The music to 'The Storm' was inspired by the huge storms that we have seen hitting UK coastlines over the last few years. Not all of these have been winter storms and we’ve seen some very powerful summer storms roll in across the Atlantic Ocean. In the story of Changing Tides, it is a summer storm that becomes a dangerous threat to a family sailing out a sea. Before I talk about the music, lets take a look at the sheer force of these storms. Storm Force The Cornish coast is exposed to the full fury of the big weather systems that roll in off the Atlantic Ocean. Gale force winds whip the sea into a frenzy, creating huge waves that have shaped the Cornish coastline over the years. The incredible photo shown here, (taken by Steve Cowe) really captures the ferocity of the 2014 winter storm as the huge waves crash into the shores of Porthleven in Cornwall. The biggest wave to be recorded off the coast of the British Isles was just down the coast from here by a buoy close to Penzance. This monster wave measured 75ft! However, it is thought that this particular buoy was malfunctioning and the data was incorrect. Other waves measured by the UK Met Office in nearby waters showed readings as high as 26 feet. That's still pretty big! With that said, a huge 62-foot rogue wave has been recorded in the Atlantic Ocean between the north coast of Scotland and Iceland. That’s taller than a 6 storey building. An electronic buoy recorded the wave on February 4th 2013, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. ![]() Composing The Storm: Behind the Scenes I approached the composition of The Storm by imagining myself in that situation and envisaging this huge storm rolling in across the Atlantic Ocean, with winds building to Force 10 and waves over 40 feet breaking with incredible force. I wanted to give the storm a voice that portrayed its ferocious, unforgiving nature. The arrival of the storm is heralded by this voice - an ominous, foreboding roar that builds in volume as we hear the bell buoy ringing on the rough sea between claps of thunder and howling winds. The music begins with another loud clap of thunder as orchestral strings and brass set the pace of the storm that rages with force 10 winds, whipping the sea into a frenzy with mountainous waves. The violins, violas and celli are played in a dramatic staccato fashion to build the tension and create a sense of urgency. Underlying this are the legato brass instruments. In the chorus, we hear frame drums picking up the pace as the strings increase the intensity. After the chorus, we hear the orchestral low brass cutting through the mix and I also introduce tremolo strings that rise every fourth bar to heighten the tension. Meanwhile the toms are weaving around the melody to create more energy and movement. Then the music changes to a softer tone as the storm seems to be calming down. Is it all over? A few rays of sunshine manage to filter through the stormy clouds. The music captures this calmer mood with gentle strings, harp and an angelic female choir. I wanted to capture a sense of hope with this section of the music but this soon turns to disappointment which is portrayed by a sad melody on the violin and viola. This was the eye of the storm and it is not done yet! The storm is coming back with even more ferocity. A roll on the timpani’s in conjunction with the toms builds the tension culminating in a distant bell ringing that leads into the male choir and heavy beats on the timpani’s, reminiscent of war drums. The return of the storm is heralded once again by the ominous roar of the storm and we know that the other side of the storm is here. The tempo changes suddenly. The staccato strings play a heavy, driving progression as a backdrop to violins that start playing an arpeggio. The music builds with deep staccato brass in conjunction with the male choir. As the music develops, the string arpeggio takes centre stage to create more tension as the toms really come into play weaving around the strings and brass in addition to huge cymbal swells. The storm rages with violent chaos as the sea builds huge waves that crash onto the shore with unbelievable power and force. My vision for this last section of the music was to recreate this power, violence and chaos. A key part of this was the drumming and percussion. My good friend Rob Brian played drums on this track which we recorded over at NAM Studio in Wiltshire. Rob has done a fantastic job of capturing the power of the storm particularly as we build to a crescendo. Here is what Rob has to say about drumming on The Storm. ![]() Rob Brian Drumming on The Storm As musicians, we tend to get given sheets of paper with many notes, dots and lines written all over it. This is fine as it gives us the parts that we are required to play to make someone’s music come to life from the page to the ear etc. But there are the opportunities to build and create your own part from your imagination when given the tempo, feel and story of the music. This happened when I started work on Tim’s music for Changing Tides. The idea was very inspiring for me, my drums telling the story and creating the drama and energy of a powerful storm with a family out at sea in their sailing boat with the mounting fear that they wouldn't be able to ride out the storm. All this emotional content was in my mind when I was composing and arranging my drum parts for ‘The Storm’. From the start I could hear various drum parts adding to the drama and weaving in and out of each other, creating a strong rhythmic bed for the other instruments to sit on. As soon as the track starts with the howling wind and weather, we are transported to a very different soundscape and I wanted the drums to come in with real drama playing the groove that Tim had set with the strings and brass. The hi-hats pick up that groove and rhythmic theme and takes the rhythm along with the strings on a merry dance through the waves. The accented part on the hats is a crucial element as that movement gives the groove more menace and drive, a thing that a flatter sounding pattern wouldn't have given us. ![]() The toms are then added in this section to add to the building drama, moving across the beat and moving between the tones of 4 toms. I thought of them more as 4 timpani rather than tom toms, I wanted them to have that particular home in the sound/mix that the timps would normally have. The big theme on the toms leading into the large cymbal crashes I wanted to give the impression of huge crashing waves and the wind blowing the boat in all directions. The mellow section starts with very subtle use of the ride cymbal to usher in a new mood. The female voices sound angelic and beautiful, a few cymbal builds here and there for effect, leading into the huge tom fill which we doubled on floor toms, leading into the next pulsing section. I am playing 32nd notes here and I wanted it to be very fast but sticked so you can pick out almost each stroke, hard to do on bigger floor toms! Here the toms take on an almost marching style driving on the piece with some use of accented notes to add drama. The need to move away and play bigger fills off of the groove again adds drama and excitement to this piece as the strings continue to build in intensity. The use of Flams here in this section allows me to fatten up the sound of the toms and make them sound more aggressive. The tom part was worked on with Tim but he allowed me to improvise the fills to add to the creative input etc. The end section has the big 16” and 18” DW floor toms giving the bottom end of the groove and the higher pitched 10’, 12” and 13” toms adding the more melodic patterns that are the fills over the top. Drums sound great when layered in this way and you can make tracks sound huge with cleverly crafted parts. This is what I strived for on this track. Creating these parts was a joyous experience as I love to create drum soundscapes like this from verse as much as I do to music, the musical/story narrative really allowed me to think in a very cinematic way and I am very happy with how it turned out. Closing Comments It is thought that the storms of 2014 were the worst seen in Cornwall for 40 years and they remain in people's memories as a reminder of the incredible power of the sea. However, I am very conscious that these big storms can wreck havoc and misery on communities. This article only seeks to inform you of the immense power of storms and provide some background to the musical story of the Changing Tides album. My sympathies go out to all those that have been affected by the damage that these storms can cause. In the next article, we’ll take a look at the next track which is about the family who are out sailing that day and get caught in the storm.
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Tim HardwickI'm a composer, producer and author. I've been creating music for many years now and over the last 8 years, I've been focused on the fusion of electronic, orchestral and acoustic music that tells a story. Archives
April 2018
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