Strokes And Divisions
TRACK DATA
Composition tool: MuseScore 4, Studio One 7.1 Pro
Recording tool (DAW): Studio One 7.1 Pro
Number of tracks: 37
Sound sources: Presence XT, Sample One (All built-in sound sources of Studio One), MuseScore built-in sound sources
Composition and recording period: Dec 23 2024 - Jan 30, Feb 20 2025 - Feb 24 2025
Opus Number: 119
Main tonality: Ambiguous
Main scale: Mix of C Ionian (with E excluded), G Ionian and D Ionian
Main time signature: 5/4
Main tempo: 73 - 76 beats per minute
Concept: A Chill-out Inspired by the Impressionists' Treatment of Light
(TM writes:)
Here in Japan, December is a busy time for any type of work. Since we usually take about a week off starting around the 30th of December, things become hectic in the lead-up. I was no exception, and December 2024 was particularly demanding for me, which meant I had been swamped with my to-do list and schedule ever since the time of Migraine Remedy. I was in desperate need of a chill-out moment, but opportunities for genuine relaxation were few and far between, leaving me utterly exhausted.
One day, seeking a chill-out moment, I went for a massage. However, it turned out to be more about "correcting" my posture than relaxation, leaving my body crying out even more. I knew it was the right thing to do, but at that moment, I didn’t need correctness -- I needed something else entirely.
I realised I had no choice but to create my own chill-out music. That’s how this track came to be, and in a sense, it could be seen as a sequel to Migraine Remedy, which was born from a similar idea.
I’ve written many times about my love for ambient music, especially the works of Brian Eno. However, I’ve also frequently mentioned its inherent drawback: it often lacks musical intrigue. Of course, I understand that music designed to function purely as background sound doesn’t need to be musically complex. But as someone who has been creating ambient music for years, I can’t help but feel that this approach offers little room for development.
With that in mind, I decided to intentionally make use of a peculiar sound I discovered in the sampled cello provided by MuseScore 4, the notation software I'm using. The track is structured around a developing 5/4 time signature, but the drums, which come in partway through, don’t treat it as such. The central scale is the C major scale (with E omitted), but the cello patterns incorporate a blend of scales, including the G major scale (with D omitted) and the D major scale (with E omitted). That said, in the latter half of the track, the music frequently shifts through transpositions -- or key changes -- with considerable fluidity.
These complex scales add richness to the harmony. Inspired by works like Maurice Ravel, I’ve explored various applications of these ideas -- some of which TI adapted into "San-Kwai". This led to the creation of Cube 6: L'Avant Et L'Arrière (Front And Back), a piece heavily influenced by Ravel. I’d say this track is a continuation of that lineage.
Originally, this score had the working title "Divisionalism." It was born from a question inspired by the methods of Impressionist painting: could the musical equivalent of "division of brushstrokes" be achieved? According to AI, this technique is defined as follows:
"Division of brushstrokes is a painting technique where brushstrokes are intentionally separated. By not blending colours or shapes, each stroke is made distinct, creating harmony and visual depth when viewed as a whole. This method was widely employed by Impressionist painters, who used it to express visual movement and the effects of light."
This was partly influenced by an exhibition titled "Le dernier Monet: Paysages d'eau" (Late Monet: Waterscapes) held at the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo shortly before I began writing this piece. I was captivated by the strength and intrigue of Monet’s later works, created during the period when his eyesight had deteriorated. Nonetheless, I must add that when I visited, the overwhelming crowds were truly frustrating.
That said, I can’t confidently claim that this piece truly achieves the musical equivalent of division of brushstrokes, which is why the title was slightly altered. In the sense that each individual note interacts and blends in various ways to form the harmony, it might resemble the concept to some extent. In short, the experiment to create musical division of brushstrokes ended in failure, but the result was a good piece, which I crafted into its final form of seven minutes.
I’m writing this shortly after completing the composition, but I feel this is a concept with room for further development, and it may carry over into future pieces. The idea of creating something centred on “Impressionism” has been on my mind for a long time. Although there is music often referred to as “Impressionism,” it is unrelated to Impressionist painting, and the composers themselves weren’t particularly fond of the term. This curiosity—wanting to explore what “Impressionism in music” could truly mean—was the starting point for me, though it’s an incredibly challenging idea. That said, Strokes and Divisions gave me the sense that “experiments for musical Impressionism” could evolve into a series of their own.
