Award Nomination

I’m incredibly proud to be nominated for a Buma Music in Media Award in the New Talent category. I owe this nomination to the music I composed for the short, dark coming-of-age film Aas voor de Kraaien by Tom van Zutphen.

When the insecure girl Emmy tries to meet her mother's expectations at her confirmation party, she encounters two outcasts who challenge her to think for herself—while she does everything she can to belong with them.

For this short film, Tom and I chose an organic sound palette that strongly connects to the forested setting where most scenes take place. This led us to select the following instruments, played both in traditional and digitally processed ways, using special techniques such as harmonics and bisbigliando: (solo) strings, harp, marimba, alto flute, and glockenspiel. The glockenspiel adds a childlike, playful dimension. From these instruments, I then created pads and drones to further enhance the cinematic character.

The music is mysterious and unpredictable, thanks to the instrumentation, chord choices, melodic material, and the way the instruments were—or weren’t—processed in production.

For the final scene, in which Emmy walks towards the forest, I deliberately chose to work without a click track. By recording the music in free time, the emotions, doubt, and uncertain stumbling of Emmy felt much more authentic than if a rigid tempo had been used.