We like to give people a chance to hone their media composing skills here at Crow Hill, without it negatively affecting their career. A chance to not only practise composing chops, writing to brief, to picture. But also overcoming those annoying uncertainties of a life on the front line.
For this challenge we will be uttering a sentence that sends shudders down professionals on an almost daily basis.
“Copy the fucking temp”
Temp music (short for Temporary) is what editors and directors use to cut to, preview to, and get a locked picture with. Sometimes assembled by a music editor, sometimes just hacked together by the editor’s assistant. Constructing a good temp score is an unsung and thankless task. Particularly if a composer is faced with the impossible double whammy of…
1. The music works really well, and everyone loves it.
2. The music has an idiosyncrasy to it that is difficult to “homage” without it being “passed over” as a copy and therefore the potential of landing the composer in all sorts of trouble.
We’re giving you a double whammy today.
Mention “Solaris” to any cinephile and they will immediately think of the Tarkovsky classic. Watch it by all means but, you’re in for a perplexing evening’s entertainment. More accessible is a lesser known version by none other than Steven Soderbergh (flexing his artistic wings in between Oceans 11,12 and 13) starring George Clooney. It’s a film few people have seen. However, the extraordinary score by Cliff Martinez has become a sync hit and (much to the chagrin of composers) a temp favourite. Cliff Martinez decided extraordinarily to use a series of steel drums to create a Reichian soundscape that perfectly fitted the dream-like world Soderbergh directed (and, by all accounts despite the pseudonyms, lit and edited). You may not have seen the film, but you’ll probably be familiar with the score, particularly this cue which we have “temped” some footage with.
The brief
Instead of using a steel drum we’d like you to feature our Free Glass Beaker to create a track that has the same expansive and haunting quality of the Solaris temp but contain none of the compositional elements nor indeed orchestration that could be considered to be “passed over” as a copy of Cliff’s score.
Tips
Listen to what the instrumentation is doing. Don’t associate musically with the sound, instead think of what it is conjuring. Is it rain drops falling into a pond or lake. How would you conjure that effect from the Glass Beaker. Listen to the harmonic language. Where there are slight dissonances, how the ostinatos pedal over beautifully changing notes. How would you recreate that effect maybe not with strings and a synth bass but something else.
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?
Add Glass Beaker to your cart (it’s free!), check out, and download.
Download the sunrise video here, mute our “temp track” and replace it with your own score following the brief and tips above.
Send us the video with your audio.
Glass Beaker should feature prominently but feel free to use any additional instruments (live or virtual).
How do I submit my entry?
You can upload your entry using our new submission form below.
What happens after I submit?
You have until 11:59pm UK time 22nd March to create and send us your entries. ALL will be listened to. The winner will be announced on the Crow Hill livestream on 25th March.
- Don’t Forget…
• Feature Glass Beaker prominently
• Include your name in the video file name
• One entry per person