SAGASCAPING - Part 1: Narrative Design in Music Making with Griigg

SAGASCAPING

Part 1: Narrative Design in Music Making with Griigg

In this Lux Cache tutorial series, we embark on a journey through the world of ‘SAGASCAPING’, exploring the art of narrative design in electronic music and its potential to evoke powerful emotions and immersive experiences. By exploring the intricacies of storytelling within music production, this series showcases inventive approaches, evocative soundscapes, and the marriage of storytelling, arrangement and sound design. In part one of this series, artist and producer Griigg unravels their unique methods for crafting compelling storylines in music production, sharing insights from his extensive experience and exceptional body of work that transcends genres and transports listeners into vivid auditory realms.

This tutorial is available as both a Patreon text post and a preferred .pdf document format. We ask you kindly to not share Lux Cache content outside of the Patreon, our contributors rely on your donations.

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CONTENTS

1. PART 1 - INTRODUCTION
2. PART 2 - NARRATION IN MUSIC
   1. 01 - WHAT IS NARRATION
   2. 02 - ELEMENTS, EVOLUTION & PERCEPTION
3. PART 3 - ELEMENTS: WORLDBUILDING
   1. 01 - CHARACTERS
   2. 02 - ENVIRONMENTS
   3. 03 - SETTINGS & INTERACTIONS
   4. 04 - PRACTICE
4. PART 4 - CONCLUSION

PART 1 - INTRODUCTION

After a first contribution to collaborative practices, I'm very happy to be back to LC with another article focusing not on technical tools, or composition techniques, but on the context and methods of music creation. I believe these 'soft' tutorials can help you develop as an artist, providing ways to improve your workflow, mindset and tools from which you can learn and grow - or more generally have a more pleasant experience in your artistic journey.

This article will focus on the use of narration in electronic music, providing tips and methods on how to use narrative design and story-telling in your creative process.

I will share processes and considerations I have myself used when creating, but please note that this is a very personal approach and that it is not based on any thorough analysis or in-depth understanding of narrative theory.

It also probably doesn't fit everyone's approach, but I hope it can still provide new perspectives and ways to approach music creation. I believe it can be particularly useful for beginners or people who struggle to turn demos or loops into full songs and albums.

The main focus of the article will be on instrumental electronic music (meaning without text or lyrics), trying to see how sounds in their most abstract form can still have a strong narrative power. The use of narration through lyrics is much closer to classical writing and is already well-documented. Although much can be said about how the interactions of lyrics and instruments can be used for narration, this is not the point of this article. In comparison, the focus here is like wondering how cinema succeeds in telling stories only via moving images, without the use of dialogues or text.

The following will be most appropriate for the classic 'track' format (a recorded piece of music between ~2 and 10 minutes), but I will do my best to keep it general and open to other formats, such as DJ sets, live improv and performances, procedural generative music, or anything I can't think about, but also small sections and parts of a track.

It is also for me detached from the meaning and impact your music can have - the result of narrative music-making doesn't necessarily mean a very conceptual piece of art, but can as well end up as a club tool edit on SoundCloud or a documentary creation. I see it more as a playful way to use imagination and non-musical inspirations to spark new ideas and directions. I will try with this article to provide as many methods and processes you can use in your own practice, regardless of what it can create.

PART 2 - NARRATION IN MUSIC

01 - WHAT IS NARRATION IN MUSIC-MAKING?

Basically, a narrative, story, or tale is an account of a sequence of events, selected and arranged in a particular order, that describe a literal or fictitious experience. These events, or experiences, can be presented in a variety of forms, from spoken words to written texts, songs, still or moving images etc…

In this article, we'll consider narration as the process of presenting a narrative, and we'll use it interchangeably with storytelling (sometimes, the word narration refers to the use of a narrator to communicate directly to an audience, which is a narrower view not appropriate here). The opposite of narration could be considered descriptive, or abstract and conceptual - but we'll see later on how we can still use narrative tools and methods to create abstract art.

