Transcript Creative Exploration

Pentagram
A FPS horror title set in an elementary school that was accidentally built over the foundation of a
compound once owned by a satanic cult who all perished in a mysterious fire on the property.
Consequently, all hell breaks loose and the only tools the player has to defend humanity from demons
are whiffle bats and dodge balls.
Inspiration
John Carpenter Movie Soundtracks
Composed by John Carpenter
Resident Evil (the movie) Soundtrack
Main Theme
Composed by
Marco Beltrami and Marilyn Manson
Orbital – The Box
From their 1996 album “In Sides”
Silent Hill Series Soundtracks
Composed by Akira Yamaoka
David Lynch Industrial Soundscapes
In movies like Eraserhead
Composed by David Lynch
Challenges
• Samples were generally weak in volume
• Tonality of samples was kind of locked in
• Not every sample sounded good when laid
out across a keyboard (squeaky egg, jerky
hammer)
• No “Back and Forth” with the developer
• No artwork
• 1 minute time limit
First steps
My typical workflow process
Creative
Exploration
• Creating sounds
• Creating main melodies
and chord structures
• Creating rhythmic
elements
Song
Assembly
• Assembling the parts
created in the exploration
phase into a song structure
Final Touches
And
Mastering
• Adding glitchy effects
• Adding extra effects (filter
sweeps, delay, reverb)
• Level balancing, rendering
(mixdown) and mastering
Creative Exploration – Main Melody
I loaded “Music Box” into Kontakt (sampler) and played it across the keyboard
Creative Exploration – Main Melody
I added the “Convolution Reverb” effect built into Kontakt and used the
“Jerky Hammer” sound as the impulse
Creative Exploration – Main Melody
I added the Guitar Rig 3 “Jazzy Chorus patch
Creative Exploration – Main Melody
I added a little distortion using Kontakt’s built in distortion effect
Creative Exploration – Drums
I loaded “Toy Car Antenna” into Kontakt (sampler) and played it across the keyboard
(Thank God for the “Toy Car Antenna” sample!!)
Creative Exploration – Drums
I added Guitar Rig 3 and recorded my patterns through various drum and FX patches
Creative Exploration – Spooky FX
Again, I ran my patterns through various Guitar Rig 3 drum and FX patches
Creative Exploration – Grains
I had a hard time getting bass or guitar tones out of the samples provided
until I discovered grains
Normal “Jaw Harp” sample
Creative Exploration – Grains
I had a hard time getting bass or guitar tones out of the samples provided
until I discovered grains
Zoomed
“Jaw Harp”
in “Jaw
sample
Harp”grain
sample
Song Assembly - Overview
Song Assembly – Backwards FX
Song Assembly – Drums
Song Assembly – Guitars
Mixdown - Mastering
Summay
• The creative exploration I did gave me the
tools I needed to further my composition
• I used a lot of distortion to bring the
samples to life
• I found that working within the strict
boundaries of the contest helped to drive
my creativity
• This was the funest project I ever worked
on – Bravo Lennie!
Charlie Malone
Creative Director / Composer
Supernova Sound
www.supernovasound.com
(949) 285-0285