Tick-tock
By Devieus on August 19, 2018 3:19 pm
I started this week trying to generate a scale with one of my random scale algorithms in real life using a measuring tape; the scale I generated was a serviceable hexatonic one and while transcribing the chords for this particular scale, I noticed a certain chord showing up constantly in various inversions (the finer detail was that I was the Ab/C in C, but it's like a whole thing). That lead me to thinking there's something magic about hexatonic scales, something that's not exactly new information, but it did result in doing the entire song with just two chords and its inversions (while still in line with the whole mode and its chords, you know, all two of them).
The whole tick-tock thing was a something I wanted to do listening to the previous week, it's a great percussive theme: strong but reserved, present but with room for more. It wouldn't even be the first time I did it (except not as haphazardly, every tick is exactly one second apart).
Combining the two is a pretty good match and a decent limitation to breed creativity. For instance, the first tick can be in C, the second in Dm (the major hexatonic is just one possibility, there's a bunch of hexatonic scales that have this behavior, which you can get by just jamming two non-overlapping triads together, e.g. C and C# (which is basically the Arabian scale)). Other chords can theoretically be played as well, like the Am, which while not explicitly in the list can be hinted at, or straight up played if you feel the need to.
The takeaway is don't study music theory, it's detrimental to your composing, and hexatonic scales rule. Screw you B note, nobody likes you.
Also instruments, I guess. I doubled up on everything and automated the panning so one instrument plays one thing left and right, while another instrument plays the same thing right and left, it creates a good balance. Furthermore I made sure the song is exactly 3 minutes long, so you can use it to cook some water or whatever you do in 3 minutes.
Audio works licensed by author under:
CC Attribution Share Alike (BY-SA)
Yet again a very varied and interesting mix of simple and complicated...