# Creating trailer music



## Elmakai (Sep 1, 2021)

I came upon this page being advertised to me:

https://evenant.com/trailer-music-redefined/
I'm not really keen on spending $399 on a single course, unless someone has had experience with it otherwise. But I'm curious on how to get that epic trailer sound. Does anyone have any advice, or possible places to learn from?


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## doctoremmet (Sep 1, 2021)

Check Alex Pfeffer’s YT channel and courses - they’re way more affordable.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 1, 2021)




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## José Herring (Sep 1, 2021)

Alex is great. 

Getting some feedback and some insight into that side of the music business. I joined the Music Production Club given by Todd C. Burns.

Also, I've gotten some trailers accepted lately and learning the format was the key. I watched this video a lot. The music is crap but it gives the basic format and thinking behind trailers. 

Also, learning the difference between trailer music and production music. You can figure out what you do best. For me I lean towards production music that can also be used as trailers as well.


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## confusedsheep (Sep 1, 2021)

Alex Moukalas Tutorials might be interesting 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_CyR8Aqfl45kzFIDeMr-CQ

for considerably less than 399$ you could get quite a few specialized fx sample libraries (impacts, risers, mechanic/metallic booms etc.) and watch some trailer tutorials on yt instead (of course a paid course ist probably/hopefully better structured and you do not have to get on a scavenger hunt to find all the information you want...but then again 399$).

apart from specialized kontakt libraries there are also more affordable wav sample libs out there (bluezone audio e.g.)

and finally in order to completely focus on the task ahead... delete all your woodwind libraries now


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## X-Bassist (Sep 1, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Alex is great.
> 
> Getting some feedback and some insight into that side of the music business. I joined the Music Production Club given by Todd C. Burns.
> 
> ...



This video was awesome Jose thanks. Funny how 80 percent of modern trailers follow a formula so worked out that basic statements sum it up perfectly. Just load this video, replace the words with picture (and more words) write music that hits all the beats, and your done. 😄

I think movies are also starting to closely follow time tested yet overused formulas that take all the art out of filmmaking. Turning a home made meal into a McMeal with fries. I have to admit I’m only really attracted to the art, being a manufacturer of Mcmeals doesn’t interest me at all. But I’ll eat one from time to time, then go watch an Avengers movie.😂


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## Elmakai (Sep 1, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Alex is great.
> 
> Getting some feedback and some insight into that side of the music business. I joined the Music Production Club given by Todd C. Burns.
> 
> ...



That video is hilarious.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 1, 2021)

confusedsheep said:


> and finally in order to completely focus on the task ahead... delete all your woodwind libraries now


LOL!!


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## Argy Ottas (Sep 1, 2021)

Heartily recommend Trailer Music Mastery by Daniel Beijdom. Great guy and excellent tutor.









Trailer Music Mastery by Daniel Beijbom


The best-selling course on how to write hybrid/orchestral trailer music. Trusted by over 300 music creators.




trailer-music-academy.teachable.com


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## Pier (Sep 1, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Alex is great.
> 
> Getting some feedback and some insight into that side of the music business. I joined the Music Production Club given by Todd C. Burns.
> 
> ...



This video always cracks me up LOL

On a more serious note, why is it all trailers try to conform to a pattern?

Of course the pattern changes over the decades (see this article about the history of the BRAAAM) but it's so rare to see a trailer that tries to be original.

Are there like focus groups on trailers that have helped studios figure out "the formula"?


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## Elmakai (Sep 1, 2021)

Pier said:


> This video always cracks me up LOL
> 
> On a more serious note, why is it all trailers try to conform to a pattern?
> 
> ...


I would assume the there are actually probably common techniques with their own terminology because it is so formulaic. 

My original goal for this post was actually wonder how to get that heavy trailer sound. My music never tends to sound like that, and was trying to challenge myself.


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## HM_Music (Sep 1, 2021)

The first course I bought was the evenant aspiring course, it was a bad purchase which disappointed me.
Since then I still occasionally buy courses, the last courses are alex preffer and dirk ehlert.
I know in advance that the course won't be very useful, however, it's important for me to get a perspective on music production from the outside, to see other people's projects, their mixing.

An important detail that I realized, the best investment is not courses, but good libraries that sound good out of the box and require minimal mixing.
However, when it comes to learning how to write tunes, the best option here is to analyze references.
Again, that formula they talk about here
single piano note - boom'bram'badaboom, this is what I like in other trailers as well, despite the fact that I realize the simplicity, include for example the maverik and add blackhole on it and press 2 keys on the midi keyboard.
Here it all comes down to sounddesign, even though there are different libraries with sounddesign, such as ava music, it is very difficult to make it sound good in your project because of mixing, or rather control, frequency balance and similar problems.

