# Heavyocity's Vocalise 3 Rescore Competition - Winners Announced



## Heavyocity Media (Aug 26, 2022)

Hey Everyone,
To celebrate the recent release of *Vocalise 3*, we are kicking off the *Vocalise 3 Trailer Rescore Competition* and are inviting all of you to take a stab at scoring the launch video. Personally, I had a blast writing the music to this trailer. Go beyond emotion and come up with the best score you can, using whatever tools you like, for a chance to win the Heavyocity Premier Bundle, worth more than $7,000. Three runners up will receive free copies of Vocalise 3. 

Visit *Heavyocity.com/Vocalise3Rescore* for all the details! 
_*Vocalise 3 is not required to enter the competition._

Good Luck from all of us here at Heavyocity! We can't wait to hear what you come up with. 
-Ari

​


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## Bee_Abney (Aug 27, 2022)

Firstly, I missed this yesterday and just learned about it from an email today. Secondly: where are all the other posts? This looks like an amazingly fun competition!

I wish inspiration and good fortune to everyone entering!


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## Leslie Fuller (Aug 27, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> Firstly, I missed this yesterday and just learned about it from an email today. Secondly: where are all the other posts? This looks like an amazingly fun competition!
> 
> I wish inspiration and good fortune to everyone entering!


Hi Bee, I did start a thread for the competition yesterday morning when Heavyocity’s YouTube video was posted, and there were a couple of likes etc. Once this official post was made though, it seems the Mods deleted my thread.


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## Bee_Abney (Aug 27, 2022)

Leslie Fuller said:


> Hi Bee, I did start a thread for the competition yesterday morning when Heavyocity’s YouTube video was posted, and there were a couple of likes etc. Once this official post was made though, it seems the Mods deleted my thread.


Oh, I'm sorry about that. I suppose that must be their policy on competition threads. I'd have thought they might just leave both - one where everyone says nice things, and one that isn't official!

I want to give this one a go. In the last two months I've entered two competitions and been really unhappy with what I submitted. I'm not looking to win, but it would be nice to put something together that leaves me feeling a little more confident.

Of course, maybe I'll be disappointed with my entry this time too! It's probably just that feeling of finality, that I can't tinker anymore. Mostly, I think it was because I'm not very good at polishing the finished piece yet.

I heard that on one record, after the main recording work was done, Jeff Beck got back in touch with his producer saying that he wanted to take another pass at some of the guitar solos, and his producer (I think it was George Martin) had to explain to him that the record was already out and in the shops.


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## Cyberic (Aug 27, 2022)

Surprised too that this thread and competition aren’t attracting posts. The contest seems a real opportunity and challenge.

Heavyocity say “Compose a score that you think fits!”. Perhaps people think Vocalise 3 is required though it isn’t.


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## Emanuel Fróes (Aug 27, 2022)

Imagine one wins a competition of a premium sample company using only Muse Score samples ; )


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## pranic (Aug 27, 2022)

I've been sitting in a deck chair, reading and contempmlating what "beyond emotion" means in a musical context. Not sure I know what to do, but I love the trailer visuals, and am going to take a crack or two at building a track that hopefully works. That full bunde would be a delightful prize for any composer. The price of admission is hard to knock, too  Best of luck to those of you who take the time to compose and enter this one!


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## JimDiGritz (Aug 28, 2022)

Hi all, I'm going to give this a whirl to build up my scoring to picture chops. 

Since many of you have been around this world a lot longer than me, I had a couple of questions:

1. It doesn't require Vocalise 3 (indeed it's one of the runner up prizes!), and it says you can use any libraries. However do the winners of these developer competitions typically also 'happen' to use 99% of the developers own libraries in their submission? Ie is it terribly bad form to use say 100% Spitfire libraries for a Heaviocity competition!?! 

2. Foley & Sound Effects - I'm reasonably sure that if this was a commercial gig, the brief would probably specify that it's music only, and not to to include Sound FX (foley etc). However since this is a standalone entry would you imagine that some sound effects to work with the visuals would be acceptable?

These might be obvious or unanswerable!