We have relied on narratives since forever, in all forms of arts but also as a societal backbone, from myths and legends to religion, politics, history, science and almost every aspect of our interactions. Even day-to-day banal talk revolves around our fundamental connection with narration in the way we tell the simplest stories and experiences, from the details we choose to include or not, the modes we use ('I saw this person do this' or 'this person did this'), the cultural figures we implicitly or explicitly refer to, or the parables and idioms we mobilize… Narratives lie at the foundations of our cognitive procedures and our ways to be in the world. Throughout history, people claimed to understand events as long as they were able to formulate a coherent story explaining how they were generated. It has even been suggested by many consciousness researchers that our own identity is cast in some sort of narrative form.

Even if today narration is used in almost every aspect of society, we'll focus on its use in the arts. Obviously, it plays a key role in literature, cinema and performing arts, as most of the time stories (factual or fictitious) are their main focus. Storywriting has been documented and analyzed extensively, and like all forms of art, it keeps evolving, improving, and reshaping itself to make it more impactful, expressive or efficient over the years. Its codes, methods and possibilities change with its cultural and technical context - from spoken tales to sacred texts to books, stage performances, movies, series or video games, the range of tools for story writing is now rich and complex. But it also often mostly relies on words - and the meaning or symbolism they carry with them. Music, and especially instrumental music, rely on a more abstract and emotional expression, so how can it relate to narration?

In comparison to an image, music cannot be assessed as a whole - the passing of time is inherent to its perception. So by its very nature, a piece of music has a form of linearity, from A to B. And for me, that's what makes it appropriate for storytelling.

How can we use this abstract linearity in our artistic practice to create powerful narratives?

02 - ELEMENTS, EVOLUTION & PERCEPTION

I consider the three key components of a musical narrative to be:

- Elements: the characters it involves, the settings and the environments... which relate mostly to instruments and sonic textures

- Evolution: how each element will change and evolve around given happenings/events - which relates to structure and progression

- Perception: through which media the story is being told and perceived - which relates to diffusion and the context in which music is heard

These three components can be used and played with to create a strong (or absent!) sense of narration in a musical piece. We'll break them down below and dive more into details in the following parts.

Key components of a narration

> ELEMENTS

For me, this relates to the nature and properties of the sounds you could hear. Be it through instruments, samples, field recordings or synthesis, the story you tell starts with the sounds you use and how they will define your piece of music. For example with the same structure and composition, swapping an acid synth with a medieval flute will not tell the same story.

The first elements a listener can hear are crucial in setting the context of your narrative, as they will immerse them in the world your story happens in. Within a few seconds, they will identify instruments, textures and samples that will evoke cultural references, and personal memories or spark their curiosity for the unknown. Throughout the narrative, these elements will evolve, and since we focus here on music without lyrics, they are the ones through which the story will unfold.

When defining or fine-tuning the elements of your narration, we can consider different categories, each with a broad meaning: characters, environments, as well as the initial setting and modes of interaction that will influence the possible evolutions.

We'll see in PART 3 how to consider these elements with a narrative design approach to build a coherent sonic palette that can provide a strong foundation for your story.

> EVOLUTION

A piece of music always has an identifiable beginning, middle and end - at least from the point of view of the listener, and therefore is somehow structured within these boundaries.

Unless we've never been exposed to any kind of music ever, our cultural background and what we are familiar with make us have expectations.  Especially since humans rely heavily on patterns and recognition for most aspects of their life. Because of the linearity of music perception, at any given moment a listener will have in mind what was heard before, and what is being heard right now and will naturally create anticipation of what will be heard next. How can you play with that as a musician?

When considering music making with a narrative approach, I believe an effective way to design the evolution is through the lens of Tension & Release. Manipulating and shaping them craftfully are key to a powerful narration and can create beautiful moments of contemplation, stimulation, surprise or introspection.

In PART 4 we will see how to play with Tension & Release through composition, and we'll cover some common or archetypal shapes that you can refer to or start from to strengthen your narrative.

> PERCEPTION

This is the old ‘if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?’ gimmick, but can a story truly exist without anyone to read or hear it?

The point is that how the music is being experienced and perceived, beyond the composition itself, will have a huge impact on how the narration is understood and appreciated. These questions can come in after the composition is done, but they can also be the starting point of your narrative.

