Secret Composer Quick Tricks Flashcards
What is quick trick to create atmosphere?
Use Quartel harmony where every note is a perfect 4th above previous note. Has lush almost magical sound but also bit ambiguous so can be used for various things.
What is a good startling sound, possibly could be used in battle?
French Horn Glissando or “rip”
What is a good interval for tension or battle sound?
Tritone or Augmented fifth
What sounds makes a menacing drone sound?
French horn “stopped” or hand mute effect
How can you create depth in an underwater scene?
Use very low bass and very high strings drone at same time.
What can work for an underwater or magical feeling scene?
Arrpegiated major 7th chords I - III with harps and celesta
What scale is good for drama?
Diminished scale
What intervals are good to use in a drama melody?
Using tritone interval, using a minor 2nd interval ideally creating ambiguity if the root is major or minor
What is a good string effect for tension, drama and horror?
Tremelo strings
What are two eerie haunting effects?
Scraping a piano and a waterphone
What is a good eerie, haunted horror chord?
root - b6th - Maj 7th - Could be called a sharp 9 with no fifth
What is a good 4 chord progression for a mysterious mood? and what can you do to progress progression?
Cm - D - Db - Cm i - II - bII - i
Sway the DB major for a Db b5 7 chord
What is a good supporting instrument for mysterious moods
and how would you use it?
Clarinets descending then ascending each bar with harmony
What is instrumentation for film noir?
Sax and strings
What always scale note always adds a sense of mystery?
9th
What scale can be used in parts of film noir?
chromatic
What can be good combo for interrogation scene?
steady pulse on sequencer with diminished scale writing in bars like parts are throwing a musical phrase back and forth
What moods can diminished scale be used for?
Drum Loop Action, Tension, Agitation, Eerie/Creepy and Light Mystery.
Cheesy jungle music instrument and scale?
marimba and pentatonic scale - ethnic flute for melody but could also write more serious music with this
Magic chord?
augmented
Good string effect for magic?
trill half tone
Good time sig and tempo for magic?
12/8 66ish
Battle scene tempo?
150ish
Drama tempo?
85ish
Film noir tempo?
95ish
Interrogation tempo?
120ish
Cheesy marimba calypso tempo?
118ish
Where does an augmented chord want to resolve?
To the root even more than a normal V chord, can help you pivot to a new tonic
Where does a dimished chord want to go, especially if its 7th scale degree? What can it be altered back and forth with well?
The root. The root major and root dimished
What alternating chord qualitys create a nice gentle pleasing tension and release?
Sus4 to Major sustained strings
Where does a diminished 7 chord want to resolve to?
C Diminshed to Cmajor - to its own root
How would you create a sweet Diminished chord and a tense dimished chord?
Sweet would be C - Cdim7
Tense would be C - Dbdim7
Also note what chord you follow them with to give context
Where does a half dimished want to resolve to?
The root of the major scale it came from
What 7ths chords naturally occur in major scales
IM7 ii7 ii7 IVM7 V7 vi7 vii half dim7
What is good “bridge”chord?
Dominant 7th
What alternating chord prog can create a jazzy effect and is sometimes used in pop music?
IM7 - ii7 alternating
What alternating chord prog gives a sweet sound that can be used in pop or orchestra?
Two alternating minor 7ths half step apart
ii7 -iii7 from major key or i7-ii7 from minor key for example
How many major 6ths can you form in major scale
3 C F G
What chord has a richer sound than a major chord and brings a calming slightly jazzy sound and how does it function?
Major 6th as a destination chord or chord in its own right altho can be used rarely as passing, can alternate with dominant 7th
What chord is close to a minor triad but more mysterious?
Min6th
What alternating chord prog combo makes a somewhat poignant sound?
vi6 - I alternating
What does the dominant 9th feel like and how is it used?
Feels unresolved and functions much like dominant 7th so wants to resolve to major a 4th above or 5th below. Can alternate with major as well/
What does major 9 feel like and how is it used?
Its used as a home chord, a chord we want to resolve to., can alternate with minor 7th half step apart
What does minor 9th sounds like?
Quite sweet
What do you do with 11th when using it on top of a major chord?
