Kyu Collective - Counterdreaming

The Creative Brief

This project was all about contrast. The director wanted the opening section of the film to feel suffocating, claustrophobic, like you are being buried under a giant pile of trash. In the second half, she wanted a sense of ease and nostalgic warmth. The goal was to make sure that each section of the score matched the visual aesthetic of the animation and motion design as closely as possible.

Developing the Concept

For the opening section, I knew that the arrangement would need to be dense and a little dissonant with a slow build. I started out recording a variety of textures including acoustic piano, several flutes and violin plucks. I then started to layer this with heavy sub bass, fasting moving pizzicato strings and a rising violin tremolo part. I wanted all of those layers to reach a point that felt like it was about to break before resolving into the 2nd half. This section I wrote using acoustic piano, detuned granular synth textures and warm round kick drum. The idea was to write something that had a good rhythmic foundation while keeping the harmonies nostalgic and soothing.

Iterating to Picture

The majority of revisions for this project were focused on the first half. The director really wanted the feeling of building anxiety and tension and the first few drafts were not hitting hard enough. With that feedback in mind, I focused on adding density and frenetic movement to the string parts and made the incessant flute sound louder in the mix so that it drives home the pounding rhythm of the kick drum and piano parts. The challenge here was to find the right pacing, so that the track could start small and build to something really overwhelming. After a few rounds of revision we got to something that feels musical but also anxiety inducing.

Takeaways

This project was fun because it allowed me to explore recording a lot of live instruments, including the acoustic piano and several wood flutes. I wanted to make sure that the track was rooted in real acoustic instruments but I wanted to push those instruments into a more aggressive territory than I normally write from.