Corsair Chimera. From a personal song to a tavern soundtrack
Hello everyone, my name is Nazar. I am a game composer and founder of a sound production studio Music we Deserve. In this article I will tell you how my deeply personal song turned into a tavern soundtrack for the game Corsair Chimera. I'll start with the events that led to this.
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In October 2018, I founded my first (and last) rock band. I was full of ambitions to become famous with my music. (Naive simplicity.) It was a good and carefree time. Many things were new to me. For example, I had never NEVER
created music on the computer
recorded at the studio
released music releases
And there's still a lot to do
In music, I was like a blank slate and I had to write my own story. In 2 years, the band and I released first album and began to actively give concerts. We were very goal-oriented, charged with success. But as soon as we achieved the first, albeit small, success – problems began. Creative differences, and then interpersonal ones – buried our dream. We broke up. I had to start all over again.
Track idea
Breaking up with the band was hard for me. The feeling of deep injustice, frustration, resentment and anger tore me apart for several months. I really needed to find a way to let go of all the negativity, let go of the situation and move on. I decided to write a song about my thoughts and experiences. I knew in advance that the message of the song would be ironic and sometimes sarcastic. I played out the situation metaphorically. The lyrical hero is the captain of the ship. There is a mutiny on the ship. The captain is trying his best to come to an agreement. The mutineers are adamant, intending to overthrow the captain and lock him in the hold. But the captain is not going to give in, he is smart and cunning.
In the end, the captain defeats the mutineers and maroons them on a rocky, uninhabited island. The ship sails away, leaving the mutineers with nothing. I was inspired to create this story! My negative emotions gave me an impulse to create. Even if only partially, it healed my spirit. I was able to laugh at the adversity and proclaim myself a winner. Even if things weren't quite like that, I was okay with it.
First version
I wrote song lyricsput all my passion into it. Now these lyrics need to be turned into a full-fledged song. Here comes the problem. I didn’t have the experience and skill to create songs entirely on my own. In the band, we had a division of labor. I created the lyrics, the main melody, and the final arrangement. Each member of the band was responsible for their own instrument: bass, drums, vocals. Now I have to do everything myself. The first thing I decided to start with was mastering the drums. Of course, I wasn’t going to become the best drummer in history in the style of the movie “Whiplash”. The basics would be enough for me to create competent drum parts. I found free drum lessons at the youth center. Bingo, I thought! Yes and no. The teacher I got was old-school. And here, the plot of the movie “Whiplash” partially came true. If I did something wrong, the teacher would furiously go to shit, curse furiously, and insult me in every possible way. But I tried not to take it to heart, remembering the main goal. So I went through several lessons, gritting my teeth and heart. As soon as I mastered the basics, I left immediately. I was not going to tolerate rudeness any longer.
One problem less. Now I need to decide on the vocals: find a suitable vocalist or sing myself. The second did not inspire me at all. I am far from vocal mastery. I concentrated on finding a vocalist. I posted several ads and one guy responded to it – Eduard Permyakov. We talked, I listened to his voice and immediately understood – this is it! A unique recording of the very first vocal test
Later we met in my home studio and I recorded it. And yet, my voice is still in the track, on the backing tracks. I recorded several takes of my voice in different characters and mixed them together. Added Eduard's vocals to my backing tracks. It turned out pretty good!
Things were going well. But I felt that something was missing. I decided to take a course on arrangement. And indeed, my eyes (and ears) were opened during the course. I realized what my weakness was. I had not paid enough attention to variability within the musical form. Very often in the arrangement I acted according to the principle of Ctrl+C – Ctrl+V, Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus. Now I realized that it is necessary to introduce at least minimal variety into similar sections, so as not to bore the listener. Charged with new knowledge, I was filled with the desire to finish the track! And I did it. You can listen to the final first version Here
It would seem that I should hurry to make a release while it's hot! But I kept putting it off. The focus of attention shifted to other topics. A few months later, I finally gathered my strength and published the song. But the moment was missed. The release passed unnoticed. But I wasn't too upset.)
New reading
I've never had ambitions to promote the Black Mark. As I said before, this song is deeply personal. Subconsciously, I was reluctant to share it. But I knew that this song had a strong foundation. Even then, I was drawn to composing music about pirates.) Even if you remove all the words, the music will still remain perky and dashing. I thought this project could come in handy. And so it did.
We agreed on 4 original soundtracks with the developer of Corsair Chimera. Having finished work on the fourth, I thought, why not do a good deed and give a fifth? That's when I remembered about the Black Mark. Conceptually, the song was finished. But, of course, I couldn't offer a Russian-language song in the setting of the 17th century Caribbean. It's ridiculous.) So I made an instrumental version and updated the arrangement. The track began to sound fresher, I got rid of old mistakes. The song about my personal experiences was transformed into a tavern soundtrack.
When I was working on an old project, I discovered something! It turns out that I was recording all my songs, attention, on a faulty microphone! What a twist!
So that's where the noise in the recording came from!)
Result
It's been over 3 years since I created the first version of Black Label. A lot has changed in my life during this time. Music has gone from being a hobby and a youthful dream to my profession. I make money creating music for games, giving consultations and teaching music production. I don't know where this path will lead me. But I'm sure it will be very exciting.) Whatever the case, I try to create the music we deserve!
