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CMC - Conceptual Music Competition 23: Aqueous Nocturne

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CMC: Conceptual Music Competition

abadoss-CMC.jpg

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 29, was "Demolition" and the winner, Samantha, submitted a piece that knocked the socks off of everyone, so she won. Samantha then gets to decide the theme for CMC 30.

This competition is open to registered members of the forums of

OverClocked ReMix, VGMix, VGMusic, Gaming World, Young Composers, and GameDev.

CMC20-forums.jpg

CMC 23: Aqueous Nocturne

"Nocturnes are generally thought of as being tranquil, often expressive and lyrical, and sometimes rather gloomy, but in practice pieces with the name nocturne have conveyed a variety of moods. Do what you want, but your piece should evoke both feelings of night and of water; could be a fountain, or a lake, a river, the ocean, rain, a waterfall, a puddle, a glass of water, whatever." -Ubernym

Results!:

There are 13 entries and 2 bonus entry for this round...

HoboKa - "Nocturne of the Depths"

  • "Deep, vast, blue sea;
    Ah, how I covet thee.
    So close, yet so far,
    Your beauty cannot be marred.
    Deep, vast, blue sea;
    It is you whom I seek.
    So close, yet so far,
    My desire cannot be barred.
    Deep, vast, blue sea;
    I know what secrets you keep.
    But If only I could traverse...
    into thy deep.
    So that I may find my eternal sleep...
    Deep, vast, blue sea;
    My body and soul...
    I give to thee.
    For my life is but a fickle dream.
    And as the dead utter their soundless scream.
    I offer my life to thee.
    For there is no redemption for me.
    Understand, you must. As my soul is tainted.
    Deep, vast, blue sea.
    It is you whom I seek.
    So close, yet so far,
    My desire cannot be barred.
    Thus...
    I implore of you:
    Consume my body and soul.
    For my life is but a fickle dream..."

quia - "Moonlight Fountain"

  • "A fountain is pouring with life while the moonlight is shining in the night."

Henrik Summanen - "Midnight Raindrops"
  • No description given.

Maquis - "Nocturne Eridani"

  • "This was inspired by an old myth: a water nymph is accidentally captured by a fisherman who, captivated by her beauty, can't bring himself to let her go. They marry and have children, but she is forever torn by her love of land and sea. I imagine her returning to the shoreline by night to feel the waves on her feet, unaware that her husband is watching, afraid that one night she will be wooed back by the sea and he will lose her forever.
    There are three characters in this story: the nymph is represented by the flutes, the fisherman by the reeds, and the sea by the strings. Eventually the sea overwhelms everything and causes the nymph to join its theme, leaving the fisherman alone. But the flute echoes the oboe's last mournful query, suggesting that the story may not be over."

Zephyr Tread - "Mesmerized"

  • "Hey everyone, I'm back! Here's my piece 'Mesmerized'. It's a surreal waterish piece with a lot of atmosphere. Sit back and prepare to be Mesmerized!"

Blue.Nocturne - "Rain on Windowsill"
  • "This is a minimalistic piece that is will relate well with insomniacs. It's of those rainy nights when you can't sleep, when you hear the water trickling on the windowsill of your room and the ticking of your clock. Though not quite a romantic Nocturne, it definitely is a musical piece dedicated to sleepless rainy nights. I would have liked it longer, but sometimes there just is not enough time... tick tock tick tock."

Ben Jacobson - "A Ghost's Love Overlooking the Edge"

  • "'A Ghost's Love Overlooking the Edge' is a beautiful story of two Ghosts who meet each other near the cliffs edge at night, the cliff looks over a vast sea lit only by the moonlight."

just64helpin - "Universal Solvent"
  • "I figure that a conceptual piece regarding water should have a sense of randomness to it, representing patternless fluidity. My goal then was to quickly improvise a majority of the work."

Nario - "Nocturnal Hydro-Rhythms"

  • "In the dark blue corners of the Atlantic Ocean, there was a school for fish. When the fish got out of school for the day, they would usually hang out at the park, go home, or cause mischief at the local shopping malls. However, there were a few of the rebellious, young fishies that hung out with the 'big boys' at the Salt Water Rave Club. Those brave souls entered into the jellyfish-infested rave club every Friday night to dance the night away. Every Saturday morning they'd go home after being totally wasted and exhausted while having the biggest smile on their faces."

