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Abadoss
09-10-2007, 06:14 AM
CMC: Conceptual Music Competition
http://www.warnerpacific.edu/personal/kkeyn/sigs/abadoss-CMC.jpg

This competition is based on the rules of the classic TOMC (http://www.warnerpacific.edu/personal/kkeyn/TOMC.htm) (Thematic Original Music Competition).

The CMC (Conceptual Music Competition) is designed so that each participant enters a piece of music based on a set theme. The participants take the theme and interpret it as they will to come up with something that fits. Any style can work, as long as it portrays a sense of what the theme is.

Feel free to be imaginative!

Each successive theme will be chosen by the winner of the previous competition. For example, say the theme of the last competition, CMC 19, was "The Volcano" and the winner, Fred, submitted a piece that knocked the socks off of everyone, so he won. Fred then gets to decide the theme for CMC 20.

This competition is open to registered members of the forums of
OverClocked ReMix (http://www.ocremix.org), VGMix (http://www.vgmix.com), Ormgas (http://oc.ormgas.com), VGMusic (http://www.vgmusic.com), SheezyArt (http://www.sheezyart.com), Gaming World (http://www.gamingw.net), and Young Composers (http://www.youngcomposers.com).

http://www.warnerpacific.edu/personal/kkeyn/CMC/CMC8-forums.jpg

CMC 12: The Sinner's Choice
"The fiery pits of Apollyon (hell) burn unyieldingly before the sinner, while the pearly gates of Elysium (heaven) shine brightly in all their glory. It is the everlasting battle of death: flames of everlasting and divine wrath against paradise; a dark void against a placid abyss; an unending suffering against infinite tranquility. Now is the time. He has the choice: Will he atone his sins or is it still greed that he craves?" -James Householder IV

Results!:
Text results and critiques (http://www.warnerpacific.edu/personal/kkeyn/CMC/CMC12_Results.txt)

There are 2 entries for this round...

Blue.Nocturne - "Unforgiving Sin (http://www.warnerpacific.edu/personal/kkeyn/CMC/Blue.Nocturne_-_Unforgiving_Sin_CMC12.mp3)"

"Our hero has done the greatest sin of all, he has slain a human life with his own hands. Unable to forgive himself, he has gone into a state of depression. He thinks much about what he has done, but he ultimately is unable to forgive himself. Abandoning all hope of salvation, he truely believes that no action can repent for his sin."

HoboKa - "A Most Frightful Dilemma (http://www.warnerpacific.edu/personal/kkeyn/CMC/HoboKa_-_A_Most_Frightful_Dilemma_CMC12.mp3)"

"Okay, so I interpreted CMC 12's theme as a dark, choir-ish/electronica feel, which picks up halfway when the sinner decides that he needs to make a change and fight for his redemption. I hope you guys enjoy it."

Voting Rules!:
Voters will be allowed to pick a first place (3 points) and any number of honorary mentions (1 point). Only one set of votes from any one voter will be accepted and a person cannot vote for any one piece more than once. Corrections to votes, from the original voter only, will be accepted, but corrections will void the previous votes. Basically, a voter can vote and correct the vote, but only the final form of that vote will be counted. Send all votes to Abadoss by PM (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/private.php?do=newpm&u=1901). Please include any and all constructive critiques (not to be confused with bashing) about them with your votes as well, so that there's always a sense of growth in the artform. If you wish to remain anonymous, just state so in your PM. Thanks.
The voting period will last from the moment the entries are posted in the thread to the Saturday of that week. The voting period for this round ends October 13, so be sure to spend some time really listening to the pieces.
Any participant in the competition can vote, but not for their own pieces. However, in an effort to encourage voting among participants, any participant who votes will have 2 points added to their voting score.

