Zoe In Hell
This is a tune that I mostly wrote while I was living in LA with an actor friend of mine (he was also a shipmate during my Navy days). Juliah, the Assistant Director of the film that my friend and I were in (he as a standin, me as an extra), told us that she was working on a vampire documentary that needed music for both the intro, as well as background. Well, I was really getting into Stravinsky’s serialism at this time, as well as the electronic instruments, abstract drumming, and emotional soundscapes of Edgard Varése, so I figured that I would try my hand at film music. Granted, this tune is not serial, but rather a sonic atmosphere that was influenced by such things. I did stick to the recurring thematic palette just as Stravinsky often did in his work, but was far more influenced by Varése’s abstract use of percussion (esp. ‘Ionization’ and ‘Déserts’). Also, instead of a siren, I had an electric guitar.
The first part (intro) was written and recorded about 2 years prior to the second part while on deployment in the Middle East using a guitar, bass and MIDI keyboard controlling Logic Pro’s sampler (strings and percussion). With the exception of the highly effected guitar feedback (which was improvised), the second part was entirely written in LA in the spring of 2007 on Logic Pro’s scoring page and then transferred to MOTU’s ‘Symphonic Instrument’ plugin (strings, horns, percussion battery, and glockenspiel).
This was my very first attempt to write something in notation first, before ever hearing what it might sound like. While there are many flaws and flubs, I was pleasantly surprised the first time I played it back. In fact, I decided to keep all of the flaws, because they added a character of their own, and they showed me how a notation error can be a good thing sometimes. Unfortunately, the drum rudiments that were written didn’t come through due to a software limitation, but that’s ok, most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference anyway.
Unfortunately, Juliah never got to hear this song, and I don’t know if she ever did finish her documentary. So, instead I present it here for your enjoyment/displeasure.
August 5, 2012 at 2:55 pm
that is really spooky music. i loved it
August 5, 2012 at 8:30 pm
Thanks, that is the reaction that I was going for. Because of the medium that it was written for (background music for a vampire documentary), it was meant to be abstract and scary. More or less I was attempting to create a scary soundscape of hell itself. Probably the only thing that would have increased this attempt at a hell soundscape would be growls and screams in the background, but then my neighbors probably would have called the cops.