Sharp it
What is a C#11 chord? And what quality
a c7 with #11 - slight unresolved, almost beauty and tension
What is Cmaj7#11 quality
As it sounds but more resolved, some beauty in it
What is most common used 11th chord and for what?
11 on dominant (b7th) and used for creating some tension, like the dominant it wants to reolve usually to 4th above or 5th below
How do you build a min11th chord and how does it sound?
min7th plus normal 11th added - jazzy, pretty
What is an effective alternating chord prog using the m11th chord?
dm11 to CMajor9 or ad extension of ii-I
What two 13 chords are major
flat 7 or major 7 and both use sharp 11
What is a common and well used voicing for 13th
omit the 9th and 11th, flat 7 and put the third an octave up
How does the common voicing for 13th function?
Its tense and built on domino so like to resolve to root
What happens to 11th of a minor 13th chord?
Natural, not sharp like in a major chord
What sound is minor 13th?
Pretty jazzy sound, almost nice landscape type sound that can be held for long periods
What is a common chord progression for mischief?
i - V7 - i
i - V7 - bvi - i
i - V7 - biii - i
The mischief come in form of a 2nd line with 3rd chord being a tritone away from dominant chord then next line minor 3rd
What scale adds a sense of mischief?
Descending chromatic line or harmony
What instruments playing what are good for mischief?
Quirky tiplety staccato melody to the basoon, pizz strings, clarinets descending chromatic and grace notes, double some pizza strings. Xylophone and triangle.
What chords can be good for mystery and what is the alternative?
Aug and dim chords but can make your own! Usually a derivative of a 13th chord with odd sharp or flat and missing notes then alternate back and fwd same chord a half step with alterations to new chord as required.
What combinations doing what make a classicc mystery sounding score?
Violins taking alternating mystery chord harmony, piano playing cold start simple arpeggios, piccolo playing grace followed by note half step below if for almost bird like sound. Actually classic!
What creates a classic mystery dream sound?
Whole tone glissando, often two harps gliss in opposite directions
What chords and how are they used for mystery?
Augmented chords in the clarinets and flute in 8ths notes descending and ascending
What is a create instrument combo for nature?
solo woodwind playing delicate melody ver soft strings
What scale is great for nature and what instruments?
Pentatonic, clarinet and flute play melody back and forth, bassoon plays counter melody and strings harmonic bed, use sus chord for rich unresolved by playing a note outside harmony in melody, still rich and pleasant. harp, triangle and bell tree also
What is the key elements of sneaky jazz?
Classic bass cymbal pattern, use of the b5 note and its natural half step beside it, several grace notes from b5 down. pizza bass, flute and vibraphone, electric guitar for appoggiaturas and chromatic notes for ending towards root
How can you soften a minor chords tonality to an almost pop jazz sound or just reduce the sadness?
Use the 4th note from the scale of the chord your playing in the bass Em/A
What instruments are good for a tender moment?
Harp, viloin, cello and nylon guitar
What is a good tender moment progression?
iii - IV(1inv) - ii - V - vi
The first two chords alternate for a bit over an A in bass as a pedal tone before moving to finish on last 3 chords.
What helps bring a human touch to tender moment?
Really things like fret buzz, slides on guitar, delicate harp with all real noise kept in for intimate feeling
What is a comic vamp?
clarinets and villains take the staccato eighth 2 notes each in Maj 3rds notes and start and end on the “and”, 2 bars completes the vamp. Last two notes of final bar go up has step each time. If you use a melody it would make sense to include the raised 4th that occurs with chromatic end of vamp.
What would you alter for more exaggerated comic vamp over normal vamp?
French horns take the vamp. Big timpani basses and bass trombones punctuate the vamp with more authority and boomyness now.
Draw out the dramatic vamp 1 and what instruments get it?
bass, cellos, timpani, tiba and bass trombone but can later who plays all 8th nots and who plays some just for effect.
1 - and - Rest - and - Rest - and - Rest - and
All accented
Describe dramatic vamp 2
All with notes filling bar with the 1 2and accented in bar 1 and the 1and 2 accented in bar 2 to give a really distinctive sound played by snare drum. Vilas cellos and basses get the rest with cellos and basses playing a half step up on the 1and of 2nd bar accented. Timpani tube and bass trombone then accent some of these notes.
