Sony Research - Launch Music

The Creative Brief

For this project, Sony was launching a new research initiative and wanted to create a short video that captured the energy and ambition of that project. The brief that I received emphasized that music had to be bold, energetic and hopeful. They wanted something that hit hard and that responded well to the futuristic motion design aesthetic.

Developing the Concept

I knew from the start that I wanted the music to respond to the glitchy, pixel aesthetic of the visual language. To do this, I started with acoustic sources like piano and strings and then ran them through granular effects to slice the sound into tiny fragments that mirrored the fragmented treatment on the typography. I then started to build the track up with layers of clarinet and flute, to create some anticipation before the beat drop. Once the beat comes in, I started to incorporate more synthesized textures and bass sounds to give the track a heavier body and drive us into the final section. For the ending, I switch the dance drums for a lighter drum break and strip the arrangement down, using a tremolo string harmony to give us a feeling of hope for the future.

Iterating to Picture

The earliest drafts for this project definitely leaned too inspirational and came across a bit heavy-handed. The feedback that I got was that the client wanted something that felt like it had hope but wasn’t pure sunshine all the way through. I took that feedback and adjusted the opening and middle of the track so that they felt more inquisitive and sonically had more grit and weight to them. This allowed the uplifting ending section to land more fully in contrast to the opening.

Takeaways

This project taught me a lot about the subtleties of emotional tone. Getting something that feels confident and hopeful without hitting the audience over the head with the emotion you want them to feel is a delicate balance. The thing that I realized while exploring this track is that removing elements was an easy way to leave space for the audience to feel something. A bit of quiet or momentary pause in the energy can go a long way.