Spitfire Audio and HBO Westworld Competition Submission
 

Hopefully some of you have noticed the few links and nudges I've posted over the last few weeks to get some interest going in this. Basically, HBO has teamed up with Spitfire Audio to host a scoring competition for anyone interested.

For those who don't know who Spitfire Audio is, they develop audio sample libraries for orchestral instruments. Basically, they record all those instruments, one a time, literally one note at a time, one dynamic at a time (you get the picture), and then compile a sort of database so that end user musicians can trigger these sound files with midi instrument controllers. In other words, I can't afford and have no space for a grand piano. I do, however, have budget for a midi keyboard and a virtual instrument. So I play a middle-C on my midi keyboard and that triggers a very specific audio file from this library and I actually hear middle-C from the previously recorded grand. Cool stuff. So they do that for most every instrument you can think of.

If you don't know what HBO is, I'm not sure I can help you there. :D

Anyway. The competition involved HBO providing, to the public, a short, 4-minute and 16-second clip from an episode of Westworld, Season 3. The file was stripped of all music that was used on the episode airing and only contained dialogue and sound effects. Anyone was allowed to download the material and use it to write a backing score to. Today is the deadline with a few hours left to spare.

I've posted casual shouts and posts here and there and have encouraged a few to try it out. In my opinion, this was a very cool event. How often do you get access to such quality source material to play with?

My upload to YouTube ended about half an hour ago. While I have a music background (theory, instruments, some personal recording), I've never used an orchestral library before. This was a huge learning experience and quite intimidating, if I'm honest. That said, processes were intuitive (surprisingly), and I was able to get up and running sooner than I had assumed.

This is no Beethoven! And it's pretty straight forward, figuring out the process as I went along, but I'm pretty satisfied with the mix of it and the ideas---even if they might be simple compared to a lot of the submissions I've been listening to.

So here we go. If you're interested in a semi-non-spoilery clip of Westworld with a homemade score behind it, here ya go! I'd for sure recommend listening to some of the submissions from around the world. There's some really great stuff out there.


yn's musicy stuff


Thanks!

Re: Spitfire Audio and HBO Westworld Competition Submission
 

Dang, that's really great! I had no idea you did stuff like this.

I really like how it illustrates how the mood of a scene can change with even a moderate amount of change in the score. This made the scene in question feel a lot more lighthearted than it was in the actual broadcast.

Re: Spitfire Audio and HBO Westworld Competition Submission
 

Listened to it last night - good work yin, both of us enjoyed it from an auditory pov :up:
Can't really comment on it's suitability for the clip, as neither of us has ever seen the show so have no way of knowing whether the somewhat lighthearted tone was in keeping with the general feel of the show or not which I'm guessing is partly what the judges will be assessing.

I appreciate that very much. Thank you.
I don't really do stuff like this though. This was kind of a one-off mostly just to see if I could do something like this. Music was supposed to be my first career path but piano got in the way of that , lol (haaaaaaaaaaaated it). Now it's just a hobby as I have time and inspiration. I can get obsessive, though, in brief bursts throughout the year. I have been thinking of getting into virtual instruments like this, the orchestra type stuff, for a few years. When the competition opened that kind of gave me the nudge I needed.

I worked my butt off trying to learn so much so fast, and I'm pleased for the most part. I just wish I had more time and experience before hand. As it stands now, though, I already feel I'm falling back into my pattern of abandonment.

Agreed on the mood shift. They provided the original clip with the broadcast score playing Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries. I had a real hard time getting into that scene because of their choice, but I also figured if they're going so far then I can get away with mine. That and the drug influence (the character's, not mine!).

Funny note: of the clips I've watched from all this, it appears as though 1 out of every 20 or so did a waltz-type feel too. Weird that so many had similar ideas lol.

Re: Spitfire Audio and HBO Westworld Competition Submission
 

Super cool. I adore piano, so I envy your ability to play it at all. Favorite instrument, hands down (which I guess is a bad expression to use to describe any instrument other than a harmonica).

*curtsies*
Yeah. That probably wasn't the most accurate representation of the show. The only things I can say to justify it would be that the original score was Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries!! I thought that was a weird choice, but I used it as a spring board. Sorta. That and the guy was on some kind of drug during the scene so I was thinking my awkward choice might play into that some.

