Tune Contest 10/4/2012-10/21/2012: Autumn

[Viking]

It's that time of year -- at least in my part of the world -- where the summer heat fades, the trees display their glorious hues, and AGS forumgoers write music commemorating the loveliest of all seasons, Autumn.  Many pieces and songs, whether classical (Vivaldi, Glazunov) or popular (Van Morrison, Manic Street Preachers), have been written to celebrate autumn.

So, now it's your turn!  Write a song, a symphony, or anything in between, that has something to do with autumn.  You have until the end of October 21st (in whatever your local timezone is) to finish.  Afterwards, I'll pick a winner.  No length or style restrictions, although be warned that extremely short entries will be judged less favorably.

Have fun!

[Viking]

Less than a week left, and no entries yet!  Is it something I said?

I'd love to see what you all come up with, so go ahead and post your entries!

[Wyz]

I hate to win by default but ok, here goes:

Fall, leaves fall (4:49m)

[nihilyst]

I'll try to enter something tonight.

EDIT:
Okay, here it is. I wanted it to have a second part, though, but I didn’t have the time: <- Autumn ->

[Viking]

Woohoo!  Two entries so far!

All right, folks, you still have today to write something, so let's give Wyz and Nihilyst a run for their money!

[Haddas]

I know I'm late. If it doesn't count then I'm okay with that. Mostly did it for the fun of it

Free MP3 download: Falling.mp3

[AnalogGuy]

If it's not too late, I can try if I'm in the mood for creating something as well. 



EDIT: Here it is... a shitty quick improvisation about falling leaves:

Falling leaves

[Viking]

Wow, four entries!  A veritable fall bounty!

Here are my comments on each one, and read on for the winner!

• Wyz: Nice techno track.  I really like how it's broken up in sections where it suddenly changes (1:19, 2:31, etc.), and I also really like how the original drums come back in at 3:39 to tie everything back up again.  It is a bit repetitive in places, but then I guess it is techno ( ).  I have a bit of difficulty getting an autumn vibe from this, although I could interpret the sibilance throughout the track as the wind blowing, which would make sense.  Oh -- and I really like where the chimes come in around 2:31.  Unexpected and cool.


• nihilyst: Really lovely and evocative, I could listen to this looping over and over.  It makes me think of sitting inside on a cold day, watching the rain fall on the windows outside.  I love the subtle percussion, and the instrumentation in general.  I wouldn't have expected the pizzicato strings to work in this setting, but they do.  I have to say that I kept expecting a melody line to come in -- maybe a female vocalist, later doubled an octave lower by a cello.  And as you said, it could use a second section -- maybe you could add one, I'd love to hear it.  But the first one is really nice as is too.


• Haddas: Nice and upbeat!  I like the middle section and the end the best (sorry, I don't have the offsets from the beginning of the track since I just listened to it on Tindeck).  I think the hi-hat overpowers the other voices a bit.  Also, since the dulcimer (?) is such a percussive instrument in itself, I think it could use some more continuous voice in the background (other than the guitar), and other instruments should probably take over the melody at various points as well for variety.  I have a bit of trouble hearing "falling" in this track, but I could see walking outside on a sunny fall day.


• AnalogGuy: A very pleasant track too!  I can hear the leaves falling due to the constant motion.  However, as you have said, it is an improvisation, and as such it seems somewhat aimless -- the music often doesn't feel as if it is "going" somewhere.  Perhaps that is intentional!

And the winner is...nihilyst!  I'm afraid I don't have trophies to (virtually) hand out today, but thanks all for entering!  Nihilyst, please feel free to start a new competition at your earliest convenience.

[Wyz]

That was an unexpected outcome with four entries I have to say I'm pretty pleased. I had fun listening to each of them.

Congrats nihilyst and good luck with starting the next one!

[nihilyst]

Wow, that was unexpected. Seeing that the contest nearly had been over, it’s great to see so many great pieced have been sent in last minute.

I’ll start a new contest soon.
Thank you for your review, Viking. I’ll try to flesh this one out and solve some issues.