Music Box of Memories
- The Archivist
- Aug 13
- 11 min read
Following my revelation about music boxes from last week's post, I expanded the range with which I could work to two 8ves pretty much straight from the get-go.
At the time of writing this post, it would seem I cannot add audio to the blog directly like I can images, GIFs, videos, or even files, but I may be able to add an audio player and upload the MP3s through there once the post is actually published. It's an inconvenient snag, because I fully intended to share the audio today, but it'll be a Wawful I look into at some point down the road, hopefully soon, with the intention to edit this post so I can better illustrate the changes I've made.
Even though I liked the counter-melody above (Fig. 1.1), the rhythm felt stagnant in places, especially within the first measure, so I thought I would see how it sounded by spicing it up with 8th notes instead of the dotted quarter to eight pattern I had going (Fig. 1.2).
It was an experiment that didn't last long.
The double upward motion made it sound awkward, and 8th notes in general felt too rhythmically active, so I scrapped that sketch and returned to the original. If I couldn't add rhythmic variety that I liked in the bottom voice, then I would find a means of adding it in the middle (Fig. 1.3).
What piqued my curiosity in doing so was my usage of parallels.
All throughout my undergrad, my theory professors would preach about avoiding parallel 4ths, 5ths, and 8ves in our theory writing exercises. "It's not good voice leading," was the general idea. Considering we were imitating early music from the Baroque and Classical eras, sure, it makes sense, but that logic falls apart once you start creeping into more modern day music. Hello, Impressionism.
I personally have always loved stacked 5ths, and since I was trying to avoid any of the white keys on a piano, I suspected I might enjoy the sound if I erased the counter-melody altogether (Fig. 1.4).
I'm keeping this idea in reserve for a potential future variation of the piece, but I knew after the first couple of measures I didn't want to continue with the idea for a music box emulation.
So, I brought back the counter-melody, since I preferred it over the parallels (Fig. 1.5).
I just needed to figure out my approach with the middle voice. Should I lean into using counterpoint and create a third "melody" to play simultaneously with the other two? What other options were available to me?
I started thinking about the function of various instruments in an orchestra. Some carry the melody; others might play a counter-melody, typically the middle voices; and then some lower instruments might provide the foundation of the chord to set the tone for that measure or section of music. Thinking about it further, I recalled that 1) not all voices need be present all the time, and 2) some voices exist to provide ornamentation or add tonal interest without creating a whole new melodic line. With that in mind, I wrote the middle voice with an 8th note motif to create texture for the first 7 bars before the end of there period and the transition into the B theme in measure 9.
To add variety, from measure 9 to the end, I thought more vertically in terms of harmony, chords instead of melodic lines or rhythmic texture differences, but I still wasn't satisfied with the first half.
The counter-melody by this point felt like it was actually detracting from the main. In a true music box, there are no dynamics. All voices are equal. Maybe it would be too difficult for the ear to distinguish which melody was the most important. So, as much as I like it, I cut it in favor of simplifying (Fig. 1.6).
I tried to get a feel for how doubling the 8th not motif would go before I decided whether or not to continue with that idea, and in bars 3 and 4, I sketched out an alternative idea I had to act as a comparison before committing to one or the other.
Considering this piece is meant to be a lullaby, I liked how the half notes in bars 3 and 4 of Fig. 1.6 created this sort of rocking motion, but I wasn't ready to surrender the 8th notes, so I compromised.
Bar 5 is the second iteration of the theme, helping to solidify it in the listener's ear, so I added the 8th notes there to add variation to the familiar (Fig. 1.7).
Since half notes and the melody would still sound too plain, I created a new counter-melody beneath the main. Since it primarily moves with the melody or while the main melody is holding longer notes, the ear isn't as easily confused on which line to follow.
Now, since I'm emulating a music box, and this piece is supposed to accompany a section of Teyr'loch Delter Pach, I needed to determine where and how to appropriately time it.
For the sake of simplicity, I'll provide the text it'll be accompanying.
Cael: But what if that choice is taken away from me again?
Valen: Then, I’ll find a way to cure you. Again.
Mother Nightmare's Lullaby - Music Box
Mem: You’re in your bedroom, sitting in the middle of the floor across from Valen. The music box he placed between you plinks a soft melody. You fixate on it, something…gentle tugging at you. Valen asks you a question you’ve heard many times before, and though part of you wishes to answer, the box has captivated you. It is a treasure. It is a treasure because it was a gift, and Valen was the one who told you that gifts are treasures.
