Tune Contest, Feb. 22 to 29.

[Fuzzpilz]

This week's topic:

WRATH!!!1

Music that illustrates all kinds of ire, anger and fury. From adrenaline-fueled nihilistic rage against ostriches to annoyance over broken dishes to divine retribution, complete with smiting and locusts.

Odd time signatures for at least half the duration of your track, please. If you hate, say, 7/8 and it makes you want to smash things, so much the better.

No other restrictions, but do try to avoid submitting MIDI files if you can. The crappiness rather tends to spoil the mood, I'm afraid.

[Gregjazz]

Awesome rules -- we should have contests for each of the emotions in succession! I have a perfect idea for my entry...

EDIT: Well, that ruined it! I just got new strings and awesome pickups for my bass guitar, and now I am happy! Now that really stalled my entry.

[Peter Thomas]

I will enter, but be warned, MIDI GALORE!!

Yes, until I get Kontact Player to work again (which will be whenever I get off my ass) I will be submitting everything, yes EVERYTHING, in midi.

It sucks.

But at least it works......  

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

Yay I'm in ^,^ btw, does no time signature count as an odd time sig? Could I have, say, a third of the piece in 5/8, then a third in 4/4, then a third freestyle general instument bashing against walls?

[InCreator]

Two questions:

1) No MIDIs? What then? MP3s only or module tracks are fine too?

2) What -uh- excactly are "time signatures"?!

[Fuzzpilz]

Yay I'm in ^,^ btw, does no time signature count as an odd time sig? Could I have, say, a third of the piece in 5/8, then a third in 4/4, then a third freestyle general instument bashing against walls?

Sure, that's good too.

Two questions:

1) No MIDIs? What then? MP3s only or module tracks are fine too?

2) What -uh- excactly are "time signatures"?!

1) Well, if you can't use a proper format because you're not familiar with any software that allows you to, then sure, you can submit MIDI files.

2) I don't have time to explain now, look it up. If you make music, chances are you know them, just not that "time signature" is the English term for them.

[Peter Thomas]

Think of time signatures as like Syllables. Take the poem Hot Cross Buns (because it's the first one that comes to mind)

Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns
One a penny, Two a penny
Hot Cross Buns.

Note that in line one you say THREE syllables, but there is actually room for FOUR! Ie - you could say Hot Cross Big Buns and still start line 2 'on time'. On Line three, however, you need to say the words faster because there are more of them, and you have still have to fit them into the same amount of time. So, in the time it takes you to say 'Hot', from line two, you should have said 'One a' from line three. That's REALLY REALLY basic just to make it easier.

Now imagine a basic drum beat behind the words (labelled as *hit*).
Hot------Cross-----Buns
*hit*----*hit*------*hit*------*hit*

There are FOUR hits in that line. Now each of those hits is equal to what musicians call a 'crotchet' or a 'quarter note' (quarter note because you need four of them to equal a semibreve, which is the longest STANDARD note that exists). So when you have four of them in a bar, you have 4/4th's = 1. Thus the time signature is 4/4.

A more complicated way to write it is using 'quavers'. A quaver is HALF a crotchet, meaning that you need TWO quavers to equal ONE 'beat'.  You can see this on line three, where you need to say the words TWICE as fast, so all the words on line three are 'quavers'. It is also called an eigth note because you need EIGHT of them to equal a semibreve (this makes sense when you think 4 crotchets = 1 semibreve, and you have to DOUBLE the amount of crotchets to get the number of quavers). Therefore 8/8ths = 1.  So the time signature COULD be 8/8. But it has just become standard to write it as 4/4


This is the most common time signature, and HEAPS of songs use it, like: 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 'Amazing Grace', 'Old MacDonald' etc etc.

Things get a bit more wacky when you introduce other time signatures such as 6/8. You already know that the 8 means that you are working in QUAVERS. The six simply means that instead of using 8 of them ( as you are in 4/4) you have to use 6 of them. A good song is Humpty-Dumpty. Imagine that the little 'l' markings underneath the words are equal to quavers.


Hump--ty---Dump--ty
l----l----l-----l----l---l

Sat on a wall
l-----l---l--l-l-l

Note that each line is broken up with SIX quaver beats (even though you don't actually speak on all them, like in the word 'wall', which has three beats, even though you only say ONE! Just tap your foot to the beat as you say it and you'll know what I mean.

The time-signatures Fuzz is after are called 'odd-meters' or 'ill-meters' or a whole host of other names. The example he gives is 7/8, meaning you need seven Quavers in a bar. There are VERY FEW songs that use this time signature, because it has an ODD number of beats, making it hard to get a good beat going. (ie, on the dums you can play snare/base/snare/base in 4/4 and it has a good feel. In 7/8, you'd be playing snare/base/snare/base/snare/base/snare REPEAT INSTANTLY). There are really a HUGE number of odd-meters you can use. Basically most odd numbers (except a 3 and 9, for reasons I won't go into) signify an odd meter. But some even numbers do too.

This post is long enough already with my music-babble, so I won't waste any more of your reading time. You're either going to understand it or you won't, but it's almost impossible to learn time-signatures by reading a 2-minute-thread.

Edit: ACK! I crap on A LOT!!

[MillsJROSS]

No other restrictions, but do try to avoid submitting MIDI files if you can. The crappiness rather tends to spoil the mood, I'm afraid.

I rather like MIDI's...so, while, yes you are the judge, and may not enjoy them, I thought these competitions were to be judged soley on the ability to the music to match the criteria of the competition. And while I do realise an mp3 sounds better than a MIDI, I think if one is made right, it can sound very cool. So what I'm saying is...it's kind of unfair to say you like some other format better than another. Personaly, I prefer midi's, because then I can see what someone did with their music.

