BRYDON ADAMS
About Me:
I am a Leeds-based composer and French horn player combining orchestral scoring with
live performance. My work revolves around emotive and cinematic music for film, TV and
animation, alongside freelance performance work where I play French horn in ensembles
and musicals, and I play piano for restaurants and events, bringing an expressive and
versatile approach to my musical endeavours.
I’ve written music for short films and made rescores for scenes such as Harry Potter, Wing
It and Toy Story 2 as part of university assignments. These projects help me develop my
ability when composing to a brief, spotting and syncing music to picture, and creating
emotionally captivating scores using software like MuseScore 4 and Logic Pro, and
professional orchestral sample libraries like OPUS Hollywood Orchestra.
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Showreel:
“Wing It!” – Comedic animated short (Rescore) – Watch on YouTube
“Toy Story 2” – Suspense/action animation (Rescore) – Watch on YouTube
“Floating In The Clouds” – Original composition (Not synced) – Watch on YouTube
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Performance Experience:
Musicals (French Horn 1st/2nd Parts):
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (University production)
- Carousel (Invited by Musical Director)
French Horn + Tenor Horn:
- Performed at Bridgewater Hall with the Royal Marines Band as part of the Manchester Music Hub project – Selected amongst top youth musicians across regional music services.
- Section Horn player in university concert band, wind orchestra, and orchestra.
- Participated in side-by-side concerts with Opera North, Manchester Camerata and Royal Marine musicians.
- Performed in major venues including Bridgewater Hall, Stoller Hall, and RNCM Concert Hall.
- Toured France with my local youth orchestra, playing at three different venues.
- Played in a concert for the Halle Youth orchestra on 3rd horn, got asked the night before to play and learn the part, and so I did.
- Completed ABRSM Grade 6 (over a year ago), now performing at a higher standard through regular ensemble and theatre work.
- I played tenor horn in a community brass band for 10 years, since I was 7 years old.
Composition:
- Original orchestral work performed live by Bury Youth Orchestra at Stoller Hall (Youth concert programme).
Cello and Piano Function Band Duo:
- Performed live acoustic sets for restaurants and events.
- Responsible for bookings, communication with clients and social media management and branding.
Graphic Design:
- Designed the promotional content for the BAFTA short film ‘Rage With Words’
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Skills and Experience:
Composition:
I specialise in orchestration, transcription, layering harmony, emotional cue writing and scoring for animation.
Tech/DAWs:
Software I use consists of Logic Pro, MuseScore 4, East West Opus, BBC Symphony Orchestra and more. I specialise in mixing, expressive automation, dynamic shaping and smooth workflow between notation and DAW projects.
Performance:
I play French horn in orchestral, theatre and side-by-side projects, piano in restaurants and events, and tenor horn for brass banding.
Creative Work:
I also do freelance graphic design work (promos, social media content creation and branding etc.)
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Interests and Ambitions:
- Composing for film, TV and animation, sync licensing and trailer scoring.
- Expanding on more function band performance and online presence.
- Furthering my orchestral and collaborative scoring projects and opportunities.
Commentary (1500 Words):
Introduction:
This commentary will outline the creative and commercial ideas and decisions behind Electronic Press Kit. The EPK is designed to reflect both sides of my craft – as a composer working on cinematic music and as a musician performing in live settings. It’s aimed at two audiences: people within the film/TV and sync licensing industry who might be looking for composers and clients, or organisers looking to book musicians for events. My goal with this EPK was to create something that both promotes my work, shows my skillsets and fits the expectations of people in different parts of the creative industry.
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Target Audience and Purpose:
The EPK is made to be useful to two types of people:
- Professionals in the Film/TV industry, such as film directors looking for composers.
- Event clients, such as wedding planners or restaurant managers, who want live music
These two audiences look for contrasting things. People in the film industry want a clear idea of the music I write and quick access to examples of my work, whereas event clients want to know I’m reliable, experienced and can match the atmosphere to uplift the setting.
