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[Jungle Trek]

Well, this was a fun experiment!  I decided to write something in one of the musical styles that's popular at blockbuster movies these days -- kind of a ripoff of Orff's Carmina Burana.  There's not much to this piece musically, except that the main theme (after the flute intro) is in regular 11-beat phrases, which is somewhat unusual.  I should mention that I struggled with my notation program quite a bit trying to get the glissandi and grace notes to work properly, and they're still not quite right.  On a real flute, the first part would sound much better, and the slides that most of the orchestra and choir does right near the end would sound way better.

At any rate, enough excuses!   The piece is scored for 3+3+3+3 4+3+3+1 timp. + 5 perc. + strings + choir, with the third flute doubling piccolo and the third clarinet doubling bass clarinet.  It's supposed to evoke trekking through a jungle in search of some ancient temple or whatnot.  Without further ado:

Jungle Trek

Hope you enjoy it!

[Wyz]

Wow, four entries!  A veritable fall bounty!

Here are my comments on each one, and read on for the winner!

• Wyz: Nice techno track.  I really like how it's broken up in sections where it suddenly changes (1:19, 2:31, etc.), and I also really like how the original drums come back in at 3:39 to tie everything back up again.  It is a bit repetitive in places, but then I guess it is techno ( ).  I have a bit of difficulty getting an autumn vibe from this, although I could interpret the sibilance throughout the track as the wind blowing, which would make sense.  Oh -- and I really like where the chimes come in around 2:31.  Unexpected and cool.


• nihilyst: Really lovely and evocative, I could listen to this looping over and over.  It makes me think of sitting inside on a cold day, watching the rain fall on the windows outside.  I love the subtle percussion, and the instrumentation in general.  I wouldn't have expected the pizzicato strings to work in this setting, but they do.  I have to say that I kept expecting a melody line to come in -- maybe a female vocalist, later doubled an octave lower by a cello.  And as you said, it could use a second section -- maybe you could add one, I'd love to hear it.  But the first one is really nice as is too.


• Haddas: Nice and upbeat!  I like the middle section and the end the best (sorry, I don't have the offsets from the beginning of the track since I just listened to it on Tindeck).  I think the hi-hat overpowers the other voices a bit.  Also, since the dulcimer (?) is such a percussive instrument in itself, I think it could use some more continuous voice in the background (other than the guitar), and other instruments should probably take over the melody at various points as well for variety.  I have a bit of trouble hearing "falling" in this track, but I could see walking outside on a sunny fall day.


• AnalogGuy: A very pleasant track too!  I can hear the leaves falling due to the constant motion.  However, as you have said, it is an improvisation, and as such it seems somewhat aimless -- the music often doesn't feel as if it is "going" somewhere.  Perhaps that is intentional!

And the winner is...nihilyst!  I'm afraid I don't have trophies to (virtually) hand out today, but thanks all for entering!  Nihilyst, please feel free to start a new competition at your earliest convenience.

And stay away from the LAMP!

Hey, what do you have against Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP?

(Sorry, couldn't resist...that was the first thing I thought of when I saw miguel's post.  Now returning you to your regularly scheduled programming.)

Woohoo!  Two entries so far!

All right, folks, you still have today to write something, so let's give Wyz and Nihilyst a run for their money!

Less than a week left, and no entries yet!  Is it something I said?

I'd love to see what you all come up with, so go ahead and post your entries!

It's that time of year -- at least in my part of the world -- where the summer heat fades, the trees display their glorious hues, and AGS forumgoers write music commemorating the loveliest of all seasons, Autumn.  Many pieces and songs, whether classical (Vivaldi, Glazunov) or popular (Van Morrison, Manic Street Preachers), have been written to celebrate autumn.

So, now it's your turn!  Write a song, a symphony, or anything in between, that has something to do with autumn.  You have until the end of October 21st (in whatever your local timezone is) to finish.  Afterwards, I'll pick a winner.  No length or style restrictions, although be warned that extremely short entries will be judged less favorably.

Have fun!

Thanks!  I didn't even think about ice either.  Is it customary to have ice in a cocktail?  Hopefully the soda water was evident, at least.

At any rate, I'll post a new tune contest shortly here, once I think of a theme.

All right, I couldn't let a tune contest go un-answered!

So I spent a few hours and wrote Highball (that's a link, by the way).  It's not very inspired, sorry.  But it did make me do a little research into cocktails, since frankly about the strongest thing I drink is the occasional glass of wine.  Apparently the original highball is now called a "Scotch and soda."  Hence, you have the scotch -- the musical representation of which, of course, has to be bagpipe music, here approximated with oboes, plus a bass clarinet, bassoon and contrabassoon for the drone.  And you have the soda, which is your typical water type music, with the harp/flute thingy representing the effervescence, and the brass adding at least a small bit of interest before the Scotch comes back with a vengeance.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't win any prizes for this piece of rubbish, but seeing as I'm the only entry so far, perhaps I may be luckier this time....

