Feb 2022 movietitlechallenge madness instrumental girl-with-sibelius
Okay, I wrote this piece for the Movie Title Challenge. The movie title I was assigned is "S. Darko", which is the sequel to "Donnie Darko". I had never seen either movie, but when I saw that Donnie Darko got good ratings but S. Darko didn't, I decided to watch Donnie Darko, which is a good, but odd movie about a teenager with mental illness. One of the soundtrack songs is "Mad Mad World" which is such a great song and it, along with the movie, inspired me to write this piece about a slow descent into madness, a very sad and lonely place.
No lyrics
Virtual instruments: Honky-tonk piano, Grand piano, Cello, Double Bass, and a Shekere (a type of West African shaker)
@gm7 Mar 2022
Very somber and a little dark but sad at the same time. I think you have captured the vibe in the Drako movies. very nice playing and arrangement.
@liz561 Mar 2022
This really does harken to the feeling of Mad, Mad World and the feeling of the piano being almost out of tune (the honky-tonk) also reinforces the out of kilter feeling in the movie. Love the "strings" and the way the whole thing goes out of tune at the end!
@kiffa Mar 2022
This does a very effective job of translating a feeling into music. The idea of feeling 'broken' really comes through. The music is unsettling, which evokes society's ongoing history of wanting to look the other way whenever mental illness is concerned.
I'm a big fan of "Donnie Darko". I'm due for a re-watch, but this feels like it would fit right in there somewhere. I will never doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion lol.
(Also, a late 'thank you' for your comments on my songs, they were much appreciated!)
@leepat Mar 2022
I hear Westworld overtones in the melody and am also reminded of the player piano in the brothel there.
Love the descent into dissonance towards the end (could be even more pronounced or longer).
The shaker is really cool.
@mahtowin Mar 2022
I don‘t know the movie but I know a lot bout mental illness - as I work with people with that desease.
You got the feeling of crazyness and madness really good captured in this song.
@headfirstonly Mar 2022
Making the call to watch Donnie Darko instead of S Darko was absolutely the right choice. Michael Andrews's score was superb, and this captures the vibe nicely. The piano used here fits perfectly!
And as a completely random side note, "Disintegration" is also the impetus for the best joke in "Ant-Man." It's probably the funniest joke in the whole of the MCU films so far, I reckon.
@looprication Mar 2022
I feel like I know what's happening as this music plays, visually. It evokes very specific images, but lightly held. Love that you're a true composer. This was amazingly well executed.
@elainedimasi Mar 2022
Very apt mood you're making as this opens. The honky-tonk sound reminds me of the abandoned nursery furniture, things still in the house but not making it feel like home. The halting phrases say a lot of going where we don't want to go, and about a lifeline to a past that can't help the present or future. There IS no home any more.
Now as I listen to the inexorable build I really get that there's no getting off this path. Nicely done.
@nancycunning Mar 2022
I'm struck by this feeling of trying to glide through in.a stately way without admitting anything is wrong. It makes me think about all the difficult things people can be going through while on the outside they are crossing streets and riding trains. Beautiful.
@sherrylynnlee Mar 2022
Ooh love the slightly dystopian feel of this one and the detuned sound is a great choice. I also like how you build it up to feel increasingly ominous.
@tcelliott Mar 2022
I love the feel of this. The slightly ill-felt piano on the first notes sets it up nicely. That Cello and, well the whole arrangement is great.
@mardeycranbleson Mar 2022
What the heck I never knew there was a sequal. It's got to be terrible I'm going to check it out. Anyways I'm a sucker for dissonant stuff and this sounds really cool. I'm not sure how you achieved the effect because it only sounds slightly off but I'm digging it! Really enjoy the sparse instrumentation that slowly builds up nice work!
@crisp1 Mar 2022
I love the sadness you conjure with the piano and strings and the unsettling shaker and somehow you make it all feel even darker at the end. Really well done, Audrey!
@fearlessflight2014 Mar 2022
I love Donnie Darko and I can feel the evocative connection and inspiration you have drawn, the halting and disoriented groove and the way the progression wants to keep looping in itself. Really beautiful work.
@trombonewyo Mar 2022
This is very cool. I love the maddening mood this creates. It reminds me of Ramin Djawadi's score to Westworld. Great work!
@ambroise Mar 2022
What a special atmosphere ! the Honky-toy piano sometimes sounds like a harpsichord forgotten in the attic. It seems so alone in spite of the comforting double bass line. The use of shekere for this slow rythm is very unusual, and it works beautifully as it adds mystery and some kind of storytelling to the whole tune.
Well done !
@jayjay Mar 2022
Wow. So on point for the challenge. Slightly creepy and off kilter in a good way.
The rattle? is a great sound.
@bithprod Mar 2022
I got Donnie Darko for the movie title challenge last year, or perhaps the year before. It's always been one of my favorite movies. Anyway, this is a really good instrumental piece, which builds up nicely. You're obviously a good composer, and the honkty-tonk piano works surprisingly well, kind of out of place, but it still very much belongs there. Like Donnie, I suppose. Well done.
@paulotteson Mar 2022
I love how purposeful your textures are throughout each of these pieces. Thoughtful ad refined. I really enjoyed the build of this one and of course the bit of madness at the end :) Kudos!
@leslie Mar 2022
Descent into madness indeed! Really enjoyed the layered pianos (one piano not always being enough). In your work everything has a place and knows it, which means even a descent into madness feels safe in your hands.
