Hey Guys and Gals!

It's that time of year again for Ichigo's to hold it's winter composition contest! The contest this year is brought to you by Nyu001 and PorscheGTIII and is entitled: "Winter Reflections." Nyu and I brainstormed many ideas ranging from a contest based on winter like verbs to the end of the world, but we settled on this contest because it will leave the composer free to interpret the prompt.

We go through many changes throughout our lives and we end up reflecting on our past and setting goals for ourselves in the future, especially around the beginning of the year. For this contest, we want the composer to reflect on the past year. How has your life been? Are you happy? Worried? Depressed? Anxious? Use this reflection to help you with your composition. While reflecting on your past, also make predictions about the upcoming year. Where do you see yourself? Will your mood change? Will you be better or worse off? Use your reflection and aspirations for the future as your motivation for this composition.

There is also a few other rules to keep in mind:


Have fun.
Compositions must be at least one (1) minute long but no longer than seven (7) minutes. Instrumentation is free.
Voting will be carried out by private forum poll after the deadline for submission. The entrant may not vote for their own composition.
Composers must submit a writing prompt to Nyu001 and PorscheGTIII as part of the submission process. In this writing prompt, they should explain how the entrant's composition represents their reflection and hopes for the future. They should also offer a strong point and weak point about their composition. This prompt will be released to the voters after the voting period takes place.
The entrant must submit both a clean copy of the score to their composition in PDF format. If you are not sure how to create a PDF, just ask!
The entrant must submit an audio file in MIDI or MP3 format. Again, ask for help if needed!
All entries are to be posted in this thread for submission to the contest.
All entries are due by the end of 2011 EST January 31, 2012 February 19, 2012. When the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve on the east coast of the US, you're late!
Prior to the deadline, the entrant may make revisions to their composition and written portion of their entry as long as they remove their old revision from this thread. All entries after the New Year's due date will be final!
One entry per person, please.
Rules are subject to change as needed.


The winner will have their composition featured on the Ichigo's YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/IchigosForum)!

With that said, let's kick off this year's winter composition contest! Good luck to all who enter and have fun!

Nyu001 and PorscheGTIII

EDIT: The rules have been changed as of December 7, 2011. The deadline has been extended to the end of Janurary and the requirement for sheet music has been dropped.


EDIT EDIT: The rules have been changed as of January 24, 2012. The deadline has been extended for a final time to...


February 19, 2012.

I hope all of you have a good experience with this! :)

This is an absolutely wonderful idea. I am very inspired by this prompt... great job guys.

Have fun, everyone.

I rather like that. Unless something goes dreadfully wrong, expect to see an entry from me :shifty:

I think the deadline should be the last New Years countdown. For the sake of symbolism.

Sounds cool to me. ^.^ I'll most likely enter, unless I become busy and can't do it.

For my compositions, I use MuseScore 1.1 does anybody know how I could turn an arrangement of that into a PDF and an MIDI??

I'm excited for this; it should be fun!

Oh, and this time next year, we should have an "End of the World" theme for our contest. Just sayin'.

@Blazing Dragon, due 21/12, right? :P

Yes! Then again, it might be wise to move that date back some. If the world really does end, we all want to know who won before hand, don't we? :p

lol! There is a high chance for that contest to happen!

Lol. Sounds like I contest I would be good at! Making epic action pieces is much easier then one based off your experiences... Depending. XD

Come on people, concentrate. B)

i like reflecting.... and wondering, which is a byproduct of reflecting.

I will participate. I was composing a piano collection of songs "about my life" last year. xDD
However, I think I'll do another thing. ^^

How is everyone's composition coming along?

I hope I'll be able to enter. I've been writing it down on staff paper, and by tomorrow I won't have access to Finale, since I'll be off-campus (since Makemusic has always had a problem with resetting my key...); there's no "other" way to obtain Finale for PC users now too. :|

I'll give it a try, but honestly I'm not experienced enough. :o

ah. I'll get started soon.

I want to do some songs, and after that, I'll select my favorite for participate. ^^

I've been forgetting to start my piece. XD I've been much too busy arranging other songs. I'll start mine soon though since I really wanna enter a piece in this. ^.^

Christ, thanks for telling me about this contest Porsche....

