ERIN HULBURT

I made this piece because I like to create art that really gives off a sense of personality or atmosphere. Something among the lines of concept art, where you can get the feel of a person or place just by looking at, or listening to, the art. I take a lot of inspiration from video game music, because it is largely based in conveying an idea without words, that is, they can give you an exact idea just though sound alone. These composers can set the mood for a setting with just a few notes and can amplify that tone throughout the entire soundtrack with motifs to create something that you still vividly remember years later, which is something I would like to be able to do one day.

For this project, I wanted to focus more on a person rather than a place. I chose a personality that was friendly, but ambitious, so I chose an upbeat sounding scale and used a lot of major chords. Then I decided for the type of song, that I wanted something like a rival theme, which is seen in a lot of games. These types of themes tend to be fast paced and have some sort of repeating motif. I created a simple melody, divided it up, and then spread those divisions out throughout the song, giving it a sense of development as the song reaches each part of the original melody.

Originally, this song did not have a specific muse, which would have made it hard to name. I ended up naming the song after a character I made up during a physics lecture instead of paying attention, who happens to be a cat. Hence the name, “Cat Scratch”. I find that it is easier to develop personalities for characters through art rather than prose, so I hope to create more songs like this but based off other characters or places in the future.