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Cool, thanks!  And a medal to boot!

I'll post a new tune contest tonight or tomorrow.

I updated the post above with a new version (download here) -- it's the same music, but it has better volume and pitch adjustment, better track alignment, and way better reverb (i.e. you can actually hear the notes now).  Please judge using the new version instead of the old one.  Thanks!

Here's my entry.  Sorry for the bad reverb settings, but it was better than no reverb at all.

Introduction and Allegro Agitato

It's me playing the violin in the "introduction" part, but I didn't have time to learn the "allegro agitato" part, so I left the sampled version in.

I'll hopefully be entering.  I've got the non-live version ready, just have to actually learn the violin part I composed (difficult) and record it tomorrow or Sunday, then mix it in and do the post-prod.  I'll at least get something in, but I may have to punt on learning most of the solo part, and just record/mix one section of it.

[Wretched]

Thanks all for entering!  Here are my thoughts (pros and cons) for each entry.

Le Woltaire:

• + Great to see a non-Western-influenced entry (and yes, I see your entry lacks beats )
• + Wonderful instrumentation -- authentic-sounding and effective contrast
• + One of only two entries with genuine, bona fide singing!
• - Seems somewhat directionless except toward the end
• - Not sure that traditional Arabian music tends to meander modally as much as this entry

Haddas:

• + Driving beat
• + Neat post-processing/effects
• + Effective use of pause before the bass line comes in
• - Awfully short
• - Rather repetitive

Nihilyst:

• + Wonderful, nebulous tonality
• + Nice instrumentation
• + Great mood
• - Could have some more variation

Wretched:

• + Lovely, lyrical music with nice phrasing
• + You didn't shy away from the theme at all, but used it effectively; I liked the constant play between the C and C# at the top of the piano line
• + Good instrumentation
• - Seems like it should be longer
• - Some chord sequences seemed rather forced and/or awkward -- e.g. D major followed by a Bm chord with a C in it, resulting in a slight "lurch" in the lyrical music

Warmer:

• + A real song!  You clearly put a lot of work into this.
• + Great mixing and post-production (of course, I'm impressed by anyone's mixing and post-production because I'm pathetic at it)
• + Nice use of the theme -- again, you didn't shy away from it at all, but used it effectively
• + Nice buildup and decay
• - The string sample you are using has too much dynamic "swell" in it
• - Some chords in the introductory string section are awkward or incomplete
• - The ending doesn't seem to fit the rest of the piece (to me)

Something13:

• + Nice instrumentation and samples
• + Satisfying ending
• - Seems rather bare; in particular, the more complex harmony of the middle section cannot be adequately carried by only two instruments playing mostly long notes
• - The required theme seems rather "forced" into the middle section, resulting in some harmonies that do not fit the outer sections

And the winners are:

For his lyrical entry, Wretched gets the bronze.
For his dark entry, Nihilyst gets the silver.
For his song, Warmer gets the gold.

(Please forgive my woeful attempt at pixel art.)

Congratulations, Warmer!  Please start a new contest in this forum at your earliest convenience.

Wow, thanks all for the fantastic turnout and the great entries!  This is going to be very difficult to decide.

I'm re-listening to all the entries now and will post my thoughts on each, along with the winners, shortly.

Good point, I forgot to mention time zones!  To cover all the bases, I'll accept entries until 2/15 12:00am GMT-0900, which is 1am Pacific time (I think).  To be honest, I won't be likely to log on until around 7pm Eastern on February 15 (midnight 2/16 GMT), so you can probably sneak an entry by me until that point.  But the official deadline is 2/15 12:00am GMT-0900.

Have fun, and thanks for all the good entries already!  This is going to be a tough one to decide.

Le Woltaire:

Great entry, thanks!  I could certainly pick out the tune in a couple different places, so your alterations were sufficiently subtle to be acceptable.

Regarding beats, they don't exist in all music (e.g. plainchant, some modern Western classical music).  However, in my opinion, they certainly exist in most forms of classical and popular music in most cultures.  For example, it would be well nigh impossible to write a waltz, or a pop song, let alone house or club music, without any well-defined beats.  And even the most modern classical music usually has beats, they're just arranged in a more complex manner, such as Nancarrow's polymetric music.

Sure, you can alter the note lengths, no problem.

There's a subtle difference between 2/2 and 4/4.  4/4 indicates that each of the four beats should be "felt," which lends itself to slower tempos and/or heavier-feeling music.  2/2 indicates that only two beats should be "felt" per measure.

I look forward to your entries!

[Rules:]

It's February, and that beloved Hallmark holiday known as St. Valentine's Day is nigh upon us.  So, with that in mind, I'd like you to write a love song.

But wait, there's a catch!  You have to use the following snippet of music, possibly modified slightly but still recognizably present, in your song:

For the notation-impaired, here is a MIDI file.  Note that there's an up-beat (or pick-up note, or anacrusis, or whatever you want to call it), so your sequencer may incorrectly try to align the first beat with the beginning of a measure in your song.

