Hello!
Long time no see!
Welcome to Game Suite Zone: the series where we learn more about music by recreating pieces
from video games.
Today, we're going to analyze Destiny's Force, composed by Yoko Shimomura in 2002.
This took me about three months to finish, and you can imagine this video will be pretty
crazy, so uh, make sure your drive gauge is full.
Both of these can be pretty tricky.
This will sound crazy, but the tempo's 344, and the time signature's 16/4.
The specific pace of the percussion and main melody can make it difficult to figure out.
Luckily, this piece uses a piano that seems to play on every beat, so examining it should
help us figure this out.
By changing the frequencies of the music in our Parametric EQ plugin, we can hear certain
instruments better by increasing frequencies where the instrument sits in the most.
We'll do this to confirm the piano's presence.
Have a listen.
I simply created a similar piano pattern, placed it next to the music, and altered the
tempo until they matched each other.
We probably could have gone with an 8/4 time signature, but things seem to kinda "reset"
at 16.
There's this weird, uneven timing that the percussion has around that time, so 16 was
ultimately better for me.
Once the main parts of the music were figured out, the intro was the only part of the music
that seemed inconsistent with the time signature, so we'll save it for last, and start right
where the cymbal does.
We'll have two versions of the original music in our workspace, so that we can add the intro
when we get there.
This first part concerns our main form of percussion, which is pretty common in orchestral
music.
For this piece, it's also extremely helpful for nailing down timings and works as a great
reference.
Bring her out, Geri.
This is a timpani, and it's a pitched percussion.
The overall sound of our timpani is a bit too sharp-sounding, so let's fix it through
equalization, which let's us modify frequencies by adding and removing them.
We're going to remove the highs -- also known as the treble -- and increase the mids and
lows, giving us more of a thicker, less brighter sound.
Just with that alone, we're set to use our timpani!
The timing's weird, so here's a pattern with a metronome.
It's just a little tricky, but as long as we have this, we'll be okay.
Anyway, here are the patterns.
The timpani alone isn't making the thick sound we hear in the original.
Knowing this, I assumed that an instrument was layered over the timpani, which is also
known as doubling, which is the process of having another instrument section play the
same part as another in an orchestra.
A contrabassoon fits the bill just nicely.
Since the timpani is a pitched percussion, we can just copy and paste the notes for the
contrabassoon, but we'll avoid using the lower notes it switches to.
Here's what our frequency settings look like.
The volume's not much higher than the timpani.
We'll double the notes an octave as well.
We also layered a normal bassoon over the contrabassoon to reach a similar sound to
the original.
It's not as loud and doesn't uses two octaves.
The bassoon is given the same EQ changes as the contrabassoon, since they're routed to
the same mixer input.
Here are the patterns!
Next up is a french horn ensemble that uses 4 horns.
Hard to notice, but it plays sustaining notes to support the music's overall feel.
Sound-wise, we want to give it an overall presence in mid frequencies, so this is what
our EQ will look like.
Pretty simple, huh?
With that pretty much settled, here are its patterns.
All of the notes are played at low velocities, making them sound pretty soft.
We do raise the volume a bit to ensure that it's still audible.
We use a cymbal and gong to highlight the big points in the music, and that's mostly
just the changes between sections.
It's just as simple as you imagine it to be -- for once.
The gong's frequencies don't need to be altered.
We'll just lower its pitch.
We should alter the cymbal's frequencies slightly, though.
We lowered the lows and some mids, while also very slightly increasing its pitch.
It's not a pitched percussion, but by moving the pitch knob, we can still change this quality
somewhat.
I also added a normal drumkit cymbal hit to the one we have, just to have a slightly more
fulfilling strike.
We use them in the most basic ways, as I mentioned: reverse cymbals to build up to a normal cymbal
hit, and a basic gong strike when we go into the transition sections.
Time for the main melody!
It can be very difficult to figure out what notes are played.
A general idea can be obtained, but it isn't precise.
