Judging Thread For January Competition! (Silky_Wilky Winner!)

8. Silky_Wilky: 382/400 Silk is the winner of this month's competition! :D Congratulate him! I know I do. CisumPercussion will take over and, on their terms, come up with an agreement for whatever prize they outlined in the original competition. Thank you all for participating!

http://dl.dropbox.co...20Evolution.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.co...on%20Legend.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.co...20Evolution.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.co...20Evolution.mp3

(Composer's Note: Listen with headphones)

9. ClarkN: 318/400 4th Place!

http://www.mediafire...4hhcjqt0be43qsp

10. Voce: 321/400 3rd Place!

http://www.box.com/s...bhkrj7dkfpaebb3

http://www.box.com/s...citde62q5smiur5

(Description: My Duet is a brief miniature with a quasi-ceremonial feel, modeled after the style of a religious processional. There are two main elements: a pitch set (B, D, F#, G, A) which comprises the entirety of the pitched material in the piece and is, in part, drawn from the notes used to open the IV. movement of Charles Ives' Second Symphony (a gesture that, in this case, has no intended extramusical connotations), and a brooding battery of unpitched writing that most prominently features a militaristic rhythm in the temple block, presented with an unresolved feel in prime and retrograde forms and finally resolved through the addition of a final downbeat at the end of the movement. The piece can be seen generally as an exercise in restraint and austerity (the rather extreme limitations placed on pitch material and timbral variation demonstrate this), and should be interpreted in a way that emphasizes its mournful, ritualistic character.)

___________________________________

Please GRADE on this scale:

x/40 Musical content/structure: (does it develop? does it make sense? etc)

x/25 Use of percussion instrumentation: (multiple instruments? creativity? extended techniques?)

x/20 Playability: (can it be performed? do changes between percussion instruments make sense?) ---------- If the judges hae questions about this, contact me with SPECIFIC questions.

x/15 Technique: (who can play it? are both parts equal in skill level?)

ALSO: Doc a maximum of 10 points for score neatness. Do not add any for score neatness. :) This is to your own discretion.

JUDGES: PM me with ALL ten scores by February 1st 00:00 EST. If you do not give me the scores by then, your judging will be null and void, your scores will not be accepted, and you will be respectfully not asked to judge again in any YC competition. If, for some reason, you do not think you can judge all ten by the deadline, contact me individually in the NEXT TWO DAYS (by the END of Friday, so more like ONE day) so I can quickly find a replacement judge from my friends here at school. haha. You will be excused if you do this and not subject to the Judging Blacklist.

ALSO. You may choose to write a "paragraph" about each piece, if you so choose. I encourage you to do so. These WILL BE POSTED PUBLICALLY so all can learn from criticism. This is an educational experience.

IF a composer does NOT wish to share his or her written criticism, please PM me. I will make sure it is taken care of.

THANK YOU,

Morivou.

3.3k · February 1, 2012

Ok! All the judging-ness is in! I'll be announcing the results tomorrow!

Thank you, everybody, for the amazing participation and I hope you all know you are welcome back for every competition we do here. :)

I have unlocked this thread for topic comments. You may review the competition compositions here, and the results will be ADDED TO THIS THREAD (as in, an edit in the OP) tomorrow. So, judging comments will be open for the competitors to ask questions about the judging as well.

-Mori.

3.3k · February 1, 2012

OH. I forgot to unlock this. Now it is unlocked. haha

February 2, 2012

Looking forward to see the final results! Everyone wrote some really great music.

1.8k · February 2, 2012

Looking forward to see the final results!

so am I.

I was hoping it was made public the at the moment of the jury deadline (i.e. 1 feb)

3.3k · February 2, 2012

Yeah, that is my bad. I had not thought through figuring out MY schedule during this week. I couldn't assemble results until after the judging deadline (as Phil's results were very close to being late). And, I've had several examinations this week. SO, that being said, and the fact that I make the rules, the results will be up today, which is only a day later than I said they'd be.

For that day, I apologize. :)

1.8k · February 2, 2012

LOL, yeah. Bad timing, it happens.

But your tough tone on being strict and so, looses some credibility now ;)

3.3k · February 2, 2012

^The strict tone is for you guys. Not me. ;)

When you get to be Competition Mod, you can be strict and tough.

I guess it's a perk of being God. hahahahaa. jkjk.

February 2, 2012

Excellent. Just time to go round and post suspiciously favourable reviews of all the judges' music...

3.3k · February 2, 2012

hahahaha. ;) I am ALREADY adding up scores. They'll be up in less than 15 minutes. Reviews will be up in 20 minutes.