The melody is slowing. Soon, it will stop playing. That realization causes something inside of you to squirm. Why hasn’t Valen turned the key again? The music is going to stop. You do not want it to stop, so why won’t he turn the key? You want to hear it again, because it…
You don’t know the words, but you know it was a gift from Valen, and gifts are treasures, so you want to hear it again. Yes, you want to hear it again, so if he won’t turn the key, then you will.
As you reach forward to take the music box in your hands and turn the key so it continues its song, you bottom out.
The rit. in measure 11 of Fig. 1.8 coincides with the point in the scene where I say, "The melody is slowing." In measure 20, I then artificially lengthened the rhythms myself to further exaggerate that slowing music box sound.
The 2nd half of measure 26 and all of measure 27 are rests instead of the "end" of the piece, because though the memory has ended, the scene itself has not, and I intend to expand the piece even further beyond just a music box as we return to the present moment occurring between Cael and Valen.
Cael: What if you fail?
I ask.
Cael: What if you can’t cure me again or you are not around or the shadows are bad and they corrupt me and I become the very monster my parents feared? What would you do, Valen?
Valen shifts uncomfortably.
Valen, flustered: I…I do not know.
(A pause)
Cael, softly: Can you promise me something?
Valen: Yes, of course.
Cael: Even if you do not like it?
After a moment’s hesitation, Valen, still holding onto my hands, nods.
Valen: I can already tell I’m not going to like it, but I can see you need to say it, so go ahead, tell me.
Cael: If it so happens that I really am a monster; if I lose myself and no matter what you try you cannot find me again, then I…
Mem: A sharp pins-and-needles warmth zips through your fingertips as you stand before the shelves touching each and every one of your gifts multiple times: a pair of mugs, a whaletooth comb, a hooded lantern, and more. Precious precious gifts. From Valen. From Patra. Salvanti from Matra.
You start laughing with your sobs.
You turn to look back at Valen. He’s gawping, and his voice quivers as he asks,‘Cael? How are you feeling?’
You laugh at the question as the final piece of numbness breaks away, a question you never understood but can finally answer: I feel.
Cael: I need you to end me, Valen.
Valen recoils from my request, grimacing, but I push.
Cael: I do not want to become a monster. I do not want to hurt anyone. I do not want the shadows to become so strong I lose control, but I…I cannot go through being erased again. I do not want to lose ‘me.’ I-I can’t. I can’t.
Mem: Flashes of a memory. A feverish nightmare. You’re shivering but sweating. Everything hurts. Someone’s holding you. Glass to your lips. It reeks, the liquid syrupy and bitter. Medicine. That medicine. Someone’s trying to erase you. You expel the medicine, thrashing weakly, sobbing, whimpering. The shadows heed your summons, the spell waking you with a jolt from your half-waking nightmare.
Valen’s face is the first you see, and it’s pale with fear. A painful spasm lances through your chest. You’re begging him not to look at you that way when the glint of an empty vial in his hand catches your eye. You scramble away from him, shrieking at him to get out, but he disobeys, claiming that you’re sick.
Sick! Sick! That’s what they thought, too; that’s why they erased you, and now he’s trying to erase you, too. He’s just like them! Tears stream down his cheeks; he’s just trying to take care of you, he says, pulling you to his chest. Your head is swimming and you cannot stop shaking. “I can’t,” you whimper. “I can’t. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.”
Valen: I know, Cael. I know. If it means freeing you from living a life outside your own control, then I…I promise. I don’t like it, but I promise. (Pause) But you have to promise me something, too, okay?
Cael: Okay…
Valen: Who you are right now? That’s the real you. I know it. So, live this life the way you’ve always wanted, okay?
Cael: But I don’t know who I am.
Valen: Then how about we discover who you are together?
Cael: Together? You’ll stay with me?
Valen: For as long as you want me.
Cael: Soooo, that means forever, right?
Valen’s laugh is warm and pure, and it enraptures me.
Valen: Promise, Cael?
I look down and rock side to side.
Cael: I promise.
Mem: Furious at Valen for forcefeeding you medicine, you lash into him where it hurts most. What he did was invasive, and you would have rather died. It isn’t as though you’ll live as long as him anyway, you spit bitterly, and then descend into a fit of coughs.
