# Spitfire Scoring Competition is back!



## mybadmemory

Glad to see Spitfire bringing it back again! Fingers crossed for less haters and more positivity this time around!


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## Technostica

I'm still in therapy after the last one and I didn't even enter. 
I think I will enter this time with a hybrid of techno and hi-life. 
That could work actually.


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## NekujaK

I'm going to do a Klezmer entry played entirely on didjeridus! That'll show 'em


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## nolotrippen

NekujaK said:


> I'm going to do a Klezmer entry played entirely on didjeridus! That'll show 'em


Copy cat!


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## Trash Panda

Someone should submit an entry entirely made out of samples from their biggest competitors. That will be mega awkward if that entry wins. 😂


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## Getsumen

Trash Panda said:


> Someone should submit an entry entirely made out of samples from their biggest competitors. That will be mega awkward if that entry wins. 😂


Well I'm like 90% sure that David's winning entry used 90% non SF samples






Looking at the template it's majority OT and Cinematic Studio Series.
Actually, I'm not even sure if I can spot any Spitfire in that thing


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## David Kudell

Well well well…

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/f5XoT6Bf0Vj8RqEP5p" width="480" height="480" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="">via GIPHY</a></p>


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## David Kudell

Getsumen said:


> Well I'm like 90% sure that David's winning entry used 90% non SF samples
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Looking at the template it's majority OT and Cinematic Studio Series.
> Actually, I'm not even sure if I can spot any Spitfire in that thing


At the time the only Spitfire libraries I had were Tundra and HZ Perc.


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## KEM

I’m in, I had a ton of fun with the last one, and I’m definitely much better now than I was then, can’t wait!!


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## Robin Thompson

David Kudell said:


> At the time the only Spitfire libraries I had were Tundra and HZ Perc.


Well you certainly fixed that in one fell swoop! 😂

(seriously though, it almost seems it should be a requirement to enter with competing libraries, since the grand prize become less valuable the more spitfire one already owns)


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## Tice

The last one happened at a very busy time for me so I missed it. I hope I can enter this time!


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## Robin Thompson

Hold up.... I don't actually see this announcement on Spitfire's instagram. Nor anything on their website or forums. ???


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## mybadmemory

Robin Thompson said:


> Hold up.... I don't actually see this announcement on Spitfire's instagram. Nor anything on their website or forums. ???


It’s on their Instagram alright. And on Facebook and Twitter as well. Saying we’ll all get to know more on Wednesday. So it will probably show up their website and forum by then.


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## Robin Thompson

mybadmemory said:


> It’s on their Instagram alright. And on Facebook and Twitter as well. Saying we’ll all get to know more on Wednesday. So it will probably show up their website and forum by then.


Quite right, I didn't recognize the video thumbnail as it differs from the shot above. Withdrawn


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## Alex Fraser

David Kudell said:


> At the time the only Spitfire libraries I had were Tundra and HZ Perc.


What would really send the forum into a fizz, is if Spitfire announced you as a judge. 😅


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## Loïc D

Alex Fraser said:


> What would really send the forum into a fizz, is if Spitfire announced you as a judge. 😅


An excellent idea, indeed (not kidding).


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## mybadmemory

Alex Fraser said:


> What would really send the forum into a fizz, is if Spitfire announced you as a judge. 😅


Love it!!


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## icecoolpool

KEM said:


> I’m in, I had a ton of fun with the last one, and I’m definitely much better now than I was then, can’t wait!!


I´m loving the positivity, looking forward to hearing your entry!


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## Jacob Fanto

This will be entertaining one way or another!


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## Bee_Abney

Good luck to all who enter!


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## Simeon

I would not be so fast in assuming it will be another Westworld competition. if you watch these clips closely, you can also see the DC logo, referring to the Stargirl competition as well. I think these are nods to the past two scoring events and that Spitfire is going to introduce a new event.
It should be interesting to see what direction they will take us in this year.


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## mybadmemory

Simeon said:


> I would not be so fast in assuming it will be another Westworld competition. if you watch these clips closely, you can also see the DC logo, referring to the Stargirl competition as well. I think these are nods to the past two scoring events and that Spitfire is going to introduce a new event.
> It should be interesting to see what direction they will take us in this year.


You’re totally right Simeon! Will update the thread title!


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## Loïc D

I’d gladly score a snippet of My Little Pony.
Pleeeease Spitfire, make it happen !
(if not, it’s ok for Barbie).


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## Alex Fraser

Can you imagine if they dropped a Kenobi clip or something?


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## mybadmemory

So… Westworld… Stargirl… Any bets on what this one will be? :D


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## Music01Bebe

mybadmemory said:


> So… Westworld… Stargirl… Any bets on what this one will be? :D


Mandalorian


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## Bee_Abney

Westworld and Stargirl are connected by Warner Brothers Television at both production and distribution levels. So, maybe there is a continuing relationship there.

Unfortunately, despite at one time being involved in negotiations, Warner Brothers ultimately had no role in producing the new Lord of the Rings series. So there goes my hope that the prize was to be Howard Shore.


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## blaggins

Bee_Abney said:


> the prize was to be Howard Shore.


like... to take home with you at the end?  

I'm looking forward to the comp. I have not a chance in hell of placing, but it's kinda fun being apart of a large competition with a lot of buzz. Plus so many opportunities to see how other folks scored the scene and what works and what doesn't.


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## Taron

Hmmm, let's see if I wish to do that to myself again. After having tried a few compos I found myself a happier man without them.

However, now I finally do have some proper libraries to work with and have learned a great deal. I've started into all of this with the DC Stargirl compo... might be educational to try it now. Let's see if I care to spend some time on it.

Guesses as to what, hmmmmm... power women are a theme they can't shake off thus far, but transgender and gay hasn't been featured by them, yet, so.... since Tom Swift- or whatever that show's name was- has dropped worse than a led zeppelin, we probably will be spared to score a clip of that. 
(And there goes my chances to have any of my stuff viewed at all!) 

There is the almost adorable Ms.Marvel- or whatever that show's name is- which is a real possibility. Okay, yes, that's my guess: *Ms. Marvel*!


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## creativeforge

Spitfire contest, eh... I wonder ... I Ponder... Assunder... a Thunder...
HMMMMMM.... how Straaaaange, Doctor... What, son? ... What could it be about... 
I know... me too...


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## cet34f

Is Koji Kondo in the review panel this time?


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## Music01Bebe

Taron said:


> There is the almost adorable Ms.Marvel- or whatever that show's name is- which is a real possibility. Okay, yes, that's my guess: *Ms. Marvel*!


I was gonna also say Ms Marvel but the show just came out


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## David Kudell

Alex Fraser said:


> What would really send the forum into a fizz, is if Spitfire announced you as a judge. 😅


Well, anything that sends the forum into a fizz is worth doing.

I'd actually like to enter and win the thing again, but there's no scenario in which I'd be chosen. Can you imagine the backlash?

"Hi this is Paul Thompson, and, well, you're not going to believe this...."


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## Henrik B. Jensen

I don’t mean to brag, however I could enter any Spitfire scoring competition regardless of theme and finish right at the bottom.


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## mybadmemory

David Kudell said:


> Well, anything that sends the forum into a fizz is worth doing.
> 
> I'd actually like to enter and win the thing again, but there's no scenario in which I'd be chosen. Can you imagine the backlash?
> 
> "Hi this is Paul Thompson, and, well, you're not going to believe this...."


Haha! I’d love it if you won again David. Especially with something catchy and unexpected as last time. That would make the internet explode! 😂


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## Henrik B. Jensen

ka00 said:


> I feel like most people imagine if you win a contest like this, it catapults your career to a place where you no longer need to or care to enter any more contests like this. Like they open the gates of the Hollywood inner circle and you’re set for life, hobnobbing with JJ and the like.
> 
> Or maybe it’s just me who imagines that. Is that not how it works, lol?
> 
> Wait, did you make a video on this topic already? I feel like I watched something. Like a life-after-my-win update video?
> 
> Or is no single competition really a life-changing, finally-breaking-into-the-industry moment?


I was searching the forum the other day for some stuff about JXL Brass. One of the posts I found was from David where he said something like “I’m just a hobbyist”. AFAIK, now he’s making music for films etc.


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## Loïc D

Henrik B. Jensen said:


> I was searching the forum the other day for some stuff about JXL Brass. One of the posts I found was from David where he said something like “I’m just a hobbyist”. AFAIK, now he’s making music for films etc.


I’m just a hobbyist.

You read it first here.


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## Benbln

A dark thriller scene would be great, I'm already downloading Super Audio Cart Complete for preparation right now


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## gedlig

Bee_Abney said:


> Unfortunately, despite at one time being involved in negotiations, Warner Brothers ultimately had no role in producing the new Lord of the Rings series. So there goes my hope that the prize was to be Howard Shore.


It shows up in the Wiki list of things W bros. television made


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## Bee_Abney

gedlig said:


> It shows up in the Wiki list of things W bros. television made


Ooh, so I'm still in with a shot at Howard Shore!

Unfortunately, I think Amazon took over the production wholesale. So that could just be an historical credit, recognising past work even if they have no involvement now.


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## gedlig

For some reason I feel they will give some comedy or sitcom series to be completely unexpected.


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## Taron

Music01Bebe said:


> I was gonna also say Ms Marvel but the show just came out


Wasn't Stargirl pretty new then, too? Or was it already in Season 2? I don't remember.

Anyway, I'd shake my head laughing, if they went for the new LotR destruction that has already so much hatred online!  ...at least then SA wouldn't have to wait for the results to get a lively s#itstorm in advance!


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## Henrik B. Jensen

If someone submits an unconventional piece of music and the judges feel it fits perfectly and wants to pick it as winner, I hope they’ll have the guts to do so even after the reactions last time.


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## Drundfunk

Henrik B. Jensen said:


> If someone submits an unconventional piece of music and the judges feel it fits perfectly and wants to pick it as winner, I hope they’ll have the guts to do so even after the reactions last time.


I thought the tactic with these things is to be as unconventional as possible, so the entry gets noticed and is memorable. The downside is if everyone submits unconventional entries you might stick out more if you write generic garbage. Decisons, decisions........ . Man, I'm excellent in overthinking.


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## timbit2006

Whatever it is to, I think I will do a solo tuba score.


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## Manaberry

For once they are not announcing another string library.


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## Taron

Drundfunk said:


> I thought the tactic with these things is to be as unconventional as possible, so the entry gets noticed and is memorable. The downside is if everyone submits unconventional entries you might stick out more if you write generic garbage. Decisons, decisions........ . Man, I'm excellent in overthinking.


Nah, I think that was balanced out by the Stargirl results already.


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## Music01Bebe

Taron said:


> Wasn't Stargirl pretty new then, too? Or was it already in Season 2? I don't remember.
> 
> Anyway, I'd shake my head laughing, if they went for the new LotR destruction that has already so much hatred online!  ...at least then SA wouldn't have to wait for the results to get a lively s#itstorm in advance!


Yeah, scene was from s1 but s2 already came out


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## mybadmemory




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## Alex Fraser

I'm just going to plonk "Running Up That Hill" on top of the footage. One and done. The rest of you can fight over the runner-up prize.


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## pranic

Fun fact. Warner Bros distributes Game of Thrones. That's my guess 9.5 hours ahead of their announcement. Regardless the scene, this is always a fun time of the year to really see how many people throw their hats in the ring, and just how diverse the entries are. Also, it's a time where watching the same scene over and over again leaves burnt images in the mind and phrases at the ready, e.g. "Maximum speed"... followed by "Accelerate" or "The Bus!".


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## Loïc D

pranic said:


> Also, it's a time where watching the same scene over and over again leaves burnt images in the mind and phrases at the ready, e.g. "Maximum speed"... followed by "Accelerate" or "The Bus!".


Lol, this is a “standard issue” when scoring.


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## JokerOne

So is this contest something for the future that might be used on a TV show or is this just "for fun", and its scoring a clip of a prior show?


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## Music01Bebe

JokerOne said:


> So is this contest something for the future that might be used on a TV show or is this just "for fun", and its scoring a clip of a prior show?


It's for fun and scoring a prior clip, last time the winner also got a 1on1 session with the composer so it was a stargirl scene and the composer was Pinar Toprak


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## JokerOne

Music01Bebe said:


> It's for fun and scoring a prior clip, last time the winner also got a 1on1 session with the composer so it was a stargirl scene and the composer was Pinar Toprak


The reason I had "for fun" in quotes was the prize isn't exactly chump change. Isn't it about $17K worth of products? Got to pay income tax on that in the US, but I'm not talented or lucky enough to have such problems. I'll still give it a shot. Good luck to all.


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## Bee_Abney

JokerOne said:


> The reason I had "for fun" in quotes was the prize isn't exactly chump change. Isn't it about $17K worth of products? Got to pay income tax on that in the US, but I'm not talented or lucky enough to have such problems. I'll still give it a shot. Good luck to all.


You have to pay tax on gifts?! Wow, that must be a lot of fun at Christmas!

I imagine it is only gifts over a certain value, though. I hope... Or only gifts that are prizes. I would love to see that applied to a game of pass the parcel!


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## JokerOne

Bee_Abney said:


> You have to pay tax on gifts?! Wow, that must be a lot of fun at Christmas!
> 
> I imagine it is only gifts over a certain, though. I hope... Or only gifts that are prizes. I would love to see that applied to a game of pass the parcel!


In the US (assuming your income is high enough, which means lower middle class on up), you have to pay income taxes on just about any sort of thing you get. I think there is a lower limit. But all of these "Wheel of Fortune" winners and alike who get $20K in prizes, etc have to pay taxes on that and its considered income. Gambling, Lotto, etc. All counts. Nobody is going to tax you on the $25 you won on a slot machine, but if you win more than (I think) $500 the Casino makes you sign an IRS form before giving you the $$$

The first winner of the TV show Survivor (Richard Hatch) spent time in federal prison for not paying the income tax he won from the show. 

Anyway, I should be so fortunate as to worry about paying ~28% of my winnings on this contest.

enjoy.


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## blaggins

Anyone else irrationally giddy that it's Bridgerton? Love the show and I'm looking forward to trying something in the vein of a modern chamber score (looking forward to it much more than I was looking forward to a marvel action thang.)


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## Bee_Abney

JokerOne said:


> In the US (assuming your income is high enough, which means lower middle class on up), you have to pay income taxes on just about any sort of thing you get. I think there is a lower limit. But all of these "Wheel of Fortune" winners and alike who get $20K in prizes, etc have to pay taxes on that and its considered income. Gambling, Lotto, etc. All counts. Nobody is going to tax you on the $25 you won on a slot machine, but if you win more than (I think) $500 the Casino makes you sign an IRS form before giving you the $$$
> 
> The first winner of the TV show Survivor (Richard Hatch) spent time in federal prison for not paying the income tax he won from the show.
> 
> Anyway, I should be so fortunate as to worry about paying ~28% of my winnings on this contest.
> 
> enjoy.


What else can you expect from a socialist country?


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## Bee_Abney

Bridgerton? Great. A fantastic change of pace.


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## JokerOne

tpoots said:


> Anyone else irrationally giddy that it's Bridgerton? Love the show and I'm looking forward to trying something in the vein of a modern chamber score (looking forward to it much more than I was looking forward to a marvel action thang.)


My wife watched it, I've wondered though the room and glanced at it. I think the period works much better for an orchestral score than does a lot of other shows I could think of.


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## JokerOne

Bee_Abney said:


> What else can you expect from a socialist country?


I can expect quite a bit..


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## NoamL

Bee_Abney said:


> Bridgerton? Great. A fantastic change of pace.


I think they're switching genres.


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## robcs

Bridgerton? Perfect! I was looking for something to try out the new Sonokinetic 80s synth library on


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## JokerOne

Bee_Abney said:


> Bridgerton? Great. A fantastic change of pace.


Yes, I think this one will be fun to do and see what others come up with. I don't know if its better to watch the show or go into it with a blank page.


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## Music01Bebe

JokerOne said:


> Yes, I think this one will be fun to do and see what others come up with. I don't know if its better to watch the show or go into it with a blank page.


I'm having those thoughts also, but I think i'm going to do it with a fresh mind and not listen nor watch bridgerton


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## JokerOne

Music01Bebe said:


> I'm having those thoughts also, but I think i'm going to do it with a fresh mind and not listen nor watch bridgerton


My only thought is that if the film composer is one of the judges, it helps to know what he thinks is important/likes, etc. However, if you try and clone what he did, it isn't going to work. Maybe do a before/after. Make one score fresh, then come back and watch the first season, then take another stab at it and see which one works best. That is if you have unlimited time to do this.


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## Leslie Fuller

Eagerly awaiting @David Kudell entry 🤪

Just seen that he posted this video on his channel earlier:

.
👏👏


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## Vlzmusic

Does anyone know if its one entry per person?


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## Tice

It's not going to be easy! They picked a clip with the pacing of a montage with a narrator over it. It'll be a challenge!


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## Henrik B. Jensen

Leslie Fuller said:


> Eagerly awaiting @David Kudell entry 🤪
> 
> Just seen that he posted this video on his channel earlier:
> 
> .
> 👏👏



I’m only at 2:26 and I’m choking with laughter!
The subs fit so well, @David Kudell !


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## Henrik B. Jensen

Leslie Fuller said:


> Eagerly awaiting @David Kudell entry 🤪
> 
> Just seen that he posted this video on his channel earlier:
> 
> .
> 👏👏



It only gets funnier knowing there’s bound to be a whole bunch of bitter people watching! 😂


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## JokerOne

Vlzmusic said:


> Does anyone know if its one entry per person?


Yes, thats what they said. one entry per person.


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## Cdnalsi

Did they ever say how long it took them to listen to all 11,000 entries for Westworld? If they have actually listened to all...


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## JokerOne

Cdnalsi said:


> Did they ever say how long it took them to listen to all 11,000 entries for Westworld? If they have actually listened to all...


don't know but it looks like they have given themselves every day the contest is open plus another 4 or 5 weeks to sift though the entries to choose.


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## Trash Panda

Will it be another Westworld scene? Matrix Resurrections? A new DC film? The new Lord of the Rings????

Nope. Fucking Bridgerton.


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## Cdnalsi

JokerOne said:


> don't know but it looks like they have given themselves every day the contest is open plus another 4 or 5 weeks to sift though the entries to choose.


I remember reading people not seeing any views from other countries on their youtube analytics.. so what’s the point in entering if it’s just going to be a popularity contest…


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## FlyingAndi

Leslie Fuller said:


> Eagerly awaiting @David Kudell entry 🤪


And I'm eagerly awaiting the Fightin' Mooses entry. I'm confident that his style will fit the Bridgerton setting perfectly.


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## Music01Bebe

Trash Panda said:


> Will it be another Westworld scene? Matrix Resurrections? A new DC film? The new Lord of the Rings????
> 
> Nope. Fucking Bridgerton.


lol


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## blaggins

Cdnalsi said:


> Did they ever say how long it took them to listen to all 11,000 entries for Westworld? If they have actually listened to all...



Kris Bowers isn't going to listen to 5000+ entries. No one person is. A big team of people (and probably their interns, employees, perhaps children) will be used to farm out the work. Each of those people will have a manageable chunk of entries to judge, and they will pass on their favorites, and then other people will refine those, and so on and so on, and eventually a manageable number of finalists will be evaluated by the "head" judges. At least that's how I would organize this if I had to. Anything else would be madness. Personally, I can't even listen to 50 entries without going insane (have you ever tried listening to all the public entries even in a small contest yourself?)



> I remember reading people not seeing any views from other countries on their youtube analytics.. so what’s the point in entering if it’s just going to be a popularity contest…



Also if I am correct, then looking at the "country-of-origin" of your YT analytics is a fools errand. You would have no idea who had gotten your entry farmed out to them, or where they live, or what address they used in their YT account (if they are even logged in when they are looking at entries) or if they have a VPN on, or keep in mind that you don't even know where YT derives their analytics from! In any case YT analytics aren't omniscient, VPNs and cookies can almost certainly obscure the truth.


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## Drundfunk

Cdnalsi said:


> I remember reading people not seeing any views from other countries on their youtube analytics.. so what’s the point in entering if it’s just going to be a popularity contest…


That always depends what counts as a view. You didn't think they would listen to every track from beginning to end? For example with the Westworld competition the most important part was the genre shift. So my guess is in round one they just skipped forward to that part to check if the entry acknowledged the shift or not. If yes, your entry moves to the next round, if not you're out. Next round might be about production quality and so on and so on. Such competitions aren't these pretty things where someone listens to your full entry and then is fully enchanted by it and then tells the other judges why you definitely should win. Such discussions only happen in the last round. Before that it's all about technicalities.


