Disclaimer: A mere mortal’s attempt to understand the cosmos.
Thread I: Baseless Theory
Baseless Theory! that's the name you give to a band when you don't have a bassist. Well, that was nearly 15 years ago, although my affection for mechanical waves started much earlier, in the times of Winamp and cassette tapes. That being said, music is nearly synonymous with my life. And while being part of an audience was something I’d never turned down, I felt a louder call for being onstage.
Truth be told, there was a time in my life when I genuinely wanted to be a rockstar. Sometimes, if not every time, unexpected insights and skills can be learned on these, what others might call, “delusional” quests.
But, what I discovered along the way was Sound Design & Composition.
“The roots of harmonic analysis are in the study of harmonics, which are the basic sound waves whose frequencies are multiples of each other.”
Thread II: Gutter Space
As per Google, “gutter space” means:
“The inside margins closest to the spine of a book or the blank space between two facing pages in the center of a newsletter or magazine is known as the gutter. The gutter space includes any extra space allowance needed to accommodate the binding of books.”
And when I heard this term years ago, I couldn’t help but wrap a philosophical perspective around it. It resonated with me, like how all good music does.
Music Composition for me was the gutter space - the mental space you intentionally leave behind to accommodate for other things.
And so, I carried forward that pseudo-name for the banner of my compositions, which included music for games, experiences, and other pursuits.
Thread III: Theory
1) Harmonics
The first time I heard the geometry of harmonic binding, was from K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton of Judas Priest. It is referred to as the "double harmonic" scale because it contains two harmonic tetrads featuring augmented seconds.
2) Wave Theory
While playing with color theory, I saw similarities between it and song composition. Both are waves and respect similar laws of superposition & interference.
3) Spatial Composition
“Imagine you are in a music amphitheatre.”
“Image where the instruments are placed.”
“Map them based on your location.”
“Now while mixing, place the source accordingly.”
The best tip I picked up from a friend back in college.
4) Layers
Song composition, in a way, is similar to layers in a Photoshop file. It’s how you crop and overlay them with varying opacity that dictates and directs the attention of the user.
5) Bars
Similar to how a CPU has a certain clock frequency which syncs all the instructions, the drummer keeps time and holds the composition together. The drummer is the grid, the scale by which you measure and put elements in their respective places.
6) Narrative Curves
A narrative curve gives the composition, which is liner in nature, its flow. Depending on the nature of the intent, the curve can be designed to satisfy that need.
Thread IV: Tools
Audio Design: Pro Tools, Logic Pro
Partners in crime: PRS SE 245, Casio PX 860
DAW Station: MacBook Pro (Logic Pro)
Thread V: Note for future self
Look into Neural Audio Path Tracing.