Conceptual Music Competition 34: The Spy

CMC: Conceptual Music Competition

This competition is based on the rules of the classic TOMC (Thematic Original Music Competition).

The CMC (Conceptual Music Competition) is designed so that each participant enters a piece of music based on a set theme. The participants take the theme and interpret it as they will to come up with something that fits. Any style can work, as long as it portrays a sense of what the theme is.

Feel free to be imaginative!

Each successive theme will be chosen by the winner of the previous competition. For example, say the theme of the last competition, CMC 40, was "Annihilation" and the winner, Nathan, submitted a piece that knocked the socks off of everyone, so he won. Nathan then gets to decide the theme for CMC 41.

This competition is open to registered members of the forums of

OverClocked ReMix, VGMix, VGMusic, Gaming World, Young Composers, and GameDev.

CMC 34: The Spy

"When political, military, and corporate agencies require restricted information, they call the spy. When the spy goes to work, nothing is off-limits."

Results!:

• Text results and critiques

There are 11 entries for this round...

KungFuFurby - "Spy in the Office"

• "Just consider this tune your typical spy-in-the-office's theme. Then 3:28 into this song, transform that theme into more of a roadside tune (at least faster-paced)."

• "The spy gives the other agencies the option to hand over the information. Either the agency can make it easy, and hand it over, or the spy will have to do his job. The other agencies make a mad scramble to set up every defense they can think of, but tried and true, there is nothing that can stop the spy."

Phil Rey - "Shadow Swallower"

• "'Shadow swaller' is the name of my spy. Let the music speak for him. (Or her? Nobody knows exactly...) ;o)"

• "The Spy has met his match. Tonight he is attempting to infiltrate a well guarded Chateau in the Bordeaux region of France to obtain data from a laptop located on the 3rd floor and is well prepared for except for one thing. He is being hunted on the Chateau grounds by an opposition spy."

Madman3123 - "Breaking In"

• "Smooth, thats the way the spy operates. He breaks in, but doesn't leave a trace and by the time you're back, everything is set in motion."

• "The spy infiltrates a factory. As he goes deeper, he starts thinking about whether he really needs to do this. But then, he triggers an alarm and tries to escape the enemies with all the bad thoughts in his head."

Jonny Martyr - "The Spy!"

• "For my entry into this CMC, I tried to envision all aspects of the Spy's life. His work takes him to exotic (and sometimes deadly) places all over the world. For every dangerous undercover mission, there is the promise of sun-swept beaches, crystal waters, beautiful women and margaritas on private yachts to keep him focused. With just his bare hands, iron will and ready wit he is a match for any foe foolish enough to cross his path - or, for that matter, any woman who strays into his clutches."

• "The spy infiltrates his location of where his evidence is located. At this point his stress level is fairly low. His stress level increases as more people enter the building. He could get caught. However, the spy does not get caught and starts to relax."

Maquis - "Ace Stuntman and the Chase Scene of Doom"

• "Okay, listen, this is gold. You and the girl break out of your ropes and swing clear of the vat of acid, knocking over one of the motorcycle henchmen. You steal his bike and ramp off the gorilla cage, snagging the antidote from the giant centrifuge of death - that'll be a great slow-motion moment - and then crash out though a window into the city streets. Then badguys on jetpacks start spraying at you with machine guns, but you skid underneath a speeding semi and through a billboard onto the docks. A guy draws a bead on you with a rocket launcher as you race down the pier, but you jump off at the last moment and land in a waiting helicopter, which flies you off to safety. Got that? Okay, let's try to do this in one take."

• "A cinematic scene that you could imagine would be the hero spy of the movie receiving a call from headquarters and subsequently taking his hi-tech speedboat across the ocean to an underwater rendezvous point. Maybe punching some bad guys in the face along the way. Something over-the-top action-y like that."

Lars Dobbertin-King - "Espionage"

• "This piece is my attempt at writing something subtle yet dangerous. While standing on a dark street one night, a spy passes you. The drum beat is supposed to be reflective of a heartbeat, while the synths and electric guitar carry a melody that's heavy at times yet always slow and simple. The piece starts when you first sight the spy, and ends with you having passed him unharmed (the actual passing happens at about 3m). Hope you all enjoy it."

