UPDATE - Yet another change in voting system

Change of plan, we're back to the poll XD

We'd also like you to rate as many of the other pieces submitted as possible - understandably songs take time to listen to and evaluate, but feedback is always very much appreciated, even if it's only a few lines for each song to say what you did and didn't like about it. If you browse through the thread and see that there's a particular composition that hasn't received much feedback from other voters, please try and critique that first before selecting other pieces. Ideally your feedback should follow this format:


Melody (How good is the song's melody line?)
Orchestration (How well do the instruments work together? Simplified or advanced, it's your choice)
Originality (Is your song unique? Does it have that special 'you' feeling to it?)
Overall (Not all of the aspects combined, but an overall feeling of the song)

The previous 0-100% scoring system has been removed to make it easier to give feedback. However, if you don't feel able to judge all aspects of the song then general feedback and any additional comments are very welcome.

Voting for your own composition is greatly discouraged - while voting for your own song is a show of confidence in its quality, it is also unfair on those who do the honourable thing and vote for somebody else. Thus a standard is necessary, and so we say "Please do not vote for your own composition". We can't stop you if you justify yourself, but we'd rather you didn't. When a composer votes for their own song they might as well not vote at all, because if their vote makes the difference between a tie and a win or a lose and a tie for their song, would they really feel like they deserved it? If you really don't like ANY of the other songs there besides your own then you can null your vote and keep the competition fair for all.

When the voting closes on April 7th we'll tally the posts with the votes in to decide the winner. This way all the composers who took the time to prepare a piece receive some feedback and an overall winner will be selected.

Thankyou to everyone who votes and everybody who entered, and happy listening :)

ENTRIES

R4iko - Reflection ~ Midi (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=72969)

Gnomish - Sleigh Ride Through the Snow Speckled Woods ~ MP3 (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=73455)

yellowmonkey121 - Christmas Under the Snow ~ Midi (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=73788)

Stefan - Carolers on a December Night ~ Midi (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=78350) (think it might be an MP3 but not sure :think:)

TrumpetPlaya42 - Running Out of Time ~ Midi (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=78720)

madmazda86 - The Match Girl ~ MP3 (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=79496) ~ Midi (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=79306) ~ Lyrics (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?showtopic=1930&view=findpost&p=79306) (NB: Midi misses out one of the verses but the verse is included in the MP3 - please listen to both Midi and MP3 as my singing ain't that great and you might like the Midi version better XD)

Loganic Mind - Beloved ~ MP3 (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=79418)

Matt-Chan^^ - Candle Light ~ MP3 (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=79607)

:china: My vote goes to Matt-Chan^^ for his stunningly simple yet emotionally moving piano solo, "Candle Light"! Everyone else did especially well, ESPECIALLY madmazda86, but I just thought that Matt-Chan's fit the time of year so well.

If I could vote twice, my second vote would go to madmazda86! :)

Candle Light by Matt-Chan^^

Melody -- 95% (Very unpredictable at some parts, which is a good thing! The flow of the melody never lost my interest.)
Orchestration -- 100% (Considering it's just piano.... Love those broken chords in the LH!)
Originality -- 90% (A solid mix between Mitsuda and Chopin, or so it seemed, with some personal flare and style to spice it up.)
Overall -- 95% (Very moving piece! Very Christmas Night-ish and sad. :))
Total Score -- 3.8/4 95%

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

Reflection by R4iko

Melody -- 90% (Very romantic sounding, in my opinion! However, it seemed to be so changing from one part to the next that it left me without a memory of how the melody went.)
Orchestration -- 95% (The instruments mesh very well together, and I particularly liked the lower strings under the high piano part about 2/3 through it. :))
Originality -- 90% (Sounds like it's very much from the Romantic period with a modern twist on it.)
Overall -- 90% (I'm not quite sure if I liked the Picardy Third at the end, but it was very good, still! It seems very programmatic, but I'm just not sure what kind of scenery this was supposed to emit. For me, it didn't sound too Christmas-y.)
Total Score -- 3.65/4 91.25%

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

Sleigh Ride Through the Snow Speckled Woods by Gnomish

I am exempt from judging my own piece.

Melody --n/a
Orchestration -- n/a
Originality -- n/a
Overall -- n/a
Total Score -- n/a n/a%

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

Christmas Under the Snow by yellowmonkey121

Melody -- 95% (The beginning seems to be a bit random, but once the piano enters, it becomes more defined. Also, the tubular bells are magnificent when they take over the melody.)
Orchestration -- 100% (The music box or celesta works very well with all the other instruments, and the harp's quick scaling really highlights the background parts. Also, the percussion wasn't overbearing at all. That's a GOOD THING! I liked how the strings kept getting countermelodies against one another. :))
Originality -- 90% (It sounded very pseudo-Sega to me, for some reason. Perhaps part of the melody or chord progression were a bit too familiar to me for some reason. If I'm incorrect, please forgive me. Other than that, it's a very good neo-classical/new age composition!)
Overall -- 93% (The name is very fitting. Well done! The harp fade-out at the end is a bit out of character though, IMO.)
Total Score -- 3.78/4 94.5%

