Mac General Rules & Ideas Thread

[Chronamut]

So in light of fairness and the fact I am sure a thread like this used to exist but the search's retarded 30 character limit search function disables me from finding it atm - I have made this thread.

Here you can discuss all ideas you have for future macs. I and other judges will look at the ideas as a sort of pool, and pick from it. That is if the theme isn't obvious like maybe a holiday themed MAC. But naturally not every month has a holiday in it.

For those that don't know MAC stands for Monthly Audio Contest.

GENERAL MAC RULES:

1) If you are a judge of a mac, you naturally cannot participate in it.

2) If you chicken out of your responsibilities you will simply be dropped as a judge for the contest and things will move on. You will have plenty of time to judge and if you cannot meet the deadline then you are seen as not deserving of the position and process will move on without you. No hard feelings.

3) All audio mods will be considered judges. If you submit to the contest or don't respond when a prompt to vote comes you will be dropped off the considered judge list - think of it like a panel with lights always on - lights slowly blink off and whoever is left by judging time gets to submit their input:
- if all 20 or so audio mods judge that's great - esp. for the submitters.
- if only 5 do - that's still good
- if NONE OF YOU FUCKERS do well there is still me and I'm a DAMN GOOD reviewer. :P

Other people can be judges too it's just audio mods have somewhat proven that they are a step above the average submitter and have the skills necessary to judge properly.

4) There will be 2-4 "sweeper" judges who will take the unfun job of taking all the submissions and weeding out the bad ones to about 8-10 promising submissions. The rest, won't make the cut. At that point it will only be a matter of placement - which the higher up finalist judges will do. I will be simon - the rest of you can argue out who wants to be paula abdul and the big black guy :P Anyone with a basic understanding of music can be a sweeper but we reserve the right to ask from a specific pool of people who have volunteered who we will use. Can't have people being biased.

- - -

General Structure of MACs

Now for the general structure of all MACs. The point of this is to keep all MACs consistant and to run things in a professional and consistant manner that shows enthusiasm and maturity, as a lot of people don't take the audio portal seriously. I want to put that conception to an end.

All MACs will consist of an american-idol like system - where a bunch of people submit - and their songs are put through a screening process. The submitting process will last between 2-3 weeks. During this time the sweeper judges will listen to the submissions as they come and approve or deny as songs are submitted. They will eventually weed it down to about 8-10 submissions that pass - no hard feelings to everyone else - but sometimes we get like 60 submissions and the final judges shouldn't have to wade through all that. This thread is also here to fix all the bad mistakes that were made in running the MACs in the past. These consisted of inconsistant MAC hosts, inconsistant and unreliable judges, and too many submissions being judged. This thread also eliminates the need to post the rules in each new MAC thread.

At this point in the final week or 2nd week of the month once the 8-10 people have been chosen it will be up to the judges to judge them. The judging process will be simple. You listen to the song, and you write up a review for it. Just like american idol judges do after the singer has finished singing - they give their critique.

It should be short, maybe 3-5 paragraphs. It should highlight what you liked about it, what you didn't like, and what needs improvement so that it can be a good submission, as well as encouragement to their efforts in making it. If you need examples look at any of my reviews - I tend to think I review fairly. Users want you to piece their song apart and tell them how to improve their song, or to be praised for all the things they did right, which they justly deserve, because let's face it - some songs submitted are just flawless, and there is nothing worse than some asshole reviewer that gives you a novel nitpicking it because they feel they have to find something wrong with your song.

The judges then give it a review out of ten, as well as a yes or no for approval. This will eliminate ties, or at least crack down on them. The placements will then be determined by average scores amongst judges, and how many yes and nos you got from the judges.

Any judge that isn't finished by the end of the month - too bad. Anyone that isn't finished by the third week of the month submission wise - too bad. No exceptions. Once the top 8-10 have been decided they will be posted, and then once we have judged they will be put in their proper order.