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## Bee_Abney (Aug 28, 2022)

JimDiGritz said:


> Hi all, I'm going to give this a whirl to build up my scoring to picture chops.
> 
> Since many of you have been around this world a lot longer than me, I had a couple of questions:
> 
> ...


I'm not very experienced, but based on my observations so far:

On point 1., it is going to vary by the developer holding the competition. But I doubt it matters at all what libraries you use. It certainly doesn't seem to matter in the Spitifire competitions. Another example is a competition held by Westwood to rescore their trailer for their new piano. The video included visuals of a piano, and I'm sure a lot of entries would have included piano sounds. But the prize was Westwood's new piano anyway, so I'm sure they didn't expect people to use that!

As for point 2., Spitfire explicitly rules out altering the sound track; but I don't think they specify that this means not adding foley. With Heavyocity, I don't know. But it is a composing competition, so I think it would be a bad idea to add anything diegetic (sounds that are supposed to be happening in the film, rather than sounds that are part of the score).

This last one could be tricky if, like me, non-tonal sound effects and sound sources (possibly reshaped to have a tone) are a common part of your composing. For instance, in my first (and recent) competition entry, I included musical adaptations of bidsong and, separately, of sheep bleats. I'm certain I wouldn't have been a finalist anyway, and only finalists got feedback; so I have no idea if that went against me or not.


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## Cyberic (Aug 28, 2022)

In the Heavyocity YouTube video in the OP the presenter clearly states “we are excited to hear what you come up with. So, get to work and have some fun.” He also expands on what’s required re interpretation of the video’s content. 

Essentially it looks entrants have a free reign. And, no, they’re not likely to select finalists who are using the promoter’s own product. The emphasis appears fairly and squarely on compositional skills. Not on how results were achieved.

Good luck to everyone who participates!


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## liquidlino (Aug 28, 2022)

Finished my entry last night, listened and mastered this morning. Good luck everyone! If you like it - would really appreciate a like on YouTube too


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## Bee_Abney (Aug 28, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> Finished my entry last night, listened and mastered this morning. Good luck everyone!



Well, I hate you.

For being so on the ball.

Also, very nice! Very moody and with nice matching of the timing of the music to the images.


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## liquidlino (Aug 28, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> Well, I hate you.
> 
> For being so on the ball.
> 
> Also, very nice! Very moody and with nice matching of the timing of the music to the images.


Thanks Bee... hitting the hit points was my number one concern. I started the whole thing out by spotting the video, and putting time stamps in my DAW exactly where I wanted things to happen. Glad you liked it!


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## Bee_Abney (Aug 28, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> Thanks Bee... hitting the hit points was my number one concern. I started the whole thing out by spotting the video, and putting time stamps in my DAW exactly where I wanted things to happen. Glad you liked it!


I think you hit the key points very nicely.


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## JimDiGritz (Aug 28, 2022)

My entry, finished a few minutes ago!


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## Sheridan (Aug 30, 2022)

Nice atmospheres!

Here's my entry


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## S-B-L (Aug 30, 2022)

good work so far...
this is my entry


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## blaggins (Aug 30, 2022)

This was a very cool trailer, I took a crack at it as well though I'm not so sure that I've improved on Ari's actual score in any way 

I wanted to challenge myself to work a bit faster than usual (though not as fast as all you blazing professionals!) and also to use some libraries that I own but haven't really dug into yet. So I basically started by trolling through my collection of Albion eDNA patches and selecting a few that felt like they would work well, and then I threw Rhodope 2 at it since that is one choir library that I haven't done anything with at all since I bought it, and then I just started noodling on some of the wilder patches in Eric Whitacre choir to try and come up with some otherworldly and dissonant clusters to form the harmonic foundation. I'm not sure to what degree I succeeded, although I definitely succeeded in taking myself out of my comfort zone.

It's kind of a soup of stuff that I hope came together ok in the end. Somehow I managed to not use a single traditional orchestral instrument, but the trailer seemed pretty inhuman/mystical to me so I figured that was a pretty decent choice. I tried for a kind of otherworldly vibe with grittiness and sharp edges to the sound (it's a place of desolate sands and blazing sun after all). Anyway, here it is, if anyone is inclined to give feedback I'd really appreciate it!


