Computer-Music.com contains articles and product reviews related to making music using computers and creating 3D computer animation in sync with music. Computer-Music.com is also the home page of  Donald S. Griffin, an experienced professional composer, sound effects designer and audio consultant with an emphasis on computer games,  video games and internet music and sound effects. For pricing and contract availability send email to: DGriffin (@) Computer-Music (.) com

Computer-Music.com  contains articles and product reviews related to making music using computers and creating 3D computer animation in sync with music.
Computer-Music.com is also the home page of  Donald S. Griffin, an experienced professional composer, sound effects designer and audio consultant with an emphasis on computer games,  video games and internet music and sound effects. For pricing and contract availability send email to: DGriffin (@) Computer-Music (.) com



 

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Visualization & Audiolization

Before writing the first note of a composition, I usually have an idea of the general style of music I will be working with. You might call this ‘audiolization.’ I made up this word to describe the process of imagining music in your head with the same generality that we often visualize a scene. We usually don’t imagine every visual detail. Audiolization involves imagining just enough of the video image that you can feel its effect and maybe get a sense of a few of the pertinent details. You may have already experienced this effect if you saw a mute scene from a war game intro and imagined a strong military march, yet you did not think of any particular piece of music.

Begin by trying to visualize either the actual game play or the kind of scene that is being represented by the game. For example, a war game may show actual scenes of battle or marching troops. On the other hand, such a game may just show a board with symbols representing companies and battalions. Whether the game displays real-world video or merely abstract symbols, try to visualize what this represents in the real world. As you picture this little movie playing in your mind, try to imagine how it would sound. This sound may be quite vague, but it is often enough to inspire a general melody which you can bend and twist until you are happy with it.

If this fails, you may still be able to use audiolization to select the instruments that you hope to use. In this case you are not using audiolization to come up with a melody, but just the texture of the sound you want to hear. Once you have a sense of this texture, start listing the instruments that you would put together to achieve this texture. Then you can use these instruments with the following technique.

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