Congrats, Bulbapuck!  And thanks for the great theme, nihilyst!

For what it's worth, I just finished my piece, Dive to the Shipwreck, scored for 4+3+3+1, 3+3+3+3 (with third part doubling picc., E. hn., b. cl., cb.), timp., 2 perc., harp, strings.  It finishes rather abruptly, but if it were a "real" composition it would be much longer.   The orchestration is fairly decent (compared to most of my pieces), the thematic development is pretty much nil.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get my program to use muted strings or trumpets, which is what I was going for.

Sorry I wasn't able to finish in time!

I'm working on something, although I've only had a few hours to spend on it (just saw this competition on Friday), so it's not that great, and it's quite short.  It's reasonably well orchestrated, though, if that counts, and it made me do a bit more research into harp technique.   I'll try to get it done tonight.  If I don't, please go ahead without me -- deadlines are deadlines, after all!

I don't typically enter these things, since frankly I'm not much of a writer, and it's been ages since I've written much of anything.  But I really liked the theme this month, and thought I would try my hand at it!

-------------------

Dully he stared at the door, hands laid limply on his worn trousers as he sat on the metal frame of his bed.  He had long ceased to notice the smell of old urine and stale cigarettes that pervaded the apartment.  In the distance, a child laughed; another police car passed by, siren blaring.  His alarm clock ticked on the nightstand.

Slowly he came to himself, arranging his hands in his lap.  His gaze focused and he realized that it was already late evening.  The purple light penetrated the grime on the window, illuminating the nearby desk.  Books lay there, still open from the morning's studies; papers littered the floor nearby.  Soon they would not matter anymore.

Taking a last look at the clock, he rose, knees protesting.  He closed the threadbare curtains; the room was dark.  His eyes closed briefly; he shook his head and opened them again.  He took his rumpled jacket from the bed, turned the doorknob, and left.

The train ride to the office building was uneventful, as usual.  He looked up at the squat building, wedged between a mediocre restaurant with upper-story apartments on the left, and a hotel on the right whose heyday was some half century in the past.  The gentrification process had not shown any signs of reaching this part of the city.  The harsh light from the neon sign on the restaurant flickered as he went inside the office.

The security guard grunted acknowledgement of his presence, then turned back to his tabloid.  The man opened the door at the back of the cramped lobby.  He followed the same route down the gray concrete corridor that he followed every night.  He entered the cleaning closet, put his jacket up on the hook, pulled out the battered vacuum cleaner, and got to work.

He was diligent in his work, and did not complain.  The others barely noticed him.

Arms aching, work finished, he put his jacket on and left.  The security guard did not look up.  On the way back to the train station, passers-by saw his uniform in the streetlights and snickered.  He climbed the stairs to his apartment, ignoring the couple arguing loudly on the third floor.  His gaze shifted to the small framed photograph of his mother on the nightstand.  He set the alarm clock, lay down on his bed, and fell asleep wondering what she would have thought of him now.

Three hours later, the alarm awoke him.  It was Saturday morning.  He rose, showered, dressed, left the apartment, and went downstairs.  His step quickened as he opened his compartment of the mailbox.  He carefully leafed through the envelopes, but seeing that they were all bills and junk mail, left them.  His pace slowed again, and he walked to the train station.

After his two consecutive shifts at the factory, he returned home, and slept.  On Sunday he rose at the same time, kneeled by his bedside, and gave thanks to God that he was employed and was able to pay for food and rent.  He rose, showered, dressed, and went to the train station.  After working for two shifts, he came back home again, and slept.

On Monday he did not need to go to the office until evening, so he slept in.  He showered, dressed and prepared a small breakfast.  He went downstairs and checked the mailbox -- and he saw what he was looking for: the letter from the university.  Hands trembling, he took it upstairs.  He laid it on a stack of papers on the desk and stared at it for a little while, afraid to open it.  But he realized that he could not wait forever.  He carefully inserted a penknife into one corner, slit open the top, and opened the letter.

He had been accepted.

A smile slowly spread across his face.  He looked over at the photograph of his mother on the nightstand.  He wondered what she would have thought of him now.

Sorry I couldn't finish in time!  Sickness, work and two computers dying in quick succession conspired against me.   It was a great theme, though.

Congratulations, Nihilyst!

Well, I'm about halfway through a composition.  Unfortunately, our family's main computer, on which I do most of my composition, died today (hopefully not permanently!).  If I cannot resuscitate it tonight or tomorrow, I probably will not finish in time to enter.  I'll do my best, though!

[ShiverMeSideways:]

Excellent, thanks to everyone for the entries!  Very difficult to pick a winner.  As usual, I'll start with a critique of each, with my inimitable mix of pomposity, ignorance and narrow-mindedness!

