Ryan Leach January 2024 Composing Competition
- Thread starter Mindbullets
- Start date
blender505
Member
When I first saw the announcement video, I just scrolled through the video without audio until I saw a picture. It took me until I actually sat down and opened my DAW to start working on this to realize we weren't scoring to a Dr Seuss cartoon.
I finished my entry for this one pretty quickly. I got Vista during their recent sale, but hadn't had a chance to really write with it yet, so this ended up being mainly a Vista writing exercise. Probably went a little lighter on the cyberpunk feel for this piece than I could have, but oh well. I had fun writing it and it got me excited about having Vista in my template now.
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OP
OP
Mindbullets
Member
Thanks for the correction, fixed. Love your entry, BTW!
Composerbell
Member
Great work! I definitely get the feeling of romance from this, and it definitely captures the cyberpunk aesthetic! I know you didn't ask for feedback, but as the requirement is only *max* 90 seconds, I kind of feel like you'd have a stronger entry if you dropped the 20 second intro and just got straight to it. The synths coming in after the silence absolutely grab my ear in a way that the more orchestral intro doesn't, and the pacing there introduces the elements nicely. You'd even have time to get the theme a full 8 bar statement at the end and be really satisfying if you did. Good luck!
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I'm always open for feedback
Thank youYou're right with the intro. I started with that and noticed that 90s are really short
Maybe I find some time to shorten that and have more time in the end...
blaggins
Senior Member
Wow there's some great entries in this thread, I'm always impressed by the talent that lurks on this forum. 
Quite a few of you managed very nice hybrid scores... I was trying for that myself, for a while, but nothing "hybrid-y" that I came up with was really gelling. In the end I abandoned the idea of doing hybrid and stuck was very traditional orchestral instruments (ok I kinda snuck in a taiko but it's pretty buried) and attempted to create a sense of "futuristic" motion by using syncopation, mainly woodwind trems and combing staccato rhythms (eighths over triplet 8ths, that kind of thing).
Feedback is very welcome!
Quite a few of you managed very nice hybrid scores... I was trying for that myself, for a while, but nothing "hybrid-y" that I came up with was really gelling. In the end I abandoned the idea of doing hybrid and stuck was very traditional orchestral instruments (ok I kinda snuck in a taiko but it's pretty buried) and attempted to create a sense of "futuristic" motion by using syncopation, mainly woodwind trems and combing staccato rhythms (eighths over triplet 8ths, that kind of thing).Feedback is very welcome!
Wow there's some great entries in this thread, I'm always impressed by the talent that lurks on this forum.
Feedback is very welcome!
This is great. Love everything about it. Seems like it could also be developed into a longer piece if you chose to do so. Great memorable theme and love the harmonies and modulations you chose.
On a technical note is this played back by Dorico?
blaggins
Senior Member
Thanks so much! Actually, I had the same thought, that it feels like it could be longer or that it feels incomplete somehow, I think there's something of a beginning there and something of an end, but it could use some development in the middle. I was going to give it a few weeks to simmer and then go back to it and expand the piece if I still like it at that point. Appreciate the listen.
As far as playback goes, I really wanted to just use the Noteperformer playback engine, but I tried a couple of different combinations including the synchron stuff and BBCSO strings, but it wasn't sounding all that great out of the box. I might have been able to massage the score to make it work but instead I gave up pretty quickly on that and did a mock-up. What you are hearing is basically synchron brass, synchron woodwinds, synchron percussion, and synchron duality strings, though I did sneak in a little bit of Acousticsamples vwinds on the oboe clarinet and bassoon trems.
Well it sounds fantastic. I am surprised the Synchron NPPE didn't yield satisfactory results but as with any of these things it largely depends on style and expectations.
If you do expand it (and i understand the time limit for this competition) I hope you'll post it here again for us to listen to.
TheNashJMusic
Member
Love this and needed to hear this to be very honest. I have been doing this since May last year so I'm still very much a rank amateur and hearing some of these submissions on here and online you can feel overwhelmed. But I feel like I should view this for what it really is, a chance for me to grow and learn something new and if I make it to the finalists then that's a bonus. Now I can actually start working on this piece with some peace of mind.
I agree with this and I appreciate Ryan's willingness to share. I know I'm guilty of comparing myself to others, which in the proper perspective is a healthy way to grow and challenge yourself. But it's easy to take on an unhealthy approach where you wrap your worth as a composer (or heaven forbid as a person) in your comparisons.Love this and needed to hear this to be very honest. I have been doing this since May last year so I'm still very much a rank amateur and hearing some of these submissions on here and online you can feel overwhelmed. But I feel like I should view this for what it really is, a chance for me to grow and learn something new and if I make it to the finalists then that's a bonus. Now I can actually start working on this piece with some peace of mind.
These contests are a great way to come out with a demo where you know you've pushed yourself to produce the best piece you're capable of. It will always be true that we write 'better' music than some and some write 'better' music than us and that's perfectly fine.