So consider yourself having 2 weeks from the start of the month, with the end of that second week being the unofficial deadline, and the week after that being for any scragglers who can't make the deadline for some reason. The way I see it is you don't need more than 2 weeks to make a song. However if you take 2 weeks to make a song that's awesome!

Those that finish their song in a day will also be viewed negatively if they are tied with someone who took 2 weeks to make the song. We want to see EFFORT!

- - -

Breakdown of Awards

1st Place: $50.00 store credit, weekly feature, reviewed by all judges, 1st place sig (optional)
2nd Place: $40.00 store credit, weekly feature, reviewed by all judges, 2nd place sig (optional)
3rd place: $30.00 store credit, weekly feature, reviewed by all judges, 3rd place sig (optional)
4th place: weekly feature, reviewed by all judges
5th place: reviewed by all judges
6th place: reviewed by all judges
7th place: reviewed by all judges
8th place: reviewed by all judges

Also in future trophies will be alloted for all event related newgrounds submissions - so in future on your submission page you will have a contest trophy showing your placement as well , just like the art portal has trophies :) - this implementation will filter back and apply to all official ngs related audio contests. You will finally get the recognition you deserve :)

Now HAVE fun - and remember this thread is a general place to post your ideas for future MACS :)

[firemaker60]

Hey, I'm relatively new to the Audio Forum, and audio making in general, but these MACs are typically themed, right?

If so, well, I do have an idea for one. Would it be possible to have an Oriental/Old East themed contest? And, I mean Eastern like China/Japan/Korea, and not Middle Eastern. I think that this kind of contest would allow artists here to experiment with different kinds of instruments that they're not used to, and expand their knowledge on another style. Something similar to this.

[jarrydn]

Next months theme should be "coming out of the closet"

[Chronamut]

At 1/3/11 10:43 PM, firemaker60 wrote: Hey, I'm relatively new to the Audio Forum, and audio making in general, but these MACs are typically themed, right?

If so, well, I do have an idea for one. Would it be possible to have an Oriental/Old East themed contest? And, I mean Eastern like China/Japan/Korea, and not Middle Eastern. I think that this kind of contest would allow artists here to experiment with different kinds of instruments that they're not used to, and expand their knowledge on another style. Something similar to this.

sadly I think that fits more with the "represent a country" "RAC" contest that currently just ended I think. I am not sure people here are worly enough to consistantly make such a specific style of music in a MAC. All suggestinos are worthy of consideration though and if enough people support it then I may choose it.

Keep in mind though it a billion of you choose a theme and I don't want to do it I still reserve the right to choose another. Just to prevent some of you spammers from picking retarded things :P

[SpaceWhale]

Just a broad idea, but maybe string instruments. I'd like to see a MAC revolve around guitars, violins, and other strings.

[Echo]

So when each month starts will you post the theme in this thread or will you guys make a new thread for each month? And also, assuming the theme allows it, all genres are allowed right?

Echo

[jarrydn]

All genres, except for the bad ones I'm assuming.

[BrokenDeck]

Chron did mention the word "Dubstep" during conversations.

But beats me if it was in a positive or negative manner. :/

[JackRocker]

ok, stupid-ass question, but i don't pay a lot of attention to the terminology of this site...what's a mac?

[BrokenDeck]

At 1/4/11 03:32 AM, JackRocker wrote: ok, stupid-ass question, but i don't pay a lot of attention to the terminology of this site...what's a mac?

MAC stands for...

Monthly Audio Contest.

Strictly speaking, it hasn't been very monthly as of late, but it's coming back again...

Really soon...

[JackRocker]

i see..thanks for explaining that to me. you'd think i'd know this after lurking here so long....

[BrokenDeck]

At 1/4/11 03:36 AM, JackRocker wrote: i see..thanks for explaining that to me. you'd think i'd know this after lurking here so long....

I'm sure the resurrection of may potentially bring a lot of people back from "lurker" status.

Here's hoping anyways...

[SolusLunes]

I still liked my idea of "musicify a picture" for a MAC. Worked rather well the last time we did it.

