Case study - Dov's track Witches' Whisper

Dov Waterman
Dov Waterman

Lesson time: (3min 22sec)

A case study on Dov Waterman's horror-trailer track 'Witches' Whisper' - how he prepped the project, built a template and used sound design to write something gritty and dark.

Course preview

This lesson is part of the course Composition in Logic: The Writing Process
Watch a preview of the full course below.

Lesson transcript:

Welcome to Today's Session

Overview

Today, we're diving into the creative writing process. We'll explore various aspects and practical work with a couple of my tracks. This includes:

  • Prepping a track
  • Creating and working on a template
  • Saving channel strips
  • Choosing the right instruments for specific genres and tracks

Track Example: Witches Whisper

Let's look at one of my tracks titled "Witches Whisper."

  • This track was pitched for a horror film called Witches a few years back.
  • The brief I received was to make it as gritty and scary as possible. Interestingly, I received the brief before the film was completed, so I wrote the music first, and then the trailer cut to the track I had written.

Creative Approach

I approached this track by:

  • Avoiding normal tropes of melody and harmony
  • Viewing music as a color palette: light versus dark
  • Considering high, mid, and low sounds
  • Utilizing sound design and found sounds (e.g., dogs barking, clanging metal)

Despite these experimental elements, there is a musical feel to the track, with many orchestral components, including strings that add a melodic quality.

Structure and Genre

While the track may seem devoid of traditional melodic structure, it aligns with the horror genre I was writing for.

Tips for Working in Logic

As I navigate through the session, here are a couple of helpful tips regarding Logic's new zoom buttons:

  • These functions are great for getting an overview of your project.
  • If you've zoomed in significantly and wish to zoom out quickly, you can use the zoom buttons rather than clicking multiple times to adjust your view.

The Creative Process

The creative writing process is very visceral. Based on my experience:

  • When I'm in the creative zone, things can become quite higgledy-piggledy.
  • It's an experience that isn't always easy to articulate or grasp tangibly.

Let's continue by exploring these concepts further!

About the instructor

Dov Waterman
Dov Waterman

Dov Waterman is a composer, pianist and producer. He has written and designed sound for films including After Earth, Terminator Genisys, Transformers: The Last Knight and The Snowman, and works as a sample-library audio editor and sound designer with companies such as Native Instruments and SonoKinetic.His Composition in Logic series walks through building a track end to end in Logic Pro - from templates and workflow to synthesis and beat programming, MIDI effects, editing and the final mix - for producers who want to turn their ideas into finished records. read more

What's included?

9 lessons (0h 50m)
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