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

Carolers on a December Night by Stefan

Melody -- 93% (Great melody lines with alternating moods, but it was so flashy that it was hard to recognize a specific melody at first.)
Orchestration -- 97% (Love that pizzicato! ;) The fleeting upper instruments were a bit too much to take in at once, though. Very Romantic Period-esque! When all the instruments come in at once about 1/2 way through the song, it's majestic!)
Originality -- 95% (GREAT job on the originality! The alternating melodies and Romantic dynamics make it even more wonderful and unique! You must be a Brahms fan, eh?)
Overall -- 93% (This score would be a bit higher if it had reminded me a bit more of the appropriate time of year. Wonderful ending, btw!)
Total Score -- 3.78/4 94.5%

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

Running Out of Time by TrumpetPlaya42

Melody -- 93% (This song didn't seem to have an identifiable melody until halfway through, but by then, the wandering lower strings had kind of disoriented me.)
Orchestration -- 94% (Strings and tubular bells... what else could you ask for for a Christmas song?! :P I like how the tubular bells seem to highlight and mimic the lower strings quite often, and the intermittent quarter/eighth notes in the first 1/2 are the only things that kept my interest until the true melody kicked in.)
Originality -- 98% (Very new style for my ears! It sounded quasi-Oriental.)
Overall -- 92% (It fit its name very well, but for a winter/X-mas theme, I'm not so sure it made me think of that. Very well done, however! A joy to listen to, and the last 1/3 really seemed like the type of thing you hear in action movies or anxious parts in video-games. ^.^)
Total Score -- 3.77/4 94.25%

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

The Match Girl by madmazda86

Melody -- 97% (Great job on the melody. Very memorable. Flawless. However, sometimes at the close of each singing phrase, it sounds like it's been transposed to an alternate key... but maybe it's just an illusion or I'm crazy.)
Orchestration -- 93% (The instruments mesh fairly well together. However, some of the supporting parts were a bit obscured.)
Originality -- 98% (Wonderful lyrics set to a wonderful melody! The instrumentation is like nothing else I've ever seen. :))
Overall -- 96% (A joy to the ears. :P Very Christmas-esque! ;))
Total Score -- 3.84/4 96%

(Note: It's admirable that you you provide actual vocals to a song for this submission. Well done. :))

(Composer's Note: Although this song received the highest score by a smidgen, Matt-Chan^^'s "Candle Light" held such a special place in my heart that I just had to vote for it. Sorry, madmazda86. :unsure:)

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

Beloved by Loganic Mind

Melody -- 90% (Didn't seem to be phrased to my liking, but it was still good.)
Orchestration -- 93% (The instruments worked well enough together, but I would've liked the piano, flute and violin to have had a bit more obvious countermelodies. Would've been much better at keeping my interest had the chords in the LH in the piano been broken, at least at some parts.)
Originality -- 91% (Definitely one of its kind. Did I spy an unresolved chord at the end? :think:)
Overall -- 93% (Didn't seem much to me like an appropriate submission for the Christmas CMAs. But it was still nice to listen to.)
Total Score -- 3.67/4 91.75%

Originally posted by Gnomish@Mar 22 2005, 06:49 PM
:china: My vote goes to Matt-Chan^^ for his stunningly simple yet emotionally moving piano solo, "Candle Light"! Everyone else did especially well, ESPECIALLY madmazda86, but I just thought that Matt-Chan's fit the time of year so well.

If I could vote twice, my second vote would go to madmazda86! :)

Candle Light
Melody -- 95% (Very unpredictable at some parts, which is a good thing! The flow of the melody never lost my interest.)
Orchestration -- 100% (Considering it's just piano.... Love those broken chords in the LH!)
Originality -- 90% (A solid mix between Mitsuda and Chopin, or so it seemed, with some personal flare and style to spice it up.)
Overall -- 95% (Very moving piece! Very Christmas Night-ish and sad. :))
Total Score -- 95% (Very well done. :))
Hmm, instead of using a simple poll, maybe we could rank the pieces, and have the results averaged out?

Indeed -- I'm giving a mark 0-4 (since the max possible was 400/400). We could add all those together and average them, maybe?

Hmmm, it's possible, but rating things in percentages is a lot more ambiguous than a concrete vote in a poll - and it'd also mean people would have to rate every single composition for their vote to be viable and not everybody would have time... :think:

Well, I was actually just suggesting a simple ranking system in which the person rank the piece to their liking relative to the others (1 to 8, 1 being their favorite of the batch). Whoever gets the lowest average wins 1st place, and so on. Detailed commentary could be optional, or very brief.

When does voting end?

It'll take time for everyone to rate... shall we say April 6th? Then there's two weeks to vote.

