Composition Practice (Composition 1)

The first composition utilises a theme which progresses over a chord sequence that holds no relation to the diatonic key ( its uses a borrowed chord from its relative). The effect created is a unique harmony which sounds almost mournful when coupled with the Major scale. The Key of the piece is 'A' Major, starting on an 'A' Major add 9 Chord which is played as an arpeggio. This then progresses to an 'A' suspended 2nd chord with an 'F' in the bass (the 'F' is the borrowed note from the parallel key of the piece - 'A' minor). This chord voicing produces a large amount of tension throughout the progression.

Modal interchange is the process of borrowing a chord from a parallel key to act as an embellishment or colour chord. The piece is in key of A major however throughout the piece an F major and G major are present which does not belong to the scale tones of the major key, these notes appear by borrowing them from the parallel key of A minor which contains these characteristics. The effect created is unexpected producing suspense and a sense of unresolved tension. The simple melodic phrasing is used as an embellishment on the tonality of the chord changes and helps to establish this desired effect. 

The use of the G major chord allows for the phrase to resolve back to the tonic key in such a way that allows for a smooth transition, providing the piece with variation in its emotional theme, changing the feel into something which resolves into a happier mood. 

The main instrumentation utilises the piano for its ability to provide the music with a soft impression of sadness whilst also allowing the piece to transition into a more resolved happiness, the timbre felt right for implying this emotion. 

The main theme is accompanied by a soft sustained violin progression, which is used to add depth to the piece and to emphasis the soft contour of the main motif. 

Brian Tyler, Approach to writing music (Fast and Furious 5) - (Research)

Thomas Newman- Notes on a score (interview)

Composition Practice.

Composition practice is key to finding ideas and techniques which can essentially be applied to the main project piece.

Several Pieces of music will be constructed in order to gain experience with utilising music theory and composition techniques gained from literature and tutorial videos, as well as spotting and producing audio tracks for films.

Bernard Herrman Psycho Analysis (Research)

Through research into compositional techniques for film, I was able to find an interesting pdf document which details some of the compositional techniques and structures implied by Bernard Hermann in his most famous work 'Psycho'.
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/legacy/site/articles/misc/transformation_of_the_psycho_theme/transformation_of_the_psycho_theme.pdf

The document can be found at the above link.

The content details Bernard Hermann's musical cues for psycho and showcases many of the important thematic structures throughout many scenes including the famous shower scene which became one of the most inspirational themes for the horror/ slasher genre.

The document shows each example explained with musical score excerpts.