Tune Contest (October 29 - November 16): Metamorphosis [Winners Announced]

[Viking]

Most tunes, in any genre, contain melodies.  Often, especially in film music or classical music, the same theme will appear multiple times but will sound different in some way each time.  This month's competition challenges you to write a cohesive musical composition that uses the same melody at least twice, in two different ways.

Here's an example.  (I'm using my own music, not because it's so wonderful, but rather because I know I won't get in trouble with copyright restrictions and so forth. )

• The winning piece from the Monster Under the Bed tune contest (4/17-5/14): Under the Bed (remastered version)
• The Rock-a-bye Baby theme from the first part of the piece: Rock-a-bye Baby Theme
• The monster theme from later in the piece: Monster Theme

Does that monster theme sound familiar at all?  Perhaps if I put a few of those notes in a different octave: Monster Theme Revealed

Yep, that's right, it's a mangled version of Rock-a-bye Baby again.

Contest Rules

• Submission must be at least one minute long
• No restrictions on genre
• Submission must contain at least one theme (of any length) that appears at least twice in the piece, but sounds different somehow (see below for suggestions)
• Submitter must provide the start time within the piece of both the original theme and the metamorphosed version(s) of the theme
• Submissions will be evaluated based on how different the metamorphosed version sounds from the original, cohesion, instrumentation, and interest.  Due to low voter turnout in past tune contests, I will unilaterally select a winner sometime shortly after November 16.

Some Ideas

Here are some ideas for how to alter a theme:

• Change the speed.  This can, for example, make a march sound like a dirge.
• Change from major to minor or vice versa.  Major keys tend to make a piece sound happy; minor keys make a piece sound sad.
• Change the octaves of some notes (Stravinsky does this all the time), or the entire theme.
• Change instrumentation (along with other changes).  Saint-Saens turned a light, fluffy minuet into the Elephant theme in Carnival of the Animals by moving it down three or so octaves, moving the melody to a double bass, slowing it down, and changing the accompaniment.
• Change the time signature.  Danny Elfman did this in the theme music to Mission: Impossible.  The original theme music to the TV show was in 5/4; Danny Elfman's rearrangement used two bars of 4/4 instead, along with different percussion, to achieve a more modern feel.
• Repeat certain notes, or leave certain notes out.
• Reverse the theme, or flip it around the x axis (as it were).  Bach does this all the time.

I'm sure you can think of other ways to change your theme around.   But above all, have fun!

[Dualnames]

Oh, great this sounds cool, so just to wrap my thoughts up, all I need is a song of mine then a sort of alternate version of it? Or I must combine them into one song.. or just make a song that changes after a point but with keeping the theme tune..

[TheMagician]

or just make a song that changes after a point but with keeping the theme tune

That's how I understand it. One song, but the theme morphs according to the guidelines by Viking.  And I think it is a great idea for the tune contest. I don't know whether I can participate yet but I really hope we get some nice entries.
The theme also allows for a great variety of techniques. You could even grab your guitar and record a tune that complies with the rules. Great job Viking.

[Viking]

Thanks!  Yes, the idea is that you'd use at least two versions of the same theme in one cohesive piece.

It occurred to me that I forgot to mention why on earth you would ever want to do this in one of your compositions anyway.  There are three main reasons that I can think of:

• Thematic consistency.  In other words, different parts of your piece, or different discrete pieces that you write, have the same main themes that the listener recognizes.  This helps your music to "stick together" better.  Those of you who (like me) enjoy the Battle for Wesnoth may be interested to note a recent post on the music forums about exactly this topic.
• Symbolism.  In many different types of music, but especially film music, certain characters, scenes, activities, etc. are represented by their own theme.  When these characters/scenes are in different states -- happy, fighting, romantic, etc. -- the theme will metamorphose as appropriate.  For example, everybody* recognizes the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars, which appears several times throughout the film in different guises.  Or for an example in classical music, take Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev.  The "Peter" theme is stated pretty plainly at first, but appears many times throughout the piece -- for example, as a pastoral theme while Peter is wandering through the woods, and as a grand march at the end during the big parade to the zoo.
• Subliminal messages.  Sometimes a composer will take a well-known melody and use it in a subtly altered way in his own music in order to subliminally conjure up emotions in the listener.  For example, in Jonah, A VeggieTales Movie (hey, don't laugh, I have a five-year-old son), the hymn There's a Wideness in God's Mercy, which compares the wideness of God's mercy to that of the sea, is used in various different places.  This subtly reinforces the images (mercy, and the sea) that the film is trying to convey.

