MGSII Results/Release

[The Thug]

Like the MGSI Results this post is a bit long. Read with caution.

Sorry for the long delay. The past few weeks have been very busy for myself and Windbreaker. But fear no longer because the results are finally in! Part of the delay was because I misplaced my notes, and just got back to rewriting them. Oops! Congratulations to Cryos and ukimalefu for creating 6 beautiful songs.

Overall Scores:
Cryos -- 202/210
ukimalefu -- 196/210

Again, my comments will be followed by scores in light blue and Windbreaker's comments will be followed by scores in green.

Cryos -- 202/210

Cataklyst:

The sounds effects are nice and the upbeat intro correlates well with this level beginning a new chapter. It also fits with the constant threat of pfhor fighters and cyborgs in this level. Dang, there's a lot. Overall, it's nice to listen to, but the music could be a bit softer.

Interpretation: 18/20 Musicality: 20/20 Creativity: 10/10 Sound Quality: 9/10 Originality: 5/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 67/70

I thought something more rock-ish would fit with the first lava-based level, but this surprised me when I began playing, as it fit nicely with What About Bob?. It also sounds quite different from CryoS's previous songs from the last competition, so that earned originality points. Overall, a nice fit with the level.

Interpretation: 19/20 Musicality: 20/20 Creativity: 9/10 Sound Quality: 10/10 Originality: 5/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 68/70

Temptation:

Very nice. Again, the choice of sound effects here is just right. It definitely fits a water-based level. The music is a bit too loud, but that's overshadowed by the pure awesomeness of the tune. The up-beat style may be a bit overboard, as I've always viewed this level as a more laid-back one if you explore the entire map. Good work though.

Interpretation: 18/20 Musicality: 20/20 Creativity: 10/10 Sound Quality: 9/10 Originality: 5/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 67/70

This song's tempo goes well with the fast-paced action of the level. The shortness of the song also fits with how short the level is, if you do it right. Temptation is also a techno song and sounds a lot like CryoS's previous song, which loses some creativity points. We need variety! Not a bad song, though.

Interpretation: 20/20 Musicality: 20/20 Creativity: 8/10 Sound Quality: 10/10 Originality: 3/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 66/70

Dice:

For the third time, the sounds effects amaze me. At the beginning of this song, the slushing sound reminds me of someone wading through sewage which is what the player does to start of the map. The overall tone struck me as explorish, which fit in with the level's large and annoying structure. Well done. Still to loud though. At maximum listening pleasure volume, I could barely hear my pistol shots.

Interpretation: 19/20 Musicality: 20/20 Creativity: 10/10 Sound Quality: 9/10 Originality: 5/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 68/70

My favorite CryoS song in this set. It has a lot of variety, and I like how it starts out with some cymbals, and some accents here and there before getting into the steady beat, which I think complements the large opening to this level. The only issue I saw was after the intro, the vibe of the song would fit better in a nighttime setting (which actually ends up fine when the player gets to the darker parts of the level), but when in daylight it doesn't quite fit together.

Interpretation: 18/20 Musicality: 20/20 Creativity: 10/10 Sound Quality: 10/10 Originality: 5/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 68/70

Overall Total:

Total: 202/210 Total: 202/210 Score: 202/210

ukimalefu -- 196/210

Run Bob run:

This song has a nice groove to it. The instruments used fit the lava setting, but the song is a bit repetitive. I can feel the build up with the addition of instruments, but the song seems to go nowhere. That's ok though, because level seemed to go in a circle the first time I played it. Well done.

Interpretation: 18/20 Musicality: 18/20 Creativity: 10/10 Sound Quality: 10/10 Originality: 5/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 66/70

This song seemed a little too soft to go with the lava-ness of What About Bob?, which as I said earlier I think should have a rougher-sounding song to go with it, and I think this song could have been a bit longer, with more to it. But, it is a great song as a stand-alone.

Interpretation: 16/20 Musicality: 20/20 Creativity: 10/10 Sound Quality: 10/10 Originality: 4/5 Length: 4/5 Total: 64/70

Codeine Cocktail:

Not too shabby. Come and take your medicine? Heh, I'd rather not. Compared to the other songs in this contest, this one was the most laid-back. Maybe even a little too lax. It's cool though, because I was grooving. Until I got naded in the face by a trooper. Nice work though.

