| USDF Convention November 30, 2006 Becoming a Freestyle Wizard Presented by the Freestyle Committee The first thing to do is to evaluate the horse's strengths and weaknesses, because any choreography used will want to play to a horse's strengths and minimize the horse's weaknesses by limiting the use of those movements and/or displaying them so they are less obvious/visible to the judge. ONE NOTE: Do not walk down center-line directly towards the judge with a pacing walk--the judge will KNOW that you're hiding something; aim for a bending line instead. Also, think about what adjectives describe the horse, since those same adjectives will often describe the music. Consider music that you wouldn't normally listen to (i.e., that isn't your favorite type/style of music) because, and don't choose songs simply because you love Sting, or the Beatles, or techno-funk. The music must suit the horse--this is more important than being something that you want to hear over and over a thousand times a day./p> Determine the horse's natural tempo in WALK, TROT and CANTER, both in straight lines and in tight turns, and in all the variations of the gait (in trot, that would mean in extension, collection and working trot; in canter, you would also include pirouettes. For FEI, don't forget piaffe and passage). USE A METRONOME. Sources of music:
What to take into consideration: personal music preferences (though often these choices are at the wrong tempo, they will give you ideas: the usable tempo range will be limited by the horse), genre of music (USE ONLY ONE), theme (USE ONLY ONE), interpretive qualities (does the piece have dynamic changes, interesting sections that SOUND like you could/should be doing something specific to them?), suitability (for example, a pony would look silly doing a freestyle to Phantom of the Opera, and Handel's Messiah would be totally inappropriate at Gladstone). genre = rock, techno, classical Once you've got a few possibilities, try the full pieces with the horse (just ride to it, and see how it feels)--based on the results, develop and expand on what works. Turn the selected pieces into a visual page by taking notes on the pieces of music:
and so forth. You will use this map to help with editing, and editing WILL be necessary. Lyrics mean that people will sing along in their heads, even if the music doesn't include the words, so it limits your editing possibilities, so using music that is less well known is to your advantage. The music's job is to fully support what is already there in your performance. The suitability, cohesiveness, phrasing and editing all affect the music. Judges' biggest peeve is music suitability or lack thereof. The music must be right for the horse (suitable), without clumsy editing, and the choreography patterns must be understandable to the judge. CHOREOGRAPHY:
Scoring:
Editing
There is a work-around for using music purchased on iTunes: Burn the music onto a CD as an "AIFF" file, then rip the music from the CD using your music editing program. Many music editing programs will work, but whichever one you choose MUST be able to adjust tempo and perform cross fades. Examples: ProTools, Sound Forge, Bias Peak, Cool Edit, Gold Wave, Sound Editor, Rip Edit or Burn. Export your final product as an AIFF. An .mp3 WILL NOT PLAY at the show, but it is nice for riders who want to ride with .mp3 players for practicing at home. Don't be afraid to play around with freestyles at home (music editing and choreography). The learning curve seems steep, but the programs aren't as difficult to use as they look at first glance, and the process can really be a whole lot of fun--and worst case scenario, you'll understand what the designer is doing a whole lot better the next time you work on one as a joint project. Return to Table of Contents. |
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