Scotscapes’ visual and poetic stimulus inspired me to compose the melodic elements in this piece, using FabFilter’s virtual synthesizer, Twin 2, and Avid’s stock B-3 organ emulator. I produced a warm, pulsating synthesizer sound in response to the line, “weary Sun”, which became the recurring motif for whenever the Sun appeared on-screen, and symbolises renewed hope and connection to nature during Spring/Summer.
Jerry Goldsmith’s score for ‘Alien’ (YouTube, 2020) inspired me to create a dichotomy between Winter’s ethereal stillness and a looming, unknown menace with my melodic elements and manipulated sounds. For example, I used granular synthesizer, Falcon UVI, below to create a drone-like sound with one of my violin recordings.
I then edited and reversed violin sections, applying Waves’ surround reverb, saturation, EQ and compression, shown below, to give the drone an ambient, other-worldly texture and bounce off of the narrator’s weary Winter tone.
The piece also incorporates subtle, electroacoustic elements, for example, at 0.29 where I characterise a solitary bird emerging in the sky with improvisational plucking of the violin; and again, at 2.21 where I emphasise a key visual and aural transition by scratching violin strings. These parts were processed with a large tape delay, various reverbs and saturation incorporating them into the piece’s ambient tone.
The synthesized textures in this piece draw ambient, classical and electronic influence from works by Rival Consoles (‘Recovery’), Faten Kanaan (‘The North Wind’), Ólafur Arnalds (‘Improvisations’, ‘re:member’) and Katie Gateley (‘Flow’). Gateley’s use of manipulated field recordings in her compositions inspired me to use processing techniques which evoke similar, strong emotions in the listener. (Ableton, 2018). I applied a variety of software manipulation techniques, pictured below, to my field recordings to create unsettling and unusual sounds pertinent to the narrative. For example, I used Soundgrain to draw trajectories of two differently-pitched segments of my bouncy ball recording. I then layered these on top of one another and applied delay, long reverbs and an automated low pass filter on the lowest-pitched layer to generate movement and unrest, building the mood at 3.39. I further utilised audio-analysis software, SPEAR, to delete “partials” of my metal gate field recording. This changed the timbre of the audio from resonant to more muted and distinct, blending it with the visual at 3.54. The final sample may be accessed at: https://soundcloud.com/sonicscotland/stick-on-metal-gate/s-V0y1Y53UYV0.
Additionally, I used granular synthesis on my metal gate field recording by increasing the density of the sample, reducing its speed and manipulating other parameters below to create a memory glitch effect at 0.02. I intended to enhance the poetic narrative here by making the listener feel as though they are trying to recall a hazy memory.
Using these new tools encouraged me to experiment, process my sounds in real time and, crucially, to commit to creative decisions. This is something I have previously struggled with; even when simply committing plug-ins to tracks, instead preferring to tweak parameters between sessions. Processing sounds with fresh techniques has been an artistic and professional turning point as I have gained more confidence in my creative decision-making and production skills.
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