My Composing Process: Penn College of Arts and Sciences Toast to the Class of 2021

Dear Readers,

I recently had to pleasure of composing the music for a video by the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts and Sciences produced to celebrate the Class of 2021. The video features a number of Penn alumni, including Rich Ross, Ron Allen, John Boockvar and Indiana Baltodano. My brother Alec Escobar also graduated from Penn this year as a member of the Class of 2021, so it was extra special to write the music for this fantastic project.

Reinterpreting My Existing Music

Similar to my work on the second season of the “In These Times” podcast, I set out to reinterpret my music from the 2020 alumni video. The only sonic element that I took directly from the prior score was the recording of the kalimba (but even then, I added interesting delay and made it almost unrecognizable).

I started playing the main melodic motifs on the piano, really focusing on the chord progressions and thinking about how I could revamp and elevate them. I find that in reinterpreting and adapting my own music, it is important to keep playing the themes on the piano to really ingrain them in my head once again. That way, I can seamlessly begin the adaptation phase.

The repetitive, driving melody, based around the chord progression C - Eb major 7 - F. You can hear this melody and chord progression at the beginning of the track.

The main theme of both the 2020 and 2021 videos. The chord progression is slightly off, never truly settling. Yet the melody blends it all together and makes it feel stable.

The new melody addition to the 2021 video. It is centered on Eb major (though also exists in the C - Eb major - F. chord progression). It reminded me of a human voice (I play it on the flute). It feels uplifting.

Early Demos and Musical Ideas

I approached this project by starting, sonically, from a largely clean slate. I have a Velvet SC73 synthesized virtual instrument that I really dug into, and sought to create interesting synthesizer textures using the existing melodic material at my disposal. I then made a number of short demos, including these two:

Demo #1 is a looped demo that follows the C major - Eb Major 7 - F major chord progression. It includes a number of different keyboard synthesizers and also an oboe patch. From this demo, the main element that survived is a synthesizer in the background that acts as accompaniment. For Demo #4, I experimented with the new melodic motif for this video. This demo also has an arpeggiated synthesizer that became crucial in the final version of the track. You can hear the kalimba texture with delay and the keyboards playing the melody, all of which ended up in the final track. Finally, the overall structure of this demo is directly in the final cut (I copied it into the piece as I was composing it). This was a really important demo for me because it helped to solidify my melodic, and structural ideas.

The Drums

I got the idea early on in this composing process to bring drummer/percussionist Jackson Price onto the project. He is a good friend and a fellow 2018 graduate from the University of Pennsylvania.

I had a call with Jackson and talked about the project. I asked him to send me a number of loop-able drum/percussion recordings (at 140 beats per minute) so I could just place them directly into the piece that I was composing. He has a fantastic studio set up, with great mics and equipment. He also eq’d the tracks perfectly. Here are two of the loops that he sent me:

They sounded brilliant, and I immediately began to play with the files in the full demo that I was currently crafting. I discovered early on that I could layer the tracks effectively, since everything was at at the same tempo and Jackson is a brilliant drummer with great technique. In layering the drum tracks, I was able to make it sound like 1) multiple drummers were playing at once or 2) that all these sounds were coming from one drum set. It created an interesting sonic experience.

The drums helped to add real momentum and drive to the piece, and made all the difference.

Live Instruments, Sounds and Samples

Like in the 2020 video, I wanted to have acoustic elements to add a “live” feeling to the track. The drums were a brilliant acoustic addition. I also added live flute and harmonica to this score. The flute was used in both a melodic manner, but also in a textural one. I recorded myself playing a triad chord (over 3 takes) and then added delay to the tracks to the chords had a receding effect. When recording the melody, I would record multiple takes in unison and also in octaves. I then panned the different recordings so that it felt like multiple flautists were playing at once. This helped to add to the immediacy and live-ness of the recording. The harmonica is very subtle in the score, but I basically just recorded myself playing the highest part of the C harmonica (sounds like a high whistle), and layered that into the section around 4:30 in the final track. See if you can pick it out!

Similar to my work on “In These Times”, I sought to create rhythms from live recorded sounds. For this score, I utilized my trusty “Metallic Metals” sound-kit (recorded my score for Charlie Chaplin’s “The Immigrant”) as well as sound-kits that I recorded of streets, an autoharp gliss and of a dog toy. I layered these sounds into Jackson’s drum rhythms, and also added delay to them to give them a percussive and synthesized feeling. For some of the metal beats, I added pitched delay so that they had a melodic element to them.

Here is a sequence of the percussion from the end of the track:

And here is a screenshot of how the percussion section of the scored looked in my Logic X file:

Another technique that I employed was to play a melody, and then copy that across four different Spitfire sample instruments: trumpet muted, bass flute, oboe, and violin 2 flautando. From there, I added some other FX to the audio clips (delay and reverb). The result is a sound that does not sound like trumpet, bass flute, oboe and violin and instead like an entirely new synth instrument:

Finally, I experimented with adding in a long-form soundscape recording that I did in Barcelona in late 2019. It spans the entire track, but is very low and also has 1/4 Alternating Pan delay and a high-cut EQ (cutting out higher frequencies). This created a low wind-like effect that sits in the background of the track, acting as a sort of “room tone”.

Ruminations and Final Conclusions

This project is especially special for me given that my brother Alec is a member of the University of Pennsylvania Class of 2021. I’m so proud of him and his classmates, and wholeheartedly congratulate them for this major milestone.

I wanted to imbue the score for this video with a feeling of perseverance and driving confidence. The new melody has a sense of reflection, while also looking towards something new. The original melodies and motifs are present in an almost percussion-like quality. The ending of the piece feels like a culmination of something important, everything melding together into a large, overarching texture.

The goal for me was to craft a piece of music that could be listened to again and again, with hidden elements just concealed behind a sonic curtain. A piece of music that reflects of the Class of 2021’s experience while also looking towards the future with hope and determination.

As always, if you have any questions about my composition process for this score, feel free to email me at nicholasescobarcomposer@gmail.com. I’d love answer any of your questions. And thank you for reading!

Your’s Musically,

Nicholas Escobar

Here is my entire Logic X file, with each of the instruments/audio tracks labeled. This way you can see what my entire orchestra looked like.

My entire Logic X file, broken down into sub-groups.