Remember, do not submit your entry on this thread! Refer to the rules post for directions.
Dailies, mentlegen, and others, welcome to the opening round of the 2024 Newgrounds Music Triathlon!
What is NGMT you may ask? For that I refer you to the rules, which dictates in detail all that you need to know about this event. But in short, it is a contest split into three phases, with a theme and challenge for each round (except the last one, that one is always a bit different ;) After each phase, the contestants vote anonymously on all submissions, giving 4, 2 or 1 points, and the contestant with the most points after all three phases wins the triathlon!
If you'd like to participate, all you have to do is to make a submission following the specified theme and challenge and send it to me privately before the deadline :) You also do need to join the Audio Portal Discord server (link in the rules post), as that is where you'll be able to listen to the submissions during the judging phase.
But with that out of the way, let's get into the meat and potatoes of this post, which is introducing the Phase I theme and challenge...
The theme for Phase I is The Reclaimed Land
@themefinland - Old Arboria --/-- @ediblefromage - It's Better Left Alone --/-- @yakoneGD - Ruins
Has it been decades, centuries, or perhaps millennia?
Have the ruins of the once great civilization been overtaken by arid deserts, lush forests, or freezing glaciers?
Do we lament the lost glory of the past, or is there hope for a future that is to grow on it's shoulders?
We do not know, for what is only certain is that this land once dominated by it's long-gone inhabitants has been once more reclaimed by the incessant march of entropy and time.
But yet another question remains... are you truly as alone here as it first seems?
The challenge for Phase I is Three Track Limitation
Back in the day we (well I wouldn't be born for another 20 or so years but let's not get stuck into details) had only three audio channels, and we put them into good use! Indeed, some fine tunes were made within this crippling technical limitation, and to pay homage to those days, the first challenge puts you working around similar restraints.
In this challenge, you are only allowed to have three instrument tracks playing at the same time. Do note that I didn't specify instruments, as that is not exactly what this challenge is about, as by instrument track I mean a discrete melodic / chordal / rhythmic element, which may consist of multiple layered instruments. Specifically, the rules for the challenge are as follows:
- Layering / overdubbing is allowed (and encouraged), meaning that you can use multiple instruments for a single track, as long as those instruments are playing the same notes. Not only is layering an integral part of sound design, trying to police it would be an exercise in futility.
- Things like keyboard splitting and otherwise limiting note range to cram in more "tracks" goes against the challenge. If you clearly have 4 or more discrete sets of instrumentation going on, it's out.
- Drums* are considered to be a single track, regardless of the way you implement them.
- No limits on polyphony, even with instruments that are supposed to be able to play only one voice at a time. So go ahead and add 500 harmonies to your vocals :D
- You can fade and modify instruments on the fly freely to change how a track sounds.
- Some reverb / delay can persist after switching out a track for another, but trying to bypass the limitations by abusing those will not be seen in a good light :p
* Drums include all sorts of standard acoustic / electric drum sounds, as well as other non-melodic percussion sounds. Simple one-shot sound effects (both recorded and synthesized) are also counted within drums.
To give an example of what would be allowed, below I juggle 4 tracks so that only up to 2 of them are playing at a time, while also having (admittedly extremely basic) drums going on at the same time, which in the context of this challenge counts in only 3 tracks playing at the same time.
I will update these rules as need for clarification arises / people come up with additional questions and edge cases I did not think of. Indeed, please ask anything you'd like regarding this phase or NGMT as a whole in this thread, in the comments of the rules post, or in the #ngmt24-discussion channel of the Audio Portal Discord server.
And thus the opening shot has been fired. You have time until February 6th 11:59 PM EST to make and send me your submission. But until then, the best of luck to you, and have a blast composing :) Also go check out the talented folks who lent their works for use in NGMT if you haven't already, there's plenty more fine pieces of art to be found on their profiles! I'd also like to give thanks to @Everratic who helped me with technical preparation, and @SkyeWint for originally coming up with the format and hosting NGMT in the years past.
