SADNESS
1. Suggested Tracks
To Have In Your Template
2. Style Definition
3. Step By Step
SUGGESTED TRACKS
TO HAVE IN YOUR TEMPLATE
Must have
Strings Sustain (Ensemble)
Piano
Solo Woodwind (Legato patch) ie.
Oboe, Clarinet, or Flute...
Harp
SUGGESTED TRACKS
TO HAVE IN YOUR TEMPLATE
Useful to have
Sul tasto or flautando strings
Chamber Strings
Celesta
Violins Legato
Cello Legato
DB Sustain
DB Pizz
Cymbal Swell (mf)
...
STYLE DEFINITION
Tempo and Rhythm
Slow tempo
Mostly utilize ¼ notes or ⅛ notes
Tempo would range from 44 to 90 BPM
Can be either in 3/4 or 4/4
STYLE DEFINITION
Harmony
Mostly minor triads. Root position are favored
but other inversions can occur for stronger
voice leading
Extensions can occur but are not frequent:
add6, 7, 9, 7sus4
Resolved suspensions are common progressions:
9-8, 7-6, 6-5, 4-3.
Modulations are commonly used
STYLE DEFINITION
Melody
Mostly in minor modes
Themes are frequently restated when modulating
Mostly diatonic, predominantly using chord tones
Common non-chord tones are PT (Passing Tone) ,
NT (Neighbor Tone) and S (Suspension)
Countermelodies can occur. When used, they will
usually rhythmically contrast with the main melody
STYLE DEFINITION: ORCHESTRATION
Harmonies can be played
by either :
a) The string section alone.
b) Any combination of low
strings (viola, cello and bass),
low brass (trombones and tuba),
and low woodwinds (bassoons
and bass clarinet).
STYLE DEFINITION: ORCHESTRATION
Harmonies are often being
enhanced with the Harp
playing arpeggios
A sense of “grandiose” can be
added with a choir
STYLE DEFINITION: ORCHESTRATION
The melody can be played
by either:
a) a lyrical solo instrument:
woodwind, horn, piano, violin
or cello are common. Celesta
is a good alternative.
b) a single string section by
themselves - Violin 1, Violin 2,
Alto, Cello - is also common
STYLE DEFINITION: ORCHESTRATION
c) a combination of a) and b)
d) multiple upper string sections in
unisson, octaves
or double octaves
e) adding high woodwinds
to d)
STEP BY STEP
Before you start - you may wanna start by recording or writing down
a quick melody/harmony sketch
1. Set the right tempo
2. Background - Create and
Record your Background
3. Direction - Write the Melody
and the Countermelody, if
needed. (you can start with this
if you prefer)
STEP BY STEP
Before you start - you may wanna start by recording or writing down
a quick melody/harmony sketch
4. Bass - Create your Bass layer
(if it wasn’t included in the
Background part)
5. Thicken the different layers, if
needed (optional).
STEP BY STEP
Before you start - you may wanna start by recording or writing down
a quick melody/harmony sketch
6. Movement - perhaps
harps playing arpeggios
or similar…
7. Sparkle and Ear Candy
(ie. adding Harp,
Woodwinds…)<
TIPS AND TRICKS
Descending bass lines work
great in this style
MOMENTUM AND INSPIRATION
Any musical passage can have up to five elements. These are not layers. They are more
like musical components. They can either be combined or not. The five elements are:
1. Direction
Anything that creates a tendency.
Something that leads from point A to
point B (a melody, a harmonic
progression that creates more
tension as it progresses,
increasing/decreasing orchestration
density or thickness, etc).
This element makes the listener
feel like the music is progressing
from one point to another.
MOMENTUM AND INSPIRATION
Any musical passage can have up to five elements. These are not layers. They are more
like musical components. They can either be combined or not. The five elements are:
2. Movement
An aspect of the music that creates
flow or action (a rhythmic pattern,
ostinato, harmonic progression
that repeats/modulates, call and
response between instruments
or families, etc). This element creates
motion and also aids
in creating direction.
MOMENTUM AND INSPIRATION
Any musical passage can have up to five elements. These are not layers. They are more
like musical components. They can either be combined or not. The five elements are:
3. Background (Glue)
Anything that sits behind in the mix.
It will usually be something that
is not obvious, but it is there, and
you can tell when it is missing.
This element fills in the gaps
and helps join the different
musical ideas together.
MOMENTUM AND INSPIRATION
Any musical passage can have up to five elements. These are not layers. They are more
like musical components. They can either be combined or not. The five elements are:
4. Enhancer
Something that intensifies,
augments or develops a musical
idea, helps connect sections, or adds
sparkle and “ear candy” (textural
flourishes like runs, scales, and trills,
woodwinds fluttering around behind
a soaring melody, cymbal or
timpani roll swells, etc).
MOMENTUM AND INSPIRATION
Any musical passage can have up to five elements. These are not layers. They are more
like musical components. They can either be combined or not. The five elements are:
5. Bass
Anything that adds an extra low end.
The contemporary modern orchestral
sound requires an extra layer of a solid,
compact and controlled low end.
It is important that you are able to
create it. We have many resources
available like low synths, electric
basses, sub-boom percussion hits,
and well-recorded or sampled
double basses.