God, now I have to make up a month's worth of time.

Christ, thanks for telling me about this contest Porsche....

God, now I have to make up a month's worth of time.

:heh:

It's December! Only four more weeks until the submission deadline! How's everyone doing?

I hope I'll be able to enter. I've been writing it down on staff paper, and by tomorrow I won't have access to Finale, since I'll be off-campus (since Makemusic has always had a problem with resetting my key...); there's no "other" way to obtain Finale for PC users now too. :|

Unless a Mac user wants to give me a new generated key, I'm not entering this one... :( (there's my answer, sir)

Despite what I said before, I don't think I'll be entering this one. I can't seem to decide on what I want to make. My apologies.

Anyways, good luck to all who enter!

I have some, but I can't decide one to participate. >.<
But I'll enter, sure XD

Nyu001 and I have talked and we decided to make some changes in the rules so that hopefully more people will be able to join in on the fun. The deadline has been extended to the end of Janurary and the requirement for sheet music has been dropped.

Wonderful! Thanks guys, seems I have to make it a promise to enter this one...the first time in over three years ;)

I might enter... haven't been in a composing mood since graduation, hopefully something like this will motivate me to write again.

I know I said I wouldnt do this, but I just wrote a composition last night.... I'll PM it PorcheGTIII sometime soon...

Great! Remember that the writing prompt is sent through PM to PorscheGTIII and me. The entry is posted in this thread.

Oh... Then I'll PM you guys the prompt and post my entry here....

Just curious, are people still working on this?

I don't know about everybody else, but I already finished my entry. I just keep forgetting to submit it! XD

I've been working on this. Well, here is a string quartet called "Ich liebe dich". Hope you enjoy.

I'm going to send the pm now ^^.

14545

Maybe this is not the most appropriate thread to ask this, but is there archive which stores the entries (mp3/midi) of the Free Theme composition contest a few years back? It seems most of the links on that thread are dead now.

No, there are not archives of that from what I can see. These are lost links now.

I'm going back to school today. They have computers with Finale on them.

If I'm not too busy this first month of school, I'll happily be writing down my ideas and structuring them, etc. for this contest. ;)

Happy New Year!

Composers must submit a writing prompt to Nyu001 and PorscheGTIII as part of the submission process. In this writing prompt, they should explain how the entrant's composition represents their reflection and hopes for the future. They should also offer a strong point and weak point about their composition. This prompt will be released to the voters after the voting period takes place.What exactly do you mean by that? I'm working on my prompt right now and I'm not entirely sure as to what I should be putting in it... :\

I couldn't decide on what to call mine, so I ended up naming it "Sounds Waves Searching For Inspiration". Weird name, I know. XD Here's the MIDI

I'll send in my prompt as soon as either Nyu001, or PorscheGTIII make it clear as to what that's supposed to be.

The promt should explain how your composition represents the "you" in 2011 andhow you invison yourself in 2012. You are also to offer what you think you did well in your composition and what you feel could be improved.

Less than a month to go! Keep those entries coming!

Porsche, have I to send the prompt also to Nyu? =S

I just submitted my prompt. Just posting hereto let others know.

Porsche, have I to send the prompt also to Nyu? =S

Yes please!

Two entries! Woo~ :D

I'm hoping that more people enter. I'm excited to see what everybody comes up with!

Hey everyone! How's the composing going?

I will submit one towards the end of the contest if we get more entries. :)

Submit your one now, don't wait to other people. I want to listen your composition! ^.^

Haha, I'm still working on it. Though I'm hoping more people will enter, because a contest with 3 people is a little unfortunate...

Very unfortunate indeed... But I'm looking forward to hearing your composition too!

That is what we get for not having promotion... XD

I hope there is more to come!

Hi, not sure if anyone remembers me...

Glad I came across this, I would like to give it a try. I only saw the ending date being extended which is great for me!

Time to hit the piano tonight!

Finally! Another person who wants to enter! :D

o.O this looks fun ok i will write one song for the competition (But must see the amount of time i haf too T_T)

Nonetheless, I already have a melody in mind been itching to write it out.

btw, when is the next transcribing competition as well?

