Note:
I prefer Dsound to SoundCloud--it's just that I needed to upload three files without them becoming separate posts. Sorry.
Note 2: Yes, this is all an attempt to ignore what's happening in the crypto markets. Thanks.
Scandinavian Noir
Scandinavian Noir (sometimes "Nordic Noir") is a genre of literature, film and television. Like most genres that involve the word "noir" Scandinavian Noir is largely focused on flawed people hunting down evil people who've committed unspeakable crimes. Like most genres that involve the word "Scandinavian" it's set in, produced in, or inspired by the Scandinavian countries. If you've read or watched Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy (it's about a girl who had a dragon tattoo, played with fire, and kicked a hornet's nest) then you've experienced Scandinavian Noir.
Characteristics of Scandinavian Noir
Like most genres, the products of Scandinavian Noir share more than a preoccupation with exposing the gruesome, infected underbelly of the utopian societies in which they take place ("Sure, we have socialized healthcare, but have you seen our sex-criminal-psychopath-ax-murder-biker-gang-nazis?"). They are dimly lit and visually beautiful, but not warm. The sentences are sparse. A sense of foreboding and pessimistic realism pervades. Dysfunctional detectives and journalists stare into the middle distance with restrained expressions of despair after discovering bodies reclining as in sleep against an ensanguined snowdrift, with their bottom halves all ground to pulp.
The Relevance
This is relevant partially because I enjoy some Scandinavian Noir, though I'm in no place to call myself a real fan or expert. It's just an influence I don't mind.
The second bit is that the music of Scandinavian Noir is also interesting. It's restrained, often atonal, and shares the cold beauty of the visuals. It's an influential genre of soundtrack composing, and I've been listening to a decent amount of it recently.
As mentioned previously, in what few hours I can steal, I've been working on learning some new tools in my hobbies. In order to give myself a project to develop the hobbies, I dashed off a little piece inspired by Scandinavian Noir.
The Piece
This winter, I've been noticing the starkness of the Central Ohioan landscape more deeply than I usually do, and it's connected with me emotionally more strongly than I would have anticipated. In particular, I was struck by the atmosphere and visuals of a Sunday afternoon when the previous week's eight-or-so accumulated inches of snow (15 cm, more or less) were melting.
So when I had a moment, I sat down and played a restrained, fairly repetitive, ambient piano piece I called "The Snow Begins to Melt." I added some tremolo strings, muted violins, a soft sub-bass and a quiet foghorn-ly sound. Here's that:
The Piece, Part Two
To me, the piece sounded okay, but a little dull, and a little too warm. On a whim, I changed the key from a D Mixolydian to a straight-up D Minor. I really liked the change-particularly how it recontextualized the violin melody. Because the mood had changed so dramatically, it no longer felt anything like a sunny afternoon with mud and melting snow drifts, so I changed the title accordingly:
Part Three
Yesterday, I noticed that Spitfire Audio had a sale on their Labs project--Labs are small, experimental sample libraries that normally cost $3.00, and the proceeds of which are donated to charities. Anyway, they're reshaping how they do Labs, so they're selling ten of the best Labs for a combined $5.00. I dropped the five, switched the piano sound to a soft piano library included in the Labs pack, and added another layer of violin harmonics in the background. Between the minor key, and the violin harmonic, this is my preferred rendering:
So there you have it! I'm keeping myself distracted from the rest of the world by messing with quiet, cold music as Winter drags wearily on. Let me know what you think!