We ultimately found that our trash can percussion lacked the visceral gut-punch we wanted from our drums, and ended up using a hybrid kit that contained elements from both our found percussion and from some of our industrial drum sample libraries. After drilling a few holes through the side of the trash can, running the copper wires through it, and removing the rattly handles, we had ourselves an instrument that could be plucked, bowed, struck, or dropped to create all sorts of crazy percussive and semi-tonal sounds.
We ended up walking out with the makings of a percussion kit that included a 20-gallon trash can, a spool of copper wire, some metal springs, a tire iron, and a coat-hanger. I can’t imagine what the staff at the store thought as I walked around tapping every metal or plastic object that looked like it might have interesting resonant characteristics. They would have to funnel their musicality through instruments made out of salvaged scrap, or even through using non-musical objects as instruments.įor us, this meant it was time for a field trip to the hardware store across the street. We figured that the musically-inclined denizens of Zaun would be creative and resourceful, but that they wouldn’t have access to really great-sounding instruments. When we first started working on Ekko’s music, we wondered what drum kits would sound like in Zaun, or what their equivalent would be. What would a (insert instrument here) sound like in (insert Runeterran faction here)?”įor example, let’s take a look at the drums we used for Ekko’s champion teaser. When it comes to finding instruments for a region, we often start with a high concept, such as “we want to avoid relying on our typical orchestral instruments in this piece of music. The music we write for League often straddles the line between offering broadly cinematic “commentary” on a character or scenario, and showcasing a more specialized use of instrumental textures, harmonies, or melodies that might conceivably exist within Runeterra (and are specific to the character, faction or scenario we are working with). Sometimes we want an instrument or a texture that fills a similar role to an existing instrument, but sounds different. We have hundreds of preset sounds available to us on our virtual instruments and have access to some phenomenal musicians in Los Angeles, so why would we go out of our way to try to make unmusical objects sound musical, or to use a musical instrument in a way it wasn’t designed? Lots of other composers and musicians use found objects as instruments, but I think our frequent exposure to the way League’s sound designers work inspires us to look for unexpected sound sources more than we might otherwise. Sound designers record source material from a lot of objects and materials that would probably surprise the casual observer. As composers, we’re fortunate to sit near Riot’s sound designers and share information back-and-forth with them. While sheet music represents some of the more typical work we do as composers, using found instruments represents the more unorthodox-this is when we use everyday objects as instruments or repurpose instruments to be played in a drastically different manner than intended.
#Where are the league splash art files stored plus#
We’re here today with a second batch of League of Legends sheet music, plus a deep-dive into how we use found instruments in our music development endeavors! Hi everyone, Alex “Scherzo” Temple here from the Riot music team.