Going back to the voting system... if we do it on graded averages as Gnomish has done very nicely, it would work, but then we have cases such as Gnomish's where he's given a higher rating to a particular piece, but voted on something else in the actual poll :think: I don't know what to dooooo - the ratings system seems to be working okay so far, in which case we could scrap the poll provided not too many people have voted, but then what happens if you've rated a piece higher than the others yet want something else to win overall? I dunnoooo...

=T I think it's too late now to worry about that. We're already in the middle of a poll, and the polling system worked relatively fine in the past. So how about we stick to the poll for now, but keep the new rating system in mind when we discuss the next CMA?

Originally posted by madmazda86@Mar 22 2005, 11:38 PM
...then we have cases such as Gnomish's where he's given a higher rating to a particular piece, but voted on something else in the actual poll :think: ...
:cry: Forgive me.

I like Al's idea. However, do you have any idea how long it took me to grade all those pieces?! :huh: Not everyone has that kind of time or discipline to listen to them all. And sometimes, they just vote for their own piece. -_-

EDIT: Brilliant idea! Would it be possible to have a DOWNLOAD COUNT next to each link for the submissions? This would make it easier to see just how earnest people are in adjudicating "each" submission. I have a feeling that sometimes they just listen to a few and vote for the one that sounded the coolest, completely ignoring the judging template. :doh:

^ Really? Ya think? (Sarcasm)

However, do you have any idea how long it took me to grade all those pieces?!* Not everyone has that kind of time or discipline to listen to them all.

Aye, I figured, which is why the ratings are like a supplementary thing :think: It does count the number of downloads for each file but as I linked to the original uploads the counts were already high to begin with :/ The only way to accurately measure it would be to get everyone to reupload their compositions and not all the composers are around anymore...

The thing with polls like these is that anybody can vote and you don't know who it is that cast it... as well as this when logged out and reading the forums on guest view you can see the results of the polls without having to vote so you can easily find out who is ahead etc. Perhaps instead people could PM their votes to me or Alphonse, in a way similar to the Ichigo Awards Angelic did? Wah, this is proving more complicated than I thought :cry:

Here's an idea I came up with in the CMA thread... :think:


Maybe we could make it that we only count the votes of people who have actually posted in the CMA voting thread saying who they voted for and why...* Then we can tally up the posts with the votes on the poll to prevent people from voting for their own compositions, and it stops other users just randomly voting without actually listening to the pieces (which is really rude IMO )


'Cause so far Gnomish is the only one who's actually voted and done ratings - to be honest I think the feedback is much more important than who wins the competition, even if it's just saying why you voted for a particular person - we've got several votes in that poll that haven't been attributed to anybody yet :/

Let's break it down . . I see that there are two separate objectives here, and these are my suggestions:

The first is the feedback for the songs: Melody, Orchestration, Originality, Overall, and Total Score. I say we keep that aspect, because that was the original intention. But how about we do away with the marks and the Total Score? Just write down your opinions, if you have time . . that's all that really matters . . unless you want to put down the score in any case =P but in my opinion, giving out marks is hard and time-consuming.

Second is the voting. Since there's the problem with scoring/rating and selecting a song that doesn't necessarily relate to the score (refering to what Gnomish did, sorry! hehe), the solution is simple in my mind. Just vote for the one you think is the best, regardless of what you've rated it =P you can't help it if that's how you truly feel. So we could either do it by poll (and the essence of the poll is to select the one you like the most, regardless of the factors), or by PM msgs as madmazda suggested.

I believe that using a rating system is just too complicated and it'd take too much time out of people's lives. So hat do you think? This method is simple and effective? Next time we'll think it through better?

As for the downloads count as Gnomish suggested . . someone could download all the songs, and then reupload them here (so you don't need the composers to do that) . . but that'd be a daunting task, plus it'd only be wasting more bandwidth . . *shrugs* just a thought.

Edit: Hmm, just read what madmazda added, gimme a sec to think . .

I agree about ridding the scoring - after all, everyone's gonna get pretty high marks anyway so it doesn't really make much difference, though sorry to Gnomish as he spent all that time scoring them!

Hmmm, in that case... we could do away with the poll and start over? After all, Gnomish is the only one who's voted and actually put his name to it - then that way we wouldn't have the problem of people wasting votes on their own compositions :think: I think we'd get more feedback that way too...

I'd be happy to do away with the grading system. I don't like grades, anyway. I don't need a number and percentage just to tell me that I tried my hardest. ;)

Alright, I have it figured out!

Only people who have commented on why they chose to vote for a particular song, will have their vote validated. It shouldn't take too long to type up a few words . . so yeah, those votes will be tallied up at the end.

However, it will be strongly encouraged that people include info/feedback for Melody, Orchestration, Originality, and Overall for *all* the songs . . but if you don't have the time, it's understandable.

Alright, so how's that? =)

I'm good with that - so from now on it'll be laid out like so:

Piece you've voted for:
Why you voted for it: (using the Instrumentation etc system)

and then rate as many of the others as you can?

Maybe instead of rating the others with lengthy details, we should just post why we did/didn't like it? Compliments are always welcome.