The best solution and my recommendation and how I would do it if I knew English well. I would choose a private lesson on mixing 1x1 similar music, for example Joël Dollié's (https://joeldolliemixing.com/).

That would be many times more valuable than any course. You can watch free streamers of dirk ehlert, deniel james, how to write music, there is not much less information there than in courses.

I'm not trying to say that the courses are bad, it's just that you need to look at these courses from a different angle, you shouldn't expect much from them.

If I were choosing a course, it would probably be evenant - from idea to finish.
But again, unfortunately I don't know English well for private lessons, but it is many times more valuable than any course. Also I repeat, that in treler music it is much more important how it sounds from the side of mixing, the music itself is very simple and banal, although I like it and I'm not a fan of something complicated from the side of the arrangement.
Also private lessons are much more valuable than any investments in the studio, such as expensive monitors.

Maybe I misunderstood the question, if the question is "how to get that epic trailer sound", for example, you have a problem that you can not make such an epic horn or something like that, perhaps here the problem again in the libraries, the way out is to buy something focused on this kind of sound, such as audioimperia talos. But in my opinion mixing is still crucial.

I've got a problem I'm trying to solve right now, for example a low drum beat, doesn't sound the way I want it in the mix and I see it in my head. The reasons are two, 1 need to find a suitable library, which will fit the style / timbre, 2 and the most important problem, mixing. I'm trying to solve all this, but the courses do not help in this matter.


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## José Herring (Sep 1, 2021)

Pier said:


> This video always cracks me up LOL
> 
> On a more serious note, why is it all trailers try to conform to a pattern?
> 
> ...


It's motion picture "advertising" with the advertising part taking the lead roll. In school I interned at a jingle house and they have ads down to a science. They practically have it formulized down to the frame.


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## jcrosby (Sep 2, 2021)

Pier said:


> This video always cracks me up LOL
> 
> On a more serious note, why is it all trailers try to conform to a pattern?
> 
> ...


Trailers have always had some kind of formula... While the genre's changed over the years, there's a very specific stereotype anyone over a certain age immediately recognizes... The "Trailer voice". Long before trailers relied music as a big part of the sales pitch the film industry spent years rehashing the formula of a narrator setting up the pitch in an overly-ominous and predictable way. The infamous Don LaFontaine narrated over 5000 film/tv trailers. I'd argue "trailer music" is a more aesthetically pleasant evolution of the same formula of marketing a movie that most likely had many millions of dollars poured into its creation... _IN A WORLD_*, *as it were...

As far as formula... It all comes down to the demands of the client. Trailer companies are always looking to set new trends, which trends actually stick however come down to who licenses what, and what trends trailers are leaning on at any given time... There are a lot of rehashed trends one publisher I can think of would love to move away from... But the burden of what's in demand doesn't fall in their lap.. At least not if they plan on staying in business in an overly-saturated market... (Not that they aren't on a permanent quest for new signatures...)

The arrangement often does follow a formula. Part of the formula appeals to the reality that more often than not a trailer might not use a singular piece of music, and undoubtedly will be chopped up and rearranged in editing... As a result tracks need to have cut points that let an editor easily make use of whichever part they feel is appropriate... But on a more basic level the goal is to make a piece of music that hopefully helps tell a 60-90 minute story in a 120-180 second cliff-note version..

Some of the same simple rules that apply to a film score also apply to a successful piece of trailer music... A good trailer intro is sparse and makes room for key pieces of dialogue to set up a condensed version of the story... An intro's essentially a condensed underscore that leaves some space for dialogue...

The arc of the music also needs to accommodate the arc of a trailer... Once the introduction is made the trailer typically continuously builds in intensity and pace until you hit the climax. Along the way, accommodations for the editor need to be made so cuts are placed between key sections. (A lot of stuff does get rehashed in cut points - risers, bass drops, etc. While there are plenty of risers below there aren't as many bass drops as you'd expect. IIRC there actually aren't any...)

As far as focus groups? Yes, in some cases focus groups are used... (Bigger budget stuff I'd imagine... Or stuff where they've actually worked with a library to curate a custom piece, or perhaps trailerize a cover. I know it happens, how often I can't say...) Basically like any creative endeavor that has to walk a line between art and money, it's a balancing act.... There are plenty of trends one library I've written for would love to put behind them, but at the end of the day, like any other business they have to serve a client-base.

Ultimately the music has to help sell an expensive movie, tv series, or video game... So like any aspect of marketing a formula's pretty much inevitable... And for sure, there's a lot of rehash that's tiring. But there's also a nice range of variation if you zoom out and look at the broader picture...

