Now Playing: Nothing this time
Topic: Original Music
In my inaugural entry to The Thirty-Second Note, I was complaining about how I had no way to visually represent my blatantly new-age relaxation piece, Pangaea, on YouTube. However, I believe I have hit upon the solution.
As I'm re-acquainting myself with Windows Movie Maker (the last time I used it extensively was in sophomore year of high school... nigh on seven years ago), I'm discovering that there are a great deal of visual transition effects which, when used properly, can be used as a substitute for actual skill. To that end, I've decided to go ahead with one of my rejected ideas: Microsoft Word gradient effects. The gradients in Word 2010 are much more micromanage-y than in previous versions, allowing one to add so-called "gradient stops" -- that is, user-defined additions of new colour to the gradient.
Using these effects, I've made 21 representations of what Pangaea might look like, if music could be seen. They're loosely based on periods in Earth's development, since the song is about the formation of the World as we know it. It starts with fire, transitions through charred cinders, dirt, water, and grass, and ends with Pangaea, itself: a combination of all of the above. The final cels look somewhat like a blurry landscape: water on the bottom, grass in the centre, the sky on top.
The cels change in synchronisation with the chords. Each time a new chord is heard, a different cel displays... well, almost each time. I rather ran out of visuals, so I had to stretch a few out a couple of chords. Speaking as an amateur filmmaker, I tried to create a sort of artificial synesthesia with the visuals, tying them in with the music. However, speaking as a professional composer, I would encourage you to not focus on the visual aspect of the video so much. The colourful stuff is just a formality -- a transmitter, if you like, for Pangaea, the song. It lasts nearly nine minutes, so just defocus and let your mind wander -- that's what one does with meditative songs like this anyway, right?
Now that I've got Pangaea squared away, I should rather like to come up with something else along the same lines. Synthesiser, new age chords (maybe fifths... fifths are good), meditative, long-ish. Something like that. Fortunately, one of the many positive aspects of the Roland Fantom X series is that it contains quite a lengthy list of synthpads... I'm sure I can find something.
In any case, Pangaea is on YouTube right now. It's the huge, great video in the centre of my channel page.
Why not have a look, eh?