Well, if it's the choice between several "I like it"s or one really detailed piece of feedback I'd prefer the detailed feedback, but that's just my personal opinion :think: Either way I'll edit my post and explain the new voting rules and whatnot, and people would have the option of following the current feedback framework or just making general comments about each piece?

Edit: Okay, done! I'm going to see if Zero can reset/delete the poll for me too... :think:

Apologies for double-posting - the poll has now been deleted, so people who have already voted besides Gnomish need to post in this thread saying who they voted for and why. Please read the first post in the topic for more details ^_^ Thanks for your patience!

:unsure: I fear this strange new method of "voting" is discouraging people from actually voting for their favorite.

Gah. Where'd this thread come from?? o.o

Er... if I may ask, what happened to the judges?

(I think I've been away too long)

@ Gnomish, yeah I'm afraid of that too =\ . . T_T come on people, vote!
@ Stefan, the judges appear to be missing . . so we decided to take matters into our own hands, and yeah . .

Might have to bring back the poll :( It's a crying shame - it takes just 5 minutes to write a little bit of feedback on a composition once you've listened to it. I'm doing mine tonight.

Meh :(

And to clarify, YES, composers are allowed to vote - that was the idea ;)

*misses the old poll*

It was so young! Just a day or two old until it was deleted.... It still had its cute little fill-in bubbles that you could click on, and that neat little bold text to make it easier to read. WAH! :crybaby:

r4iko

Melody - I couldn't really pick out a solid melody/theme, it kind of meandered from one melody to another, but there were some nice ones in the mix. Much preferred the melodies used towards the end of the piece.
Orchestration - First melody instrument is very harsh-sounding, but that's mainly the midi's fault. However, it did seem out of place for such a soft piece
Originality - Well, there was nothing in there that I recognised so I'll call it original XD
Overall - I liked the choice of beginning chords but it got ploddy after a while with the chords repeating, much preferred the passage with the broken chords and soft strings. In fact I prefer everything from that section onwards much more than the beginning. It does feel a lot like you've got two separate songs there, but I did get that Christmassy feeling

Gnomish

Melody - Melodic variations were very nicely handled, switching between the different instruments, but I did feel you had a few too many variations in there - they all fit together and it flows really well, but you only returned to the starting theme once... there wasn't something to kind of hold on to.
Orchestration - GORGEOUS, to say the least. Nice Christmassy instruments and the pizzicato was an excellent way of constructing a rhythm. Best orchestral piece I've heard from you yet ^_^
Originality - Heh, totally Enyaish but you've adapted the style to make it your own ;)
Overall - Lovely dynamics, you transitioned really smoothly between the different solo instruments and it evokes good imagery. I thought of a silent movie scene going through the frosty woodlands. And I'll say again - that orchestration is delightful!

Yellowmonkey121

Melody - I couldn't really identify any concrete melody in here to be honest, it just varied too much :/
Orchestration - I definitely got the "experimentation" vibe from this - some things worked and some things didn't. Strings at the beginning were a no-work, but your instrumental combinations during the other passages worked quite nicely. Especially liked the runs on that harp-like instrument towards the end.
Originality - It's unusual, to say the least... ;)
Overall - Well, the sudden transition to this funky drum melody was a bit... random :blink: It turns from this nice slow piano piece into this hyperactive crashcrash fest and then back to slow again so, erm, yeah - the funky bit was cool, but out of place, to say the least :/ Definitely not Christmassy, that's for sure ;)

Stefan

Melody - Well, I think it woulda been better to leave the God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen twiddly bits out, as they didn't really fit in with the rest of it ;) Leave those out and it makes a nice melody set :P
Orchestration - Pretty damn cool! Love your use of percussion and the dynamics were really good. Liked the echo effect of some passages to allow solos.
Originality - Well, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen definitely ain't original ;) So weird though, I keep getting your composition confused with Gesshoku Grand Guignol (the Avenger opening song) as they sound a bit similar. I'm pretty sure it's uniquely you though :P
Overall - I think it's really cool, but more a busy medieval town theme than owt to do with Christmas - the God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen extracts were the only things that made it Christmassy really. I woulda voted it for a CMA town theme, but not a Chrimbo competiton. I still really like the piece though - just totally bursting with life!

Sorry, guys, I'm very tired and I know I said I'd do these yesterday - will finish them off as soon as I can :)

Originally posted by madmazda86@Mar 26 2005, 11:58 PM
Originality - Heh, totally Enyaish but you've adapted the style to make it your own ;)
!!!!! :nosebleed:

It was meant to be a compliment - I adore Enya's music! *hides under table*

XD I guessed as much. I'm a huge fan of hers, too. She's influenced me to a point of no return in my composing! Didn't reckon many picked up on it, though. :bleh: Thanks for the compliment. It's... :think: MARVELOUS of you to say that. :)

