Meeting Topic: Making a Song with Darren Korb
Moderator Name: Lauren Paquette
Speaker Name: Darren Korb
Meeting Location: Durgin Hall 114, Lowell, MA 01852, USA
This week we had the pleasure of constructing a song from scratch with musician Darren Korb. Korb is most known for his role in the hit indie video game Bastion, for which he composed, recorded, and mixed all of the music and sound effects. Additionally, he recorded all of the game's narration, which guides the player through the story for the duration of the game.
The meeting itself consisted of a back and forth between Korb and the members of our AES student chapter, making creative decisions to develop a piece of music on Logic Pro. We began by choosing tempo and meter. Then, guided by Korb, the students would choose which loops to use and where to put them. To finish up, Korb recorded himself playing bass and guitar in additional tracks. After a bit of mixing, the song was complete! Korb shared some techniques he uses in his work such as bit-crushing, EQ sculpting, reverb, gain staging and lots and lots of reverse cymbal sounds. Korb also gave insights into musical form, and how a piece of music should naturally build.
The meeting was concluded with a question and answer session, during which Korb spoke about his experience in the gaming industry, and with music in general.
Written By: Lauren Paquette
