Tune Contest (May 21 - June 8): Flower in the Swamp - WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Started by Viking, Thu 22/05/2008 03:29:36

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Viking

OK, the contest is closed!  Please commence your voting.

Anyone can vote; everyone should vote for at most one candidate in each of the three categories.  In the spirit of constructive criticism, voters are encouraged to say what they liked and disliked about each entry.

You have five days to vote; on Saturday morning (Eastern time) I will announce the winners.

SSH

Theme: #6
Mood: #1
Loop: #3


#6 had a good theme, but was too Philip Glass-y for me to like more (some might take this as a compliment, I realize, but I hate most of his stuff)

#5 Reminded me of Book of Days by Enya somehow

#4 Different, but not my cup of tea

#3 Subtle and different

#2 Too subtle! Didn't really grab me.

#1 Probably my favourite overall, but in a game I'd find the SFX confusing/distracting, although they do help capture the mood.
12

Viking

OK, here's my long-winded and pompous post.  As George Bernard Shaw said, "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches."  And as I've heard before, "He who cannot teach, becomes a critic."  So with that disclaimer....


  • Best theme: #6
  • Best mood: #1
  • Best loop: #5

General comments: Wonderful variety of styles -- it was hard to compare apples to oranges!  I was hoping someone would use an English horn ("an instrument so named because it is neither English nor a horn" -- David Barber); I thought that instrument would communicate the mood very well.

#1: The good: Great overall.  Loved the sound of children playing.  Great mood -- melancholy with a touch of hope and nostalgia, just what I was after.  The neutral: Not much of a theme as such, which works fine with this particular track.  The bad: A bit too short, and not uniform enough, to loop without it being obvious that it's looping.

#2: The good: Pretty decent mood, and good, non-obvious looping.  The bad: There wasn't much musical interest; the samples kept "clicking" rather annoyingly; and I'm not sure the "modern" feel quite matched up with the antique feel of the orphanage scene.

#3: The good: Nice "country" feel, pretty good mood, and great work with the portamentos and instruments in general.  The bad: To my ears, at least, it sounded more like a desert road scene than a rustic orphanage.  Also, it seemed to loop two or three times within the MP3 itself, making the actual loop itself too short to be effective to play for a while.

#4: The good: Interesting panning; decent mood; and long and uniform enough to loop effectively.  The bad: It seems to be basically two chords repeated over and over again, without really going anywhere.  Also, it felt more like a sci-fi soundtrack than an orphanage scene.

#5: The good: Great overall.  I liked the instrumentation, the subtle variation in time signature (4/4 with occasional 3/4 bars), and the folksy feel.  The looping was nearly seamless.  The bad: Although it did seem "nostalgic," to me it didn't feel very melancholy, as the screenplay had dictated.

#6: The good: Very nice.  Decent orchestration.  This was the only one where the theme got stuck in my head for a while after I listened to it.  Great "hope amidst melancholy" by mixing the F major sections in with the D minor main theme.  Good looping -- long enough not to need to be uniform.  Actually, I really liked the musical development, building up to the entry of the strings, and the higher piano nearer the end.  The bad: It seemed too dramatic at times for background music for a simple orphanage scene.

Nyu001

That is a nice comment there Viking. I will listen to them again tomorrow and will vote.

TwinMoon

Well, we voters seem to be on the same wavelength in two categories.

Theme #6 Rurbuncle Forest
Mood #1 Rurbuncle - soft piano and strings
Loop #2 Rurbuncle Melancholy


Some remarks:

#1 RURBUNCLE - SOFT PIANO AND STRINGS
Like really beautiful film music.

#2 RURBUNCLE MELANCHOLY
Very Brian Eno-ish, which isn't a good thing. Didn't like the static sounds in the middle, but the 'mic noises' at the beginning are cool.

#3 FLOWER IN THE SWAMP
Too much hiss!  I liked this one best, but it evokes a southern swamp rather than a melancholy scene.

#4 DISHARMONY
Too futuristic, but very well produced. (except for those bells on 0:49, they are distorting because they're too loud)

#5
Like Viking I also liked the folksy feel.

#6
Very good, magnificent build-up, only thing I disliked is the high speed, because something slower would suit the scene better.

Viking

Well...since we have six entries but only three votes (!), I'm going to extend the voting deadline by one day.  So voting will now end Saturday June 14 11:59pm EST.

Jens

i wanted to write detailed comments on everything because that's what the people here deserve, but unfortunately i have so little time at the moment... sorry about that

so for now only a short commentless overall-impression-vote for: #6


Nyu001

My votes is:

Best theme: #6
Best mood: #1
Best loop: #5

Hope not late!

Viking

Thanks for voting, everyone!

First, the unmasking....


  • #1: Rurbuncle - Soft Piano and Strings - Jens
  • #2: Rurbuncle Melancholy - Hammerite
  • #3: Flower in the Swamp - Questionable
  • #4: Disharmony - InCreator
  • #5: Rurbuncle - Pastoral Melody - TwinMoon
  • #6: Rurbuncle Forest - Bartimaeus

Next, the results!

Best Theme: #6 (unanimous, with four votes)
Best Mood: #1 (unanimous, with four votes)
Best Loop: #5 (with two votes)

And the grand prize winner, taking Jens' vote into account, is...

Grand Prize: #6: Rurbuncle Forest

Congratulations, Bartimaeus!  I look forward to your next contest.

EldKatt

This is a tune contest? But it's so polished and serious-looking, and... six entries? What's happened? This is good, by the way.

Hammerite

i used to be indeceisive but now im not so sure!

Nyu001


EldKatt

Can we even assume he's aware that he won, and that he should start a new contest? It seems reasonable to conclude that he's not very active here.

Viking

Sorry for the lack of update!  Bartimaeus is unable to host the next one, so I've asked Jens (the close second-place winner) if he will do so.  I'll let you know as soon as I hear from him.

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