Uploaded June 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
...released in June!
This track was a speed-composing assignment for uni, where there was a time limit of just 2 weeks before being given the task and having to hand it in. It takes its name from the fact that we had to write Christmassy music in February, and it's a miracle I finished it on time :)
This music was written for a short clip from a children's animation that aired here in the UK last Christmas and is influenced by the general style of the original composer. I can't obtain the clip and probably wouldn't be allowed to use it anyway so I'll explain the six hit points that the track had to be written to.
Given the source material, the track had to avoid going too extreme, so I kept things quite light overall. We start off with a small village lit up at night around Christmas; a definitely pleasant and warm atmosphere - I used this to define the track's main melody played on both the piano and strings, with sleigh bells and glockenspiel/celesta reinforcing the wintry/Christmas side of things.
At around the 30 second mark, we see things take a tenser turn, building up to an avalanche where I used rapid arpeggios on the piano and celesta to imitate the snow tumbling down the mountain. I must admit I'm not thrilled with how this part turned out, but I got to final day without being able to come up with anything so..it is what it is!
Next was some kind of procession or march (I've completely forgotten the plot of this clip) which required something a bit militaristic, but of course the target audience needed to be kept in mind. The snare drum combines with the staccato strings to give that marching feel, along with some brass like you'd expect from a marching band, as well as some other instruments - namely the xylophone and bassoon which I wanted to contribute a more playful side to the arrangement.
The clip returns to the Christmas village setting and introduces the story's protagonist and her family. I reprised the main theme from earlier, but I really wanted to emphasise the human element, so I recorded myself gently singing the main melody in two octaves as an extra layer. Additionally, in the clip the protagonist can be seen playing a flute, so I felt that was the perfect excuse to bring out the whistle again. The clip ends by taking the focus away from the family and in on the protagonist. She's sad, so I stripped out everything except the piano and the whistle, and played the main melody one more time, but now reharmonised into a minor key.
Putting my small misfire with the avalanche cue aside, I'm really happy with how this piece turned out. It has such a different feel to most of my work and I enjoyed the experimental nature of it with the addition of my own vocals and whistle, both of which I've only done once before. I didn't film everything at the time, so filled in the missing sections this week, which is basically most of the piano part. I hope you all enjoy this piece, and thanks for listening!
Just one more uni assignment left to post! It's been pretty much exactly one year since I released 'The Village that Time Forgot' here, and now we're basically completely caught up. That's right, after next week I'll have run out of music to upload! Fortunately, the Raven MIDI Pack has been progressing very quickly, so my three tracks for that will probably be up soon-ish.
--
A Christmas Miracle in February, composed by Tristan Clark on 18-28 February 2020.
--
Twitter: twitter.com/TristanClark97
Bandcamp: tristanclark.bandcamp.com/releases
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/1Xgjt8c9Myki3Nstvn1gCN
--
Download (MP3, 256kbps): drive.google.com/file/d/11K9iNpzudVlDSoc0_NiRfx6YpvItilVg/view?usp=sharing
--
Backgrounds from Pixabay:
pixabay.com/photos/castelmezzano-italy-village-town-1979546
pixabay.com/photos/yellowstone-national-park-wyoming-1581879
pixabay.com/photos/winter-snow-white-cold-nature-4830285
Snow overlay: youtu.be/hzf7l9Dsys0
...released in June!
This track was a speed-composing assignment for uni, where there was a time limit of just 2 weeks before being given the task and having to hand it in. It takes its name from the fact that we had to write Christmassy music in February, and it's a miracle I finished it on time :)
This music was written for a short clip from a children's animation that aired here in the UK last Christmas and is influenced by the general style of the original composer. I can't obtain the clip and probably wouldn't be allowed to use it anyway so I'll explain the six hit points that the track had to be written to.
Given the source material, the track had to avoid going too extreme, so I kept things quite light overall. We start off with a small village lit up at night around Christmas; a definitely pleasant and warm atmosphere - I used this to define the track's main melody played on both the piano and strings, with sleigh bells and glockenspiel/celesta reinforcing the wintry/Christmas side of things.
At around the 30 second mark, we see things take a tenser turn, building up to an avalanche where I used rapid arpeggios on the piano and celesta to imitate the snow tumbling down the mountain. I must admit I'm not thrilled with how this part turned out, but I got to final day without being able to come up with anything so..it is what it is!
Next was some kind of procession or march (I've completely forgotten the plot of this clip) which required something a bit militaristic, but of course the target audience needed to be kept in mind. The snare drum combines with the staccato strings to give that marching feel, along with some brass like you'd expect from a marching band, as well as some other instruments - namely the xylophone and bassoon which I wanted to contribute a more playful side to the arrangement.
The clip returns to the Christmas village setting and introduces the story's protagonist and her family. I reprised the main theme from earlier, but I really wanted to emphasise the human element, so I recorded myself gently singing the main melody in two octaves as an extra layer. Additionally, in the clip the protagonist can be seen playing a flute, so I felt that was the perfect excuse to bring out the whistle again. The clip ends by taking the focus away from the family and in on the protagonist. She's sad, so I stripped out everything except the piano and the whistle, and played the main melody one more time, but now reharmonised into a minor key.
Putting my small misfire with the avalanche cue aside, I'm really happy with how this piece turned out. It has such a different feel to most of my work and I enjoyed the experimental nature of it with the addition of my own vocals and whistle, both of which I've only done once before. I didn't film everything at the time, so filled in the missing sections this week, which is basically most of the piano part. I hope you all enjoy this piece, and thanks for listening!
Just one more uni assignment left to post! It's been pretty much exactly one year since I released 'The Village that Time Forgot' here, and now we're basically completely caught up. That's right, after next week I'll have run out of music to upload! Fortunately, the Raven MIDI Pack has been progressing very quickly, so my three tracks for that will probably be up soon-ish.
--
A Christmas Miracle in February, composed by Tristan Clark on 18-28 February 2020.
--
Twitter: twitter.com/TristanClark97
Bandcamp: tristanclark.bandcamp.com/releases
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/1Xgjt8c9Myki3Nstvn1gCN
--
Download (MP3, 256kbps): drive.google.com/file/d/11K9iNpzudVlDSoc0_NiRfx6YpvItilVg/view?usp=sharing
--
Backgrounds from Pixabay:
pixabay.com/photos/castelmezzano-italy-village-town-1979546
pixabay.com/photos/yellowstone-national-park-wyoming-1581879
pixabay.com/photos/winter-snow-white-cold-nature-4830285
Snow overlay: youtu.be/hzf7l9Dsys0