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## KEM

A period piece? Way out of my comfort zone, this should be a lot of fun!!


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## Jeremy Spencer

KEM said:


> A period piece? Way out of my comfort zone, this should be a lot of fun!!


As proven by the Westword competition, anything goes.


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## KEM

Jeremy Spencer said:


> As proven by the Westword competition, anything goes.


 
Oh absolutely, that’s exactly why mine will be sounding like Ludwig Göransson


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## Drundfunk

KEM said:


> Oh absolutely, that’s exactly why mine will be sounding like Ludwig Göransson


Anything can be an action sequence if you just want it hard enough


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## Kyle Preston

This calls for the Seinfeld bass I think...


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## Jacob Fanto

There’s gonna be a lottttt of similar entires…


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## wahey73

Jacob Fanto said:


> There’s gonna be a lottttt of similar entires…


plus that one that will stand out 😉


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## redlester

Think I’m in a minority here but I detest period drama as a genre. Mind you I also don’t like sci-fi. I don’t think I’m the target audience for these competitions! I could never be a pro media composer because I wouldn’t be able to work on things that don’t inspire or interest me.

I wish it had been score a scene from Brian & Charles.


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## tonio_

Time to whoop out a disgusting djenty riff.

I've watched the clip 3 times now, still have no idea what's going on and my entry should reflect that.


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## Bruhelius

I will go for a 100% softporn underscore with zero transitions…isn’t that how Christian Henson got into the biz in the first place


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## Jeremy Spencer

redlester said:


> Think I’m in a minority here but I detest period drama as a genre. Mind you I also don’t like sci-fi. I don’t think I’m the target audience for these competitions! I could never be a pro media composer because I wouldn’t be able to work on things that don’t inspire or interest me.
> 
> I wish it had been score a scene from Brian & Charles.


But that’s the beauty of it, the score doesn’t need to match the period. You could make it death metal if you want.


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## Dr.Quest

Jeremy Spencer said:


> But that’s the beauty of it, the score doesn’t need to match the period. You could make it death metal if you want.


True but it still needs to fit the scene and help tell the story.


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## tonio_

Dr.Quest said:


> True but it still needs to fit the scene and help tell the story.


Metal always fits


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## Jeremy Spencer

Dr.Quest said:


> True but it still needs to fit the scene and help tell the story.


There are a lot of period films with a modern score. A good composer knows his/her craft.


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## dcoscina

I’m hearing 12 tone minimalism. Alto and bass recorder and string quintet. Maybe pianoforte but prepared. 😜


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## Dr.Quest

Jeremy Spencer said:


> There are a lot of period films with a modern score. A good composer knows his/her craft.


Of course. That’s exactly it. I wasn’t saying it wouldn’t work. Whatever you do still needs to support the narrative. That’s the heart of the craft.


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## Dr.Quest

The Green Knight has a great score that both period centric yet contemporary. Lots of possibilities for this.


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## chrishurn

Looking forward to hearing the entries...these comps are such a good way to learn (learned a ton from the last one) and it's a real treat to get to work with great footage.


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## dunamisstudio

Alex Fraser said:


> I'm just going to plonk "Running Up That Hill" on top of the footage. One and done. The rest of you can fight over the runner-up prize.





tonio_ said:


> Metal always fits


In that case, I'll do Master of Puppets


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## RudyS

tonio_ said:


> Time to whoop out a disgusting djenty riff.
> 
> I've watched the clip 3 times now, still have no idea what's going on and my entry should reflect that.


My girlfriend, who watched the show, explained what was happening. I also really didn’t have a clue and I don’t think someone is able to deduct without watching the series. I could write down whats happening if you want. 

Though I understand what is happening, I still have no idea where to go with the score. The different scenes in the clip make it really hard.

Any general tips on how to approach such a clip?


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## Loïc D

I don’t know anything about the show.

I’ll probably walk the safe road : Hanna-Barbera mickeymousing.


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## FlyingAndi

My wife watched the show as well (I joined her from time to time hoping for some nudity).
So here's what's happening: Daphne has decided to marry the Duke of Hastings.
In the second scene we see the queen reading a newsletter (at that time nobody knows who the author is, but as it contains quite accurate gossip, everybody is reads it). The queen wanted Daphne to marry some other guy (Frederick?), so she is not amused to find out that Daphne has chosen the Duke of Hastings.

I also find this very hard to score. I tried some ideas but so far nothing works. It doesn't work without a score either.


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## Henrik B. Jensen

FlyingAndi said:


> My wife watched the show as well (I joined her from time to time hoping for some nudity).


In the show, or?


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## FlyingAndi

Henrik B. Jensen said:


> In the show, or?


Both, of course.
I had read some articles saying Bridgerton was full of nudity but it was nothing like Spartacus.


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## Robin Thompson

I did a thing. Sorry not sorry...


----------



## TomislavEP

I'm generally not into these competitions although they are an excellent opportunity to practice stepping out of your comfort zones. Stylistically, this one is undoubtedly closer to what I most usually compose than the previous two assignments. However, after the first watch, I'm pretty much drawing a blank - the scene itself doesn't move me very much. Perhaps I should just try to relax and let go of all the norms of aesthetics for a change. We'll see...


----------



## Manaberry

If some of you are looking for the "what it is like to score for TV" experience, start writing on the very last day of the competition.


----------



## RudyS

FlyingAndi said:


> My wife watched the show as well (I joined her from time to time hoping for some nudity).
> So here's what's happening: Daphne has decided to marry the Duke of Hastings.
> In the second scene we see the queen reading a newsletter (at that time nobody knows who the author is, but as it contains quite accurate gossip, everybody is reads it). The queen wanted Daphne to marry some other guy (Frederick?), so she is not amused to find out that Daphne has chosen the Duke of Hastings.
> 
> I also find this very hard to score. I tried some ideas but so far nothing works. It doesn't work without a score either.


Yes, good description. The voice over we hear is also from this Gossip writer obviously. The "other guy" was the nephew of the queen.


Spoiler: spoiler



Also the two reasons for the "race to the altar, true love or a scandal" is in this case a scandal, but however later in the series appears to be true love.


----------



## icecoolpool

Having now watched the clip, I´m hoping for @KEM to go full Tenet and win the thing!


----------



## dcoscina

So, to be frank here is the issue I have with this one. The previous contests involved genre shows which could function as self-contained set pieces- the composer didn't need to know a lot about the series to score it (well, at least superficially). This is a period drama. Without any context, any attempt at re-scoring this will end up gimmicky or again, superficial. Those who watch the show will have a supreme advantage because they will know the characters, their arc, and their motivation. 

I love Spitfire Audio but I think this challenge is a little bit of a misstep... my 2 cents. sorry for the cynicism because I admire what they are doing with these contests by and large.


----------



## Loïc D

My early test playing “Highway to Hell” on harpsichord were very satisfying.
I think I won’t spend more time on this very boring posh movie.

On a more serious note, in many places, the film calls for no music.

Hey, I might enter eventually.


----------



## Robin Thompson

dcoscina said:


> So, to be frank here is the issue I have with this one. The previous contests involved genre shows which could function as self-contained set pieces- the composer didn't need to know a lot about the series to score it (well, at least superficially). This is a period drama. Without any context, any attempt at re-scoring this will end up gimmicky or again, superficial. Those who watch the show will have a supreme advantage because they will know the characters, their arc, and their motivation.
> 
> I love Spitfire Audio but I think this challenge is a little bit of a misstep... my 2 cents. sorry for the cynicism because I admire what they are doing with these contests by and large.


I think the challenge with this clip is somewhat the opposite of last year. The Stargirl scene was SO specific that it didn't leave much room for interpretation. Everyone brought their own sound of course, but in terms of emotion there was pretty much just one "right" way to approach the scene, specific moods and beats that had to be hit, so most entries sounded a lot alike. This one however is wide open to whatever vibe the music brings to it - the mood could be almost anything. Which is freeing.... but also doesn't offer much to latch on to. The Westworld clip was the perfect balance - there was a clear progression to the scene but room to interpret what it means emotionally.


----------



## FuzyDunlop

These competitions are fairly frustrating. This scene has no context and so someone who doesn't watch the show has absolutely no idea what the emotions are supposed to be. That leaves it more open in terms of experimentation for the competition, but writing a completely off the wall piece of music that doesn't actually fit the scene at all (like the first competition winner) doesn't seem like it's good practice to find out what it's like to actually score a TV show. And _not_ doing that means you don't stand out and have no chance of winning....


----------



## dcoscina

FuzyDunlop said:


> These competitions are fairly frustrating. This scene has no context and so someone who doesn't watch the show has absolutely no idea what the emotions are supposed to be. That leaves it more open in terms of experimentation for the competition, but writing a completely off the wall piece of music that doesn't actually fit the scene at all (like the first competition winner) doesn't seem like it's good practice to find out what it's like to actually score a TV show. And _not_ doing that means you don't stand out and have no chance of winning....


I do agree. I have scored films before and while I like the challenge of these exercises, they aren't really indicative of what happens when you are composing on a real project.


----------



## Alex Fraser

dcoscina said:


> I do agree. I have scored films before and while I like the challenge of these exercises, they aren't really indicative of what happens when you are composing on a real project.


I agree here. The principle difference with normal scoring is you have a brief, notes etc. Sometimes you might even be matching a temp score right down to the tempo map. Rarely it’s “go with what you want.”

But some of the disciplines are the same. There’s pace changes in this footage, dialogue “hit points” that need to be cleared. So it’s good practice. Take it for what it is I think.

Personally, I think this clip will be more fun to score than the Stargirl one. I’m not sure there’s much room to go stylistically off the wall this time, and ostinatos and big drums probably won’t be the sweet spot.


----------



## FuzyDunlop

Alex Fraser said:


> I agree here. The principle difference with normal scoring is you have a brief, notes etc. Sometimes you might even be matching a temp score right down to the tempo map. Rarely it’s “go with what you want.”
> 
> But some of the disciplines are the same. There’s pace changes in this footage, dialogue “hit points” that need to be cleared. So it’s good practice. Take it for what it is I think.


I'm still going to score it, because it will be challenging for me (I have absolutely no interest in this kind of show), but I probably won't even bother submitting an entry.


----------



## Alex Fraser

FuzyDunlop said:


> I'm still going to score it, because it will be challenging for me (I have absolutely no interest in this kind of show), but I probably won't even bother submitting an entry.


Might as well submit it! Nothing to lose.


----------



## ka00

It's chilling to me how easy this guy made it look. I think the more pro you are, the more experience you have, the less you complain about what you're given, or how much time you have, or what samples you have, etc.

I'm not saying this will win (because that's its own separate game), but if he handed this in for a client, I'm guessing they would be happy.

Definitely an eye opener watching this. He clarified all the emotions and the flow of the edit. Any complaints you might have about the scene disappear when you hear it scored properly. And that's also the sign of a pro.


----------



## tonio_

RudyS said:


> My girlfriend, who watched the show, explained what was happening. I also really didn’t have a clue and I don’t think someone is able to deduct without watching the series. I could write down whats happening if you want.
> 
> Though I understand what is happening, I still have no idea where to go with the score. The different scenes in the clip make it really hard.
> 
> Any general tips on how to approach such a clip?


Yeah I looked up some stuff on wikipedia to get a hang of what was happening and I was kind of in the ballpark after the 7th time I watched it haha

I'm not a pro, so I doubt you'll want any tips from me, but since this is sort of a montage with voiceover, I'd say something that doesn't jump around too much. Basically, score it like you would score a montage while being mindful of the dialogue. Once they switch to the shot of the staircase, I'm thinking that music is out at that point since everything that happens just gets cut abruptly.

I'm hearing a few different options in my head personally, but I haven't really moved past that stage yet


----------



## Drundfunk

ka00 said:


> It's chilling to me how easy this guy made it look. I think the more pro you are, the more experience you have, the less you complain about what you're given, or how much time you have, or what samples you have, etc.
> 
> I'm not saying this will win (because that's its own separate game), but if he handed this in for a client, I'm guessing they would be happy.
> 
> Definitely an eye opener watching this. He clarified all the emotions and the flow of the edit. Any complaints you might have about the scene disappear when you hear it scored properly. And that's also the sign of a pro.



I really didn't want to listen to any entries before I've worked on mine, but I got curious, because he claims he wrote this whole thing in one hour. Just damn... . It's really good.


----------



## RudyS

ka00 said:


> It's chilling to me how easy this guy made it look. I think the more pro you are, the more experience you have, the less you complain about what you're given, or how much time you have, or what samples you have, etc.
> 
> I'm not saying this will win (because that's its own separate game), but if he handed this in for a client, I'm guessing they would be happy.
> 
> Definitely an eye opener watching this. He clarified all the emotions and the flow of the edit. Any complaints you might have about the scene disappear when you hear it scored properly. And that's also the sign of a pro.



He did it in one hour....


tonio_ said:


> Yeah I looked up some stuff on wikipedia to get a hang of what was happening and I was kind of in the ballpark after the 7th time I watched it haha
> 
> I'm not a pro, so I doubt you'll want any tips from me, but since this is sort of a montage with voiceover, I'd say something that doesn't jump around too much. Basically, score it like you would score a montage while being mindful of the dialogue. Once they switch to the shot of the staircase, I'm thinking that music is out at that point since everything that happens just gets cut abruptly.
> 
> I'm hearing a few different options in my head personally, but I haven't really moved past that stage yet


thanks! Will give it a try.


----------



## JokerOne

RudyS said:


> He did it in one hour....
> 
> thanks! Will give it a try.


Here is how I'm going to approach this. Treat it as a fun project that I can use the results for something else in the future. I'm sure my results will end up in the bottom half of all entries even if there is a Solar EMP that knocks out everyone's power until after the deadline.


----------



## blaggins

Alex Fraser said:


> I agree here. The principle difference with normal scoring is you have a brief, notes etc. Sometimes you might even be matching a temp score right down to the tempo map. Rarely it’s “go with what you want.”


In some sense you could probably watch the actual score in that scene and just pretend like that is your temp score right? My own fear would be that I would just get paralyzed by a feeling of hopeless inadequacy  but in terms of pacing and tempo and mood, we already have one very good interpretation available to us... the actual score. (I mean, as long as you have Netflix or are able to find the episode on YouTube or something...)

All that being said, last year I avoided listening to the real score while doing the competition. But to be honest I was wildly off base with my own entry.


----------



## David Kudell

JokerOne said:


> Here is how I'm going to approach this. Treat it as a fun project that I can use the results for something else in the future. I'm sure my results will end up in the bottom half of all entries even if there is a Solar EMP that knocks out everyone's power until after the deadline.


Someone I know had the exact same feelings of inadequacy before the Westworld contest. 

That someone was me. Just do it. You might surprise yourself.


----------



## Alex Fraser

tpoots said:


> In some sense you could probably watch the actual score in that scene and just pretend like that is your temp score right? My own fear would be that I would just get paralyzed by a feeling of hopeless inadequacy  but in terms of pacing and tempo and mood, we already have one very good interpretation available to us... the actual score. (I mean, as long as you have Netflix or are able to find the episode on YouTube or something...)
> 
> All that being said, last year I avoided listening to the real score while doing the competition. But to be honest I was wildly off base with my own entry.


I guess the original score would be a good guide in terms of pace changes, certain bits of dialogue being “clear” of the music etc. 

It’s that fine line, innit. Something that works with the scene but different enough to stand out. Can’t wait to hear what the collective comes up with.


----------



## JokerOne

tpoots said:


> In some sense you could probably watch the actual score in that scene and just pretend like that is your temp score right? My own fear would be that I would just get paralyzed by a feeling of hopeless inadequacy  but in terms of pacing and tempo and mood, we already have one very good interpretation available to us... the actual score. (I mean, as long as you have Netflix or are able to find the episode on YouTube or something...)
> 
> All that being said, last year I avoided listening to the real score while doing the competition. But to be honest I was wildly off base with my own entry.


I did watch the trailer to Bridgerton. I don't know if the show composer wrote it or someone else but it was about what I was expecting and what I was aiming for. Reminds me of Bart Simpson's teacher telling the class she wants each student to make a short film and she doesn't want 30 copies of the Blair Witch Project and the entire class just moaned..


----------



## Trash Panda

FuzyDunlop said:


> These competitions are fairly frustrating. This scene has no context and so someone who doesn't watch the show has absolutely no idea what the emotions are supposed to be.


Take whatever emotions the actors are showing and do the opposite with the music. If nothing else, the results should be very entertaining.


----------



## JokerOne

David Kudell said:


> Someone I know had the exact same feelings of inadequacy before the Westworld contest.
> 
> That someone was me. Just do it. You might surprise yourself.


thanks. I'll keep in mind that anything artistic like this is so very subjective that each of the judges could pick an entirely different set of "winners" each day based on which side of the bed the woke up on. I remember that the CEO of FedEx proposed in his college term paper the package delivery system that FedEx uses and I think he got a "C". I watched a youtube video the other day where a woman was listening to "Another Brick in the Wall" for the first time, and it was the scene where the teacher reads Pink's Poetry. "I'm all right Jack, keep your hands off my stack, new car, caviar four star day dream, think I'll buy me a football team". Then declares it rubbish and whacks Pink on the knuckles. 

The woman watching said "It was ok, I don't think it was that bad"..  

Anyway, you get my point.


----------



## JokerOne

Trash Panda said:


> Take whatever emotions the actors are showing and do the opposite with the music. If nothing else, the results should be very entertaining.


Having not seen the show, the lead actress doesn't look very thrilled in the prospect of being married off to who they picked.


----------



## emasters

After the Westworld outcome, will pass this time.


----------



## mgaewsj

may I ask if someone could kindly do a short recap of what happened with the Westworld competition - for those who joined VI-C after it (I have watched David's hilarious video btw 🙂)


----------



## ka00

mgaewsj said:


> I have watched David's hilarious video btw 🙂)


That might as well serve as the official recap video.


----------



## Benbln

mgaewsj said:


> may I ask if someone could kindly do a short recap of what happened with the Westworld competition - for those who joined VI-C after it (I have watched David's hilarious video btw 🙂)


----------



## mgaewsj

Benbln said:


>



great video yes, really effective in understanding David's perspective and feelings.

afaiu there is however much more than just people being pissed off by David's win with an "unconventional" piece. perhaps I am wrong


----------



## Trash Panda

JokerOne said:


> Having not seen the show, the lead actress doesn't look very thrilled in the prospect of being married off to who they picked.


Prime spot to insert the opening bars from Sound of Silence!


----------



## angeruroth

Damn, I'll be away for almost all of the competition... So I'll have like 2 days to do it!  But I love the way the images flow, it's not epic stuff (nice, nice, nice!), and I still remember how much fun was the first one (well, until the ogres awoke... but still) and how much I learned just by doing it and reading feedback from some of the awesome VI-C inhabitants. So, yeah, let's do this! 
May the muses be with you!


----------



## tonio_

Trash Panda said:


> Prime spot to insert the opening bars from Sound of Silence!


I see what you did there and I like it


----------



## jononotbono

Excellent. Love the pre judging stage. Everyone is just so nice to each other! 😂


----------



## fakemaxwell

mgaewsj said:


> afaiu there is however much more than just people being pissed off by David's win with an "unconventional" piece. perhaps I am wrong


You can go find the thread and read it. TLDR: much wailing and gnashing of teeth from 1 day old accounts acting like they're owed something from a free competition


----------



## Emanuel Fróes

Robin Thompson said:


> Hold up.... I don't actually see this announcement on Spitfire's instagram. Nor anything on their website or forums. ???


!!!


----------



## DoubleTap

fakemaxwell said:


> You can go find the thread and read it. TLDR: much wailing and gnashing of teeth from 1 day old accounts acting like they're owed something from a free competition


And all of them completely missing the point of the sequence, saying it didn't fit, when the actual score used Ride of the fucking Valkyries in an ironic and story-driven way. Great example of people on the internet being wrong.


----------



## Sat9

RudyS said:


> My girlfriend, who watched the show, explained what was happening. I also really didn’t have a clue and I don’t think someone is able to deduct without watching the series. I could write down whats happening if you want.
> 
> Though I understand what is happening, I still have no idea where to go with the score. The different scenes in the clip make it really hard.
> 
> Any general tips on how to approach such a clip?


