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Contest for Aspiring Drum Corps Arrangers


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https://www.flomarching.com/articles/6051351-musescore-offers-music-arrangers-chance-to-win-prizes

MuseScore, a free and open source-music writing/arranging software, is bringing some holiday cheer into the marching arts this December by hosting a music arranging competition for drum corps fans and participants...

World-renowned marching arts composer and arranger Key Poulan will judge the submissions. He described the contest as "a fun and exciting idea to have people explore their creativity in this manner."

The prompt on the website clarifies: "It is also important to mention that it is not necessarily the best arrangement that can win, but the most interesting or unique (not necessarily technically the best) can be chosen."

Part of what makes this contest a particularly interesting opportunity is the sheer openness of the entry requirements.

Poulan told us what he will be looking for in a winning arrangement.

"It’s a blue sky concept... and that should mean the door is open for just about anything," he said. "I honestly don't want to place any limitations other than it should be playable by a top 12 drum corps." He went on to explain: "Maybe it’s a take on an arrangement in a different style, unique chord substitutions, clever time signatures with an amazing feel."

Should your arrangement be picked by Poulan to win the competition for your category, you could have the opportunity to earn the following prizes:

First Place:

DCI 2017 Blu-Ray Deluxe Bundle, including the top 12 finalists from the 2017 Drum Corps International World Championships!

Second Place:

2 tickets to any DCI show in 2018 (except Finals)

Third Place:

DCI sweatshirt (or from the drum corps of your choice)

The contest is split into two age groups (over 18 and under 18), making this a great opportunity for young arrangers to get some feedback and also socialize with other arrangers within the activity.

Edited by danielray
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5 hours ago, danielray said:

  "I honestly don't want to place any limitations other than it should be playable by a top 12 drum corps." 

Ouch.

 

Very nice idea.  Hope the submitted pieces are protected.  (No, I did not open the links.)

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8 hours ago, Ghost said:

Ouch.

 

Very nice idea.  Hope the submitted pieces are protected.  (No, I did not open the links.)

Protected:  my first thought, too.

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In effort to resolve the question, what exactly is the concern regarding protection? In what sense specifically? Is the concern a protection of liability of licensing?

Clarifying the issue of licensing, the company assumes all licensing responsibilities. Anything not currently covered under relationships with rights holders is immediately removed upon rights holder request.

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56 minutes ago, danielray said:

In effort to resolve the question, what exactly is the concern regarding protection? In what sense specifically? Is the concern a protection of liability of licensing?

Clarifying the issue of licensing, the company assumes all licensing responsibilities. Anything not currently covered under relationships with rights holders is immediately removed upon rights holder request.

My concern is that submissions become the property MuseScore to be used as they see fit. I certainly hope I’m wrong, but friends say I tend to be cynical. 

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Oh man, I would love to take this on, but at the same time, I'm a college student and it's a tough part of the year for me...

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55 minutes ago, Cadevilina Crown said:

Oh man, I would love to take this on, but at the same time, I'm a college student and it's a tough part of the year for me...

Semester exams?  Or concerts?  Or both?

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Just now, CrownBariDad said:

Semester exams?  Or concerts?  Or both?

Mainly exams, juries and papers. Just a lot of work to do, and not enough time to do any extra stuff. By the time I get home, the due date will only be a few days away.

Composing and arranging in general has long been one of my desires, though, and maybe over the break I'll try my hand at some of that. I have Finale on my laptop.

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4 minutes ago, Cadevilina Crown said:

Mainly exams, juries and papers. Just a lot of work to do, and not enough time to do any extra stuff. By the time I get home, the due date will only be a few days away.

Composing and arranging in general has long been one of my desires, though, and maybe over the break I'll try my hand at some of that. I have Finale on my laptop.

Finale — my goto notation app.

Composing/arranging:  Even if you only spend 20-30 minutes a day working on a piece, it’s worth the effort.  My problem — I loved arranging more than attending classes.  Don’t be like me.  Haha!

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8 hours ago, CrownBariDad said:

My concern is that submissions become the property MuseScore to be used as they see fit. I certainly hope I’m wrong, but friends say I tend to be cynical. 

The basic premise of Musescore.com is that any work that is created and uploaded by anyone may be used by anyone else, anywhere else, for any purpose they see fit, including but not limited to downloading the source file and creating and distributing a new derivative work.

Many online creative communities in other creative fields use Creative Commons licensing for their communities of amateur, but aspiring, creators.

For the uninitiated, particularly in the context of the traditional publishing world, this may seem like an absolutely crazy idea... but hear me out. Musescore.com is for the aspiring composer or arranger, not the well-established professional composer (yet). Musescore.com is where you post your work, in progress, get feedback from the community in order to improve or enhance it. It is taking what was once an informal process of peer/mentor feedback and revision usually confined to university or conservatory composition departments, and opening it up to anyone anywhere in the world, at any level in the development of their skills.

This is not currently the place for well-established composers to post any works they wish to commercialize, but hopefully engage as a community member and mentor.

In the context of developing the activity as a whole, the opportunity here is not only to help inspire and develop the next generation of composers and arrangers, but to improve access to notated works for developing ensembles. One of the barriers for growth of programs like SoundSport, for example, is access to sheet music suitable for their ensemble's skills and budget. Pairing emerging ensembles with emerging composers/arrangers encourages the development of both.

One other point of clarification, while Musescore.com is the community, MuseScore Editor is a free music notation editor (like Sibelius or Finale... but free), available for Windows, Mac and even Linux.

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