend the extra hour editing and exploring more “mixing” options.
I noticed in a few past tracks that some of them were dynamic...TOO dynamic. While I love the video games with big dynamic scores, most video games are more “compressed.”
I added slight reverb to specific tracks and in the whole mix I added EQ which tapered off some low’s and high’s and then added a slight compression.
I had a lot of fun with this one and I love how smooth the transitions are in this one. In the future I’d love to add more progressions similar to this and play around with other instruments.
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-26
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Day 24
Average Time Spent: 2 hours 30 minutes
Tempo: 4/4 - 86 BPM
Key: G# (or F flat depending on how you look at it)
Instruments: Ocean sounds (recorded on Tascam), MIDI (Orchestra, Drums, Piano, Synths)
These are what the tracks look like...
And this is what I was using for “inspiration.”
I had an idea to do something with running water in the mix. The ocean and sound of rivers flowing I find rather pleasing. I looked around for an image that might work and this is from the popular game Skyrim.
I started with an orchestra which is a variations from the key of G# that I liked.
Next I copied to a piano track and panned away from each other.
I wanted the drums to be subtle and come in and out to show that it didn’t NEED it. By adding a little reverb and lowering the volume, it sounds a bit in the distance.
After experimenting with a few sounds I landed on a xylophone sounding synth which I changed to echo in the right side of the mix.
That being said...I wanted a mellow track that would lull you but has a sense of “caution.” I look at this image and it looks dark to me. It’s foggy, who KNOWS what could be in there? Plus the dragon in the sky might freak some people out.
The drums don’t work for this specific genre (but it kinda works right?) Anyway, this is all experiments anyway right? Ha thanks for listening, here’s Day 24.
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-25
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Day 23
Average Time Spent: 5 hours
Tempo: 3/4 - 100 BPM
Key: A
Instruments: Guitar (mono), Mandolin (mono), Bass Guitar (line in), Synths & Drums/Percussion (MIDI)
These are what the tracks look like...
Well if you’ve been following me, you’ve noticed that I took a break from my 30 day challenge. After 22 days I was feeling pretty burned out, however, after a few days of “recharging,” I plan to finish the last 7 days.
This is actually the track that frustrated me enough to stop posting because I felt like nothing I was coming up with at the time was great in any way. There’s some muted tracks which were “options” I thought about using. That doesn’t include all the others I spent hours trying out and ending up deleting them, but that’s just part of that job ha.
I’d say that what I liked at first was the mandolin (if you could tell that’s what it was). I tracked a few different variations of the progression but liked the picking sound with delay and panned away to get a stereo sound.
From there I believe I added guitar, which, after a few variations of that, landed on a simple mellow rhythm.
The “drums” took a long time figuring out and for awhile I didn’t even have drums at all. I felt like in this track it could use SOMETHING, but maybe not the drive most percussion offers. What I was looking for (in the end) was something to simply ADD to the mix.
The synth which is slightly panned away from one another was added last.
I usually try to go for a theme in every track and I think that might have been my frustration all along. Doing this every day makes you forget sometimes that you need the inspiration before you can create anything.
I looked up some images from “Child of Light,” one of my favorite games and got a sense of some of the gameplay.
Though I’d like to do some note altering and more editing, for now I’m happy to say this is Day 23. Happy July 4th.
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-24
Thanks for listening!
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Day 22
Average Time Spent: 3 hours
Tempo: 4/4 - 108 BPM
Key: E
Instruments: Guitar (mono), Tambourine & other Percussion (mono), Orchestra (MIDI), Whistling (mono), background Bass (MIDI)
These are what the tracks look like...
This track started out “folky” but turned in to a dreamy, fantasy like world. I really dig this one.
I started with a descent guitar progression (I originally thought about tuning it to DADGAD).
After experimenting with that I recorded some percussion sounds to add a steady rhythm.
I kept hearing some type of orchestra so I decided to keep it simple but add different sections by panning away from one another.
With just that it sounded pretty dead and boring. I initially thought about adding an almost rhythmic vocal part (think African influence) to make it unique and create a specific type of ambiance; but the latter you hear was my better sounding choice at the time.
There seemed to be no bass in the mix and I know you don’t HAVE to have anything there, BUT I took the opportunity to add something really faint and just to add some depth to the mix so it doesn’t sound too in your head ha.
Definitely in the future want to try different whistling/vocals and to add some different instruments. For now, this is Day 22.
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-23
Thanks for listening!
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Day 21
Average Time Spent: 2 hours 30 minutes
Tempo: 4/4 - 155 BPM
Key: D#
Instruments: MIDI (Synths)
These are what the tracks look like...
