April Nac 2012: Despisery Theme!

[Chronamut]

WELCOME TO THE SIXTEENTH OFFICIAL NAC!

I bring you April's theme: Dispisery THEMED!!

"Dispisery themed" you say? What does that mean?

Well.. it's a combination of despair and Misery - April is best known for april showers.. and everyone knows that rain brings on a depressive mood - so since most of you are angst ridden depressed teenagers ANYWAYS - you might as well put all that emo energy to good use :P

your life is like a deep abyss.. it's like, so dark.. and its like,taking hold of you and tightening its grip.. tighter and tighter, tighter than a pair of your 9 year old sister's jeans.. (which look great on you btw)

so yeah.. think like an emo.. or.. trent rezner.. or.. kurt kobain.. or.. MSI.. and make some seriously deep moody depressive (and possibly unintelligible) music that makes us all wanna off ourselves! YAAAAAAY!!!!

Contest Focus

To make anyone that is happy after listening to your song feel miserable :P

think twisted.. melancholy.. gothic.. etc, etc.

So yeah misery basically.. suck the living joy out of us - basically this is as close to an emo/goth/angst/grunge/whatever contest that this site will probably ever see :P - props given to inventive soundscapes in bg,.. real instruments, and vocals, as well as stellar mixing. I really wanna see some focus on using the bg ambiance to set the depresive mood - it's something I always prided myself in my own songs to paint a picture in a users mind. Think of yourself like a moody artist and you are unappreciated and alone and trying to show the world the dark pit of your soul.. or some shit like that. Haunting works well too.

---

Examples

aaah yes.. examples.. there will be MANY. Let's scour the internet and find some! Basically I want you to make music you listen to when you hate life or life has fucked you over and want to listen to music that speaks to how you feel.

I have one that is part of my personal archive but i don't have it atm.. if i reacquire it I shall link it too - it's a truly awesome song.

some of these just sound depresive.. some are depressive soundscapes.. and others have depressing despairing lyrics...

NIN - Every Day is Exactly the same

NIN - Right Where it Belongs

NIN - Hurt

sever

Evanescence: My Immortal

MSI: Issues

Aphex Twin: Come to Daddy

Posession

Mr. Tick and Mr. Tack

Oz

Minor Mirror Error

Silent Hill 2: Music Box

Come little Children

Sally's Song

Flyleaf: What's this?

Fear

sleepy hollow

Sleeping Village

MediEvil

Lillium

Covers and Remixes

fuck em! No covers or remixes allowed for this contest, unless you are covering or remixing another users depressive song that they submitted to the portal in the past, or your own depressive song that you may have submitted in the past.

Or even better, take a CHEERFUL song someone has submitted.. and suck the life out of it - Like Flyleaf did with the nightmare before christmas's "whats this?" song :)

Production

Production, in a break from the others, WILL play an important role in this contest. This will stress quality and pressure the contestants to put as much effort, knowledge and talent that they possibly can! into their submissions.

1) If you use real instruments - make sure they sound sweet!
2) If you use a real vocalist - make sure the vocals sounds sweet!
3) If you use Nuendo or East west (which I know 90% of you that go down that route will) - for the love of god - mix it properly!

BONUS POINTS

We'll favour like we said real instruments and voices - but in the end we will judge based on sheer talent and production of the song, and it's appropriateness to misery and despair >:[>

---

Voices

Voices can be used, provided that:
1) It is not sampled from copyrighted recordings.
2) It is 100% your own recording and creation.
3) You can ask another artist or group to provide vocals, as long as all material is newly created for your submission, and you provide the details of the vocalist(s), who they are.

Instruments & Collabbing

Recordings of instruments are great! Make sure you list any you used in your song description, and if anyone else helped, list them as well! As a result if someone assists you with instruments you may include them as part of your song - just make sure to mention them in your song description. The prize however will only go to the user that submitted the song.

---

Deadlines

All tracks must be in by the deadline. Please check your Newgrounds in-boxes regularly. If you have a problem with reaching the deadlines, please contact us as soon as possible, and we will review your case.

Submissions must not contain any material deemed offensive.

Further questions pertaining to official NACs can be found in the NAC General Discussion Thread

Last but not least, remember to have fun! Don't get too competitive and/or elitist, or I may have to bash some heads! :P

"Artsy" Musicians and singers, this is your time to shine!