ShiverMeSideways:

• + Definitely captures that "epic" feeling
• + The 6/8 "reel" type rhythm, and English horn (I think) at the beginning certainly lend it a very pirate-y air
• - Rather heavy on the gong at the beginning, and the cymbals later
• - Seems pretty repetitive in quite a few parts

Nihilyst:

• + Lovely music
• + Definitely captures the "tragic romance" you're going for
• + Effective selection of instruments, and pretty good samples, are quite effective
• - As you mentioned, the parts are not played quite together; while realistic, it's quite a bit further apart than the average studio orchestra would be
• - Doesn't feel particularly "epic" to me, more like a chick flick

Wyz:

• + Picks up nicely around the two-minute mark
• - Rather repetitive accompaniment
• - Sparse instrumentation (piano and horn at the beginning) doesn't feel very "epic", I don't really get a "monster movie" vibe from this
• - Low horn at the beginning is in a weak, rather "tubby" part of its range

With such different entries, it's tough to pick a winner.  Although I thought that Nihilyst's was musically the best of the bunch, I thought that ShiverMeSideways best captured the rules of the competition.

So...for this round, the winner is ShiverMeSideways!  Congratulations, and I look forward to the next tune contest!

ShiverMeSideways,

Excellent, thanks for entering!


Everyone else,

There are only five days left -- get your submissions in while you still can!

Great news!  One of Hollywood's premier motion picture studios has just commissioned you to write the score to their newest epic film!  There's lots of action, romance and adventure as the hero(ine)(s) make their way across the epic landscape to the final epic showdown!  The studio has hired the finest actors and actresses to work on the film, and the visual effects promise to be nothing short of epic.  They're already calculating how much money they'll be making off the epic sequels.  (Did I mention epic?)

Your job, for this contest, is to write the theme music for an epic film or series of films: think Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, or Star Wars, or The Matrix.  Many epic films have orchestral soundtracks, but yours does not have to be.  For example, the original Matrix has an orchestral theme heard near the beginning and a heavy metal theme heard near the end.  Your music just has to conjure up grand, epic images in the listener's mind.

So, here are the formal rules:

• Write theme music for an epic film.
• Your theme music must be at least one minute long.
• You may use any genre you like.
• Your entry must be posted in this thread by 12am on February 14, Alaska Time.  (In other words, as long as you're done by the end of February 13 in whatever time zone you live in, you're fine.)
• After the deadline, I'll post the winners.

Happy composing!

Cool, thanks!  Actually, I was just playing the remake of MI1 a few months ago with my son.  Maybe some of that music got stuck in my subconscious.   Actually, about halfway through composing this I realized that it sounded an awful lot like part of Kabalevsky's Comedians Suite.  Oh well...hopefully something more original next time!

Anyway, off to think of a new topic.  I'll post here shortly.

A rather rushed entry:

Hurry!

Scored for chamber orchestra (2-2-2-2 3-2-2-1 + perc. + strings).  It should be longer, and it sounds rather Shostakovich/Kabalevsky-ish, but I only had a few hours to work on it and I'm already past the deadline (excuses, excuses).

I didn't have any particular activity in mind, it's just supposed to sound like music that encourages the listener to hurry up!

[ShiverMeSideways]

Wow, lots of great entries!

• ShiverMeSideways: Great, lots of atmosphere, very aggressive, definitely sounds like a bad guy; but not a whole lot of variation, esp. towards the end, and rather heavy on the cymbals
• MMMorshew: Great harmony -- love the constant Bb-E tritone, nice atmosphere; not sure how well it fits a showdown with the final bad guy, a bit repetitive
• Dualnames: Nice atmosphere; not sure how well it fits the theme, very repetitive (esp. the E, F in the bass)
• Nikolas: Great, very aggressive, definitely fits the theme, nice effects; pretty repetitive, would probably give me a headache if looped indefinitely
• Phemar: Nice -- metal seems to be very popular this time ; fits the theme; basically sound, but not much to differentiate it
• Le Woltaire: Unique as always; great atmosphere, sounds quite majestic in places; sounds more like the prelude to fighting the bad guy rather than the actual fight itself, to my subjective ears; would probably be more effective on the organ than the accordion; some parts sound like they would need two hands on the keyboard, and some sustained passages seem to be longer than a single bellows opening/closing could last -- i.e. I'm not sure it's playable, but then I know next to nothing about accordion playing
• Daremar: Wonderful, great mood, very different from the other entries, my six-year-old loved it; a bit repetitive, too short, probably would have gotten my vote if it were longer.

I'm going to have to go with MMMorshew, but some of the others were very close!

The good things about public voting are that it lets the people have a voice, and it dilutes the biases of the previous winner.  The bad things are that sometimes people who are voting do not have sufficient discernment to make a knowledgeable choice, and that sometimes not enough people vote to make it a truly democratic process.  (I'm glad I'm not a politician. )  Pick your poison!