Well, for this project it was kind of a happy accident I suppose. Sorry for the long post ahead. I already tried to shorten it down, but I’m kind of a blabbering monkey when getting to the itty bitty stuff. If someone likes to discuss the process or want further information, feel free to contact me.
The original theme Havet og Marah was firstly only written for Synths and wasn’t intended as part of the Project. Also the project then was named “Carried by the wind”. I only wrote the first half of the song to try out my new midi-controller with poly aftertouch and was trying out an emulation of an Yamaha CS 80, promptly after the moto for this jam was announced. After some consideration I’ve added the second part with only a harp as an ostinato. The main melody came only a few days after. Afterwards I decided to add a full orchestra and wrote the additional brass, woodwinds and strings.
Rolig sjødans was only written after I decided to use the first song for the jam. I wanted, besides the main theme, something to represent that this is part of a game. So I chose an overworld theme and something like a boss or chase theme (that was becoming to be Det skremmer meg). I already knew three things for the overworld theme. First of all, the theme should start with the main melody of Havet og Mara to tie it in more. Secondly, the theme should be structured in different stages represent the different stages of waviness the character can encounter while crossing the sea (still water, rippled water, big waves). Also I knew I wanted a bassoon to play the melody. Since I’ve already established the size and assembly of my orchestra, I’ve used that as a starting point. Also the strange noise you are hearing in the beginning and end of the song are meant as a que für when the user is able to control Marah or better to say when she spawns in and out of the full view.
Det Skremmer meg was only written in about five to six hours and was almost cut, since the time was running out. I already knew what I wanted to describe with the music but didn’t hat a melody or theme in mind yet. But after some experimentation in the earlier songs I had already established some synths and Sample-libraries I wanted to use. After some experimentation the song was born.
For mixing I always try to get as close to the real world as possible. For orchestra I always consider the standard semi-circle. Also for microphoning the different sections I have my established workflow. Strings always heavy on the Decca tree, add some close mics for details and set the ambience mics low. Woodwinds heavy on the close mics with a little Decca tree and some ambience and additional reverb. Brass always set the close as low as possible, set Decca tree fittingly with ambience and outrigger to get the full room sound. Every instrument gets some EQ-treatment but never more than 3 dB to not change the original sound. The whole orchestra then gets its own mix bus with some compression and some additional reverb and distortion (tape emulation). Also if necessary some stereo enhancer. It is also the same for the master bus. I mostly used a parallel compressor with only a few dB of compression, a reverb with only 10-15% mix and also some tape emulation.