Music: for the journey
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND... OR DO YOU?
How we seek to express ourselves through our creative endeavours can be a very personal thing, and is sometimes believed to be "misunderstood." What we find on an individual level to be the most profound, natural and "right" way to express our feelings, observations and ideas can seem merely idiosyncratic and irrelevant to others. "They don't understand!", we cry. Musicians of all kinds find their life's work, earnest in production and principle, declared rubbish and self-indulgent by critics, who - to the musicians - simply haven't heard properly what they are saying or doing.
I open with this generalised statement not to chide musicians or question the critics, but for a private reason. With regards to the music I envisage making, I have only now started to uncover what it is I want to make. This post is concerned not with subject matter, but with style. How do I say what I want to say?
COLLECTING THE MATERIALS
Background first. I have recently been listening more to film and videogame soundtracks, and getting more enjoyment from them than most other genres I have been exposed to. And the reason I enjoy them is because of their repetition and re-shaping throughout the games or films they are a part of. I present here a selection, courtesy of YouTube and questionable legal copyright allowances, of some of my recent favourites, in no particular order:
1) Discombobulate - Sherlock Holmes Official Soundtrack
2) Suicide Mission - Mass Effect 2 Soundtrack
3) Dumbledore's Farewell - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Soundtrack
4) Main Theme - Dragon Age: Origins Soundtack
5) Pause Menu Music Theme - Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
6) Pause Menu Music Theme - Grand Theft Auto IV
7) I'm Not a Hero - The Dark Knight Official Soundtrack
8) Main Theme - The Usual Suspects Soundtrack
MUSIC AND MOTIFS IN THEMES AND STORIES
What I have discovered, particularly with regards to numbers 5 and 6, is that they all share a common feature. They all express a motif, an aspect of a song which acts as a fulcrum to the sections surrounding it. This motif can be played out by different instruments, whether one or many, at different tempos and levels of intensity. It can be as short as a few bars, or a coherent segment of a song. And this motif is used throughout a story, supporting the events and the characters. It may change in presentation and style, though not in substance. The notes and their placement together will generally remain constant. What does a motif sound like? Think of the first few bars of the Star Wars films. They are recognisable, and instantly evoke the 'idea' of Star Wars. How about the strings that are brought to bear on the Lord of the Rings title sequence? And of course we all know how Beethoven's Fur Elise starts.
It is this repetition of the motif - adapting its presentation and placement in a song, or a collection of songs - that thrills me. By repeating parts of a song at different points in a game or film, we are encouraged to consider the overarching themes of their stories, and how those themes are being spoken of - changed - by the music. Does passage X, based on its placement and presentation, now feel reflective about the past, or anxious about what is to come? How are the characters changes/points of continuity in their beliefs and behaviour narrated by passage Y, when we know on some level that we have already heard passage Y earlier in the film/game? The songs can give a different side to the story, even if their substance is largely unchanged.
I mentioned numbers 5 and 6, because they are good examples of this. Compare how the music complements the action in the intro sequence for Grand Theft Auto IV (up to around 2:55) with how the music is then adapted for the purposes of the game's pause menu. That's what I want to be able to do: to reiterate themes and ideas in songs. How can I lend songs the right dynamic to say something that has already been said, but in a new and revealing way? Furthermore, as you may have noticed, many of my top picks are so-called 'main themes': songs which tie together the strands of a story and make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. With that in mind, what is the main theme stating (or hinting) as the message of the piece? And how do the various parts of the main theme come together to achieve such a statement?
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
My choices of music from before my emergence in game and film soundtracks hinted at this predilection for reiteration. I have found some progressive music, particularly that of The Mars Volta, to share this same ideal (or at least the same tactic). But only now have I realised my reason for liking such music.
And so, to music's place in our culture. I find the notion of our iPod culture, with its emphasis on randomness and variety at the expense of coherence and narrative, to be shallow, unsatisfactory and unrewarding. Yes, there are those well-informed individuals who can weave some great songs into an enjoyable and party-friendly playlist that caters to the immediate tastes of at least most present. And that's fine as far as it goes. But to get the most out of the songs I have been discussing, one would do well to reflect on the story they tell/show, and how they fit themselves into any given moment of the game/film. When we deeply immerse ourselves in the music and the part they play in stories, we get more out of them: not just for studying them as pieces, but for ourselves. And really, is that last point not the purpose of any iPod library? If your regular habit of iPod listening is to jump from one song to another with no sense of their connection or deeper meaning, then you are likely to experience many varied and unconnected sources, leaving you with a glorified radio station that plays songs which, thankfully, do not lead to gnashing of teeth and raised blood pressure. Fine. But what good is that for you if those songs are only given the space and time to leave a brief, easily forgotten impression upon the psyche? What good are they if they are not held up and examined, their nooks and crannies mined for the many ways in which they share a story, a thing which we take as currency for experience? For the sake of living, you might as well listen to nothing.
But enough of that. My own reasoning for choosing film and game soundtrack is surely not without its faults, so feel free to point out the holes in my argument. No, really. Because so far, what appears self-evident is why I like film and game soundtracks, and why they feature the kind of music I want to make. Whether I am successful or not in making such music is another matter. For now, suffice to say that the pieces of music I have referenced here, whether directly or indirectly, express some profound notions: the recurrence and timelessness of themes in our humanity; how context can change and be changed by the music; the beauty of certain passages and their ability to linger in the mind and spirit; experiencing a story, narrated by music, that is of value simply for its own sake.