Interpretation: 17/20 Musicality: 20/20 Creativity: 10/10 Sound Quality: 10/10 Originality: 5/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 67/70

Ukimalefu does better job of making Codeine Cocktail fit well with it's level than Run Bob run. I like the atmosphere the song creates, and the influence it has on the level itself, even if I can get past the level in 20 seconds. However, as with CryoS's Dice, this song would be great if the level were only set at night! And, if Come And Take Your Medicine had a loon. That would be awesome.

Interpretation: 17/20 Musicality: 20/20 Creativity: 10/10 Sound Quality: 10/10 Originality: 5/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 67/70

FORTHEHORDE:

Gotta love those hunters and S'pht. Oh yeah. This song had a groovy feeling. As with the first song, it was a bit repetitive. It was also a tad bit soft. The tone definitely fit a sewage map though. Noice.

Interpretation: 18/20 Musicality: 19/20 Creativity: 9/10 Sound Quality: 9/10 Originality: 5/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 65/70

This song stayed basically the same throughout, in terms of dynamics, and was quiet! I had trouble hearing it while playing, even though I could hear the other songs fine at the same volume level. I didn't really even notice the song while playing the level, which is not a good thing. I think for a spacious level like this, the music should sound big as well (i.e., more bass, a distant sound, etc...), and this song had too much treble, in my opinion. Other than that, I liked the fade out.

Interpretation: 16/20 Musicality: 18/20 Creativity: 10/10 Sound Quality: 9/10 Originality: 5/5 Length: 5/5 Total: 63/70

Overall Total:

Total: 198/210 Total: 194/210 Score: 196/210

In conclusion:

As I said last time, it is very hard to critique songs, since we have such a large array of differing opinions concerning music, so I basically critiqued each piece off my personal taste, and what I thought fit best with the textures of the level (textures as in atmosphere, sounds, wall textures, etc...). I liked each song as a stand alone, and I think each of the many, many participants that contributed did an excellent job creating music. One thing that would be cool to see if we have another competition: some actual recordings of real instruments! That would be a challenge.

Again, with some of the reviews Windbreaker and myself had different opinions, but between the two of us, I think we scored them pretty accurately. Thanks to Cryos and ukimalefu for producing this high quality album! The participation wasn't as great as I expected, but no problem. Hopefully more people will participate in the next MGS. You can download the Volunteers Album on Fileball or on Simplici7y.

The 3 songs that will be included in the Marathon 2 Soundtrack are:

Cataklyst -- 67.5/70 -- by Cryos
Codeine Cocktail -- 67/70 -- by ukimalefu
Dice -- 68/70 -- by Cryos

If you have any problems please let me know. I will post the criteria for MGSIII in a few weeks. Stay tuned.

[tehWastedJamacan]

IMHO, Cataklyst was the best.

Of course, to me, it sounded like rave music, a little, and I like rave music.

What notes/frequencies did you use, CryoS? I'm curious, as a variation of the song would go nicely in a song I am writing currently. It will not be used for any contest or anything.

[ukimalefu]

I LOVE Cataklyst.

The other 2 are not bad at all.

You're right about "forthehorde", it should be louder.

[CryoS]

we did some good pieces uki. good job


jamacan... ehm wha?

[tehWastedJamacan]

oh, crap. you just made noises untill it sounded good, dint you?

[CryoS]

more or less...
glad you liked it though

[ukimalefu]

I already started working on song number SEVEN.

[CryoS]

dont think i can make next mgs thug, just FYI

[tehWastedJamacan]

more or less...
glad you liked it though

I'll run the mp3 thru audacity, and see if i can grab the frequency, then find a converter to change frequency to musical notes

[The Thug]

dont think i can make next mgs thug, just FYI

Oh no! I'm going to start it around mid July and it will end mid August. I hope you can at least make 1 song!

[CryoS]

i get home from vacation around 22 july
so perhaps one or 2

[$lave]

I'll run the mp3 thru audacity, and see if i can grab the frequency, then find a converter to change frequency to musical notes

If you don't know enough (basic) theory to be able to find what key CryoS song is in yourself, then what exactly do you do besides "make noises until it sounds good"?