I don't watch the show but what I gathered from the clip the older Lady was setting the young girl up with the blonde dude that shows up when she is reading the gossip. 
So the old lady's plans got ruined somehow and the girl is marrying another guy...
What I don't understand is if the girl is actually happy about it or not? I dont know if I'm reading to much into. Maybe she is just nervous I suppose?
Is this show some sort of victorian Gossip Girl?


----------



## SyMTiK

DoubleTap said:


> And all of them completely missing the point of the sequence, saying it didn't fit, when the actual score used Ride of the fucking Valkyries in an ironic and story-driven way. Great example of people on the internet being wrong.


I think some of the frustration came from a clash of Spitfire's instructions - they stated you couldn't use context from the full show itself to influence your composition, and that your score should represent the scene given at face value. For that I can kind of understand some people being upset feeling misled by the competition rules, but I seriously disagree with people who think that David's score was bad in any way - I think it was superbly done and would honestly have fit perfectly in the show. I loved the way it played on some more lighthearted interpretations of the dialogue to alter the way the audience perceived the scene, while still having a balance of more serious action undertones. Creative, different, and garnered a reaction! All qualities of good art.

Also, given that it is a free competition, I don't think the outrage was really justified at all. With 11,000 entries, it's like winning a lottery. I don't get mad losing at Power Ball, and I have to pay 2 dollars for that!

Just treat it like an opportunity to gain some experience working on high quality cinema, add it to your portfolio, and have fun with it! A lot of my portfolio contains work I have done as part of competitions, and I landed my first serious composing gig recently showcasing them, and I have never won a single competition in my life!


----------



## WindcryMusic

DoubleTap said:


> And all of them completely missing the point of the sequence, saying it didn't fit, when the actual score used Ride of the fucking Valkyries in an ironic and story-driven way. Great example of people on the internet being wrong.



For me, this goes back to what someone said several pages ago … about how frustrating it is to try and score a scene from a series one knows nothing about. For example, I’m a cord-cutter (by necessity) and don’t have Netflix or any other streaming service either, so I’ve never seen Westworld, Stargirl or the Bridgertons. As a result, in both of the first two cases I found that the winning score didn’t make sense to me, only to find out later that it was my own misunderstanding of the overall context of each series that caused me to not comprehend how the score applied to the scene. And I’m sure the same will end up being true of the Bridgertons winning score as well. I’d briefly considered attempting to enter something for this contest, because I like the musical genre, but quickly realized it would be pointless* because of my lack of knowledge of the series.

In fact, speaking more generally, I‘ve finally admitted to myself that one has to be willing and able to pay for and consume the tripe that passes for the majority of modern day television as a prerequisite for composing for it. That’s one of the two main reasons I’ve now largely given up the hopes I once had to make music a profession ... just about all of the TV and movies I find artistically motivating are now decades old. I simply got started thirty years too late.

* Re: “pointless”, it’s true that I could still score the Bridgertons scene just for the practice, but I think such time would be better spent on composing for my own video series, for which I obviously have full knowledge of the characters and plot, and where I can attempt to make use of the results in some small way.


----------



## mgaewsj

fakemaxwell said:


> You can go find the thread and read it. TLDR: much wailing and gnashing of teeth from 1 day old accounts acting like they're owed something from a free competition


it's almost 700 posts 😬 [https://vi-control.net/community/threads/spitfire-westworld-competition.92839/] 
anyway thanks for the recap 🙂


----------



## JokerOne

WindcryMusic said:


> For me, this goes back to what someone said several pages ago … about how frustrating it is to try and score a scene from a series one knows nothing about. For example, I’m a cord-cutter (by necessity) and don’t have Netflix or any other streaming service either, so I’ve never seen Westworld, Stargirl or the Bridgertons. As a result, in both of the first two cases I found that the winning score didn’t make sense to me, only to find out later that it was my own misunderstanding of the overall context of each series that caused me to not comprehend how the score applied to the scene. And I’m sure the same will end up being true of the Bridgertons winning score as well. I’d briefly considered attempting to enter something for this contest, because I like the musical genre, but quickly realized it would be pointless* because of my lack of knowledge of the series.
> 
> In fact, speaking more generally, I‘ve finally admitted to myself that one has to be willing and able to pay for and consume the tripe that passes for the majority of modern day television as a prerequisite for composing for it. That’s one of the two main reasons I’ve now largely given up the hopes I once had to make music a profession ... just about all of the TV and movies I find artistically motivating are now decades old. I simply got started thirty years too late.
> 
> * Re: “pointless”, it’s true that I could still score the Bridgertons scene just for the practice, but I think such time would be better spent on composing for my own video series, for which I obviously have full knowledge of the characters and plot, and where I can attempt to make use of the results in some small way.


I think you make some valid points. I felt the same way about the Stargirl clip. Not my type of show. I watched the first season of Westworld and liked it a lot, after the first season the second season lost me quick. I think I made it through 3 episodes before I decided my time was better spent mowing the lawn or something. I was unaware of the contest for Westworld so never created anything for it.

I'm thinking of the opening clip of Game of Thrones. I've watched the entire series and besides the last season really enjoyed it. I have no idea how I could approach the opening credits with something better than what is there because the official soundtrack is seared into my brain as what it should sound like. With that in mind, you would do a much better job with a show like GoT than I would because you wouldn't be prejudiced with knowing what it "should" sound like.

Imagine the top 20 or so films of the last 60 years or so. Are you going to give "The Godfather" and Irish /celtic rhythm? You would have an idea of what they should sound like before starting a project. 

If I'm not mistaken Robert Rodriquez scored his own first few films because he said it was fun to do so. Which is sort of how I got interested in this.. So yes, your own work might be a better use of your time. For me this is just for fun and practice. If it wasn't' fun I wouldn't bother.


----------



## DoubleTap

SyMTiK said:


> I think some of the frustration came from a clash of Spitfire's instructions - they stated you couldn't use context from the full show itself to influence your composition, and that your score should represent the scene given at face value. For that I can kind of understand some people being upset feeling misled by the competition rules, but I seriously disagree with people who think that David's score was bad in any way - I think it was superbly done and would honestly have fit perfectly in the show. I loved the way it played on some more lighthearted interpretations of the dialogue to alter the way the audience perceived the scene, while still having a balance of more serious action undertones. Creative, different, and garnered a reaction! All qualities of good art.
> 
> Also, given that it is a free competition, I don't think the outrage was really justified at all. With 11,000 entries, it's like winning a lottery. I don't get mad losing at Power Ball, and I have to pay 2 dollars for that!
> 
> Just treat it like an opportunity to gain some experience working on high quality cinema, add it to your portfolio, and have fun with it! A lot of my portfolio contains work I have done as part of competitions, and I landed my first serious composing gig recently showcasing them, and I have never won a single competition in my life!


Yeah but if someone had even hinted that was the reason why they didn’t like the outcome (in the first 10 pages… I gave up after that) then I’d take your point. The thing that kept coming up was how an 8-bit theme was inappropriate and just about doing something novel and funny and it would never have actually been used. And I think we both agree (if I’ve read you right) that it was totally in keeping with the intent of the director and producer. 

Complaining about a technicality of the guidance seems more like post-facto rationalisation of sour grapes. 

Congratulations on your first serious gig though - that’s far more important!


----------



## DoubleTap

WindcryMusic said:


> For me, this goes back to what someone said several pages ago … about how frustrating it is to try and score a scene from a series one knows nothing about. For example, I’m a cord-cutter (by necessity) and don’t have Netflix or any other streaming service either, so I’ve never seen Westworld, Stargirl or the Bridgertons. As a result, in both of the first two cases I found that the winning score didn’t make sense to me, only to find out later that it was my own misunderstanding of the overall context of each series that caused me to not comprehend how the score applied to the scene. And I’m sure the same will end up being true of the Bridgertons winning score as well. I’d briefly considered attempting to enter something for this contest, because I like the musical genre, but quickly realized it would be pointless* because of my lack of knowledge of the series.
> 
> In fact, speaking more generally, I‘ve finally admitted to myself that one has to be willing and able to pay for and consume the tripe that passes for the majority of modern day television as a prerequisite for composing for it. That’s one of the two main reasons I’ve now largely given up the hopes I once had to make music a profession ... just about all of the TV and movies I find artistically motivating are now decades old. I simply got started thirty years too late.
> 
> * Re: “pointless”, it’s true that I could still score the Bridgertons scene just for the practice, but I think such time would be better spent on composing for my own video series, for which I obviously have full knowledge of the characters and plot, and where I can attempt to make use of the results in some small way.


Yes I get that. Competitions are a great way of having a project with a deadline that gets you working creatively but they don’t always work because they can be too artificial. 

In an ideal world, we’d all be motivated to work on our own projects but the lack of deadline means there’s often something else you “need” to do first. Great that you’ve got something better to do.


----------



## Kyle Preston

I got weird with it, wanted to move away from my familiar sad classical self and have a couple days of fun! Please enjoy my aggressively stylized take:

​


----------



## JokerOne

Kyle Preston said:


> I got weird with it, wanted to move away from my familiar sad classical self and have a couple days of fun! Please enjoy my aggressively stylized take:
> 
> ​



I like it!


----------



## FlyingAndi

FlyingAndi said:


> And I'm eagerly awaiting the Fightin' Mooses entry. I'm confident that his style will fit the Bridgerton setting perfectly.


And there it is:


----------



## Remnant

FlyingAndi said:


> And there it is:



Well this gets my vote for sure. You had me at chem trails in the air.


----------



## FlyingAndi

Remnant said:


> *You* had me at chem trails in the air.


Just in case I gave a wrong impression: This is *not *my entry. This is from a YouTuber called Fightin' Mooses.
He made two hilarious videos for the last 2 spitfire competions (make sure to check them out on his channel if you haven't seen them yet). I stoked to see what he would do this year.

I'm still working on my own entry for the competition. It won't be as funny funny as this one, not finished as quickly as the Sam Dias (see page 6) one and not as good as most other entries I have seen so far, but it will feature a clavinet and a Rickenbacker bass.


----------



## Pincel

Kyle Preston said:


> I got weird with it, wanted to move away from my familiar sad classical self and have a couple days of fun! Please enjoy my aggressively stylized take:
> 
> ​



Hey! I don't know the rules or proposition of this particular competition, but I frickin' loved this! Very against what I would expect, and it works amazingly well to my eyes/ears!


----------



## The Retroblueman

FlyingAndi said:


> And there it is:



Aw man - I was just about to interrupt this thread with the same important announcement - It doesn't quite reach the heights of his "Darkstar" one (which is a _must _watch and literally made me do a spit take ("_renegade..._" is all I'm saying)!)- but that takes nothing away from the general brilliance! 😁


----------



## Taron

FlyingAndi said:


> And there it is:



Liked and Subscribed!  
It's just that this guy totally loves what he's doing and holds back nothing. Super liberating. Love it! Thanks for finding and sharing it, @FlyingAndi ! 
And thanks @The Retroblueman . Found his darkstar take, too... hilarious! I'll certainly go through more of his stuff.


----------



## Drundfunk

The Retroblueman said:


> Aw man - I was just about to interrupt this thread with the same important announcement - It doesn't quite reach the heights of his "Darkstar" one (which is a _must _watch and literally made me do a spit take ("_renegade..._" is all I'm saying)!)- but that takes nothing away from the general brilliance! 😁


My favourite line is "Man, this is exciting! He's high as a a weed. He's tripping graphics! I'm starting to think it's not just weed! I'm sensing acid!". Such a brilliant rhyme


----------



## The Retroblueman

Drundfunk said:


> My favourite line is "Man, this is exciting! He's high as a a weed. He's tripping graphics! I'm starting to think it's not just weed! I'm sensing acid!". Such a brilliant rhyme


Ha - yeh - I remember clearly just having put my darkstar entry in, having done it at home alone whilst the fam were away for the week, and feeling just a little bit dirty about the whole thing (that video was seriously creepy even though there's "nothin going on") - then I saw FM's entry and it was like he was giving voice to all the feelings I'd had- it has remained the musical high point of my 2022 - I think I'm responsible for at least 5% of his views!

Whilst I am here - I keep getting told off for putting my competition entries in the wrong place on this forum - is this the thread to share Bridgerton entries? Thanks in advance!

Am about two days off, (well actually am finished and it's already on youtube as a private vid but this time round I want to let it sit for a few days just in case I have any last minute tweaks/doubts/insecurities - I've already been back in twice🤨).


----------



## Drundfunk

The Retroblueman said:


> Whilst I am here - I keep getting told off for putting my competition entries in the wrong place on this forum - is this the thread to share Bridgerton entries? Thanks in advance!


I personally would have no problem with that. Better to have them all in one thread, than one thread for every entry. If it's the wrong place I'm sure you will notice, when people start complaining. So just go ahead


----------



## The Retroblueman

Thanks! well, here's hoping I'm not the only one who thinks it doesn't suck (although I have been wrong on that before, and often😁)...


----------



## Bee_Abney

The Retroblueman said:


> Thanks! well, here's hoping I'm not the only one who thinks it doesn't suck (although I have been wrong on that before, and often😁)...


Look at it this way, if your entry wins there will be a much larger number of people who think it sucks. People thinking things suck isn't in itself a mark of failure!


----------



## The Retroblueman

Peter Satera said:


> Just watched the clip. Anyone else getting Faltermeyer vibes from it? I don't mean Top Gun, that'd be ridiculous, more like The Running Man.


Possibly, but shhhhhh! Get your "2022 Harold Faltermeyer 8 bit" entry out in the world _first _before anyone pinches it! That said, if you do anything that even comes close to the oeuvre of Harold the Great, please let me know and I will create a fake YT account just so I can like it twice (I'd still love him even if his sole output was the theme from Kuffs).

All that being said, and with no intention of discouraging you, is the Running Man perhaps a little bit bleak and "blasted earth" for the clip? I could see something along the lines of "The Discovery" from Beverley Hills Cop working really well though...


----------



## Peter Satera

> https://vi-control.net/community/goto/post?id=5155659 (Peter Satera said:)
> 
> Just watched the clip. Anyone else getting Faltermeyer vibes from it? I don't mean Top Gun, that'd be ridiculous, more like The Running Man.





The Retroblueman said:


> Possibly, but shhhhhh! Get your "2022 Harold Faltermeyer 8 bit" entry out in the world _first _before anyone pinches it! That said, if you do anything that even comes close to the oeuvre of Harold the Great, please let me know and I will create a fake YT account just so I can like it twice (I'd still love him even if his sole output was the theme from Kuffs).
> 
> All that being said, and with no intention of discouraging you, is the Running Man perhaps a little bit bleak and "blasted earth" for the clip? I could see something along the lines of "The Discovery" from Beverley Hills Cop working really well though...


I accidentally deleted my comment when click scrolling XD. I was just joking around, but like you love a bit of Harold and those vibes are still an enjoyable listen every time.


----------



## spaunsam7

ka00 said:


> It's chilling to me how easy this guy made it look. I think the more pro you are, the more experience you have, the less you complain about what you're given, or how much time you have, or what samples you have, etc.
> 
> I'm not saying this will win (because that's its own separate game), but if he handed this in for a client, I'm guessing they would be happy.
> 
> Definitely an eye opener watching this. He clarified all the emotions and the flow of the edit. Any complaints you might have about the scene disappear when you hear it scored properly. And that's also the sign of a pro.



Thank you so much for the kind words! My clients often give me ridiculous deadlines because they are normally these Youtube video influencers that have to crank out these videos, with a short film within the videos, really quickly so they only give me 1-2 days to score their projects. 

I was a film producer myself for 6-7 years and I learned the hard way how important story telling is and I always try to think with that mindset before letting the musician in me take over. Much easier said than done of course lol


----------



## Henrik B. Jensen

spaunsam7 said:


> Thank you so much for the kind words! My clients often give me ridiculous deadlines because they are normally these Youtube video influencers that have to crank out these videos, with a short film within the videos, really quickly so I often only have 1-2 days to score their projects.
> 
> I was a film producer myself for 6-7 years and I learned the hard way how important story telling is and I always try to think with that mindset before letting the musician in me take over. Much easier said than done of course lol


Hey Sam, it’s cool to have you here, welcome to the forum


----------



## spaunsam7

Henrik B. Jensen said:


> Hey Sam, it’s cool to have you here, welcome to the forum


Thank you Henrik, happy to be here! It's been a while since I've logged onto my account 😅


----------



## Henrik B. Jensen

spaunsam7 said:


> Thank you Henrik, happy to be here! It's been a while since I've logged onto my account 😅


Oh, sorry!! I thought you’d just joined! Ah well


----------



## The Retroblueman

Peter Satera said:


> I accidentally deleted my comment when click scrolling XD. I was just joking around, but like you love a bit of Harold and those vibes are still an enjoyable listen every time.


Oops, well, happy to be the muppet that missed the joke😋 - I still think there's serious potential _somewhere _in the idea though (I may make a "Fletch does Bridgerton" video for my private amusement). In all events, I've spent today on a HF soundtrack listening marathon and it has made me a very happy, if slightly nostalgic, bear... so thank you!


----------



## Peter Satera

Ha, yeah! I spent my isolated holiday listening to his works. Fletch goes to bridgeton though, sounds amazin'! You gotta tag me in that! So far there's so many amazing entries though, I don't think I could get anywhere near close to their achievement.


----------



## The Retroblueman

Peter Satera said:


> Ha, yeah! I spent my isolated holiday listening to his works. Fletch goes to bridgeton though, sounds amazin'! You gotta tag me in that! So far there's so many amazing entries though, I don't think I could get anywhere near close to their achievement.


Well, I'm mostly trying not to listen to the entries so far until mine is finished, but I do clearly remember feeling _very _pleased about my entry for the Hans Zimmer month compo in November... until I heard yours🙄 - be a real shame if you missed this one! If anything comes of the Fletch experiment I'll DM you a private link😉 I'm seriously close to caving on SF's virtuoso bundle - maybe I can attempt "Fletch Only Lives Twice" with Edna...


----------



## Peter Satera

The Retroblueman said:


> Well, I'm mostly trying not to listen to the entries so far until mine is finished, but I do clearly remember feeling _very _pleased about my entry for the Hans Zimmer month compo in November... until I heard yours🙄 - be a real shame if you missed this one! If anything comes of the Fletch experiment I'll DM you a private link😉 I'm seriously close to caving on SF's virtuoso bundle - maybe I can attempt "Fletch Only Lives Twice" with Edna...


That is really kind of you to say. I'll maybe give it a shot, it is afterall totally out of my comfort zone!


----------



## Manfred

At this point..we’re all hoping someone will post something that will “inspire” us…or “steal”…or make us throw in the towel..or laugh…or just be glad we’re in this together...or…sit (finally) down at our “___DAW” (I’m a Cubase Boy!) and actually write some music (my issue!!!)…to get that big batch $$$ Spitfire package!


----------



## The Retroblueman

Well, here goes (kinda wishing I wasn't posting this after @Manfred's comment above - I by no means think I will be the chosen one. In any event, an everything drive would take all the fun out of the Black Weekend😐).

My Bridgerton effort - sorry if it sucks! I used SF Solo Strings to make a 2,2,2,2,1 string band plus the EW Platinum Steinway.


Thanks for listening and best of luck to you all!


----------



## Yellowdog

As a hobbyist I wanted to give this a try even with my limited skills. I am a fan of hybrid sounding stuff so that was the direction I went. I know it's not good, but it was definitely interesting to attempt to piece something together. Hoping that someday I can do something as good as the previous ones posted!


----------



## Taron

Ah, so you're posting your takes here after all, hehe. Well, I posted mine already in the OLC thread, because it's pure BBCSO Core. But since this is probably the most appropriate place, I'll put it here, too:


@The Retroblueman : Yours doesn't suck at ALL! Very dramatic, aggressive and I dig the "chamber" touch, using those solo strings! I had started another one with CineStrings, too, which are far more intimate sounding than BBCSO Core. I might finish that one for myself, too. However, again, yours is mighty fine!

@Yellowdog : Really nice hybrid take, too! You certainly are showing why you like it, too! Plenty of very nice energy throughout!

I went for what was already called "generic", but I've honestly loved making this as this is the first time I had a reason to approach anything like it in a more classical character. Not to mention that BBCSO Core is really feeling at home in this sort of style, I believe. Well, no matter what... I have absolutely enjoyed playing this round with y'all already. Cheers! 🥂


----------



## Nico

I like what I have heard here, keep them coming :D

I find it to be a very short clip to show anything without doing "too much" so I tried to keep it simple.