3.3k · February 2, 2012

RESULTS ARE IN! :D Reviews posted shortly.

3.3k · February 2, 2012

Phil gave no paragraphical review, so. No go there. But, the other three judges did.

Nick's:

Rosenkjold: The Ritual. Score:

This was a really interesting piece and very creative. Originally I was very intrigued by the use of the fingers on the vibraphone, however, I found that when I tried to perform it on the actual instrument the sound was barely audible to myself let alone an audience. The beginning though, finger playing aside, was mysterious and lead really well into the heavier drumming section. Seems a little disappointing though that the one performer will only be playing the bass drum and that after all of the improvising there really is no structure to the ending. With some editing this has the potential to be a really good and unique piece of music.

RarePickle: The Way of the Water. Score: -

Unfortunately I have chosen not to give this piece a score with a number grade. This is because the music written cannot be performed in a percussion duet setting. I will though go through and talk about your music. I really enjoyed the different motives in the marimba and vibraphone and they moved well throughout the piece. You have written for some high level players and the music, exactly as written, would work really well if in a trio or possibly a quartet setting. The first thing to be weary about is that you simply have a score open with no indication as to what each performer will be doing and when they should move from one instrument to another. This didn’t seem like too much of a problem until I hit the measure 140 marker. At measure 140 things begin to be a bit hairy and its not very clear who is playing what or even who can play what. By the time we reach measure 180 there are now 4 separate lines going on that simply cannot be covered by two performers. Again, with the conversion to a trio/quartet and some score editing (visually) this is a really great piece.

Jlehman777: Stained Glass. Score:

I really liked your stained glass concept and if you’re interested you should check out a percussion ensemble piece by Gillingham entitled stained glass. Your piece was interesting to listen to and kept my attention, however, I feel that each of the sections could have been longer. I realize you were trying to mimic different setting and I was thinking that, with some time, each of your ideas and settings could be expanded into much larger movements. The idea has some serious potential and it would definitely be something that would grab my attention. One thing I noticed, in measure 27 of the marimba part, you have some fast rhythms while playing chords. This is nearly impossible to do at the given tempo and you should be careful about placing fast chords in marimba parts. I look forward to hopefully someday viewing a more developed version of this work!

Treehugger1991: Title. Score:

The vibraphone part in the beginning of your piece is very beautifully written, although, at measure 7 it is unclear whether this is supposed to be performed with all mallets or if that top whole note is supposed to still be with a bow. I enjoy that you wanted to mimic the percussion writing of John Mackey, as he is one of my favorite percussion writers as well, but it is a very hard style to achieve. I wish you luck with this! The immediate change from the vibes to the fast congas and toms seemed a little off and not too fitting. Maybe this is what you want but without a finished piece I cant really tell where it is going. I look forward to seeing the completed piece on Young Composers Forum.

Jrcramer: Sonatine. Score:

This is a really different piece for marimba and vibraphone. Typically when this combination is used it is of something that is “pretty” or “jazzy”. I really enjoyed the mixture though and not just relying on the age old combination of marimba and vibraphone. The transitions between instruments and the detail put into making the parts is outstanding. I personally really enjoyed this piece but would advise you that with the combination of a few large instruments, some really hard passages in the music, and the more mature tonality of the piece it will be a hard piece to market or find two performers to perform. The only thing, visually, about your score is that the parts of player one and two would sometimes switch which one is on top or bottom. I would try to fix this and make sure that player one is always on top and player two is always on bottom. A very well done piece and some really interesting ideas!

Parkalex100: Tribulation. Score:

The opening marimba theme is really great and was certainly an attention grabber for me. The intensity of the marimba part does not fade at all and creates some wonderful textures. The timpani part, however, is extremely basic compared to the marimba part. The way the parts are lined up now it seems that its written for a high level marimbist with a beginning level timpanist. Without the development of a second, or timpani, part the marimba part seems to get repetitive. Repetition in the marimba part would make more sense if the timpani part built on top of that to increase intensity. I would hope that you would continue this composition and try to edit the timpani part to be of a higher level. Some really great ideas!

Siwi: Nachtmusik. Score:

Before even taking a look into the score and listening to the sound file I was already intrigued by the large set-up diagram included on the front pages. I am a fan of large set-ups and love to perform in them. Your piece is really interesting and has some really creative lines and conversations between the two players. As far as your score, I would try to be more specific about what player performs what instruments. In the first and fourth movement the timpani part seems to be the only part of main importance and creates almost a cadenza like feeling, or sound, for the timpanist. Seems that the percussion under the timpani is just accompaniment. I really enjoyed the movement with marimba and vibraphone and though that it could have been a piece in its own without the other 3 movements attached. Some really great writing for the instruments!