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## pranic (Aug 30, 2022)

To everyone who shared their work so far, I'm really impressed with the sound design and creativity everyone is showing! Nice work! I have always been impressed with the calibre of work for the Heavyocity rescore projects. They've been a highlight of the last couple years for me, as I had not been as comfortable with some of the sound design-y things that are usually done in trailers.

I'm not entirely committed to my final submission, but will share my first draft which still needs a bit of work on mixing.

I sat down to work on it last night, and pulled inspiration from the Gravity Natural Forces, Spitfire Mercury and Resonate libraries. I rounded it out with some Eric Whitacre Choir, Albion Tundra High Strings (no rosin), Mobilis II, 8DIO Hybrid NEO II, Phaseplant, In Session Audio's Generate Inside Out, Ethera Sahara Voices, Cinesamples Voices of War, and Audio Imperia Boy Solists (this is the first time I've used these last two libraries in anything)

I'm fairly happy with the work, though I'm tempted to do something more on the higher end of the spectrum. It's very low to mid-end focused at this point in time (mostly because I tuned down the Resonate and Mercury samples by a couple octaves to get a more evolving sound palette). I've had some good responses from sharing with family who have told me to not change a thing. I'd be interested to solicit some feedback from this community before I complete my mix/master cycle.

Do you think this needs more high-end sizzle? (I was considering adding some Spitfire Phobos (there's a sparkly patch I really love), which I seem to gravitate towards on almost every project I work on -- though I have to repair that library on my laptop, since I'm away from my desktop computer). I also find myself going more textural versus melodic on these trailers, and am considering doing a completely new attempt, too.



*UPDATE:
I went back and spent a bit more time on this, and think that my 2nd draft is my final composition. I sprinkled in some Spitfire PHOBOS, Hammers+Waves Ether, and another Phase Plant track and am feeling pretty happy with the result. I can't say how many times I turn to Phobos to get a bit more of that top-end shimmer. It's turning out to be one of my most used libraries, even though it took a long time to fully understand the UI.*

Here's my final composition:


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## liquidlino (Aug 30, 2022)

pranic said:


> I'm tempted to do something more on the higher end of the spectrum. It's very low to mid-end focused at this point in time
> 
> Do you think this needs more high-end sizzle?


Great track - you went the same direction as me, deeply ominous and foreboding. I think the first half does need more mid/highs in it, it's very deep and rumbly - I don't imagine much would be audible on a phone, for instance. I really love the ending and reveal, fantastic build up to organic sounds and conclusion.


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## pranic (Aug 31, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> Great track - you went the same direction as me, deeply ominous and foreboding. I think the first half does need more mid/highs in it, it's very deep and rumbly - I don't imagine much would be audible on a phone, for instance. I really love the ending and reveal, fantastic build up to organic sounds and conclusion.


Thank you for the feedback, @liquidlino! I did end up going back and making a second draft pass, and felt pretty good about the end result. I got my entry submitted, and finalized. In the end, I added a couple PHOBOS tracks, and made a change to a Phase Plant track and did a bit of creative modulation with Devious Machines Infiltrator to add some movement in a high synth line. 

All in all, it was a fun trailer to work on! A nice big thank you to Heavyocity for the opportunity to work with great visual materials! I updated my original post with the final video above.


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## Voider (Aug 31, 2022)

S-B-L said:


> good work so far...
> this is my entry



Awesome! What's the choir at around 00:48? Reminds me of the one in Final Fantasy 7, have been looking for something close to that for a while.


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## S-B-L (Aug 31, 2022)

Voider said:


> Awesome! What's the choir at around 00:48? Reminds me of the one in Final Fantasy 7, have been looking for something close to that for a while.


Thanks a lot.
The choir is Mysteria from NI. This preset is a predefined phrase that you can't control in length and tone pitch. But in this case it fits very good to the picture...