And if you're wondering, yes, this tune is intentionally rather awkward.  This serves both to stretch your imagination in coming up with harmonies for it, and also to make it easier to recognize in your song.

Rules:

• Your song must be a love song, serenade, etc.  Since most entries probably won't have actual singing (although feel free to do so), evoking a general "love" sentiment is fine.  I realize this is pretty subjective; therefore, as long as the music doesn't make me want to drive a railroad spike through my skull, you're probably fine.
• Any genre of music is permitted.
• Your song must be at least one minute long.
• The above tune must appear somewhere in your song.  It can appear as a melody, a bass line, or anything in between, just so long as it's clear where it appears.
• You are free to use or ignore the chords suggested in the notation above.
• You may alter the tune above somewhat by transposition (changing the key it's in), repetition, ornamentation (adding a few auxiliary notes), alteration of note lengths, and alteration of tempo.  However, you must leave all the notes in there, and the tune must be recognizable.
• Yes, this is a love song, but no naughty stuff, please.  Think of the kids!

Examples:

To fire up your imagination, here are a couple of examples of how this tune could be used in different genres of music.

• Pop music.  I transposed the tune into E major (a more guitar-friendly key), syncopated the rhythm, and added an extra note or two.  The tune is played by a cello but is intended to be sung, accompanied by electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and piano.  I used the same chords that were notated above, transposed into E major.  Please forgive my lackluster song, nonexistent mixing, and unimaginative percussion here; I'm more of a classical composer, and this was generated straight from a music notation program.
• Classical music.  I changed some note lengths to make the tune fit in 3/4 time, but otherwise it's the same as it appears above.  However, the accompaniment is completely different than the suggested chords.  The tune is played by an English horn, accompanied by tremolo violins and viola, with harp chords punctuating the beginning of each chord change.
• This would not be too hard to make a techno bass line, but sadly I lack the software needed to produce a techno song.

Have fun!

Oooh, a trophy!  Thanks!

I definitely enjoyed the harmony of Le Woltaire's entry -- nice modality, skillful use of parallel fifths without thirds, appropriate modulations, e.g. Cm -> Dm -> A -> Cm.  Also, good use was made of the contrast between the organ and harpsichord/lute/whatever that plucked instrument was.

I'll post a new competition within the next day or so.

Well, I learned my lesson from the last two competitions and didn't try anything too grand here.   Just bog-standard orchestration with a fairly small orchestra.  As far as I know these are all original tunes, although observant listeners will notice a striking similarity to Holst's St. Paul's Suite (although mine isn't nearly as good!) near the end.

Dockside Songs

Next: Paraffin

Sorry, nothing from me -- I only finished about 30 seconds of my composition, and there was no easy way to slap an ending on it.

Congratulations, Dualnames!

Very interesting!  I've started something (actually, I started it at 11:30pm on Dec. 31, just to capture the spirit of the New Year ).  However, since it's a composition for large orchestra, I doubt I'll have anything ready by January 4.  Still, this contest is a neat idea, and it'll have been a useful exercise even if I don't finish in time.

By the way, one of Debussy's Preludes for solo piano is entitled Brouillards (Fireworks).  It's wonderfully evocative, polytonal music.

Pretty nice, captures the mood admirably!

Since you're after criticism, here goes:

• The piece uses the same instrumentation throughout -- basically pizzicato strings with bowed string accompaniment or vice versa.  For more interest, a track of this length should vary more.  For example, some French horns suddenly playing the F#-C tritone fairly loud in their upper range, followed by some quiet, menacing string tremolos (or some other very fast notes in a repeated pattern) would break things up a bit.  Then you could introduce a solo oboe playing some longer melody on top of the tremolo, etc.


• The piece uses the same basic C F# C Ab pattern throughout.  While this is a very effective pattern for this mood, it loses its effect after being played over and over.  You should move to another chord sequence, then perhaps back to the original; and then move to a different key with different primary instrumentation at some point, then migrate back to the original, preferably by some sequence other than a reverse of the original modulation sequence.


• This music works well for a relatively light-hearted game; and if that's what you're after, you've nailed it!  On the other hand, if you're trying to write something that will make people jump out of their seats, I'd suggest making the piece generally much quieter, more dissonant, and less overtly "busy."  Vary it subtly to capture the listener's attention, then punctuate it occasionally with sudden, comparatively loud notes and/or crescendoes that lead nowhere.  The idea is to make it discontinuous so the listener isn't quite sure what to expect next -- in the same way that he isn't sure what expect next in your dark forest.

Hope that helps!  Let me know if the above isn't very clear.

Hmmm.  It doesn't really give me a "dystopian" vibe.  However, it might be useful for some sort of end credits sequence after all the meanies have been vanquished after a long, hard struggle and everyone is living happily ever after.

Dystopian ambience would seem to mandate either a minor key (or related mode) or perhaps a deceptively major-key theme with a dissonant accompaniment -- polytonality might work well in the latter case.

[Dualnames]

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.

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