MakeMusic's Garritan Composition Contest

[rbowser-]

Word of advice. When I sent in my entry it was 1 minute 28 seconds long. When it appeared on contest web page it was expanded to 1 minute 34 seconds long.

That is odd, Tom - I just now looked through the entries, there are 15 now. 7 of them show up as being exactly 1:30. That doesn't seem likely to me. I theorize that something is screwy with the encoder being used, and that the times are arbitrarily different from the originals. Yours now shows up as 1:35, not 1:34. Someone else's is at 1:31.

I'll write to them and point out those problems. Obviously they have to go by the actual lengths of what was sent in, not the lengths as they were randomly changed when being processed for posting there.

Randy

[rbowser-]

There are 19 entries now, and they cover a wide range of musical styles. Over a month to go. It'll be interesting to see how many more compositions are posted, and how many more Garritan Forum members send pieces in.

Randy

[rbowser-]

Keeping this celebration of the new union of Garritan Corp. with Make Music on the Forum map - There are 44 entries now, new ones are coming in at a faster rate now. Looks like the contest will be very lively by the time it's a wrap.

Randy

[rbowser-]

68 entries at this point. Several of them are very accomplished, professional pieces. Deadline is March 10. Over 10,000 people have "Liked" this on Facebook - so at least some folks really are paying attention!

Randy

[RichR]

I listened to these and there are some really good ones.

Unfortunately, I heard some that were more than 3 to 4 minutes long (and longer) and some that I questioned used any Garritan instruments at all. I wonder how they are going to be sorted out prior to voting. I hate to think that those who followed the rules of the competition may not get into the final voting due to votes from facebook friends on those that are not correctly presented.

I guess that is the way with many open competitions.

[rbowser-]

I listened to these and there are some really good ones.

Unfortunately, I heard some that were more than 3 to 4 minutes long (and longer) and some that I questioned used any Garritan instruments at all. I wonder how they are going to be sorted out prior to voting. I hate to think that those who followed the rules of the competition may not get into the final voting due to votes from facebook friends on those that are not correctly presented.

I guess that is the way with many open competitions.

Yes, there are quite a few entries that have a number of issues.

I have the distinct impression that some people are just using the contest as another way to get their music online and heard, even though their offerings have nothing to do with the contest. Like, a piece went up yesterday which is totally electronic, no Garritan instruments, over the time limit, has nothing to do with the travel theme, and isn't based on the posted motif.

The rules say that once a piece is posted, it can't be removed, and that there can only be one entry per person. But one guy removed his first entry, and did a new one. Some people have posted their entries twice. -- How's all that happening?

And it's a good question, Rich, will these illegal entries be removed before the voting? The rules say that the 10 finalists will need to provide original project files to prove they used Garritan instruments - what if some of the finalists don't qualify, squeezing out legit pieces that otherwise could've been in the final running?---IIIIi don't know. It looks to me like a not-very-well run contest.

But mixed in there are some excellent pieces which follow the contest rules to a T.

Of course, the Facebook set up for this means that the first round will only determine which contestants have the most friends on Facebook, meaning that the quality of the music won't be a factor at all before the final round which is supposed to be judged by a panel of experts.

And yet!--- Someone's going to win airline tickets to anywhere in the world! - So - we'll see what happens!

Randy

[RichR]

You are perfectly correct in your assessment, Randy. I don't mind losing but I do mind losing when I play by the rules and others do not. I am sorry to say this is more the case in today's society than ever before.

"Because 'I' exist, I deserve the prize" attitude is way too prevalent!

(now I'll go get a cup of hot cocoa and sit in my rocking chair)

[rbowser-]

...

"Because 'I' exist, I deserve the prize" attitude is way too prevalent!...

I was having a conversation just the other day with relatives about things like this. Young people nowadays grow up winning prizes and trophies for Everything they do, no matter if they really deserve it. Mantles across the country are piled with trophies kids have won - and the kids know the trophies are meaningless. Everyone wins - all the time. Compare that to the few but hard earned prizes we may have been given when we were young. This concept that everyone is equal with no equal effort is stultifying - to individuals, to countries, to the world.

Randy joining you in the Geezer corner

[Haydn]

Kids these days seem to need constant rewards. There is a 19 year old girl in our karate class that took karate for 10 years with Young Champions karate. This organization has abour 40 belt levels to get to black belt versus the 10 we have in our system. They give out the belts constantly for every little thing. I had my son in it for about a year and thought it was a joke especially since my son was barely learning anything, just collecting patches and belts.

We were making joking that her uniform looks like a girl scout uniform with all the patches she has covering it. She must have 40 patches on it she earned during the 10 years!

We had to change the belts for kids because of this instant gratification issue so there are now 20 belt levels for just the kids. Adults still only have the 10 belts.

Jim

[Iacobus Rodelus]

Kids these days seem to need constant rewards. There is a 19 year old girl in our karate class that took karate for 10 years with Young Champions karate. This organization has abour 40 belt levels to get to black belt versus the 10 we have in our system. They give out the belts constantly for every little thing. I had my son in it for about a year and thought it was a joke especially since my son was barely learning anything, just collecting patches and belts.

We were making joking that her uniform looks like a girl scout uniform with all the patches she has covering it. She must have 40 patches on it she earned during the 10 years!

We had to change the belts for kids because of this instant gratification issue so there are now 20 belt levels for just the kids. Adults still only have the 10 belts.

Jim

Helen: I can't believe you don't want to go to your own son's graduation.
Bob: It's not a graduation. He is moving from the 4th grade to the 5th grade.
Helen: It's a ceremony!
Bob: It's psychotic! They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity, but if someone is genuinely exceptional...

From Pixar's "The Incredibles"

So true. lol