[Abadoss]

CMC: Conceptual Music Competition


This competition is based on the rules of the classic TOMC (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 14, was "The Flood" and the winner, Victor, submitted a piece that knocked the socks off of everyone, so he won. Victor then gets to decide the theme for CMC 15.

This competition is open to registered members of the forums of
OverClocked ReMix, VGMix, Ormgas, VGMusic, and SheezyArt.



CMC 7: The Enemy Lair
"No evil overlord would be complete without an abode that adequately reflects his or her diabolical personality. A monolithic tower, a volcanic temple, a fearsome battlestation, an organic alien city - when you make it here, you know you're nearing the end, and you darned well better be leveled up, or, in the words of General Calrissian, 'This is going to be the shortest offensive of all time.'" -Maquis

Results!:

• Text results and critiques

There are 9 entries and 1 bonus entry for this round...

Abadoss - "Siege on the Walls of Darkness"

• "The time has come. All men that can and will fight have been found. The men have been trained from the ground up into the best fighters this land has ever seen. The most advanced weaponry of this age is in their hands. Though the numbers are small, this army is powerful. However, the enemy is preparing to attack. His armies outnumber any standing force in the world. There is only one chance for victory. A full strike against the enemy's fortress. This is the last chance for freedom over tyranny. One final stand that will either break the stronghold of the enemy or doom the land and its people to slavery and destruction. It is time."

XFactor - "EndGame"

• "The song as three different sections, for lack of a better word, that show the hero's progress as he gets closer to the Final Boss Lair™. At the beginning he has only begun his trek, and things get more intense and more dangerous as he makes his way through, finally ending with the climactic battle at the end.
  
  The song evolves from ambient to techno-dance with some menacing overtones always thrown in(as well as a small beam of hope in a recurring melody) and finally into a climactic ending. I hope you like it. I enjoyed working on it. =)"

Zekk - "Tower of Misguided Trust"

• "Battle worn and weary, the hero stands before the Tower of Misguided Trust. This is where the Magus will be. Once called friend. Now twisted from the passage of time and corruption of power. Here he will pay for his betrayal. With a saddened, rage filled heart, the hero takes his first steps towards the pinnacle of the tower. To the final confrontation.
  
  'It must end here. So that I may put to rest the sadness of this world. So that I may finally grieve the life taken from me.'"

stringfield - "Charcoal Shell"

• "In his description Maquis sais, 'no evil overlord would be complete without an abode that adequately reflects his or her diabolical personality' however it must also be said that no abode is complete without an evil overlord at its core setting traps and ordering minions around. Without that it becomes somewhat of a shell. So with that in mind I created this piece, which is about a lair which has been defeated and has been burnt to the ground, now a merely a monument to its owner's defeat. I find the idea of something being rendered so useless actually quite sad, even if its past use was to house some sort of freakishly insane vampire or something. My inspiration for this piece came largely from my experience of once being in a burned down house (if any of you have ever been in one you'll probably know what I mean when I say the atmosphere inside is extremely sad and weird). My instrument choice was, I decided to be fairly small, since one of my bad habits is to compose things for too many instruments and not to hone things down enough. So in my piece I tried to capture the sadness and emotion as well as in some places anger (but not many lol) of a lair defeated and destroyed. I never understand why so many heroes feel a compulsion to destroy things like that....lol, especially when so many lairs are things of beauty. This piece is also quite soft in places (largely to add atmosphere and emotion), so in order to enjoy it the most I reccomend turning your speakers up! An example of a soft bit would be right at the start of the piece."

Simon Frisch - "The Watchful Night Wind..."

• "Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
  In their night encampment on the hill,
  Wrapped in silence so deep and still
  That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
  The watchful night wind, as it went
  Creeping along from tent to tent,
  And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
  
  A moment only he feels the spell
  Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
  Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
  For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
  On a shadowy something far away..."
  
  - Paul Revere's Ride, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  
  (warning; jargon!)
  This piece is largely centered around two little motifs and a chord. The first motif is continuing variations on the first three scale degrees of a minor scale (in the order of 2, 3, 1; ex: C#, D, B), the second is a sequence of the 5th, 4th, 2nd, and 1st scale degree in that order (ex: F#, E, C#, B). The chord is actually more like two chords, constructed of either a perfect fourth and a tritone or vice-versa. These appear consistently, sometimes with alterations, throughout the piece. Lots of time signature changes, funky harmonies, so on and so forth..."