As well as anyone who may otherwise... shoot up an entire school or something.. put that dark energy to good use! ;)

---

[Chronamut]

---

Here are the set dates and deadlines for this contest

From now till 11:59 PM EST Monday April 23rd: Submissions will be accepted.

Wednesday, April 25th: The 8 finalists will be announced, and their submissions will be closely scrutinized and reviewed by our finalist judges. NO BUTTHURT WHINING PLEASE.

also no pulling a Kanye West please.

Tuesday, May 1st: The top 4 will be announced by our finalist judges, as well as frontpaged the next month at some point by one of the audio mods (frontpage not guaranteed & results may be delayed till the second in case of emergency or me having a good enough excuse to delay it)

also only songs submitted uniquely for the contest month will be accepted (you cannot have one for that month and it also submitted 2 years ago as well for example, or have a repeat nac entry submitted from last year)

---

The finalist judges for the Despisery NAC will be...

To be determined - I will be taking offers from anyone interested - so PM me if you are interested. We prefer judges who have been around the block a few times on newgrounds - as evidenced by the all-star lineup we had in the past - so this month we are looking for NG veterans of all "natural instrument and sound design and voice" kinds. I will keep you posted.

Also Tylandril (aka Realmguys aka Tyler) as well as Evil-Dog have offered to be standby judges - which means they are free for me to use in the finalist judging if I feel their skills are appropriate for the contest judging-wise :) They will be most likely helping in this contest. Evil-Dog definitely will as he had a hand in this contest's inception.

If you want to be a sweeper judge, please talk to me but atm my good friend Jon has been filling in for brokendeck.

Also keep in mind that as a finalist judge you only have ONE WEEK to judge the 8 submissions, so if this is an issue for you, or you think you might not be able to pull through, then PLEASE DON'T OFFER!

We will pick the top three from the 8 finalists.

---

PRIZES

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

---

Please post your submissions in this thread!

This is easy. Just simply post your song link into the text window like so...

• 
  *+*+(Symphony of Darkness)+*+* by Chronamut

  finished version - a girl plays with her "shadow" in a run down mansion while it follows..

  Score

  4.39 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Video Game

  Popularity

  11,981 Views

• Loading...

and more importantly - HAVE FUN!!!

-shawn-

[Chronamut]

Alright so here is that video I promised to link as an example if I found a copy of it - here it is - possibly the best example ever :)

NeoTokyo - Neoguitar

[Ockeroid]

Oooh, my kind'a theme

Any singers, lyricists or instrumentalists wanna collab? Send me a pm

Thinking something NIN like would be sweet, but I'm open

[IIPhase]

Hi Shawn

Here is my entry
NO JOB

Hope you like it!

[SpikeVallentine]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'M GLAD I SAW "Lilium" IN THE EXAMPLES!!!!

[habon]

Hi there, here is my offering for the NAC!

• 
  Alone - HABON by habon

  Submission for April '12 NAC

  Score

  0 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Goth

  Popularity

  6 Views

• Loading...

[BrokenDecibel]

Here's mine. It's my first song on here, so it's not validated yet. x(

• 
  Bloody River by BrokenDecibel

  For April NAC. //

  Score

  0 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Ambient

  Popularity

  1 Views

• Loading...

[IIPhase]

This is my entry

• 
  No Job (re-done) by IIPhase

  Entry for dispisery

  Score

  5.00 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Miscellaneous

  Popularity

  2 Views

• Loading...

Hope you like it!
Did some parts again because i found some problems in my previous render.

[SonicWombat]

I poured my blood into this one.
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/480140?updated=1

[hnieuw]

• 
  So Cold by hnieuw

  Nac 2012: misery

  Score

  0 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Indie

  Popularity

  3 Views

• Loading...

Yo,

I hope it sucks all the happy memories out of your body :)

[YouriX]

• 
  -YRX- Liquid Drop (DEMO) by YouriX

  A demo of Liquid Drop

  Score

  5.00 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Dubstep

  Popularity

  1 Views

• Loading...

I guess i should also try out this contest! ;)

[SolusLunes]

• 
  Solus- Whisper Bells by SolusLunes

  An orchestral loop with awesome glockenspiels.

  Score

  5.00 / 5.00

  Type

  Loop

  Genre

  Classical

  Popularity

  8 Views

• Loading...

Lyrics are a maybe for soon: also, there's those tiny bits of happiness in this song that get mercilessly crushed.

It's fun to do that.