People often have a homogenous perception of what "trailer music" sound like. In reality it's an umbrella of music with a pretty broad range of subsets ranging from orchestral/hybrid music to trailerized covers, to pop songs, and even EDM...

Look at some of the orchestral examples below and you see that even orchestral 'trailer music' is more diverse and interesting than just 'epic choir music', a bunch of braams, or clocks ticking away over and over again... While no doubt you'll hear many familiar elements, if you just focus on the orchestration there's a pretty decent range of moods... And some of the music is geuinely spectacular....


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## Pier (Sep 2, 2021)

jcrosby said:


> Trailers have always had some kind of formula... While the genre's changed over the years, there's a very specific stereotype anyone over a certain age immediately recognizes... The "Trailer voice". Long before trailers relied music as a big part of the sales pitch the film industry spent years rehashing the formula of a narrator setting up the pitch in an overly-ominous and predictable way. The infamous Don LaFontaine narrated over 5000 film/tv trailers. I'd argue "trailer music" is a more aesthetically pleasant evolution of the same formula of marketing a movie that most likely had many millions of dollars poured into its creation... _IN A WORLD_*, *as it were...
> 
> As far as formula... It all comes down to the demands of the client. Trailer companies are always looking to set new trends, which trends actually stick however come down to who licenses what, and what trends trailers are leaning on at any given time... There are a lot of rehashed trends one publisher I can think of would love to move away from... But the burden of what's in demand doesn't fall in their lap.. At least not if they plan on staying in business in an overly-saturated market... (Not that they aren't on a permanent quest for new signatures...)
> 
> ...




Oh I agree, I didn't want to imply trailer music was bad music or that people making trailer music are "lesser" composers.

What I find interesting is that there are so many common tropes and I was wondering how we've reached that and why trailer music keeps repeating those same tropes. The single piano/string note with reverb. The pause with some dialogue line followed by a woosh and some epic percussion. The sub rumble. The sub downer. Etc. I think all those elements are in the three examples you posted.

Maybe culturally now audiences associate those tropes with excitement which is why they are repeated over and over again. Or maybe audiences just want to hear something familiar, otherwise they will have a negative reaction to the trailer/advertisement. If it "doesn't sound like a trailer" they will dismiss it entirely. I don't know.

In my case they kinda cause the opposite reaction... I'm like, ok here comes the braam, here comes the pause with the woosh, etc. Although I'm perfectly conscious I'm not experiencing the trailer the way general audiences do.


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## NekujaK (Sep 2, 2021)

Pier said:


> Oh I agree, I didn't want to imply trailer music was bad music or that people making trailer music are "lesser" composers.
> 
> What I find interesting is that there are so many common tropes and I was wondering how we've reached that and why trailer music keeps repeating those same tropes. The single piano/string note with reverb. The pause with some dialogue line followed by a woosh and some epic percussion. The sub rumble. The sub downer. Etc. I think all those elements are in the three examples you posted.
> 
> ...


Wooshes, downers, risers, braams, deep reverbs, etc. are sounds that enhance drama and excitement. Many of these same sounds/effects are used profusely in EDM music to generate anticipation and excitement. It's their sole purpose in life 

Interestingly enough, last year my writing partner and I scored a documentary, and much to our surprise, on more than one occasion, the director asked us to add wooshes, risers/buildups, and sustained notes with long cavernous reverbs to some of the more intense dramatic scenes. These techniques wouldn't have been my first choice for a serious documentary, but it actually worked because that's what these sounds do - or at least that's the feeling we've come to associate with them.

It's like the creepy tremelo strings that were prevalent in nearly every classic horror film of the 1930s and 40s. In cinema, the music and sounds that convey the appropriate emotions are the ones everyone is going to gravitate to.


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## Pier (Sep 2, 2021)

NekujaK said:


> Interestingly enough, last year my writing partner and I scored a documentary, and much to our surprise, on more than one occasion, the director asked us to add wooshes, risers/buildups, and sustained notes with long cavernous reverbs to some of the more intense dramatic scenes. These techniques wouldn't have been my first choice for a serious documentary, but it actually worked because that's what these sounds do - or at least that's the feeling we've come to associate with them.


Yeah I've heard those _trailery_ effects on some documentaries. Specially on US documentaries from Discovery, History, etc.

Personally I find them out of place in docs. Like they try to hard to be exciting.


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## NekujaK (Sep 2, 2021)

Pier said:


> Yeah I've heard those _trailery_ effects on some documentaries. Specially on US documentaries from Discovery, History, etc.
> 
> Personally I find them out of place in docs. Like they try to hard to be exciting.


