Here you can find my music experiments and more fluid/on process works. Many creations were made outside school‘s music class, (music production, music theory, personal project and chant lessons)
My interpretation of Eleanor Rigby
This was my first composition of S6. It was developed on garage band during Music Class in school. It was an attempt to interpret the famous Beattles song, Eleanor Rigby in my style. I chose to start it with the iconic chorus and transition to a more experimental approach. It was very interesting to work with effects and the vocals in a way that I don’t normally do. I think it stills makes references to the original material and ai was able to add my own twist with electronic style.
Experimenting with loops, mixing and texture
This project was developed during music production club, it was my first time using loops on garage band. It was really interesting to play with the thick texture and the possibilities that come from the preset loops.
First instrumental Salty Letter
Salty Letter is one of mine first compositions of 2021. The idea of making it came from s feedback I received from a friend when sharing my poetry. I normally don’t write song-like or rhymed poems, but this one ended up being one.
In October of 2022, my friend Ilai came to visit and helped me turn the poetry into song. I already had an idea to how the melody was supposed to sound like, and since he plays the piano much better then I do, he helped me to find the chords and harmonies.
This is still the demo and far from the final product, but some core elements such as the melancholic sound and chromaticism are already present.
On the next year, the music production teacher asked for us to send him any compositions of our own so we could work with them in class. He made most of the instrumentation based on the demo I sent him.
My interpretation of I feel pretty
After studying West Side Story in music class, the teacher asked us to do our own interpretation of one of the songs from the musical. “I feel pretty” is one of my favorite songs from West Side Story and I tried to translate the playfulness from the scene with the musical elements. Although is just a short extract from the song, I wanted to use the backing vocals and the high pitch of the song to emphasize how absurd and funny the song is.
The instrumentation is simple and it highlights the Latin style percussion mixed with classical instruments, typical of the “West Side Story” songs.
Short Film “Só uma brincadeira”
“Só Uma brincadeira” or “Just a game” is a short film directed by me.
The process of storyboarding and recording started on August 2022 and the final piece was released on 25th February 2023. The text is by João Sousa and the soundtrack is based on the main feelings expressed in the poetry and the general strangement caused by the video.
At the beginning of the video most of the soundtrack is consonant and with long values, the choice of this synth is to create a sort of nostalgia and familiarity while the memories of the poetry is exposed.
The soundtrack was mostly produced with GarageBand with synthesizers and sampling audio from the recordings. Rest, overlapping of tracks and dissonance was chosen to create discomfort and anxiety to the viewers
Once the bad memories and fears of the narrator are faced, a more noisy synth is added to dissociate from the comfort of nostalgia early on.
By the end of the video the first synth is shut down, remaining only the white noise until it gets cut off, bringing a sense of anticipation to the end of the video. The clousure with only shattered glass breaks the earlier continuous line of thought and melody presented troought the video. The tragic line “with a game I suffocated” is acompained by silence and followed by only shattered glass, representing both how this “game” broke the narrator and them breaking free from their past.
P.S. On April 2024, the short film, “Só Uma Brincadeira” was selected for the 21st edition of the JunkoWo Art competition alongside 22 Luxembourgish young artists. The short film was exposed on the Espace H2O (art gallery in Oberkorn, Luxembourg). In the 25th of May 2024, the short film won the Incentive Prize from the Jury of the competition.
Video Installation
This is a Art project made in partnership with the brilliant artist and one of my best friends, Lara Mota. Together, we explored the dangers and great opportunities technology provides us. With the assembly of many news videos, Internet archives and movie clips we created this video installation. I was responsible for editing and the soundtrack.
It was really interesting to mix up audio from many sources, ranging from the “Metropolis” soundtrack, symphonies, youtube videos, sampling and more. I aimed to create a narrative that at the same time shocks and attracts the viewer.
The chaos that unrestricted technology causes is highlighted by the soundtrack and the turn into a hopeful future is also based on the soundtrack.
It is always great to work in collaboration with other artists and use music as a way to express my ideas creatively. I am inspired to keep using music as a tool for multimedia and experimental works, although time consuming and with limited tools, this is a piece that I am very proud, both in the artistic and the musical standpoint. Music adds another layer of immersion and meaning and it is a powerful tool to connect with people.
Serial Music experimenting
Inspired by the work of Shoenberg and Techno sets, this serialist style piece was composed. After preparing my main row(P 0), I decided to only choose one more transposition (P 3). That because I aimed to create a more smooth transition between the two lines. One finishing at A# and the next starting at A. The first part of the track (until mesure 18) is mostly homophonic, having a clear main melody and accompaniment. After this introduction, the effect tool is used to make the transition in between the transpositions. The second transposition is marked by the thickening of the texture (two sets of percussion, rhythmic synthesizers, melodic synth) and a polyphonic structure. All lines overlap and merge each other and bring a confusing sense to the listener. The instrumentation is balanced individually to bring a “roundness effect”, the sound is coming from all sides in different intensities. The second row is highly rhythmic, the electronic drums and the Pumping Out Waves contrast with the mellow and long values from the first row.
The closing of the piece is marked by the FX tool that makes repetitive sounds and forced breaks before the smooth closing. Towards the end, the texture gets simpler, bringing to only two lines cadence and the solo drums closure.
Composition task Prebac 2024
Mormaço
“Mormaço” was my composition for the Music PreBac. The development started with the lyrics. I’m constantly writing poetry and the lyrics were not initially written to be turned into music. Since it had a musicality on it, I started to experiment with instrumentals.
The instrumental demo was made without the lyrics in mind, and was only when trying to find ideas to fit it, I tried the poetry and it fit like a glove.
I was heavily influenced by Bedroom Indie and R&B. Also, the details of the strings and the melodic synthesizer (Gentle Bells) were inspired by James Bond theme.
After deciding to work with the lyrics, I altered the instrumental to fit the movements of the voice and create the intimate atmosphere that the lyrics needed. I wanted to build the vibe of the song before adding the lyrics (Prelude with talking).
I believe this is one of my most complex compositions (also my favorite). It has many elements that built a true universe on itself and each element for the instrumental and vocal adds detail and depth to the lyrics.
Composition and experimentation
inspired by Ana Frango Elétrico
This is the demo of “É de você quem eu gosto” (“You are the one I like”). The process of research and development of it started when I was trying to find ideas for my PreBac composition. I ended up choosing “Mormaço”, but I really enjoyed working on this bouncy instrumental.
I was inspired by one of my favorite current artists, the Brazilian musician Ana Frango Elétrico. She mix many musical styles and have unique voice techniques. It was fun to work on something upbeat and try a different style of delivery.
Second Brain 