----------



## The Retroblueman

@Taron - many thanks for the kind words on my entry. I was going to use SCS (which I nabbed when CH had an ice bath a few weeks ago) but it was a bit rich and intruded on the dialogue - I thought solo strings worked better as it is a bit more transient heavy so it cut through without being too "full". 

Did anyone else do what I did and try listening from the room next door to check they could hear the words? 😁I note though that the FAQ state that the mix isn't being judged so I think I did err on the side of making sure my score was audible first and foremost ("you shall be the Duchess by Saturday" ended up being a lost cause there!) 

Am currently away from good speakers/headphones until Tuesday but will definitely come back then to listen properly to the efforts above - looking forward to it!


----------



## Taron

I did get this wonderful tip to use EQ-ducking and went for "Frequency" in Cubase, but did so for the first time. I've already had a side-chained compressor on it, but this way I could be a bit more aggressive without hiding the whole score. I can't tell exactly, if I did it properly and the more you listen to the dialogue, the harder it is to tell, if something can or cannot be understood, because you already know what's being said. The girl really has some intense dynamics when she talks with lots of consonants that feel almost rather implied than uttered, but well... ...certainly an interesting challenge.
And SA always says stuff like that (Mix won't be judged, video won't be judged, yadda yadda), but then I have no doubt they can't get past a terrible mix, I'm sure, hehehe. Then again, who knows what truly the criteria are and what they really relate to (cough).


----------



## Germain B

I tried to score it the wrong way, like if I understood nothing, and ended up keeping every first try.
Not quite what I was expecting as a result but it was interesting :


----------



## DSorah

Hello Everyone -

It is so great seeing so many varied approaches to the same scene. What a great tool these exercises are for teaching as they allow students to see how each approach alters the mood and enhances certain points of the clip. Thank you to all those who have shared and congratulations on such great work!

If you don't mind, I would like to add my approach to the mix, one that imparts a Baroque treatment as sort of a period score. 

Thanks in advance for watching and for any feedback you might be willing to provide.

Best wishes in the competition!


----------



## mybadmemory

DSorah said:


> Hello Everyone -
> 
> It is so great seeing so many varied approaches to the same scene. What a great tool these exercises are for teaching as they allow students to see how each approach alters the mood and enhances certain points of the clip. Thank you to all those who have shared and congratulations on such great work!
> 
> If you don't mind, I would like to add my approach to the mix, one that imparts a Baroque treatment as sort of a period score.
> 
> Thanks in advance for watching and for any feedback you might be willing to provide.
> 
> Best wishes in the competition!



Love it Donald! You really brought out the underlying emotions (at least is I interpret them) with this one! Fantastic!


----------



## Taron

DSorah said:


> Hello Everyone -
> 
> It is so great seeing so many varied approaches to the same scene. What a great tool these exercises are for teaching as they allow students to see how each approach alters the mood and enhances certain points of the clip. Thank you to all those who have shared and congratulations on such great work!
> 
> If you don't mind, I would like to add my approach to the mix, one that imparts a Baroque treatment as sort of a period score.
> 
> Thanks in advance for watching and for any feedback you might be willing to provide.
> 
> Best wishes in the competition!



Ah, this is fun! What's extra funny, though, is that it's literally a century off, if you think about it. This is supposed to play in the 19th century, just around Beethoven, so to say, while you're going for more of Mozart time and earlier. It's funny because of how much it makes me wonder about myself and how I merely feel the weird offset rather than "know" it, you know.
However, you've composed beautiful pieces in there with a great sense of authenticity, even if it goes further back.
Great stuff!


----------



## Andy Ho

Hi guys,
This is my first time entering this kind of competition, it has been fun listening to all very distinct approach. Here is my take on it.
Thank you for listening and any comments are more then welcome


----------



## Trash Panda

Proof of concept for this scoring competition. Should I continue?


----------



## Mr Greg G

Trash Panda said:


> Proof of concept for this scoring competition. Should I continue?



Please proceed.


----------



## mybadmemory

Trash Panda said:


> Proof of concept for this scoring competition. Should I continue?



That was unexpected! But yes! Please continue! :D


----------



## mgaewsj

Taron said:


> Ah, this is fun! What's extra funny, though, is that it's literally a century off, if you think about it. This is supposed to play in the 19th century, just around Beethoven, so to say, while you're going for more of Mozart time and earlier. It's funny because of how much it makes me wonder about myself and how I merely feel the weird offset rather than "know" it, you know.
> However, you've composed beautiful pieces in there with a great sense of authenticity, even if it goes further back.
> Great stuff!


actually Bridgerton is set around 1820 and King George III was a lot into Handel (and many others) 🙂. More to follow 😉


----------



## dcoscina

I think all of the entries are really good! nice work everyone!


----------



## Taron

mgaewsj said:


> actually Bridgerton is set around 1820 and King George III was a lot into Handel (and many others) 🙂. More to follow 😉


And King George the IV was also not of African decent nor a woman, though, I cannot say if he was running around in dresses?! Rumors may give more clues there!


----------



## Jeremy Spencer

Andy Ho said:


> Hi guys,
> This is my first time entering this kind of competition, it has been fun listening to all very distinct approach. Here is my take on it.
> Thank you for listening and any comments are more then welcome



Ah, you took the John Cage approach! Well done.


----------



## mgaewsj

Taron said:


> And King George the IV was also not of African decent nor a woman, though, I cannot say if he was running around in dresses?! Rumors may give more clues there!


🙂
btw king George IV was a patron of Haydn... uh-uh


----------



## DSorah

Taron said:


> Ah, this is fun! What's extra funny, though, is that it's literally a century off, if you think about it. This is supposed to play in the 19th century, just around Beethoven, so to say, while you're going for more of Mozart time and earlier. It's funny because of how much it makes me wonder about myself and how I merely feel the weird offset rather than "know" it, you know.
> However, you've composed beautiful pieces in there with a great sense of authenticity, even if it goes further back.
> Great stuff!


Thanks for taking a moment to listen and comment! It’s great to know when this series was set. I’ve never seen an episode or looked into it, only going with my gut from the images I saw. However, I think I would have had a big challenge scoring this in the style of Beethoven.  Thanks a bunch and good luck if you are entering the contest!


----------



## The Retroblueman

DSorah said:


> Thanks for taking a moment to listen and comment! It’s great to know when this series was set. I’ve never seen an episode or looked into it, only going with my gut from the images I saw. However, I think I would have had a big challenge scoring this in the style of Beethoven.  Thanks a bunch and good luck if you are entering the contest!


I wouldn't worry - we Brits like to hang onto bangin' choons tooth and claw - there are _*still *_pubs in the UK with "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" on heavy rotation!! No reason to assume the case wasn't much the same 200 years ago😁 

Being a little more serious - presumably the case must have been at least similar - how else would Bach and Handel have been preserved? (other than the thought that 1815-1820 is round about the point where I understand Beethoven himself was studying Bach and Handel obsessively).


----------



## Trash Panda

Mr Greg G said:


> Please proceed.





mybadmemory said:


> That was unexpected! But yes! Please continue! :D


Well thank you for your support! Today, I am very excited to share my Official Bridgerton Scoring Competition entry. As always, I am happy to take any constructive feedback or advice from the forum.


----------



## Mr Greg G

Trash Panda said:


> Well thank you for your support! Today, I am very excited to share my Official Bridgerton Scoring Competition entry. As always, I am happy to take any constructive feedback or advice from the forum.



I like the idea! Regarding the recurring staccatos, why not make something more frightening and less "reassuring"?


----------



## Andy Ho

Jeremy Spencer said:


> Ah, you took the John Cage approach! Well done.


It was youtube who did the John Cage thing for me. 
No idea how and why. But here is my real score, I am sure it won't be John Cage again......


----------



## Taron

DSorah said:


> Thanks for taking a moment to listen and comment! It’s great to know when this series was set. I’ve never seen an episode or looked into it, only going with my gut from the images I saw. However, I think I would have had a big challenge scoring this in the style of Beethoven.  Thanks a bunch and good luck if you are entering the contest!


Well, I took the plunge and chose to research a tiny bit after first having done just what you did and went at it. I found a wonderful youtube recap video for the first season along with a bit of wiki on the show, then even looked for popular composers in the early 1800s and found some most beautiful concerts only to realize that this is my go-to style, whenever I touch orchestras, hahaha. Like this:

Méhul: Symphony No.1
(I purposely didn't wrap it into "media" to avoid cluttering the thread even more than I already do!) 

Except when I let myself go and follow my heart with an orchestral composition. Then I end up more in the romantic period around the turn into the 20th century.


----------



## Trash Panda

Mr Greg G said:


> I like the idea! Regarding the recurring staccatos, why not make something more frightening and less "reassuring"?


I mean besides the fact that it’s basically a joke in video form? 😂

Contrast, my good sir! I liked the idea of fading those happy chords into clustered staccatos.


----------



## DoubleTap

Trash Panda said:


> I mean besides the fact that it’s basically a joke in video form? 😂
> 
> Contrast, my good sir! I liked the idea of fading those happy chords into clustered staccatos.


Besides, the narrative moments in the clips are all about a happy expectation turning sour, or at least ambivalent.


----------



## Loïc D

Trash Panda said:


> I mean besides the fact that it’s basically a joke in video form? 😂
> 
> Contrast, my good sir! I liked the idea of fading those happy chords into clustered staccatos.


I like to relate scoring to allegories in the movie and you did a great job : people and situations seem clean and nice at the beginning and turn sour and aggressive when put under stress.

You've got something, dude !


----------



## ism

Trash Panda said:


> Well thank you for your support! Today, I am very excited to share my Official Bridgerton Scoring Competition entry. As always, I am happy to take any constructive feedback or advice from the forum.



I'm not sure if the is an absurdist joke, or scathing social satire. 

Either way, I really like it.


----------



## Ricgus3

Hey all! Just finished my entry to the competition! All the best!


----------



## Trash Panda

ism said:


> I'm not sure if the is an absurdist joke, or scathing social satire.
> 
> Either way, I really like it.


It's a bit of both.  

Thank you!


----------



## Ricgus3

Trash Panda said:


> Well thank you for your support! Today, I am very excited to share my Official Bridgerton Scoring Competition entry. As always, I am happy to take any constructive feedback or advice from the forum.



Really cool! I atually found it fitting and was excited to see what the music would tell me the mood of the characters were! The Horror psycho/sociapath vibe!


----------



## YaniDee

My entry..very traditional..maybe "too many notes'.


----------



## DoubleTap

My entry, on the other hand, probably doesn't have nearly enough notes.


----------



## BlackDorito

Looks like this thread has very appropriately become the place to share our entries.


----------



## cif95hbl

Hi all, 

Being a lurker of this tremendous forum for about a year, this is actually my very first post. I have had a great time scoring this small piece of drama, and I took the general approach to not listen to any other contribution nor the original Kris Bowers score for this episode before having submitted my own contribution so to not get influenced in any way. When I now listen through other contributions in this and other threads, it is really astonishing to see how may great ways it is possible to make a good score for the exact same movie material! I really can't stop listening now...

Anyway, my own contribution can be found below. As many have already stated, it is a really tricky clip to score. If I were to professionally score the whole episode (which would not happen since I am a hobbyist...), I would never have incorporated that much music and melodies in these few seconds. However, it became somewhat of a quest for me to see if it was possible to do so without destroying the narrative of the clip (I am not sure I succeeded though... ). Then also, I have not seen the show, and probably misinterpreted emotions and underlying meaning etc. Anyway, it is what it is...

My approach makes reference to the classical composers, a bit of Beethoven, Wienerwalz (Strauss), some baroque-inspired parts (mostly the fanfares...) and some more recent influence as well (I believe it is even possible to find a little Scott Bradly (Tom & Jerry) and JW somewhere in the bedroom scene...). 

This was huge fun! 

Naturally, I would appreciate your feedback.

Best wishes in the competition everyone!


----------



## mgaewsj

here is my attempt.

I had never watched the series and til yesterday I avoided listening to the original soundtrack and watching any of the submissions.

As Brigderton is set around 1820 I tried to blend some period music (King George IV, when still a prince, was a patron of Haydn btw) with a touch of more modern/hybrid stuff especially when the bride is involved (to me she looks a bit uneasy and nervous about the wedding)

I did not use BBCSO this time!
Actually I did not use any Spitfire library here. 
SCS would have been an obvious option for chamber strings but I bought it only recently and I am not familiar enough with it yet.


----------



## MusicStudent

Really enjoying the efforts....


----------



## purplehamster

Here's a really simple re-score from me. 

Figured out what was going on, decided to concentrate music around the queen/bride, adjusted tempo, quickly threw in some instruments, DAW crashed, checked out SFA Summer Sales, recovered project file (phew), uploaded my finished entry and listened to other user's entries. I think maybe my score could've use an extra db or two. And I realised I don't have any VI from this time period which I should probably rectify some day...a certain Friday maybe? 

Finished mine quickly as that's all the time I can spare because...work. Looking forward to hearing more entries. 

Good luck!!


----------



## Voltimand

Hello everyone! 

Here's my entry.

I hope you like some of it. Good luck to everyone!


----------



## wildcatkid

Just finished my submission. Went for the obvious orchestral stuff but I'm happy with it!


----------



## Davide Sonzini

Hi, first time posting. I have a question about my entry if anyone wants to take a listen: how is the volume of the music in comparison to the sfx and dialogue tracks? I just tried to make sure that the speech could be understood clearly, I'd like to hear opinions from more experienced people.
This might not be relevant to the competition but rather something I'm personally interested in.


----------



## mybadmemory

Davide Sonzini said:


> Hi, first time posting. I have a question about my entry if anyone wants to take a listen: how is the volume of the music in comparison to the sfx and dialogue tracks? I just tried to make sure that the speech could be understood clearly, I'd like to hear opinions from more experienced people.
> This might not be relevant to the competition but rather something I'm personally interested in.



You could always cross reference the original scene! Also listening to the other entries in this thread might give you an opinion on what feels right.


----------



## Germain B

Davide Sonzini said:


> Hi, first time posting. I have a question about my entry if anyone wants to take a listen: how is the volume of the music in comparison to the sfx and dialogue tracks? I just tried to make sure that the speech could be understood clearly, I'd like to hear opinions from more experienced people.
> This might not be relevant to the competition but rather something I'm personally interested in.


I think it is well balanced. Overall, you did a pretty great work !


----------



## Davide Sonzini

mybadmemory said:


> You could always cross reference the original scene! Also listening to the other entries in this thread might give you an opinion on what feels right.


Thanks for your reply, I've listened to a few entries on youtube and in most cases (9 out of 10) it seems like music takes over. Is that because it's a scoring competition and people want their music to be heard clearly despite covering the dialogue? Either people deliberately don't care about their mixes or I'm completely clueless about mine.
Also it helps having an external ear.


----------



## mybadmemory

Spart


Davide Sonzini said:


> Thanks for your reply, I've listened to a few entries on youtube and in most cases (9 out of 10) it seems like music takes over. Is that because it's a scoring competition and people want their music to be heard clearly despite covering the dialogue? Either people deliberately don't care about their mixes or I'm completely clueless about mine.
> Also it helps having an external ear.


Spitfire is said not to judge on the mixing but only on the music itself so I guess the safer route is to favor the music rather than the dialogue. In reality the dialogue would probably take the center stage, but that’s because it needs to be heard by first time viewers. Whoever judges this competition will watch the clip many times and is probably more interested in the music not getting lost than the other way around (within reason of course).


----------



## DoubleTap

Davide Sonzini said:


> Hi, first time posting. I have a question about my entry if anyone wants to take a listen: how is the volume of the music in comparison to the sfx and dialogue tracks? I just tried to make sure that the speech could be understood clearly, I'd like to hear opinions from more experienced people.
> This might not be relevant to the competition but rather something I'm personally interested in.



I like the music - I think you could afford to boost it a bit in fact. If you're concerned about interference you could do a bit of light sidechaining.


----------



## cif95hbl

Davide Sonzini said:


> Hi, first time posting. I have a question about my entry if anyone wants to take a listen: how is the volume of the music in comparison to the sfx and dialogue tracks? I just tried to make sure that the speech could be understood clearly, I'd like to hear opinions from more experienced people.
> This might not be relevant to the competition but rather something I'm personally interested in.



Even if I do not regard myself belonging to the "experienced people"-group, I have given this quite some thought. First of all, I agree with previous opinions in this thread that your score is not taking over the dialogue. Also, I think you made a great job! I like it very much. Secondly, in a real situation, i.e. where we were to professionally score a whole episode of this show, we would probably not choose to score these few seconds in the same way as we have done just now. We would probably realise that there is very much action and dialogue going on, and probably choose to use less music, less mucisians, and more pauses, leaving the heavier scoring to other parts of the episode. But if we are to prove our abilities in the competition, it appears dangerous to go by such a minimalistic approach... Yes, we would prove that we understand the importance of not overpowering the dialogue, but we would maybe not succeed in proving our skills in music composition, orchestration, and reflecting the mood of the people in the different scenes. Also, personally I think if would be less fun... 😊


----------



## Taron

Once we get to listen to the winners, we will question much of what we might've thought now. That's the one experience I've had since I joined the fun with these competitions. 

Other than that, @Davide Sonzini , you've certainly done a mighty fine job! Love what you've created!


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## mgaewsj

crank up the music 🔊 🙂


----------



## Jeremy Spencer

cif95hbl said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Being a lurker of this tremendous forum for about a year, this is actually my very first post. I have had a great time scoring this small piece of drama, and I took the general approach to not listen to any other contribution nor the original Kris Bowers score for this episode before having submitted my own contribution so to not get influenced in any way. When I now listen through other contributions in this and other threads, it is really astonishing to see how may great ways it is possible to make a good score for the exact same movie material! I really can't stop listening now...
> 
> Anyway, my own contribution can be found below. As many have already stated, it is a really tricky clip to score. If I were to professionally score the whole episode (which would not happen since I am a hobbyist...), I would never have incorporated that much music and melodies in these few seconds. However, it became somewhat of a quest for me to see if it was possible to do so without destroying the narrative of the clip (I am not sure I succeeded though... ). Then also, I have not seen the show, and probably misinterpreted emotions and underlying meaning etc. Anyway, it is what it is...
> 
> My approach makes reference to the classical composers, a bit of Beethoven, Wienerwalz (Strauss), some baroque-inspired parts (mostly the fanfares...) and some more recent influence as well (I believe it is even possible to find a little Scott Bradly (Tom & Jerry) and JW somewhere in the bedroom scene...).
> 
> This was huge fun!
> 
> Naturally, I would appreciate your feedback.
> 
> Best wishes in the competition everyone!



I love this entry!!! Well done.


----------



## cif95hbl

Jeremy Spencer said:


> I love this entry!!! Well done.


Thank's! I am very happy to hear that 😀


----------



## wayne_rowley

Lots of great entries so far. Well done to everyone.

I wasn't going to enter this year, but have decided to have a go. Including the previous two competitions, this is the third time I have written to picture. Also, not a watcher of Bridgerton so this is very much me scoring what I am seeing without much context. But it was fun!

Feedback appreciated (negative or positive). 

Many thanks,
Wayne


----------



## Germain B

After some research on the music of the era presented here, I decided to add a gentle 808, a soft electric bass and few discrets synths sounds in my orchestral entry for the competition.


----------



## freecham

Thanks to Spitfire Audio for offering us competitions with different themes. I didn't understand all the dialogues but i chose to compose an energetic music cut according to the different scenes.


----------



## sidis

you guys are awesome. mine is pretty cliche but whatevs.


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## muk

Well done everyone, so many impressive entries here!

Gladly sharing my entry as well:



Good luck to everyone participating.


----------



## Inherently

It's rewarding to enter the competition a year downstream from Stargirl. The VI-Control community has been hugely informative and helpful. Thanks all!

This year's entry:


----------



## liquidlino

Germain B said:


> After some research on the music of the era presented here, I decided to add a gentle 808, a soft electric bass and few discrets synths sounds in my orchestral entry for the competition.



I like the concept! Fun! Only feedback I have is that the percussion, particularly the claps/snare are too loud relative to the orchestral elements/dialog.


----------



## FlyingAndi

So, here is my entry. I'm not really sure if this works...
I found this one much harder than Stargirl and I'm impressed how some entries managed to keep one piece of music going through the whole scene and still get all the transitions.


