A burst of inspiration. How I created a pirate soundtrack from a voice recorder
Hi all! My name is Nazar, I am a game composer. I want to tell you an interesting case in my practice. We'll have to plunge into a sea of backups for a year and a half. Stock up on wetsuits!
Where it all began
There were no signs of trouble. I sat in a comfortable chair and thought about abstract topics. And suddenly, I clearly heard a melody in my head! I realized I had a sudden attack of inspiration. Something needs to be done about this…
Let me explain. Even for a professional composer, this phenomenon is quite rare. Most often, I intuitively feel for the right melody. I go through many combinations until I feel – this is it! But this time everything was different. I heard the whole melody and it seemed perfect to me! At such moments, it is important not to lose your thoughts. If you hesitate or get distracted, it’s lost. Without thinking twice, I grabbed the recorder and sang the melody into it as best I could.)
I wrote down 2 options just to be sure:
The names of the files speak for themselves.) It immediately became clear to me what the nature of the future soundtrack would be.
Trying to do something
The first thing I needed to do was transfer the melody from the recorder to the DAW. I put the file into the program and picked out the melody in the notes by ear. I made the horn the main instrument. Her timbre gives a sense of adventure and bravado. This is what it sounds and looks like
I had a rough understanding of what I wanted. But the whole picture did not emerge. Over the course of six months, I returned to the project from time to time. But there was not enough motivation to finish the job. I was too lazy to even come up with a name. All this time the track was called “motive”. Very original.)
First outlines
My breakthrough came when I came across The Cue Tube. There you can find a video without music, but with all the other voice acting. An ideal solution for building a portfolio! I rummaged around on this site and found a trailer for some mobile game in a pirate setting. For me, this was a good reason not just to finish the project, but to give it the necessary context! Music works much better with visuals. The work has started. I finalized the melody, added chords and a basic rhythm. The demo is still raw, but the outlines of the future soundtrack have emerged.
I was so full that I pulled myself together and gave the track a name! Now it was listed as “motive 2”. And yet, I had a strong conviction that this was not what I wanted. The trailer of a random mobile phone did not give me enough motivation to finish the track. I was exhausted and gave up on the project again. I hoped that one day I would be able to find something worthwhile for my music.
The moment has come
A year and a half has passed since the start. As I said earlier, I did not systematically work on the project. I returned to it from time to time, according to my mood. I was waiting for the right moment.
I follow games about pirates with great interest. My attention was drawn to a review of current developments on the topic of Corsairs. Among them was a project with a mysterious name Corsair Chimera. I wanted to study the issue in more detail. As it turned out, the development is carried out by one indie developer. The result, especially for one person, impressed me! I found the developer's contact and offered to collaborate. Luckily, the developer was considering the idea of creating original music for his game. He liked my portfolio and we agreed to work. I was delighted with such luck and set to work with enthusiasm! I just remembered my unfinished pirate soundtrack. I showed the demo to the developer and, in general, he liked it. All that remained was to finish the track (finally). And yes, the track has a name.)
Here's what I got
I was pleased with the result, as was the developer. This track became the beginning of our further cooperation. I made several more soundtracks for the game. You can listen to them Here
There should be some wise thought or conclusion at the end. But I will say simply: life gives us opportunities to express ourselves. The trick is to take advantage of these opportunities and try not to screw it up.)
P.S. Thanks Corsair Chimera I was offered to work on a large project, also about pirates. They ordered about 30 soundtracks. But that's a completely different story…
