JANUARY 2010 COMPETITION

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

Welcome to the first competition of 2010: the IMPROMPTU COMPETITION. This one will work a little differently than the last few, so please read the rules in their entirety.

Entrants to this competition will write an "impromptu" or a "compositional etude." We will be using a modified form of David Rakowski's definition of these terms: "Each étude [or impromptu] must be written from start to finish without revision, and must take a maximum of [two] days to finish."* Some examples of Rakowski's etudes can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/rakman4

Using this definition, here is your competition brief:

Entrants will write an impromptu or compositional etude for any group of instruments. Entries must be posted in their final form no more than 48 hours after competition sign-up. Judges will verify the time limit via the forum's automatic time-stamp. Entries should be longer than 1 minute, with no maximum time limit. Each entry must include both a score and a sound-file of some form. If the nature of the musical material is not amenable to traditional notation, graphic scores will be permitted with the inclusion of a visual key. Judges will assess entries by compositional unity, overall concept, quality, originality, and effort. Given the subjective nature of these parameters, every judge must assess every entry!

Please note that while Rakowski's definition precludes revision, it does not preclude sketching or pre-planning; you should feel free to do as much prep work as you need, provided it falls within the 48-hour limit.

COMPETITION DEADLINE: All entries must be received by Sunday, January 24, 2010.

The competition will be open beginning Friday, January 1, 2010.

ENTRIES:

1. Michael P.

2. Dirk Gently (Past deadline)

3. DJ Fatuus (Past deadline)

4. SergeofArniVillage

5. benxiwf

6. impresario Dropped at entrant's request

JUDGES:

1. Christopher Dunn-Rankin

2. jawoodruff

3. Tokkemon

(NO MORE JUDGES WILL BE ADDED UNTIL THE LIST OF ENTRIES GROWS BEYOND 5!)

*Rakowski allows himself six days to finish an etude.

I think I'll do this. Hey, you can add this deadline to the site calendar. It'll be a useful feature when we get bunches of competitions listed.

Awesome! I don't know yet if I'll participate yet since I have to catch up on my internetbased counterpoint course. Otherwise I won't be eligible for study allowances next semester. :rolleyes: I hope I get time to do something for this competition. (Putting aside everything for composing for 48 hours shouldn't be that hard but I have to put some priority on my studies at the moment hehe)

Ummmm....I have been going through a never ending dry spell lately so this might be good for me. I will let u know. Can someone please elaberate on the definition of an impromptu? I'm still a bit unsure of what I might be walking into. :ermm:

THE COMPETITION IS NOW OPEN!!!

An impromptu in this case (if you read the rules above) is a piece that you write in a period of 48 hours - no more. Beyond that, it's undefined.

BRING ON THE SUBMISSIONS!

Ok.... I'll do it.

I suppose I could be a judge.

Hmmmmm...I'll think about joining...

Well.... my entry was due to day at 11:31 am. I would have posted it but I can not figuer out for the life of me how to upload it. :ermm:

Well.... my entry was due to day at 11:31 am. I would have posted it but I can not figuer out for the life of me how to upload it. :ermm:

network

Click the network link above. Select my profile. You should see three tabs on your profile page. One of which says music. Click the music tab. Scroll down a little bit till on the left hand side of the screen you see Add Composition. Click that and then upload your works.

network

Click the network link above. Select my profile. You should see three tabs on your profile page. One of which says music. Click the music tab. Scroll down a little bit till on the left hand side of the screen you see Add Composition. Click that and then upload your works.

Um.... the link is broken.

The link works for me. You could always just type in www.youngcomposers.com in the url bar.

For anyone else who has trouble uploading, please leave a post in this thread giving a) the title of your piece, and b) its instrumentation, as verification that your piece has been completed by your 48-hour deadline.

Ok...I got it!! :P

Impromptu

Judge I shall!

"Please note that while Rakowski's definition precludes revision, it does not preclude sketching or pre-planning; you should feel free to do as much prep work as you need, provided it falls within the 48-hour limit."

I don't mean to be a nag, but what are your definitions of revision and pre-planning. For revision, is that after the two days, or am I not allowed to change a note once I've inserted it. And I'm assuming pre-planning is just the instrumentation, length, solos etc, not actually writing anything?

Also, did the contest start when you said open for everyone, or can I start when I want but being sure to tell you? Because if it's alright I'd rather do it on the weekend due to an essay and summatives I have to work on now.

The competition is open for everyone to join when they want to - you can join as late as you want, provided your submission is uploaded within 48 hours of your entry or by the final competition deadline, whichever comes first.

"Revision" is whole-piece editing, both before and after the 48-hour deadline. This includes re-ordering sections, but certainly detail edits are allowed as you work through the piece.

"Pre-planning" is any sketching you feel you need to do. This includes the parameters you have enumerated, as well as simple thematic material.

I accept your challenge, starting tomorrow (well, later today) at noon (EST) (must sleep now, work tomorrow ;))! Saturday morning/friday night I will present my piece!

Thank you for the explanations, I will be entering later this month so as to finish my summatives and exams first.

Wait..where are you supposed to submit? I think I am going to enter this ..

You will upload your piece to this thread, or to a different thread with a valid link in this one.

I'll have a go :D

Entrants will write an impromptu or compositional etude for any group of instruments.

Are voices allowed? And if so, getting the words right in Symphonic Choirs can take a while so can vocal entrants post a preliminary mp3 in the time limit and update it later with one with proper words?

This is acceptable, as long as a score is provided with the preliminary MP3.

A reminder:

the 48-hour deadline is being strictly enforced!

ONLY 4 MORE DAYS TO SIGN UP!

Those who have signed up previously and failed to meet the 48-hour deadline may re-enter the competition, provided they supply a DIFFERENT PIECE than their original submission.