* Not really everybody.  Your mileage may vary.  Not applicable in all jurisdictions.  See store for details.

OK, lecture over.  Hopefully folks enjoy doing this!

[Questionable]

Five year old son... and here I am picturing you as a 26 year old...

You seem so youthful for some reason...

Wow, off-topic and mildly gay... I don't think I feel comfortable right now.

[Dualnames]

This a song version I wrote for les miserables. Not the exact version that will appear in the game, but the melody is similar. Anyway, I wrote this on my guitar so that's why it starts with a guitar! Metamorphosis will happen at 1:16

Anyway, I'm really fond of the melody, and I keep doing different mixes of it. So well, this time's a midi. I mostly hope the tune's eligible. Either ways, it was fun for me.

The tune also has an outro. which is an outro and not a metamorphosis attempt.


-Entry-

Title:Rain Epitaph
Type:Midi
Duration:2:59
Author: James Spanos(Dualnames)

http://ledzepforever.googlepages.com/compe.mid

[Phemar]

Anyone know where I can upload my entry?

Edit: Nevermind, I checked out some of the older tune contests for sites.

Here's my entry. I tried to do it in the style of Lucasart's music in games like fate of atlantis, monkey island etc.

It's the theme song for an evil villian!

http://www.box.net/shared/8gck4xppx2#villians_theme

[Viking]

Phemar,

Could you post the time at which the altered version of the theme starts?  I think I know, but I just want to make sure.  Thanks!

[Phemar]

Well, the theme is kind of played throughout the piece in different voices. It's first introduced at 0:18 by the second trumpet, while the first trumpet plays a different melody. Then it's repeated in fifths by both trumpets. After that (0:34) the bass carries the theme in the background while the other instruments skylark around it.
Then at 1:08 the theme jumps around between different instruments. At 1:32 I play different notes in different octaves (barely audible, hardly came out in the mix), and then after that the bass plays the melody to a quiet finish!

Hope that helps.

Edit: Are we allowed to enter twice? I'm working on a new piece now, and it uses the same idea.

[Viking]

Sure, go ahead and enter twice.  However, I think I'll only award each person at most one award, according to their best entry.

[PixelPerfect]

Here's my entry:

Letter From Home

The scale and theme changes slightly in the approx. midpoint of the song.

EDIT: Now that I listen to it.. it changes quite a lot... I think I went off track without thinking.. I'll post if I can make it more cohesive.

[Viking]

OK, here are the prizes (with apologies for my lack of graphic artistry).  With only three contestants, everyone goes home a winner!

Coming up in third place, Dualnames and Rain Epitaph!

• Nice ambient music!  I could certainly see this in a looped form as background music for a game.
• It could have used more variation, especially in the first half.
• This piece didn't really have a theme as such, just a chord sequence, so I had a hard time giving it higher marks for the actual metamorphosis.

In second place, PixelPerfect with Letter from Home!

• Probably overall my favorite composition!
• Although you indicated otherwise, I thought the percussion held it together pretty well.
• Nicely mixed (to my untrained ears)!
• Unless I didn't analyze the music enough, I couldn't detect a metamorphosis or even a repetition of any of the actual themes (e.g. the oboe/English horn theme near the beginning) anywhere in the piece -- just a change in the instrumentation and accompaniment, using the same chord sequence.

And the grand prize goes to... Phemar and his evil Villain's Theme!

• You captured the LucasArts ambience quite well -- I could definitely hear LeChuck in this one!
• You definitely took the tune all over the map -- I particularly liked when it was played in the bass and the accompaniment played in thirds on top of it.
• The music didn't really "go" anywhere -- though the theme did change around a bunch, the music's mood didn't really change much, and the music didn't seem to drive to any climax throughout.
• I think this one best captured the spirit of the competition.

Congratulations, Phemar!  Please go ahead and start the next tune competition.

[Phemar]

Awesome! Congratulations to all the others who participated, it was good competition.

I'll start the next one as soon as I think of a topic

[Dualnames]

I agree with your thoughts Viking. We share the same thoughts for it. Congrats to all.