Today was all synth. I played some Dead Space to get some inspiration and although I didn’t want to try and replicate Graves’ almost perfect take on the game, but was rather, INSPIRED by Dead Space.
The synths took a little while due to experimenting and trying out different synths. I added some volume change ups and then of course added EQ, compression, and panning.
In the future I’d love to add other progressions and notes that would accompany this. For now, this is Day 21.
Listen HERE!!! >>>https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-21
Thanks for listening
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Day 20
Average Time Spent: 2 hours 30 minutes
Tempo: 4/4 - 120 BPM
Key: (I’ll get back to you on that)
Instruments: Electric Guitar (mono), everything else (MIDI)
These are what the tracks look like...
For this track I started with a lead guitar riff, which you hear in the background. It’s nothing too crazy but I thought that it would make a descent loop where I could string together other parts to make the track more interesting. I’m beginning to see that a lot of these have to be “loopable” but also interesting enough to keep your attention.
After the lead guitar I messed around with other guitar parts and landed on a rhythm part. After panning hard left and cloning a second track panned hard right with a delay sounded “eerie" and from a technical standpoint, filled the space quite nicely.
I try to use an image or song to inspire me and so for this one I watched some old Silent Hill game walkthroughs. Creepy game by the way, I forgot how scary it was; no wonder my parents didn’t let me play with them haha.
I knew I was going to need some type of instrument that was going to sound off from the rest to create that dissonance. This is the Berimbao that you hear which when played right can sound “creepy.”
After that I wanted some high-end instruments which is where I found the Bell sounding synth that ring’s out nicely.
After that I placed a lightly abrupt synth in the right which I think makes the track more video game sounding (sometimes I forget that).
The “Ghost” sound is one I put in the background which I have fading back and forth.
I panned slightly differently because I wanted the track to sound a little off and keep you unsure of what’s going on (much like Silent Hill).
In the future I’d like to polish everything up and try adding more instruments and variations of what I already have, but for now, this is Day 20.
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-20
Thanks for listening!
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Day 19
Average Time Spent: 4 hours
Tempo: 3/4 - 132 BPM
Key: G
Instruments: MIDI (Synths, Drums, Piano [modded])
These are what the tracks look like...
This one took quite awhile mostly because I wanted to make sure that if I did a semi-chaotic “wall of sound,” I knew I would have to be ALMOST perfectly in time with everything to not sound sloppy.
I mostly played everything on my keyboard and adjusted certain notes here and there for different parts.
I first started with the spacey background piano which would drive the track. Next I threw in drums which took an hour within itself (I’m fairly new to using drum machines and programs).
After that I got the idea to create this busy track with different parts coming in and out at once. That’s when I created the 2nd synth which you hear on your left.
The 3rd synth is panned to the middle. It’s very faint but it plays the same notes over and over. This I thought would sound good with a 4th synth that would harmonize.
This one of course you hear in the right!
This track was a lot of fun to do and in the future I hope to clean it up some more, add some different parts(notes), and play with different tempos and keys. Thanks again for still reading, for now, this is Day 19.
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-19
Thanks for listening!
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Day 18
Average Time Spent: 3 hours
Tempo: 4/4 - 130 BPM
Key: C
Instruments: Mandolin (mono), Acoustic Guitar (plugged in), Orchestra (MIDI), Tambourine and Cymbal (MIDI), and Wooden Flute (MIDI)
These are what the tracks look like...
As you might’ve guessed, I decided to go more “folky” today, but not as “medieval” as I normally do.
This is a fairly simple track but many different parts going on. Since it was in 4/4 and a fairly steady tempo I thought I could emphasize a semi-complicated progression: (not counting measures) Am-G-F-C-Em-F-G/Am-G-F-C-G-F-C-G (repeat).
After tracking that in time I added some orchestra which I panned hard right and left.
I felt like there needed to be some percussion and added the tambourine which is a little off center right with added reverb and the cymbal I thought sounded nice dead center.
There was something missing in the mid-range between the mandolin and orchestra. I usually record guitar in stereo, but I felt like the guitar needed to be more center since everything else had been spread a part.
After tracking the guitar I experimented with a few different “folky” flutes and sounds until I came upon the Wooden Flute which I liked. After some light EQ tweaking, reverb and compression I combined everything together. In the future I’d love to add more high-end instruments like some bells or autoharp (since I physically have one to record with). The flute melody in my opinion was a little rushed and I’m not completely satisfied with it but for now I’m happy to say this is Day 19.
Listen HERE!!! >>> https://soundcloud.com/runawaycarnie/day-18
Thanks for listening!
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