Question for the judges

[SideCut]

Sorry if I post this in the wrong place, but didn't find any topic related to the question I have.

1) Is there a place where there is an accurate personal description of each of the judges (so we know which musical styles they prefer, what they do in real life, what gear do they have, etc).
I don't mean to be too intrusive ; I just think it's normal for the public to know by who they are judged.

2) How do the judges monitor (listen to) the songs they get ?

Thanks for the answers.

[Liontamer]

1) Nah, there's nothing like that (personal descriptions) available, though it's an interesting idea. Basically, the most the public knows about the various judges are from the tracks they've submitted to the site.

2) Not quite sure what you mean there. We download the songs, and we listen to 'em. If you're talking about the criteria we use for judging, then What qualifies as a 'ReMix' (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/../info/Submission_Standards_and_Instructions#What_qualifi es_as_a_.27ReMix.27.3F) and How are submissions judged? (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/../info/Submission_Standards_and_Instructions#How_are_subm issions_judged.3F) are the principles and guidelines we keep in mind when evaluating submissions.

[Mustin]

"Hi, my name is Larry. I work at GloboGym. I like long walks on the beaches of Koholint..."

[DragonAvenger]

2) Not quite sure what you mean there. We download the songs, and we listen to 'em. If you're talking about the criteria we use for judging, then What qualifies as a 'ReMix' (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/../info/Submission_Standards_and_Instructions#What_qualifi es_as_a_.27ReMix.27.3F) and How are submissions judged? (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/../info/Submission_Standards_and_Instructions#How_are_subm issions_judged.3F) are the principles and guidelines we keep in mind when evaluating submissions.

I think he's wondering like what speakers/headphones are used, soundcard, etc. That's my impression at least.

[SideCut]

1) Nah, there's nothing like that (personal descriptions) available, though it's an interesting idea. Basically, the most the public knows about the various judges are from the tracks they've submitted to the site.

which doesn't necessarily tell a lot ;-)
I mean, you could compose a certain style, because it is in that style that most of your ideas express themselves, but you could particularly appreciate another genre too, listen a lot to it, know a lot about it, but your remixes will never tell it.

Well, as it seems you are ok with the idea, it would be nice if you could convince the judges to create a little thread with such infos ^_^

2) Not quite sure what you mean there. We download the songs, and we listen to 'em. If you're talking about the criteria we use for judging, then What qualifies as a 'ReMix' (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/../info/Submission_Standards_and_Instructions#What_qualifi es_as_a_.27ReMix.27.3F) and How are submissions judged? (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/../info/Submission_Standards_and_Instructions#How_are_subm issions_judged.3F) are the principles and guidelines we keep in mind when evaluating submissions.

Sorry, it's true I wasn't very clear. I was more talking in a technical way ; for exemple, with what are you listening to the songs (Loudspeakers, Headphones ? and which ones ?) ?
Do you listen to the song with winamp and that's it, while doing something else, or being very attentive and doing nothing else ?
Do you use a detailed graphic frequency analyser (not winamp, I mean something a little bit professional) to have a better idea of the work behind the song, at the same time you're listening to it ?
Well, that kind of things... I could say more, but... let's stay here for the moment.

[zircon]

Definitely not a bad idea, but the judges would have to volunteer the information themselves. I would be up for it but I can't speak for anyone else.

With regard to gear and methodology, I'm pretty sure all of us judge things differently and in different environments. That said, none of us use a fancy graphic equalizer...

[Jillian Aversa]

Neat idea. I'd certainly be willing to volunteer some information... assuming that the point of its availabilty is simply to satisfy one's general curiosity. I wouldn't want remixers to start reading into things too much, because then they might develop all sorts of paranoid notions about what styles we like/dislike. We judge with as little game and genre bias as possible. ^_~

[Nicole Adams]

I think a little "Meet the Judges" section would be nice. It could present them on a more personal level. Meaning, it could make them not seem so "almighty and mysterious" or intimidating to some (newer) people. I also think it's somewhat professional to do something like that.

[Mustin]

It's also a little unnecessary.

I don't think the Judges need to let people know what they're using to listen to the music or what music they like. Seems irrelevant. It might be a nice little factoid, but I think people would want to use it as an argument for groove bias.

And I don't think you need to run an OCR submission through a "fancy graphic equalizer" in order to pass judgement on it. It is still, admittedly, an opinion that they're offering afterall.

[Malcos]

This sounds like a good idea, I'd definitely be up for that.

[zircon]

It's also a little unnecessary.

I don't think the Judges need to let people know what they're using to listen to the music or what music they like. Seems irrelevant. It might be a nice little factoid, but I think people would want to use it as an argument for groove bias.

And I don't think you need to run an OCR submission through a "fancy graphic equalizer" in order to pass judgement on it. It is still, admittedly, an opinion that they're offering afterall.

Well, we don't NEED to. But I absolutely can understand concerns people might have about, "What makes this person qualified to judge MY music?" You and I might know the answer to that - and it's not necessarily musical expertise - but a lot of people might not. To draw a parallel, I'm a member of an organization called TAXI where I submit my original music for consideration to be forwarded to various people that need music (music libraries, labels, publishers). It is frustrating that the people in TAXI that screen my music are relatively anonymous. When I get a rejection, I have to ask, "How do I know this guy knows what he is talking about?"

I think it would be nice to make a friendly intro post so people know who the current panel is in a little more detail.

[Mogrothir]

Especially when it comes to newer judges who people may or may not have heard of - I know that the "Who the hell is BGC?" VGDJ show was probably one of my favorites, because I got to meet someone I'd never heard of before, got to hear his ideas and his experience, and as such, can really understand why he was chosen. Not to say that I don't think the other judges are appropriate, but if all I had to go off of was what the Judges have submitted, I'd still be scratching my head wondering what Larry was doing on the judges' panel. (Toyota Disco ftw? Maybe not.)

[al3xand3r]

This is a good idea. It would serve to bridge the community better. However, the section on favorite musical genres should be left out for the reasons mentioned above. However, everything else would help develop the sense of a tighter community.

[SideCut]

Just wanted to say that I appreciated, for each of the different aspects, the two posts from Zircon.
That said, to react to what some of you said about the "fancy graphic equalizer", it was just an exemple, I didn't mean to draw up a detailed "to do" list, cause, I won't tell more, but I can assure you that (well, I don't know precisely the level of experience of each judge) 99,9% of people have really no idea how anally technical some persons can go in the audio world...

Now, it's nice to see that already 4 of you are ok with the base idea, so what do we wait ? ^_^ Create that thread ! Of course if you could sticky it and lock it, so that only judges can modify it (I mean put their infos when they have the time), t'would be perfect :)