@danvaillancourt Feb 2022
Nice! Great space and mix of instruments. I like the contrast of slightly-wonky-honky-tonky tone and the grand piano mixed with the synth strings and percussion.
@sync Feb 2022
Really great composing here. Def nails the Donnie Darko surreal discomfort feel. The slow build was really nice, bringing in each instrument kept me engaged. I really like the two different pianos. I wouldn't have thought of that, but it is very effective. I thought at the end that you were going to break down to just the one piano again. I think that would sound good.
@driftwood1 Feb 2022
I didn't know Donnie Darko had a sequel... I do love that version of Mad Mad World though. This is reminiscent in a way with the melancholy piano. Played with the honky tonk tone it has a broken feel which works well for a descent into madness. Well composed.
@nadine Feb 2022
Donnie Darko has been one if the weirdest movies I've seen. I don't wanna see the sequel but I think you captured the mood quite well. I can imagine this sooo great with a real orchestra.
Audrey, why don't you dive deep into production and VST programming? I started the same as you and I think it's a good way to get a decent sound without asking a whole orchestra. You're a good composer.
@wolfkier Feb 2022
You're bringing the atmospheric (cinematic) moods in music so very well. The way you're panning things too adds much to the experience. Well done again...
@ayehahmur Feb 2022
The honky tonk piano sound is such a smart choice. It has a stuttering fragility to it that works perfectly for your theme. And those lovely sweeping strings building and building behind it really accentuates that feeling of forces outside of you pulling you apart. Really nice composition, it feels very in keeping with Donnie D.
(Very wise not to watch the sequel)
@htcreates Feb 2022
Almost sounds like a harspichord. It's nice and haunting and love how it continues to build emotion through the song
@bradbrubaker Feb 2022
I like how you turned the honky-tonk piano into something unsettling. The Shakere kind of sounds like haunting cicadas. On a different note, I had no idea there was a Donnie Darko sequel, but based on what you've said I'll avoid.
@siebass Feb 2022
Nice slow atonal march into madness with a scary crazy bunny hallucination. Been a long time since I've seen that flick. Captured the melancholy and lonely nature with the sparse arrangement and minor melody.
@colgoo Feb 2022
Great backdrop music for a movie. I like the shaker. This has a really nice build. Great instrumental piece.
@guatecoop Feb 2022
Given the focus of this, I really love the piano sound that you have used. The heaviness creeps in over time, as does the complexity. Still moving forward (or down, I guess), Oh yeah, your use of those heavy minor chords in the end is perfect! Really well done.
@elesimo Feb 2022
I love how this becomes more dissonant and haunting over time. I've only watched Donny Darko and it's very fitting to the theme!
@chroes Feb 2022
This song has a delightful creepiness to it. The evolving harmonies are beautifully haunting. The way the song ever so slowly builds up and descents into dissonances is great. Very Donnie Darko indeed, well done!
@paulh1237 Feb 2022
As mentioned, the honky-tonk pianos is just perfect of the feel. I love how the Cello ringing notes linger over the piece as well, everything feels very carefully chosen and arranged and lends the song a really uneasy quality. I think the restrained percussion was a really good choice too.
@karlsburg25 Feb 2022
I love the honky tonk piano and i don't think i've ever heard that type of piano used so brilliantly to express a dark side. I adore the way you introduce the instruments. Its really delicate but beautifully layered. And there's a certain underlying tenseness to it all. Wonderful
@billgcaldwell Feb 2022
You hit the nail on the head Audrey, definitely a darker and darker acceleration into the abyss. Early on it seemed like an oscillation mostly deeper but occasionally upward until it all turned down.
@dock Feb 2022
Great composition, the choice of instruments and how to bring each one in is masterfully done.
@hummingbear Feb 2022
Great composition, mood matches the story. Really enjoy the musical fullness and depth of this.
@writeandwrong Feb 2022
Oh, now I wanna watch these movies! I love the cello in here! It just gives it a wonderful dynamic, love the flow, and the shakers, too! Perfect title, btw! Superb take on the challenge!!
@wacha Feb 2022
This captures the feel of Donnie Darko beautifully, it feels like it could be part of the soundtrack. I love the movement and the way you add elements to build the song as it moves along.
Thank you for playing my game and good call on watching this instead of the sequel. We only own S. Darko because we bought it cheap and it's so bad it's not like we can resell it.
@tunecat Feb 2022
Really great to hear an orchestral style composition on here. The development is nice and slow not too much coming in at once. Interesting that you were on Sibelius. Loved hearing the double bass adding to the timbre.
@cindyrella Feb 2022
This is so wonderful! I haven't seen the movie, but wow! I love that shelter and the way this builds. Awesome!
@dragondreams Feb 2022
I didn't know there was a sequel! I'll have to go hunt that one out.
But I have seen Donnie Darko.
As always, you manage to capture the mood in a very cinematic way. Like Tim mentioned, the way you gradually introduce the instruments to the theme is very effective. There's the inevitability and slightly discordant feel that accents the fall into madness.
Excellent work!
@timfatchen Feb 2022
I like the gradual introduction of each instrument, and especially the depth coming in finally with the bass.. There is an inevitability and unavoidability with the descent, increasingly heavy into the madness. Very effective
@richardmasters Feb 2022
Great piece of music - love the chord progression and the sound of the piano is right up my street - the sound of something I heard yesterday (if that makes any sense :) Really atmospheric composition - its almost as if I can hear the words between the cracks. I love how it starts to break at the end. Really evocative