Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this idea, right? I wanted to create this, like, ascending musical thing – “the fanfare ascends.” Sounds kinda epic, doesn’t it? I had no freakin’ clue where to start, though.
First, I just started banging on my keyboard. Literally, just hitting random notes on my MIDI controller. It sounded… well, it sounded like a cat walking on a piano. Not exactly the majestic fanfare I was going for.
Then, I thought, “Okay, let’s get some structure.” So, I grabbed a basic chord progression – you know, something simple like C-G-Am-F. Played that a few times, trying to get a feel for it.
- Started with C major. Felt too… happy.
- Tried A minor. A bit better, more dramatic.
- Ended up messing around with D minor. That felt right!
Next up, the melody. This was the tricky part. I wanted something that, you know, ascends. So I started with a low note and just started climbing up the scale. Step by step. It sounded kinda boring at first, just a plain old scale.
So I added some jumps. Instead of going C-D-E, I went C-E-G. Gave it a bit more oomph. Then I threw in some passing notes, little notes in between the main ones, to make it flow better.
It’s like adding little steps that fit the big picture.
After that, I layered some stuff. I added a bass line, just following the root notes of the chords. Simple, but it gave it some depth. Then I added some strings – long, sustained notes – to give it that epic feel.
Finally, I listened back. Listend again, and again.I tweaked the volume of each instrument, adjusted the panning (you know, making some sounds come from the left, some from the right), and added some reverb to make it sound like it was being played in a big hall.
The Result
It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely ascending! It starts low and quiet, and then it builds and builds, getting louder and more intense. It actually sounds like a fanfare now! I’m pretty stoked with how it turned out, considering I started with just random keyboard mashing.