I structured my EPK with these factors in mind – in the top section, I kept the focus on film composition, including a short bio and showreel links to my work. Lower down, I included more details about my live performance experiences and function band work, written in a welcoming and more informal tone. I tried to keep the layout simple and easy to read, with bold titles to separate the sections for ease.
Creative Decisions:
Many choices I made were based on how I’d like to present myself, not just as someone with technical skills, but as someone creative, versatile and easy to work with. I also tried to make the tone of the writing reflect my personality, keeping it professional but not overly formal.
Tone and Writing Style:
In the “About Me” section, I wanted to keep things straightforward. I mention compositional work and live performance work early on and later list real examples so people can see the kind of projects I’ve done. I named major venues like Bridgewater Hall and Stoller Hall to add credibility. Furthermore, I mention working with the Royal Marines Band as part of the Manchester Music Hub project, as this shows the level I’ve performed at.
Structure and Clarity:
I chose to keep the bio within 200 words so it’s easy to skim read whilst still being compact, something which I learned is important in professional and academic settings. I like to separate sections by using bold titles for examples, “Showreel”, “Performance Experience”, and “Skills” so that people can easily jump to sections most relevant to them.
In the “Showreels” section, I chose three examples: two rescores (Wing It and Toy Story 2) and one original composition (Floating In The Clouds). The two rescores were made for university assignments, but they show my ability to work on a brief, sync to picture and within a time limit. The composition simply shows my creative and musical voice without needing visuals, just my imagination and storytelling.
In addition to the written tone of this EPK, I want some visual layout to help reflect my personality and provide a more personal connection to the reader, by showing proof of projects I’ve worked on and building trust and transparency. These subtle design choices throughout show that while I take my work seriously, I also value being myself and being expressive and free. Including a photo, organising sections and creating a nice balance helps make the EPK feel more approachable and human, rather than just functional.
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Commercial Considerations:
This EPK not only fits the purpose of representing my creative identity, but it’s also a tool to help promote my work and create opportunities. Each section was written for a reason, to show skill, experience and potential.
Professional Presentation:
I chose organisations such as the Royal Marines Band and venues like Bridgewater Hall as they’re recognisable and well respected. These references build trust and show people in the industry that I’ve worked in a professional or semi-professional setting, even whilst at university.
I included my work on The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Carousel, listing both my horn parts (1st/2nd) and noting who invited me as these details help show that I’ve been trusted in more formal music settings.
Function Band Work and Event Experience:
I included my piano work at restaurants and events in the duo function band was a part of, mentioning how I manage some bookings, branding and social media for the band, as it adds value. This helps to show I’m reliable, well organised and dedicated to the ensembles I am a part of. I furthermore mentioned my graphic design work for a BAFTA short film (Rage With Words), which was a high-paid opportunity and a highly trusting project to work on, I knew this would show versatility and creativity in more ways than one.
As these types of gigs are different to the main film work, I kept the tone warmer and more personal as I know clients want professionalism, but also friendliness and ease of working with.
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Design and Formatting:
I built my EPK in Google Docs as this keeps it easily accessible and practical for submission. I also made sure it looks good as a PDF and has a modern look by including a picture of myself, keeping that and my name centred and titling sections.
If I were looking to make it more public-facing, I’d recreate it in Canva to give it more visual flair, maybe brand colours, more photos, or icons, etc. For this reason, I chose clarity and functionality, which are more fitting for this setting.
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Tools and Workflow:
The tools I used to create the content and showcase in the EPK are as follows:
- Google Docs: To write and structure the EPK
- Logic Pro: To create and produce mockups and mix my music.
- MuseScore 4: To notate and write orchestral scores.
- EastWest Opus & BBC Symphony Orchestra: I use these for orchestral mockups.
- YouTube: To provide a platform where I can showcase my work.
I use these tools daily when composing, so including them gives an accurate and realistic picture of how I work, which is also good for transparency within the industry.
Alongside the different tools I’ve mentioned, I also use platforms like TikTok and Instagram to share and promote my work as well as connect with other creatives within the industry. Instagram is a great platform for creatives like me as it’s my portfolio, and it helps me reach a wider audience and show my music in context, whether that’s a score to a film clip or live performance. Professionals can see my work and reach out.
