Welcome to the semi-finals of the Newgrounds Audio Deathmatch 2017! If you want some background on the NGADM, please click HERE.

Brand new track. Two-week deadline. Completely from scratch. Submit it to the thread. You all should be well-versed in this by now. The tracks are due on October 1st.

Credit is due to our judges: @Bosa, @ChronoNomad, @ADR3-N, @Samulis, @SkyeWint, and @TaintedLogic.

In addition, @LucidShadowDreamer has continued to excel in his role as scribe, and @LunacyEcho has engaged himself with quite an impressive volume of statistical analysis. @Ceevro has crafted an epic NGADM 2017 logo, attached below, and you can find the previous round's playlist HERE.

Thanks to everyone who has followed the NGADM! The NG community at large helps ensure the continued success of this competition.

With that, the semifinal matchups are as follows:

@etherealwinds VS @FinnMK

@steelside VS @Johnfn & @Ethansight

The contest bracket is also available for your viewing pleasure.

On a personal level, I’m honored to be a part of this contest, and I’m very much looking forward to hearing more awesome tracks! If you made it, congratulations, and if not, it’s still an immense accomplishment to come this far. Good luck, everyone!

Scores!

It's always a thrill to see those notifications and wonder if I've made it through. The journey continues! Let's have a good match @etherealwinds.

i actually feel kind of bad beating mcgorilla because i think he's a better musician than i am D: oh well why am i worried he's gonna get a record deal in like 5 seconds anyway

good luck @steelside!

As per usual, we have another two-week deadline for the Semifinals round. Of course, starting when you were finished with your Quarterfinals track - or now - is perfectly acceptable, just like always.

And hey, while I totally don't endorse it whatsoever, if you need to leave the contest for some crazy reason--LET US KNOW!
Like pronto. Then we can let someone else back in, and you'll totally be best friends forever! ...Or something like that.

We're down to the final four. Put your game faces on and bring the heat!

At 9/17/17 01:59 PM, FinnMK wrote: It's always a thrill to see those notifications and wonder if I've made it through. The journey continues! Let's have a good match @etherealwinds.

I'll have to do something special if I'm gonna beat the most consistent competitor in the contest this year. Can't wait to see what you come out with man :)

At 9/17/17 03:09 PM, johnfn wrote: i actually feel kind of bad beating mcgorilla because i think he's a better musician than i am D: oh well why am i worried he's gonna get a record deal in like 5 seconds anyway

good luck @steelside!

Don't feel bad at all! I'm actually completely burned out and although I feel a little sad, there's a sense of relief that I can take a break from the pressure of putting something out every two weeks! Funnily enough, I feel like I backtracked a little on my learning progress during this period to revert to something familiar and comfortable rather than pushing myself out of my comfort zone to learn new things. On the upside, I worked a lot on my mixing, met a bunch of AMAZING friends and made a bunch of music I'd never have made otherwise. I never expected to make it this far either, so I'm very happy with how I did :) And being beaten by a friend makes me happy. I'm so glad to see both you and Jordi in the semis and can't wait to see what you do next!

I'd like to do a little wrap up I had in mind for the competition with some talking and acoustic versions of the songs I wrote -- what is the maximum length for an audio track on NG?

PS. The one thing I'm super upset about is that I placed SIXTH AND DON'T GET A COOL FORUM SIGNATURE NOOOOOOOOOOOO! :P I'm the bubble boy D:

PPS. Are record even deals still a thing

PPPS. hemlo yes I am the do durgs

At 9/17/17 05:40 PM, McGorilla42 wrote: I'm actually completely burned out and although I feel a little sad, there's a sense of relief that I can take a break from the pressure of putting something out every two weeks!

Feeling burnt out is pretty natural in the NGADM, especially for a long run! And technically it's putting something out every three weeks due to the week of judging, but the original production phase is two weeks, so regardless it's one helluva grind.

I'd like to do a little wrap up I had in mind for the competition with some talking and acoustic versions of the songs I wrote -- what is the maximum length for an audio track on NG?

I believe it's pretty much limited only by the file size. I've seen a few that are hours long, mostly improvs.

