The theme I had for this composition project was recreating nature, or more specifically, a tropical jungle. The reason was pretty simple — I grew up in Taiwan, where we were always graced with sunlight and a hot, tropical climate, and this warm, happy feeling was what I missed the most during my time in Berlin and New York last year, so I wanted to recreate this atmosphere for all of us to enjoy. I also thought the idea of attempting to portray nature through technology — which is anything but natural — would be fun. 🙂
After a lot of fooling around, trying various audio samples, and playing with how each instrument will harmonize, I created a composition with a bright, happy, and somewhat dreamlike vibe, both in terms of its visuals and its audio. I first began by picking out some sounds that I found myself drawn to, such as the pelog scale, the sine instrument/audio, usage of claps, beats with unexpected irregular rhythms once in a while, etc., and then once I started assembling them together, I tweaked some parts to make them harmonize with each other.
Creating a build-up as well as brainstorming what my big “drop” was going to be was a bit more difficult because I felt this “pressure” to make them “catchy” and carry impact. While I did want it to be somewhat pleasant to the vast majority of the audience’s ears, I also didn’t want them to be too generic because there seemed to be certain formulas for both the build-up and the drop that a lot of people use in their compositions. I did end up using the classic acceleration of rhythm and the pitch for my build-up, but my drop ended up straying a lot from what a classic “beat drop” might look like because I didn’t want to use any overpowering bass or beat but rather wanted to create a more full and rich harmony of all the instruments I’ve been using up to this point with an addition of sounds like birds chirping, multiple sine melodies that mimic the songbirds, etc.
For my visuals, I used a lot of vibrant colors and waves/rounded lines/circles. I also imported an image of the jungle at the end to match my beat drop as a “big reveal” of the composition’s final destination.
Here’s the video:
Here’s the Tidal code:
d1 $ s "~ ~ cp ~" # gain 1
d2 $ ccv "<127 50 127 50>" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d1 $ s "bd [~bd] cp ~" # gain 1
d2 $ ccv "17 [~50] 100 ~" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d5 $ scramble 4 $ s "sine" >| note ((scale "minor" "<[-4 [10 3]]>"))
d2 $ scramble 4 $ ccv "10 127 5 30" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d1 $ s "bd bd sd bd cp odx mt <[bd*2]!8>" # gain 1
d2 $ struct "t(4,8)" $ ccv ((segment 128 (range 127 0 saw))) # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d5 $ struct "<t(2,4)>" $ s "sine" # note ((scale "pelog" "c'maj f'maj")) # room 0.3
d2 $ ccv (segment 8 "0 84 10 127") # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d7 $ s "sine*16" # note ((scale "pelog" "-5 .. 10"))
d2 $ ccv (segment 8 "0 20 64 127 60 30 127 ~") # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d3 $ struct "<t(3,8) t(3,8,1)>" $ s "sine" # note "<[1 3 1] [5 13 10]>" # room 0.4
d2 $ struct "<t(3,120) t(3,27,120)>" $ ccv ((segment 128 (range 127 0 saw))) # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d5 $ s "cp*4" # gain 1
d2 $ struct "<t(4,8)>" $ ccv ((segment 128 (range 127 0 saw))) # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d1 $ s "[bd bd bd bd] [sd cp] [bd bd] [cp bd]" # gain 1.1
d2 $ ccv "[127 20 70 0] [100 10] [80 ~] [0 ~]" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d3 $ s "hh hh hh <hh*6 [hh*2]!3>" # gain 1.5
-- d7 $ s "sine*8" # note "[[1 1] 5 8 10 5 8]" # room 0.2
-- BUILDUP
do {
d9 silence;
d7 silence;
d8 silence;
d9 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ s "808cy" <| n (run 16); -- 25 808 cymbals
d10 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ seqP [
(0,1, s "sine*2"),
(1,2, s "sine*4"),
(2,3, s "sine*8"),
(3,4, s "sine*16")
] # gain (slow 4 (range 0.8 1.2 saw)) # speed (slow 4 (range 2 4 saw));