SilkyWilky: Rapid Evolution. Score:

I am under the current assumption that this is not your first time writing for percussion and if it is then I am shocked. I could not find a single part that did not make sense or would be nearly impossibly to perform. Speaking from a visual standpoint I think that the top and bottom staves within each part could be closer to one another for an easier time reading. I appreciate the work you put in in order to keep your theme prevalent in each and every section of the piece and that everything links to the rest of the piece. You are correct that this is of a high level piece and I look forward to hopefully see more from you in the future for percussion instruments!

Clarken: Percussion Duo. Score:

The marimba writing that you have done is very nice and easy to listen to, however the percussion parts that go along with it seem very basic. Speaking of the percussion parts, I would like to let you know that you should never use a chime hammer on a bass drum, this has potential to destroy the bass drum head. The parts have some funky note grouping that could be cleaned up for easier reading but there are some really nice ideas. I think with some further development and some editing this could be a really nice and audience friendly percussion duet!

Voce: Duet. Score:

This was really interesting to listen to and very minimal in content. The feeling I get from this though is that it is a movement from a larger work and not its own piece of music. I do really enjoy that you tied the percussion parts with that same recurring rhythm and even ended with that rhythm. I think that the ideas from this could be taken and advanced on to make a percussion work of 3 or more movements. Very interesting concept and I enjoyed listening to your submission!

J:

Rosenkjold:

Thanks for your submittion! Very creative piece, I enjoyed looking through it; definitely a lot of unique ideas, which can be used here. However there doesn’t seem to be many themes or sections- simply the A section then the B improvisational section. During the B section, Player 2’s part becomes extremely repetitive, only allowing player one to solo while he repeats the same ostinato until the end of the piece. Try to divide up the parts there to make them more equal. I like the idea of using fingers on the pitched instruments, but some of these chords are extremely difficult to strike correctly, and when one does, the sound produced is extremely quiet- practically niente. Also, please do some basic tidying of your score (vibe part is left in at m. 45, no dynamic on bass drum part at m. 44 as well as dynamics in general.) I’m also curious about the whole note in m. 2 Is that supposed to be the pipe? Again really great ideas which can be developed, but this piece lacks a bit in playability and practicality. Thank you for your submittion!

Rare Pickle:

Hi Rare Pickle, really cool piece! Unfortunately this piece cannot be played by only two performers. As the competition was specifically for percussion duet I have to disqualify your piece. However, you had great musical ideas on a very high level which came together very well. I enjoyed listening to your piece, although there are some issues with the score which need to be cleaned up. Some criticism: If you choose to rewrite this as a duo, you may consider specifying which player is on what instrument at any given time. You may choose to break up two staves of Player 1 and Player 2 and change the instrumentation, or you may use as many staves as instruments but clearly label which Player is using which instrument, and when he is to change to a different one (for example: Player 1 from Marimba to Bells). Also, when writing for keyboard percussion (marimba particularly), consider using a grand stave to avoid those ledger lines. In your piece at m. 153, the high hat and tom part is not possible. Also at m. 147, a person’s foot cannot move this quickly on a pedaled high hat. Again, very cool piece, a lot of interesting stuff going on and very enjoyable to listen to. Thank you for your submittion!

Jlehman777:

Hey Jlehman777, thanks for your submittion! I thoroughly enjoyed your piece, really good things going on throughout. I think you have the building blocks for a really fantastic percussion composition, however at this point it feels incomplete and undeveloped. Having said that, your three ideas (described very well in your intro) could each be developed into much larger sections to develop your ideas further and create a fuller piece. I like your instrumentation, I thought you did a good job exploring the percussive repertoire and wrote well for each particular instrument. A few comments; I wouldn’t recommend using vibe mallets on a tam-tam. Traditional vibe mallets have a very hard core and are wrapped tightly. The sound produced would be very trebly and immediate, not a low bassy undertone which it seems you were going for. I was also confused about the time signature at m. 22. Writing 4/4 would have the same effect. Also there is not much time for players to switch mallets during some parts, please consider this in your writing or offer an explanation of what you would like the performer to do (example- at mm. 6-7 the marimba player would have to hold crotale mallets in the same hand using a four mallet marimba grip. From mm. 8-9 the performer would have to quickly throw down all of these mallets and pick up timpani mallets to start the roll to accompany the vibraphone part. Please keep building this piece, I enjoyed listening to it and would like to hear more!

