_______ _________ ____ ____ \ \ \_ ___ \ \ \ / / / \ / \/ \ \/ \ | / / | \ \____ \ / \____|____/\________/ \___/ Entry Applications : 170 Music Contest 5 Update 1 - 29 Jun 1997 Voter Applications : 128 >------------------------------------------------------------------ Contents -- Introduction Files Schedule Articles Email Response: Entry Divisions ............... Snowman Email Response: Entry Time Limit .............. Snowman Email Response: Public Downloading ............ GD MC5 Judging Players Update .................... GD Closing >-------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction -- Welcome to the first issue of the MC5 Updates newsletter. This newsletter will be released periodically during the contest. Be sure to check here for important contest information and updates. _____Registration Online MC5 registration is a hit! Credit goes to Snowman for the scripts that make this possible. We are happy to provide this simple method of registration for entering and voting. If you're not signed up yet, just go to the web page and fill out the correct form! _____Uploading Many registered entrants have been quick to upload their songs, only to later realize they made a mistake in their entry. Perhaps they didn't clear the sample text that listed their name, or they forgot to actually create an order list to play the song. There's no prize for uploading your entry early. Double check everything before sending your song in, because once it is uploaded, it may not be replaced. _____Judging Guidelines Coming in future issues of the MC5 Updates newsletter will be judging guidelines. Be sure to watch for those as they will have important information for all MC5 judges. _____Fun Filled Fact I sent nearly 5 megabytes worth of email during MC4. _____Conclusion We're looking forward to another great competition. Enjoy the contest! GD / Hornet - gd@hornet.org >--------------------------------------------------------------------- Files -- Description Location URL ------------- -------- ------------------------------------------------------ MC5 Web Page USA http://www.hornet.org/music/contests/mc5 MC5 Archive USA ftp://ftp.hornet.org/pub/demos/music/contests/mc5 administrator: r3cgm@hornet.org -- /music/contests/mc5 -----------------------------------------------------> /files/mc5rules.zip Music Contest 5 rules, entry registration form, entry/voting checklist >------------------------------------------------------------------ Schedule -- All times are given in GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Date Time Event --------- --------- ------------------------------------------------------- 31 May 97 00:00 GMT Contest starts * <-- YOU ARE HERE 14 Jul 97 00:00 GMT Entry application deadline 15 Jul 97 00:00 GMT Entry deadline 18 Jul 97 00:00 GMT Voting round 1 begins 28 Jul 97 00:00 GMT Voting round 1 ends 01 Aug 97 00:00 GMT Voting round 2 begins 11 Aug 97 00:00 GMT Voting round 2 ends 17 Aug 97 00:00 GMT Contest ends, results released, organizers go home >------------------------------------------------------------------ Articles -- :: "Email Response: Entry Divisions" :: Snowman / Hornet - r3cgm@hornet.org > I see a problem in dividing the music compo to different divisions. > A veteran could compete in intermediate, or even rookie division, > and win that section easily. How do you control what belongs > to what division? Just by assuming that people are honest enough? There is another controlling factor you've overlooked. There is more honor and prestige in winning veteran than there is rookie. Say, for example, that Necros has written the best song ever. He enters it in rookie and wins the division. King of the newbies? Imagine what the people on #trax would think about that. People who enter a division higher than what they are capable of are going to get their butts whipped. People who enter a division below what they are capable of are going to win but get made fun of. The music scene is a powerful self-controlling beast sometimes. :) > How can you judge if you belong to rookie, intermediate, or veteran > category? Years tracked? Amount of songs composed? That's a pretty > impossible thing to say. Two categories would be better I think, bad and > good composers, simple as that. Or one division would be even better like > in all demoparties. The rookie/veteran split has worked well for us since Music Contest 2. This year we thought we'd try an intermediate division. So far, the split has been fairly logical. Of the 50 or so entries I've listened to so far, most of them seem to be entered in the appropriate category. Musicians aren't all newbies or veterans. There are a significant number of trackers out there who have finished their newbie roots but aren't experienced enough to go veteran. For these people, the intermediate division was created. Don't pull this "impossible thing to say"! :) I've been tracking since 1992 and have always had a fairly good grip on my skill level with relation to the rest of the scene. If you're really confused, I've got a way for you to figure out exactly which category to enter. Write 5 songs, go on #trax, have everyone listen to them. Ask them if the songs