Official Rules!:
Each piece must be originally composed for this competition. Arrangements and remixes will not be accepted. (Pieces composed by the participant prior to the competition will not be accepted.)
Each piece must be 2:00 or longer and match the competition theme.
Only one entry per person. Collaborations will be allowed, but each collaborator may not submit any other pieces. (This also means that a person cannot collaborate on two or more different pieces at the same time.)
A link to the entry piece must be PMed to Abadoss (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/private.php?do=newpm&u=1901) prior to the deadline set for each competition. DO NOT POST THE LINK IN THE THREAD! However, feel free to post in the WIP:Other (http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=24) forum.
Important: Each file must be labelled accordingly: Composer_Name_-_Composition_Title_CMC#.mp3
(For example, if Danielle Smith submits a piece called "Drum Run at Tom's Tomb" to CMC 16, then her filename would be: Danielle_Smith_-_Drum_Run_at_Toms_Tomb_CMC16.mp3)
MP3 file format is required. Know that even OGG will need to be converted into MP3. (If someone is unable to do so themselves, Abadoss would be willing and able to do it for them.)
Entries should be accompanied by a description and/or story to help listeners understand what the piece is about. (Not required, though.)
All entries must be submitted by Saturday, September 29, 2007 at 11:59 PM - PST, GMT-8.

You can find the competition threads for each forum listed below:
OverClocked ReMix: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11837
VGMix: http://www.vgmix.com/vg25/viewtopic.php?id=7826
Ormgas: http://oc.ormgas.com/forum_viewtopic.php?2.19468
VGMusic: http://www.vgmusic.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=9441
SheezyArt: http://www.sheezyart.com/forum/topic/88496/
Gaming World: http://www.gamingw.net/forums/index.php?topic=64588.0
Young Composers: http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/conceptual-music-competition-12-sinners-choice-11431.html

Good luck and have fun! :D

Previous CMCs: http://www.warnerpacific.edu/personal/kkeyn/CMC.htm
prophetik music
09-10-2007, 10:13 AM
we keep getting such creative themes. i'll see if i've got time to piece something together.
Escariot
09-10-2007, 04:48 PM
Bitchin' theme... I shall see if I can do anything, now that I have a competent computer
Johnny Burt
09-10-2007, 07:36 PM
Awesome! Can't wait to see what I can put together for this.
Argitoth
09-11-2007, 02:07 PM
I don't understand the theme actually, the wording sounds like it's trying to be too artistic.

Can anyone tell me in plain boring english what the theme is?
Flik
09-11-2007, 03:22 PM
Best I can decipher is that it's a conflict of choice between choosing the good side or the bad side.
prophetik music
09-11-2007, 08:06 PM
its about a bad guy choosing if he wants to be a bad guy in hell or a good but poor guy in heaven

edit - that's a joke, by the way
CopiousX
09-12-2007, 11:54 PM
^_^ So happy!

Already got the first 1:30 finished. This theme screams with material. Awesome choice.
prophetik music
09-13-2007, 12:09 AM
i might be able to throw something together, but i'm thinking no this time around. too much going on this week and next with student teaching.
Chickenwarlord
09-13-2007, 03:42 AM
I'm having the same feeling as The Prophet of Mephisto. I might get a little free time to pump something out.
Abadoss
09-13-2007, 05:28 AM
Please notice that you actually have three weeks this time around...
Argitoth
09-14-2007, 10:11 PM
WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????


ahem...

Yes Abadoss, why the decision to make it a 3 week competition?
IM GOING TO DIEEEEE...


ahem. I mean, I will become extremely suicidal if I have to wait 3 weeks.
Chickenwarlord
09-14-2007, 11:29 PM
3 weeks is a goodly amount of time for those with time intensive jobs and obligations to slip in a couple of hours to make a piece.
Argitoth
09-14-2007, 11:32 PM
i know... *sigh*
Abadoss
09-15-2007, 06:15 AM
ahem. I mean, I will become extremely suicidal if I have to wait 3 weeks.

"The only mistake in life is to give up when confronted with failure."

I'm amused by the irony...
Abadoss
09-27-2007, 07:26 AM
I've yet to receive an entry, so I hope you're all working on them.
Argitoth
09-27-2007, 01:24 PM
I've yet to receive an entry, so I hope you're all working on them.

lol... uhhh... heheh.

