Introduction
This composition looks to explore a combination of acoustic instruments with electronic dance music, specifically within the genre of orchestral downtempo. My main objective for this piece was to create music that is emotive and textural, while still retaining the rhythmic pulse common of minimal techno music. By making use of grain-like, breathing qualities, this piece of music seeks to make an original contribution to this genre of computer-based music.
Musical Influences
Particularly coming from the perspective of a film music student, I was heavily inspired by the works of Ólafur Arnalds (as well as long-term collaborator Janus Rasmussen) and his electronic projects under Kiasmos. Arnalds is well-known by composers for his intimate piano recordings with layered string arrangements, and I sought to create a similar sort of emotional depth in my own composition by particularly using piano as a central element rather than something in the background. After studying Kiasmos (Week 13), I knew their techniques would suit my compositional methods.
Kiasmos’s approach to minimal techno was the main blueprint for this piece, particularly reference tracks such as ‘Looped’ (2014) and ‘Blurred’ (2017). Rather than purely using electronic drum samples for rhythm, Kiasmos often utilise acoustic percussion sounds to create a driving groove, which is a technique I directly adapted for my composition. Momentum is built throughout the piece through combining electronic drum samples with orchestral percussion, this adds a human feel that contrasts the standard, rigid and quantised kick snare and hat samples that anchor the track.
Production Process and Sound Design
The production of this composition was entirely carried out within Logic Pro X, using combination of software synthesis, sample manipulation and sample layering.
Rhythmic Foundation
The track, and process, began with the rhythm section where I wanted to establish the genre by creating a groove coming before any tonal elements. I sequenced together orchestral samples such as shakers, sticks and acoustic clicks to create top loops, which were all treated with subtle saturation so they cut through the mix without sounding overly harsh. Maintaining the orchestral feel, I layered low toms over the kick drum to keep the music sounding more organic, while making use of side chain compression on the kick to duck the volume of the bass whenever triggered. Here is the percussive section at the loudest section of the track:
I also created a stuttering lead sound heard through most of the track through Vital Synth and sjidechaining a noise gate to a click track – to add extra rhythmic movement (first heard at 00:54):
String Layers
A defining feature of this track is the string arrangement, which is most present in the chorus-like sections. To imitate Arnald’s full, yet intimate string sound, I layered together different samples such as studio strings with solo strings, and also soft string textures from Spitfire Audio to do the work normally done by a synthetic pad in electronic music. I also wanted to create an element of space in the track, so sent a bus signal from the main string section to a binaural mixer, which I then automate the angle and distance of to give a swirling multi-dimensional effect. Here are the strings all together (03:54):
Piano
As a pianist, and also with the inspiration from Kiasmos, I wanted it to be at the forefront of my track. I chose a felt piano sound, similar to the intimate keys Arnald’s uses in his works, to obtain the emotive feel I wanted from the beginning. The piano was completely played in by hand so it didn’t feel too rigid and kept the human touch I was looking to achieve, which was helped on by adding pedal and key noises to make the piano sound more like a live performance. The piano is heard here at 03:07:
Sound Effects
A core component to the track was to add a natural element to add extra original flair. Inspired by the grittiness of modern media soundtracks such as Dune (2021) and Sicario (2015), I added a grainy, sand-like texture synthesised originally from white noise to boost the high end. I automated it continuously across the audio spectrum to give extra space, and used a high pass filter to cut unwanted frequencies below 9K. Here is the sound:
Conclusion
This composition represents a successful fusion of acoustic and electronic sound to create music contextually appropriate for this genre. Through applying various production techniques, specifically arrangements and dynamic processing looked at in the module, I was able to effectively emulate the sound of Kiasmos as my primary influence, while still maintaining an original feel through my own sound design and textures.
