Magical Creature: Part One, Composition
Magical Creature Part One: The Composition
https://soundcloud.com/liampeacockmusic/magical-creature-pre-mix
Hi music fans! Welcome to another series, where I talk about how I wrote, mixed, and mastered my latest track, Magical Creature. When I set out to write this track, it was essential to figure some things out before actually putting MIDI to sequencer or pen to paper. I knew it was going to be a Disney inspired track and that is certainly not a genre I usually work in. So, getting a bunch of songs together with that idea in mind and listening to them analytically to decide an instrument limitation, tempo, key, all those good music terms.
I eventually settled on something mostly orchestral, which ended up being [spoiler alert] entirely orchestral, with an emphasis on piano. Choirs would probably feature but in subtle ways, rather than a 100 strong choir ensemble. The percussion was going to be limited, and the tone had to be happy, almost happy-go-lucky, airy, and light. That definitely meant, no massive minor-key string sections with huge bombastic percussion.
Getting Started
Here we go then. This is the full arrangement. There is actually a lot of information to unpack here but a lot of it, is layers and textures, rather than new ideas, melodies, or motifs.
First things First
I decided to start with a simple rhythm, with a pizzicato note on each beat, played by the beautiful Violin.
N.B. Pizzicato being the name for the articulation or performance method where the player plucks the string, rather than bowing it. It creates a more percussive and warmer tone than striking the string with a bow, like in a staccato, staccatissimo, or spiccato.
But to add even more to this subtle gentle intro, I layered the same rhythm with a Cimbalom. This adds a little more of a percussive timbre to the intro and the instrument itself has entirely different sonic characteristics, so it makes the part more interesting, while remaining simple.
Cellos
The next texture I added, was the Cellos. This beautiful stringed instrument is always useful for providing a lot of warmth and depth to the bottom end of the frequency spectrum. The Cellos are featured during the majority of the track and even change articulation/performance to staccato rhythms, making the staccato section in the third act fuller and incorporate more of the frequency spectrum.
Violas
The Violas were used to add a lot of movement in the first Act specifically. They play a divisi part, which means the section of Violas is divided in to two parts, and each plays a different voice.
With one half of the Violas, I had them play a C and the other half played a more melodic voice or harmony. Listen to it in the first Act, you’ll hear what I mean.
Piano
As I mentioned in the introduction, the piano was always going to be an important part of the track. The trick for me, writing a piano part, was writing something that sounded authentic and realistic. So, I had to combine my amateur playing skills with my half-decent MIDI editing skills.
What I came up with was pretty close to the mark, in my opinion. While I’m no virtuoso pianist, it works for what I wanted to achieve.
There are also two layers of piano, at different points in the track, providing different voices and harmonies. Combined they create a more realistic performance, further adding to my amateur writing/decent MIDI skills.
Flutes
To further add to the piano texture, I added a Flute voice. This instrument essentially doubles the part of the Piano in certain sections, but it does add to the general vibe of the track.
Timpani
Timpani is my guilty instrument. What I mean by this, is I don’t use it very often, and I really should. It’s a key element of standard orchestral percussion and the rolls and hits of Timpani can be immensely useful in providing punctuation in your music.
By punctuation, I just mean adding emphasis to the start of bars or passages, rolling into cymbal crashes, that kind of thing.
N.B. Perhaps it is important to note, for the non-musically savvy people, that Timpani is a tuned instrument, so when writing parts for the instrument, you need to consider the key and the notes that this might be playing under. If you had the Timpani playing a C under a C#, that might not be exactly what you want.
Choir
I’m going to go ahead and assume that everyone reading this has heard something from Disney, a soundtrack on a movie or one of their dozens of musical songs. Then you will recognise the use of choirs in their music, similar to the use of choir in my track here, that kind of breathy soprano harmony. (below, left)
In the Second Act, I use the Sopranos as a main melody performance part, and then they yield the main melody to the brass, primarily the trombones. While the Trombones take the melody, the sopranos continue with a new counter-melody. (below, right)
Short Strings
The short strings in this track get introduced in the Second Act, so we can start building some energy and excitement in to the track. Sweeping chords and voices in the string sections are fine in the nice introductory melodic First Act but they don’t quite do the trick in the Second Act.
The Staccato parts (short strings) roughly follow similar voicings to the original sustained performances and they swell in volume/expression, giving a dynamic movement to the Second and Third Acts.
Violins Layered with Brass
Later in the track, I use a combination of Brass & 1st Violins to add a lot of power to the final melody line in the Third Act. These two instruments combined are a classic orchestral arrangement technique and they make each other more valuable and prominent in the mix, without simply cranking up the volume on either instrument to attempt to achieve the same effect.
As ever, I would like to thank you for reading and listening to my material, whether its the big bombastic tracks or the gentler tracks like this one, it’s awesome to know people are listening to my music.
If you enjoy reading these posts, stay tuned for Posts 2 & 3 coming this week.
While you’re waiting, check out some of my other content below
Related Links
The Big Day - The Mastering Process
The Big Day - The Mixing Process
Other Links
