On executable music compos
As I wrote before, there were a couple of thoughts I had regarding the executable music compo at Breakpoint, although as a matter of fact, these thoughts can easily apply to any competition which introduces the "executable" bit into the rules. I'll go straight to the point:
What are we judging in these compos?
Are we judging the composer's ability to use a synthesiser and build a pleasant and/or skilled composition with it...
... or are we judging the features of the synthesiser?
The problem is that if we are to judge the entries by the musical abilities, and the entry is based on a synth not programmed by the composer, they could perfectly submit that very same song, rendered into an MP3 file, into the MP3 compo. And get done with it.
But we have reached a situation where 50% of entries for these competitions are running V2 or 4klang. This leaves everyone else in an unfair position, and not only that, but it also turns the competition into an uncompetitive parade of entries based on the same set of features, which in other words means that the majority of songs sound the same, which is booooring.
I think --and I'm not alone-- that party organisers would do loads of good if clarifying the rules. Just add a little sentence like "Composers can only use their own or their group's synth" and it will make this competition have sense again (or for the first time!). Otherwise, this is nothing else than a glorified Farbrausch vs Alcatraz compo, with the occasional outsider making it into the compo.
Here is the list of entries for this past Breakpoint's exe music compo:
| Entry name / author | Synth |
|---|---|
| Wind me up / Aceman | MasterM |
| Goodbye Breakpoint / Blueflame | 4klang (?) |
| Monolith / Dalezy | V2 (?) |
| Commence/Collapse / Gargaj | Conspiracy's |
| Guckandiewand / Map | own? |
| Auf wiederscene / Punqtured | Recursion |
| Bizarría sorollosa / Supersole | Sorollet |
| Sunbeam / Teo | V2 (?) |
| The last trip to Bingen / Quickyman | V2 |
| Breakpoint is undestructable / Xtrium | Excess3 |
Some of the entries do not state the name of synth they use in the .nfo file (although that information was shown in the big screen at the time the entries were played), so I write from what I can recall. Hopefully you'll get the point.
Oh, and allow me to reiterate that I do not write this because my entry didn't rank higher. I realistically knew I couldn't compete with the rest of synths, if only because this version of my synth has only two months work on it, and most of the last month was dedicated to fighting with compilers and counter-productive crap like that, instead of working on getting a better song and nicer features.
Still, I'm quite happy because quite a few people got in touch with me and asked me about the synth and whether they could use it and all that after listening to my entry. Besides, I feel super-empowered by the simple fact that I built a synth by myself instead of relying on somebody else's.
You don't get this warm and fuzzy feeling when using V2 or 4klang :P