Lots of work on 'Kabinet V' videos today. For the show, I'd like an intro sequence and a credits sequence. Both of these are generally not in YouTube videos, which tend to instantly start and stop, although a few have short chats then a quick tune with some graphics. I want to make something worthy of a television programme in quality and scope. A title sequence can set a mood; it is art in itself.
Argus has simplified a lot of this process. I can easily create horizontal and vertical versions, just by rotating the camera:
Half of the day was spent working on the music. The flickery and grainy look can look scary, but I wanted music that echoed something grand and cinematic, and somehow futuristic. The (old and crackly) music to The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, as found on a YouTube video, was in my mind, but also the vast timbre of a Telharmonium (or a simulation, or a Novachord, I don't think there are any recordings of the Telharmonium) - ultimately a vast, organ-like, yet futuristic sound.
Fortunately, my Yamaha MODX is well equipped with such sounds. I found a sound I'd made called Cinema 1929, and played some big chords. I started with C-Major, then Bb-Major, F-Major, and then switch to A-Major, which gave it an odd lift of light. The music really glows with the future, brings it all to life. I liked it enough that I just recorded that and used it for the main intro, adjusting the chord changes to fit the timing strictly.
The end credits needed a longer piece, so I played those chords again, adding a melody too. To make it longer I appended two more chords; G-Major then D-Major. Playing a melody meant that I had no bass. I also decided to do something unusual for me; I ignored the timing and just played it by feeling, so it's not quantised or changed. This is partly because the end credits may, in future, change in length, and such a change wouldn't work if the music fitted the images too closely. Another reason is to give it more of a human performer feeling.
I added a few scant layers to both tunes; a wavy, Theremin-like, sound; some booming percussion; and a simple bass for the end credits.
So, I now have a programme title, some intro graphics, and a time to broadcast (Thursdays at 19:30, the old Top of the Pops slot). I need to work on content, and consider features in detail. As with ArtSwarm, I'll ask people to send things, but not go to great lengths for this. I will want new premiere work, as with ArtSwarm, not videos or recorded music which are already online, but live performances of published songs written by the performer will be fine, if the live performance itself is new.
Physically I'm burning with anxiety. My mood is a mix of despair and excitement. Every day we must face suicide to enjoy life, as Camus knows. I think of Scott Walker in the 1990s. I must keep working, keep doing my best. I am still full of ideas, visions, energy, never down, a hotter lust for life than Vincent's.
Onwards we roll our rock with steadfast conviction. Grave, solemn, certain.
