Welp Here goes nothin!
Hi. I'm Andrew. Audio portal junkie since 2010, supporter since 2017. I always want to improve what I do! I make music, run the NGUAC, post poetry on BBS, and am the all-time #2 audio reviewer. I love this site, and I want to make it the best I can! ^_^
Andrew Mikula
@TaintedLogic
Age 27, Male
Policy Research
Bates College
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Joined on 8/16/12
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Comments
hello. I'm not sure I'll be able to participate in every round this year but I still want to give this another shot, I only got to the knockout round in 2022 and I think I can do better nowadays. I have a couple questions though:
1. is there no dedicated discussion thread this year?
2. are sampled breakbeats alright here? I know there must be some leniency in regards to that, otherwise I wouldn't be hearing the jungle jungle sample pack on every other jungle/dnb song that gets frontpaged, but I just want to make sure since most of my songs are based around those kinds of drum samples.
3. I deleted my account a couple times in the past year or so, and thus I have lost whatever follow count I used to have, so now I wonder: would this affect anything if i were to join the contest?
Thanks for your questions!
1. Yes, there is a discussion thread. It's the same as the submission thread: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1536075/1. Unlike the NGADM and AIM, we don't have separate submission and discussion threads at the NGUAC. :)
2. Generally, the less "original" your piece is, the more likely you are to have some points docked at the discretion of the judges. But I'm not going to disqualify you for using those kinds of sample packs. The rules say "songs that use full-length acapella vocals or pre-made drum loops - even if they’re not copyrighted - will be accepted on a case-by-case basis." This is to discourage people from uploading tracks where they put in very little original work, but it's certainly possible to create unique-sounding tracks with full-length drum samples that have been modified and mastered to suit the rest of the piece. If you want, you can send me the track you plan on submitting via PM, and I'll vet it in advance.
3. This almost certainly means you're going to be in the Underdogs group, which typically has about 10 or fewer fans. But otherwise, it shouldn't "affect anything." I'm not going to track down your old account on the Wayback Machine and use your old fan total to determine your group, lol.
Hope that helps! Lmk if you have any other questions.
~Andrew
what qualifies as an underdog?
and can i change my solo tryout to a collaboration tryout?
The fan threshold for each group varies every year depending on who enters the competition since we try to make the number of users in each group as even as possible. Last year, the Underdogs had 11 fans or fewer.
And yes, you can change your tryout piece up until the deadline. Just make sure your collab partner is prepared to contribute to all of the pieces you submit as part of the contest in subsequent rounds.
Good luck!
@TaintedLogic so 18 fans is an underdog?
Probably not, no. Last year's categories were:
Underdogs: 0-11 fans
Professional Amateurs: 12-38 fans
Above Average Joes: 39-99 fans
All Stars: 100 fans or more
The fan thresholds will probably be similar this year, but not exactly the same.
@TaintedLogic OHHHH i thought you had to be an underdog to join!! thanks
Not at all, no! All are welcome to join. You'll just be competing in groups with people who have roughly the same fan total for the first two rounds. Sorry for the confusion.
@TaintedLogic thanks lol
I don't like the judgemental tone that's taken when it comes to sampling in these rules. Your disdain for musicians who sample is palpable.
In reality, I think sampling is a production tool just like any other: it can be over-used, used well, and/or used poorly depending on the context. The most important "anti-sampling" rule in the contest is focused on rooting out potential copyright issues. The "Don’t overuse presets or stock loops" one is a bit more subjective, but some judges may dock you for lack of originality if you rely too much on them. If you really think I personally have a vendetta against sampling, take comfort in the fact that I likely won't be scoring your group during the first round. Anyway, I genuinely wish you the best of luck in the contest.
I know you said our submissions need to be on Newgrounds, but is the audio supposed to only be on Newgrounds? Can it be on SoundCloud or YouTube even if we provided a link to the Newgrounds audio for our submission?
Yes, you're allowed to upload the song to other websites. The main reason the rule exists is to make sure the song complies with the Newgrounds Audio Guidelines (https://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/help-information/terms-of-use/audio-guidelines) - if it doesn't, it will probably get removed from Newgrounds.
@TaintedLogic My main problem is with this line "Copyrighted samples not only show a lack of originality", I find it unnecessarily judgemental for a rule set
Fair enough. I deleted that part.
I want to enter NGUAC teaming with someone else, but we don't have a single song that is a collab of us 2 yet (and don't have time to make one). Is it possible to submit a non-collab piece to tryouts and still enter as a team?
Unfortunately, no, that would be against the rules. If it's any consolation, you still have 2+ days left if you still want to try a collab. Best of luck!
good luck to the participants :3
Hi! I wanna join, but I'll be completely offline from 8/4 to around 8/16. How would that work? I wanna try running fair and square
Unfortunately, it's hard to create a work-around for a constraint like this. You could try making a piece in 2-3 days between 8/16 and 8/18. Generally, we don't like giving long grace periods to people for non-emergency situations because it would slow the competition down and is potentially a lot of extra admin work. If it's any consolation, I'll certainly keep you on the PM invite list for next year. Thanks for understanding.
@TaintedLogic yeah I understand. I'll pass on this year, but keep me on the invite list for next year! Looking forward to joining you then!
I'm not sure where else to ask this, but does creating a melody prior to the round period and then later on using that melody in your KO/Finalist track count as "working on a song before the round started"? I have a bunch of melodies I could take or rewrite and stuff if I get to the KO round, but I am afraid that it might be against the rules.
Thanks for asking! Yes, that would be against the rules. In general, if you have a mixing template or something, that's fine, but as soon as you're creating elements of a track that are particular to a given song, that's over the line. Thanks in advance for waiting.
@TaintedLogic No problem, and thanks for the lightspeed response!
can i use a downloaded vocal sample from looperman/samplefocus/splice? its royalty free and im going to chop it
If it's royalty free, then yes, you can use it. Thanks for asking and good luck in the next round!
@TaintedLogic thanks!
hello @TaintedLogic , I have a few questions ...
1) I passed the 1st round and I won, the second one seems to have started and I don't quite understand where to send my music.
2) I was working on one composition during the selection trial (more precisely, in time for the trial)... can it be used? or do I need to send music clearly made specifically at this stage?
I apologize for the concern if it was caused.
1) You should submit your track to this forum thread: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1537025/1
2) Unfortunately, you can't use any piece you started before August 4th. You're expected to make a piece from start to finish entirely during the 15-day Knockout Round.
Hope that helps! Lmk if you have any more questions. :)
@TaintedLogic thx =D
Creeperforce24
Epic rules! I will try my best!