His calm detachment in the silence that follows your bout of coughing scares you. He places a small canister in front of you with brief instructions on its usage, his final words to you as he stands to leave pivotal to the person you would eventually become: ‘Life is a precious thing…and yours is no different, especially to me.’
For the rest of the scene above, I want to add other instruments, though to what extent I do not yet know. The portion of my brain that wants to "go big" keeps telling me to make it a full orchestra. I have to keep it in line by reminding myself to "go small" instead, at least until I reach a point where I feel I need certain instruments. A chamber piece with just a few instruments would feel much more intimate than a full orchestra, and right now, the former is the kind of sound I want.
I still have a lot of composing ahead of me, and there are a few areas in Fig. 1.8 that need editing and some clean up, but the final discovery I made while working on what I have thus far is how mixers influence the sound of the VST the program uses, and this is where I wish I knew how to upload and share audio directly onto the blog instead of having to go through another platform such as Spotify or YouTube.
I never worked with mixers until this project and have only ever relied on dynamic markings, articulations, and the like to achieve the sound I want for my previous compositions. For this one, however, I downloaded the free version of Music Box Suite and used Floe to try and create more of a legitimate music box tone instead of relying on the sound of the celesta.
After getting it installed and communicating correctly with Dorico, it clicked for me while playing with the various switches and knobs how these additional methods of manipulating the base sound of the chosen instrument can prove useful. In many ways, it's like adding filters on a photo to enhance the color or to make it sepia to evoke a sense of the past. You can do the same with sound through minor adjustments in the reverb or the room type you want to emulate. For example, I can give the audio a "memory" evoking sound by adding just a bit of an echo and increasing the reverb.
Damn, what a revelation.
What this project is telling me is that I should really invest more time into learning about audio production and not just composition.
Other Notable Accomplishments:
This has been a weird week. Since my partner had a 7-day work week from the 4th through the 10th, I did as well. Monday was his day off, during which I felt beyond wiped, too tired to even play Baldur's Gate 3, which I had been looking forward to the whole week we'd been working. It was like I was suffering the exhaustion I felt from when I caught Covid, except I wasn't feeling any of the other symptoms. Even though he worked yesterday, I wore out so quickly from doing minor tasks I wound up taking that day off as well. I still feel some of that brain fog lingering today as I've been writing this but have otherwise mostly recovered.
There are probably a few variables influencing my health, one of which is how hot it's been outside during my walks, especially bringing Qiri with me when she begs. Even though I drink plenty of water beforehand, I have to imagine that prolonged activity in a heat index of 100°F (38°C) isn't a good idea, especially lugging around a cat in a backpack no matter how much she loves it. But, hey, at least I've been meeting my step goal! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahah...
Although I'm progressing in most of my exercises still, there are some where I've reached a strength plateau. Pull-ups and LU Raises are a couple that immediately come to mind. Another concern I've run into is how heavy the weight is becoming for certain exercises and my grip strength. A couple people suggested Versa Gripps, so that'll be something I'll be looking into more once I reach the point where it feels dangerous to continue without some added support. Right now I'm at the cusp between that and manageable.
We may have finally found the right food for Qiri to regulate her stool. It's finally starting to look how it should, but we won't know for sure if this is the right food for her until we've fully transitioned her over to it and have tried it for a couple months.
Questions for Contemplation & Discussion:
To the potential future composers out there who read this: what is your method for deciding how to write a piece? Do you go into it knowing the exact instrumentation you want to use? Do you prefer to write a piano reduction first and then decide on instrumentation later, even if it means more work to "clean up" the voices/harmonies? What sort of prep work do you do before you ever begin composing, for example deciding on the character or the form of the piece?
I primarily ask because composing music was a struggle of mine despite it being my major. It wasn't until it clicked for me that I need to have a clear idea of the character or tone of the piece before I really hit my stride. Many pieces i started I woul dnever finish because I had no clear direction or vision for them. I had no scene or character in mind. Once I realized that music and storytelling go hand-in-hand for me, it was like breaking open a geodee. Suddenly I found that spark.
What similarities would you say that music, writing, and art have with one another? For example, I mentioned to my partner the other day that composing music is a lot like painting or coloring an art piece, except instead of literal paint colors that you combine to form other colors, you have microtones stacked within the single tone of a violin note. When I was working on my senior composition recital, I also noticed a vast array of similarities between music and poetry as well, especially in terms of rhythm and pacing.
This Week's Obligatory Cat Pic: Salad
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