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## Davide Sonzini (Sep 1, 2022)

Here's my entry for the competition. In case anyone wants to take a listen I'd appreciate some feedback on the mix, expecially on the last 20 seconds where things get a bit messy.


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## pranic (Sep 2, 2022)

Davide Sonzini said:


> Here's my entry for the competition. In case anyone wants to take a listen I'd appreciate some feedback on the mix, expecially on the last 20 seconds where things get a bit messy.



Slow textural build followed by some gritty synths and vocals during the ascention worked pretty well in my opinion. I really enjoyed the synth (playing 4ths?) at 0:04 and 0:12. You'd almost miss them if you weren't listening closely but really like the flourishes they add.

In listening to your last 20 seconds, I think there's still a lot of great clarity in there, but with a hint of distressed distortion, which works to my ears. Congrats on a well executed cue, and best of luck in the competition!


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## Davide Sonzini (Sep 3, 2022)

pranic said:


> Slow textural build followed by some gritty synths and vocals during the ascention worked pretty well in my opinion. I really enjoyed the synth (playing 4ths?) at 0:04 and 0:12. You'd almost miss them if you weren't listening closely but really like the flourishes they add.
> 
> In listening to your last 20 seconds, I think there's still a lot of great clarity in there, but with a hint of distressed distortion, which works to my ears. Congrats on a well executed cue, and best of luck in the competition!


Thanks a lot for your feedback, appreciated. That synth is giving a hint on the scale which could be either phrygian or phrygian dominant since the 3rd (major) hasn't been stated yet. The 7th is minor opposed to something like Hans Zimmer's "Herald of the Change" where the major 7th gives a more middle eastern vibe.


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## zimm83 (Sep 3, 2022)

Davide Sonzini said:


> Here's my entry for the competition. In case anyone wants to take a listen I'd appreciate some feedback on the mix, expecially on the last 20 seconds where things get a bit messy.



Great. Really. What are those male voices ? They sound really good ..
Thanks and best luck.


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## Davide Sonzini (Sep 3, 2022)

zimm83 said:


> Great. Really. What are those male voices ? They sound really good ..
> Thanks and best luck.


Thanks. That's my voice, I'm not really a singer but I can sing with some distortion and reverb


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## tritonely (Sep 3, 2022)

I had very much fun to score the Vocalise 3 trailer the last few days. I never heard the original music on purpose to keep my own interpretation of the trailer. Now I'm really excited to listen to the original and all your entries to see al those different ideas/interpretations!

If you have any feedback on my score, please let me know. 

The Heavyocity's sample libraries used in this production: Novo Essentials, Vento Essentials, Aspire: Modern Mallets, Mosaic: Pluck, Foundations: Nylon Guitar, Foundations: Piano.


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 3, 2022)

I need to get going with my re-score so I can start listening to all of these!


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## freecham (Sep 6, 2022)

The video is really inspiring and obviously your entries reflect that very well! Here is mine:


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 6, 2022)

"Now, here's the goal for your rescore. Think beyond emotion. And the power of intimacy. You know, interpret that however you would like; but try to highlight the mystery and intrigue of the character - and the environment he's in. Tell his story. 

"The Vocalise 3 trailer was all about expressing the more intimate but still powerful side of cinematic vocals.

"So, with that said, we are super excited to hear what you come up with. Now go, get to work; and have some fun."

This is just an excerpt from the video setting out the goal of the competition. I was reviewing it for myself; so I thought I post it here too.

Darn. I was wasting my time writing a death metal instrumental about emotional isolation and the mundanity of human existence. Okay. I'll start again.


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## tmatula (Sep 6, 2022)

Hi! This is my first post _and_ first re-scoring attempt. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Hearing all the great submissions posted already is intimidating.


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## liquidlino (Sep 6, 2022)

tmatula said:


> Hi! This is my first post _and_ first re-scoring attempt. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
> Hearing all the great submissions posted already is intimidating.



nice! I really like the novelty of 3/4 time - might be the only entry I've heard that's gone away from 4/4.