AND FINALLY
when you are about to experience an important moment in your life - proposing to your partner, enlisting in the Army, sending your only daughter into space - play this track. The situation will feel very different, I assure you ; )
How we seek to express ourselves through our creative endeavours can be a very personal thing, and is sometimes believed to be "misunderstood." What we find on an individual level to be the most profound, natural and "right" way to express our feelings, observations and ideas can seem merely idiosyncratic and irrelevant to others. "They don't understand!", we cry. Musicians of all kinds find their life's work, earnest in production and principle, declared rubbish and self-indulgent by critics, who - to the musicians - simply haven't heard properly what they are saying or doing.
I open with this generalised statement not to chide musicians or question the critics, but for a private reason. With regards to the music I envisage making, I have only now started to uncover what it is I want to make. This post is concerned not with subject matter, but with style. How do I say what I want to say?
COLLECTING THE MATERIALS
Background first. I have recently been listening more to film and videogame soundtracks, and getting more enjoyment from them than most other genres I have been exposed to. And the reason I enjoy them is because of their repetition and re-shaping throughout the games or films they are a part of. I present here a selection, courtesy of YouTube and questionable legal copyright allowances, of some of my recent favourites, in no particular order:
1) Discombobulate - Sherlock Holmes Official Soundtrack
2) Suicide Mission - Mass Effect 2 Soundtrack
3) Dumbledore's Farewell - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Soundtrack
4) Main Theme - Dragon Age: Origins Soundtack
5) Pause Menu Music Theme - Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
6) Pause Menu Music Theme - Grand Theft Auto IV
7) I'm Not a Hero - The Dark Knight Official Soundtrack
8) Main Theme - The Usual Suspects Soundtrack
MUSIC AND MOTIFS IN THEMES AND STORIES
What I have discovered, particularly with regards to numbers 5 and 6, is that they all share a common feature. They all express a motif, an aspect of a song which acts as a fulcrum to the sections surrounding it. This motif can be played out by different instruments, whether one or many, at different tempos and levels of intensity. It can be as short as a few bars, or a coherent segment of a song. And this motif is used throughout a story, supporting the events and the characters. It may change in presentation and style, though not in substance. The notes and their placement together will generally remain constant. What does a motif sound like? Think of the first few bars of the Star Wars films. They are recognisable, and instantly evoke the 'idea' of Star Wars. How about the strings that are brought to bear on the Lord of the Rings title sequence? And of course we all know how Beethoven's Fur Elise starts.
It is this repetition of the motif - adapting its presentation and placement in a song, or a collection of songs - that thrills me. By repeating parts of a song at different points in a game or film, we are encouraged to consider the overarching themes of their stories, and how those themes are being spoken of - changed - by the music. Does passage X, based on its placement and presentation, now feel reflective about the past, or anxious about what is to come? How are the characters changes/points of continuity in their beliefs and behaviour narrated by passage Y, when we know on some level that we have already heard passage Y earlier in the film/game? The songs can give a different side to the story, even if their substance is largely unchanged.
I mentioned numbers 5 and 6, because they are good examples of this. Compare how the music complements the action in the intro sequence for Grand Theft Auto IV (up to around 2:55) with how the music is then adapted for the purposes of the game's pause menu. That's what I want to be able to do: to reiterate themes and ideas in songs. How can I lend songs the right dynamic to say something that has already been said, but in a new and revealing way? Furthermore, as you may have noticed, many of my top picks are so-called 'main themes': songs which tie together the strands of a story and make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. With that in mind, what is the main theme stating (or hinting) as the message of the piece? And how do the various parts of the main theme come together to achieve such a statement?
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
My choices of music from before my emergence in game and film soundtracks hinted at this predilection for reiteration. I have found some progressive music, particularly that of The Mars Volta, to share this same ideal (or at least the same tactic). But only now have I realised my reason for liking such music.
And so, to music's place in our culture. I find the notion of our iPod culture, with its emphasis on randomness and variety at the expense of coherence and narrative, to be shallow, unsatisfactory and unrewarding. Yes, there are those well-informed individuals who can weave some great songs into an enjoyable and party-friendly playlist that caters to the immediate tastes of at least most present. And that's fine as far as it goes. But to get the most out of the songs I have been discussing, one would do well to reflect on the story they tell/show, and how they fit themselves into any given moment of the game/film. When we deeply immerse ourselves in the music and the part they play in stories, we get more out of them: not just for studying them as pieces, but for ourselves. And really, is that last point not the purpose of any iPod library? If your regular habit of iPod listening is to jump from one song to another with no sense of their connection or deeper meaning, then you are likely to experience many varied and unconnected sources, leaving you with a glorified radio station that plays songs which, thankfully, do not lead to gnashing of teeth and raised blood pressure. Fine. But what good is that for you if those songs are only given the space and time to leave a brief, easily forgotten impression upon the psyche? What good are they if they are not held up and examined, their nooks and crannies mined for the many ways in which they share a story, a thing which we take as currency for experience? For the sake of living, you might as well listen to nothing.
But enough of that. My own reasoning for choosing film and game soundtrack is surely not without its faults, so feel free to point out the holes in my argument. No, really. Because so far, what appears self-evident is why I like film and game soundtracks, and why they feature the kind of music I want to make. Whether I am successful or not in making such music is another matter. For now, suffice to say that the pieces of music I have referenced here, whether directly or indirectly, express some profound notions: the recurrence and timelessness of themes in our humanity; how context can change and be changed by the music; the beauty of certain passages and their ability to linger in the mind and spirit; experiencing a story, narrated by music, that is of value simply for its own sake.
AND FINALLY
when you are about to experience an important moment in your life - proposing to your partner, enlisting in the Army, sending your only daughter into space - play this track. The situation will feel very different, I assure you ; )