[YouriX]

Original VG boss battle? Or chiptune/8-bit theme songs?
Those seem like a better idea since Ng users need music for there games. And since this is the start of a new year it seem appropriate ;)

[YouriX]

At 1/4/11 04:38 AM, YouriX wrote: Original VG boss battle? Or chiptune/8-bit theme songs?

Here a whole tut dedicated to making VGmusic!
http://www.gr87.com/?page_id=64

[Rucklo]

First off, it's good that somone is willing to take it upon themselves to make big contests for NG.

I know noone asked for my opinion, but I've a few things on my mind that may or may not help:

- It's not easy to come up with themes, but generally the genre-themes can be made to keep the contests running.

- I think it's kindof bold to take a concept that's become somewhat wellknown in these parts of the site, and make it your own just like that.
The concept "MAC", which was something started by myself and then run by LJCoffee and myself, succeded by MaestroRage and then run by him and other highly trusted users, was supposed to stand for a certain standard regarding many aspects of the contest.
We who've been working on the previous MACs have had good contact between each other, to make sure it's high standard.
I'm not saying that this ain't high standard, this far it seem promising, I just think it's pretty bold to just step on our heads and try to reach high without attempting to contact any of us who've been involved with the MAC's before.
The MAC have never been an official NG contest, though most of the contests have been sponsored by NG awards.
Making contests in the audio-forum is generally OK as long as effort is put into it. We've had many different things going on, now latest the RAC finished up. There seem to be effort behind this, definitley, but like I said, you're taking a concept built by other people and make it yours, riding on it's somewhat known name, and are competley ignoring the precedors. I just think that's bad manners.

- Putting all audio-mods on the spot by naming them all an automatic judge is bad manners IMO. It may be true in some aspects that some audio-moderators may have better knowledge or at least judgement when it comes to judging what's legal and what's not in the AP, but it doesn't nessecarily makes anyone a better judge for quality content, especially if it's themed.
Voulenteering to help NG out with the Audio Portal =/= helping out with community based issues.
You're pretty much saying that "all audio mods who don't help out with this are free to not do so, but you're lazy bastards". That's what I read between the lines anyway.

- The whole "all judges must review"-concept is overall a positive thing. We did that in the beginning of the MAC's, but dropped it because it got too much for the judges. Just a heads up. How the judges are whipped/lead on is of course important to be able keep that concept up.

- It's always encouraged by users who never made contests before to contact an active BBS-mod for helfp, feedback and approval of contests. This is because at one point, there were more contests up and running (that most of them never finished up) than there were amounts of contestants.

[Chronamut]

At 1/4/11 06:44 AM, Rucklo wrote: First off, it's good that somone is willing to take it upon themselves to make big contests for NG.

:P

I know noone asked for my opinion, but I've a few things on my mind that may or may not help:

- It's not easy to come up with themes, but generally the genre-themes can be made to keep the contests running.

- I think it's kindof bold to take a concept that's become somewhat wellknown in these parts of the site, and make it your own just like that.

sorry not my intent, although I see now how it looks that way. I simply took it upon myself as the most consistant regular to coordinate all future MACS- I might not even be the one initiating the posts, but I will make sure that they are are all poted by others in consistant timelines. I am basically just taking over the planning of them :)

The concept "MAC", which was something started by myself and then run by LJCoffee and myself, succeded by MaestroRage and then run by him and other highly trusted users, was supposed to stand for a certain standard regarding many aspects of the contest.

and so it will continue to be :)

We who've been working on the previous MACs have had good contact between each other, to make sure it's high standard.

sadly there are few of you left to contact. I am not bashing any of you - but you're rarely ever here anymoer - maestrorage left, LJCoffee is well.. highly unpredictable in his onlineness.. DarkSide555 seems to only post in the mod forums, and I don't remember who else hosted them.. however I do feel that I have a pretty good grasp of high standards- and this thread is here so that you all have input for future MACS :)

I'm not saying that this ain't high standard, this far it seem promising, I just think it's pretty bold to just step on our heads and try to reach high without attempting to contact any of us who've been involved with the MAC's before.

well I've always been rather bold now haven't I - and my apologies for not contacting you guys, but I figured you'd all be cool with it :)

The MAC have never been an official NG contest, though most of the contests have been sponsored by NG awards.

