Dressage to Music?

[RachelFerd]

So, I keep toying with the idea of doing some freestyle BD classes with the younger one this winter, when I get him back going from his holidays - just at novice level initially.

Now, what I am not doing is paying someone to create the music or floor plan for me - intending to do this myself, as have a little home music studio and some (limited) music production knowledge and think it would be a good opportunity for me to improve some of those techniques.

So really I'm after some inspiration for what people have done before, or great tests that you've seen which I might be able to find on H&C or ClipMyHorse or Youtube at Novice/Ele level. Really not a fan of the boring, generic sounding midi tracks I keep hearing, so interested in any more weird and wonderful examples that might be out there...

 

[quizzie]

Definitely have fun doing it yourself.

I have no equipment and no computer knowhow, but managed to teach myself to use "Audacity" to edit my tracks. I simply spent hours on youtube finding pieces of music I liked that would approximately fit the bpm of my horses 3 paces...In my case it was all classical music as that is what I like and know....the advantage of that, is that I've never heard anyone else using the same music, and I can edit in some quite dramatic bits if I want. I also loathe the generic euro-pop/lift music that is so often used!

 

[Auslander]

I had a programme worked out for Alf, in case we ever competed again. He is the worlds commonest PSG horse, so my music reflects that - Steptoe and Son theme tune for walk, and instrumental versions "Knocked em in the Old Kent Road" for trot, and "I've got a brand new combine harvester" for canter. I love music that is a bit daft, but works for the horse it was made for!

 

[Cloball]

My favourites big routines are Steffen Peters 2020 routine and blue hors matine in 2006 I think. But then I like a bit of rave and hip hop. I've always thought you could do something really cool with some EDM.

 

[humblepie]

Probably falls into boring but I used Bond as in the violin group and someone else similar. Used Audacity despite being hopeless at such things. I always thought the song We Are only human or dancers I think it is would be brill. I did then get a professional one done as a treat with original music.

 

[RachelFerd]

Yes I'm planning to compose my own original music rather than slice up other songs. Currently on an Ableton music production training course so should be able to do the technical bits - just looking for some inspi. Was thinking maybe some kind of trip-hop influenced electronic stuff?!

 

[daffy44]

Do it! Music is fun, if you are going to compose your own music you can be even more creative, trip hop would be brilliant. For the floorplan, just start by focusing on your horses strengths and make sure you highlight everything he does best, and then mix it up a bit, dont just do trot, walk, canter, and use more unusual lines and sequences.

 

[RachelFerd]

Do it! Music is fun, if you are going to compose your own music you can be even more creative, trip hop would be brilliant. For the floorplan, just start by focusing on your horses strengths and make sure you highlight everything he does best, and then mix it up a bit, dont just do trot, walk, canter, and use more unusual lines and sequences.

Thanks - there's no technical difficulty marks at novice are there? So I don't have to deliberately make it 'difficult' do I? I was thinking of adding some 10m loops in counter canter though, as he's particularly good in the canter work - and would also maybe like to do some lengthened canter across the 3/4 diagonal, and then collect and come back to trot at the corner marker - feel this might let more judges see how good his medium canter is? Neither are things I've particularly come across in novice tests...

And then another question... I get that vocals throughout a track are a distraction, but a bit of judicious use of vocals, perhaps in the bit pre-entry leading up to the first halt on the C/L - would that be frowned upon?

 

[Britestar]

I've always used vocals on all my music . Never been marked down for it.
I've used everything from glam rock to 'serious' singing, and pretty much everything in-between.
Its meant to be fun, so fun it is.
Your moves sound good. It's hard to make a basic novice floor plan interesting.

 

[daffy44]

Thanks - there's no technical difficulty marks at novice are there? So I don't have to deliberately make it 'difficult' do I? I was thinking of adding some 10m loops in counter canter though, as he's particularly good in the canter work - and would also maybe like to do some lengthened canter across the 3/4 diagonal, and then collect and come back to trot at the corner marker - feel this might let more judges see how good his medium canter is? Neither are things I've particularly come across in novice tests...

And then another question... I get that vocals throughout a track are a distraction, but a bit of judicious use of vocals, perhaps in the bit pre-entry leading up to the first halt on the C/L - would that be frowned upon?

No, no degree of difficulty mark until Medium, both the movements you've mentioned sound good to me, BD has a list on its website of compulsory, allowed and forbidden movements at every level. If canter is where he is strongest, absolutely show that off.