Mainly in your choice of instruments and rhythms it comes through ;)

r4iko

Melody - The melody turned out really nice and sad, but wandered off later on in the piece. It somehow rather reminded me of a sad scene in a video game than a x-mas theme :/.
Orchestration - The piano accompany fits good together with the violin and you made good you use of chord progressions, but like madmazda said, it's a bit harsh sounding and became somewhat random in the end.
Originality - I can't help but to think of the Shingetsutan Tsukihime OST, with some personal flare mixed in :P
Overall - Nice and flowing! But not Chrismassy at all ;)

Gnomish

Melody - Nice variations! It kept my interest all the way. ^_^
Orchestration - Lol, marvelous :drool: *cough* Totally x-mas-ish! :D
Originality - Can't think of anything that sounds like this (*points at Enya* :P)
But that's just part of your style, which in fact is unique. =)
Overall - The Christmasiest of all songs in this competition, if the poll would still exist, I would have voted for this one :)

yellowmonkey

Melody - Lol, funky :doh: *hums the melody*
Orchestration - The beginning sounds a bit muddled, but after the drum kicks in.. it's amazing ;)
Originality - You should get your own genre :lol: (The harp run at the end, reminded me of the FF Preludes though...)
Overall - Great! But again not Christmassy. =_=

stefan

Melody - wee~ spirited all the way! :)
Orchestration -
Pretty damn cool! Love your use of percussion and the dynamics were really good. Liked the echo effect of some passages to allow solos. Exactly.
Originality - The first few seconds I thought it's the Forest Temple Theme of Zelda @_@ but after that it's an unique mix between medieval and barock.
Overall - Amazing... But again... not Christmassy. =_=²

TrumpetPlaya

Melody - The first part sounds very Bach-ish, but after that it gets too random for my taste. :\ In the end, the last few bars played by the tubular bell, sounded really x-massy! =)
Orchestration - *points at comment about melody*
Originality - Very unique style, couldn't think of any song which sounds like this.
Overall - Sounds like it's supposed to, "Running out of Time", but I can't associate it with christmas. Late for buying presents maybe? ;)


Puh.. *exhausted* I'll right the second part tomorrow!

P.S: Hope you don't mind my one-sentence-comments~ :think:

This is the interesting part, it's your choice and preferance how your song will sound. It could be a warm, love based song as well as a parade with bells and trumpets - This is your Christmas.

everyones interpretation of christmas is different. you just gotta figure out why the composer decided to go with that particular.... "christmassy sound". i already told everyone why mine was slow, then "funky", then slow again. even the popular christmas carols are all different. from fun 'jingle bells' to sad 'silent night'. well... im not saying much but i just wanted to point that out.

edit: i will rate everyones pieces soon.

it wont let me listen to mp3's!!! :/ :cry: :crybaby:

Comments.

r4iko - Reflection

Melody - Some passages I can remember very well, but other than that it got a tad too random. But random doesn't always have to be a bad thing, does it? ;)
Orchestration - The simplicity of it all makes it very good to listen to. MIDI sucks though, I'm sure it'll sound great live.
Originality - I'm sure I've heard something similar in my own time, but I can't remember anything. XD Originality points fer you!
Overall - I love this. It's one of my favorites in the competition, and it keeps my interest all the way. Too bad it doesn't sound all too Christmassy. For me, anyway.

Gnomish - Sleigh Ride Through the Snow Speckled Woods

Melody - Solid theme, and all that. Bah, what the hell, I like it! =P
Orchestration - Great job with the bells and all the whatsits. It does, however, sound a tad random after a while of listening to it, when kept throughout the piece like that. Or maybe it's just me. Very good though. Love that choir.
Originality - I've listened to your compos in your thread, and this is definitely you. (there's that case with Enya, as the others are saying, but know nothing about it XD )
Overall - Reminds me more of a lullaby than a sleigh ride, and I don't know, but it just lacks a bit of something that keeps my interest going. But as for the Christmassy factor, this one definitely has it.

yellowmonkey - Christmas Under the Snow

Melody - I couldn't pick out any consistent theme, to be honest. Still sounds good when you listen to it, though. (I was expecting a Jingle Bells bit there, but I guess I'm the only one who does that. :lol: )
Orchestration - MIDI ruins the strings. >.< But pretty nice job after the drums start kicking in.
Originality - Heh. Reminds me of all your other compositions, so yeah, woot, sounds original. :P
Overall - No lasting effect on me, to be honest. But yeah, real funky. You pull it off very well. XD

TrumpetPlaya - Running Out of Time

Melody - Very baroque-ish, though teetering on complete randomness. I think I can still hear the main subject after a while, though. XD
Orchestration - MIDI ruins the strings. >.< But it&#39;ll sound real neat live. Love the tubular bells. And the ending. :D
Originality - Sounds Bach-ish at times, but still original enough.
Overall - A few tweaks here and there can make a big difference. Christmassy when you think about it. XD

madmazda86 - The Match Girl

Melody - After a bit of careful listening to, the melody in itself is very nice. Quite difficult to grasp at first. O.O
Orchestration - Too messy for my taste, the woodwinds. :mellow: I don&#39;t know.
Originality - Originality points fer you, anyway. :P
Overall - This one definitely has enormous potential; with some tweaks to the system, it could be godly. But as for now, I really can&#39;t say. Despite all that, however, the likeability factor is huge. XD

Loganic Mind - Beloved

Melody - With all the instruments playing at once, I can&#39;t grasp who&#39;s playing the melody; add to that a bit of melodic wandering. I like the piano solo, though.
Orchestration - Nicely simple, which keeps it from becoming a mess. The instruments did work well together, though you could have used a tad more memorable lines with each of them.
Originality - Well, it&#39;s original. :P
Overall - I like the mood, but not Christmassy enough fer me.

