Breakthrough

This past week has been rich with layering, tweaking, and refining as I work to get story lock on Project Storm. I had a few breakthrough moments as well in terms of texture, sound design, and the moment when the clouds part and the storm passes.

Originally, I had been thinking of having a vibraphone open up in that moment with some lush harmony and reverb, but the more and more I progressed in this piece, it felt odd to introduce a new instrument.

The breakthrough was this: what if I morphed the marimba part — originally personifying the rain — into a deeply warm and beautiful melodic feature?

What if I took the harsh, rhythmic, and persistent ostinato of the marimba and had it play the melody in its own form?

These questions are rhetorical, but that’s what I did! And in doing so, it opened a picture in which the rain, though constant and torrential in the storm, could move to beautiful and peaceful. A reminder of the importance and gift of a storm.

I want this part of feel improvisational, but with a nod to structure as well, and am figuring out how to bring the strings and pads in in a more muted way almost as if the storm has moved on and is now in the distance.

More to come, but breakthroughs can happen. We’re so close!