----------



## Inherently

sidis said:


> you guys are awesome. mine is pretty cliche but whatevs.



The transitions work really well here, the score really 'clicks' into place right at the top of each scene, has an energizing effect on the action.


----------



## Yanurika

Hello everyone! Here's my attempt, I went with a sort of chamber music sound, featuring a main flute.


I hadn't seen the show, but did it strike anyone as almost a comedy? There were a few really dry jokes (lol at "Did something happen?"). The original score felt almost too serious to me, but I'm judging from just this scene.

As for the dialogue, I went back and forth, but I decided to have the music slightly overpower it. If the judges are going to listen to a few thousand of these, they probably know it by heart anyway, so I can showcase my music that way.

(also, this is my first forum post, been lurking for a month or so, so hi!)


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## sidis

Inherently said:


> The transitions work really well here, the score really 'clicks' into place right at the top of each scene, has an energizing effect on the action.


appreciate the feedback, inherently.


----------



## Loïc D

Here's mine.

Just for fun, I limited myself to only one library : Aaron Venture Infinite Woodwinds.
(which makes it eligible for the OLC thread too  )

I went the full ironic way (don't know the show).



Hope you enjoy it and good luck to you all.


----------



## Inherently

Yanurika said:


> Hello everyone! Here's my attempt, I went with a sort of chamber music sound, featuring a main flute.
> 
> 
> I hadn't seen the show, but did it strike anyone as almost a comedy? There were a few really dry jokes (lol at "Did something happen?"). The original score felt almost too serious to me, but I'm judging from just this scene.
> 
> As for the dialogue, I went back and forth, but I decided to have the music slightly overpower it. If the judges are going to listen to a few thousand of these, they probably know it by heart anyway, so I can showcase my music that way.
> 
> (also, this is my first forum post, been lurking for a month or so



Loved the waltz entry and tune starting with the dialogue at 0:59, also enjoyed the thickening of the texture as more instruments entered. You can tweak the compositional mix to favor the dialogue in the master mix and see if you prefer it! The composition will not suffer, nor does it have to recede too much in volume.

There are some terrific threads on VI-C about limiting a band of the audio frequency spectrum to support clear dialogue, beyond just ducking the overall volume. Here's one: https://vi-control.net/community/th...coring-competition.112080/page-3#post-4886909

Thanks for posting!


----------



## ebowser

Hey everyone! I’m having fun listening to all the entries I can, now that I’m finished. I avoided listening to any entries or the original score until after mine was completed. 

Here’s my entry. I was happy to have a reason to incorporate pipe organ a little bit, which I love. I thought it would fit with the wedding subject matter as well as some of the underlying drama.



Big thank you to Spitfire for picking another interesting scene. Personally it’s my favorite scene from the three competitions so far.


----------



## Taron

Loïc D said:


> Here's mine.
> 
> Just for fun, I limited myself to only one library : Aaron Venture Infinite Woodwinds.
> (which makes it eligible for the OLC thread too  )
> 
> I went the full ironic way (don't know the show).
> 
> 
> 
> Hope you enjoy it and good luck to you all.



YES, please, post it in the OLC thread! That's awesome! 
What a gorgeous collection of woodwind goodness. I think, it may be genius to have a whole show scored that way. But then the story and acting would have be superb, I'm afraid, haha. However, such a pleasure to listen to. Almost makes me feel like this would be brilliant "thinking" music, like when you have to focus on something. It would gently brush away distractions in your mind as you hone in on what you've got to figure out. Just great!
Not to mention that it's an EXCELLENT showcase of that library, if you asked me. Beautiful!

SO, yeah, whatever happens later, it made you compose and create some wonderful stuff!


----------



## Loïc D

Taron said:


> YES, please, post it in the OLC thread! That's awesome!
> What a gorgeous collection of woodwind goodness. I think, it may be genius to have a whole show scored that way. But then the story and acting would have be superb, I'm afraid, haha. However, such a pleasure to listen to. Almost makes me feel like this would be brilliant "thinking" music, like when you have to focus on something. It would gently brush away distractions in your mind as you hone in on what you've got to figure out. Just great!
> Not to mention that it's an EXCELLENT showcase of that library, if you asked me. Beautiful!
> 
> SO, yeah, whatever happens later, it made you compose and create some wonderful stuff!


Thank you my friend ! 
TBH, I expect nothing from contests and I value ViC users’ feedback far more. 👌


----------



## Noland

This is my entry, hope you like it. It was done using VSL libraries and I had great fun doing it. Mostly winds and brass, though even managed to get in some flautando. 
Really enjoyed the scene to work on. Have been avoiding listening to anyone else's entries till I had finished so looking forward to catching up with them now. Good luck to everyone!


----------



## RudyS

A lot of really good entries here! Nice to hear the different takes. Here is mine. I didn't do anything too crazy. As a beginner I appreciate feedback!


----------



## Robin Thompson

Yanurika said:


> Hello everyone! Here's my attempt, I went with a sort of chamber music sound, featuring a main flute.
> 
> 
> I hadn't seen the show, but did it strike anyone as almost a comedy? There were a few really dry jokes (lol at "Did something happen?"). The original score felt almost too serious to me, but I'm judging from just this scene.
> 
> As for the dialogue, I went back and forth, but I decided to have the music slightly overpower it. If the judges are going to listen to a few thousand of these, they probably know it by heart anyway, so I can showcase my music that way.
> 
> (also, this is my first forum post, been lurking for a month or so, so hi!)



There's definitely some dry, almost snarky humor to this clip. Acknowledging the comedy is so important in my book (by "acknowledging" I mean leaving space for it or playing along with it - the music itself almost never needs to be funny unless you're trying to sound like a cartoon). I remember there was a fun little moment in the middle of the Stargirl clip last year and most entries, including the winner, plowed right over it.

Anyway, nice entry! I like foregrounding the flutes so much. It's seldom done so it sounds unique.


----------



## Jeremy Spencer

muk said:


> Well done everyone, so many impressive entries here!
> 
> Gladly sharing my entry as well:
> 
> 
> 
> Good luck to everyone participating.



Nice! I can hear some Alan Silvestri in that intro bit.


----------



## muk

Jeremy Spencer said:


> Nice! I can hear some Alan Silvestri in that intro bit.



Thank you Jeremy!

Now that I have heard Chris Bower's original take on the scene I might have tackled it a little differently. Less sentimental. But I wanted to work from my own impressions from the pictures. So I intentionally didn't research before scoring it. Glad you like the result.


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## Mithnaur

I just realized one thing, exporting the video with Cubase does not allow me to change the audio codec and puts me in 16 bits instead of 24.

Do you have the same thing?


----------



## LOU

I wasn't sure I'll participate this year, but I managed to take a day off from everything and lock myself in front of my keyboards. It was fun. 


[Edit: re upload with a louder mix]


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## blaggins

LOU said:


> I wasn't sure I'll participate this year, but I managed to take a day off from everything and lock myself in front of my keyboards. It was fun.



Lo-fi Prokofiev huh? You are a madman @LOU and I like it.


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## LOU

tpoots said:


> Lo-fi Prokofiev huh? You are a madman @LOU and I like it.


hehe yes, the Dance of the Knights. Thanks !


----------



## Olympum

Well, I really did not think I would have time this year to participate, but sometimes it’s helpful not being able to sleep. I am really puzzled with mixing over the dialogue, not sure what the right levels should be. On my monitors and headphones it sounds ok, but on mobile phone, tablet, etc. the music gets lost. Anyway, I am really happy we have this opportunity thanks to the generosity of Kris Bowers and the Spitfire Audio team.


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## BMW_84

I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it this year but decided what the heck, it’ll be a nice challenge! I have not seen this show and I made it a point not to listen to anyone else’s entries prior to completing my own so I would not be influenced. 

Now that that part is finished, I will begin listening to what others have done. I am always fascinated hearing the different approaches people take and the decisions they made. The power of music never ceases to amaze me and when you marry storytelling through music and picture it is magical. 

Here is my entry for the Bridgerton Scoring Competition. By no means am I expecting to win (there are far more talented composers out there) but I had fun making it.


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## Stefan Diblitz

I agree, that one was not easy to handle with. But after many (maaaany) hours i finished my entry.

Good luck to all others 
There are many fantastic pieces


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## John Judd

My Kontakt library of armpit sounds seems to have gone missing…..but I forged ahead without it, nonetheless.


----------



## Jeremy Spencer

John Judd said:


> My Kontakt library of armpit sounds seems to have gone missing…..but I forged ahead without it, nonetheless.



Interesting approach. If I could offer one item of critique, it's that the choir part distracts from the dialogue.


----------



## John Judd

Jeremy Spencer said:


> Interesting approach. If I could offer one item of critique, it's that the choir part distracts from the dialogue.


I think that’s fair…..I knew everyone would be going full strings and orchestra with it, so I didn’t allow myself to use any of that (minus a couple bass pizzicatos). I decided to take a chance and risk using that palette. Human voices are usually going to be an issue with dialogue.


----------



## Foxcall

Got this finished pretty down to the wire, in case there was anything to edit after giving it a listen on Youtube, but I'm happy I was able to complete this before the deadline, here.


----------



## hauspe

Here we go

Tried to keep it classical and funny though, light-footed but still the big sound of a typically symphonic orchestra. I had a great pleasure to score this clip, finally something different. 
Everybody good luck!


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## Music01Bebe

Olympum said:


> I am really puzzled with mixing over the dialogue, not sure what the right levels should be. On my monitors and headphones it sounds ok, but on mobile phone, tablet, etc. the music gets lost.


Did you try summing to mono first (on the master bus) for the music during mixing?, that way you can hear for phasing issues and volume imbalances much easier.


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## jbuhler

I watched a bunch of these last night, and really enjoyed the variety of settings. Lots of really good work. The key moments in the clip that stuck out to me after watching all of these were hitting the title with something distinct, setting a decided mood with the queen as she walked down the corridor, doing something with the delivery of newsletter and the cut to the nephew, and the return to the heroine. On the whole each of the entries I watched handled all but the last one well. It seemed like many of the entries struggled with that, likely because it’s hard to read her reactions in the scene. She seems anxious and also seems to have misgivings, and the clip by itself gives us little reason to say why aside from hints of scandal and that she is likely not in fact (yet) marrying for love. It seems to require a careful musical treatment to score that and most of the settings seemed to want to pass over that rather than digging into it, mining it, and relating it back to the odd look she gives just before the title. 

My guess is the winning entry will be the one that handles the bits with the heroine in a most revealing way because the show is about her and because her bits don’t yield to obvious musical treatment. In any case I very much enjoyed seeing all the takes, and good luck to everyone l!


----------



## C-Land

Gave it a quick spin too, not because of the competition but because I thought this is a quite complicated and interesting scene. 
I don’t know the series and I restricted myself to 3-4 hours to work on this, so it’s of course not perfect.

808, mellotron, saxophone, choir, some orch and arps:


----------



## cif95hbl

jbuhler said:


> I watched a bunch of these last night, and really enjoyed the variety of settings. Lots of really good work. The key moments in the clip that stuck out to me after watching all of these were hitting the title with something distinct, setting a decided mood with the queen as she walked down the corridor, doing something with the delivery of newsletter and the cut to the nephew, and the return to the heroine. On the whole each of the entries I watched handled all but the last one well. It seemed like many of the entries struggled with that, likely because it’s hard to read her reactions in the scene. She seems anxious and also seems to have misgivings, and the clip by itself gives us little reason to say why aside from hints of scandal and that she is likely not in fact (yet) marrying for love. It seems to require a careful musical treatment to score that and most of the settings seemed to want to pass over that rather than digging into it, mining it, and relating it back to the odd look she gives just before the title.
> 
> My guess is the winning entry will be the one that handles the bits with the heroine in a most revealing way because the show is about her and because her bits don’t yield to obvious musical treatment. In any case I very much enjoyed seeing all the takes, and good luck to everyone l!


A very good analysis. I totally agree that her mood is the trickiest part to handle. My general approach was to score the scenes individually with constantly alternating styles and tempos, an approach I chose mostly because it seemed to be fun at start. However, that approach made it even more difficult to build musical parts which connects back to earlier scenes. At one stage I was considering a Wagnerian Leitmotif approach but gave it up. The scene just goes so fast that the music easily gets overcomplicated and then you may end up loosing that battle anyway. At the end I threw in some tremolo parts to underline the dual and/or uncertain feelings of her at those positions, but at that stage in the process it is difficult to create a really convincing connection. Then of course there are so many factors to consider so who knows what will turn up to be "the" factor which determines the winners, if such a factor even can be agreed on after having heard the winning contributions.... For sure, it will be very interesting to hear the winning contributions and the motivation behind the decisions taken.


----------



## jbuhler

cif95hbl said:


> A very good analysis. I totally agree that her mood is the trickiest part to handle. My general approach was to score the scenes individually with constantly alternating styles and tempos, an approach I chose mostly because it seemed to be fun at start. However, that approach made it even more difficult to build musical parts which connects back to earlier scenes. At one stage I was considering a Wagnerian Leitmotif approach but gave it up. The scene just goes so fast that the music easily gets overcomplicated and then you may end up loosing that battle anyway. At the end I threw in some tremolo parts to underline the dual and/or uncertain feelings of her at those positions, but at that stage in the process it is difficult to create a really convincing connection. Then of course there are so many factors to consider so who knows what will turn up to be "the" factor which determines the winners, if such a factor even can be agreed on after having heard the winning contributions.... For sure, it will be very interesting to hear the winning contributions and the motivation behind the decisions taken.


I didn't make an attempt at scoring it, and this kind of scoring is not anything I've done a lot of myself, though I study it as part of my research, so I've done a lot of analysis and interpretation of scenes like this. But if I was going to score this sequence, I would begin with getting the music right for her longer scene and then fill in the parts around it. I don't think you want to over clarify her feelings with the music. But you do want the music to confirm the uncertainty that seems implicit in her actions, to affirm that there is something off, so her anxiety is not just nervousness but represents actual misgiving. And she is the heroine of the series, so it is fitting that the sequence should focus on her bits, with the other bits being secondary. In any case, once you get her bits right, the rest should fall into place.


----------



## cif95hbl

Convincing arguments. This, however, emphasizes the need to know the show and the feelings of the characters in the scenes in detail before attemting to score it. I did not have that background knowledge when I made my attempt, and going by what others have written, it appears to have been quite common to take on the task without first studying the series and the characters. In my opinion it also highlights the difficulty in approaching this kind of competition like you would a real scoring job where it would be natural to build a profound knowledge of the show beforehand. But in "competition mode" there is already an original score by Kris Bowers to deal with. We are not first out. I didn't want to watch the original version of the scene with the original score beforehand to minimize the risk of being influenced in a particular direction. I extended that approach to include the show as a whole which I had never watched before. Living by that decision, you are pretty much left to rely on written episode descriptions on imdb etc., and I fear that will not be enough in this case...


----------



## Olympum

jbuhler said:


> I didn't make an attempt at scoring it, and this kind of scoring is not anything I've done a lot of myself, though I study it as part of my research, so I've done a lot of analysis and interpretation of scenes like this. But if I was going to score this sequence, I would begin with getting the music right for her longer scene and then fill in the parts around it. I don't think you want to over clarify her feelings with the music. But you do want the music to confirm the uncertainty that seems implicit in her actions, to affirm that there is something off, so her anxiety is not just nervousness but represents actual misgiving. And she is the heroine of the series, so it is fitting that the sequence should focus on her bits, with the other bits being secondary. In any case, once you get her bits right, the rest should fall into place.


My sentiment as an amateur is that this is exactly where these competitions without a brief fall apart ... your analysis is spot on on musical terms, if we assume that the heroine of series is indeed Daphne. Well ... I decided to immerse myself into the series and binge watched them with my eldest daughter as a bonding exercise. After all the watching, my interpretation is that the real heroine of the series is Lady Whistledown. This is why I decided for my entry to create her Lady Whistledown's theme first, and then score around it capturing the emotions of the Queen (competition) and Daphne (guilt).

We do the best we can (definitely those of us that are not professional), and all based on a bit of speculation. But without a brief and notes from the director these competitions are a bit of hit and miss, at least for those entries that are technically proficient. Honestly I am not sure how the judges can define "right" from "wrong" in regards to the story telling.


----------



## blaggins

Thanks for the analysis @jbuhler, I think it's a great read and I wish I would have seen it 4 days ago when I "finalized" my piano sketch and embarked on orchestrating it! 


I'm trying to put the finishing touches on my entry but kind of stuck on the question of "how loud am I supposed to try and make this thing?" My track overall track (music + dialog) is sitting at around -18 integrated LUFS right now, and I already have their dialog track pushed up as far as it can go without hitting the limiter. I'm pushing the music down far enough that you can understand the dialog (or that's what I'm trying to do anyway, with lots of automation on my music track to flow nicely through the spaces between dialog and get out of the way when it's obscuring it...). Rules are that you aren't allowed to touch the dialog track unless it's to set an overall level for it... so here I am at -18. Should I be worried that my entry is too quiet? 

Is looking at overall loudness even a thing I'm supposed to do for a video like this? Generally with music I'm trying to hit around the -14 YouTube limit so that it's not obviously quieter than everything else everyone is listening to, but with this I just don't know. Any advice appreciated.


----------



## cif95hbl

Olympum said:


> My sentiment as an amateur is that this is exactly where these competitions without a brief fall apart ... your analysis is spot on on musical terms, if we assume that the heroine of series is indeed Daphne. Well ... I decided to immerse myself into the series and binge watched them with my eldest daughter as a bonding exercise. After all the watching, my interpretation is that the real heroine of the series is Lady Whistledown. This is why I decided for my entry to create her Lady Whistledown's theme first, and then score around it capturing the emotions of the Queen (competition) and Daphne (guilt).
> 
> We do the best we can (definitely those of us that are not professional), and all based on a bit of speculation. But without a brief and notes from the director these competitions are a bit of hit and miss, at least for those entries that are technically proficient. Honestly I am not sure how the judges can define "right" from "wrong" in regards to the story telling.


This was exactly what I was getting at in my comment above, but put in much better words 😊. The "competition mode" will always suffer from this uncertainty forcing creative decisions to rely on a high degree of subjective interpretation.


----------



## The Retroblueman

I 


tpoots said:


> Thanks for the analysis @jbuhler, I think it's a great read and I wish I would have seen it 4 days ago when I "finalized" my piano sketch and embarked on orchestrating it!
> 
> 
> I'm trying to put the finishing touches on my entry but kind of stuck on the question of "how loud am I supposed to try and make this thing?" My track overall track (music + dialog) is sitting at around -18 integrated LUFS right now, and I already have their dialog track pushed up as far as it can go without hitting the limiter. I'm pushing the music down far enough that you can understand the dialog (or that's what I'm trying to do anyway, with lots of automation on my music track to flow nicely through the spaces between dialog and get out of the way when it's obscuring it...). Rules are that you aren't allowed to touch the dialog track unless it's to set an overall level for it... so here I am at -18. Should I be worried that my entry is too quiet?
> 
> Is looking at overall loudness even a thing I'm supposed to do for a video like this? Generally with music I'm trying to hit around the -14 YouTube limit so that it's not obviously quieter than everything else everyone is listening to, but with this I just don't know. Any advice appreciated.


I fear you may be overthinking things - from Spitfire's FAQ on the competition:

*"I’m not good at mixing, what do I do?*
_
This is a scoring competition not a mixing competition so you won’t be marked down for a bad mix, but it’s obviously easier to judge a score that sounds good so give yourself time once you’ve finished your composition to concentrate on your mix"_

I would say make sure your score is loud enough for them to judge it whilst making sure you haven't done anything silly like put fff French Horns over anything Daphne or the maid say (I swear their dialogue is about 6dB quieter than everyone elses'!!). But, in the interests of full disclosure, I should say that I've only been seriously working on mixing for about 14 months (so in all probability I am wrong!😁).

A possibly useful trick is to upload a test version to YT as a private video and then right click the video when playing - there should be a "stats for nerds" option - one of the stats tells you whether YT has applied any volume normalisation to it (so you can push the volume until that kicks in and makes everything sound rubbish).


