Our biggest (and probably best) challenge yet. Rescoring a beautiful piece of documentary content from our esteemed team. We have a wonderful brief for you and an opportunity to cut your teeth, gain experience and that all-important intuition. We’re here to help you build up your chops with no risk to your future clients or indeed career. Join us live, bring your notepads and your Gauloises!
Aims:
The aim of this challenge (and what you’ll be judged on) is threefold:
1. Instead of simply putting different “bits” of music over the show try instead to write something first that is engaging, has some changes, some light and dark, possibly even a modulation of key or instrumentation. Instead of restarting this every time you bring the music in try exploding it across the timeline. Instead of starting and stopping the music you’re starting, pausing and resuming. This will help with the narrative and cohesiveness of the piece.
2. Unlike a previous challenge (‘Facent’) we’re not expecting you to do a full mix of dialogue sound effects and music. Instead we’re hoping you can present the music back to us as you would a client. Namely being incredibly mindful of dialogue. This can be by automating volume levels relative to dialogue. But an even more sophisticated way of achieving this is to adjust compositional and arrangement elements of your music so it doesn’t interfere.
3. HIT THE BRIEF. Whilst a client may forgive you crashing some dialogue or using the same piece of music in a couple of locations what they want to hear is that you’re on the same artistic wavelength. The music can add so much stylistic energy to any show but also help to drive home the director’s central thesis that he wants the viewer to take away with them. Hitting brief is one of the hardest parts of becoming a successful media composer as you first have to translate how people use language to express a vision of how you’re to express something in a non-linguistic form!
The brief
This film tries to draw a connection between the Paris of old and how it has impacted us today culturally. By visiting a modular pop-up we embrace the forward thinking nature of a city steeped in the past. We would like you to create some impressionistic music without simply covering say Debussy or Satie. Just capturing their tonal, harmonic, and arrangement aesthetic. But combine it into a contemporary feel and sound that is firmly of 2026. To find out more about how an experienced composer would approach this brief check out the following video:
Tips
Download the media pack from HERE. In it you will find a movie with the “temp” (temporary score) embedded then two audio “split tracks” that gives you separation so that you can work against the dialogue. Drag these into your DAW, synchronise your timecodes (we have provided a via with BITC – burnt in timecode). To see how Christian would approach the challenge, watch his workshop tutorials here and here.
What do I get for participating?
The winning entry will receive the next 2 Crow Hill product releases, be played on our ‘Can You Hear Me Now?‘ YouTube podcast and feature in the next Network Dispatch email.
2 runner ups will receive the next Crow Hill product.
How do I participate?
Download the assets.
Follow the brief to create your entry.
Send us the video with your audio.
How do I submit my entry?
You can upload your entry using our new submission form below.
Do I have to use Crow Hill sounds?
NO! This is not a promotional challenge for us. The brief does not specify use of instrumentation. This is where you can imprint your “voice” onto the musical homage we hope you will pay the Parisian impressionists.
What happens after I submit?
You have until 11:59pm UK time 3rd May to create and send us your entries. ALL will be listened to. The winner will be announced on the Crow Hill livestream on 6th May.
- Don’t Forget…
• Use any instruments you like (live or virtual)
• Include your name in the video file name
• One entry per person - • Read the instructions and T&Cs carefully