[Gobblemeister]

This one took longer than the ones before it because I was so overwhelmed with emotion during the process

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/480970?updated=1

In loving memory of my virginity, R.I.P in peace

[ChronoNomad]

Here's my contribution to the April, 2012 NAC:

• 
  -Epitaph- by ChronoNomad

  April 2012 NAC entry

  Score

  0 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Classical

  Popularity

  4 Views

• Loading...

[Wurfel-Waffles]

I got great stuff for goth metal but I'm too damn busy to do it so here is something I threw together week ago.

• 
  Mother by Wurfel-Waffles

  mother is the greatest

  Score

  4.25 / 5.00

  Type

  Loop

  Genre

  Classical

  Popularity

  126 Views

• Loading...

[Chronamut]

1 week left guys - get your entries in! ;)

[CidiousClef]

With careful consideration, I submit:

• 
  Aftermath by CidiousClef

  Post-Apocalyptic-ish Soundscape, transitions to Dubstep.

  Score

  0 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Ambient

  Popularity

  5 Views

• Loading...

[Deflektor]

Hope i'm not too late. Here's my entry :
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/482352?updated=1

[Deflektor]

Damn, i did it wrong.

• 
  ~~= Echoes of Tears=~~ by Deflektor

  April Nac 2012 Entry

  Score

  5.00 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Classical

  Popularity

  7 Views

• Loading...

[Chronamut]

last day people! :)

[stratkat]

Meh
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/482458?updated=1

[samulis]

www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/482519

Finally got this done... Took a lot of different approaches, but I finally settled on this thematic approach.

[Chronamut]

well this wasn't fun as there were a lot of deserving tracks but in the end we settled on what conveyed a feeling of misery the best..

Top 8:

• 
  A Melancholy Evening by samulis

  Short and sorrowful orchestral piece featuring strings.

  Score

  3.93 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Classical

  Popularity

  107 Views

• Loading...
• 
  No Job (re-done) by IIPhase

  Entry for dispisery

  Score

  4.63 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Miscellaneous

  Popularity

  160 Views

• Loading...
• 
  Alone - HABON by habon

  Submission for April '12 NAC

  Score

  4.38 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Goth

  Popularity

  282 Views

• Loading...
• 
  I'm Emo. by SonicWombat

  It's a song. About being Emo.

  Score

  4.07 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Grunge

  Popularity

  197 Views

• Loading...
• 
  So Cold by hnieuw

  Nac 2012: misery

  Score

  4.74 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Indie

  Popularity

  458 Views

• Loading...
• 
  Rain Pours On Clouds Too by Gobblemeister

  Sometimes even rapefunk can make ya feel sad...

  Score

  3.26 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Funk

  Popularity

  174 Views

• Loading...
• 
  Aftermath by CidiousClef

  Post-Apocalyptic-ish Soundscape, transitions to Dubstep.

  Score

  0 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Ambient

  Popularity

  65 Views

• Loading...
• 
  -Epitaph- by ChronoNomad

  April 2012 NAC entry

  Score

  4.34 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Classical

  Popularity

  402 Views

• Loading...

[PsychoGoldfish]

PS: click the cd icons....

[Chronamut]

also fun new feature - click the icon of the song in the forum to have it play right there without going to the page! Built in audio players! :)

Courtesy of PsychoGoldfish :)

[Adam-Beilgard]

At 4/25/12 06:00 PM, Chronamut wrote: also fun new feature - click the icon of the song in the forum to have it play right there without going to the page! Built in audio players! :)

Courtesy of PsychoGoldfish :)

Is there anything that man can't do?

[YouriX]

At 4/25/12 06:00 PM, PsychoGoldfish wrote: PS: click the cd icons....

Oooooh snap! Thats pretty cool! Also congrats to the winners! This was a pretty fun contest. :)

[Chronamut]

At 4/26/12 02:53 AM, YouriX wrote:

At 4/25/12 06:00 PM, PsychoGoldfish wrote: PS: click the cd icons....

Oooooh snap! Thats pretty cool! Also congrats to the winners! This was a pretty fun contest. :)

those are only the top 8 dear.. winners announced by the end of the month :)

and no, there is no limit as to what that man can do :P

[SonicWombat]

At 4/25/12 05:59 PM, Chronamut wrote: well this wasn't fun as there were a lot of deserving tracks but in the end we settled on what conveyed a feeling of misery the best..

Best of luck to everyone!