Redline's Monthly Composing Challenge #7

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A jam submission

The Three SamuraiView project page

A piece composed using the Japanese Hirajoshi scale

Submitted by BodoTheSerf — 2 hours, 43 minutes before the deadline

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The Three Samurai's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Composition	#1	4.400	4.400
Mixing	#1	4.500	4.500
Overall	#1	4.350	4.350
Creativity	#4	4.000	4.000
Challenge	#4	4.500	4.500

Ranked from 10 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Title
The Three Samurai

Description
I used the Japanese Hirajoshi scale to compose this whole piece, and I gotta say, it was pretty challenging! Japanese scales might be nice here and there for coloring, but I really don't recommend using them for a whole piece.

The Hirajoshi Scale: C - Db - F - Gb - Bb

I took the theme image and imagined the three figures in the bottom left as samurai, who are setting forth to defeat an evil being who awaits in the volcano in the top right of the image.

I portrayed the samurai using solo instruments, the Oboe, Violin, and Cello. Throughout the music, they come together to march onward towards the evil, which is represented by the brass instruments.

I noticed that this Hirajoshi scale had some nice tritones going on, so I used those to build up a sinister vibe as the piece progresses.

Structure: Intro - A - B - C - A' - C' - Outro

Thanks for listening, I hope you enjoyed it!

Plugins used
Basic Cubase plugins (HaLion Sonic, Padshop)
Olympus Choir Elements
Vertigo Strings
Spitfire: Epic Brass and Woodwinds, Epic Strings, Cinematic Drums
Spitfire LABS: Gaelic Voices
SCC Taiko Drums

Link(s) to your submission
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlgRz6DqYY0

https://soundcloud.com/yujisatomusic/the-three-samurai

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Comments

anipatokSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

Really liking the dynamic here and the mix seems well balanced to my ears! And I am also a fan of the japanese scales

Submitted

BodoTheSerfDeveloper1 year ago (2 edits)

Thanks so much! Yeah, Japanese scales have a cool unique vibe, I like them a lot (when used in reasonable amounts)

FlossySoundsSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

Great work! You do an excellent job pacing the emotional tension and release. I also really appreciate the back and forth between a lot of your melodies/counter melodies and just how all of the different voice parts fit together.

Submitted

Approach and Ascent

BodoTheSerfDeveloper1 year ago

Thanks so much for the comment! Really glad you liked the voicing, it took a while to figure out haha.

SaucecarSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

Very good music! I really like the orchestration and the sounds that you use sound really really good and polished.

Submitted

The Great Beyond

BodoTheSerfDeveloper1 year ago

Thanks so much for the comment! Really appreciate it.

Tiny BananasSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

I was impressed to hear as much variety with only using 5 notes...nice job! The subtle video editing was also a really nice touch.

Submitted

BodoTheSerfDeveloper1 year ago

Thanks so much for the kind comment!

gulloSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

Excellent sound, it feels very epic. There is a flute that sounds very eastern, Japanese I assume (I'm sorry, my knowledge about exotic instruments is weak), which gives the exotic vibe, but it stands out only at the beginning and the end, while in the middle it drowns in the western instruments. I would have liked to hear it more. But the orchestral part is also great, so I can't complain

Submitted

The Tiny Whistle In the Deep Valley

BodoTheSerfDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

Hey, thanks for the comment! Yup, that flute is supposed to be a Shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese flute. I don't actually own a VST of it, so I mixed together a pan flute, blown bottle, ocarina, and a recorder to try and mimic its sound. The Shakuhachi has a very airy sound, so after some testing, I ended up taking it out of some of the mid section because it didn't mix well with the other instruments. I do wish I owned more Japanese instrument VSTs, they would be a ton of fun to compose with!

gulloSubmitted1 year ago

So you made the Shakuhachi without the Shakuhachi? That's impressive! I looked on pianobook and found this one https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/shakuhachi/ maybe it can be useful. I would like to have Japanese instrument VSTs too, but I think there are not many for free

BodoTheSerfDeveloper1 year ago

Wow, thanks so much for sharing this! I really appreciate it, I'll check it out! Yeah, Japanese instrument VSTs are pretty limited, but I have found one free one that I love using, it's this Taiko (Japanese drum) VST: https://schristiancollins.com/vi-percussion.php. I highly recommend it. The sound is pretty high quality, and with some reverb, it sounds very cinematic as well.

gulloSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

It sounds so epic! I really like this one, I'm definitely going to use it for a majestic sound instead of always using the same timpani samples :D Thanks a lot for sharing!

Aurélien CastelSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

I feel like you did an awesome orchestration job to make the piece always evolving to avoid the boredom that could have come from using a five notes scale.

Submitted

To the top of the runic mountain

BodoTheSerfDeveloper1 year ago

Hey, thanks for listening and commenting! Yup, the five note restriction was pretty tough, I had to do a lot of orchestration to try and keep the music interesting, I hope you enjoyed it!

JofesSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

Really Really good as always!

It felt much more like a piece that would be in the background of a movie or cutscene than a focal piece of music which is totally fine. I don't think I'm good enough to write music like that yet because I feel like I always have to have a melody present or it feels underbaked.

I do wish that there was more of a "High Point" in the music here because those peak moments are the most memorable moments to me but this song doesn't really have one. Again, that's not a bad thing since it feels more like a backing track but I think it could have made more of an Impact if there was a part of the song like that.

Personal wants aside, the mixing was phenomenal with the percussion especially sounding like feature film quality.

Submitted

Underwater Caverns Aren't Optional

BodoTheSerfDeveloper1 year ago

Hey Jofes, thanks for the comment!

Yeah, when I was experimenting with the scale, I quickly found it was super hard to get harmonic momentum going with it, so I opted to create more of a backing track, compared to the music I've made in previous jams. For the sake of the challenge, I restricted myself to just the notes in the Hirajoshi scale, but for real composing, I would definitely mix the Japanese scales with more Western scales to allow for a wider range of harmonic motion.

Funnily enough, because I was so harmonically restricted, I was able to spend way more time than usual on polishing the sound and phrasing of each instrument, and making my percussion line a lot more detailed. Really glad you liked the sound and mix, the hours I spent polishing it were worth it I guess, hahaha