Welcome to the Hall of Champions
Every Monday, I pose a composition challenge to the members of the VGM Academy private Facebook group. Participants share their work as they make progress through their Composition Quest Logs – free downloadable lists of VGM-inspired writing prompts intended to push you outside of your comfort zone and exercise your musical chops. And every week, I choose 1 composer as the winner of our Weekly Quest.
Want to get in on the action? Download the Composition Quest Logs and request access to our private Facebook group.
Quest Logs: Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3
Below you will find a growing list of composers who not only write great music, but continue to challenge themselves to create something new for sake of personal growth and mastery of their craft. Behold! The VGM Academy Hall of Champions:
Mike Pettry
Quest Winner, 4/19/2017
Quest Completed: “Five Finger Fanfare” – Write a piece that uses the “five-finger fanfare,” as coined by the Super Marcato Bros. (Quest Log Level 3)
GUEST JUDGES: The Super Marcato Bros., Karl Brueggeman & Will Brueggeman. Thanks for being our first guest judges, and for inspiring the challenge! Check out Karl & Will’s amazing video game music Podcast.
Ronan McQuillan
Quest Winner, 4/12/2017
Quest Completed: “Something Borrowed” – Use atleast one borrowed chord in your composition. See this article about Final Fantasy VII’s theme for an explanation of how to use borrowed chords.
Benjamin Burnes (aka Abstraction)
Quest Winner, 4/5/2017
Quest Completed: “Guitarland” – Write a piece of music using ONLY guitars. All guitars are fair game – use as many or as few as you’d like. (Quest Log Level 3)
Website | SoundCloud | Twitch
Sydney Kjerstad & Andreas Rautner
Quest Winners: 3/13/17
Quest Completed: “A Little Help From My Friends” – Feature one of your friends on a new composition. Their part can be as small or large as you’d like. (Quest Log Level 2)
Sydney: Website | SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter
Andreas: Website | SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter
Kalle Thunell
Quest Winners: 3/8/17
Quest Completed: “If It Ain’t Got That Swing – Write a piece that uses a swing beat. (Quest Log Level 1)
Joshua Taipale
Quest Winner, 2/20/17
Quest Completed: “Nap Time” – Write a very short (less than 10 seconds) JRPG-style music cue for sleeping at an inn. (Quest Log Lvl 2)
Ronan McQuillan
Quest Winner, 2/6/17
Quest Completed: “Something Strange & Wonderful” – Write a melody using an instrument you’ve never used before whose name you aren’t even 100% sure how to pronounce. (Quest Log Lvl 1)
Benjamin Burnes (aka Abstraction)
Quest Winner, 1/30/17
Quest Completed: “Dorian Mode” – Write a piece that uses Dorian mode for at least part of the piece. (Quest Log Lvl 3)
Website | SoundCloud | Twitch
Mike Pettry
Quest Winner, 1/23/2017
Quest Completed: “Drum Machine” – Write a piece using ONLY unpitched percussion (no xylophones, pianos, etc). (Quest Log Level 3)
Ronan McQuillan
Quest Winner, 1/16/2017
Quest Completed: “The Julie Andrews” – Use a human voice to sing the melody of at least an entire section. (Quest Log Level 1)
Benjamin Burnes (aka Abstraction)
Quest Winner, 1/9/2017
Quest Completed: “The Name Game” – Write your FULL name, and remove any letters that aren’t a part of the musical alphabet (ABCDEFG). Write a piece using a motif or melody based on that sequence of letters.
Website | SoundCloud | Twitch
Mike Pettry
Quest Winner, 1/2/2017
Quest Completed: “Baby, It’s Cold” – Get in touch with your inner penguin and score an upbeat snow level! (Quest Log Level 3)
Sydney Kjerstad
Quest Winner: 12/26/2016
Quest Completed: “Game Over” – Create an awesome ‘Game Over’ theme that’s less than 10 seconds in length. Any longer would just be rubbing it in. (Quest Log Level 1)