The Author: Forrest Gabriel Salvador – Hi, Forrest here! I have been designing shows since 2014 using FWsim and other fireworks design programs and have been a media correspondent for the Philippine International Pyromusical Competition since 2018.
Seeing fireworks bursting and filling the night sky is such an exhilarating feeling but do you know what would make it a thousand more times better? Music! Incorporating songs into your shows would not only just add sound to an already excellent creation, it can also add emotions and additional complexity that would make your show miles better than before! We can definitely help you on making the soundtrack you want! By imparting you little titbits we know on making a better soundtrack, we can help you make the soundtrack of your dreams! If you’re like one of us who already know what to do, still do read on because maybe we can still help you with song choices and other things that can polish your soundtrack even more! Now, before you begin your journey in making a soundtrack, you must first know the process of making one! Here is our personal soundtrack process:
Planning out how you would plan out your show is the first step! Ask yourself these questions:
These are just some of the questions you need to answer first before you proceed to the next step of the process or even before you make your show. Think ahead or imagine how your show would look like! Knowing the answers to these questions would help you in the long run and not just on the soundtrack-making process.
Now that all of the small important details are defined, it’s time to think of the mood and concept of your show! Do you want to have romantic feel? How about a very epic one? Maybe something more solid in theme like a movie, show, or play? It’s important for you to know this first before proceeding further because this will also dictate how you would design your show. Most probably though, you already have a theme or mood in mind before you even begin but it’s best if you would still confirm to yourself if that’s the theme you want to work on.
If you are only planning on making a show with just one song, this won’t be a hard part for you since you’re just going to pick one song. If you’re planning on making a longer show, however, this would be the hardest part of the process and the step that would make or break your show. It might even make you go back to step #1! Once you are through with this, everything would be much simpler! Now, before you begin choosing the music for your show, you need to know first what genre of music do you want to do. Do you want to go the classical route? Pop? Maybe an epic song? Or maybe you want to challenge yourself and go for Jazz? Once you decided what genre you’re gonna go with, it’s time to select your songs! To help you decide, here are a number of music genres with a few examples of songs and how they were designed by real world pyrotechnic designers!
Want to add an air of sophistication to your shows? Having classical pieces in your soundtrack is a sure-fire way to do just that! Also, because classical music almost always has a very defined structure in its rhythm and melody, it’s one of the easiest music genres to do some experimenting in terms of designing firing patterns and sequences. If you feel like you want to go the traditional route with an old school pyromusical, you can do easily do that! The trend today however tends to sway more into the more complex and technical sequence designs. Here are some examples of classical music we think that could help you get started in choosing the perfect classical piece for your soundtrack! We have also included shows in the entries so that you could have an idea of how to use the song!
Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” by Antonín Dvořák. Example Show: Dragon Fireworks Inc. of the Philippines for the 2015 edition of the Internationaler Feuerwerkswettbewerb Herrenhausen held in Hannover, Germany
The Marriage of Figaro, Ouverture by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Example Show: Vaccalluzzo S.R.L of Italy for the 2012 edition of L’International des Feux Loto-Quebec held in Montreal, Canada.