Ambient Piece

When composing this ambient piece, my main hurdle was surprisingly the time constraint. The time for this song was requested to be longer than 90 seconds but shorter than 150 seconds, which for ambient music is pretty short. I've made some ambient pieces before, and generally my process involves very slowly introducing elements which eventually build into a large soundscape. So my first thought was to hasten this by causing the build to happen much faster. However, I found that this strategy (in my personal opinion) makes the track almost less ambient in a way. It's not an easy thing to explain but I feel that rushing an ambient piece into the ambience actually makes the ambience feel less important. I see ambient music as the atmosphere that is created when melding strong noises together to almost form additional tones, similar to how dissonances in traditional music create a sort of middle tone. And to that same respect, rushing this aspect results in a more melodic affect rather than ambient. And as a result I found that the solution to this would actually be to make the piece much more stripped back. 

My track only uses three sounds, one of which is only used to reinforce another. The first of which to be played is the primary pad synth. This was also the first of the sounds I made, and it was to be the primary tone used in the song.

Here I used a basic saw wave for the pad, in fact, every sound in the song is based on a the sawtooth. For the warm pad-like sound I cutout the high end with a lowpass filter. I also very slightly adjusted the attack of the sound so that it would not start immediately when activated.

The second sound that I made is the main pluck. I set out making this sound to be akin to that of a piano, and while that specific timbre isn't replicated, I believe it works perfectly for what I had in mind. To make the pluck motion, I once again adjusted the attack slightly as to not be so aggressive when played, but I removed all sustain to make it imitate the staccato of a piano. 

I did also meddle with the effects rack, since that how I typically go about with my sound design. You can see below that I added some delay to add an echo whenever the sound played as well as some reverb to help reinforce that effect. The filter is set to a random preset which I thought sounded cool. The distortion is actually very present in the sound, to the extent that if more than one note is played at once there will be an overdrive effect. This effect isn't used all that much though, and the effect really just serves more to boost the volume of the sound.

The final sound is also the least audible. I didn't change anything from the default settings in the actual synthesizer. 

All of my changes are done through the external effects rack. This functions the same as if I were to add effects in the synth, but I was unable to add my external plugins to the synth itself. Below you can see what I added. I could have applied the EQ and Reverb to the internal effects rack but since I was already going to add the other plugins I decided it would be easier to work with if everything was in the same place. What these plugins actually accomplish are very minimal, and mostly serve to be the contrasting bass frequency of the primary pad. This isn't meant to be heard on its own, but it adds a significant timbral difference when present. I added intentional dissonances to, as I described earlier, add sort of additional tones that I thought may work in the context of the ambience.  

The final thing I want to mention is this effect automation at the end of the piece. This was completely unintentional; I recorded the notes with a keyboard, but when I record note input it also records automation, which I forgot to disable before I messed around with the effects. This resulted in a really cool low hum at the very end of the piece which I think gives it a great sense of finality that I hadn't quite added myself beforehand.

Carlos Lyra v. Deep Purple

Your Honor, distinguished members of the court,

In 1972, the band Deep Purple released the iconic song "Smoke on the Water" [1]. The song recounts the events surrounding a fire that took place in 1971 at the Montreux Casino in Switzerland, and it subsequently became one of the most well-known tracks in the band's discography [2]. However, it is my assertion today that the composition of "Smoke on the Water" constitutes a clear case of plagiarism, specifically of Carlos Lyra’s song "Maria Moita" [3].

Upon the initial listening of the opening ten seconds of both songs, the striking similarities between the primary melodies will immediately become evident. The main riff of "Smoke on the Water" is, in essence, a stripped-down and transposed version of the original riff found in Lyra’s "Maria Moita." The melody, while altered in certain respects, retains the same key progression. It is precisely this continuation of the fundamental musical structure that renders the similarities irrefutably clear. To the objective ear, there can be no doubt that Deep Purple’s composition draws heavily from Lyra’s work.

In addressing the potential counterargument that Deep Purple could not have been aware of "Maria Moita," and that any resemblance between the songs is purely coincidental, I find this position highly improbable. In the 1960s and 1970s, South American Bossa Nova music experienced a significant rise in popularity in both the United States and the United Kingdom [4,5]. While it is true that "Maria Moita" was not a commercially successful hit in these countries, Carlos Lyra was a respected and well-known artist within the genre, and he co-wrote "Now I Know the Feeling," a song performed by Vikki Carr that charted in the United States [6,7]. Given these facts, it is reasonable to assume that "Maria Moita" may have enjoyed limited airplay in these regions, or even been utilized as background music in South American restaurants and other public spaces.

Furthermore, it is critical to acknowledge that by the time "Smoke on the Water" was written, Deep Purple had already established themselves as active participants in the music industry, and would thus have been well-acquainted with the wide array of musical influences making waves in the industry. In light of this, I find the assertion that Deep Purple had no exposure to Lyra’s work, and that any similarity is merely coincidental, to be naive and ill-informed. The members of Deep Purple, as seasoned musicians, were undoubtedly aware of the musical landscape in which they were operating. Therefore, it is exceedingly difficult to dismiss the striking similarity between the melodies of these two songs as a mere accident.

