12-01-2018, 08:13 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-01-2019, 07:04 PM by LucentTear.)
Hello Online Sequencer! It’s time to start the final Monthly Contest of the Beta Monthly Contests!
General Information
The entry period is from 12/1 ~ 12/21 (11:59 PM EST). Winners will be announced on 12/31!
While we will post general notes on every contest, please refer to the Monthly Contest announcement thread for more details on Monthly Contests themselves.
- Entry limit of 3 sequences per person. We’ve updated the rules which we’ll explain later.
- Committee members are allowed to enter the contests, but will not enter their example sequence nor will they vote for their own entry.
- Sequences made prior to the current Monthly Contest are allowed, although we don’t recommend entering the same sequence in different Monthly Contests.
- Making a remix of an existing song is allowed. Please make it as creative as possible while applying the contest’s theme.
- The standard Online Sequencer Rules will apply and any entries violating a rule will automatically be disqualified.
We have something very special for you all this month. We have 3 themes!
Of course, with there being multiple themes in a month, a few extra rules need to be in place to keep everything fair for everyone and just to clarify a few things.
- For starters, you can earn leaderboard points in multiple different themes. It also means you can be the winner of the Beta Monthly Contests even if you haven’t placed on the leaderboard yet.
- Instead of being able to enter 2 sequences, you can only enter 1 sequence into each theme, so enter your sequences wisely! You are allowed to change that entry before the end of the entry period, just make sure you reply to the forum page so we get notified of it.
- We will have to be forced to not give anybody points on one of the themes if too few sequences are entered in it, but this hopefully won’t have to be a problem.
As always, if you have any questions about anything, please ask!
Now, let’s reveal the themes!
Committee Notes
Hello everyone, I've been asked to work on Winter theme sample.
##981997
Winter always seemed to give off the vibe of being locked indoors as you peek through the glass absentmindedly.
For this sample, I slowed down the BPM more than usual, as well as using some softer instruments to compliment the piano. Vibraphone can pull off a traditional winter sound, but using smooth synths and concert harp can also help smooth the overall feel of the sequence.
As for the general chord scheme, using blurry, melancholic chords can really bring out that lonely feel. You want to somehow let the chords "slow you down", if that makes sense. On top of all of that, doing this will make it easier to accentuate brighter chord resolutions.
Of course, this is just one interpretation of winter. If you guys have something else winter-related, I'll be always happy to give it a listen.
The second theme (as is obvious with it being December) is Christmas Songs! This one’s purely remix only. Pick your favorite Christmas song and remix it!
Not gonna lie, I really like Christmas music. I’m that one person that occasionally finds themselves listening to Christmas music out of season.
For this example sequence, I originally planned to do a giant medley of all the Christmas songs I could find. I’ll do that eventually, but it was just too big of a project to do on time. So instead I decided a different sequence that may or may not have actually been less work to do....
To give an example that proves that maybe you could do a bit more than just a cover of a song, I decided to do a sequence that might not necessarily sound “Christmas-y” as it doesn’t have to.
I decided to do the song sleigh ride but instead I styled it like Slider from Super Mario 64. I may have gone a little overboard.... I made 2 versions. One where it’s a single playthrough and a second where it loops. If you think your computer can handle the larger version, go right ahead, but don’t blame me for excessive lag and tabs freezing up or crashing.
Unlooped version: ##982036 Looped Version: ##983298
The third theme is Finale Music. Finales are either a tearful goodbye, a grant finale conflict, or a recap of all the events so far. Either way, they evoke emotion, memory, and are heavily mood and experienced based.
This sequence relates by summarizing the year; it goes through all the little moments, happy and sad, while at the same time keeping a thoughtful, memorable tone; a sort of: "Remember that time when...?"
##955401