EDIT: Also, musical notes are approximated frequencies, but if you need you can use this chart to convert one to the other.

[tehWastedJamacan]

you can tell what key its in? boy, youre good.

Im on my eighth year playing piano, seventh year playing alto sax, and sixth year playing guitar. I can't tell what key something is in just by listening. I have to bust out my sax and play until i get one note right, then i can get the rest. Unfortunatly, my sax is out for repairs (damage during marching band, and i cant send it in during the school year). I'm hopeless on the piano for figuring out notes by ear, and guitar is generally out of the question, unless ive heard it on another guitar.

[$lave]

I don't have perfect pitch by any means and I'm only classically trained at guitar, but I can still find what key a song is in in a few minutes playing piano or guitar. It's generally just trial and error finding one note, and from there you can find what key a song is in fairly quickly.

It, of course, does depend on how good your ear is, but that is tested during standard examinations.

EDIT: I've also been playing guitar for six years now, having started in grade 5. I didn't really mean to criticize you, but you seemed rather dismayed with CryoS lack of classical training

[treellama]

you can tell what key its in? boy, youre good.

Im on my eighth year playing piano, seventh year playing alto sax, and sixth year playing guitar. I can't tell what key something is in just by listening. I have to bust out my sax and play until i get one note right, then i can get the rest. Unfortunatly, my sax is out for repairs (damage during marching band, and i cant send it in during the school year). I'm hopeless on the piano for figuring out notes by ear, and guitar is generally out of the question, unless ive heard it on another guitar.

Even if you don't have absolute pitch (many of us don't), you only need one note as reference to figure out what key something is in! Surely a tuning fork (or however you tune your instruments) is enough

[tehWastedJamacan]

It isnt at my school.

And the whole trial and error thing, thats what i do with my sax.

also, if i came across as sarcastic, or rude, I dint mean to be.

[tehWastedJamacan]

Even if you don't have absolute pitch (many of us don't), you only need one note as reference to figure out what key something is in! Surely a tuning fork (or however you tune your instruments) is enough

a tuning fork? the piano guy uses that to tune the piano. And my mom uses it to check for broken bones. I use my piano to tune my guitar, and i drew a line on the cork on the neck of my sax to tell me where the tuned mouthpiece should be. Also, any electronic tuning device wont work because his song's notes go too fast for it.

[tehWastedJamacan]

So my dad just came home about 3 minutes ago and he had my sax! so first thing i do is grab my fone and play the song, then bust out my sax and mimic it. Turns out, the song is F#, C#, F#(an octave higher), G, back to F# on my sax. That means, on a concert key, its A, E, A(an octave higher), Bb, and back to A.

I win.

[treellama]

a tuning fork? the piano guy uses that to tune the piano. And my mom uses it to check for broken bones. I use my piano to tune my guitar, and i drew a line on the cork on the neck of my sax to tell me where the tuned mouthpiece should be. Also, any electronic tuning device wont work because his song's notes go too fast for it.

*facepalm*

[tehWastedJamacan]

facepalm to what? All of it?

[The Thug]

I use my piano to tune my guitar, and i drew a line on the cork on the neck of my sax to tell me where the tuned mouthpiece should be.

That line isn't definite. The tuning of an instrument is affected by temperature, how your mouth is positioned, as well as the length of your instrument. With a woodwind instrument, the dryness of the reed also affects the pitch. I play the saxophone as well, and I have to constantly change my mouthpiece to match the conditions. And a tuning fork is more for finding/matching frequencies than tuning a musical instrument.

Good to hear we have some musical talent in the marathon community though. We could start a band.

[tehWastedJamacan]

I realize how much everything else affects it, but its better to have an approxamation of what is tuned, then to start from scratch and sound outta wack. besides, its tuned correct about 75% of the time. Mostly cus i play in the same room generally.

hmm... a band you say?

[The Thug]

Yes, I can see it now. You and me, a saxophone duo, jamming out the beats and rolling in the cash.

[tehWastedJamacan]

Yeah! that sounds sweet!

[CryoS]

...on the street with a worn old hat on the ground with a few pennies in it. EPIC!