Now, let us consider the possibility that Deep Purple may have been inadvertently influenced by "Maria Moita," and that they could have subconsciously composed a riff similar to the original. This scenario is, in fact, not as unlikely as it may seem. It mirrors the situation that was argued in the case of George Harrison’s 1976 lawsuit, wherein he was accused of plagiarizing "He’s So Fine" by The Chiffons in his song "My Sweet Lord." In that case, the court ruled in favor of The Chiffons, stating that Harrison’s subconscious influence was sufficient grounds for copyright infringement. The ruling explicitly stated, and I quote: “His subconscious knew it already had worked in a song his conscious did not remember... That is, under the law, infringement of copyright, and is no less so even though subconsciously accomplished” [8].

In applying this same reasoning to the case at hand, I contend that Deep Purple, even if they did not consciously intend to replicate Lyra’s melody, may have unknowingly created a very similar riff due to subconscious influences. This kind of subconscious plagiarism, as the court has established, is no less an infringement of copyright than intentional copying.

Therefore, Your Honor, I respectfully submit that Deep Purple’s "Smoke on the Water" constitutes a direct infringement of Carlos Lyra’s "Maria Moita." The similarities between the two works are undeniable, and the potential for subconscious influence further strengthens the case for plagiarism. I trust the court will carefully consider these facts and render a just decision in accordance with the law of copyright protection.

References:

1. Deep Purple, Smoke on the Water, on Machine Head (track 5, 1972) (Warner Bros. Records).

2. Jordan Potter, Deep Purple: Was the world’s most famous riff a rip-off? Far Out Magazine (2023), https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/deep-purple-famous-riff-a-rip-off/

3. Carlos Lyra, Maria Moita, on Pobre Menina Rica (track 9, 1964) (CBS)

4. Jonathan Brown, The beat from Brazil: The Boss of Bossa Nova The Independent (2006), https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-beat-from-brazil-the-boss-of-bossa-nova-481641.html

5. Charles Waring, Bossa nova: The history behind Brazil’s Quiet Revolution uDiscover Music (2025), https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/bossa-nova-history-brazil/

6. 🎶 Carlos Lyra ••• top songs as writer ••• music VF, US & UK hits charts, MusicVF, https://musicvf.com/songs.php?page=artist&artist=Carlos+Lyra&tab=songaswriterchartstab

7. Singles, Vikki Carr, https://vikkicarr.com/discography-old/singles/

8. Bright Tunes Music Corp. v. Harrisongs Music, Ltd., 420 F. supp. 177 (S.D.N.Y. 1976), Justia Law, https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/420/177/1738901/

Classical Midi Remix

Being tasked with remixing a classical piece was an exciting new venture for me. I've done plenty of MIDI remixes before, but classical music is much more complex than the stuff I'm used to. Right off the bat, I knew which piece I wanted to rework: Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns.

This is my favorite classical piece ever, and for the longest time, I've had an idea in my head for how I could remix it, but the task always felt too daunting. I used this as an opportunity to get that idea off the ground and actually create the remix I had always envisioned. The main concept for this remix was that I wanted Danse Macabre to sound like it belonged in ULTRAKILL. You don't need to know what that is, only that it's a game I like. The specific inspiration for my remix came from the song "Castle Vein" from the soundtrack, which I have linked below.:

The instrumentation in this track was very influential to my own and is the main reason why I leaned so heavily into the harpsichord in my remix. Other parts of the track, like the tempo and drums, were very inspirational as well. I've made music in the style of the game before, so I've become acquainted with the general genre conventions of Breakcore (the genre present in the game). Breakcore is a sort of drum and bass subgenre that is largely reliant on a specific drum sample called the Amen break.

An early setback I had, however, was that Danse Macabre was in the time signature of 3/4, and the Amen break is not. So, I had to dissect the original sample and reformat it to be in 3/4. After that, the main issue was keeping the high energy consistent throughout the whole piece. As with many classical pieces, Danse Macabre has a plethora of tempo and dynamic changes throughout. Both of these were present in the MIDI I was using, which wasn't ideal for what I was planning to create. Changing the dynamics wasn't hard; I just had to adjust the velocity accordingly, but the tempo was a bit different since I hadn't needed to know how to remove tempo changes in MIDI before. But after some searches online, I figured it out, and the rest of the composition went fairly smoothly.

Though, for my initial plan with the remix, the main idea I had centered around the opening melody. When that began to change later on, I didn't have a firm grasp on how to fit it into Breakcore and ended up getting completely carried away, switching the style halfway through. There was this little arpeggio that comes in later in the original song for a much calmer and more melodic section, but when I heard it, I immediately thought it would make a great Future Bass section and did that instead. The original melody does get reintroduced in the latter third of the piece, and as such, so does my idea, so I guess it all worked out in the end.

Here is my remix:

I'm personally very proud of how this turned out, and I think that, for the most part, I accurately articulated what I had in mind. The most notable part right away is probably the timbral difference, since I don't use any orchestral instruments, save for maybe the piano. The tempo is slightly faster, but it's also consistent all the way through, and the dynamics and articulations are completely different due to electronic music basically being in forte nonstop. The form is largely unchanged; some sections are ever so slightly longer (like a measure or two), but the slow melodic section right at the very end was removed since it didn't really fit what I was going for. Obviously, the style and genre are different, but I didn't really touch the rhythm—at least not in the original melodies. I just added additional rhythm on top of them with my drums.

Speaking of melodies, those and the harmonies are pretty much untouched from the original, since that is the most notable part for me; I wanted to keep it intact. On the other hand, I do some weird things with pitch. Some melodies are higher or lower than they were, and there is a lot of octave layering with the harpsichord that I added to fill up space, which wouldn't have been possible in the original. It's very texturally different as well, but you probably don't need me to tell you that. All in all, I think I successfully accomplished what I set out to do, and I might even try something like this again in the future.