MOSTLY though, it's about all I could come with so there's that point to drive home.
:D

Re: Spitfire Audio and HBO Westworld Competition Submission
 

Well, hopefully the judges can think outside the box (or are off their box) ;)

Your next challenge, should you wish to accept it, is to now take the score and make a video of your own to accompany it :)


(waits patiently for justifiable tirade of abuse)

Hey! Your work is fantastic! It turned a run of the mill action scene into something fun and interesting. I've only seen a couple of other entries, which were well made but typical John Williams/Hans Zimmer clones, but yours adds a whimsy that I think would actually make the show better. :lol:

I'm still not very close to finishing mine, but I'm confident that the good people at Spitfire and HBO will see it in their hearts to postpone the deadline in my honor, and accept my eventual groundbreaking weeks/months/years-late submission.

I'm having a lot of fun doing it though, and hope to post it when finished. I'll probably seek more clips to score in the future.

@re93animator
Awe you gonna make blush or something. Thank you for the comments.


To be honest, it was your recent post sharing your own work that helped motivate me. I'm always so scared to put my stuff out whenever I make anything. You stepping up in posting your music kinda of inspired me. So thanks for that =)




...and I'm looking forward to hearing more from you.

Thanks for the heads-up, YN. I hadn't heard of the HBO-Spitfire Audio contest. I'll try to locate some of the other entries just for giggles. I have several friends who compose on the MIDI, but I've never tried it. Frankly modern technology has sped past me as if I were in reverse...:cool: I just stick to my Roland digital piano, which is more than enough to keep me busy.

As far as your entry, I thought it was really good, my man. Especially for a first attempt. You're a quick learner. To my taste, after the cars blowing up, there was not enough of a contrast in the style of music. Still it fit.

Cheers!

~Doc

lol.
So they postponed the winning announcements from June 19 to today, just approximately 15 minutes ago. Needless to say I did not place (lol), but that was never an real expectation. That said, I didn't care much for the 5 runner-ups much but I pretty much loved the winner. Yeah, it's a gimmicky kinda thing, but it was brave and funny. OMG the chat box is still rolling with angry posters. I guess this was kind of polarizing. I can dig that. With 11,000 entries, one had to stand out somehow.



Grats to with winner :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsi7wP024J4

Yeah, I was pretty surprised by the 5 entries. Granted, I've not listened to them except for the clips in this video so maybe they do more. For what was presented though, I totally agree with you. That does kinda make the winner stand out even more. I got kind of bored with it as it went on, but I loved the reaction it got in the chat log. People were hating it so much and that made me love it more. For the cause....



:D

I agree that it didn't fit well. Though I kind of hate the clip now, so I'm in favor of the music changing the scene.:) I suppose they were looking for something unique as the Zimmer/Elfman clones are probably a dime a dozen, but if the makers were choosing what music to actually put in the show, I bet they would've picked something more boring and unobtrusive.

I hope to post my boring and unobtrusive submission soon.

That winner. **** yes. I love chip music. That’s actually my preferred genre to produce. I even have some killer VSTs from Plogue that recreate that classic Sega FM sound. Crunch and all.

Ok. Better late than never I guess. Here's my attempt. I was reluctant to post it because I'm so dissatisfied with it, but I said I would so... :( I didn't want to fill the scene with a ton of musical detail in lieu of more sound design to accentuate the mood, but I'm afraid it's too boring and cheesy.

I had fun doing it though, and look forward to scoring some odd clips in the future. Thanks to @ynwtf for making me aware of this thing. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PPdEPuIZic
Audio glitches around 1 min are from the clip itself.

Re: Spitfire Audio and HBO Westworld Competition Submission
 

Grabbing my earphones now!

Re: Spitfire Audio and HBO Westworld Competition Submission
 

Dude. Already loving that synth and snare. I'm half expecting a terminator scout to fly overhead. LOVING THIS.

Love it.
Really digging that synth and all those little sounds you have crawling around left to right. The subtle stuff you added when they leave the underground area and come out, plus that rocket build was tight. And the stereo panning really widened the feel of the video making it feel more spacious. This really shows me how little I know about texture and space.

I really enjoyed that! I'm glad you finished, and more that you shared :)