Stellan Hinz

I have begun to write background music. I think it would be good for me, as someone who is interested in writing and recording the things I write, to have my own library of music to drop into videos or audio recordings. It would be a missed opportunity to simply use public domain music. The trouble there is that “background” hasn’t been a goal of my music composition so far. I started by trying to remember background music that I respected, or at least noticed. 

Firstly I remembered Tantacrul, a composer and Youtuber who was probably once in the same position as me, whose background music is closer to regular electronic music. I’ve always liked how his music stands on his own but doesn’t distract from the video itself. I think part of that comes down to editing. His tracks have splashy openings before settling into a groove. I would imagine that the track is mixed louder in the first half a second before he starts talking. 

I also thought of Tantacrul because of an anxiety. His video about corporate music lampoons lazily constructed music. He talks about how when companies simply need music to fill space they create music that progresses only in loudness. They layer cookie cutter loops to create the most basic emotional effect. I always fear writing bad music, but a more present fear in this case is writing something that underachieves because it’s just background music.

The other model for background music that came to mind was Kevin MacLeod. If you don’t know him by name you probably know his music. I can’t decide how I feel about Kevin MacLeod. On one hand his mission is very admirable. He has succeeded in providing royalty free music of high quality for people to use. I guess my reservation about his music is that it isn’t very ambitious as music. It’s a step above Muzak for sure, and some tracks make for good listening on their own, but sometimes I listen to his music and get an uncanny valley feeling. I think the tracks I have stronger nostalgic associations with get a pass and the ones I listen to on their own terms aren’t as interesting to me.

Listening closer to Kevin MacLeod’s music I have noticed a few commonalities which contribute to their success. Tracks have constant musical momentum. They don’t stagnate in one groove and are often pushed along by a melody. Once that melody reaches a conclusion there is either a variation or a repeat. I also noticed that tracks seem to live in one timbral space. Everything is plucky and light or everything is languid and sustained. A consistent exception to that is the inclusion of a triangle like instrument to punctuate musical ideas. Punctuation of an idea or transition between ideas by momentarily changing register is common. No matter what the tracks have a clear and well ordered structure.

Because I was in need of background music I have attempted to apply some of these ideas to a track. I think I have mostly failed. I failed because I have followed creative desires contrary to applying what I have learned from studying both Tantacrul and MacLeod. 

I wanted to use a field recording of cave sounds and I wanted to manipulate some recordings of pen sounds due to what I was planning on putting the music under. There is not a splashy opening to punctuate the beginning of a section. There is not a clear and well ordered structure. I think that these failings are due to writing something that fits my baseline musical sensibilities better. Hopefully getting this track out of my system will allow me to write something closer to my desired genre.

I have yet to use this track at time of writing. I think it will edit well for what I’ve written. Regardless, I think understanding the ways I have underachieved while I’m using it will allow me to evaluate what I’ve gleaned from my references more practically. The next background track I write will adhere more to the aspects I’ve outlined here. I can’t decide how important it was for me to get this mediocre track out before I start writing better ones. Ultimately it didn’t take me long to realize that this track was never going to become what I was trying to emulate. Expect an update on this.