----------



## C-Land

If I may add another perspective/approach which is the basis of my scoring attempt:
First of all: I‘m not scoring a series, I‘m scoring a 01:40 clip without any connection to whatsoever. Based on that I try to tell a little story and above all I try to have fun.
Then: Maybe you‘re all right with which character might be the one to focus on. Mine was the voice-over character and that makes the whole part after the credits basically a montage sequence with a lot of twists and turns.
Approaching it as a montage sequence means keeping a certain pace and compositional structure while also breaking it up at the most important points. 
Also I understood the sequence in a way, that this „rainbow press“ or „gossip“ thing is the driving force behind almost every action of all characters (maybe despite the little princess) which resulta in a kind of stress/quirkiness/tempo in my score.

I hope that makes sense.


----------



## jbuhler

Olympum said:


> My sentiment as an amateur is that this is exactly where these competitions without a brief fall apart ... your analysis is spot on on musical terms, if we assume that the heroine of series is indeed Daphne. Well ... I decided to immerse myself into the series and binge watched them with my eldest daughter as a bonding exercise. After all the watching, my interpretation is that the real heroine of the series is Lady Whistledown. This is why I decided for my entry to create her Lady Whistledown's theme first, and then score around it capturing the emotions of the Queen (competition) and Daphne (guilt).
> 
> We do the best we can (definitely those of us that are not professional), and all based on a bit of speculation. But without a brief and notes from the director these competitions are a bit of hit and miss, at least for those entries that are technically proficient. Honestly I am not sure how the judges can define "right" from "wrong" in regards to the story telling.


Interesting thought that Whistledown is the heroine. I agree that she is the driving enigma of the series, something of an internal narrator, and her narration is much of what makes the show pleasurable, but I don't think she is the series's subject or that the series is fundamentally about disclosing her character. She is a voice, not a body, an acousmêtre or acoustical being (or in the narrative a textual being) to use Michel Chion's formulation. 

In any event, the queen is definitely a secondary character compared to Daphne. And I still think that getting the setting for Daphne right, even if filtered through or focalized by Whistledown, is the key to getting the sequence as a whole. I can say that I don't there's much at stake in getting the queen right (except a good chuckle if it is handled well), and Whistledown's narration is likely better captured in the musical tone—as though the musical portrayal of the situation represents her perspective, her focalization, her sense of what Daphne is feeling—than by an attempt at a direct setting of Whistledown per se. 

Yes, I do think this is a tricky but very interesting example. And the cutting and movement of the longer scene with Daphne has a rhythm and tempo to it that I found almost every setting was indifferent to. (I'm not saying I would do any better setting it, mind you, this is just my observation from watching a lot of these in succession. The settings fall down when they hit the dressing scene with Daphne because they try to skate neatly across it rather than locking the setting to this moment and making something of it.) 

I'm not sure I agree about needing a director's brief, since likely some of what's being evaluated is how well a particular setting reads the scene as is. I also haven't rewatched the original since I watched the series when it came out, so I have no strong recollection of what the show actually did for this.


----------



## jbuhler

C-Land said:


> If I may add another perspective/approach which is the basis of my scoring attempt:
> First of all: I‘m not scoring a series, I‘m scoring a 01:40 clip without any connection to whatsoever. Based on that I try to tell a little story and above all I try to have fun.
> Then: Maybe you‘re all right with which character might be the one to focus on. Mine was the voice-over character and that makes the whole part after the credits basically a montage sequence with a lot of twists and turns.
> Approaching it as a montage sequence means keeping a certain pace and compositional structure while also breaking it up at the most important points.
> Also I understood the sequence in a way, that this „rainbow press“ or „gossip“ thing is the driving force behind almost every action of all characters (maybe despite the little princess) which resulta in a kind of stress/quirkiness/tempo in my score.
> 
> I hope that makes sense.


It does make sense, and I should have mentioned that there is indeed a montage aspect to it, a series of small scenes arranged to form a sequence, held together by the narration. And you (@Olympum and others) are right that the music needs to capture that sense of _emanation_ as well. 

But even given that, Daphne is obviously the central character to the montage. Whistledown's narration revolves around her. So I would say she can't be avoided and in particular we need musical confirmation that what we are seeing with Daphne is something like a secret of its own. That is, not just nervousness about the quick wedding, but that she has misgivings.


----------



## C-Land

jbuhler said:


> It does make sense, and I should have mentioned that there is indeed a montage aspect to it, a series of small scenes arranged to form a sequence, held together by the narration. And you (@Olympum and others) are right that the music needs to capture that sense of _emanation_ as well.
> 
> But even given that, Daphne is obviously the central character to the montage. Whistledown's narration revolves around her. So I would say she can't be avoided and in particular we need musical confirmation that what we are seeing with Daphne is something like a secret of its own. That is, not just nervousness about the quick wedding, but that she has misgivings.


You’re absolutely right, I forgot to mention it. I tried to solve that through emphasizing her close-ups with ominous chords/accents/swells which also act as ramps into the next scenes and also push the overall pace of the montage.


----------



## Loïc D

Pfff, you’re all wrong.
The hero of the clip is the guy who brings the letter. There is a before and after him.


----------



## jbuhler

Loïc D said:


> Pfff, you’re all wrong.
> The hero of the clip is the guy who brings the letter. There is a before and after him.


I would go with the stupid nephew is the central void around which the whole clip is organized.


----------



## jbuhler

el-bo said:


>



So much GAS! When did Daphne start buying sample libraries?


----------



## jbuhler

el-bo said:


> A couple of centuries ago, I believe


That would explain the build up of GAS. Duke of Hastings must have been quite the sample library of the time.


----------



## Olympum

jbuhler said:


> In any event, the queen is definitely a secondary character compared to Daphne. And I still think that getting the setting for Daphne right, even if filtered through or focalized by Whistledown, is the key to getting the sequence as a whole. I can say that I don't there's much at stake in getting the queen right (except a good chuckle if it is handled well), and Whistledown's narration is likely better captured in the musical tone—as though the musical portrayal of the situation represents her perspective, her focalization, her sense of what Daphne is feeling—than by an attempt at a direct setting of Whistledown per se.


I am (humbly) learning, and really grateful for your analysis and response. I agree with you that, although Whistledown may be the main persona throughout the series, the focus of this clip is on Daphne, she's the true heroine here and that her feelings are channelled through Whistledown's narration and somewhat facial expressions. Your recommendation about how to approach the clip is a great learning for next time.



jbuhler said:


> I'm not sure I agree about needing a director's brief, since likely some of what's being evaluated is how well a particular setting reads the scene as is. I also haven't rewatched the original since I watched the series when it came out, so I have no strong recollection of what the show actually did for this.



Maybe it's just me, and that I just don't (yet) have the sensitivities, but I feel that sometimes things like whether a dramatic line is defined as tragedy or comedy is really just in the head of the director (or the writer) and can't be extracted from the scene alone.


----------



## jbuhler

Olympum said:


> Maybe it's just me, and that I just don't (yet) have the sensitivities, but I feel that sometimes things like whether a dramatic line is defined as tragedy or comedy is really just in the head of the director (or the writer) and can't be extracted from the scene alone.


The beats in this clip are comedic in the usual meaning of the term. The expressions are slightly overdrawn and inflected toward the melodramatic. So I start with that, which is evident in the clip by itself. 

Then there is the genre, which is regency romance. And the models for this sort of thing are primarily Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer (who distilled Jane Austen into a commercial genre), and the generic allegiances are primarily as romantic comedies. The coupling will eventually succeed, and the match find love (as well as status and money). So that's a second layer I start with. Everything else is complication, situation, temporary obstacles that delay the final coupling. 

Now there can be drama and even tragic events in this genre, and for such scenes you would want to follow the local mood to be sure in scoring, but this sequence shows no evidence to me that that is where this is headed. It seems to be setting up a situation to be resolved in the coming action.

So I bring what I get from the clip to bear and also some general knowledge about the genre. But that still leaves lots of leeway on how to approach it, of course. And I'm not sure it's better to have more guidance.


----------



## allen-garvey

Here's my entry. I ended up going electronic, semi-inspired by the Clockwork Orange soundtrack. Basically all synths, with a few reversed cymbals and a reversed piano chord.


----------



## ism

jbuhler said:


> But even given that, Daphne is obviously the central character to the montage. Whistledown's narration revolves around her. So I would say she can't be avoided and in particular we need musical confirmation that what we are seeing with Daphne is something like a secret of its own. That is, not just nervousness about the quick wedding, but that she has misgivings.





jbuhler said:


> The beats in this clip are comedic in the usual meaning of the term. The expressions are slightly overdrawn and inflected toward the melodramatic. So I start with that, which is evident in the clip by itself.
> 
> Then there is the genre, which is regency romance. And the models for this sort of thing are primarily Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer (who distilled Jane Austen into a commercial genre), and the generic allegiances are primarily as romantic comedies. The coupling will eventually succeed, and the match find love (as well as status and money). So that's a second layer I start with. Everything else is complication, situation, temporary obstacles that delay the final coupling.
> 
> Now there can be drama and even tragic events in this genre, and for such scenes you would want to follow the local mood to be sure in scoring, but this sequence shows no evidence to me that that is where this is headed. It seems to be setting up a situation to be resolved in the coming action.
> 
> So I bring what I get from the clip to bear and also some general knowledge about the genre. But that still leaves lots of leeway on how to approach it, of course. And I'm not sure it's better to have more guidance.


It's something that really struck me in watching @Trash Panda 's entry - just how much this clip entirely hinges on some kind of counter point the interiority of whatever's actually going on with the character (and I haven't seen the show so I don't know what it is, but it's clearly something) and all the frothy bits around it ... but specifically, how there's a fleeing moment where look on the main characters face conveys all of this. 

And while properly Jane Austen-esque conventions of genre don't generally call for hitting this moment over the head with quite such a big hammer, it's actually pretty unmistakable when you see in @Trash Panda 's score. And strangely moving.


----------



## jbuhler

ism said:


> It's something that really struck me in watching @Trash Panda 's entry - just how much this clip entirely hinges on some kind of counter point the interiority of whatever's actually going on with the character (and I haven't seen the show so I don't know what it is, but it's clearly something) and all the frothy bits around it ... but specifically, how there's a fleeing moment where look on the main characters face conveys all of this.
> 
> And while properly Jane Austen-esque conventions of genre don't generally call for hitting this moment over the head with quite such a big hammer, it's actually pretty unmistakable when you see in @Trash Panda 's score. And strangely moving.


Yes, one of the strengths of @trash panda’s setting is the way the play against genre manages to capture neatly the melodramatic expression. It’s most effective in the first scene. I also thought his scoring of the dressing scene was more effective than most at least in part because it committed to scoring Daphne in a way that her distress was evident. What’s lost in his setting is the humorous beats. Or rather they are retained only because we understand his setting as parody. But I found it an extraordinary effective counter setting and was most happy he completed it.


----------



## DoubleTap

What I found the hardest thing to reconcile in the sequence was the final scene, with the women and girls coming down the stairs, because it’s so distinct from the Whistledown narrative. 

Essentially there are three sections where the control of the camera changes - the pre-credit opening where it’s classic third person, the Whistledown introduction and voice over of her letter where the narrator takes control, and then a return to third person with Daphne and her sister(s). 

So it felt to me as though I should start a new theme at that point, but since there’s so much dialogue it was hard to establish anything. (The pre-credit bit is curious because it’s an outro to whatever has happened before, but an intro to our competition - easy enough to just pick up that emotion of exuberant enthusiasm from the mother and Daphne’s doubts.)

But the last bit is much more ambivalent - we’re moving into a new place which is perhaps more about competitiveness. Daphne might not be sure who or if she wants to marry, but she’s sure she wants to do it before her sister. Personally, I think that change of focus and change of emotional direction requires something entirely different. But the dialogue is so dominant that it feels that any score would be in competition with it so I had no idea what to do with it. It was really interesting to see how everyone has approached it.


----------



## Inherently

Mr Greg G said:


> I like the idea! Regarding the recurring staccatos, why not make something more frightening and less "reassuring"?


@Trash Panda - you've got a terrific concept - it feels like the recurring staccatos are a 'place holder' for something else - the staccatos just drain all the piss out of the thing. Those 'stand down everybody' chords need to _have or be_ something else. More jokes please! There's time to revise. I loved this entry!


----------



## m4ciekw

The video does not appear on Youtube whatever account I'm logged in to, and the views are probably just mine. So I paste here for anyone to see.

I don't know what I'm doing yet. I'm an IT specialist and the only things I've composed are two films for the Spitfire competition. So you can call me Spitfire Competition Composer  3 years ago I bought my first piano and I'm trying to play Chopin ... This is my entire musical background.

If anyone wants to share with me their critical (preferably) comments about my score, I will be grateful.

Good luck in the competition!


----------



## RudyS

DoubleTap said:


> What I found the hardest thing to reconcile in the sequence was the final scene, with the women and girls coming down the stairs, because it’s so distinct from the Whistledown narrative.
> 
> Essentially there are three sections where the control of the camera changes - the pre-credit opening where it’s classic third person, the Whistledown introduction and voice over of her letter where the narrator takes control, and then a return to third person with Daphne and her sister(s).
> 
> So it felt to me as though I should start a new theme at that point, but since there’s so much dialogue it was hard to establish anything. (The pre-credit bit is curious because it’s an outro to whatever has happened before, but an intro to our competition - easy enough to just pick up that emotion of exuberant enthusiasm from the mother and Daphne’s doubts.)
> 
> But the last bit is much more ambivalent - we’re moving into a new place which is perhaps more about competitiveness. Daphne might not be sure who or if she wants to marry, but she’s sure she wants to do it before her sister. Personally, I think that change of focus and change of emotional direction requires something entirely different. But the dialogue is so dominant that it feels that any score would be in competition with it so I had no idea what to do with it. It was really interesting to see how everyone has approached it.


Yeah me too. That’s why I treated the sentence “I have a feeling you will find love next season” as a thriller cliffhanger and went with a bit out of proportion exiting music. But probably if you know the serie it is out of context.


----------



## gedlig

I'm not really for sharing my nonsenses, but here's the entry I finished a week or so ago. Absolutely no cohesiveness. In the beginning thought about doing like a horror thing, cause the whole love and marriage thing is scary af. Then the walking through the corridor sequence looked like it could use something actiony, so jokingly threw in an electronic thing and just kept it in. The rest is just a very basic brass/woodwind/percussion thing. It's all for fun anyway :D


----------



## jeffreycl

Well, when it first came out I was excited to get started. Then the general pressures of life started to encroach on my time and I thought I wouldn't make it by the deadline...but I pressed on. Then I thought I would get it finished and submit but probably not what I really had in mind...and I pressed on.  And as I got further into it I changed a section here and modified a part there and suddenly it was all coming together. So, without further adieu, here is a rendition of what was rattling around in my head after watching the clip for the first time. Any constructive criticism...or compliments are welcome.


----------



## paulwr

Is anyone scoring into the few seconds of black at the end of the clip?
I'm purposely not listening to anyone's submissions until I am done.

Thanks.


----------



## DoubleTap

paulwr said:


> Is anyone scoring into the few seconds of black at the end of the clip?
> I'm purposely not listening to anyone's submissions until I am done.
> 
> Thanks.


Some people are


----------



## blaggins

I have a final/last two notes that take place in the black space at the end, a kind of "we're done" gesture. I found it hard to work otherwise since the clip just cuts of mid-scene. But I have no idea if that is a good idea to do or not. In reality I probably wouldn't put music over that last scene at all if I was actually scoring the episode, but it seemed like too much dead space to leave for a competition entry.


----------



## Ju'z Music

Hello all , 

Here's my entry, had a lot of fun doing it.


----------



## LOU

tpoots said:


> I have a final/last two notes that take place in the black space at the end, a kind of "we're done" gesture.


Same, seems the best option for this clip. In the show however musics stops right after the sequence oustide, there is no music for the stares part.


----------



## nyxl

Well...




Here we go:


----------



## John Judd

nyxl said:


> Well...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here we go:



Gonna be honest here: I really did enjoy this track! It’s different from every other entry I’ve heard and infuses a certain urgency to the visuals.


----------



## blaggins

Tons of great entries in here, I've been enjoying listening to them! I'm finding it pretty interesting how some of the alternate scorings can totally change the mood of the scene.

For mine I tried to keep it firmly in the "traditional" genre, at least so far as I understand it. Instrumentation is all woodwinds and chamber strings plus harpsichord and harp, with some solo strings in the intro and outro. I found it very challenging to set the right emotional tone, Daphne has obvious trepidation towards the marriage, but is also allowing herself to get carried forward in the excitement of preparing for it, so it's not all dark and gloom. I may have created "too happy" of a motif for her? There is in fact a minor harmonization in there, but I feel like it's character is pretty washed out when orchestrated, it was much more apparently minor in the piano sketch... ah well.


----------



## jeffreycl

DoubleTap said:


> Some people are





paulwr said:


> Is anyone scoring into the few seconds of black at the end of the clip?
> I'm purposely not listening to anyone's submissions until I am done.
> 
> Thanks.


I did. Last 2 notes of the composition. I know you are not listening (I didn't either) but my post was just before yours. I could have gone either way but when I put the last 2 chords in the blank it seemed natural. Depending on how the rest of the show treated the blank space, it may not have been natural but we aren't scoring the entire show...maybe next year's competition. Just imagine what kind of prize that would bring.


----------



## DoubleTap

nyxl said:


> Well...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here we go:



Amen, brother


----------



## fakemaxwell

Finally was able to finish a piece before the deadline! First time scoring something entirely with an orchestra (shout out to Scoreclub). Somehow didn't use a lick of the brass section, though.



Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, as...


----------



## Stardog24

Hey gang. Here we go again.

I've finally managed to get off my arse and put something together for the Bridgerton comp. Had rather a lot of fun with this one. Tried to make it a bit of a weave of a classical sound with some modern sound design elements. Bit of a bossa groove. Bit of thematic guess work as I'm contextualising everything from the clip as opposed to looking up the context of the show.

Had a heap of fun, and I'm looking forward to trawling through all of your entries now that I'm done. 

Feedback always welcomed. Let me know if the music is too high or low in the mix. I'm living in headphone land at the moment, so it's all guess work.


----------



## CyrilBellem

Hello everyone,

It was a great video to work on, with different emotions!

Here is my proposition, mostly on strings


----------



## Nino_Benedict

Hi all,

Here's mine, mostly done with free samples:


----------



## ZosterX

Hey Everyone ! Just finish mine..
However, when I export my music with the video on logic, works fine. Good. When I upload on youtube, NO MORE SOUND ! Wtf ? Does anyone have the same issue ?

it seems to be like a "copyright" issue.. wtf ?


----------



## LOU

ZosterX said:


> Hey Everyone ! Just finish mine..
> However, when I export my music with the video on logic, works fine. Good. When I upload on youtube, NO MORE SOUND ! Wtf ? Does anyone have the same issue ?
> 
> it seems to be like a "copyright" issue.. wtf ?


Youtube tells you during the validation process when there is a copyright issue and it tells you too what it does. If it mutes your video it should says so, otherwise it's probably a codec issue.


----------



## ZosterX

Yeah, problem solved,

So here's my participation..

And Good luck to everyone !


----------



## jon wayne




----------



## GregStuckey

It's been a rush but managed to get it done just in time. Tried not to listen to anyone else's before I'd finished my own, but now I can go back and binge them. Best of luck to everyone!


----------



## prasad_v

gedlig said:


> I'm not really for sharing my nonsenses, but here's the entry I finished a week or so ago. Absolutely no cohesiveness. In the beginning thought about doing like a horror thing, cause the whole love and marriage thing is scary af. Then the walking through the corridor sequence looked like it could use something actiony, so jokingly threw in an electronic thing and just kept it in. The rest is just a very basic brass/woodwind/percussion thing. It's all for fun anyway :D



Very nice! Just my personal opinion, I like the way it started, up until the point she started reading the letter 😄. Wish you had just stuck to that theme/mood all the way , would have been interesting.


----------



## S-B-L

I also found some time for scoring.
Working title: "Drama Queen"


----------



## Maarten

So this is my entry for the Spitfire Scoring Competition 2022: Bridgerton. 
I wanted to keep it sober and light, not to distract too much from the dialogue. A snare drum, that transform into something else, mildly dissonant string stabs, a few solo woodwinds, a trumpet, some horns, a celesta, and some nasty low brass that's it.
Good luck to all the participants of this competition.


----------



## angeruroth

Argh, I've been tooo busy to even start looking at it yet  but judging by some of the entries I just listened I doubt a simple piano track would be enough to not feel totally embarrassed... let's see if tomorrow I can make something before 17h, but with aprox. 1~2 hours I don't know... Maybe I should just let it go and enjoy the show.


