Hi guys,

I recently noticed that it's a very common practice for game composers (and others too) to rescore something with the intention of training and also showing people what you're able to do, so I think that could be a great exercise for me.

Now, is that anything I should keep in mind for rescoring? Any tip about it it's really welcome. Like, what should I first rescore? A cutscene, an in-game level, maybe some part of a film...

Thanks in advance!

Cheers

Whatever you would like to do/learn the most! I know that sounds like a non-answer, but it's actually the best I can think of. You literally cannot learn anything when you're stressed because it inhibits the creation of new brain cells, while on the other hand having fun promotes it. So having fun is not the best way to learn, it's the only way! As long you enjoy what you're practicing, you're doing everything right.

Now that said, I would personally start with scenes I like the most (romantic scenes in my case lol), and then just branch out as I feel like it (title screen music perhaps? sounds like fun~); keeping an eye on eventually rescoring an entire movie, because that can really help with understanding drama and scoring for drama, because that's at the core of what you're doing when you score a game or a film. So... I'd start with individual scenes, and when I feel comfortable with that I do the whole thing to score scenes in context and do the whole project. No one hires you to score individual scenes (usually), you're hired to score the entire game or movie. So at some point you'd want to practice that over scoring indivual scenes (hopefully you'll have so many real projects, you won't need to practice through rescoring but instead on the real thing! :D).

Good luck, and have fun!

You literally cannot learn anything when you're stressed because it inhibits the creation of new brain cells, while on the other hand having fun promotes it.

Hello.
For those that want to know more about this, it appears that this process is called neurogenesis. What is more common however is the making of new brain cell connections, which is just as if not more rewarding.

Admittedly, I didn't want to go too much in depth about it. I've noticed when I do that I get too technical and people space out. The important part, anyway, is that for learning you want to stay in what is called the Positive Emotional Attractor, which really just means being in a good mood. Additional benefits: creativity, prevent burnout, lower blood pressure, and.... you get to have fun~. "Learn through play" is also based on this.

rescore anything when you feel inspired to do so. If you're looking at cutscenes, or screenshots and there's music in your head that's different or better than what's there, that's when you should rescore. It's fantastic practice, every composer should do it regardless of their level.

Rescore what inspires you. What you think could be a neat or interesting challenge. And sometimes score something where you've not heard the official music from that clip or sequence. This way, once you're done, you can see what you did differently and what you did similarily to the official music. It's also a VERY good exercising in comparing your production value. In some cases, mediorce music can become very impactful with great production whereas awesome music, with horrible production value can really be inhibited. So take time to look at both ends.

Thanks a lot for the help, guys. I really appreciate every answer here! I think I'm gonna start with some cutscene, sounds like a good challenge and a reasonable start point too.

You literally cannot learn anything when you're stressed because it inhibits the creation of new brain cells, while on the other hand having fun promotes it. So having fun is not the best way to learn, it's the only way!

For those that want to know more about this, it appears that this process is called neurogenesis. What is more common however is the making of new brain cell connections, which is just as if not more rewarding.

These statements are quite interesting, wow! Being a totally dumb guy when it comes psychology, it's to have people like both of you around. This stuff can be quite handy, thanks for sharing!

And sometimes score something where you've not heard the official music from that clip or sequence. This way, once you're done, you can see what you did differently and what you did similarily to the official music.

Interesting proposal, man! And the best part: it sounds like real fun!

Some guy once said to me that I should not try to rescore something that have a very memorable music, say like Super Mario World, at least not at the beginning, 'cause it will be harder for me to take that music of my mind in order to create something original. I might take that in consideration too.

The Fantasia animations seem like ideal targets for this kind of exercise, unless you're specifically looking for something with a CC license.

The Fantasia animations seem like ideal targets for this kind of exercise, unless you're specifically looking for something with a CC license.

That's another question I would like to ask. What do I need to have in mind about legal process? If I want to show the work to people on the internet, can I upload the thing on youtube without problems if it's not monetized and if I give all the credits?

Also thanks for the Fantasia idea! They can be a good exercise.

This is the gray area, in my opinion. Because some companies/IPs don't care at all. Others are quite strict about taking down anything that they own and haven't given expressed permission for you to use. Youtube is also getting more aggressive about taking down stuff that violates copyright. Other sites, like Vimeo, have been more flexible... at least for now.

What I'd do is put a disclaimer, both in the video itself and in the info section, that details this was done purely as an exercise and isn't any part of the official property/brand/etc. Lots of people do this and I haven't seen someone get in legal trouble. But I have seen folks get in trouble (basically a cease and desist letter) when remaking a fan version of a game - like that fan Chrono Cross project several years back.