In PART 5 we will see different ways to play with perception and diffusion in the current context of electronic music, and how they participate in the creation of your narrative. I will try to cover most aspects of a listening experience with practical ideas on how to approach them.

> PRACTICE

These three key components can be considered in any order when developing your narrative.

Considering the evolution before the elements is about adding richness, variations and subtleties to a given structure. Picking the elements first might be more about letting the music speak for itself, following where it would want to go naturally, like an improv or flow mindset. Starting with how it will be perceived and diffused can make your piece centred on the experience of it, and your elements and evolution will derive from the given constraints (like a live show or DJ set in a specific venue).

You can also obviously go back and forth between the three, building your narrative in an iterative way. As with every creative process, it's all about personal preference.

PART 3 - ELEMENTS: WORLDBUILDING

01 - CHARACTERS

I consider her character to be as broad as possible - it can be a main character of your story, but also a secondary one. It can be living things, but also natural elements, or even abstract concepts. In my opinion, what differentiates a character from an environment is that they play an active part in the way your narrative unfolds - even passively.

Characters are crucial elements of your narration - they are the ones through which the story will be experienced. Having carefully crafted and engaging characters can add a lot of depth to it - and can in turn make your individual sounds more stimulating.

One way to approach character design is to associate sounds to it - is it just an instrument? Or a group of instruments? Similar textures? Whole compositions?

You can then consider them individually and really focus on their characteristics. What or who are they? Where are they from? What are their motives or fears? What do they look like? Trying to think about your characters outside of musical terms can seem unusual, but it can in return help you find ideas or take decisions when you get back to music-making.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of a character's characteristics worth considering:

- Nature - Is it human, vegetal, or animal? Is it a natural element, an object, an abstract concept, or a spiritual entity? A hybrid of several things?

- Appearance - What do they look like? What are their shapes, their colors, their physical traits, and their size?

- Attributes - What are their main features? Do they have specific qualities, artifacts or skills?

- Background - Where do they come from? What did they do before being part of your story?

- Motives - What are their goals? Both in an existential way and in more practical terms? Specifically in the context of your narrative, what will drive their behavior in it?

- Expression - How do they express themselves? Is it through sounds, visual cues, or movements? Do they simply react to external stimuli, are they self-conscious or able to think?

- Actions - What types of actions are they able to perform in the context of your story? Can they interact with other characters or with their environment? Can they move freely or are they constrained in some ways?

- Relationships - What is the nature of their interactions with other characters, if there are any? Do they like or need strong relationships or are they pretty independent?

Once you have defined your character more precisely, try to question how that would transcribe musically: what timbre, harmonies or rhythms do that inspire you? You can then work on them individually, outside of your global composition to finetune them- even if it's not part of your narrative in the end, it can be sounds or snippets you can use in other projects. Reusing and developing your characters over several projects can be really interesting and create some sort of global cohesion in what would seem disconnected stories. It can also inspire the creation of new characters in the future.

Two important concepts in how they can be transcribed musically and how they would be perceived are identification and reference.

Every (!) sound is culturally referenced and has an underlying connotation. It can be historical, geographical, or related to a specific genre or culture... but it's always moving and also very related to the listener's own background. Even the most abstract sound (like a pure sine wave or a white noise) can reference a minimalist approach, or a desire not to be inscribed in a cultural context - which paradoxically does in the end. How can you play with that as a musician? Do you want the listener to be comforted or surprised? Using some facts or knowledge (from history, geography, sociology etc...) is an interesting way to anchor your characters in the real world - if that’s what you’re after.

02 - ENVIRONMENTS

Most likely, in your narrative, the different characters will evolve in a given context - what I call the environment. Throughout your story, your characters can go through several environments, or stay in the same one. It can be very well defined or simply suggested.

Usually, environments are given less importance than characters and consist just of a background where the action takes place. But it can also be beautifully crafted, rich in complexity, details, or dynamics... almost as a character itself. Think complex biomes full of intriguing sonic textures, but also an empty black box, a simple stage for your characters.

Just like characters, I would recommend designing your environment separately at some point, trying to have a feel of what they would be, independently of your narrative. And like characters, I don't believe this is wasted, as you can then reuse or transform it across multiple narratives.

What is its scale? What is it made of?  Does it evolve over time?