Treehugger1995:

Thanks for your submittion! Really beautiful vibraphone writing, I enjoyed the use of bows (in my mind’s ear anyway), good use of extensive techniques and the second part certainly looked interesting through the small sample you gave us! Because the piece is incomplete, it affected your grade but I would really like to hear this again once you’ve developed it some more. It should be noted that you did not list a beginning tempo marking for the performers. Also, you should consider specifying which player (1 or 2) plays which parts. For example, who is playing the tam-tam? You may also consider specifying which notes should be bowed on the vibraphone by using a violin downstroke/upstroke mark, or by changing the direction of the stave (but it needs to be explained to the performers). The immediate change between the ideas seemed a bit rugged, so perhaps consider adding a transitory segment between the vivace and the opening. The parts are not very equal, see what other percussion you can experiment with for Player 2 (bell tree, glock, rainstick and shakers, cymbal rolls, etc) Nice opening section, please develop and resubmit! I’d like to hear it finished.

Jrcramer:

Thank you for your submittion! Your piece was very well written with some creative, high level ideas! It looks like you have written for percussion before, so if you haven’t, bravo! Really nice job blending ideas in and out of each other. There are instances in the score when Players 1 and 2 flip from the top part to the bottom part, which can be extremely confusing. I also believe you may benefit from including one more movement (as you suggested in your intro paragraph). Nice use of extended techniques with the bowing and harmonics on vibraphone. These are often very challenging and fun for the performer. I don’t have much to pinpoint in the piece, however I would like to point out that this is very high level and it may be tough to market to undergraduate and some master students. Not sure your intentions, but please keep that in mind. Thank you very much for your submittion! Really enjoyed listening.

Parkalex100:

Hey Parkalex100, thanks for your submittion! I really enjoyed your piece and the original groove in the marimba part! The piece overall was written well, but it seemed to be that it was written for a high level marimba player and a purely competent timpanist, the parts do not match in skill level. Timpani here is used more as an instrument to back up the marimba. Try experimenting with more themes in the timpani and remember that the pitches don’t always have to stay the same. The piece was also a bit repetitive, although you had many themes, some of them seemed to be too little for too long. (For example, the theme at m.76). Please consider having this develop a little quicker. Your marimba roll at m. 74, m. 79 and m. 87 would generally be written as a whole note with the roll marking above it. Also please consider furthering the transitions between the A and B sections of your piece. This piece has a ton of potential and I really enjoyed listening to it. (Also, awesome name!) Thanks for your submittion!

Siwi:

Hi siwi, thanks for your submittion! Very interesting ideas going on here (I also enjoyed reading your notes to help explain the meaning behind the movements). This piece has some very interesting moments and grooves, however there are also parts which seemed to drag on. Also, some parts seemed more like a timpani cadenza with accompaniment than anything else. Each individual part was written well, you show a knowledge of how to write for percussion. It doesn’t seem to list which player performs on which instruments, please consider including this for your performers. Also, please reconsider your setup, at this point the instruments seem very spread out, which may make it difficult for the performers to hear each other during sections. I would recommend splitting ‘stations’ and organizing them by Player, or by Movement. I enjoyed the writing for the mallet instruments, very beautiful. Be wary with one handed rolls in the marimba in concurrence with fast rhythms, extremely high level technique required. Thanks for your submittion; I enjoyed your piece quite a bit!

Silky Wilky:

Thanks for your submittion! It would seem that you have written for percussion before, so if this is your first time, then bravo! Fantastic job interweaving rhythmic patterns with melody and this idea of consummating each other throughout the piece. I like your ideas, and your piece is written for a very high level (as you expressed in your intro paragraph). I don’t have much to say in terms of tidiness, but see if there is a way to bring the staves closer together (per part). The performers will have enough to worry about without having to stretch their eyes! Good work interweaving the mallet instruments with a low accompaniment too, this should work very well with the performers on opposite sides of the stage. Really great piece, I enjoyed listening!

ClarkN:

Hey ClarkN, thanks for your submittion! I enjoyed listening to your different ideas as they developed and changed. A couple things I’d like to point out. NEVER EVER encourage anyone to use a chime hammer on a bass drum head!! This could cause considerable damage to the head and even the drum. A bass drum must be beaten with a beater or specialty stick. Drumsticks may be used but nothing with as much mass as a chime beater. There are special wooden bass drum beaters sold which you may encourage your player to use, if desired. It also seems that these two parts do not match in skill level, please consider rewriting some parts to even out the playability between player 1 and player 2. I also felt that some of your parts were repetitive and lacked direction. Cutting down on some of the repetition will give your piece more development, quicker. This should help keep the audience and performers engaged as well. Having said that, when you did change ideas, I thought they were fresh and written well. Developing better transitions between these themes will really help keep interest! Thanks again for your submittion; I enjoyed listening to your piece!