Cheers!
DunNotCome

I dun think there is a transcribing contest planned yet. They are usually hosted by members so you could plan the next one if you wanted to ;)

The deadline is fast approaching! Two more weeks until d-day!

It's almost the deadline already? O.o I thought we still had like a month! I'm so behind!!! XD

Completed mine :-)

Will PM for prompt.
I did not record it on my piano so it might still not sound as good as it is T_T
Will record soon but my piano is out of tune though (sadly) and i don't have a professional recording set to record it nicely (2x sad)

Cheers!
DunNotCome

PS: Link me to my youtube channel instead of the ichigos forum?

-Edit- 19 Jan 2012 6:48am GMT+8:00
Edited the piece a bit reuploaded the MP3 do check it out XD

-Edit- 21 Jan 2012 3:09 PM GMT +8:00
Re-edited again and heres the new one (Probably the final one) :-)

Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25StrBTWi98&feature=youtu.be

I figure this might be of info to most ppl:

HOW TO SAVE A PDF FILE (FREE!)
Install PDFCreator (Freeware) just google PDFCreator, you are bound to find it.

After installing, a Virtual Printer should appear in your list of Printers named "PDFCreator"

To create your PDF files, go to your notation program (I use Finale btw) and select print setup.

In the print setup, set your printer to "PDFCreator" and print your document like you would a real printer.

After that, PDFCreator will run and prompt you for the PDF properties.

Click OK after you are happy with it and save your PDF file in anywhere you like.

Hope this helped you all.

Cheers!
DunNotCome

Hey, just asking out of the blues here but can I ask for an extention of the deadline to Feb 19. It's okay if not but I think if it was extended to then I would be able to get something into the competition as well.

There is Finale 2012 Portable if you want haha (You know what i mean by this)

I couldn't decide on what to call mine, so I ended up naming it "Sounds Waves Searching For Inspiration". Weird name, I know. XD Here's the MIDI

I'll send in my prompt as soon as either Nyu001, or PorscheGTIII make it clear as to what that's supposed to be.

Hey Bey-Heart, I can help you make your MIDI into a more realistic piano sound if you want.
Cheers!

I know its a bit random for me to post this but i like to say that I enjoyed listening to everybody's composition, for that each of you have your own distinct style and composing techniques.

I won't mind helping anyone with the audio part because I do a lot of audio editing myself (Restoration, recording, room simulation, equalizing, etc). Do take note that for me to help in audio i will need the MIDI file to edit as i edit using Cubase 5 (Import MIDI, Reverb, Normalize) and Sony Acid 7.0b (Spectral VST Enhancements, Channel equalization). XD

Good luck for the competition!
DunNotCome

Hey, just asking out of the blues here but can I ask for an extention of the deadline to Feb 19. It's okay if not but I think if it was extended to then I would be able to get something into the competition as well.

For anyone wondered, this has not been ignored. Porsche will have a decision over this near the deadline since I may not be online if an extension happen. I will take a flight next month and my activity here will be low or off for 3 weeks.

If there are more people wanting an extension, let us know!

Hey Bey-Heart, I can help you make your MIDI into a more realistic piano sound if you want.
Cheers!Sure, go ahead. Saving MuseScore files as MIDI files comes out as some of the most unrealistic MIDI's I've heard.

Procrastinating still...

Sure, go ahead. Saving MuseScore files as MIDI files comes out as some of the most unrealistic MIDI's I've heard.

Finished it.
I used Yamaha S90ES Sound Samples with reverb in a room applied twice after normalizing the audio.
The velocity and pedalling are exactly the same as your MIDI file has.

PS: Finale is one notation software you can use. Alternatively, you can use Sibelius.

Cheers!

The attachment is Bey-Heart's work, not mine though, I only did the audio to make it sound more realistic, just saying this just in case.

I'll enter a contest in the first time since... Noir's $100 competition was it? Any ways, this is the cadenced version of a score I've been working on for over a year. I'm working on expanding it, but I am satisfied with the result for this instrumentation.

A quick playback note. This is written for choir and orchestra. I do not have a good choir instrument, so the sound I'm using for the choir is a synthy sound.

