CMC: Conceptual Music Competition
This competition is based on the rules of the classic
TOMC (Thematic Original Music Competition).
The CMC (Conceptual Music Competition) is designed so that each participant enters a piece of music based on a set theme. The participants take the theme and interpret it as they will to come up with something that fits. Any style can work, as long as it portrays a sense of what the theme is.
Feel free to be imaginative!
Each successive theme will be chosen by the winner of the previous competition. For example, say the theme of the last competition, CMC 34, was "Extinction" and the winner, Candie, submitted a piece that knocked the socks off of everyone, so she won. Candie then gets to decide the theme for CMC 35.
This competition is open to registered members of the forums of
OverClocked ReMix,
VGMix,
VGMusic,
Gaming World,
Young Composers, and
GameDev.
CMC 29: Star Force One
"In the frosty reaches of outer space lurk wonders and perils beyond the human imagination. When earth is in danger - when alien princesses are in need of rescue - when there are strange new worlds to explore or savage monsters to subdue - only the crack team of spaceborne heroes known as STAR FORCE ONE is up to the task! Your mission, bold composer, is to create a musical tribute worthy of their daring exploits." -Maquis
Results!:
Text results and critiques
There are 8 entries for this round...
"9 Droids are on their way to Destroy the Uroneus Star Carrier."
"This piece of music represents the main title for a fictional Star Force One film. It's an overture of sorts featuring several of the key themes which would hypothetically be heard in said film as SFO is heroically protecting the galaxy."
"After a hard day's work in the mines of Titan, a long hunt in the forests of Encelade, a terrifying campaign in the xeno wars of Barnard... From the worst joints of the suburban asteroids of the Belt to the comfortable imperial palace around Alpha Centauri. In all cargo ships gone for endless sublight journeys, all colonies of the Confederation...
Every standard evening, every single of the 50 trillions souls in habitable space, human, khaxak, atrinid, xc'luk... plugs in to the holovid and lives in real time the fantastic exploits of the known universe's most daring heroes: the crew of the Space Force One, flagship of the Fleet, never defeated, always victorious!
This is the main theme of the broadcasts of their realvid adventures."
"Starts with a theme tease, followed by a light intro, followed by a buildup section with a bit more bite, followed by the main theme. I tried to make it as short as possible so I could spend time polishing it - unfortunately I did the final mix in one sitting so it sounds a bit homogeneous. Therefore it would work better as background music or an accompaniment to visuals than as a standalone piece. It's also a little on the light side - might be more at home in Super Mario Galaxy than an epic space drama - but see what you think."
"As the piece begins, a spaceship with our heroes on board lowers over a mysterious planet, the catapulting arpeggios of augmented chords outlining the mystical nature of the weightlessness of space. At the second half of the first minute, the insecurity of key signature establishes the mystique of first setting foot on an alien planet. Around one minute, a lone space flower brings a bit of nostalgia to our heroes with a traditional musical phrase. At one minute ten seconds, the space ship is loaded and blasts off into space with thundering octaves, exhaust fumes the only trace our heroes leave behind. Our heroes blast off to another adventure, and our planet is left in solitude."
"The story is the same as the description for the competition."
"The STAR FORCE ONE team is assembled at last. Their ship floats through space. It is deadly silent with ominous stars twinkling in the distance. Can the heroes protect Earth from the perils of space? What lies ahead? Only time will tell. The journey has only just begun."
"This is a combination of a concert piece, and sort of a video game title track for the supposed game, 'Star Force.' As I write for musicians and not samples, I had to make do with what I have. I recorded the output of Finale '08 Demo's SoftSynth. As with my past CMC entries, the work is composed for brass choir. I started a trend so I figured I might as well keep it and expand my brass writing by evoking the prescribed themes using only brass."
Voting Rules!:
Voters will be allowed to pick one first place (3 points) and any number of honorary mentions (1 point). Only one set of votes from any one voter will be accepted and a person cannot vote for any one piece more than once. Corrections to votes, from the original voter only, will be accepted, but corrections will void the previous votes. Basically, a voter can vote and correct the vote, but only the final form of that vote will be counted. Send all votes to Abadoss by PM. Please include any and all constructive critiques (not to be confused with bashing) about them with your votes as well, so that there's always a sense of growth in the artform. If you wish to remain anonymous, just state so in your PM. Thanks.
To be eligible to vote, you must be a registered member of at least one of the participating forums, prior to the beginning of the voting period. In your PM or e-mail, please indicate which forum you are a member of and your username.
The voting period will last from the moment the entries are posted in the thread to the Saturday of that week. The voting period for this round ends July 18, so be sure to spend some time really listening to the pieces.
Any participant in the competition can vote, but not for their own pieces. However, in an effort to encourage voting among participants, any participant who votes will have 2 points added to his/her voting score (unless the participant chooses to be anonymous).
Official Rules!:
[1] Each piece must be originally composed for this competition. Arrangements and remixes will not be accepted. (Pieces composed by the participant prior to the competition will not be accepted.)
[2] Each piece must be 2:00 or longer and match the competition theme.
[3] Only one entry per person. Collaborations will be allowed, but each collaborator may not submit any other pieces. (This also means that a person cannot collaborate on two or more different pieces at the same time.)
[4] A link to the entry piece must be e-mailed or PMed to Abadoss prior to the deadline set for each competition. DO NOT POST THE LINK IN THE THREAD!
[5] Important: Each file must be labeled accordingly: Composer_Name_-_Composition_Title_CMC#.mp3
(For example, if Harper Jameson submits a piece called "Just Joe King" to CMC 32, then his filename would be: Harper_Jameson_-_Just_Joe_King_CMC32.mp3)
[6] MP3 file format is required. Know that even OGG will need to be converted into MP3. (If someone is unable to do so themselves, Abadoss would be willing and able to do it for them.)
[7] Entries should be accompanied by a description and/or story to help listeners understand what the piece is about. (Not required, though.)
[8] All entries must be submitted by Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 11:59 PM - PST, GMT-8.
You can find the competition threads for each forum listed below:
OverClocked ReMix: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=24072
VGMix: http://www.vgmix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1999
VGMusic: http://www.vgmusic.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12206
Gaming World: http://www.gamingw.net/forums/index.php?topic=79194.0
Young Composers: http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/conceptual-music-competition-29-star-force-one-20565.html
GameDev: http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=538741
Good luck and have fun! :D
Previous CMCs: http://www.abadoss.net/CMC.htm
[Edited by - Abadoss on July 20, 2009 7:19:50 AM]
