Tune Contest (Feb. 6 - Feb.13) - 80s TV-theme. Winner Announced!

Started by thomasregin, Tue 05/02/2008 21:48:39

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thomasregin

Okay, here's a tough, but very funny one!! (I hope!)  Sorry for the long explanation. Just trying to build up a little excitement. ;D

Remember Airwolf, MacGyver, Knight Rider, Matlock, ALF, A-Team or any of the other cool TV-series from the 80s?

Back in '87 a pilot to a show called "Law'n Force" never aired, because the production company couldn't find an available composer (there were so many TV-series under production that every composer in L.A was busy).

The production company declared bankruptcy early in '88 and was taken over by TV-network "3rd Millennium Wolf". 20 years later, some office guy working at Wolf, accidentally stumbles upon a dusty box in the corner of a storage room, finds the "Law'n Force" pilot-episode and persuades his bosses to air it as part of the company's 20th year anniversary on February 14th 2008. Problem is that the music is still missing!!...

This week's contest:

1. You must compose the main theme for "Law'n Force", which is a cop-series with humor, plenty of action, starring none other than Richard Laughinhard as Lance "Bullit" Johnson, veteran from Vietnam, ex-cop, ex-husband, ex-treme(!) and always happens to be a the wrong place at the wrong time. The show was supposed to be a mixture between Lethal Weapon and MacGyver, but since there's no time to be too picky, any good-sounding 80s action-theme will be considered!

2 The theme must be no longer than 60 seconds (fading out is accepted). It must sound 80s'ish! This is crucial. "3rd Millennium Wolf" does not want its audience to know that the music wasn't written 20 years ago!

3. 3rd Millennium Wolf promises that whomever gets the gig will be offered the position of in-house lead composer for all their film productions.

Have fun!  I wish I could participate myself!!  ;D

DoorKnobHandle

Here's my entry.

The series would open up with a short, funny opener - a scene in which the basic subject of the following, 20 minute episode is introduced (a technical problem with the police car, a new villain that needs to be defeated, family-problems, etc.). That opener would be anywhere in between 30 and 75 seconds long, then the intro-scene kicks in with the same scenes for every episode and my music. After that, the episode would really start.

For the video-material used in the intro-part to every episode, I could imagine a car chase, then in the more relaxed part of my song, maybe a scene with Lance out of his car, talking, then fighting. Just a montage of some stylized shots.

I think I got the 80s-vibe down pretty well. ;)

PixelPerfect

I think it's mandatory to introduce the heroes with the "action shot - laugh shot - pause - name" -technique. This technique was wildly spread among the 80's tv-productions.

If you want my theme music to go along with those introductions you can get it: Here

Wait for the little play button to appear and click it for a magical journey to the 80's.   ;)

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens

I cannot resist an 80's challenge, and since I happen to have made some 80's cop music I thought I would enter it (with some alterations).  The main thing I changed was reducing the play time to 1:40, which falls in line with Mike Post's A-Team theme, and since I am a fan of both Mike Post and Jan Hammer expect gritty, synthy cop goodness!

http://www11.asphost4free.com/veradinx/db.zip


Eggie

Here is something which isn't an entry.

I made it a while ago by "singing" over the top of a track from Sonic CD.
Not one of my healthier hobbies, I'll admit...

thomasregin

Excellent entries so far, guys!

This competition is still open for around 24 hours (GMT here), so keep 'em coming!

I'm declaring a winner tomorrow night!  :P

/Tom..

twin-moon

#7
Didn't mean to, but I pulled something out of the hat so I might as well enter. 45 seconds of fun. It's MIDI btw.

Not really cheerfully 80's but more hardboiled noir style.
                                    The Grey Zone

boojiboy

Only spent a couple minutes on it cause of the deadline. Hope it's ok.

http://www.box.net/shared/ifn4k1jlwc

thomasregin

Alright guys.. It's time.. :-)

First of all I must say that I'm glad to see so many entries - although it made finding a winner really difficult!

I'm gonna go through each piece here and give you a few well-meant comments. I hope you don't mind!

DKH - Your tune was quite interesting and had the distinct sound of the 80s. Unfortunately not 80s TV-series, but 80s PC-game. I immediately felt that I was back on my Amiga 500 playing Giana Sisters or something. I did begin to expect some additional instruments after 10-15 seconds, but other than that a great pastiche!


PixelPerfect - Ah, this was the sound I was looking for! Totally authentic 80s TV-series sound. Great production skills! I really enjoyed the bass-riff, but I started to get slightly weary of it after 25 seconds and after 50 seconds I desperately needed some new chord progressions. A theme in Bb would probably have been cool and then back to Em | F. The saxophone was a very nice touch and added to the 80s sensation!


ProgZmax - Very nice tune. I definately hear the Jan Hammer influence in there. Compositionally the tune is great. It has a catchy bass-riff, great melody line, superb production. However, as a theme it may be a little too "epic" or advanced. I feel this type of piece would work better in a montage or some kind of "riding a motorcycle in the sunset looking cool"-footage.


djres - A really nice 80s-styled tune. Great touch going without a bass! Very popular trick back then! However, it somehow reminded me of Seinfeld, so I had a bit of a struggle imagining some hardcore cop-dude shooting, killing and solving crime. This tune would have been perfect for "lighter" shows such as The Cosby Show or Seinfeld. The production was top notch.


Eggie - LOL.. I'm not really sure what to say about this tune except that I was laughing out loud pretty much all the way through! :)


Twin Moon - Once again a great example of an 80s action-cue. Cool bass-riff, great brass. I would have loved to hear this in a slightly less "static" version either with samples or live-instruments. Lovely theme starting around 0:16 and in general skillfully produced considering the limitations of GM. As with Djres, I'm slightly confused as to what type of show this tune would be for. I don't feel the big "action"-adventure-rush when I listen to this tune, but rather some light entertainment such as Cosby, Alf, Family Ties or something like that.


boojiboy - I'm gonna be a little hard on you, because your tune had absolutely everything I was looking for in terms of sound, instrumentation, action and versatility. It was really catchy, the production value was outstanding (whomever invented those V(or D?)-drum fills should have copyrighted them back then). Anyway, the reason I'm gonna be hard on you is because the entire piece was completely out of tune. Almost agonizing to listen to for a longer period of time. The bass had some serious issues with the other instruments every now and then and this bugged me, because I really liked the tune and that made me wish that you'd spent more than a few minutes on it!!


Anyway.. Time to name a winner..


3rd place goes to.. - Boojiboy
As I said, your tune had everything except for the whole out of tune problem.

2nd place goes to.. - PixelPerfect
This tune had it all too, except for the chord progression that started to nag me like someone playing a cadenza without adding the last chord! Other than that an excellent tune!

1st place goes to.. - ProgzMax
Lots of action and coolness and fits the theme of the show well. Excellent melodies too! However, we need to fade it out after 60 seconds.


Congratulations ProgzMax and the rest of you! I am really positively surprised by the music-talent on these forums!!


Thanks for now,

Thomas.

PixelPerfect

Very nicely reviewed thomasregin and spot on too!

Nice entries everyone and congrats to ProgzMax!  :)

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens

I won!  This is proof that my 80's powers are great!  Also, I quite agree with your assessment, Thomas.  The original song IS a montage, and I clipped/reworked it to make it shorter for the rules.  Glad you caught the Hammer vibe.

I will have something ghoulish for you all shortly.

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