-MillsJROSS

[EldKatt]

There are VERY FEW songs that use this time signature, because it has an ODD number of beats, making it hard to get a good beat going. (ie, on the dums you can play snare/base/snare/base in 4/4 and it has a good feel. In 7/8, you'd be playing snare/base/snare/base/snare/base/snare REPEAT INSTANTLY). There are really a HUGE number of odd-meters you can use. Basically most odd numbers (except a 3 and 9, for reasons I won't go into) signify an odd meter. But some even numbers do too.

It should be noted, though, that some of the music of other, non-Western, cultures (and indeed some European folk music) uses odd, or 'complex', time signatures of this type. The lack of these in Western music is merely a product of a long history of developing a particular style of tonality and meter, while other cultures went other ways. Odd signatures lack this 'good feel' to us simply because we're not used to them.

Personaly, I prefer midi's, because then I can see what someone did with their music.

-MillsJROSS

I agree whole-heartedly on this point. I think submitting a MIDI file (along with an mp3) should be encouraged, as at least some of us would be interested in taking a look at it.

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

Less talk more tunemaking, people!
To quote the lyrics of a certain Brit Awards nominee, it's time for something biblical:

http://www.btinternet.com/~peter.rocker/TehWrathOfGod.ogg

Sorry it's an ogg file, my mp3 encoder seems to hate the cymbal samples I use and wants them to die.

[Fuzzpilz]

I have nothing against submitting MIDI files along with proper versions - being able to examine it more closely is a good thing, I definitely agree with that. However, I also think sound design is a very important part of music, and the potential for that is zero with General MIDI. I won't kill you or refuse your entry if that's your only option, but I'd like to see something different if it's at all possible.

(thanks, Arch - I'll comment when I judge)

[Gregjazz]

My entry will hopefully be completed very soon! Now, back to work.

[Peter Thomas]

Hm..... well... I can record my midi file through my speakers as a wav, and then convert that wav to an mp3, so I'm still within the desired rules, and I'm still submitting a midi! yay! problem solved.

I still haven't started on mine, but I probably will in the next five minutes or so..... when inspiration hits.

EDIT: I also agree that sound plays a VERY important part in music, and that midi does not live up to this, but if you are so passionate, why can't you convert any midi's we submit using your own software? Just a question...

[Fuzzpilz]

Because it's your entry, not mine. It's about your skills in creating and/or manipulating sounds.

You probably weren't serious about the recording your MIDI song through your speakers thing, but just in case anybody is thinking of it, don't be silly. There's no point unless you're doing any interesting soundfont-wrangling.

[Gregjazz]

Okay, my entry, entitled 'In My Insanity':

http://www.sonic.net/~schlae/herculeaneffort/entry022204.mp3

I thought everyone would be doing heavy metal, so this's some techno/dance stuff.

It's not the best I can do, figuring I've got this cold right now and all. It's hard to make forceful music when you're sick. Anyways, I just had to have my bass guitar in there somewhere.

I put in some 3/4 every few measures, but let's just call the overall time signature 15/4, okay?

Enjoy!

EDIT: Oh, and sorry about the abrupt ending -- it was just getting kinda long, so I ended it. (Considering my limited bandwidth)

[Ghormak]

Piano Concerto nr RAAAH!!!!!

Time signatures?! I know that part of it is in 3/4, but the rest is pretty random.

[remixor]

I have nothing against submitting MIDI files along with proper versions - being able to examine it more closely is a good thing, I definitely agree with that. However, I also think sound design is a very important part of music, and the potential for that is zero with General MIDI. I won't kill you or refuse your entry if that's your only option, but I'd like to see something different if it's at all possible.

(thanks, Arch - I'll comment when I judge)

I understand your point, but I think it's a bit unfair to expect people to have compositional skills AND sound design skills.  I'm a music major in college and I'd like to enter more tune contests, but I don't know the first thing about "sound design".  For some of us, that's just not part of what we've done musically.  And I'd like to point out that by far and away the most common sound file used in AGS games is MIDI, so while I understand how easy it is to get all righteous and anti-MIDI, this is an AGS forum and most of the competitions here are supposed to pertain to AGS game-making.  That's why we have the background blitz, the sprite jam, MAGS etc.  Things like Photoshop Phriday and the MSPaint game are obviously intended to be just a bit of fun and not game-related, but I always saw the tune contest as a way for musicians in the AGS community to brush up their skills for, among other things, making music for AGS games.  Calling MIDI a "last resort" has things completely backwards in my opinion.

[Fuzzpilz]

I do see your point, but in fact the tendency to use General MIDI for music in AGS games (or for any sort of music, in fact) is one that I for one would love to see die out entirely. MIDI is neat for interfacing and device-independent storage, and I suppose it can be good for planning out compositions as well, but using General MIDI for actual user-side playback? Ugh.

However, these are my views, and maybe I shouldn't let these enter into this so much. Which means I should judge MIDIs equally. Sorry.

[Peter Thomas]

Here is my oh-so-controversial MIDI!!!

http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Wrath.mid

It's called Wrath, which took me AGES to think of, and has no real inspiration other than the fact that I wanted to actually enter something.

It has an abrupt ending. This signifies my impatience.
It has a bad title. This signifies my impatience.
It has a bit of repetition. This signifies my impatience.

Therefore I should win!! Not only is the song ENTITLED wrath, but it has been written by a WRATHFUL heart!

oooh yeah!

EDIT: Just for interest, it's in 11/8

*shuts up*

[Fuzzpilz]

The end is near! Repent!

I'll judge tonight. Anybody else want to submit something?