Enjoy "Rex Tremendae"

Rex Tremendae.mp3 (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/806642/Rex%20Tremendae%20-%20Master.mp3)
Rex Tremendae.pdf (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/806642/Rex%20Tremendae%20-%20Final%20Score.pdf)

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

On another note, I will allow the deadline to take one more extension to February 19, 2012. No more extensions though! There's another transcribing contest on the burner right now, but we need to finish this one to start the new one. So voting will begging on February 19th as well and last for one week. Shortly after, we may launch this new contest.

Haha, great! I will listen to that entry when I wake up. :D

On another note, I will allow the deadline to take one more extension to February 19, 2012. No more extensions though! There's another transcribing contest on the burner right now, but we need to finish this one to start the new one. So voting will begging on February 19th as well and last for one week. Shortly after, we may launch this new contest.

I'll take it! I need it x_x

Just asking do i need to repost my new MP3s, i've updated my old ones to the new MP3 though

-Edit-
I figure i might as well insert my MP3 here as well.

Finished it.
I used Yamaha S90ES Sound Samples with reverb in a room applied twice after normalizing the audio.
The velocity and pedalling are exactly the same as your MIDI file has.

PS: Finale is one notation software you can use. Alternatively, you can use Sibelius.

Cheers!

The attachment is Bey-Heart's work, not mine though, I only did the audio to make it sound more realistic, just saying this just in case.

Good job! Very nice of you to do that, it does makes it sound nicer, MIDI always has that mechanical sound to it.

Finished it.
I used Yamaha S90ES Sound Samples with reverb in a room applied twice after normalizing the audio.
The velocity and pedalling are exactly the same as your MIDI file has.
Thank you. I was actually pretty surprised by how realistic it sounded! XD


Great to hear that we have a transcribing contest shortly after this contest ends. I'll make sure to enter that contest as well! ^.^

Thank you. I was actually pretty surprised by how realistic it sounded! XD


Great to hear that we have a transcribing contest shortly after this contest ends. I'll make sure to enter that contest as well! ^.^
No problem i've grew up living in an audio environment anyway. I always hated MIDI as it gives me the worst possible sound I will ever want to listen from my writings (Even when writing music, I dun use MIDI, i use ARIA Player to simulate it). MIDI as a form of instructions for another player is alright but MIDI for computer synthesizer is surely unbearable.

Im just a some lurker(or you can call me a leech. i steal all of your transcriptions) that probably shouldn't be entering in this contest.

I have no one else to share the piece too so... here i something I made in a few days

Ill call it "Past Memories"

1460014601

Nice!

Welcome to the contest! :D

Do not forget to send the prompt also.

Here's my entry for the composition contest.

The filesize exceeds the attachment limit of the forums, so please download it here.
Daydream (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?n86orpljpk76029)

Gotank

Looks like I actually won't be joining the competition after all.

However I look forward to the results, and hearing everyone's entries (I'm waiting until I have more time to do so!)

Best of luck everyone, and I hope the last-minute composers are doing well!

Well mine completely depends on the arrival of my keyboard which was meant to happen... two weeks ago.

Hopefully it comes this week -.-

12 days more! Good luck everyone!

Gonna enter.. need to rush.. not much time.

It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to enter, my keyboard is still somewhere in transit, exactly where I don't know...

A little over four days left!

:(

Good luck to all who entered!

Oaafff finally done. Here is my piece for the contest... its call life.

FINAL DAY!!!

Actually, tomorrow is final day.

Yup! The clock is ticking down to the final hours of this competition! Get your entries in fast!

5 more hours!

It´s more than 5 hours. :P

Here's my entry. If I can get the recording finished before the end of the day I will post it with an update.

Edit: I couldn't finish the recording in time so I replaced teh voice with a clairnet for the entry. I will be posting the recording of the song on my composition thread so I hope everyone will drop by for a listen once its done!:lol: For now please enjoy the instrumental.

Song Title: Our Time
Song dedicated to my girl friend for all the wonderful times we've had and to all the wonderful times to come! Lyrics will be included with prompt.

And the competition is over! Stay tuned for the voting thread.