are "bad", "ok", or "good". Average the results. Now you know which division to enter. And hey, if it doesn't work out, we'll take it out in MC6. You wouldn't want Music Contest to stop experimenting and improving would you? =-----------------------------------------------------------------------------= :: "Email Response: Entry Time Limit" :: Snowman / Hornet - r3cgm@hornet.org > The four minute rule is very limiting. Instead of limiting the maximun > length, the judges should only be required to listen to the first four > minutes of the song. Yes, that would be ideal. It is also enforceable, and done regularly, at music competitions held at demo parties. However, it is not enforceable for a competition where the judges are listening to the entries at home. The 4 minute time limit is in place so that judges don't have to spend too much of their time listening to crap entries. Sure I wouldn't mind if Necros wanted to enter a 6 minute tune, but what about having to judge 40 rookie songs that were each 6 minutes long. Ouch! :) What's the point of allowing songs over 4 minutes if we have a way to force judges to only listen to only the first 4 minutes of it? Say next year that everyone is universally playing .mp3's. We could force judges to only listen to the first 4 minutes of a song by converting .it -> .wav -> .mp3, and only encoding the first 4 minutes. MC5 is supposed to be like a demo-party music compo in that you don't have to go anywhere to enter. To that end, we strive to make the contest as efficient as possible for both the entrants and the judges. An increased or relaxed time-limit is not conducive to that end. I hope you understand. =-----------------------------------------------------------------------------= :: "Email Response: Public Downloading" :: GD / Hornet - gd@hornet.org > I just want to toss an idea at you guys, even though it probably won't be > taken very seriously. I've been talking about this with others as well, > and even though I agree with MC5 organizing for the most part, I think > you're making a serious mistake by not releasing the MC5 songs for > download. > > I can understand that you're trying to preserve the anonymity of composers > and impartiality of judges, but I'm not convinced that this will even > accomplish that goal. Judges are going to gossip among themselves no > matter what you do, and the non-voting public won't have any impact on the > judging process whether they hear the songs or not. > > Instead of frowning upon the discussion of MC5 songs (which for the most > part is far more innocent than you suggest), just write it off as > excitement and positive interest in your wonderful compo. Approve the MC5 > entries as you get them, release 'em, and let the music sceners have their > fun. We have discussed this issue and decided to reinstate public downloading of entries. Public downloading also adds another benefit: anyone who downloads an entry that violates a rule can notify us. We are unable to inspect every single entry ourselves, so the public can serve as entry inspectors for us. We do have automated checking for song time length, file size, and proof of entry registration, but we have no way of checking to see if an entrant put their name in the sample text, instrument text, or message area. If you are downloading MC5 entries and find a song that gives away the author's identity in the song text, please notify Snowman (r3cgm@hornet.org). Please note: we do not disqualify entries in MC5 that included sample filenames, as long as those names don't give away who it is. The sample names, as opposed to the sample text, are an artifact of the tracker, not an active addition made by the person tracking. =-----------------------------------------------------------------------------= :: "MC5 Judging Players Update" :: GD / Hornet - gd@hornet.org _____Introduction We have received a significant response to our initial judging player rules. Because of this, there has been a change to the module players that will be used for judging MC5 entries. _____MC5 Judging Players Here are the allowed entry formats, and the corresponding player which will be used for judging each format. Format Player to be used for judging ------ ----------------------------- IT Impulse Tracker 2.12 MOD Cubic Player 1.7 S3M Cubic Player 1.7 XM Fast Tracker 2.06 _____Conclusion All XM modules will be judged with Fast Tracker 2. This will provide better playback and should resolve all disagreements with our old MC5 player policy. >------------------------------------------------------------------- Closing -- _____Contact Information Send general questions and comments to GD (Brett Neely), gd@hornet.org Questions and comments regarding the webpages, online registration, or entry verification should be sent to Snowman (Christopher G. Mann), r3cgm@hornet.org The MC5 homepage is at http://www.hornet.org/music/contests/mc5 _____How to Subscribe to "MC5 Updates" Mail to : listserver@unseen.aztec.co.za Body : subscribe mc5-updates first_name last_name Be sure to substitute your real name for first_name last_name. The listserver will send the MC5 Newsletter to your e-mail's return address. EOMC5UPD