I think Judges have become a lot more human about vocals, certainly some pre entry vocals would be fine.

 

[Nicnac]

I wouldn't make the Novice more complicated than it needs to be as you wouldn't be marked for non required movements (and potentially more possibility of it going tits up!) i.e. counter canter but the lengthened canter is a requirement in DTM.

A few vocals at important points are fine, too many vocals are distracting.

It's huge fun; my music is orchestral (Gaynor Colbourn is a genius) but includes Deep Purple for the canter work which always wakes the judges up. If I redo my music at any point I would use some vocals.

 

[abbijay]

I haven't competed much but I have done quite a bit of demo work so played with quite a few different routines over the years.
I have done Christmas themes, 1940s, a theme of love songs (because I love my horse), military, ... all sorts! I once used a bit of Bowie to enter and did my salute to the words "let's dance" it was cheesy but i think it worked and added interest.
If you're doing your own music from scratch I don't know how it will work for licensing - I have never had to get too close to that.
While there is no degree of difficulty mark at Novice you can still score high marks for each move by being "flashy" with it and counter canter/medium canter would show greater training as long as the basic 20m circles are good. Plus choreography and inventiveness is a score which will effectively include "degree of difficulty". I have done a 3 loop serpentine in canter with the middle loop in counter canter and I know someone who won the Nationals at Novice by including a figure 8 with half in counter canter. I have also found a well timed rein back, while not a scoring movement, can catch a judge's eye as it is different to the other 20 horses they are watching that day. I often look at the Elem and Medium tests for ideas of movements that don't crop up in the standard novice tests but are still allowable.

 

[daffy44]

Medium canter is compulsory at Novice, and counter canter is allowed, I'd double check how advanced you can make the counter canter, but I think 10m loops would be really good. I'd be wary of trying to make a Novice floorplan too difficult as the choreography mark will appreciate inventiveness, but not so much difficulty, there is a reason why the degree of difficulty mark doesnt appear until Medium. I've had very good choroegraphy marks at Novice (winning a Regional, top six at Nationals etc) without making things too complicated, I'd aim for unusual rather than difficult.

 

[abbijay]

Medium canter is compulsory at Novice, and counter canter is allowed, I'd double check how advanced you can make the counter canter, but I think 10m loops would be really good. I'd be wary of trying to make a Novice floorplan too difficult as the choreography mark will appreciate inventiveness, but not so much difficulty, there is a reason why the degree of difficulty mark doesnt appear until Medium. I've had very good choroegraphy marks at Novice (winning a Regional, top six at Nationals etc) without making things too complicated, I'd aim for unusual rather than difficult.

Sorry, I don't compete much and they've added medium canter as compulsory since my 2016 test sheets!

 

[RachelFerd]

Right, I'm away - trot work is to some music I've started work on which sounds quite a bit like Massive Attack's Teardrop, but with a different arrangement and melody... helps that the original track is far off being the right BPM anyway.

And then canter work I'm arranging a version of the Verve's Bittersweet Symphony but keeping it with the trip-hop drum beat loop beneath it (tempo changed).

I think I'm going to write something kind of aligned to Pachelbel's Canon for the walk work, but again, keeping the same instrumentation.

I've drawn up an arena plan that works for me - just need to get the horse back in off his holidays in a couple of weeks time to ride through it and film it. Meanwhile the music that I'm working on is all based around various repeating loops, so should be reasonably easy to chop it all up to fit (she says, hopefully...)

 

[daffy44]

Sorry, I don't compete much and they've added medium canter as compulsory since my 2016 test sheets!

Nothing to apologise for, its a prety recent addition, sometime in the last couple of years I think, tbh if I wasnt riding a youngster again, the medium canter addition would have totally passed me by too!

RF, everything you'e said sounds fabulous, I cant wait for him to come off his holiday and you can start putting it together.

 

[Laafet]

Just caught up on this thread - new job has stopped me scrolling! I've put on Nickel's freestyle just for interest. I loved freestyle but will be waiting until Stormy is Elementary before having another go.

Can't wait to see what you come up with @RachelFerd

 

[RachelFerd]

Well, I think I really have done as much as I can without having a video of the test to fit it all to.

I've recorded and constructed three pieces of music, with all of the different instrument's tracks divided into modular 2, 4 and 8 bar chunks which can be arranged in lots of different layered constructions. Happy with how it sounds - big atmospheric sounds, not tinny midi stuff. So just hope this works as a method in practice as I get to the stage of actually fitting it all together!