PS. The one thing I'm super upset about is that I placed SIXTH AND DON'T GET A COOL FORUM SIGNATURE NOOOOOOOOOOOO! :P I'm the bubble boy D:

D'aww! I've been considering making a general forum sig that says "I was in the Audio Deathmatch and all I got was this lousy signature" or something like that. Is that too silly and pointless? Does it make earning a 1st - 3rd place signature somehow less special? Let me know what you think.

PPS. Are record even deals still a thing

Surprisingly enough, yes they are!

At 9/17/17 06:20 PM, ChronoNomad wrote: D'aww! I've been considering making a general forum sig that says "I was in the Audio Deathmatch and all I got was this lousy signature" or something like that. Is that too silly and pointless? Does it make earning a 1st - 3rd place signature somehow less special? Let me know what you think.

I legit think there should be a sig for placing first in any round, which is always a seriously impressive accomplishment.

ggwp @finnmk :)

At 9/17/17 07:23 PM, johnfn wrote: I legit think there should be a sig for placing first in any round, which is always a seriously impressive accomplishment.

The yellow jersey for that leg of the tour, so to speak.

At 9/17/17 07:27 PM, midimachine wrote: ggwp @finnmk :)

You too!

Alright Finn, I bet money on you. Against etherealwinds.

You got this

no hard feelings jordi

At 9/17/17 08:26 PM, 1f1n1ty wrote: Alright Finn, I bet money on you. Against etherealwinds.

You got this

no hard feelings jordi

no hard feelings indeed.

you might wanna update your signature :)

At 9/17/17 08:26 PM, 1f1n1ty wrote: Alright Finn, I bet money on you. Against etherealwinds.
You got this

I feel like I'm in the Olympics, complete with actual money being betted on my performance.

(...btw ethereal and I made a pact that whichever of us advances has to win the whole thing. Top bracket must rule the podium. But you didn't hear that from me)

At 9/17/17 09:42 PM, FinnMK wrote:

At 9/17/17 08:26 PM, 1f1n1ty wrote: Alright Finn, I bet money on you. Against etherealwinds.
You got this

I feel like I'm in the Olympics, complete with actual money being betted on my performance.

(...btw ethereal and I made a pact that whichever of us advances has to win the whole thing. Top bracket must rule the podium. But you didn't hear that from me)

see, he says that, but he never even accepted my discord request. it's all lies.

At 9/17/17 09:42 PM, FinnMK wrote: I feel like I'm in the Olympics, complete with actual money being betted on my performance.

And I, for one, am anxious to the results of this match between you and @etherealwinds

I almost wish I was competing against you boys myself.

Let's not detract attention from the epic threesome of @steelside, @Johnfn & @Ethansight! I'm eager to see what they cook up.

At 9/17/17 08:26 PM, 1f1n1ty wrote: Alright Finn, I bet money on you. Against etherealwinds.

You got this

no hard feelings jordi

I'm betting on Jordi but only because I love him, not because I'm biased or anything! Let's hear some kickass, polished tracks, guyz!

At 9/17/17 07:23 PM, johnfn wrote:

At 9/17/17 06:20 PM, ChronoNomad wrote: D'aww! I've been considering making a general forum sig that says "I was in the Audio Deathmatch and all I got was this lousy signature" or something like that. Is that too silly and pointless? Does it make earning a 1st - 3rd place signature somehow less special? Let me know what you think.

I legit think there should be a sig for placing first in any round, which is always a seriously impressive accomplishment.

Hmm, that is indeed a major accomplishment, but it's not like each round is literally a contest unto itself. I mean honestly, what would such a thing even look like? If this were a sports tournament of some kind, which I believe is a pretty fair parallel, that would never happen. They don't hand out trophies because one team gets the highest score of a round. Not to mention that it could conceivably be a lot of extra effort for something that ultimately loses value or becomes completely invalidated over time. Like by that same artist winning a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place forum signature at the end of the ordeal, for example.