• Voters will be allowed to pick one first place (3 points) and any number of honorary mentions (1 point). Only one set of votes from any one voter will be accepted and a person cannot vote for any one piece more than once. Corrections to votes, from the original voter only, will be accepted, but corrections will void the previous votes. Basically, a voter can vote and correct the vote, but only the final form of that vote will be counted. Send all votes to

• To be eligible to vote, you must be a registered member of at least one of the participating forums, prior to the beginning of the voting period. In your PM or e-mail, please indicate which forum you are a member of and your username.

• The voting period will last from the moment the entries are posted in the thread to the Saturday of that week. The voting period for this round ends July 3, so be sure to spend some time really listening to the pieces.

• Any participant in the competition can vote, but not for their own pieces. However, in an effort to encourage voting among participants, any participant who votes will have 2 points added to his/her voting score (unless the participant chooses to be anonymous).

1. Each piece must be originally composed for this competition. Arrangements and remixes will not be accepted. (Pieces composed by the participant prior to the competition will not be accepted.)
   
2. Each piece must be 2:00 or longer and match the competition theme.
   
3. Only one entry per person. Collaborations will be allowed, but each collaborator may not submit any other pieces. (This also means that a person cannot collaborate on two or more different pieces at the same time.)
   
4. A link to the entry piece must be e-mailed or PMed to Abadoss prior to the deadline set for each competition. DO NOT POST THE LINK IN THE THREAD!
   
5. Important: Each file must be labeled accordingly: Composer_Name_-_Composition_Title_CMC#.mp3
   (For example, if Jennifer Moore submits a piece called "Hopeless Optimism" to CMC 36, then her filename would be: Jennifer_Moore_-_Hopeless_Optimism_CMC36.mp3)
   
6. MP3 file format is required. Know that even OGG will need to be converted into MP3. (If someone is unable to do so themselves, Abadoss would be willing and able to do it for them.)
   
7. Entries should be accompanied by a description and/or story to help listeners understand what the piece is about. (Not required, though.)
   
8. All entries must be submitted by Saturday, June 26, 2010 at 11:59 PM - PST, GMT-8.

You can find the competition threads for each forum listed below:

• OverClocked ReMix: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29528
  
• VGMix: http://www.vgmix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2424
  
• VGMusic: http://www.vgmusic.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13265
  
• Gaming World: http://gamingw.net/forums/index.php?topic=81470.0
  
• Young Composers: http://forum.youngcomposers.com/t25545/conceptual-music-competition-34-the-spy/
  
• GameDev: http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=572668

Good luck and have fun! :D

Check out the Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/ConceptualMusicCompetition

Previous CMCs: http://www.abadoss.net/CMC.htm

who's with me? don't be a sissy!

I'll give it a go (by give it a go I mean I'll spend hours on it :happy: )

I really want to see a lot of entries this time around. You all have two weeks to come up with something. That should be plenty of time!

When it says our composer name does it mean user name or physical name so would i put daniel_mckenna or madman3123?????

Either one. "madman" would be easier for him I guess but you can put your real name if you choose - won't hurt.

When it says our composer name does it mean user name or physical name so would i put daniel_mckenna or madman3123?????

Whatever name you want attached to your piece of music and any pieces you submit in the future (I'm very keen on consistancy).

One week left! Time to step it up! :D

I'll take a shot in this.

It's not too late to apply, is it?

I'll take a shot in this.

It's not too late to apply, is it?

Nope. It's not too late. The deadline for entries is on Saturday. Check the first post for all the details.

I'll try my hand at this. So, to be sure, we must pm you an mp3 file. What is your preference of a filehost for it? Just any free downloadbase?

I'll try my hand at this. So, to be sure, we must pm you an mp3 file. What is your preference of a filehost for it? Just any free downloadbase?

MP3, yes. As long as I can download it (without paying for a service or whatnot), it should be fine.

All entries are in! The pieces have been posted! It's time to start voting!

Just a reminder; today is the last day to send in your votes for this round! As long as it's still Saturday (in Oregon), your vote counts. Hurry and get them in!

The results are in! Stay tuned for the next round!

The next round has been posted! Here's the link:

http://forum.youngcomposers.com/t26388/conceptual-music-competition-35-the-stranger/