Cube 3: Collages (Collages)
TRACK DATA
Composition tool: MuseScore 4, Studio One 6.5 Professional
Recording tool (DAW): Studio One 6.5 Professional
Number of tracks: 46
Sound source: Presence XT, Impact XT, Sample One, Maitai (All built-in sound sources of Studio One)
Composition and recording period: Feb 12 2024 - Feb 22 2024, May 6 - May 9
Opus Number: 109
Main tonality: (Ambiguous) D minor
Main scale: Suspended Egyptian scale on D, (Dorian mode on D), unknown scale on E, and comprehensively Spanish scale on E
Main time signature: 7-8
Main tempo: 97 - 105 beats per minute
Collages like Juan Gris
(TM writes:)
This track, "Cube 3: Collages (Collages)", is the third work of our project called "Le Cube Dans Mon Rêve (The Cube In My Dream)."
In Cube 1 and Cube 2, pianos and synths are used a lot, but I wanted to apply this experiment with a guitar-centred band. Why are guitars featured? Because I hoped to feature Juan Gris this time...
Let my artificial intelligence (AI) summarise about him:
"Juan Gris (1887-1927) was a pivotal figure in the Cubist movement, distinguished for his methodical and colorful approach to Cubism, which contrasted with the more monochromatic and fragmented works of his contemporaries, Picasso and Braque. Born in Madrid, Gris moved to Paris in 1906, immersing himself in the avant-garde art scene and contributing significantly to Cubism through his innovative use of geometric shapes, bright colors, and collage techniques. His work, characterized by a harmonious and structured clarity, played a crucial role in advancing the movement, adding depth and commentary on contemporary culture. Despite a career cut short by his early death at age 40, Gris's contributions have earned him recognition as a pioneering and influential figure in modern art, with his legacy preserved in major museums worldwide."
I wonder why AI told me that long, much longer than Cézanne (in Cube 1)... As those who have seen his works before might understand why the guitars play the central roles in this track, Gris often painted a guitar in his Cubistic way.
Composition: Collage without digital collage in multiple scales
(TM writes:)
The tentative title during production was "20240212 Arpeggio Or Melodies -- Cube 3: Transposing Juan Gris." Very long.
In terms of "Arpeggio Or Melodies", the first guitar begins with an octaved sequence of four D notes. Although I don't write this way usually -- I mean, putting a simple but relatively impressive motif at first (like Ludwig van Beethoven) -- I did so because I thought it would be fun that such a motif turned to a kind of arpeggio later (and further to "mashed" dyads). Ambiguity between a melody and arpeggio is my intention.
This work has very much of scale music, rather than chordal music. It's basically written in a 5-notes (pentatonic) scale: D, E, G, A and C, which is called the Suspended Egyptian scale (on D). While many pentatonics have the 3rd note, this has none, thereby generating ambiguous tonality.
The second motif on an electric piano plays the modern Dorian mode: D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Some more melody-like vibraphone uses the scale or mode of E, G, A, B, C, D-flat. FMT quite often use multiple scales like this work, but I wanted to emphasise them to show application of Cubism's multiple angles, which is a sort of outlined by the time signature of 7-8.
More importantly, these multiple scales (or modes) in combination are used to feel the Spanish scale on E, ie, E, F, G, G#, A, B, C, D, but remain ambiguous in terms of the use of whether C or C#, and D or D#. As the AI briefed, that might make sense to you in that he was born in Madrid, Spain and painted many guitar motifs.
(As always, we write the member names with two-alphabets initials. "AI" has just joined us...)
Like in Cube 2, these are gradually mashed into dyads (ie, musical geometrics) in the interlude -- from what sounds like a guitar solo to a syncronised dotted-fourth polyrhythm.
Besides, I intended to design the phrases like a collage without an actual musical collage by using many octave sequences or even double-octave ones without sampling or cutup. I left whether and how to make their musical collage to TI. I particularly love the way this work is since he eventually didn't do anything like those in this case.
The reason why I wrote phrases like a collage is that Gris's frequent collages may be similar to writing music notation, rather than sampling or cutups. It's funny and lovely to me that FMT, having made virtually no music non-digitally, makes a collage manually... I mean, with MIDI data.
In addition, as I wrote in the notes on the whole Project, our notation software has been upgraded from this work. I found especially the sounds of guitars and strings quite attractive, which helped me develop my basic principles of Music Cubism into this piece as well as later tracks.
Sound Creation & Mixing:
Overall unified, clear sound, rather than digital collage
(TI writes:)
For this piece, as TM writes, I did not intend to do a digital collage myself.
However, as usual, I did deconstruct his score and disperse the localisation.
This is not a collage-like gimmick, but a conscious effort to ensure that each part and phrase sounds and phrases sound well and that the phrases are heard clearly.
The whole thing is based on the tones used in the MuseScore score written by TM, and we are conscious of making them sound unobtrusive, yet firm and clean. However, as the song develops, in places, tones from the same family of tones used in MS are layered or played alone, tape stop gimmicks are added at breaks in the song, and in places delays and their components are added with a flanger and distortion, in a Reggae and Dub-like style.
Yes, when I say somewhat elaborate, it's probably more the overall soundscape than the effects. The overall sound image and sound of this track mimics the structure of Reggae, Dub and other forms of Bass Music.
The bass and bass drum registers are set to be independent and no other sounds are allowed in that band, so that the sound of the bass and bass drum dominate the whole structure.
However, TM noted that the guitar's low end was weak, so rather than cutting the low frequencies of all instruments except for the bass and bass drum, I have set the equalizer to dynamically cut the overlapping low frequencies of other instruments only while the bass and bass drum are playing. This triggers the EQ adjustment specifically when both are active, ensuring a balanced mix without losing essential low-end presence in the overall sound.
CT also pointed out that the left-right panned noise (which is the sound of the electric piano as it is) that is heard throughout the piece is too prominent, and accordingly, the volume automation sequence has been set to match the development of the music and the volume of the other sounds.
I believe that these have allowed us to achieve both a more unified feel in overall as well as the sound of the independent parts.
"Quiet Madness..."
(CT writes:)
I feel from this music:
Endless horizon below.
Fearless wanderer fluttering in the wind.
Confidence and expectation in light and shadow.
Celebration of beginning of unknown journey with melancholia.
Mysterious labyrinth. Subtle beauty. Sanity and Madness. Sublimation in chaos.
The visual image: ‘Quiet Madness’
I created this image to express the emotion of silence between sanity and madness. Keeping sanity on the edge in an elegant way.
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