Here is a non-exhaustive list of properties for your environment(s) to consider:

- Size - What is its scale? Is it a room, a microscopic tissue or a gigantic landscape?

- Temporality - Does it evolve over time? At which speed? What is its time frame of reference, if it even has one? Millions of years, a fraction of a second?

- Components - What is it made of? What are its materials? Is it inhabited by some sort of entity? Are they evolving within it?

- Structure - Is it structured in some way? According to which principles? Does it have boundaries? Is it open and infinite? Is it an architectural space?

- Colors - What does it look like? Does it have a dominant color, or a defined palette?

- Tone - Do you associate a specific mood or emotion with it? Is it an objective or subjective one?

- Climate - Does it have a specific temperature range? A strong humidity? A particular smell?

- Interactions - In what ways can it interact with other environments or characters? In an active or passive way? Or does it exist in complete independence?

Then you can wonder how you would transcribe it sonically? Would it have its own instruments and melodies? Or would it only transform the properties of your characters (for example a specific reverb)?

As with characters, referencing real world elements or cultural references can help to create some grounding if that's something you want.

03 - SETTING & INTERACTIONS

Once you have defined your characters and environments, you can try to consider the setting of your narrative, independently from its evolution. Of course the two relate strongly, but it’s worth considering for each new 'scene' or 'chapter' of your story, if there are any.

Are all the characters already here at the beginning? Do some of them arrive later on? From where? Are the characters far from each other in your environment? Do they evolve together? Is one of your characters more important than the others? Is it shown at first or later on? What importance do your environment play in your narrative? Do you show it fully or only partially? Does it take the spotlight at some point? Can the listener envision the whole scene with an omniscient point of view? Or do they follow a given character? Is the story told by a character itself?

And again, how would you interpret these with sounds? Does it show in the melodies being played? The timing of each instrument? The ways each sound is processed (with reverb or panning for example)? The mixing or balancing of all the different elements?

Additionally, you can also consider the ways all these elements can interact together, independently from your plot.

Do two characters communicate or interact with each other? Are their interactions conflictual, synergetic, neutral? How do the characters and environments relate to each other? Do your characters transform your environments? Do your environments influence the ways your characters will act? Do two of your environments interact with each other? Are they linked in some way?

And again, how would you make it sound? Is it about melodic counterpoints? Layering textures? Playing in alternate, or using side-chaining?

04 - PRACTICE

Worldbuilding and designing the elements of your narrative is an important point for crafting a narrative. It can be done before, while or after developing the evolution and perception aspect of your project.

In my opinion, it is sometimes a good way to step back from the overall composition, but still contribute to it while having fun. It can also be of great help when lacking inspiration or feeling overwhelmed by aimlessly trying to find the ‘right’ sound. It can allow you to get a breath of air by focusing on your imagination, exploring your musical tools or instruments, or following an instinct and developing a narrative thread or spin-off - even if not every detail of it ends up in your final narrative. You can even work on these different aspects through different media (painting, sketching, gathering image references, writing…).

PART 4  - CONCLUSION

I hope this first part sparked your curiosity about having a narrative approach in electronic music, and made you willing to experiment with narrative design tools and methods to develop your own sound and stories.

Considering the elements of your story independently can be a great way for you to practice music-making, even if you don’t push the narrative design approach until the end. It’s a good opportunity to explore your own psyche, but also more practical tools, skills and techniques - and even if it’s not mandatory at all to have technical skills to make powerful music, I believe it’s always interesting to keep learning as it brings more freedom in the sounds you can craft, and therefore the stories you can tell.

The following parts will be the topic of another article, but in the meantime, you can still consider, experiment and play with what we covered here. You can try to analyze some previous projects you had and what characters or plot they would define, you can use these tools to explore new ideas for a project you’re working on, or you can try to approach it from scratch and design characters and environments - both conceptually and musically, without even thinking about a plot.

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Griigg is an artist, producer and label co-runner based in Paris.  You can listen to Griigg’s music on their SoundCloud and Bandcamp pages.

Sample libraries and releases from their label ‘Club Late Music’ can be found on their Bandcamp.

You can follow them on Instagram @griigg

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