Since Destiny's Force has often been arranged throughout various Kingdom Hearts games, we
used them as references -- most notably the one from 358/2 Days, which is a lot more clear.
Slowing down the audio also helps.
Based on all the notes from all the instruments we have so far, I concluded that the music
is in the key of E-flat Major.
A key, or key signature, is basically a set of notes that the music works from.
Think of them as a scale of notes that work together the best.
For example, if it's in the key of C, then the music primarily sits within the notes
of C through B, which is basically all of the white keys.
In our case, it's E-flat Major, so it's basically a home for Destiny's Force.
It may leave sometimes, but it comes right back.
There.
That's the key to your heart.
The light of our friendship took your heart out of the darkness.
You're welcome.
Anyway, here are the patterns!
We gave the viola ensemble a somewhat low volume to allow it to contribute to the overall
sound of the music and not stand out too much.
It's also been given a high release, which basically takes it longer for the sounding
of a note to fade into silence.
We decreased some high frequencies and a little mids.
We also make use of keyswitching, which let's us switch between articulations.
Here, the triggers for marcato and sustain are A2 & C2, so when we want to switch to
sustain, for example, we'll place a C2 note at the same time that we play a part of the
main melody.
Additionally, a marcato is an articulation which heavily accents its initial sound.
Trumpets are also used as well, and they usually play in staccato.
This articulation basically means that the note length is short and detached from others
that follow.
Think of it like Mario Party -- A-tapping minigames.
There's a period between taps in which the button isn't being pressed, just like for
staccato, where there's silence in-between notes.
Staccato does not mean to play the note loudly, however; just make the note short and disconnected
from the rest.
With that explanation out of the way, I should say that we have quite the number of trumpet
channels and patterns.
Things can get pretty messy and a bit convoluted, so here's something useful you can remember!
Boosting low frequencies makes things sound muddy and less clear.
Boosting highs makes things sounds sharper.
Never forget.
This one has mids and lows boosted.
It has a very slightly delayed attack, so that means that the note being played takes
slightly longer to reach its max level.
This is really slight, so you might not even notice it.
We paired it with a french horn channel separate from the first one.
It will also be using staccato.
For the horns, we boosted the mids and lows.
Here are the patterns!
They play short, panned out notes for the most part.
This plays during the transition sections.
Mids are mainly boosted, with a little highs and some lows.
It has a high release to fill out a little more sound, but it isn't used alone.
It's paired with the same staccato French Horn ensemble.
A tuba, which is a low-pitched brass instrument, plays with them.
Lows and mids added, but less highs.
There's a bit of a different sound that plays in the original, so we used a low-volume woodwind
to play along.
No, Geri.
Save him for another episode.
It's an oboe with a little high frequencies removed.
Never forget: with the process of layering, you can get a lot of different sound combinations!
Now here's the pattern.
We raise the pitch of the notes by one when used the second time -- otherwise known as
moving by a half step.
This trumpet's more bright and clear; it's in its original state.
It plays our first intervention.
Hey everybody!
There's more stuff to keep up with!
Take it!
But yeah, there are a lot of piano channels and patterns.
Just keep in mind what we learned about altering lows, mids, and highs.
Lows and mids are decreased.
Highs are kept the same.
It's mainly been given a high presence.
Low frequencies are reduced.
This is used to lead into the last transition section.
It starts off with what's called a Grace Note, which is when you quickly, and slightly, play
a note before the main one.
Lows, mids, and a little highs are boosted.
We use this for the chords we slam down on during our main section.
I mainly reduced the lower mids and lows.
The notes are doubled an octave to make up its distinctive sound.
Wow.
Halfway through the piece and we still can't avoid a battle between light and darkness.
Nothingness wins again.
Lows are mainly increased.
Highs are increased somewhat, but not much on the higher end of things.
The mids are decreased a little.
This piano's mainly used as a base for another transition pattern, but we'll get to that
later.
This is the TRUE normie.
The others are frauds!!
There are no EQ changes here.
It's also used for a transition pattern.
Same notes.
Stay with me.
We're almost done with the complicated stuff!