d1 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ seqP [
(0,1, s "[bd bd] [sd cp]"),
(1,2, s "[bd bd bd bd] [sd cp]"),
(2,3, s "[bd bd bd bd bd bd] [sd cp]"),
(3,4, s "[bd bd bd bd bd bd bd bd] [sd cp]")
] # gain (slow 4 (range 0.8 1 saw));
d3 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ seqP [
(0, 1, s "cp:2*2"),
(1, 2, s "cp:2*4"),
(2, 3, s "cp:2*8"),
(3, 4, s "cp:2*16")
] # room 0.3 # hpf (slow 4 (1000*saw + 100)) # speed (slow 4 (range 1 2 saw));
}
-- drop
nature_go_Crazy = do
d8 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ s "blip*8" # gain 1 # note "[[6 8] 13 10 18 6 10]"
d3 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ struct "<t(3,8) t(3,8,1)>" $ s "sine" # note "<[1 3 1] [5 13 10]>" # room 0.4
d12 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ s "sine*16"
# note "[[15 17 10] [8 20] [27 8] 25]"
# room 0.4
# gain "0.8"
# pan "<0.2 0.8 0.5>"
d1 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ s "[bd bd sd bd] [bd sd] [bd cp] [sd bd]" # gain 1
d9 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ s "birds"
-- d14 $ slow 2 $ s "arpy" <| up "c'maj(3,8) f'maj(3,8) ef'maj(3,8,1) bf4'maj(3,8)"
-- d15 $ s "bass" <| n (run 4) -- four short bass sounds, nasty abrupt release
-- d15 $ slow 3 $ s "bassdm" <| n (run 24)
d14 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ s "can" <| n (run 8) # gain 2
d16 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ s "<808lt:6(3,8) 808lt:6(5,8,1)>" <| n (run 8) # squiz 2 # gain 2 # up "-2 -12 -14"
d10 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ s "[bd bd cp bd bd cp bd bd] [sd cp]"
d2 $ ccv "127 ~ 70 20 [120] [40] [90]" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
nature_go_Crazy
d8 silence
d1 silence
d2 $ ccv "20 ~ 80 40 [120 ~] [20 ~] 127" # ccn "1" # s "midi"
d16 silence
d10 silence
d3 silence
d14 silence
d2 $ ccv "0 ~ [50 127] ~ 20 ~" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d5 silence
d9 silence
hushAnd here’s the Hydra code:
//start!!
// first shape
shape(999, 0.3, 0.01).modulate(noise(2, 0.5)).luma(()=>cc[0],0.0).modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3)).out(o0)
// 2nd
osc(10, 0.1, 1)
.modulate(noise(2, 0.5))
.mask(shape(999, 0.3, 0.3))
.scale(1.5)
.luma(()=>cc[0],0.0).modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3)).out(o0)
// 3rd shape; later add .repeat(2,2), and then change to .repeat(2,2)
osc(10, 0.1, 1).modulate(noise(20, 0.9)).mask(shape(99, 0.2, 1)).luma(() => cc[0] / 127, 0.2).modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3)).repeat(2,2).rotate(() => cc[2] * 0.1, 0.6).out(o0)
// 5th shape --> at first noise (30), then change to 10
osc(10,0.1,1).rotate(2).layer(osc(30,0,1)).modulate(noise (10,0.03),.5).luma(()=>cc[0],0.0).modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3)).out(o0)
// 6th
osc(10, 0.1, 1).modulate(noise(2,0.5).luma(0.4,.03)).modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3)).out(o0)
//7th; change noise 3 to 9, osc 20 to 40, and add .posterize(5, 0.5)
osc(40, 0.2, 1)
.kaleid(4)
.modulateScale(noise(9, 0.5), 0.2)
.blend(noise(3, 0.5))
.modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3))
.out(o0)
shape(2, 0.6, 0.4)
.repeat(3, 3)
.modulateScale(noise(2, 0.1))
.mult(gradient().hue(0.5))
.modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3))
.out(o0)
s0.initImage("https://i.pinimg.com/736x/83/8c/d6/838cd6e2a27f7887e49d869f1857742c.jpg")
noise(2, 0.5)
.contrast(2)
.modulate(noise(2, 0.1))
.brightness(-0.3)
.colorama(0.1)
.diff(o0, 0.1)
.modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3))
.out(o0)
src(s0)
.modulate(noise(4, 0.2))
.modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3))
.kaleid(5)
.out(o0)
src(s0)
.modulate(noise(2, 0.2))
.modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3))
.modulate(osc(()=>(cc[0]*10+5), 0.1).rotate(()=>(cc[1]*0.5)))
.out(o0)
src(s0)
.modulate(noise(3, 0.2))
.modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*1,0.3))
.blend(src(o0).scale(1.01), 0.7)
.out(o0)