Hi all,
I have used a number of Crow Hill instruments in this piece, but particularly wanted to make use of their recent pianos: Gong Piano, Chrystal Pianos, and AQ PIANO (Vaults version), to see how they might work together. Hope you enjoy…
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As ridiculously beautiful as I’ve come to expect from you! Thanks for sharing, Ali.
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Thank you for such kind words Steve. Deeply appreciated 
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Yeah, I agree with Mick you’ve got the makings of a really good collection Noah. I’m looking forward to hearing them when they are fully completed. Well done Noah.
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Jonathan I loved the melodic steady rhythmic undertone which you have combined with a sonic overtone to create a really cool ambient track. Well done.
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Ali, I totally agree with Steve. This is such a beautiful track which resonates really well with me. Great softness of texture, great slowness of tempo. This for me is a powerful but pieceful composition which projects an atmosphere. Well done.
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As always Michael, you are very kind. Thank you for making time to listen and for your lovely comment.
Thank you! I don’t know if I did all of that on purpose (more like trial and error), but it’s one of my personal favourites from the score, so I think it worked out…
Thank you so much @Michael_Urquhart and @mickkiss2005 ! I am trying to blend my first project and these new ones to have an actual full album rather than longer EP’s. I have been re-doing the piano piece I did for the attic grand competition (which is still one of my favorite memories. I was coaching cross country running at the time, we were heading to our state meet, and while on the bus I am watching the Crow Hill town hall and see my name come up as the competition winner, it was actually the first time I made any music of mine public, and will always be a great memory) I hope to keep the same magic I had, but throughout the whole project!
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I’ve been enjoying experimenting with the transposition controls on the Absurdly Quiet Piano Pro - transposing down an octave then playing an octave higher on the keyboard, or vice versa. This is worth trying with any sampled piano, generally making the timbre darker (transpose down, play up) or brighter (transpose up, play down), but the unusual nature of the AQP sounds inspired this improvisation, which I then embellished with the “Subtle Clarinet” from Pianobook.
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@ed.harper this is beautiful! Congrats!
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Is this your video along with the music? It is fantastic!
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Hey all! Here is the current project, I will keep updating this as I am going. Stream Noah Stockton | Listen to Piano Works playlist online for free on SoundCloud
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Thanks for sharing, Ed. As Noah said, just beautiful. Thanks for the insight into transposition and timbre too. I’d kinda felt that should be the case based on harmonic substructure and frequency spread, but I’m a drummer… what do I know about pianos!? 
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This piece is really, really beautiful. Marvellous work Ed!
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Thank you so much Noah! The clips are all stock footage from Getty but I have edited them together to create the video. Thanks for taking time to look, listen and comment. 
Brilliant tracks Michael such different moods too very nicely done 
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This sounds lovely Ali.
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Really nice pieces Noah
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CHALLENGE INFO:
We were tasked with imagining “What If Hans Zimmer Scored Star Wars?”
Two Worlds of Film Scoring — Melody vs Motion
The original Star Wars sound by John Williams is built on iconic melodies and leitmotifs:
Luke = hope
Vader = power & darkness
Leia = elegance
The orchestra tells the story through melody.
Now flip that perspective.
Hans Zimmer’s approach is different:
rhythm over melody
textures over themes
emotion through motion, pressure, and sound design
It’s not “a theme for a character” – It’s “the feeling of their journey”
Your Challenge
Create a minimum 45-second track answering:
What would Star Wars sound like if Hans Zimmer had scored it?
Think:
Dark rhythmic engines instead of heroic brass
Pulses, impacts, evolving tension
Hybrid scoring: orchestral + modern cinematic sound design
It should feel like Star Wars — but from another universe.
Requirements
Use at least one Symphonic Elements plugin
No copyrighted material or uncleared samples allowed
Include a screenshot as proof of Symphonic Elements usage
CONCEPT:
In keeping with the “Star Wars” theme, I composed the score in 3 acts as follows:
Act 1 - “The Clone March”
Act 2 - “Deep Space”
Act 3 - “Jedi Reprise”
CHALLENGE SPONSOR INSTRUMENTS USED:
UJAM instruments used: SE BRAAASS, SE DRUMS, Beatmaker Nemesis, UJAM/BMF Vox Humana
Crow Hill instruments used: Snakes of Russia Venom, Nocturnal Gestures
OTHER NOTES:
This was one of the heaviest scoring projects that I have ever undertaken, at over 100 MIDI VST instrument tracks/layers.
I pushed my i9-14900k with 128gb RAM to the limit, the final Ableton Live project takes over 5 minutes to load.
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