----------



## VTX Rudy

Xounds by Thimo


----------



## Gian Luca Zucchelli

Hi everyone, this is my new composition for the Spitfire Audio Competition.
It was really fun to work with such an ironic and mischievous film, I really hope you like it!


----------



## Inherently

BlackDorito said:


> Looks like this thread has very appropriately become the place to share our entries.



@BlackDorito - Just listened to your entry - I think it's impeccable - the tone, timing - so aptly tuned to the clip, it's like a swan in snow. Bravo!


----------



## AndyRi

Hi guys,

Here is mine. It was a fun ride ! Victorian-ish. Hope you enjoy it


----------



## icecoolpool

I´ve heard a lot of really great entries on this thread, a lot of wonderful ideas that have been executed really well. 

Here´s my modest effort which uses (mostly) Spitfire´s BBCSO:


----------



## sundrowned

Late to the party but gave it a go. 

 

Could do with a few more hours to fix everything I don't like about it but I'm off on a trip so will have to do for now.


----------



## liquidlino

RudyS said:


> A lot of really good entries here! Nice to hear the different takes. Here is mine. I didn't do anything too crazy. As a beginner I appreciate feedback!



Really love the strings in this - both the composition and the sound. What library is it?


----------



## RudyS

liquidlino said:


> Really love the strings in this - both the composition and the sound. What library is it?


Thank you so much! Really appreciate this.

The strings are a combination of Spitfire solo strings and Studio strings professional.
Other libraries are EDNA earth and BBC so pro.


----------



## Melniks

Hey!
Yet another one.


----------



## Baronvonheadless

So I wasn’t going to do this but just decided to whip up an entry while in between projects. 

Any constructive criticism before I enter it?


----------



## gedlig

prasad_v said:


> Very nice! Just my personal opinion, I like the way it started, up until the point she started reading the letter 😄. Wish you had just stuck to that theme/mood all the way , would have been interesting.


Oh yeah, I know what you mean. I just went with what my brain wanted to do at that moment without thinking about cohesion or consistent theme and I just didn't bother trying to make it consistent afterwards :D


----------



## BlackDorito

Inherently said:


> @BlackDorito - Just listened to your entry - I think it's impeccable - the tone, timing - so aptly tuned to the clip, it's like a swan in snow. Bravo!


I had in mind jaunty & lighthearted, to complement the determination of the Queen. Thanks for the kind words.


----------



## Maciej Stawinoga

Hello everyone,

I'm new here but I'm impressed with this forum and your propositions for Spitfire Audio "My Bridgerton Score" contest. It was a great pleasure for me to create music for this short video! It was my first scoring for a movie but enjoyed this very much! Here is my proposition and I'll be grateful for any comments! Kind regards, Maciej


----------



## TonalDynamics

Leslie Fuller said:


> Eagerly awaiting @David Kudell entry 🤪
> 
> Just seen that he posted this video on his channel earlier:
> 
> .
> 👏👏



"You don't have any composers in the audience, do you?"
*makes jerk-off motion*

LOL


----------



## TonalDynamics

mybadmemory said:


> Glad to see Spitfire bringing it back again! Fingers crossed for less haters and more positivity this time around!


Hmm, to clarify when you say 'bringing it back', it never officially left right?

2020 was Westworld, 2021 was Stargirl, and '22 is some kinda super exciting lady drama?


----------



## Mithnaur

Finally I published my composition.
I see that most of them have cut the black on the end of the video and therefore have not composed on it.
I had to go over 2 seconds to conclude (a bit quickly unfortunately) but I was wondering if it was a directive of the competition not to compose on the post-video part. Hopefully I won't have to edit too much by tomorrow


----------



## bryla

Had a bit of fun taking it in another direction


----------



## Scamper

I've also tried myself at it and really enjoyed scoring this scene. Drama is just more fun than an action clip like last year.

For this one again, my goal was to create a score, that fits the scene well, but is also a cohesive piece of music. After all the hours I put into that, I can hardly view it objectively anymore, so I'd be happy to get feedback!
Are there parts, that don't fit well? Is it too overwritten or drawing too much focus? Mixed too loud?



And the music on its own:


Now I gotta take a little break from Bridgerton and then I'm gonna check out your entries. Very curious.
Afterwards, I already checked out the original score from Kris Bowers. Really liked that one and I think it shows, that he has a piano and jazz background.


----------



## S-B-L

bryla said:


> Had a bit of fun taking it in another direction



GREAT!
Sounds a little bit like the Ocean's XX- films


----------



## jooba

bryla said:


> Had a bit of fun taking it in another direction



Wow ! Really like it. Nice sound.


----------



## wickedw

I decided to have a go at. Purely as an exercise really, tried to write something that wasn't complete shit, half succeeded. Now I can listen to what you others have done.


----------



## John Judd

Scamper said:


> I've also tried myself at it and really enjoyed scoring this scene. Drama is just more fun than an action clip like last year.
> 
> For this one again, my goal was to create a score, that fits the scene well, but is also a cohesive piece of music. After all the hours I put into that, I can hardly view it objectively anymore, so I'd be happy to get feedback!
> Are there parts, that don't fit well? Is it too overwritten or drawing too much focus? Mixed too loud?
> 
> 
> 
> And the music on its own:
> 
> 
> Now I gotta take a little break from Bridgerton and then I'm gonna check out your entries. Very curious.
> Afterwards, I already checked out the original score from Kris Bowers. Really liked that one and I think it shows, that he has a piano and jazz background.



This one was a fun listen! Quite a journey.


----------



## tritonely

I already hoped for some non-action scene this year! Didn't think I would eventually end up with this combination of Spitfire libraries I would use in my score for a show like Bridgerton: Albion Solstice, BBC Symphony Orchestra Pro and Olafur Arnalds Stratus. Any feedback is welcome! Good luck everyone, Marnix (formerly known on YT as Marbli Music)


----------



## IntersteliQ

Here's my submission. I'm 10 years old and had lots of fun composing this. I hope you guys enjoy!


----------



## Remnant

Always fun to practice on high quality footage. Thank you Spitfire.


----------



## MichaelGraybill

Learning from all the different choices everyone makes in these is neat. I chipped away at these parts enough that I feel the result deserves a public appearance.


----------



## Lo28

What a fun clip to write music for! I tried to create a nice mixture of romance and comedy.


----------



## LudvigGhoul4

Hello Everyone.
This is my entry for this year's Spitfire Audio Competition.
This was hands down, the most challenging scene of all the competitions I have been in.
I know i'm still pretty green and that it's not the most unique, but I'm quite proud of my 2 and a half year progress.
feedback is much appreciated, i would like to know how my music can improve for the future
Good luck to everyone.


----------



## Lec

Hello to all!
It seems to me that today is the last day...
It was fun to do ! It made me want to see the show 
( I wonder how they'll be able to listen to so many entries without going crazy after a while 😀 ! )
I'm adding an egg to the basket by posting mine


----------



## Baronvonheadless

I decided to make some tweaks of my own and upload before the deadline since I didn't get much feedback. I got a bit from a friend and think it helped and followed my gut and I'm really happy with how the final result came out. Was a fun challenge. Cheers to all! 

Here's my official entry.


----------



## Rick McGuire

Throwing my hat into the ring. Opted for string quintet, flute, bassoon, and some light perc. Really enjoying watching everyone's. So many talented composers.


----------



## arznable

Just finished the composition and arrangement pretty last minute. Please don't hesitate to comment, and good luck to all of you!


----------



## paulwr

My official entry. Very fun clip to score!


----------



## frioventus

I love this competitions! Here is my entry:


----------



## pranic

There are so many great compositions for this competition, and it's super inspiring to hear how everyone approached this project. I wrote much of my composition on July 28, then shelved it for three weeks, went on vacation, and picked it back up again with my mobile setup (MicroFreak as my midi controller, and got my samples moved to my laptop's external drives).

Fun times. Great work, everyone! I figured I'd share my finished composition, too!


----------



## Mr Sakitumi

Worked on this last moment, but wanted to submit for this 
Just uploaded 
Good luck everyone


----------



## Taron

jbuhler said:


> The beats in this clip are comedic in the usual meaning of the term. The expressions are slightly overdrawn and inflected toward the melodramatic. So I start with that, which is evident in the clip by itself.
> 
> Then there is the genre, which is regency romance. And the models for this sort of thing are primarily Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer (who distilled Jane Austen into a commercial genre), and the generic allegiances are primarily as romantic comedies. The coupling will eventually succeed, and the match find love (as well as status and money). So that's a second layer I start with. Everything else is complication, situation, temporary obstacles that delay the final coupling.
> 
> Now there can be drama and even tragic events in this genre, and for such scenes you would want to follow the local mood to be sure in scoring, but this sequence shows no evidence to me that that is where this is headed. It seems to be setting up a situation to be resolved in the coming action.
> 
> So I bring what I get from the clip to bear and also some general knowledge about the genre. But that still leaves lots of leeway on how to approach it, of course. And I'm not sure it's better to have more guidance.


Even while I went for a naive attempt at basically respecting the "story" and period and all that jazz, I find it with all these scoring competitions most exciting to see when people successfully manage to put a totally unique spin on things, or even achieve a push into different genres altogether. It's completely unreasonable to expect that any one of us could do a "serious" attempt at scoring the show for what it really is and I somehow don't expect them to do so either. Except possibly the original composer for the score, who is naturally heavily biased by his own instructions.
But outside of competitive considerations, I do really enjoy the genre-benders most and love sitting through a submission with a wide smile for whatever reason it may get triggered!


----------



## Bee_Abney

I hope to take a look at some of the other entries here later; but for now, I'm just relieved that I actually put an entry together at all! My second competition, and my first time scoring to (moving) picture.

I wish the very best of fortune to everyone else here entering - may your entry be seen by someone with similar taste to yours, whilst they are in a good mood and able to pay attention!


----------



## jbuhler

Taron said:


> Even while I went for a naive attempt at basically respecting the "story" and period and all that jazz, I find it with all these scoring competitions most exciting to see when people successfully manage to put a totally unique spin on things, or even achieve a push into different genres altogether. It's completely unreasonable to expect that any one of us could do a "serious" attempt at scoring the show for what it really is and I somehow don't expect them to do so either. Except possibly the original composer for the score, who is naturally heavily biased by his own instructions.
> But outside of competitive considerations, I do really enjoy the genre-benders most and love sitting through a submission with a wide smile for whatever reason it may get triggered!


I agree that the entries that bend the genre are often the most illuminating, both of the sequence, and of music’s potential. And though the clip takes a period setting well, I thought it worked reasonably well with a wide range of styles. So it’s a good (albeit challenging) clip for this sort of thing. Overall, I’ve enjoyed these settings much more than either of the other two SF competitions.

That said, for myself, I find that the settings that work best in this case are the ones that draw something from the scene of Daphne dressing, and that’s the one that many settings try to skate over rather than dig into. And I think it is evident from the clip that the sequence (and likely the entire series) treats her as the heroine, that we’re dealing broadly with romantic comedy, and that something is amiss with her engagement. Of course, that leaves lots of room for interpretation, and lots of ways to dig into what Daphne is feeling. And that includes doing so by bending or even transforming the genre. But treating that bit as incidental rather than central to the montage makes the musical emphasis feel off to me, and though I find the quality of the settings of excellent quality overall, those that didn’t engage the dressing sequence purposefully seemed to lose focus at that point, treating Daphne as though she were a secondary character. (In many settings the queen is better articulated by the music than Daphne.)


----------



## cug

The clip for this competition was well chosen. I kept finding more things to acknowledge in the score. Anyway, it's done now. My score features clarinet, slide lap steel, nyckelharpa, harp, piano, bass and strings. There's a bit of synth and a brief electric guitar bend in there too. Here's my entry:


----------



## Mithnaur

I have no experience in publishing youtube videos, but can anyone tell me why my video is not visible in all videos with the tag #mybridgertonscore or even via a direct search?
Yet it is public.
Should I set something else?


----------



## Bee_Abney

Mithnaur said:


> I have no experience in publishing youtube videos, but can anyone tell me why my video is not visible in all videos with the tag #mybridgertonscore or even via a direct search?
> Yet it is public.
> Should I set something else?


I don't know how to search from tags in YouTube; but did you make sure that you put the tag in the right place? Not (just) the description, but in the special box for tags? It was an Advanced option and so I might have missed it if I hadn't been waiting so long for my video to upload.


----------



## gedlig

Mr Sakitumi said:


> Worked on this last moment, but wanted to submit for this
> Just uploaded
> Good luck everyone



This gives me some Binding of Isaac vibes :D


----------



## The Retroblueman

Mithnaur said:


> I have no experience in publishing youtube videos, but can anyone tell me why my video is not visible in all videos with the tag #mybridgertonscore or even via a direct search?
> Yet it is public.
> Should I set something else?


It can take up to a couple of days for the video to show up on the hashtag page - and even then it's not a reliable feature of YT and you can drop on and off it (as mine appears to have done) - Also, if I look at the hashtag page YT is only showing me about 200 videos rather than the 2k+ there actually are. Spitfire will find your entry from your form though so don't worry about not getting judged- and if you are after views then the best way to get the ball rolling on those is to go and leave nice and witty comments on everyone else's entries (eventually the YT algorithm will catch on and start recommending you and that in turn will make it more likely that you appear on search results and the hashtag page).


----------



## Loïc D

No pb if your video doesn’t appear in the search engine in YouTube : it’s limiting the results !
Don’t panic !


----------



## cug

Mithnaur said:


> I have no experience in publishing youtube videos, but can anyone tell me why my video is not visible in all videos with the tag #mybridgertonscore or even via a direct search?
> Yet it is public.
> Should I set something else?


The instructions video, Paul Thomson said to put the hashtag either in the title or in the description. I just searched Youtube for "#mybridgertonscore" and there are over 3,000 videos!


----------



## Mithnaur

Thank you all for your answers and your advice. For the time being, it wasn't necessarily to increase the number of views, but I was afraid that I might have done something wrong for the contest entry.
Indeed I thought that the result was not showing all the videos 
Now that it's the end, I'll be able to watch a bit more all the others, which I didn't want to do from the beginning so as not to be influenced (by the way I still haven't listened to the original score ^^)


----------



## The Retroblueman

Mithnaur said:


> Thank you all for your answers and your advice. For the time being, it wasn't necessarily to increase the number of views, but I was afraid that I might have done something wrong for the contest entry.
> Indeed I thought that the result was not showing all the videos
> Now that it's the end, I'll be able to watch a bit more all the others, which I didn't want to do from the beginning so as not to be influenced (by the way I still haven't listened to the original score ^^)


just found your entry - great job- left you a like! I clicked on the hashtag in your vid and it went through to the main page - looks like you have done everything right and don't need to worry.


----------



## pascalou

Hello,

This is my entry :




good luck to everyone


----------



## Mr Sakitumi

gedlig said:


> This gives me some Binding of Isaac vibes :D


Thanku 🙏


----------



## Instrugramm

Entered 2-3 minutes before the admission window closed, would have liked to do a better mix/master but hey, it was quite fun to do a last minute score.


----------



## blaggins

The Retroblueman said:


> It can take up to a couple of days for the video to show up on the hashtag page - and even then it's not a reliable feature of YT and you can drop on and off it (as mine appears to have done) - Also, if I look at the hashtag page YT is only showing me about 200 videos rather than the 2k+ there actually are. Spitfire will find your entry from your form though so don't worry about not getting judged- and if you are after views then the best way to get the ball rolling on those is to go and leave nice and witty comments on everyone else's entries (eventually the YT algorithm will catch on and start recommending you and that in turn will make it more likely that you appear on search results and the hashtag page).


Yup, the YT algorithm for sorting and displaying videos is not optimized for this kind of thing. On a per-video basis, activity engenders more activity, but even if I try to get a list of all the entries (aka by searching manually for the hashtag and scrolling down as far as I can), I can't get more than about 800 videos out of the 3k+ of them. My sort and search filters only partially work. I'd guess only Spitfire itself will have a really complete list of every single entry in the end.


----------



## PanD

Hope my clocks are right cause that was cutting it close.. 

Congrats everyone on getting your entries in before the bell!


----------



## gedlig

Cool that they send an entry confirmation email this time.


----------



## Yanurika

gedlig said:


> Cool that they send an entry confirmation email this time.


*checks email*
oh, neat!

So far, I've seen very little toxicity around this contest, at least compared to WestWorld. Let's hope this continues on until October and after...


----------



## Loïc D

Yanurika said:


> *checks email*
> oh, neat!
> 
> So far, I've seen very little toxicity around this contest, at least compared to WestWorld. Let's hope this continues on until October and after...


Wait when the electro-polka entry will be winning and then hell is unleashed.


----------



## Tom Haniff

Thought I'd throw my hat in the ring this time, seeing as I really enjoyed writing for the Westworld competition but missed the Stargirl one.

I didn't have a huge amount of time so I went with my first instincts, which turned out to be a classical style reminiscent of the period, blended with elements that serve the soundtrack context. 

The clip was well chosen and presents some great challenges - I've really enjoyed listening to other entries and seeing the huge range of approaches people have taken!


----------



## K. Johnston

This was such a a challenge to write for. Not only are you mostly supporting dialogue but there is a multitude of emotions in play during this scene and the setting jumps from one place to another. I tried to emphasize the quick setting changes so that each small sequence stands on it's own but still has a continuous feeling throughout the entirety of the scene. Despite its challenges, this was super fun to do.

I mostly wrote this in 5/4 because i'm a glutton for punishment. The final product turned out better than I originally envisioned. I cannot wait for the next one! Good luck to all of you. I will be watching each of yours now that I have time. 

Cheers,


----------



## Hat_Tricky

Wow, a ton of incredible entries being posted in here, as usual! Working my way through the thread, everyone is killing it!

Went full on crazy mode on this one, first thing I thought of when I saw the clip was an Ocean's 11 style montage/heist thing. Heist, wedding, what's the difference lol - Bridgerton's 11 it is, I decided! Dynamic camera moves, fast paced editing, plot twists and some witty and sharp dialogue, loved this clip!

Most fun I've had in a long time doing this one, got to use a nice combo of libraries and found out the pop1 and pop2 mics on Abbey Road One are pretty nice, especially for the brass!


----------



## arznable

arznable said:


> Just finished the composition and arrangement pretty last minute. Please don't hesitate to comment, and good luck to all of you!



Can I ask how come when I do a search on #mybridgertonscore in YT, I don't get all 3000+ entries? I think only got around 300, and mine is not one of them. Hope I was not doing anything wrong when submitting the entry.


----------



## Loïc D

arznable said:


> Can I ask how come when I do a search on #mybridgertonscore in YT, I don't get all 3000+ entries? I think only got around 300, and mine is not one of them. Hope I was not doing anything wrong when submitting the entry.


You should have received a mail from Spitfire confirming your entry by now.

I read mine :
“Thank you for submitting your entry to the Bridgerton rescore context.

However, after hearing your submission, we think that you are too stupid and probably underage and thus violating the rules of the competition.

We wish you good luck in your future life away of music.
PS : never touch a sliding whistle anymore.

Best regards,

The Spitfire Team”


----------



## arznable

Loïc D said:


> You should have received a mail from Spitfire confirming your entry by now.
> 
> I read mine :
> “Thank you for submitting your entry to the Bridgerton rescore context.
> 
> However, after hearing your submission, we think that you are too stupid and probably underage and thus violating the rules of the competition.
> 
> We wish you good luck in your future life away of music.
> PS : never touch a sliding whistle anymore.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> The Spitfire Team”


Ha ha, thanks. I just checked that I received the confirmation from Spitfire, although the wordings are a little different from yours.


----------



## Fab

gedlig said:


> I'm not really for sharing my nonsenses, but here's the entry I finished a week or so ago. Absolutely no cohesiveness. In the beginning thought about doing like a horror thing, cause the whole love and marriage thing is scary af. Then the walking through the corridor sequence looked like it could use something actiony, so jokingly threw in an electronic thing and just kept it in. The rest is just a very basic brass/woodwind/percussion thing. It's all for fun anyway :D



I would have done the whole thing electronica, it was great.


----------



## crossrootsdoc

Manaberry said:


> If some of you are looking for the "what it is like to score for TV" experience, start writing on the very last day of the competition.


I actually followed your advice. It was fun!


----------



## Trash Panda

Yanurika said:


> So far, I've seen very little toxicity around this contest, at least compared to WestWorld. Let's hope this continues on until October and after...