Matt-Chan^^ - Candle Light

Melody - Woot&#33; It does do a bit of wandering after a while, but it doesn&#39;t keep the piece from being very good. Real nice.
Orchestration - PH34R the piano. &#39;Nuff said.
Originality - Since I can&#39;t detect anything to tell me otherwise, I&#39;ll pass it off as original. XD
Overall - I don&#39;t know why, but it doesn&#39;t remind me of Christmas. However, this piece is still one of my favorites in the competition. Do one a bit longer next time. :D

Great feedback guys, keep them coming ^^ But . . what are your votes? =T

Whoops.

Do we vote now?

Originally posted by madmazda86@Mar 22 2005, 03:39 PM
When the voting closes on April 7th we&#39;ll tally the posts with the votes in to decide the winner. This way all the composers who took the time to prepare a piece receive some feedback and an overall winner will be selected.
Just to remind people =P You guys have done great with the comments, but you have to pick your favourite&#33;

Follow this format please:


Name of Piece and Composer you voted for:
Why you think this piece should win the competition:

~~~~~~~~~~

R4iko - Reflection
Melody – Listening to this a few months later, I still remember how the first half goes ^^
Orchestration – When you started off with just piano and oboe/flute (?), I thought it was great. But when you repeated the theme while adding more instruments, I could really feel the depth of the emotion.
Originality – Er . . sure, it’s original? o.o How do I comment? >.>
Overall – I liked the first half more than the second half. Nevertheless, I think I would have voted for your piece as 2nd place =)

Gnomish - Sleigh Ride Through the Snow Speckled Woods
Melody – Although it was really nice and easy to follow, good variations, with proper phrasing and everything, for some reason it doesn’t stick in my memory as easily =T
Orchestration – Just perfect, it’s what makes this song work&#33;
Originality – I don’t know Enya’s music, so I can’t really say what madmazda said, haha . .
Overall – Definitely Christmassy =P Really lovely&#33; I’d also vote you for 2nd place ^^;;;;

yellowmonkey121 - Christmas Under the Snow
Melody – It’s really pure and sweet, like a love ballad.
Orchestration – In the first half, everything complemented each other very well. You have a great sense of using the right instruments. But when the drums came in, it really did remind me of a pop love ballad, haha, and I can’t decide yet if that’s a good or bad thing.
Originality – I hate this question v.v (oh, I agree with Matt-Chan about the harp run at the end)
Overall – I found that the second half dragged on a little bit too much, but other than that, this is a really good song. I don’t expect any less from a composer such as yourself&#33;

Stefan - Carolers on a December Night
Melody - *hums it* lalala . . although it was fast and it “ran” around, it was still easy for me to follow along, the mark of a good melody&#33;
Orchestration – When all your instruments come in together, wow . . what else can I say?
Originality – You explore lots of different styles, so you get plus points for that. However, you get minus points because you adapted previously-written carols, plus you happened to chose the carols that I hate XD
Overall – So fun and uplifting&#33; =P Unfortunately, it didn’t remind me of carolers o.0 I was expecting choral voices =T But hey, at least this really sounded like Christmas, more so than most of the other pieces in this contest&#33; Here’s another 2nd place&#33;

TrumpetPlaya42 - Running Out of Time
Melody – I don’t know, it wasn’t hard to follow along, but it doesn’t stick in my memory, sorry.
Orchestration – Really nice . . although you mainly used strings, I could distinguish all the parts. The bells connect everything together nicely.
Originality – Very distinct from all the others, haha. It’s original, except for the very end with the clock tower bells.
Overall – Sorry, it didn’t feel like Christmas to me at all =&#092; I know each interpretation is different, but still.

madmazda86 - The Match Girl
Melody – It’s great&#33; I hum it all the time. Okay, so maybe I know the melody better than anyone else here, but still =P (Gnomish, you’re right, it does briefly modulate)
Orchestration – I wish it could be recorded with real instruments =(
Originality – Definitely original? Yes indeed&#33; XD I do believe I haven’t heard anything else quite like it.
Overall – “Matches, matches&#33;” =D It’s like it’s concise . . everything you wanted to say, you did it, and you got the job done in a little neat package ^^

Loganic Mind - Beloved
Melody – It wasn’t that bad, for the same reason as TrumpetPlaya42’s.
Orchestration – You managed to accomplish a lot with the few instruments you used (most of the other songs here went for the “big bang”).
Originality – Very original. I still can’t put my finger as to what style it is . .
Overall - I wonder how many times I’ve listened to your piece ^^; ah well, it was nice, I’m glad you worked hard to continually improve and to make it the best you could.

Matt-Chan^^ - Candle Light
Melody – Wow, so moving, I can’t say anything else . .