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Research and Industry References
To help me format my EPK, I checked out CD Baby’s artist resource website for their guide. Furthermore, I looked at examples for inspiration with formatting and how I wanted the final product to look. From my peers, I got feedback on the layout and audience targeting, which massively helped me make improvements. One useful suggestion was to split the content up more clearly so that readers of different interests could easily navigate through it.
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Personal Reflection and Future Development:
While the EPK was made for this assignment, I see it as something I’ll take forward and adapt as I grow in my career. It’s helped me reflect on what I’ve achieved so far and how I can best communicate that to different audiences. I also feel more confident in understanding what different people within the industry might be looking for, whether that’s creativity, professionalism or versatility. Moving forward, I can tailor my EPK to fit that. I’ll keep on updating my EPK as I take on more projects, both in composition and live performance, and may even consider creating new versions depending on the audience – one for film/TV professionals and one for clients booking events.
This has also shown me the importance of visual branding and presentation, which I’ll continue to add and improve on in future projects, portfolios or even websites that I build.
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Conclusion:
This EPK is a professional document which I’ll continue to improve and expand on in the future. It gives a clear picture of who I am as a composer, musician and a creative, and it’s been made so that it can be adapted differently depending on who I’m sending it to, whether it be a client, filmmaker or a venue.
I kept every choice I made around content, tone and layout of the EPK functional, transparent and honest, and audience-focused as it’s not just about showing off my work, but also making it easy for someone to understand what I do creatively and how it could influence them to wanting to work with me. By keeping my EPK professional but also personal, I’ve created something that reflects both my personality, professional skill set, experience and my ambitions.
Workshop Reflection (500 Words):
Workshop Reflection:
Throughout the second semester, I felt that group workshops were crucial in helping me develop my electronic press kit into something more professional and audience-targeted. I had space to discuss early ideas, receive feedback from others and understand how different ideas and creative choices would present to a potential audience.
At first, I wasn’t too sure how to effectively balance two sides of my work (composition and live performance) within one EPK. Sharing this issue helped me realise that I wasn’t the only person in that position, as many other people study film composing whilst also playing instruments in other ensembles. These talks helped me come up with the idea of slightly splitting my EPK into two sections, one “creative industry” based and the other “event-based”. I got help with knowing how to keep the structure clear and so that different audiences can still find relevant information easily.
Throughout my time planning and writing my EPK, I brought my ‘in-progress’ EPK to talk through with others, presenting my small showreel, bio and experiences. We had a lecture which went through the idea of tone when writing and how to effectively use it. I got feedback that mine was well-written, but could be a little more personal, so for this, I tried to add some personality whilst keeping it professional and concise. I added achievements I’d made (like my original composition being performed at Stoller Hall), which just helped add some public-facing successes. I was happy with this, and it added a more personal touch to my EPK.
In another lecture, we went through formatting, and I noticed some people were using apps like Canva while I was working in Google Docs. Seeing other people and hearing their reasoning and approach helped me to decide to stick with Google Docs for the assignment, but to keep in mind other options in the future for a more visual version. We spoke about things like visuals, fonts, consistency and how to properly brand and promote yourself using the EPK.
The sessions were great as they helped me reflect on my goals and what matters the most when it comes to presenting myself. Not only with what I say, but even structurally and visually, how the EPK looks has a big impact on how industry professionals and clients will view me. I was confident in my approach, sticking to simple and easy-to-understand wording, keeping things relevant to my goals and making sure every creative and functional decision is intentional based on the audience.
Overall, it was a valuable part of helping me build my EPK. I got useful feedback, ideas from different people and a sense of what’s expected from the industry from different perspectives. Without the sessions, I would miss out on the peer feedback and constructive criticism, and my EPK wouldn’t have been as well-structured or thought out, and the supporting commentary wouldn’t have been as in-depth. So, thanks to the sessions and feedback from others, my EPK is done.