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## mgaewsj (Sep 8, 2022)

Hi, after the Bridgerton challenge I promised to avoid competitions for a while but I realize it's like promising to not buy string libraries anymore 

And the video is fantastic so here is my entry,
any feedback etc. etc. 🙏



oh, I used Vocalise 2 btw

and I avoided listening to other entries til now, so it's time to catch up!


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 14, 2022)

Here's my entry, which I've just submitted. I'll pop back to check out the other entries another day, after a bit of a break!


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## Ferenc Bátri (Sep 14, 2022)

Lots of great work here. Good luck to everyone. This is my entry:


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## Scottyb (Sep 14, 2022)

So much talent here everyone! @Ferenc Bátri man that's SO GOOD! Just love it!


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## Ferenc Bátri (Sep 14, 2022)

Scottyb said:


> So much talent here everyone! @Ferenc Bátri man that's SO GOOD! Just love it!


Thank you so much, appreciate it ❤️


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## mgaewsj (Sep 14, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> Here's my entry, which I've just submitted. I'll pop back to check out the other entries another day, after a bit of a break!



I am not sure I can relate this piece to [your quote: "the power of intimacy" and "highlighting the mystery and intrigue of the character" ] 🙂
but this definitely stands out as different! uneasy and disturbing, in a good way.
(I would remove the deep ogre-like voice at 0:13 though)


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 14, 2022)

mgaewsj said:


> I am not sure I can relate this piece to [your quote: "the power of intimacy" and "highlighting the mystery and intrigue of the character" ] 🙂
> but this definitely stands out as different! uneasy and disturbing, in a good way.
> (I would remove the deep ogre-like voice at 0:13 though)


Thanks. Maybe we have different sensibilities! Or we just interpret the film and themes differently. But here is my take. It was my first response to the silent video.

I interpreted the film as a birth; perhaps a rebirth - like a djinn released from a lamp after an aeon of imprisonment. Birth seems pretty intimate in emotional and physical ways; and emotional beyond the daily run of emotions. The unprocessed male scream is a man going through this birth, giving birth to himself. Kind of like becoming an adult, taking responsibility for who we are.

Of course, the fact that all of that makes sense to me counts for nothing for the listener if they don't respond to the combination of the sounds and images in a way that is rewarding for them.


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## mgaewsj (Sep 14, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> Thanks. Maybe we have different sensibilities! Or we just interpret the film and themes differently. But here is my take. It was for first response to the silent video.
> 
> I interpreted the film as a birth; perhaps a rebirth - like a djinn released from a lamp after an aeon of imprisonment. Birth seems pretty intimate in emotional and physical ways; and emotional beyond the daily run of emotions. The unprocessed male scream is a man going through this birth, giving birth to himself. Kind of like becoming an adult, taking responsibility for who we are.
> 
> Of course, the fact that all of that makes sense to me counts for nothing for the listener if they don't respond to the combination of the sounds and images in a way that is rewarding for them.


and quite rewarding it is, for me! even if the story I get is much different

thnx for the description!


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 14, 2022)

mgaewsj said:


> and quite rewarding it is, for me! even if the story I get is much different
> 
> thnx for the description!
> 
> thnx for the ecolanation


And thanks for sharing your ideas. It is so much more fun if you say what you would change or what doesn't strike you as right along with the other, positive feedback. One of the things that is going to be fun listening to the other entries is hearing how differently people have interpreted it!


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## OHjorth (Sep 15, 2022)

Very nice entries everyone! Here's mine!





I got my wife and children(7 & 9yo) to lay some ambient vocal textures in the end. Ambient because my microphone and my room are not made for vocal recordings .
Good luck everyone!


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 15, 2022)

OHjorth said:


> Very nice entries everyone! Here's mine!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Gorgeous! The vocal ambience at the end - absolutely spot on!


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## wildcatkid (Sep 15, 2022)

Here’s my submission! I’m pretty happy with this result. I used a lot of Heavyocity stuff but I don’t have any of their vocalise libraries. Hoping to change that


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## frioventus (Sep 15, 2022)

Good luck everyone!! Here is my entry!


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## A. Coppejans (Sep 15, 2022)

This was my submission. 

