July Contest: Gossip

[forw]

Casting my vote for NineOfKings's submission.
I noticed voting is required for entrants, sooo I listened to all the entries (except for my own of course) and I think his entry is the best example of polyrhythm, especially since he has polyrhythm in multiple time signatures!

hey,
just saw that you only chose one track..

Vote for your Top 10 favorite compositions, in order (most-favorite = #1, proceed downward).

[HolyRebuked]

Yeah, I fail. I ran out of time this morning while I was on the voting page (busy listening to all the neat music) and had to stop voting and get ready to go put a partial deposit on an out-of-town apartment. >.< Seems I'll be moving back to Lincoln at the start of next month. Also, I won't have internet. Also, I finished voting (LOL) and also snarkily commenting on polyrhythm as opposed to polymeter (such a tricky tricky difference, because one can be either, or, or both depending on it's usage). Today has been a looong day. Got stuck in Lincoln. Practiced my turntableism to pass the 2 hours waiting for a tow. >.< Then the tow truck blew a tire on the way back to Omaha. Figures. Not really pertinent to the conversation, but an interesting anecdote nonetheless.

Cheers!

[AaronCotton]

So there seems to be some discussion / confusion as to poly-rhythm? I'm not sure if I'm one of the one you think only used poly-meter, if I'm not, than just think of the following info as clarification

http://music.stackexchange.com/question ... polyrhythm

Polymeter : different voices/instruments that play different meters that desynchronize themselves (a 9/8 piano part against a 4/4 drum part, or 7/8 on a 3/4

Polyrythms : different subdivisions that fit in the same bar. The classic Christmas tune "Carol of the bells" is an example of 2 against 3. Traditional cuban rumba, and lots of west African drum rhythms use 6 against 4.

I absolutely used a "cross-beat" which is essentially a poly-rhythm that persists throughout most of the song: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-beat. I think many of the folks here did the same thing.

[HolyRebuked]

Um, I know what polyrhythm is. I've taken music theory as well as history of music antiquity to romantic period. I also know what polymeter is. I didn't name names, but if you are worried that that's why I didn't vote for you...

I will say it is in fact possible to compose music that is BOTH polyrhythm and polymeter, but it is somewhat difficult to do and would make accurate judging for a competition difficult.

I will say my entry was in common time. Just common time. I won't speak for others, but I noticed a lot of meter talk in the descriptions, without a lot of duration talk to go along with it. My ears also tell me there are some really talented minds at work, though.

My point was that this competition was difficult and if some people used polymeter instead of polyrhythm it is understandable. It's a hard concept to wrap your mind around for some people. Half my theory class didn't understand it when the instructor was teaching us about polymeter and polyrhythm.

[Hellfog]

I never even heard of polymeter and polyrhythm before, so wasn't a contest to grasp for me.

[D.H. Miltz]

How about having an open/sticky thread for theme suggestions, so people could express an interest in advance? Might help with choosing popular themes?

I have missed that, all other forum contest i have been in have that.

Interesting idea . . . but it might take 100% of the fun away from Dan, our humble mod

Not a bad idea. My first thought was "There are so many sticky threads in the Music Cafe already," but it could be open but not sticky (maybe with a link to it in every theme announcement/submissions thread or something?) or I could quietly unstick that MySpace thread and replace it with a theme suggestion thread.

It wouldn't be a straight voting thread, so I wouldn't worry about taking any fun (or "fun") away from me; I'd still have to decide on the theme. It'd be more like a suggestion box plus a poll on the other suggestions to help gauge interest. I think.

I'll give it some more thought. And anyone else's thoughts on it are welcomed.

[farlukar]

"There are so many sticky threads in the Music Cafe already,"

Four of those are contest-related; maybe make a contest subforum like Classics/HPC in Off Topic?

[kryptonaut]

There seems to be some contention in the voting thread as to which tracks have 'truly' used polyrhythms. The submissions were asked to 'make at least some use of polyrhythm'. Not (necessarily) to be a jarring in-yer-face experience, and not to be polyrhythmic from start to end.

My feeling is that when done well and in the right context, a polyrhythm doesn't really stand out much, it just is what it is. Maybe running 7's and 11's in the same time interval would be fairly obvious, but 3's and 4's generally sit together quite nicely. All depends what you're used to I guess.

If some people who have never tried writing anything like this before have misinterpreted the articles linked to, and maybe used a different kind of rhythmic variation, then I see that as at least partly a fault of the article. Anyway, I feel the point of these contests is to encourage people to move out of their comfort zones, and I think most of us did that to a greater or lesser extent.

So I won't be thinking 'Can I detect a polyrhythm all the way through?' when I vote, it will be more like 'Did the composer do something interesting rhythmically, do I enjoy listening to this, and is it as good as it could be?'

Just my £0.02

[forw]

well put, kryptonaut!!

Anyway, I feel the point of these contests is to encourage people to move out of their comfort zones, and I think most of us did that to a greater or lesser extent.

yep!

[Mister Natural]

^ was trying to formulate a response & could not have worded it more succinctly than you, Krypto
agree 100%

[pethu]

+my 0.02 SEK, too...!

[davidstiles]

Nicely put, kryptonaut! I agree as well.

[robogone]

Not a bad idea. My first thought was "There are so many sticky threads in the Music Cafe already," but it could be open but not sticky (maybe with a link to it in every theme announcement/submissions thread or something?) or I could quietly unstick that MySpace thread and replace it with a theme suggestion thread.

It wouldn't be a straight voting thread, so I wouldn't worry about taking any fun (or "fun") away from me; I'd still have to decide on the theme. It'd be more like a suggestion box plus a poll on the other suggestions to help gauge interest. I think.

I'll give it some more thought. And anyone else's thoughts on it are welcomed.

I think it would be better if people could just suggest and not vote. The best contests are the ones where the theme is outside of someone's comfort zone rather than everyone deciding on what they are most comfortable with.

[D.H. Miltz]

^I agree. I worded that poorly. There wouldn't be any actual voting for themes, nor an actual poll. But I'd probably take it into account if a suggestion elicited several ooh I like that ones or several I think I'd sit that one outs.

[Mister Natural]

anyone else having trouble with ClaRago's entry ? I've tried his soundcloud for a straight playback & the download link says "Ooops". I've PM'd him . . . does anyone hava copy they could send to me ?