SWC080
bpackard (BPACK)
Title: Framework
(TL;DR) This is a spooky, trailerish track with a bunch of metal hits and bits.
Hi, y’all! Been a while.
BPACK is the name I use to release my tracks. Not sure if I can change my username here, but I didn’t want to take any chances and cause confusion when submitting.
I’ve been working on writing in different genres for the past couple of years with the emphasis on short tracks for sync. By “working” I mean preparing. I’ve submitted zero tracks to publishers as I feel my writing and production still needs work. In the meantime, challenges like this really help with getting good feedback. It’s also a lot of fun.
Inspiration: Scaffold
The first thing I thought was metal percussion and warehouse ambience.
The Track: Framework
I searched everything I owned for any kind of metal hits, scrapes, and things in that realm. After writing several different rhythms and motifs, I was getting nowhere so I tried something I should have been doing all along, conceptualizing. What would the vibe be for a sketchy workspace with scaffolding? What would the average work day be like, sound like? From there I got my “framework.”
I went with a three-act structure similar to a trailer cue. (Intro, ACT I, II, III, outro)
Intro: Set mood, establish space. Workers have entered the site. It ended up being spooky lol. I leaned into it.
ACT I:Increase intensity a bit and set a rhythm (spiccato strings), work has begun.
ACT II: Lunch Break! The key changes to major. Workers are outside, it’s peaceful. There’s a breeze but they know they have to go back to finish the day. Like most lunch breaks, ACT II is short.
ACT III: Finish strong, maybe even a bit angry because, you know, it’s a spooky warehouse and now there’s some ghost lady singing. Lol.
Outro: Basic bookend/button ending but with what I tried to represent as the door closing. I used a metal door slam trailer hit but I had to high pass the cr*p out of it then drown it in room to get it to play nice. It works, but It doesn’t really sound like a door anymore.
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*UPDATE*
Remixed to get more clarity and balance with a bit more panning in the lows and mids. Brought up levels on the percussion and brass elements I liked most.
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62 Tracks (I had to put a lot of impacts and stuff on separate tracks to avoid a ridiculous amount of automation)
Google Drive Link (original):
SWC080__bpackard__Framework.wav
Google Drive Link (revision 2 final release):
SWC080__bpackard__Framework
Used in this track:
► Show Spoiler
Drums: Damage 2, Ferrum, SF Iceni, Taiko Creator, OT Monolith, Wavesfactory Suspended Cymbals
Piano: Keyscape
Harp: Cineharps
Glockenspiel: OT Salu
Strings: Berlin Strings, Ariea, Abbey Road Two, Ark 1, Restrung Vol 1 (for spiccato bite)
Brass: JXL Brass, Cinebrass, EW Brass (horns only)
Pulse: Omnisphere
Choir: Audio Imperia Chorus.
Shouts: Oceania 2. This library doesn’t come with shouts, but I found if you stack a bunch of short midi notes chromatically it’s basically a bunch of people shouting. Kind of fun and beats shouting 47 times into a mic at 3am lol. I used it in ACT III.
Solo Vocal: Zero-G Atlantis 3. Love this library. (Yes, I know it gets kind of “Star Trek” at the end, but is that really a bad thing? Lol)
Drones: OT’s Drones and Stringscapes
BRAAMs: Maleventum (Silence and Other Sounds)
Signature Sound: (the panning brassy scrape in the intro) OT Stringscapes
Impacts, Booms, Whooshes: AVA Eminence, Boom Library, Box Factory, Keep Forrest (ferrum)
Sound FX: Stringscapes and EW Stormdrum 2 (in the intro, the knocking and scraping bits)
Synth Bass: Monolith (the one from Artistry Audio, not OT) It’s buried in the mix, but it’s there supporting the low brass.
Plugins: Slate Digital Stuff (VMR, Infinity EQ), Baselane Pro, Soothe2, Ozone 10.
Reverb(s): Cinematic Rooms, Berlin Studio
I think that covers everything. Hope you all like it!
| ! | Bonus Info | | The Key is non-diatonic, but it sits in Gm for a good bit. To bring out a more cinematic/epic vibe I used chromatic mediants. In this case Gm/Bm/Dm and an F#7 for tension. The "lunch break" happy ACT II goes to G major, but lydian to give it that floating feeling |