Oh I can guarantee that if some parody/meme/joke video wins, the toxicity will floweth with great abandon.


----------



## gedlig

Fab said:


> I would have done the whole thing electronica, it was great.


Problem is I don't really like or do electronic stuff in general, so wouldn't know how to go about it  Sadly drop Ω deathcore didn't really fit


----------



## LOU

Trash Panda said:


> Oh I can guarantee that if some parody/meme/joke video wins, the toxicity will floweth with great abandon.


Pretty sure it won't have to be a parody/meme/joke to make people mad; Anything "out of the box" and not orchestral will be enough for them to spit their fuel. :D


----------



## Yera de Alba

There is a lot of talent and energy in this contest! Thanks to Spitfire Audio for the occasion. 
For me, the process has been a true enjoyment. 



Thanks for listening!


----------



## aesqe

I was so excited to enter this year's competition that I completely missed the part where I need to use the form to actually submit my take. I just uploaded the video to Youtube and thought that was it. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions for late submissions. so this day has been a very sad one for me 😭 I've heard so many great submissions and I can't wait to hear the winning entry. Anyways, here's my take - it's far from perfect, but I enjoyed working on it and I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome. Any comments would be highly appreciated 🙏



Just the music on my SoundCloud page:


----------



## kennw

New to the community here! I too enjoyed the process of composing this very much, and it was fun to listen to all the different entries shared here.

Well, here's mine. Hope you like it!


----------



## wyatony

Tagging on here as well. Was definitely fun to score this scene, you can find my entry below! I felt like this scene was screaming at me to use the harpsichord so I made sure to keep that front and center for the most part. Ended up keeping it simple and doing a harpsichord quintet with strings. Proud of how it came out and it's been fun watching all the other submissions. Good luck to all!


----------



## Aphexa

Hey everyone. Totally forgot to share my entry here.
Found some exquisite work in this thread. Well done all and good luck.
Thanks for listening.


----------



## creativeforge

So much talent here...  All the best everyone!


----------



## Delboy

Wonder who at Spitfire has the time to go thru all these ? ... maybe for fairness they should have categories of entries so newbies/students are not up against the likes of the Pro's on here like Williams himself.


----------



## Dimitri Daudu

Who's in for another Bridgerton score? 😁 

This proposition might be a bit more joyful as I followed the "you're marrying for love" approach. Hope you'll like it!

Good luck everyone!


----------



## prasad_v

Not tired of listening to the same dialogue over and over? Sure? Ok here is one more version set to Indian instruments you can listen to 'sooner rather than later'.


----------



## Mithnaur

Unfortunately, I doubt I'll be able to listen to all the compositions because there are so many of them, but from what I've already heard, congratulations to all of you! There is a lot of talent around here 
The atmospheres as well as the techniques are varied, sometimes completely shifted (with an amusing effect), sometimes so original that it is better to be warned 
But in any case I feel really humble with my little compo that took me a lot of time to adjust, facing the quality of what I could hear.
It's also funny to see the common points between the compositions. The downbeats in the same places, the choice of a theme in continuity on the whole extract (which I didn't really do for the time).

In short, it's going to be a hard job for the jury! Anyway, congratulations to all of you!


----------



## Sub3OneDay

Some great entries on here..

I caught covid and then work caught up with me so didn't manage to get anything finished. But if I had this is what I would have put in - any feedback would be appreciated anyway... Good luck to all of you that made the deadline!


----------



## Henrik B. Jensen

So when are we all gonna be shocked and dismayed of the entry picked as winner by Spitfire & co.? 😃


----------



## gedlig

Henrik B. Jensen said:


> So when are we all gonna be shocked and dismayed of the entry picked as winner by Spitfire & co.? 😃


October 6th


----------



## Tronam

Henrik B. Jensen said:


> So when are we all gonna be shocked and dismayed of the entry picked as winner by Spitfire & co.? 😃


Interesting choice of words...


----------



## robcs

Please let the winner be a polka band. Please let the winner be a polka band. Please let...


----------



## A. Coppejans

Hello everyone,
I just came across this forum. I started (trying) to score music for film a few months ago and Bridgerton was the 1st scoring competition i participated. Congratulations to all the people who participated in this competition. Alain


----------



## J O N

It was really fun to see how everyone is standing out with a different approach in this scene. Well, the deadline closed long time ago, and only in this last week i could get some free time to try my attempt on this so, unfortunately i will not officially compete, but i still wanted to score anyway, so here it goes my non-entry:


----------



## Bee_Abney

J O N said:


> It was really fun to see how everyone is standing out with a different approach in this scene. Well, the deadline closed long time ago, and only in this last week i could get some free time to try my attempt on this so, unfortunately i will not officially compete, but i still wanted to score anyway, so here it goes my non-entry:



You may be late but, gosh, that sounds good! Maybe it could be changed up a bit more; but it does flow so nicely and always matches the video.


----------



## J O N

Bee_Abney said:


> You may be late but, gosh, that sounds good! Maybe it could be changed up a bit more; but it does flow so nicely and always matches the video.


oh, thank you so much! it was a very difficult piece for me to be honest, but i do feel as well that i could have emphasize a little bit more some scenes and feelings. Thanks for the listening


----------



## AbbeyRoad

For those who have heard the line/phrase "My darling girl..." to a point where it just will not leave your head -- why not one more time? For those who haven't, well, enjoy...

​


----------



## robgb

J O N said:


> It was really fun to see how everyone is standing out with a different approach in this scene. Well, the deadline closed long time ago, and only in this last week i could get some free time to try my attempt on this so, unfortunately i will not officially compete, but i still wanted to score anyway, so here it goes my non-entry:



I only sorry you aren't competing. This may be my favorite so far.


----------



## J O N

robgb said:


> I only sorry you aren't competing. This may be my favorite so far.


Oh, that have made me felt sad and happy at the same time. Thank you so much 😌


----------



## Mithnaur

Tomorrow is the big day! Good luck to all 😊


----------



## Bee_Abney

Mithnaur said:


> Tomorrow is the big day! Good luck to all 😊


I'm hoping for either or both of a) a really interesting, not just good, winner; b) someone from here is the winner!


----------



## The Retroblueman

Well, since I have had about 6 views in the last fortnight I am assuming my entry hasn't been receiving the intense scrutiny that the winning entries would have had, so I guess it's best of luck to you guys! 

In any event, I made it to about the bottom of page 9 of this thread before giving up hope of winning (and *my* entry is on page 9😊) and then listened to everything up to the bottom of page 18 - at which point I really wanted to keep going but simply could not bear one more "my darling girl". I was entirely blown away by the standard of musicianship on this forum and it's really quite the privilege to have not been laughed off the thread!

Superbly well done everyone - I am hoping one of the (surprisingly effective) funk entries wins myself, my favourite specific moment in this might have been Bee's perfectly timed record scratch, but that is no critique of anyone else's efforts!

... Back to saving up for SSO 🙄


----------



## Bee_Abney

The Retroblueman said:


> Well, since I have had about 6 views in the last fortnight I am assuming my entry hasn't been receiving the intense scrutiny that the winning entries would have had, so I guess it's best of luck to you guys!
> 
> In any event, I made it to about the bottom of page 9 of this thread before giving up hope of winning (and *my* entry is on page 9😊) and then listened to everything up to the bottom of page 18 - at which point I really wanted to keep going but simply could not bear one more "my darling girl". I was entirely blown away by the standard of musicianship on this forum and it's really quite the privilege to have not been laughed off the thread!
> 
> Superbly well done everyone - I am hoping one of the (surprisingly effective) funk entries wins myself, my favourite specific moment in this might have been Bee's perfectly timed record scratch, but that is no critique of anyone else's efforts!
> 
> ... Back to saving up for SSO 🙄


My darling Retroblueman!


----------



## The Retroblueman

Bee_Abney said:


> My darling Retroblueman!


"Rob" to my friends (old and new), and often "ROBERT!" to people who are vexed with me😀

EDIT - ps - what happened to the dubstep?


----------



## Bee_Abney

The Retroblueman said:


> "Rob" to my friends (old and new), and often "ROBERT!" to people who are vexed with me😀
> 
> EDIT - ps - what happened to the dubstep?


It was too hard! I have much more respect for dubsteppers now!


----------



## Yanurika

The Retroblueman said:


> Well, since I have had about 6 views in the last fortnight I am assuming my entry hasn't been receiving the intense scrutiny that the winning entries would have had, so I guess it's best of luck to you guys!


My hope is that they must have downloaded the videos that are being judged more thoroughly, so there's no extra views being added, though that's very optimistic...

Speaking of analytics, has anyone else noticed a large uptick in female viewers? When I checked the distribution of viewers around the time of the upload was 80% female, as opposed to my regular 80% male. I imagine that's the typical audience for Bridgerton related content.


----------



## The Retroblueman

Yanurika said:


> My hope is that they must have downloaded the videos that are being judged more thoroughly, so there's no extra views being added, though that's very optimistic...
> 
> Speaking of analytics, has anyone else noticed a large uptick in female viewers? When I checked the distribution of viewers around the time of the upload was 80% female, as opposed to my regular 80% male. I imagine that's the typical audience for Bridgerton related content.


I guess whenever I have posted embedded videos on the Spitfire forum, views there have not counted towards youtube views (compare with VI control where a view on here counts - I think?). So in principle they could have built some kind of internal platform for the judging using the links from the entry forms and views on that wouldn't register on YT...

However, I prefer to let myself down gently😉


----------



## Bee_Abney

The Retroblueman said:


> I guess whenever I have posted embedded videos on the Spitfire forum, views there have not counted towards youtube views (compare with VI control where a view on here counts - I think?). So in principle they could have built some kind of internal platform for the judging using the links from the entry forms and views on that wouldn't register on YT...
> 
> However, I prefer to let myself down gently😉


Well, if we wanted to get crazy about it, we could pretend that Spitfire is pretending that they can view the videos without it showing up on YouTube as views; but that really they decided who would win in advance based on who is best friends with J. J. Abrams.


----------



## Yanurika

Bee_Abney said:


> J. J. Abrams.


I knew I should've given him that call beforehand...


----------



## LOU

Spitfire don't send a confirmation email once they reviewed the entry ?


----------



## Bee_Abney

LOU said:


> Spitfire don't send a confirmation email once they reviewed the entry ?


No, not for viewing. I think there was an automated response for entering.


----------



## Remnant

My darling it’s over. Congrats to the winner and finalists. Great stuff! I hope these keep coming. Great to have high quality footage to practice on.


----------



## robgb

Congratulations to all. I thought all of the finalists (and winner) were terrific and probably would have chosen a different one for the top prize, but it ain't up to me. They were all deserving of it.


----------



## Bee_Abney

Many congratulations to the winner and runners up!
Winner: Aleksander Debicz
Runners up: Chris Shifflett and Greg Stuckey

All of them very good indeed.


----------



## GregStuckey

Bee_Abney said:


> Many congratulations to the winner and runners up!
> Winner: Aleksander Debicz
> Runners up: Chris Shifflett and Greg Stuckey
> 
> All of them very good indeed.


Thank you!


----------



## doctoremmet

@GregStuckey Just listened to your entry. Great one! Congratulations!


----------



## GregStuckey

doctoremmet said:


> @GregStuckey Just listened to your entry. Great one! Congratulations!


Much appreciated!


----------



## Bee_Abney

GregStuckey said:


> Thank you!


It was pretty darn outstanding!


----------



## ender7

the winners were pretty good. honestly thought some of the runner ups were better compositions than the grand prize. but the first place did have better instrument quality and good mix processing. I do wish these compositions forced which sample libraries and plugins could be used, so the winners can be judged more equally. it usually comes down to giving someone the grand prize who already has the best instruments and plugins already.


----------



## Lo28

Very well deserved congratulations to the winner and runners-up! No big controversy this time


----------



## Lo28

ender7 said:


> the winners were pretty good. honestly thought some of the runner ups were better compositions than the grand prize. but the first place did have better instrument quality and good mix processing. I do wish these compositions forced which sample libraries and plugins could be used, so the winners can be judged more equally. it usually comes down to giving someone the grand prize who already has the best instruments and plugins already.


It's true that all the winners sound very professional. The use of expensive libraries will always be better rewarded than cheap sounding instruments. Which is understandable, an unrealistic sounding orchestra can be really distracting. But I think you shouldn't participate in these competitions with the goal to win prizes (the chance of winning with over 3000 entrances is very slim anyway).
But it might indeed be a good idea to hold a scoring competition where the playing field is levelled by only allowing to use LABS for example.


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## The Retroblueman

Lo28 said:


> It's true that all the winners sound very professional. The use of expensive libraries will always be better rewarded than cheap sounding instruments. Which is understandable, an unrealistic sounding orchestra can be really distracting. But I think you shouldn't participate in these competitions with the goal to win prizes (the chance of winning with over 3000 entrances is very slim anyway).
> But it might indeed be a good idea to hold a scoring competition where the playing field is levelled by only allowing to use LABS for example.


Kind of agree quite strongly with this, and I think a LABS only competition with some tasty prizes is LONG overdue- but there is 

"_1) using LABS only_" 

and then there is

"_2)_ _using LABS with a buttload of filters, great reverb and expensive fx plugins to make LABS sound professional but which you won't directly hear on on listening because the whole point of expensive plugins is that you don't hear them doing their thing_" 

and I think the latter probably takes you back to square one so you (arguably) may as well allow people to use expensive samples in the first place.

Incidentally - many congrats to the winner and runners up - I haven't yet had chance to give the scores a proper airing (been trying to get my 2 year old to sleep and now she is asleep I don't dare make a loud noise) but will do asap!


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## blaggins

The Retroblueman said:


> been trying to get my 2 year old to sleep and now she is asleep I don't dare make a loud noise


this really resonates with me


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## Mithnaur

Well as the message is long, excuse me for the English mistakes if there are any ☺️

This is my opinion, but I think that the default choice of a jury should be more about originality, emotion, relevance, and less about the quality of the samples or the precision of the mix. Unless of course it is specified that this is part of the scoring criteria of the contest (which I believe was not the case here). It is very likely that many very good musicians have the best of the potential but not enough means to have all the libraries available. Just as having the means to afford all the instruments is not enough to make good music 🙂
Other times you have ideas in your head but you don't have the instruments to realize them. And other times we have everything we need but we lack professional mixing techniques (and frankly I don't say that because I feel concerned 😅)

The ideal is of course a balance between all this. But there is a big part of subjectivity. One person's feeling can be very different from the other's feeling when you are not only focused on the technique. Even if of course this technique in the absolute counts a lot, because it contributes to the magic, and to the immersion.
Let's say that I believe there are these different aspects in a musician:
- Ability to transcribe and transmit emotions
- Inventiveness
- Subtlety
- Pure musical technique
- Professional technique in computer music, mixing etc.
- Versatility
- And in our case, the financial capacity to buy virtual instruments and the configuration that goes with them
- Experience and status (pro, amateur ...)

And we have to admit that we are probably not all on the same starting level. And that's the game of course.
But (again in my humble opinion), a jury must be able, of course, to select a very well realized and beautiful composition, but also to know how to spot a musician who transcends with talent all the limits (apart from the imposed rules ... and still ...) even if the final rendering lacks means or technique. For this reason I would tend to think (maybe I'm wrong) that the selection should be based on the first 3 criteria.
After all the rest is played on the rules of the contest of course!

As long as a jury wants to be as objective as possible, any kind of contest can be interesting, even with less democratic rules or criteria! For example, in the rules and criteria of selection, put the emphasis on the mixing techniques (why not!), have the most professional sound possible, or on the contrary impose the use of only one library (but then lend it for free to all during the contest), or impose only one type of instrument, or make the least notes possible but the most relevant ...
One can imagine everything.
But all this to say that if the richness of the orchestration is not part of the rules (in the Bridgerton case it had been said), theoretically, even a composer who would have put only a flute and a violin during the whole piece, could have won if the jury considered that he had the best relevance, emotion, accuracy and originality.

Besides, the "public" opinions of music lovers often differ from those of the "technicians" of music (without wanting to say that some are better than the others!). Speaking of opinions, I am surprised that the composer from Bridgerton was at the top of the selection. After all he already has his own vision of music for the series 

Anyway, congratulations to the winners! It is deserved !🏆

As for the original compositions I ended up listening to, well it's very good I'm not going to say otherwise. But honestly I could hear things more subtle, original and adapted to the emotions of the scene in the compositions of the participants of the contest !

One thing I would like for the next contest I admit, is maybe that everyone could have a feedback on their composition. Not a personalized feedback of course (considering the number it would be complicated). But maybe a feedback or classification by big groups or with "tags" indicating roughly the qualities or defects (depending on the perception of the jury).


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## Noeticus

Congratulations to the winners! High-quality music indeed.

Now, here is my issue with this wonderful music. While it all sounds appropriate for the scene and show, I would have wished for the music to be something far more out of the norm.


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## Fysik

Noeticus said:


> Congratulations to the winners! High-quality music indeed.
> 
> Now, here is my issue with this wonderful music. While it all sounds appropriate for the scene and show, I would have wished for the music to be something far more out of the norm.


Well, the announcement of the winner in 2020 got so much backlash because it was exactly that: "more out of the norm"


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## Noeticus

Fysik said:


> Well, the announcement of the winner in 2020 got so much backlash because it was exactly that: "more out of the norm"


Yes, I agree, but I liked that the Westworld winner was daringly different.


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## Cyberic

Mithnaur said:


> ... I think that the default choice of a jury should be more about originality, emotion, relevance, and less about the quality of the samples or the precision of the mix. Unless of course it is specified that this is part of the scoring criteria of the contest (which I believe was not the case here). It is very likely that many very good musicians have the best of the potential but not enough means to have all the libraries available.


This.


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## fakemaxwell

ender7 said:


> it usually comes down to giving someone the grand prize who already has the best instruments and plugins already.


As much as I wish it to be the case, better samples does not equal better writing.

I think a LABS only competition would be cool, but in today's world being a successful composer requires good mockup skills. If you're lacking experience in the mixing side of things, that's something to focus on for the next competition.


The Retroblueman said:


> _which you won't directly hear on on listening because the whole point of expensive plugins is that you don't hear them doing their thing_"


I don't understand this. No, the whole point of good (not necessarily expensive) plugins is to get good, noticeable results, quickly. There's a laundry list of great plugins that are very cheap.

The conversations and videos surrounding what plugins to use seem to lead people down the wrong path. This used to be a problem with analog vs digital, now it seems to be "expensive plugins vs stock DAW plugin." Every DAW nowadays comes with solid plugins for EQ and compression. Good reverb is less than 50 dollars (Valhalla or Exponential). Klanghelm has some absolutely top tier plugins that are like 20 bucks. Don't get sucked into the hype!


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## The Retroblueman

fakemaxwell said:


> As much as I wish it to be the case, better samples does not equal better writing.
> 
> I think a LABS only competition would be cool, but in today's world being a successful composer requires good mockup skills. If you're lacking experience in the mixing side of things, that's something to focus on for the next competition.
> 
> I don't understand this. No, the whole point of good (not necessarily expensive) plugins is to get good, noticeable results, quickly. There's a laundry list of great plugins that are very cheap.
> 
> The conversations and videos surrounding what plugins to use seem to lead people down the wrong path. This used to be a problem with analog vs digital, now it seems to be "expensive plugins vs stock DAW plugin." Every DAW nowadays comes with solid plugins for EQ and compression. Good reverb is less than 50 dollars (Valhalla or Exponential). Klanghelm has some absolutely top tier plugins that are like 20 bucks. Don't get sucked into the hype!


Well, yes, but I wasn't talking about four figures worth of plugins, my point was made in the context of the suggestion that a LABS only competition would level the playing field. I got BBCSO Core for about £200 in a sale and I would maintain you can get very close to pro sounding results out of it (certainly good enough to win a competition if the music is strong and you have a reasonable DAW, and particularly if you write to Core's strengths and program the midi carefully) - you don't have to buy _that _many plugins, expensive or otherwise, before you hit £200. When I used the word expensive, I had £200 in mind, not VSL Synchron expensive...


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## m4ciekw

ender7 said:


> the winners were pretty good. honestly thought some of the runner ups were better compositions than the grand prize. but the first place did have better instrument quality and good mix processing. I do wish these compositions forced which sample libraries and plugins could be used, so the winners can be judged more equally. it usually comes down to giving someone the grand prize who already has the best instruments and plugins already.


or... live musicians, my guess.


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