I guess my feelings on that would be similar to how some schools hand out diplomas just for passing a grade in school. In that case it actually feels like they're saying mediocrity is something to be celebrated, which is really weird. You made it past Kindergarten! Hooray! Here's your diploma. Talk about a false sense of accomplishment. Or, more likely, the entire point of the thing (if there even is one) is utterly lost on the child.

Not that it's really the same for a contest like this, but I think my point comes across. In the NGADM I feel that such a reward - while not completely lacking in merit - is already earned simply by moving on to the next round and quite possibly having that winning track land on the front page. Not to mention well-earned bragging rights.

Long story short (aka TL;DR), I've reached the conclusion that keeping the tradition of forum signatures relegated to the top 3 winners is the best plan of action. Much more meaningful that way.

At 9/17/17 11:24 PM, FinnMK wrote: Let's not detract attention from the epic threesome of @steelside, @Johnfn & @Ethansight! I'm eager to see what they cook up.

NAAAAAAAAAAAH You and etherealwind's where it's at

At 9/18/17 08:13 AM, 1f1n1ty wrote: NAAAAAAAAAAAH You and etherealwind's where it's at

omfg 1v1 me irl

At 9/18/17 08:07 AM, ChronoNomad wrote: Hmm, that is indeed a major accomplishment, but it's not like each round is literally a contest unto itself. I mean honestly, what would such a thing even look like? If this were a sports tournament of some kind, which I believe is a pretty fair parallel, that would never happen.

I think the parallel is how there are multiple qualifying events to get to the olympics - regionals, nationals, etc - but if anyone sets a world record in those events, it's still a world record.

At 9/18/17 02:16 PM, johnfn wrote: I think the parallel is how there are multiple qualifying events to get to the olympics - regionals, nationals, etc - but if anyone sets a world record in those events, it's still a world record.

I could be on-board if there was a trophy for the highest score for a single track throughout the whole competition. So maybe someone got a 9.82 in the Round of 64 and even though they didn't win with it, it turns out that the rest of the competition there wasn't ever a higher score. There could be an award for that.

At 9/18/17 02:24 PM, FinnMK wrote: I could be on-board if there was a trophy for the highest score for a single track throughout the whole competition. So maybe someone got a 9.82 in the Round of 64 and even though they didn't win with it, it turns out that the rest of the competition there wasn't ever a higher score. There could be an award for that.

For reference, the highest-scoring track so far this competition was @Phonometrologist 's R1 track, scoring 9.62! (hmm, and the dude *does* happen to not be in the ngadm anymore...)

At 9/18/17 02:24 PM, FinnMK wrote:

At 9/18/17 02:16 PM, johnfn wrote: I think the parallel is how there are multiple qualifying events to get to the olympics - regionals, nationals, etc - but if anyone sets a world record in those events, it's still a world record.

I could be on-board if there was a trophy for the highest score for a single track throughout the whole competition. So maybe someone got a 9.82 in the Round of 64 and even though they didn't win with it, it turns out that the rest of the competition there wasn't ever a higher score. There could be an award for that.

Yeah, I could see a "Highest Scoring Track of the NGADM" sort of thing. But again, what if the highest scoring track of the contest was made by a musician who ended up taking one of the 1st - 3rd spots? If the reward were a signature, it would be a blip on the radar, quickly replaced by the more prestigious honor. Some other kind of prize or award would make more sense. And any track that good should easily end up being frontpaged in the natural order of things.

I can't quite wrap by mind around comparing the NGADM to the Olympic Games, to be honest. There's only one actual qualifier, and that's the Auditions. But hey, I obviously agree that mad props should be given to anyone who earns the highest score. Such a symbol of might will be remembered in perpetuity, be lauded as a hero of the age, and invoke an epic legacy for generations to come!

...Or something like that.

go team @etherealwinds go!

At 9/18/17 07:45 PM, SnowTeddy wrote: go team @etherealwinds go!

team snowteddy ftw

It's probably a bit too early for me to post this but I've made it visible in the Discord chats. Now that everyone's placed, I thought of doing this for next year and the year after next:

Well, here we are once again at the halfway point. One week down, one to go!

Who's gonna be the first to submit before the deadline?