It is now! :) Got Tom's official approval and everything :) - Which is why strict control and consistant monthly posting of the awards is now more important than ever. I am here simply to maintain consistancy - all thsoe that hosted the MACS before are still free to do so - just run it by me so that they can be posted within consistant timelines :)

Making contests in the audio-forum is generally OK as long as effort is put into it. We've had many different things going on, now latest the RAC finished up. There seem to be effort behind this, definitley, but like I said, you're taking a concept built by other people and make it yours, riding on it's somewhat known name, and are competley ignoring the precedors. I just think that's bad manners.

sorry not my intent - liek I said you are all still free to post the MACS - I am just here to make sure it is all consistant. So if you guys don't post a MAC on time within the specified dates then I will :)

- Putting all audio-mods on the spot by naming them all an automatic judge is bad manners IMO. It may be true in some aspects that some audio-moderators may have better knowledge or at least judgement when it comes to judging what's legal and what's not in the AP, but it doesn't nessecarily makes anyone a better judge for quality content, especially if it's themed.

I didn't mean to make it bad manners - I meant to simply say that all judges are on an audio mod volunteer basis. In other words, all audio mods are invited to provide their input - if they don't that's perfectly fine. This is why I also stated that non-mods are also invited as Judges. I am gonig to try to make it so that people whom I know are very good musicians will be invited to judge - one benefit from knowing a good portion of the newgrounds userbase :)

I also want to avoid the judge dropouts which happened in previous years - the more amount of delays we can avoid the better.

Voulenteering to help NG out with the Audio Portal =/= helping out with community based issues.
You're pretty much saying that "all audio mods who don't help out with this are free to not do so, but you're lazy bastards". That's what I read between the lines anyway.

Did I say that? oops silly me :P

But you're right - I often forget that helping out in the audio portal does not = helping out in the community. Sadly that golden icon can be misleading sometimes. Rest assured though I will make sure there are adequate judges for each contest by personally talking to those whom I feel are qualified to judge that specific contest. None of you are obligated to.

- The whole "all judges must review"-concept is overall a positive thing. We did that in the beginning of the MAC's, but dropped it because it got too much for the judges. Just a heads up. How the judges are whipped/lead on is of course important to be able keep that concept up.

ah see that's where we differ a bit from the old here - with the sweeper judges providing 8-10 submissions to be finalist songs, only those 8-10 songs get reviewed - thus it is no longer a big thing to do :) - and don't worry I will keep it strictly enforced - all the rules this time were carefully discussed with others in the audio portal first before they were posted here to ensure maximum coverage and minimal allowance of error.

- It's always encouraged by users who never made contests before to contact an active BBS-mod for helfp, feedback and approval of contests. This is because at one point, there were more contests up and running (that most of them never finished up) than there were amounts of contestants.

and rest assured - that is STILL the gameplan here. Namely contacting you. If they want their noN-MAC contest to be newgrounds affiliated then they would ask me after you approve their contest - and I would ask Tom, although he stil has to get back to me as to whether I have free reign to provide newgrounds awards for ALL audio contests, or just the MACs.

[blackattackbitch]

In the short break between the walls of text, I have a few ideas that are hopefully not very genre-specific but more content-based:

- Depression. Crippling, pitiful bridge-jumping wrist-slitting "OMG MY CAT GOT RAN OVER BY A BURNING TRAIN FULL OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN" depression.

- Songs that make you want to dance. Hokey Pokey accepted.

- Songs that make you want to do violence to the person next to you. This does not include songs that make you want to do violence to its author.

