There has been an interesting challenge around Indi.com. Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe set it up, allowing composers to come up with their own main title for the National Geographic feature Genius (which is about Albert Einstein). I learnt about the composing challenge just a few hours before closing, and Lorne Balfe commented that I’d still have ages to come up with something!
And he was absolutely right! So I sat down, imported the original music piece, marked the different sections in order to at least somehow resemble the original structure and then I devised a tune for cello and strings and put an orchestral arrangement around it.
If I’d had more time, I’d have tried some new things and/or refined the theme. However, time was not my ally in this, so I had to go with the first approach that came to mind, otherwise I wouldn’t have had anything at all. It took some time to register on Indi.com, my mailbox needed fixing because mails didn’t come through (though I needed it badly for the confirmation e-mail), after that I couldn’t find the Movie Maker app on my PC (because Indi.com requires you to upload a video which required some converting), but all’s well that ends well and now that I write this I have finally and successfully submitted my entry.
At the very least, it was a fun thing to do. No worrying about mixing or effects, no excessive quantizing, no listening on different speakers and headphones – just doing the job and putting up with its imperfection. For all fellow composers out there: Don’t overthink. Don’t get lost in detail. Compose. Work. Start something, finish it. Next job. And, above all, have fun!
Here’s my contribution to the #showusyourmusicalgenius challenge:
If you have some time to spare, please create “buzz” for it at my indi.com site. (Whatever that is.)