Seriously, for freaken sake I do not like the theme, mainly because I don't have a good choir sound to describe heaven and hell... well, it's more that I don't like the theme. I hope someone is going to submit something. I'll definitely support by voting.
Flik
09-27-2007, 01:35 PM
Honestly, I don't like the theme either, or at least the way it's described. I doubt I'll make a comeback with this one but if I have some last minute inspiration I'll try something.
Argitoth
09-27-2007, 01:59 PM
Honestly, I don't like the theme either, or at least the way it's described.

Yeah, main problem for me is that the description doesn't describe an actual scene of what is going happening, like in a movie. It more describes some kind of metaphor. The best music I could come up with in my head is that kind of hollywood mysterious thinking music where the character is coming to a big realization and then he's going to execute operation 1B or something, you know?

I dunno. EVEN if I composed the music to describe something like that, it would still be hard to come up in my head how it relates to making a choice between heaven and hell. Really, the theme's problem IMO is that it's not describing an actual scene or event.
Abadoss
09-27-2007, 05:02 PM
That would be where your interpretation takes over.
Flik
09-27-2007, 07:03 PM
If that's the case, someone's interpretation may sound like porno music from a donkey show during one section and then cut to a dainty piano tune with the sounds of a janitor mopping up vomit from an elementary school hallway. I mean, you've got the essence of good and evil with both sides of that, right?

Anyway I didn't exactly help matters much there, but I will stand by how I feel about the theme not really giving anyone a proper idea to work off of. I hope I'm proved wrong though and a few brave souls take on the challenge.
Argitoth
09-27-2007, 08:14 PM
I'm going to have to bash the theme a little more. As far as I know, the only visual cue we have to go on is that there's a guy who has the gates of heaven and hell on each side of him and he must go to one of them.

The problem I see with this is that hell is bad. No one *wants* to go to hell, so what kind of choice is that? The description of the theme would need something in there to tell us why the sinner might choose hell over heaven.

It says something about attoning sins or craving greed. Now, is it greedy to go to heaven or is it greedy to go to hell? Do you attone yoru sins in heaven or do you attone sins in hell? But HOLD ON! WAIT A MINUTE HERE! If atoning sins means going to hell, then how can you instead choose to go to heaven if you're still greedy? If it's greedy to go to hell, then how do you attone sins in heaven? That's why this theme makes no sense to me.
Johnny Burt
09-27-2007, 10:13 PM
I think the problem with the theme is that we are actually presented with 3 possible themes to choose from, because the description is pretty vague. Either heaven or hell or the anxiety of having to choose. Given that, if each person interprets the theme differently by that large of a margin, then how are we really supposed to compare and contrast how effectively each person expresses what is supposed to be one central idea? I see where it was going, but I think it missed the mark or wasn't a wholly realized idea before it was submitted.
Argitoth
09-27-2007, 10:15 PM
I think the problem with the theme is that we are actually presented with 3 possible themes to choose from.

Mr. Burt, that was a brilliant statement! Seriously, I'm not trying to be sarcastic. You hit the mark.
Abadoss
09-28-2007, 12:05 AM
To clarify the situation - while trying to limit my own interpretation - the guy/girl/person is already headed for the crapper, but has a chance to make up and fly straight, but the process of doing so means he/she/it/they has (have) to do something he/she/it/they doesn't (don't) really want to do. So, basically it goes like this; aimed for hell, could go to heaven, but it would come at a price. Does that help?
prophetik music
09-28-2007, 02:07 AM
lord...of...ellipses...i can't believe that entire post had everything BUT ellipses in it.
Abadoss
09-28-2007, 02:21 AM
I am lord over them, not they over me...
Argitoth
09-28-2007, 03:15 AM
aimed for hell, could go to heaven, but it would come at a price. Does that help?

I feel like your description went in a circle and ended up at the same point it started. Thus I can say that I really still can't feel musical inspiration. Your description just doesn't have emotion or character that tells me what the music should express....sorry.
Abadoss
09-28-2007, 07:41 AM
This is what I told members of the Young Composer's Forum: You have a lot of freedom in this. Your only limitation is believability. You have to be able to get your audience to buy into the concept, just by listening to your music (and maybe with a little help from reading the description).