- Sex songs. Not love songs like in the MAC from 2 years ago. Sex songs. And no, you can't simply record yourself having sex and post it. You at least have to have some music behind it.

- "Get high/drunk" music. This includes songs that symbolize what it's like to be high or drunk. Bonus points for a DnB song about what it's like to be on crack.

Just a couple ideas.

[Krank]

themes are tough to come up with.

I would suggest more technical guidelines, song structure oriented guideline, and I will explain what that is and why it could be effective

Instead of the theme "make a song that could be in a children's show" or "make a song that is sad and melancholy"

as a musician i hate that shit.

hows about "make a 3 minutes long song with a 30 second intro, followed by a spaced out 1 minute chill out session, then a beat breaks out of nowhere and continues to the end of the song, continually building down after a plateau"

create very specific guidelines and get into depth and style of individual song parts. you could come up with endless combination of this and keep the contest going forever

[blackattackbitch]

At 1/4/11 09:58 AM, Bjra wrote: themes are tough to come up with.

I would suggest more technical guidelines, song structure oriented guideline, and I will explain what that is and why it could be effective

create very specific guidelines and get into depth and style of individual song parts. you could come up with endless combination of this and keep the contest going forever

Not a bad idea. It doesn't have to be exactly what you suggested, but it could be very interesting to see what people come up with.

The thing is though, there won't be much judging based on how well the song adheres to the theme unless some people really suck at adhering to what guidelines are set. Basically, it'll be a contest of who can write the best song in general.

[FairSquare]

At 1/4/11 09:58 AM, Bjra wrote: hows about "make a 3 minutes long song with a 30 second intro, followed by a spaced out 1 minute chill out session, then a beat breaks out of nowhere and continues to the end of the song, continually building down after a plateau"

create very specific guidelines and get into depth and style of individual song parts. you could come up with endless combination of this and keep the contest going forever

Personally, i wouldn't like to have such specific requirements. When i create something i want to have a certain freedom. I don't like to have to do something when i make music, it ruins the fun for me.
Also, themes can be interpreted in many ways and it's always fun to see what people come up with and what kind of ideas people have with certain themes.

I like blackattack's suggestions btw :)

[RetromanOMG]

At 1/4/11 09:58 AM, Bjra wrote: themes are tough to come up with.

I would suggest more technical guidelines, song structure oriented guideline, and I will explain what that is and why it could be effective

Instead of the theme "make a song that could be in a children's show" or "make a song that is sad and melancholy"

as a musician i hate that shit.

hows about "make a 3 minutes long song with a 30 second intro, followed by a spaced out 1 minute chill out session, then a beat breaks out of nowhere and continues to the end of the song, continually building down after a plateau"

create very specific guidelines and get into depth and style of individual song parts. you could come up with endless combination of this and keep the contest going forever

I like Bjra's suggestion, it was something more structured than "simply convey a feeling." His suggestion challenges the artist to do that same thing but with set parameters.

Maybe different time signatures than 4/4? I'm terrible at making suggestions.

[Chronamut]

I agree - having such a rigid restriction for criteria would stifle creativity - if you want to set those guidelines for yourself though be my guest. Also the new MACs are gonig to focus more on quality and less on quantity - in fact we WANT less people to submit - simply because we want to see a higher standard of music BEING submitted - not 40 submissions of people who think "oh hey I'm new - I'll submit this piece of garbage and hope it flies".

hence the extremely rigid sweeping process.

Also I want to try and avoid genre-specific contests as much as possible because I don't want to alienate major portinos of the portal - I want it to be focused more around ideas - because ideas can be wonderfully interpreted in different genres.

[SymbolCymbal]

Theme for MAC.

The organizer of the contest first finds out who is going to participate. Then each participant is given a random wikipedia article.
Write a song about that article or at least try to get the feeling of the article.

2nd idea.

THE MOST DEEPEST DARKEST yet serene PLACE ON EARTH....THE MARIANAS TRENCH!!!!!
Write a song that you feel could be played down there.
(No Dethklok covers allowed)

Third idea.
I know many of you are not into sports but write a song that can an anthem for your favorite sports team.