Voce:

Hi Voce, thanks for your submittion! I enjoyed the dissonances in the beginning; great job considering bowed crotales also, they have a great sound! This piece, however seemed like a movement of a piece rather than a full percussion duet. I’m not sure if you were considering furthering this or not (perhaps using some other percussion combinations) but I think this could make a fantastic movement. Also, it seems like the players jump around on instruments a bit, I see the snare drum is shared. You may consider revamping this so that each player has their own snare drum, in which case you can condense the score into two lines. One for player 1, and one for player 2. This may help to avoid confusion. Very nice piece, I enjoyed listening!

MINE: I just took off the categories, so it's a little confusing. My comments are just opinions. They don't matter much. Pay attention to the comments above! :)

Rosen:

All very good. Well written and idiomatic. I especially like the end improv phase.

I don't particularly like G.P.'s for instrument changes.

Rare:

WONDERFUL PIECE!

No real extended techniques, but slightly challenging, so I didn't dock really anything. :)

WELL, here's the thing. I had to dock because I didn't know who played what. :( I need to know the specific player assignments.

Good.

-10 for score neatness. This score, in addition to being messy, is a nightmare. So, if you end up winning, we'll need to work on this.

Jlehman:

Very nice ideas! But, I didn't see really much development. You're right, you have a good sense of ideas and you can use this material in the future.

Nice textures made!

I didn't see anything too crazy.

I took off five for the crazy timpani part in one measure.

-2 for that one measure with a million time sigs added. In my experience, ONE sig with numbers added above is better. We can talk about it if you'd like.

Tree:

Good ideas! No real good solid structure though. I did enjoy your build ups, though! Just don't put so much "space" where there isn't content to back it up. Your accents are wonderful, and I think your instrument combinations were spectacular and juxtaposing beautifully.

Very easy to play.

-10 for score. it has NO TITLE OR COMPOSER???

Jr: 100

WOW. All I am going to say is: beautiful work. This piece is almost perfect to my ears. And, it develops well. I really have no comments. Very, very nice work.

Park:

Good. A lot of unnecessary repetition and banal ostinato use. I'd have liked to see some better use of the 8th pulse. Maybe some same notes or something other than atonal arpeggiation.

I think everything is good. You just didn't make it absolutely clear who was playing what.

-5 for score unneatness. haha. The end has no double finish bar, and the spacing is strange. Just write who plays what. :)

Siwi:

I felt little development, but excellent musical ideas.

LOTS of percussion.

Oy, I mean… there is something scary about all that timpani.

Silk:

VERY good piece! Beautiful score. :) No real comments other than I wish there was more variation in it.

Clark:

Simple, straightforward, good. :) Very good use of KISS and effectivity!

very nice! Not much done in terms of technical challenge, but it is still effective.

-1 for score. I mean, it's just the plain old "Finale/Sibelius" standard. Put more thought into your score presentation. :) It's VERY important, to me, anyway.

Voce:

Short! Sweet! Straight to the point! I like it. :) But, I wish there was more than just that one idea presented.

GREAT score! :D

1.8k · February 2, 2012

its cool to read the reviews. congratulations to Silk. And thanks to cisum for hosting this!

February 2, 2012

Congrads to everyone! Lots of great stuff here! Its really cool to see many varying aspects on percussion music.

3.3k · February 2, 2012

See. THIS is what Monthly Competitions should be about. :) Thanks to everybody who participated and made this possible!

NOW, go sign up for February if you're up to two months in a row! :D:D:D

February 3, 2012

Aw shoot. Disqualified. My score is pretty messy, isn't it?. I can assure you though that it is very playable, although challenging, with two people (except maybe for m147, and the range of playing over the 5 octave marimba, that was just lazy). I was hoping the judges might ask me if they had any questions about playability, but I guess I should have made it obvious with my score. I'll be sure to give more attention to score quality the next time I submit one. (If you're at all curious as to how it is playable, PM me I guess :toothygrin: )

Oh well, thanks for the comments anyways! I had a good time composing.

And congrats Silky! I was blown away the first time I heard your entry. I look forward to hearing the recording!

3.3k · February 13, 2012

ALSO: to all you people who said I was not cool in not following my own rules, I went back and checked and found this:

"Judges, following a competition, will have 9 days from the deadline to write a WRITTEN review and give a rating (determined by the Host) to the Host so that he may edit his original post and provide links to the pieces and their reviews and their rankings."

I submitted all the judgings publicly sometime before the 9th day. SO HA! Even if I don't read my own rules, I still follow them (surprisingly). haha.

1.8k · February 13, 2012

haha, I never said you wasn't cool :)

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