Greatings,
Alain


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## CyrilBellem (Sep 15, 2022)

Hello,

Here is another submission for the vocalise 3 rescore competition 🙂
It would be great to have feedback (positive or negative) to be able to improve. What's wrong ? What's good ?

_Thank you!_


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## VTX Rudy (Sep 15, 2022)

Xounds by Thimo


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## Voltimand (Sep 16, 2022)

It's quite daunting to join these competitions with all the great entries from everyone, so glad I try to avoid hearing other submissions before making my own, or else I'm afraid I wouldn't have made it...🥴

Good luck to everyone! 

Here's mine;


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## MaroonedMind (Sep 16, 2022)

This is my first entry for a scoring competition


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## purplehamster (Sep 16, 2022)

Thanks Heavyocity and good luck everyone!! Had fun scoring this clip.


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## Scottyb (Sep 16, 2022)

You guys all suck... so much. I tell ya. :-P Thanks for sharing these! Just wonderful!


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## Manfred (Sep 16, 2022)

Man…so many interesting and creative entries! Best wishes to all!


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## ibanez1 (Sep 16, 2022)

I always wait until the last minute . Good look to everyone. Here is my submission:


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## k4music (Sep 16, 2022)

Here is my submission. Best Wishes every one.


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## liquidlino (Sep 16, 2022)

k4music said:


> Here is my submission. Best Wishes every one.



Love that reverb - what is it?


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## k4music (Sep 16, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> Love that reverb - what is it?


Thank you. Its Blackhole reverb from eventide


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## Gian Luca Zucchelli (Sep 17, 2022)

This is my entry for a scoring competition, I hope you enjoy!


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## Heavyocity Media (Sep 23, 2022)

Wow! What an honor to be part of such a great community of composers. Check out the official announcement to see if you won! Thanks again for all of the amazing submissions. Congratulations!

​


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## freecham (Sep 23, 2022)

Congratulations Ferenc and the others winners !


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## mgaewsj (Sep 23, 2022)

Ferenc Bátri said:


> Lots of great work here. Good luck to everyone. This is my entry:



congrats Ferenc, well deserved!


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 23, 2022)

A great winning entry, and, really, equally great runners up - I'd hate to have to choose between them! Congratulations to you all!

Though I'd probably pick @Ferenc Bátri too; very well done!


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## Ferenc Bátri (Sep 23, 2022)

mgaewsj said:


> congrats Ferenc, well deserved!


Thank you so much


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## Ferenc Bátri (Sep 23, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> A great winning entry, and, really, equally great runners up - I'd hate to have to choose between them! Congratulations to you all!
> 
> Though I'd probably pick @Ferenc Bátri too; very well done!


Thank you, I appreciate much


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## Ferenc Bátri (Sep 23, 2022)

freecham said:


> Congratulations Ferenc and the others winners !


Thank you


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## ibanez1 (Sep 23, 2022)

Congrats Ferenc and all of the runners up. I had fun doing this competition as my first scoring effort ever and all of you are inspiring me with your different approaches to scoring. Time to go improve and hone my skills for the next competition .


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## Ferenc Bátri (Sep 23, 2022)

ibanez1 said:


> Congrats Ferenc and all of the runners up. I had fun doing this competition as my first scoring effort ever and all of you are inspiring me with your different approaches to scoring. Time to go improve and hone my skills for the next competition .


Thank you so much. I also really enjoy this scoring challenge. I wish you good luck, and happy composing


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## pranic (Sep 23, 2022)

Your entry was excellent, @Ferenc Bátri - and congratulations on your accomplishment and a well-executed piece of music! Thank you too, to @Heavyocity Media for the opportunities encouraging us to take on new challenges and congrats to any of the runners-up who are members here, too!


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## Ferenc Bátri (Sep 23, 2022)

pranic said:


> Your entry was excellent, @Ferenc Bátri - and congratulations on your accomplishment and a well-executed piece of music! Thank you too, to @Heavyocity Media for the opportunities encouraging us to take on new challenges and congrats to any of the runners-up who are members here, too!


Thank you


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