4th idea

WW3
Lets hope it never happens, but if it does well have a full album for it.
Write a song that would explain in your mind what WW3 would look like.
Also include short story or description.

5th idea
You now have a tail................You are skipping down the street with your new tail.
Theme music is needed for this scene.

6th idea
Whoopee cushion and itching powder factory.
It's just a silly theme. write some music for it.

7th idea
Make THE GAYEST sounding club song you can imagine.
Gayhouse is terrible.... make it good and even gayer...

8th idea
Music to decapitate 37 people and one kimodo dragon to.

9th idea
Write a song about your favorite mythical GOD....Thor, apollo, poisidon, or even demi-god (half god half human) Achilles, Perseus etc.

10th idea
Pick a deadly illness, parasite, bacterial infection, virus or any other hard to see nasty. AAANNNNDDD write a song about it.

11th idea
A very large volcano is about to explode into a fiery hell unseen by the human eye ever on earth. Once the volcano explodes you grab your surfboard (which is lava and fire proof just like you!!!!)
Surfing the Apocalypse.

BTW ill judge as long as the theme isn't lame and boring. It doesn't have to be one of my suggestions but it cant be lame. EXAMPLE: The feeling of loneliness you get when clipping your toenails. OR Clouds....just clouds.

[Buoy]

At 1/4/11 09:58 AM, Bjra wrote: create very specific guidelines and get into depth and style of individual song parts. you could come up with endless combination of this and keep the contest going forever

I imagine most songs would end up same-ish and I personally hate structure- or instrument-based requirements like that because it limits such an important aspect of the songwriting. If the theme is wide open to interpretation with few technical requirements it allows you to be original and do something totally unexpected and awesome.

[Chronamut]

don't worry - no lame mac suggestions will be allowed. :P

and lol at your suggestinos symbol :P

and it's good to know I have your judging support :)

[ShatterTheSky22]

At 1/4/11 10:36 AM, SymbolCymbal wrote:

:OR Clouds....just clouds.

Damn it! There goes my best submission! Haha

I dunno, this is really morbid, but what about "A song you'd play at a loved one's funeral?" I think people would get into that one and it would force alot of effort--nobody would want to make a disgraceful piece.

[Chronamut]

At 1/4/11 10:47 AM, ShatterTheSky22 wrote:

At 1/4/11 10:36 AM, SymbolCymbal wrote: OR Clouds....just clouds.

Damn it! There goes my best submission! Haha

I dunno, this is really morbid, but what about "A song you'd play at a loved one's funeral?" I think people would get into that one and it would force alot of effort--nobody would want to make a disgraceful piece.

hmm.. interesting proposal! We don't have many darkness-themed contests on newgrounds - definitely a consideration :)

[Buoy]

At 1/4/11 04:00 AM, SolusLunes wrote: I still liked my idea of "musicify a picture" for a MAC. Worked rather well the last time we did it.

Yes I loved that contest. Mostly because I won money with my entry. Also one of my songs was mostly based on a picture I messed with in Photoshop for fun. So yes pictures can create some very creative and awesome results that will all be totally different depending on the way each contestant interprets the picture.

Another similar idea is "musicify a story/situation", as long as there isn't a very strict storyline which would be an indirect structure-requirement. While still being much more specific than just "make a sad song" and the like.

Even something like "make a song whose title is "The Crescent Moon Incident" (or some random shit like that)" would be interesting :P

or a "this is your brain on drugs" kinda contest. I WOULD LOVE THAT. I WOULD HAVE SO MUCH FUN WITH THAT

[SymbolCymbal]

At 1/4/11 10:56 AM, SBB wrote:

or a "this is your brain on drugs" kinda contest. I WOULD LOVE THAT. I WOULD HAVE SO MUCH FUN WITH THAT

If that is the MAC theme this month then i'll be competing. I've done too many illegal substances to NOT participate.