This is what plays right before moving to a main section, and plays twice, moving a
half-step up on the second time.
The other versions of Destiny's Force very clearly use a piano for this part, so we use
it as a base here.
My result was really just a combination of the different sounds we used.
The edgy piano's still here, like I said.
The normie's also here, too.
I also decided to use the contrabassoon and bassoon we've been using.
There's also a bassoon that's altered so that I can get closer to the thick, bass-like sound
in the original.
As you can see, I boosted a lot of the lows and lower mids.
I decreased some highs, too.
We used a higher-volume tuba for some notes.
Lastly, I dug through our soundbank and found a tambura, an Indian stringed instrument,
mainly out of experimentation.
When I lowered the mids and highs, I figured that it could still contribute to the sound
we're looking for.
Now here's the pattern altogether!
Finally!
Other string ensembles are used, mainly for sustained notes and layering.
We have a cello, bass, and all-string ensemble.
The all-string plays the end notes of the music, while the light piano backs it up.
The cello ensemble accompanies our french horns by playing sustain notes.
Lastly, our bass ensemble works with the cello for the final sustain pattern.
The snares are pretty straight-forward, and appear around the end of the piece.
They mainly have mid frequencies reduced.
Since it's a percussion, we're going to be using a lot of single-hit sounds.
When we need to, we'll use snare rolls, which is when you drum a snare very quickly.
Timpani timings proved to be helpful; I copied and pasted its notes into one line of our
pattern and muted them, giving us a better idea of the major points in our measure.
Now we know when to strike.
An organ is mainly used during the beginning and end sections of the music.
No changes were made in EQ, but it has a high release and delayed attack.
Simple sustain notes were used.
This piece sounds pretty fine on its own, but why not try to add something new?
This is actually pretty tough, since we don't want to take anything away from the music's
overall feel.
For that reason, let's utilize the organ just a little, in a way that feels natural.
We're going to put more sustaining notes during the music's second section, where the strings
play the main melody again.
We'll have it alternate in a fashion which the organ won't be playing while the main
melody does, thus giving room for the original instruments to sound out and preventing the
organ from being too disruptive.
I also added a tubular bell hit for the beginning.
We raised a bit of everything, but mostly lows.
Last major addition!
Forget about the intro?
Let's tackle it!
First, let's line up some patterns with the music.
The cello and bass ensemble play sustaining notes at the beginning.
The cello plays highest note; the bass plays the lowest note.
We play the next group of sustained notes with the all-string ensemble.
The note distances are two-and-a-half measures long.
We keep their velocity somewhat soft, since they stack up.
A rising cymbal comes afterwards to signal the next sound.
We also utilize a bright piano, without any EQ changes, to work with our normal one.
A simple chord strike comes next.
Notes from an organ also appear later on, right after the piano strike.
Finally, a timpani roll is used before the main pattern.
That's basically a tremolo, but with a timpani, and that means to play the same note quickly
and repeatedly.
At long last: instead of adding more details here and there, we can finally reach a conclusion!
Haha.
I can do this all day.
The ending's quite simple.
We'll end it the way the piece eases into the main melody.
Panning was actually really slight this time around.
I didn't want things to pan too far to avoid making things sound a little weird.
Volume varied, however, with trumpets and the contrabassoon taking higher volumes than
strings, horns, and pianos.
The deed is done!
The war's over!
This project has taken forever, but now that it's finished, Game Suite Zone can continue
on, and I won't have any shame to bear!
Our first four cover episodes are complete -- and they're all pretty different.
Despite how hard this series has proved to be, there really is an end to every obstacle
if you're stubborn long enough.
Think that would work for giving non-playable characters a chance, for once?!
Shut up!
Thanks a lot for watching.
Things aren't really professional or expert-level quality here, but you still gave this video
a chance, anyway, so thank you.
I hope you learned something neat today!
Stay after this message to hear our results.
Thanks for watching, and thanks for your patience, too!
Geri and I will see you next time -- and it won't take us three months to make it happen
this time, either!
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét