The Last Seed
Building Virtual Worlds Round 5
This experience was created for the first Building Virtual Worlds Spring Festival in 2011. Using Playmotion to detect IR light and a Jam-O-Drum, a table with four embedded drum pads, we were able to create this interactive experience within three weeks.
Using Reaper and Adobe Premiere, I created the soundscape, edited and synced music and sound to the opening and ending movies as well as wrote, recorded and provided the voice for the prayer.
The video below shows The Last Seed in its purist form, with the right video displaying images from the Playmotion screen and left video displaying images from the Jam-O-Drum. The entire performance piece can be found at the bottom of the page.
Using Reaper and Adobe Premiere, I created the soundscape, edited and synced music and sound to the opening and ending movies as well as wrote, recorded and provided the voice for the prayer.
The video below shows The Last Seed in its purist form, with the right video displaying images from the Playmotion screen and left video displaying images from the Jam-O-Drum. The entire performance piece can be found at the bottom of the page.
The Sound Design for The Last Seed
The world for the Last Seed was inspired by nature, the circle of life, spirituality and Africa. And thus, while searching for songs it was important for me to keep these themes in mind.
The music for the opening piece utilizes one piano and signifies solidarity. Its tone is somewhat somber with a small glimmer of desperation that becomes apparent during the change in octave which resonates with the girl's prayer. As she prays for each element, it activates on the Jam-O-Drum or "alter". Each element activation makes use of their sounds found in nature. The Sun or fire is represented as a burst of rapid flames, Earth is the sound of a rock slide, Water uses the sound of rain, and lastly Wind uses sound from a mighty storm.
During the gameplay, the music is slow and soothing, to match the guest's activity. However, it during the darkness attacks, ethnic drums can be heard which contain fast and heavy tribal beats to give a more panicked feel.
Finally, the ending song is titled "Baba Yetu" by Christopher Tin which is the Lord's Prayer sung in Swahili. I chose this song for its hope and inspirational feeling, its African feel and lastly its spiritual overtones.
The world for the Last Seed was inspired by nature, the circle of life, spirituality and Africa. And thus, while searching for songs it was important for me to keep these themes in mind.
The music for the opening piece utilizes one piano and signifies solidarity. Its tone is somewhat somber with a small glimmer of desperation that becomes apparent during the change in octave which resonates with the girl's prayer. As she prays for each element, it activates on the Jam-O-Drum or "alter". Each element activation makes use of their sounds found in nature. The Sun or fire is represented as a burst of rapid flames, Earth is the sound of a rock slide, Water uses the sound of rain, and lastly Wind uses sound from a mighty storm.
During the gameplay, the music is slow and soothing, to match the guest's activity. However, it during the darkness attacks, ethnic drums can be heard which contain fast and heavy tribal beats to give a more panicked feel.
Finally, the ending song is titled "Baba Yetu" by Christopher Tin which is the Lord's Prayer sung in Swahili. I chose this song for its hope and inspirational feeling, its African feel and lastly its spiritual overtones.
The forest has been destroyed by a evil spirit, this seed is her only hope in restoring her homeland.