Orchestration – Great piano-ness T_T omg . .
Originality – Yup yup, original *hates this question* if anything, it doesn’t sound “cliché”, and that’s always a good thing =P
Overall – Another 2nd place&#33; (geez, I better stop doing that . .)

~

Name of Piece and Composer you voted for: The Match Girl, by madmazda86
Why you think this piece should win the competition: Helping her to record it means a lot to me. That’s the true spirit of Christmas, being there for friends and family, the essence of the Match Girl ^^ . . oh, and it didn’t hurt that it was a really good song too xP

~

Current Tally:
2 ~ Matt-Chan (from Gnomish and Sukarufu)
2 ~ Gnomish (from Matt-Chan <-- please confirm? and from Stefan)
1 ~ madmazda (from Al)

Oh, and as Gnomish requested in the old thread, we should keep track of the 2nd place person, maybe even the 3rd.

:china: Thanks for the feedback. The tally count is a great idea, but is there perhaps a more visual/organized way of marking it out? :think:

Hm... it seems as if most of the voters are the competitors themselves... Ok, here are my comments:

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

R4iko- Reflection

Melody- The melody itself is quite emotional and interesting but if it was to be rated in a Christmas competition, I don&#39;t think it will fit as much, but I really liked the melody.

Orchestration- Good choice of instrument for your melody but since the melody is not Christmas-ish enough, the orchestration did not quite appeal as much as it would be in a real Christmas song.

Originality- Very original.

Overall- Again, not Christmasy enough, but I really liked the melody and everything, if this song was entered in some other competition with other themes, I would definately choose this one.

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

Gnomish- Sleigh Ride through the Snow Speckled Woods

Melody- The melody is very tranquil and relaxing, the name of this piece fits with the melody very well.

Orchestration- Perfect&#33; Just what a Christmas song should have&#33;

Originality- Uh... People say it&#39;s really Enya-ish style... but I don&#39;t know... because I haven&#39;t really heard her songs ^^&#39;.

Overall- Excellent, not much I can really say... Very fitting... Yea...

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

yellowmonkey121- Christmas Under Snow

Melody- There seems to be a bunch of Christmasy melodies.... Too much varieties...

Orchestration- Good use of instruments, especially the percussions and the tubular bells.

Originality- Quite original... other than the harp runs... like other people said... :think:

Overall- Good, I liked how the whole piece fit together...

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

Stefan- Carolers on a December Night

Melody- Quick and mischeveous somehow... Interesting thing to listen to in a Christmas...

Orchestration- The instruments fits the mood very well... The oboe (?) does make the melody sound funny/joyous/mischeveous.

Originality- Quite original, but for some reason it made me thing of other songs that have a mischeveous mood or something like that.

Overall- Very Good. I liked it, very interesting...Very cartoonish kind of Christmas...

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

Trumpetplaya42- Running of Time

Melody- I did not really liked the melody because somehow I feel random in this song @_@

Orchestration- You have chosen the correct instruments for Christmas songs... (Strings, bells...) but the melody wasn&#39;t quite Christmasy, so you get a point of getting good instruments for Christmas songs.

Originality- Quite original.

Overall- Not bad, good instrumenting for a Christmas song, but not a good melody...

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

Madmazda86- The Match Girl

Melody- Interesting melody, good.

Orchestration- Interesting orchestration...

Originality- Very original...

Overall- Very Good, because it is something that people will want to hear in Christmas

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

Loganic Mind- Beloved

Melody- I don&#39;t know... I did not quite liked the melody for some reason... But it is just a personal preference... And it is not very Christmasy enough.

Orchestration- Good orchestration, with flute, piano and violin.

Originality- Quite Original

Overall- Not bad for a normal piece, but not good for a Christmas piece because I cannot recognize any materials of Christmas in your song, sorry.. But the song itself isn&#39;t that bad, but just didn&#39;t fit very well for this contest...

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

Matt-Chan^^- Candle Light

Melody- Lovely melody... Reminds me of candles in churches or on dinner tables...

Orchestration- Good, because it only consist piano.

Originality- Quite Original

Overall- Excellent&#33; You sort of expressed the peaceful side of Christmas&#33; I like this contrast compared to all those other ones, but the only thing that I have to pick out is that if you add slightly more life to it, it will sound much more Christmasy&#33;

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