ButzaW - "Vampire's Nest"

• "The world is dark and silent. Ever since the Vampire Lord has taken over the kingdom, no daylight has been seen, and it appears night time is constant.
  As a heroic figure (the player) arrives at the Vampire's Nest, an increasing sense of confidence builds while he slaughters wave after wave of fiendish minions.
  Will our hero manage to defeat evil and bring daylight back to the kingdom?"

Weew - "Escape"

• "Beginning: You have reached the center of your enemies lair, but you are too late.
  The weapon fires and destruction is caused to your home. Now you must run.
  
  Middle: Sirens? uh oh, better get out fast! I think the big boss himself sees me. My level is not high enough!
  I must take the stealth aproach for this dungeon... Ahhh yes escape...
  
  End: Now what?... There is nothing left... Is it possible to make a come back? I'll have to lay low a while."

IceWind91 - "The Blackness Beckons"

• "You enter a large, dark, partially flooded ruined castle. It was once a peaceful place, but now a great evil lurks within it. As you enter, you feel anxiety set in. You want to leave, but you continue on, almost as if an invisible force was drawing you in. Your anxiety is accompanied by disbelief, as you walk through the ancient halls and see what the evil has done to this place. Then, your anxiety returns as you see a large door. You know that the evil rests beyond this door. You take a deep breath, and open the door..."

Maquis - "Gothic Serenade"

• "Sometimes the deadliest villains are the most civilized. A tyrant who understands beauty knows how to be exquisitely cruel. I wanted to create a piece of music that is beautiful in its own right but carries undertones of menace and horror. If it were in an RPG, it would appear just before the climactic battle. Having fought your way through the villain's palatial estate, you find him calmly playing the organ with his back toward you. He greets you without turning or even breaking rhythm: 'I've been expecting you.'"

Alex Smith - "Untitled" (bonus entry)

• No description given.

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. 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 May 12, 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!:

1. 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.)
2. Each piece must be 2:00 or longer and match the competition theme.
3. 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.)
4. A link to the entry piece must be PMed to Abadoss 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 forum.
5. Important: Each file must be labelled accordingly: Composer_Name_-_Composition_Title_CMC#.mp3
   (For example, if Juanita Howards submits a piece called "Platypus Eggs" to CMC 17, then her filename would be: Juanita_Howards_-_Platypus_Eggs_CMC17.mp3)
6. 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.)
7. Entries should be accompanied by a description and/or story to help listeners understand what the piece is about. (Not required, though.)
8. All entries must be submitted by Saturday, May 5, 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=9185
• VGMix: http://www.vgmix.com/vg25/viewtopic.php?id=6015
• Ormgas: http://oc.ormgas.com/forum_viewtopic.php?2.18671
• VGMusic: http://www.vgmusic.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=8217
• SheezyArt: http://www.sheezyart.com/forum/topic/69651/

Good luck and have fun! :D

Previous CMCs: http://www.warnerpacific.edu/personal/kkeyn/CMC.htm

[XFactor]

FIRST POST LOL


In other news, great theme, great idea and something I'll love working on.

*gets to work*

[chrono26]

awwwww man this should be the theme for the next one. i'm too busy this week. good luck to everyone who takes this one on.

[Alex Smith]

Fantastic! Need I say any more? :P

[Sir_NutS]

this is such a cool theme, but I have no time for competitions or internet stuff anymore =(

[Chickenwarlord]

Originally Posted by chrono26

awwwww man this should be the theme for the next one. i'm too busy this week. good luck to everyone who takes this one on.

It's not a one week thing. You have more time than that to compose a piece.

[Escariot]

I'll see what I can do

[chrono26]

Originally Posted by Chickenwarlord

It's not a one week thing. You have more time than that to compose a piece.

i dont have enough free time between now and may 5th

[Maquis]

Well, I certainly was planning on doing something, but now my laptop, which has all my music software, is having a case of RAM failure. Hopefully I'll be able to get it fixed soon enough to play.

[prophetik]

i'm definitely in assuming that i can get my ghetto laptop to start working again. i think i got an idea the other day that'll kick this theme's ass.