Joanne Lee – Looking Outward 11

Alan Walker’s 2015 hit single, ‘Faded’.

When I realized this week’s theme was computational music, I immediately thought of Alan Walker specifically. He is a music producer and he creates his music (EDM type of music) using a computer program that allows him to combine synthetic instruments and sounds. He is also able to edit the sound waves in the program to tweak it any which way he wants and add effects such as echo or reverb to name a few. The song that I chose specifically is ‘Faded’ which is one of his most popular songs. When I first came across this song, it really piqued my interest in computer music and I actually felt motivated to learn about computer music.

Walker obviously begins with an artistic vision and then he tinkers with the program to make sure every beat and sound is placed exactly where he wants it to be. Provided below is a video of one of this studio sessions and he has other studio sessions on his channel. I am thankful to live in a generation where computer music allows someone to create music with all sorts of synthetic instruments on their own from the comforts of their own home / studio!

 

Alan Walker in his studio session for ‘Faded’, showing snippets of the thought process behind his hit song.