Totally agree 100%. In fact the excessively loud over-use of those effects on TV docs has completely stopped me from watching televised docs any more. Fortunately, our project was a feature film doc, and the effects were used as sparingly and as subtly as possible. But it is hard to get away from these days.


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## Steve_Karl (Sep 2, 2021)

Even the most refined and orchestral trailers (vids. posted by jcrosby above) seem to be using programs like or similar to Rise and Hit


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## jcrosby (Sep 2, 2021)

Pier said:


> Oh I agree, I didn't want to imply trailer music was bad music or that people making trailer music are "lesser" composers.
> 
> What I find interesting is that there are so many common tropes and I was wondering how we've reached that and why trailer music keeps repeating those same tropes. The single piano/string note with reverb. The pause with some dialogue line followed by a woosh and some epic percussion. The sub rumble. The sub downer. Etc. I think all those elements are in the three examples you posted.
> 
> ...


I didn't think you were actually Pier. But I do see a lot of people toss out a lot of remarks... I've seen posts where someone mentions _trailer_ and someone will follow up with something like _I hate epic music_, remarks that it somehow doesn't stand up to score work, re-using the same thing over and over again as reflects a lack of creativity, etc... So that was more of a general comment for people who see/hear the term and immediately think it always boils down to epic/choirs/braams, etc.

There definitely are a lot of common tropes. Part of it is probably informed by what editor's request during quotes, and some of it (at least things like 'pings') can partially be the handy work of an editor. So for example a track might have a few random pings here and there, perhaps to bookend a section, but an editor might rework the stems to make a few pingy hits into repetitive pingy section to fit a cut. (Editors do some pretty insane stuff to an arrangement. More often than not I'm blown away by how skillfully they can re-work a track, as if they've essentially remixed it)...

Piano pings are one of those tropes the library I mentioned above tries to steer away from.. Of all of the cliches, that's one that I feel should have gone years ago, but it just keeps coming back... I'd be happy to never write a piece of music again that used a piano ping 

It's hard to say. I honestly have no idea what a focus group for a trailer actually looks like. I know they happen, but that's about it... I'm guessing part of it is also that the formula just 'works'... From what I understand it's common for a trailer house to make multiple cuts of a trailer (sometimes quite a few). My guess is that whoever handles the creative marketing for the film company ultimately determines which cut they go with... I'd imagine this is where some of the over-repetition comes from...

This is a great interview overall, the section I've timestamped is about exactly this topic...


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## Pier (Sep 2, 2021)

jcrosby said:


> I didn't think you were actually Pier. But I do see a lot of people toss out a lot of remarks... I've seen posts where someone mentions _trailer_ and someone will follow up with something like _I hate epic music_, remarks that it somehow doesn't stand up to score work, etc.. And, that the genre can be boiled down to people re-using the same thing over and over again as if it reflects a lack of creativity... So that was more of a general comment for people who see/hear the term and immediately think it always boils down to epic/choirs/braams, etc.
> 
> There definitely are a lot of common tropes. Part of it is probably informed by what editor's request during quotes, and some of it (at least things like 'pings') can partially be the handy work of an editor. So for example a track might have a few random pings here and there, perhaps to bookend a section, but an editor might rework the stems to make a few pingy hits into repetitive pingy section to fit a cut. (Editors do some pretty insane stuff to an arrangement. More often than not I'm blown away by how skillfully they can re-work a track, as if they've essentially remixed it)...
> 
> ...




I didn't know those were called piano pings! You learn something new every day around VIC!

Great interview btw, thanks for sharing.


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## JimDiGritz (Feb 18, 2022)

Hi, does anyone still have a link to the unscored trailer?

I know the submission deadline has passed (and since this would be my first ever trailer track I wouldn't have submitted it anyway!!) but I would like to use it to practice

Cheers

Jim


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## aeliron (Feb 18, 2022)

jcrosby said:


> ...
> Look at some of the orchestral examples below and you see that even orchestral 'trailer music' is more diverse and interesting than just 'epic choir music', a bunch of braams, or clocks ticking away over and over again... While no doubt you'll hear many familiar elements, if you just focus on the orchestration there's a pretty decent range of moods... And some of the music is geuinely spectacular....



Wait. Aren't the first two pretty much the same as the "how to" video?


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## Bee_Abney (Feb 19, 2022)

Elmakai said:


> I would assume the there are actually probably common techniques with their own terminology because it is so formulaic.
> 
> My original goal for this post was actually wonder how to get that heavy trailer sound. My music never tends to sound like that, and was trying to challenge myself.