Composition: A Structure of “Melody and Its Harmonic Overtones”
(TM writes:)
The low and relatively high registers of the piano (not exceedingly high, but higher in comparison) and the low and high parts of the sustained strings each play melodies that are similar yet distinct. Whilst the piano and strings often share the same material, they diverge at times. These two parts and their four notes, combined with the two-notes sequence patterns of the cello -- which resemble more of a sequence than arpeggios -- form chords that have been carefully considered one by one. Yet, the cello moves within the G major scale and D major scale, whereas the piano and strings are primarily based on the C major scale (though frequent key changes are introduced later). Within this framework, the melodies are designed to remain simple.
Major and minor thirds are deliberately avoided in clear forms to keep the tonality ambiguous. Although this varies depending on the section, thirds are generally subdued, whereas seconds, fifths, and sevenths are emphasised. Dynamics are carefully marked to reflect this, with the overlapping or offsetting of these dynamics between the two cello parts adding further nuance.
This means there is no dedicated bass in terms of role. Even though the lower register does resemble a bass function, it primarily forms part of the melody rather than behaving like a conventional bass line. As for the instrument itself, the double bass section only appears in certain parts and is otherwise not used.
Whilst working on this piece, I was contemplating whether dividing and arranging the fundamental tones and overtones of a single instrument could create something akin to division of brushstrokes. Though I didn’t fully explore this concept here, it could be said that the piano and strings act as fundamental tones, with the cello positioned somewhat like overtones.
Drum rhythms might be worth explaining, as it adds to the fun.
This track explores rhythmic complexity through the use of polymeter, a technique frequently employed in FMT’s music. Previously, in "Parallel," the drum rhythm was structured with two overlapping time signatures: a 4/4 base layer and a derived rhythm where dotted eighth notes define the beat.
Similarly, this track employs the same fundamental concept, but with two key differences: the base time signature is 5/4, and the dotted-eighth-based derived rhythm appears first. The drum pattern begins with a 5/4 dotted-eighth rhythm, establishing a polyrhythmic foundation. Later, only the snare returns to the strict 5/4 beat, followed by the bass drum aligning with the 5/4 base rhythm.
FMT consistently experiments with various forms of polyrhythms. One particularly unique aspect of this composition is that the derived rhythm initially functions as the primary drum rhythm, which is highly unconventional and rarely heard in general music practice.
The approach to the bass and drums is also tied to the concept of chill-out. Similar to our earlier piece "Spa Music (Low Frequency Therapy)," I wanted to prominently feature low frequencies in a gentle and soothing manner.
I’m a big fan of Boards of Canada, whom TI introduced to me, and when this piece was finished, I thought it resembled the atmosphere of their music. That said, they would never adopt such a peculiar method of composition. In other words, the similarity lies solely in the overall tone of the track. I eventually sent it to TI and moved on to the next stage.
Sound production and mixing
(TI writes:)
When played according to the score, the sound was too concentrated in the mid-range and buried, so we initially aimed for a Lo-Fi finish like Boards Of Canada, taking advantage of this. The Lo-Fi drum part is a remnant of that.
However, this made it difficult to appreciate the beauty of the phrases in each part, so I dispersed the sound range and emphasised the overtones of each instrument to give the sound a wider range. The result is better separation and a Hi-Fi finish.
However, when the sound becomes Hi-Fi, the coarseness of the timbre becomes more noticeable, and it is easier to get a texture peculiar to typed music that sounds like it was created using DTM. For this reason, I intentionally shook the pitch to create a natural atmosphere, and tried to avoid the smell of typed music as much as possible. Also, the upper piano notes and phrases are particularly emphasised to highlight the presence of the sound.
Also, when I was taking a walk while monitoring this song on my smartphone during the mixing process, I used environmental sounds recorded during a walk in my neighbourhood at dawn on New Year's Day this year as sound effects (SE), as they mingled with the noise in the city and sounded very nice. I was walking in the city, and surprisingly there are sounds of birds chirping and water flowing.
Basically, I used MuseScore sounds set up by TM and mixed with exported WAV files. However, some string phrases were broken down and arranged, for example by assigning each to a different string instrument. In addition, noise and other sounds created by the filter oscillation of the synthesiser were layered on top.
For the piano, five different pianos were used according to the phrases, and the compressor settings were changed to create depth. To emphasise the upper piano notes and phrases in particular, octaves and overtones were layered rather than simply increasing the volume. The low part, on the other hand, was brought forward and thinly delayed as a bass-like role, through the effects.
For the strings, the high frequencies of the first to fourth tiers were slightly raised with EQ and a thin layer of reverb was applied, but no major adjustments were made. For the horns, I cut the high frequencies a little and made them muffled to give the impression that they were placed at the back, and adjusted them with a compressor.
The low frequency part of the strings part was extracted as a single melody and replaced with the bandwidth of the double bass, which was placed in the centre and sounded like a bass part.
For the drums, I modified the sound exported from MuseScore and processed it with a compressor and record simulator to create a breakbeat-like sound.
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