An April Morning

Zach Bruno

Interview by C. VanWinkle
May 10, 2023

What was the prompt we sent you? Can you describe it for me?

I don't know the exact term for it, but it was a really descriptive, long-form poem, I guess. Like a short story or something. It was titled “An April Morning” and it was about how that feels, just sitting at home and relaxing.

Were there elements of it that particularly spoke to you?

Yeah, as I was reading it, just playing through some chords on my keyboard, there were certain parts that really jumped out to me. One sentence was about sitting and smelling or seeing the steam from coffee or tea. There was another one about hearing the sound of a dog stretching, and about looking over and seeing them stretching on the couch. That made me think of my pets when I used to work from home and what it was like to see them snoozing whenever I had free time to look around.

There was another part that was about how it's starting to warm up for spring, but then there's still the chill of the cold biting at your toes. That was really interesting, so I tried to convey a little bit of that in the song. A lot of the song is really relaxing and a little bit uplifting, but then there are still some tense moments to convey that it's still spring and it's still kind of cold, but we're on our way out. To sort of express that icy, chilly feeling, I used High and Low String tremolo sections from Spitfire Audio's Abbey Road One library and added delay and reverb. It's a technique I use often in my songs that can convey a lot of neat ambient stuff! The main piano is the Firewood Piano, also from Spitfire Audio, with full Mid, some close, and about half of the Pad slider added to try and convey that airy feeling.

You did all of this on a keyboard?

Yes, I use Studio One. I have a virtual piano, and I used some virtual violins and string sections.

I can feel that chill in the air in your piece. Where do you live, by the way?

I live in Sacramento.

What are your April mornings like there? Chilly?

There were a couple of times this year when there was some hail. And I think it snowed one or two times, which is not common out here, so that was pretty cool. So that feeling that it's getting warm, but then it's back to the weather changing, that was pretty relatable – at least this spring.

Are you comfortable working from a prompt?

This year, I've been doing something similar where I take a prompt and write a song from it. I do that every week. Check out my Tuesday Tunes. I post new stuff every Tuesday. My goal for this year is to do 52 songs and it's been going great so far. Some of my favorite ones are Blappo the Capo – that one's a lot of fun – and V.R. Vacuum. Definitely check those two out.

Anyway, this was another way to do that. The prompt that I usually do is just two words, like a theme and a genre, whereas this is like a whole thing. So it kind of felt like writing to maybe a short film or a trailer. I took on that mindset of how it progresses and changing certain parts of the song to match that.

I see what you mean. It reminded me of film music, like the kind of thing you would hear in something sort of delicate, vulnerable, introspective.

That’s what I was going for!

I've heard a lot of the other pieces that you've put on Instagram and YouTube and your styles seem to be all over the map.

Well, I'm just starting out on my journey to be a game composer, at least part-time. And I eventually want to do music composition full-time. So I'm just doing a little bit of everything right now, trying to expand my knowledge of how to do different genres or different kinds of pieces. I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone. That's what my weekly Tuesday Tunes exercises are for. It's a random prompt, so I’m forced to work on these things that I've never done before, but I might have an idea. This one was kind of personal, with my own pets and my own work-from-home experience. I took that and played what I was feeling, thinking about him. Then I tried to turn it into a loopable piece so it could be used for game music or a trailer or film or something.

Ah, that's a cool trick! That way it can be a two-minute piece you listen to once, or it can become more of an atmosphere.

Exactly.

Do you often compose to your feelings?

Lately, yeah. I usually just go with the theme, try to figure out what comes to mind, start putting it down, and see where it goes. My favorite part about music is being able to convey specific moods and emotions, to really make you feel like you're in it. And that's what I like about game music or movie music. You get immersed within it and I think that's really important.

I agree with that. Speaking of immersion, are you outdoorsy? What's your relationship with nature like?

I like to hike. I like to be out on the water. I like to go camping.

Do you camp when it’s cold out?

No, I typically only like to camp when it's hot out so we can go to lakes and rivers. Cold camping is something I’ve only done a couple times and it wasn't a great experience. But that was one of my first times ever camping, so it was just not good overall. I definitely want to try it again sometime now that I'm more experienced.

In “An April Morning,” the writer talked about needing to remember to look around when you're outside, so you can watch the change of seasons. That is not something I ever remember to do. Do you notice that kind of thing?

Someone pointed out to me the other day when they were giving me a ride home from the auto shop that some flowers were super bright and vibrant. And I drive by those every day and I’d never noticed that. But on my commute home, there's this part on the highway that goes up, and at the top there's this gorgeous view of the clouds and the landscape. I always take that in whenever I can, as the sun's not hitting me in the eyes. Yeah, I just love looking at clouds and the green trees and stuff. I don't really notice when things change between seasons, but it’s something I definitely want to remember to do.

What is your advice to another new person approaching this project?

Don't overthink it. Just go with what you're feeling in the moment of whatever prompt you get. If you think about it too much, you're going to get lost in it and you might not like your result. That’s how I've been trying to do stuff lately – just do it for fun, and whatever you're feeling is right.

Call Number: C98PP | C100MU.bruAn

Zach Bruno: Friends and family come and go, but kickflips are forever and you'll look hella dope. Follow me on my journey making dumb sounds for cool games @zachbrunomusic on your favorite social media platforms.