I don't do trailer music, but here are some basic suggestions.

Layering - for big sounds that are harmonically limited but texturally distinct, layer multiple sounds. For example, fff brass, a sine wave sub-bass, some static, a balafon and twinkly bells. Or, for a quieter bit, piano strings, a meditation bowls, and a re-synthesized bass choir.

Use limiting and enhancing for loud parts.

Use compression to reduce the dynamic range so that nothing is ever very quiet.

Use upwards and downwards compression (such as with Xfers free OTT) to create a sausage effect on volume. This increases the reduction on dynamic range but also creates a distinctive, and distinctively unnatural, sound for strings that can turn them into something more impactful.

Of all these, layering may be the most important thing to work on, as the others are more generic and easy. Getting the right layers to create a sound - not a melody - that moves people is important.

Then you've got all of the compositional techniques of braams and quiet (but not quiet) loud (but impactful and cutting through more than actually much louder), quiet, loud. Leaving space for words, and scoring to them and the image. Uppers and downers. And integrating special sound effects with the music.

Generic music, like genre fiction, can still be personal, distinctive and surprising.

Dorothy L Sayers first novel 'Whose Body?' is as generic a detective story of its time as any. But it is executed perfectly, with great writing and great characterisation, and takes a distinctive turn when it's lead character has a temporary breakdown at one point due to recurrent shellshock from the trenches of the Great War.

So, you can follow all of the 'rules' of a genre and still be unique, special and, well, actually good.


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## NekujaK (Feb 19, 2022)

While we all generally know what is meant by "trailer music", there are actually significant variations within that broad musical category.

Not long ago I was asked by a label to write an album of epic trailer music, which up to that point, was the only type of trailer music I had any interest in, or feel for writing. By "epic", I mean orchestral or orchestral-hybrid music with grand sweeping themes, typically fueled by intense ostinatos, and chord progressions largely based around some variant of i-III-iv-VI. Swashbuckling pirate and adventure music falls into this category as well.

After that project was done, the label then asked for an album of action-sports trailer music, which suddenly forced me outside my comfort zone. So I spent about a week listening intensely to as many action movie and adrenalin-fueled video game trailers I could find. What I discovered was a completely different type of trailer music - in fact, calling it "music" would be a stretch in many cases, as a lot of it is simply a collection of braams, slams, pings, and risers, with no real harmonic content to speak of. The more musical entries were often built on one-chord or two-chord chord progressions, and were highly repetitive and relentlessly non-melodic. And a significant number were based around rock/metal guitars and/or hip-hop beats. Of course, there were still a lot orchestral-hybrid entries, but the feel was different from typical "epic" trailers.

So these are just two broad sub-genres of trailers. There are also trailers for dramas, family movies, and rom-coms, where the emphasis is more musical and nary a braam is to be heard. At the other end of the spectrum are horror film trailers that rely almost exclusively on sound design and twisted/warped instrumentation.

The upshot of all this is that from a musical perspective, trailers encompass a wide variety of styles and approaches. While there are certainly many common (and commonly overused) tropes in the category, the underlying musical content offers opportunities for some creativity and variation... within the scope of what is reasonable for a particular sub-genre, of course.

But ultimately, the most important thing about trailer music is really not the "music" itself, but the overall ability of the cue to successfully generate a high level of emotional excitement. More than any other type of cue, trailers are all about tension->buildup->release, repeated over and over again with increasing intensity. Focus on that, and everything else will fall into place.


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## JohnG (Feb 19, 2022)

Well, I think the best thing is to write something that you think is super cool. They already have available 10,000 renditions of “Carmina Burana” and similar music.

If you think it’s super cool, someone else might. I‘m not saying to ignore the so-called formula, but bear in mind that there are cues out there (some just regular score, some from other sources, some written intentionally for trailers) that have been used a hundred times because they have a “fantastic 30 seconds” somewhere — beginning, build, ending.

Besides, most of the advice I see is from yesteryear. Last time I looked with any care, the ‘big orchestral’ trailer had become mighty scarce. And prior to that, most trailers seemed to use 3-5 different tracks anyway.

Write something great, and they will use it, formulaic or not.


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## JyTy (Feb 19, 2022)

Elmakai said:


> I came upon this page being advertised to me:
> 
> https://evenant.com/trailer-music-redefined/
> I'm not really keen on spending $399 on a single course, unless someone has had experience with it otherwise. But I'm curious on how to get that epic trailer sound. Does anyone have any advice, or possible places to learn from?


I did the course and it is very good, covers tons of content. Would definitely recommend it! The price is a bit high, maybe wait for some kind of sale… but it is definitely a lot of great value in there.


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