Matthew A. Weber - "Living Water"
  • "The idea behind 'Living Water' is a bit of a story. It takes you on the midnight journey of the water. The beginning takes you on the peaceful journey through the creek as it gradually grows into a quiet river. Suddenly, it drops over a waterfall into the rapids and it struggles on it's way until it eventually quiets itself as it enters the vastness of the great ocean. Thus bringing the water to another quiet place in the journey or life of the water."

Binweasel - "Broken"

  • "Day by day, the sun fades away
    Consternations grow faces grey
    Constellations glow, shining bright
    As night by night, we sail out of sight
    Dark rain falls, the men's spirits pall
    'Neath the drenching might of the squall
    Teeth are clenching tight while we wait
    Dark seas rise to try to take the bait
    Break, break, break, break
    Break the ship upon the rocks
    Break, break, break away
    She races down the dock
    Hold on tight, and don't try to fight
    The master's tossed our lot in with the night
    The masts are lost, we've got no hope now
    The Lady smiles or else we go down
    Break, break, break, break
    Break her spirit and her pride
    Break, break, break of day;
    The sun begins to rise"

Ubernym - "Ocean Vignette"

  • "The ship is drifting peacefully across a tranquil sea. Night is coming on, and the stars are peeping out their celestial lights."

Mitre7 - "Boardwalk"
  • "You're walking down the dark and quiet old boardwalk along the sea as it starts to rain. Suddenly it feels like the rain is dancing around you. With every drop striking a unique way, you feel as though he is singing to you. All of a sudden you feel another presence of overwhelming darkness that slowly creeps over you with great power. You continue strolling the boardwalk as the two play and dance across the stage that is the boardwalk."

Abadoss - "Through the Pane" (bonus entry)

  • "Though the hearth be naught but embers
    My marrow like ice within me
    Frozen by the air around me and my own core
    I stare into the night's black
    Her rain upon the pane of glass
    A reminder
    There is precious little between her and I
    A pane of glass between Life and Death"

quia - "Vast Ocean" (bonus entry)

  • "A sailor is alone at sea in the night. First he is sleeping in his ship and then wakes up and discovers that there seems to be a storm coming. He is trying to prepare but it does not help. His ship sinks. He is alone at sea without a ship but after a while comes another ship that saves him."

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 November 8, 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 his/her voting score (unless the participant chooses to be anonymous).

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 e-mailed or 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 labeled accordingly: Composer_Name_-_Composition_Title_CMC#.mp3
    (For example, if Lisa Gaspar submits a piece called "Bull in the Shoptalk" to CMC 34, then his filename would be: Lisa_Gaspar_-_Bull_in_the_Shoptalk_CMC34.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, November 1, 2008 at 11:59 PM - PST, GMT-8.

You can find the competition threads for each forum listed below:

Good luck and have fun! :D

Previous CMCs: http://www.abadoss.net/CMC.htm

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ubernym Newbie

ubernym

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Heh, yeah I actually thought about calling it "Blue Nocturne" for fun. I ended up originally titling it Water Nocturne, so credit needs to be given to Abadoss for coming up with the more interesting sounding "Aqueous Nocturne."

Hopefully this is abstract and unique enough that we get a lot of participation!

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Abadoss Rookie

Abadoss

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Just so you know, I'm now keeping track of odds of winning statistics. The fomula goes like this:

( # of entries / # of winning entries ) / ( total # of entries / total # of rounds )

Unfortunately, this equation doesn't work for anyone without a winning entry. However, the odds of anyone winning are currently at 11/83.

In reality, these numbers don't mean a whole lot. It's just fun to keep track of.

So far, we have eight entries...

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Abadoss Rookie

Abadoss

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It doesn't take into account the number of points they've gotten. It might be worth it to look at it that way. At the moment, it only takes into account the number of entries ever submitted to CMC, how many of those entries have won, the number of entries a contestant has submitted, and the number of times a contestant has won.

For example:

There have been 166 entries to date.

As of now, 22 have won.

I've submitted 9 entries.

I've won 3 rounds.

(9/3)/(166/22)

I'm using an Excel spreadsheet to calculate for me, so my odds of winning are 33/83 for the moment.

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