Thunder Waltz
Pranav N.
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BOOM! The metronome starts ticking, but then you realize it's not a metronome; it's an actual instrument playing a rhythm, albeit a common rhythm, with the time signature 6/8, commonly associated with pirate shanties. The metronome-like drone continues and then you're introduced to a bass and violin melody that sounds so foreboding and evil—attributable to the low 3rd degree and the high 4th degree—you'd think it can't possibly become more thunderous. As soon as that's realized, the composition hits you with two more instruments, the high violin section and the perfectly complementing viola section, raising the bar further. When writing this composition up until here, I drew heavily from my experimentation with different musical modes, and in this one, I modified the lydian mode through the introduction of a lowered third degree, which made the uber-bright and ethereal scale turn unexpectedly dark and mysterious, hence the composition title. I was drawn to this curious scale for its overall mood, with inspiration from various outside music as well as my own culture's music, leading to the creation of this composition. I'll be honest, I then got bored of the key and its monotonous tendency, so I brought in delicate chord progressions that exemplify ethereality and beauty, which can be heard for sixty seconds beginning 0:46 to signify a depth beyond the fast-paced evil and foreboding of the composition's exposition. With some more pauses and "BOOM"s once again in the modified lydian mode, the composition closes mysteriously, escaping just out of reach.
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Creativity is a road trip, blending random rhythms, interesting melodies, crazy harmonies, and experimenting with the scales: just to see what can happen, and how it'll change the artist and listeners emotionally in unpredictable ways. Tools and hindrances include playing your own instrument, and likewise the support an audience provides.
