The Artist's Toolkit II

Themes & Motifs II 

Here is the second part to the first. These tools are more advanced but, applied carefully, can give your music a powerful edge and make it worth remembering.

[Advanced]

1. Notes Change

Playing the exact same melody every time to signal a motif may get old after a while. Besides, themes may darken, brighten, become more elaborate, or change in other ways depending on the mood of the movie. Thus, it is useful to sometimes change the notes of the motif while still making it recognizable to your audience. This may be more challenging than it sounds.

2. Mode Change

Classical music uses this a lot. The most common one being transitioning from minor mode to major mode or vice versa. Other changes could be from major mode to lydian mode, lydian mode to mixolydian mode, or minor mode to phrygian mode. Of course there are many other mode changes which sound good. Finding the right one is the trick. Also, making the motif still recognizable is very important.

3. Rhythm Change

Depending on the mood of the theme you're showing, you might want to change the rhythm of the motif so that it better conveys the new mood or atmosphere of the movie. This change in rhythm is not the same thing as changing the time signature, although it may incorporate it if you are going for a dramatic rhythm change. The easiest way to do this though, is just to change the timing of individual notes while still sticking with the same time signature. For example, you could turn half notes into quarter notes, while turning eighth notes into quarter notes to keep the balance.

4. Segmentation

Another technique to use for motifs is to split your melody into pieces and fill it with new musical material. For example, you could play 1/3 of your motif melody, then break off into a new part before finishing the other 2/3 of your motif. Alternatively, you could split off into new material every 1/4 of your motif. Depending on the length of your motif, this process could take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. This is not a very common technique, but if used masterfully could give your music an interesting edge.

5. Reverse Notes

Reverse the main melody of your motif or reverse sections of it. By reversing I mean to make your notes go in the opposite direction. For instance, if you motif uses E D C G F E D, you would reverse it to D E F G C D E. This might be too extreme for you. If this is the case, you can only reverse a few notes while still keeping most of the main theme. In this case, E D C G F E D becomes C D E G F E D. If used right, this technique is very powerful and will definitely keep your motif from becoming stale or overused.

6. Instrument Choice

If you've already established an instrument which is mostly used whenever a character or theme is shown, then you can use this one. For example, a flute may often be playing in the background during a scene featuring a certain character. This instrument becomes part of the motif for your character. Whenever a flute is played, your audience would connect it with the character. This technique is useful but dangerous. After all, if you did this for every one of your character motifs, you wouldn't have many instruments left to use for regular themes. Some characters may be stuck with their motif being a snare drum or a wind chime. One way to get around this problem is to use instruments in only certain cases to represent a character. For instance, a solo flute may represent a character, but when a flute is played with other instruments it may not. Alternatively, a piano played along with just a violin may represent a location or theme while a piano played by itself or with other instruments would not. Knowing how to make the best use of this technique is critical and will wondrously improve your music.


That's all for now. Have fun composing!

Atmospheric Conditions

Music's Aura

Every music piece has a certain mood or feel to it. Just like every great novel we've ever read had at least one underlying theme to it, every music piece needs to convey a certain mood or atmosphere. Some moods are weaker than others, some are forcefully powerful, and some may even be hard to define, but the moods are still there.

It seems best to me, when starting work on a song, to come up with both the mood and the name for it. If you can do these two things, composing the song should come much easier. However, if you are the type of person that just makes the music and then comes up with a name, that's great as well.

1. Emotional

Do you desire to make people sad when they hear your music? Often sad music is very beautiful, so this is a very good choice. Listen to The Call by Regina Spektor, and you'll see an example of this type of music. Certainly, the lyrics add to the emotional feeling of this music, but even just the instruments, the chords, and how the song is sung gives off a sad feeling.

2. Epic

Maybe you feel like writing a piece of music that inspires people and leaves them with a feeling of grandeur. If such is the case, keep your song's mood in the triumphant/epic genre. He's a Pirate by Hans Zimmer, showcases this mood perfectly. 

3. Mystery

Ever wanted to make a song which leaves your listeners with a sense of mystery and wonder. Give this mood a shot. With the added touch of solemnity, this Gregorian Chant song perfectly fits this genre.

4. Scary

Perhaps you always wanted to scare people with your music. If so, try this mood. Nazgul Theme from Lord of the Rings is a great example of this. Probably not a good idea to listen to this before going to bed though, unless you don't value your sleep.

5. Peaceful

Maybe you want to create a piece of beauty and relaxation. Try this mood. A River Flows In You by Yiruma captures this atmosphere perfectly. 
 
6. Magical

Have you ever wanted to transport your listeners to another world, another place. It's time to make use of this mood. This musical piece from World of Warcraft about night elves fits this mood with precision.

7. Happy

If you want to make happy music that's not annoying it might be sort of a challenge, but if you're a classical composer, you have a good chance at making this happen. Listen to The Prince of Denmark's March by Jeremiah Clarke and you'll understand this mood.


I know that's not nearly all the moods, but this covers some of the basics. Also, I know that moods can be combined to create some interesting complex combinations. Experiment with it to see what you can come up with. I'll be back with a post about themes & motifs sometime soon. Good luck composing!