It&#39;s hard to choose&#33; All of them are nearly as good as each other&#33; So... my vote goes to Matt-Chan^^ because he gave a contrast to all the strong, joyous, powerful Christmas songs&#33;

*bump* time&#39;s up T_T . . this can&#39;t be the end, can it? Or does Matt-Chan and Gnomish tie with 2 votes each? :heh:

Er... extension? Hardly anyone&#39;s voted yet.

In any case, I&#39;m voting fer Gnomish&#39;s, for having a consistent theme and a clearly defined structure. And it&#39;s like the choir was singing "vooote for mee&#33; vooote for mee&#33;" XD

I don&#39;t really think there are any more people that are going to vote because it &#39;seems&#39; quite challenging for some people to write a reason of why they like that certain song X_X ... But if we stop now, we have a tie... :think:

After discussion with madmazda, we&#39;ve decided that since we&#39;ve received enough feedback on the pieces, it&#39;s time to decide a winner&#33; As such, we&#39;ll be returning to the old voting system. However, it seems like we can&#39;t edit the poll back in, so . .

Simply vote for the piece you like best, and you don&#39;t have to have to state why ^^

Current Tally:
2 ~ Matt-Chan (from Gnomish and Sukarufu)
3 ~ Gnomish (from Matt-Chan and Stefan and Sarkurah)
1 ~ madmazda (from Al)

Voting closes on Thursday, April 14th, 2005

Oops&#33;

Just let me collect my things and vote. :whistle:

E- I vote for Gnomish, his song seemed the most uh . . what&#39;s the word? :mellow:

X-masy, Christmassy? Whatever. X_X

Melody - It was definitely relaxing, something I could just kick back and listen to. It didn&#39;t really stick though, nothing really to hum along to.

Orchestration - Perfect, otherwise no comment.

Originality - N/A, sorry.

Overall It was the most Christmas sounding song. Most things worked out, everything fit together, instruments, dynamics, what else can I say?

E- Oops, I just noticed that I didn&#39;t have to go through all of that. :whistle:
No matter. :)

No worries, madmazda is in the process of returning the beloved poll&#33; ^^

*adds your vote to the tally nevertheless*

Wheeee, the luffly Zero has resurrected the poll for us :worshippy: Thankyou Zero&#33; *pays him off with chocolate* ;)

Argh. Stupid me.

I just viewed the results without voting. >.O

Sigh i&#39;m lost here I&#39;ll vote for you stefan just pm me

People aren&#39;t voting ;_;

Oh, and I think we decided that it would close in a week . . although I don&#39;t know when that particular day is . . o.0

Why is the poll back? I thought everyone liked the new voting system? I thought it was bad at first, but it was actually picking up....

It&#39;s back up &#39;cause we thought that was what everyone wanted... *sighs* I don&#39;t know what to do anymore :(

:comfort:

Hmm, maybe you should advertise this on the other forums...?

=T nah, we like to keep things within this forum. More tight-knit. For instance, we can&#39;t post links to other forums in our signatures. And I think other forums wouldn&#39;t like the spam.

Anyways, we usually don&#39;t get many votes in any case, so meh. But we currently have someone in the lead&#33; But I won&#39;t say who it is yet, especially since the deadline hasn&#39;t arrived yet. So, keep the votes coming people =D

(Methinks he meant the other sub-forums on the Ichigo&#39;s forum. :think:)

Err, right - I actually meant the sub-forums, or boards, though on second though, that might slant the votes towards more "popular-style" pieces... maybe we can set up a seperate vote for them, and average that with these votes, which seem to mainly come from the participants.

It&#39;s complicated enough as it is :/

:heh: whoops for my misinterpretation . .

=D another tie, how exciting&#33;

c&#39;mon people please vote :cry:

So . . :heh: should we close the poll and declare the winners?

lol. 3 winners.

Originally posted by Stefan@Apr 9 2005, 07:47 PM
Argh. Stupid me.

I just viewed the results without voting. >.O
You could have been the tie-breaker XD

Actually o.0 . . why *don&#39;t* you be the tie-breaker? :think: . . just make a post saying who you would have voted for . . so it&#39;ll alllll ride on you, but no pressure now :shifty:

But didn&#39;t Dorak vote for Stefan...? @_@

Originally posted by Dorak@Apr 9 2005, 07:50 PM
Sigh i&#39;m lost here I&#39;ll vote for you stefan just pm me
You&#39;re right Gnomish&#33; :blink: Since Stefan nulled the vote, Dorak was going to do it for him . . but did he do it yet?

No, no one&#39;s voted on my behalf...

How&#39;d I miss that? O_o

EDIT: I&#39;m starting to think it&#39;ll sound suspicious to everyone, if I do some tie-breaking. XD

OMG, we have a winner? Should I announce who it is?

Good. Announce it quick, before someone else makes a tie. :ph34r:

Okay&#33; I am proud to announce that after many months, the winner of the Christmas CMA is Matt-Chan&#33;&#33; =D Congratulations and thanks to everybody who participated&#33;

~~

Can a mod/admin please de-pin this thread, as well as make the official announcement here (http://forums.ichigos.com/index.php?showtopic=576)? Thank you.

Wheee, congrats&#33; :D

woah, thanks everyone :o

Yay, speech&#33; XD