based off of Q.K.'s TOMC topic of 07
Thematic Original Music Competition
What is it?
The thematic original music competition is an idea I borrowed from the OCRemix forums (I first heard about it here :P ~Darklight). Basically, contestants get a description of a situation or story that could be found in a video game, movie, book, etc. Contestants then write an original piece of music to fit the story. While some competitions have certain guidelines or rules to follow, being as this is the first TOMC here at ZFGC in 2 years, it'll be more lenient.
Categories
Low-Fi: MIDI, Chiptunes, NES, etc. This is set up for people who do not have access to higher end programs such as FL Studio, Reason, Logic, Cubase, or other more advanced sound libraries. You are free to submit your songs without the sound quality being a factor in the judging.
Hi-Fi: This is set up for people who have access to higher quality sounds, and would like their work judged on things such as production quality, sound quality, etc.
These two categories will be separate from each other so as to be fair to both groups of people.
Themes
While normally in a typical TOMC there is only one theme to pick from, considering we have a smaller amount of composers here, that this is the second TOMC at ZFGC and because there was such a long gap between this one and the last, I will allow for multiple themes to choose from. Both categories are free to pick from these themes. When you write your song, while it's not necessary, feel free to supply the ending or outcome of the story you chose.
1. Mist
You walk on, unable to see anything more than ten feet in front of you. You can hear strange sounds, you can almost taste the dread in the heavy air. Then suddenly, the mist begins to clear...
2. The Forest
Under the canopy, it's beggining to get very dark. The insects are beggining their racket, as the birds are quitening down. But it's not all you can hear...
3. Rush
The landscape rushes by as the wind roars in your ears. You can see for miles, a vast vista under the bright midday sun. Green fields, grey lakes and snow capped mountains. But how are you moving? Are you flying? Running? Driving? or is it all just a dream? And more than that, are you running from something?
Obviously with these themes there are varying degrees to which you can be creative. For example the third is more specific, while the first and second are totally up to you - what's behind the mist, where are you? what can you hear through the insect's racket? Feel free to be creative when writing the music.
Signup
1. sjegtp - Lo-Fi Rush Theme
2. D-Pad - Hi-Fi Mist Theme
3. Q.K. - Hi-Fi Rush Theme
4. Kingknight - Lo-Fi Mist Theme
5. TomPel - Hi-Fi Mist Theme
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You will be able to sign up until the 7th of March, at 12:00 AM Midnight ACDT (Australian Central Daylight Time), which is currently UTC/GMT +10:30 hours. When signing up, please let me know which category, and theme you want.
Prize
"If ever a challenger wins over a fellow competitor, he or she will gain the people's ovation and fame forever" ... well, almost. Actually, there isn't a whole lot that can be offered, but if you happen to think of something, post it and I'll consider it.
Voting
Voting will take place in a series of polls. There will be the two categories being judged separately from themselves, for sound quality reasons stated above. If, while not likely, there are enough people, it will be even further divided into categories+themes. However, this is not likely considering we have 2 categories and 3 themes to choose from, and only a limited number of composers. Voting will take place once time for writing the music is up and all pieces are in.
Start Time and Deadline
I would request that you DO NOT start writing your songs until midnight on the 7th and signup is closed. As for a deadline, you will get up to 2 weeks - midnight on the 21st of March - depending on how fast entries come in. If all entries are received early, we will jump straight to polls.
At the time of the competition's official start, I will be posting the locations of some music resources (soundfonts, VST's) that may be of use. Feel free to use any of them, and also feel free to search for your own in the meantime.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, hopefully enough people will sign up and FOLLOW THROUGH with this. Good luck to all competitors.