Competition Poll

Poll:

I put "didn't feel qualified to enter," which was true (as I mentioned in the competition post at the time), but I would've done it anyway (and lost) if a few others had entered. It would've been a good learning opportunity. I PM'd danishali all this a month or two ago, but I figured it was a no-go when I didn't hear back. 

I don't consider myself very good at orchestrating in general, and in a competition where all the entries would be using the same source music, I wouldn't really stand a chance (not that I ever do in these competitions, in hindsight). 

If YC hypothetically held the same competition again, I'd enter. The competitions seem to generate a lot of excitement around the site and generally bring out the best in people. 

1 minute ago, Noah Brode said:

If YC hypothetically held the same competition again, I'd enter. The competitions seem to generate a lot of excitement around the site and generally bring out the best in people. 

I'm asking the poll because of this; since summer, the turnout steadily declined and completely sunk with this one, so I want to know why before we make another.

I suppose the poll will tell the tale better than I can, but my guess is that most people would rather create original works than arrange another person's music, which drove down interest this time. That was certainly a secondary factor for me, although I was more just trying to avoid getting licked twice in a row after finishing last in the prior competition. 

On another note, I hereby make myself available as either a judge or a participant in the next competition --- whatever is needed most. 

Hi, I don't feel qualified to work with large orchestra and, additionally, this is not one of my goals (considering I'm an amateur).

I know it's hard to cover every taste and need, but the fact I prefer some more contemporary styles puts me off.

A clarification: I did enter to the last two or three competitions - but had to drop out each time. My time has become a major issue, causing me to cease composing at all for the time being. Despite orchestration being perhaps my only real musical strenght, I just felt I wouldn't come through with it.

BTW, I don't recall actually seeing the latest one. I would have reconsidered if I had known it being an orchestration of Tchaikovsky, of all people.

I think the last competition seemed more like an exercise in orchestration rather than a way to stimulate creativity.  I think future competitions should be broad in terms of criteria to encourage composers of all types to participate.  For example, the Shakespeare one really brought out great entries of incredible breadth and scope.  Contests that have narrow criteria like requiring specific ensembles, forms, or themes are going generate far less interest.

I also think that we may want to have a rule that the winner of a competition should be ineligible for consideration from participating (at least officially) in another one for a certain period of time and instead, the previous winner should be a judge and/or be permitted to come up with the rules for the next one.  Otherwise, it will be a revolving door of the same small cadre of winners which over time will discourage others from entering they feel they have no chance of winning.  At the same time this would give previous winners acknowledgment by letting them have a role in devising/judging the next one (if they so choose).

The task sounded great for me, since I am a tchaikovsky fan and feedback on orchestration would be fantastic. However, I wanted to focus on my Grachtenfestival project and my exam week, so I decided to not participate. I have filled in 'No time.'

Hope this helps.

I spent a lot of time working on something for the "story" competition, which fell through for me. And that was an interruption for something even before that. So it comes down to time, for me. Danish's last orchestration idea was a very good one and we all would have learned much from the exercise. Because the competitions are only four per year, it is reasonable to expect the very best from composers, having that much time for it prepare for it. I mean, if you want to win awards, this is what you have to do. But in general I agree with bkho.

If I were to add my 2c into devising rules, I might veer away from the current method slightly to add on something more like figure skating rules in the Olympics, where they judge you on double axels, triple axels, and so on. "Composers must go from Key A to Key B to Key C, points given to the most natural sounding modulation , or most unique. It's still fine to have contests based on form or style. So I would not change that. As I have suggested from the start, making the time constraints narrower would help. Not too long not too short. Everyone write something this long.

Personally I teach, and finding time away from my "kids" is difficult. My composing is limited to short bursts a couple times each week, which makes doing competitions of any kind difficult. I want to get involved in more (in fact I submitted an entry in June for an off-forum competition), but summer and winter breaks are my only options for putting in any real time.

Like your ideas for giving some target-skills for composers to practice. It's kind of like Master Chef or something where they're given an objective and the chef who does it best wins. Also, to mirror what @Noah Brode said - if we did something like it again, I'd enter.

Happy Friday!

Gustav Johnson

I put down that i didn't feel qualified. I don't. You all are leagues ahead of me. If, however, I did feel qualified, I would also probably feel that i didn't have enough time to get done what I want to in the allotted timespan. I write slowly. I work constantly. I would only slap something together if I actually had entered.