You are to find the inspiration in yourself. The theme just gives you the context.
Abadoss
09-30-2007, 06:22 PM
We have a couple options here. I have received no entries for this round. What that measn is that I can either extend the deadline for another week or two or I can change out the theme itself, which would ultimately lead to pushed back deadline. I need to hear from everyone on this.
Argitoth
09-30-2007, 09:07 PM
I say change the theme, and to be fair, get the original theme poster (last contest winner) to give us a more well-defined theme HOPEFULLY based on the original idea. Such as: Choosing exactly what the decision is.

For example, the original theme poster could say the theme is "a decision is made to go to hell to redeem sins." something like that. Now we don't have to be bogged down by making the decision in the music, now we just compose the decision made...
Johnny Burt
10-01-2007, 03:35 AM
I say change the theme, and to be fair, get the original theme poster (last contest winner) to give us a more well-defined theme

Same here.
Argitoth
10-02-2007, 06:00 PM
What the heck man, why aren't people responding?
Alex Smith
10-02-2007, 06:38 PM
What I need to know is whether we're staying with the current theme/description because I don't want to start remixing this only to find that a day later the entire thing has changed.
Argitoth
10-02-2007, 08:47 PM
That's exactly why we need people to respond to the thread, to let us know if anyone really has something to submit... but the deadline has passed and no one has submitted, so we can safely assume that no one even started on a composition. So basically I say we change the theme to something more defined.
Abadoss
10-03-2007, 08:51 AM
Okay, so it turns out there was actually one submission. He sent it to my Hotmail account (which blocks mail from anyone not on my contact list). I just received it on my Yahoo account this evening. So, here's the deal. One, I can extend the deadline a bit to let a few more people enter. A possibility would be to give this person one additional point for being the only one to enter on time. Two, just say the guy won and move on to round thirteen. Well?

As far as defining the theme more, I thought I had cleared it up a little, but maybe I can try again. Because of the way in which the sinner is living his life, he is headed for hell. If he cleans up his act, he will go to heaven. The process of cleaning up is difficult (imagine de-tox from a really additive drug). So, the choice becomes whether or not he's going to get off his ass and change his life around or be lazy and go to hell. Does that help?
Argitoth
10-03-2007, 02:44 PM
Abadoss, the time given to submit something has been more than enough. If someone hasn't submitted by now, consider them disqualified.

I say make the one person who submitted the winner and let him choose the next theme.
Flik
10-03-2007, 08:06 PM
Or just take into consideration that this theme was a bust. If you gave three weeks for people to make something for this theme and only ONE person submitted something, that says something about the theme.

Sorry if this offends the person who made the theme but you have to face the facts that not every theme works. I say we not consider the one entry the winner because there was no competition. Lets consider them the only person who made an entry and move on.
Alex Smith
10-05-2007, 11:21 AM
So... what's happening?

I'm quite eager to start mixing to be honest.
Argitoth
10-06-2007, 05:06 AM
I also want to make a post to encourage Abadoss to take some action.
Abadoss
10-06-2007, 05:37 PM
I appreciate that. I've been waiting so as to give people enough time to respond. I'm pretty sure what I'll be doing, though.
HoboKa
10-07-2007, 06:31 PM
This is what I told members of the Young Composer's Forum: You have a lot of freedom in this. Your only limitation is believability. You have to be able to get your audience to buy into the concept, just by listening to your music (and maybe with a little help from reading the description).

You are to find the inspiration in yourself. The theme just gives you the context.

I'm a noob at making music and even I could think of something ^^
prophetik music
10-08-2007, 02:46 AM
i thought the idea was clear enough, and actually started something (~30 seconds long), so i don't see what all the fuss was about. i just didn't have time to finish anything since i've been busy over the weekend every week for the last two months.
Abadoss
10-08-2007, 04:50 PM
Okay. So the plans have changed. I was originally going to just cut the losses and move on to the next round. Turns out, there's now a second submission. So, we'll move forward with the voting round as soon as I receive a description for the piece. Expect to listen to the pieces and vote by the weekend.
HoboKa
10-08-2007, 06:01 PM
Okay. So the plans have changed. I was originally going to just cut the losses and move on to the next round. Turns out, there's now a second submission. So, we'll move forward with the voting round as soon as I receive a description for the piece. Expect to listen to the pieces and vote by the weekend.

