1 - Drones With Modes

The first week's experiment is to create a track using Drones and Modes. The restrictions/guidelines we were given are as follows:

1. Use at least 2 of the basic 7 modes
2. Create a drone. The drone must be interesting, organic and evolving.
3. No drums, percussion, drum loops etc.

Research into Drones & Modes

In guitar terms modes are often called "positions". The position would start on the next note of the scale on the lowest string. In this context the mode is the position but with the starting note being moved to the root note and change the scale into a different "mode".

"The term “modal jazz” refers to improvisational music that is organized in a scalar (“horizontal”) way rather than in a chordal (“vertical”) manner. By de-emphasizing the role of chords, a modal approach forces the improviser to create interest by other means: melody, rhythm, timbre, and emotion" (Jazz Standards, 2014).

"Drone, French bourdon, in music, a sustained tone, usually rather low in pitch, providing a sonorous foundation for a melody or melodies sounding at a higher pitch level. The term also describes an instrumental string or pipe sustaining such a tone—e.g., the drone strings of a hurdy-gurdy or the three drone pipes of some bagpipes. A drone may be continuous or intermittent, and an interval, usually the fifth, may replace the single-pitch drone" (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014).

Drone

I began by selecting a drone. I browsed through the NI Massive library until I found a drone that I could work with and that evolved enough. I finally settled on "Question Of Time"

I tweaked a lot of the settings to give the effect more low end knowing that I would fill up the high end with the modal section. I was able to control a few of the settings within this with my midi controller (An Akai MPK25) and recorded a run of around 3 minutes with constant adjustments. I had noticed that by affecting the LFO of one of the filters I was able to extract a sound similar to a helicopter and by adjusting the filter itself I was able to make the helicopter type sound far more interesting.

Composition Narrative

The narrative of the piece depicted the choice of modes as they would aid in the storytelling. The Piece is called "Annuario Pontificio"; named after the annual listing of all departments within the catholic church and chronicles the major members of the church throughout it's existence. The piece depicts the history of the Catholic church throughout history and it's involvement in child abuse. The piece begins with organs to portray the historic catholic church. A sample of a young child crying is used to show the revelation of the ingrained child abuse within the church and is followed by a harp that attempts to cover the sound of the child and portrays the church's attempts to cover-up the abuse. The helicopter sound becomes more prominent in this section to depict the church's method of moving members involved in scandals to other areas of the church. The final section of the track sees the harp change modes to signal the arrival of a new pope who seems to bring in a new era for the church as the child crying ceases. The ending of the track contains another small sample of crying to portray that after the listener is done being distracted, the child still remains.

Modes

With the narrative that the piece needs to tell the choice of modes became quite crucial. For the 3 sections I needed to carefully select modes to reflect the story.

For the first section I chose the Phrygian mode. This mode has a stately character and gave the feel of the classical church and it's grandeur.
The second section needed to show a depressing point of the story. for this I chose the Aeolian mode as a way of showing a darkness but also showing the modern age in the timeline.
For the third section I stuck with the Ionian mode. This mode is the major scale and gives a happy quality but also (quite subtly) was known to be linked with lust and was looked down upon by the "traditional" church.

The Piece -

References

Encyclopedia Britannica. 2014. drone (music) -- Encyclopedia Britannica. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/171795/drone. [Accessed 29 May 2014].

Jazz Standards . 2014. Modal Jazz . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.jazzstandards.com/theory/modal-jazz.htm. [Accessed 29 May 2014].