That is the description I sent you :P, if you want I could change it up.
Abadoss
10-09-2007, 12:50 AM
The entries are up! Time to vote!
HoboKa
10-09-2007, 02:19 AM
That is the description I sent you :P, if you want I could change it up.

...okay so I guess not ^^
HoboKa
10-09-2007, 07:59 PM
I hope enough people will vote for this competition... =/
Bundeslang
10-09-2007, 08:30 PM
I hope enough people will vote for this competition... =/

I'm sure at least one person is going to vote, or has voted.
(hint)
Argitoth
10-09-2007, 08:46 PM
i voted... dunno what you are going on about...
HoboKa
10-09-2007, 11:55 PM
i voted... dunno what you are going on about...

or did you? >: - P
Alex Smith
10-11-2007, 01:26 PM
Wow... the last CMC I participated in there were loads of entires!

Next time I'll definately enter.
Abadoss
10-14-2007, 05:45 PM
We need more votes!!! There is currently a tie!
Argitoth
10-14-2007, 07:42 PM
OMG this CMC doesn't want to end!!!!!!!!!!
HoboKa
10-14-2007, 08:32 PM
so much for saving it x_x
Alex Smith
10-14-2007, 08:40 PM
Well I just voted, so with any luck I've managed to break the tie?

By the way, whatever the result, both entries were fantastic this round, so well done both of you. ;)
HoboKa
10-14-2007, 09:30 PM
By the way, whatever the result, both entries were fantastic this round, so well done both of you. ;)

Thanks Alex Smith :D, means a lot.
Abadoss
10-15-2007, 06:13 AM
OMG this CMC doesn't want to end!!!!!!!!!!

I know. What's worse is that I received two votes today and we're still in a tie.

btw, I do declare this the longest running round in CMC history.
HoboKa
10-15-2007, 06:22 AM
Mother of mercy!! I just want to move on to the next one waaa T_T
Abadoss
10-15-2007, 09:00 AM
The results are in!
HoboKa
10-15-2007, 11:14 PM
woot :D, came close but no cigar. To be honest I got more praise then I had expected, being new to making music and all. Good job Blue.Nocturne :D
blue.nocturne
10-16-2007, 12:59 AM
You did a great job in my opinion HoboKa. I bet it was hard to judge since we did completely different styles and emphasized completely different things. I tried to focus more on tone and harmony, while it seems you focused more on beat and mood. I did something more traditionalist and you did something more modern. Although, the funny thing is that we both used Fruity Loops to make it. :)

Be seeing you in the next contest!
HoboKa
10-16-2007, 01:14 AM
Wait, how'd you know I used FL studio? lol, anyways thanks; be seeing you there ^^
Bundeslang
10-16-2007, 04:51 PM
Funny. In the most rounds, sometimes with 9 entries, I voted for the winner. In this round only 2 entrants came up with something and I didn't vote for the winner.
Hopefully I vote for the winner next time (translation, hopefully we have more songs up next time).
Alex Smith
10-16-2007, 07:03 PM
Congratulations Blue. Nocturne. Better luck next time HoboKa. It was a close round. ;)
HoboKa
10-17-2007, 09:31 AM
You did a great job in my opinion HoboKa. I bet it was hard to judge since we did completely different styles and emphasized completely different things. I tried to focus more on tone and harmony, while it seems you focused more on beat and mood. I did something more traditionalist and you did something more modern. Although, the funny thing is that we both used Fruity Loops to make it. :)

Be seeing you in the next contest!

BTW, what samples do you use Blue? I could really get a hold of those sexy classical instruments :-D
Abadoss
10-18-2007, 06:59 AM
Here's the link for the next round:

http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12568