Halloween Contest Feedback

[brandondrury]

My greatest party I ever threw resulted in over 5 gallons of puked maple syrup.

Brandon

[Phlipper]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

My greatest party I ever threw resulted in over 5 gallons of puked maple syrup.

Brandon

You measure puke? Is this usual, or was it just a theme for the party?

[brandondrury]

It's similar to when measuring your gas mileage. You measure how much goes in to figure out your mileage.

Looking back, it would have been nice to have a more accurate form of measurement, but if that meant everyone had to puke in the same bucket, I think it would induce even more puke. That may throw off the accuracy of our measurements.

We actually had wheel barrow races (like kindergarteners do) when you had to drink a glass of syrup at one check point and then drink a beer at a second checkpoint. It was a huge success. I can't remember if we won the yo-yo or the water guns.

Brandon

[Phlipper]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Looking back, it would have been nice to have a more accurate form of measurement, but if that meant everyone had to puke in the same bucket, I think it would induce even more puke. That may throw off the accuracy of our measurements.
Brandon

Obviously this is crying out for the invention of some kind of device, a pukometer no less, that can allow a private puke yet still measure the output as a whole... maybe a competition is in order?

[Dime]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Well Dime,

Before I disagree with you, can you explain to me how you would go about conducting such a contest that didn't involve music?

I didn't mean without music but I swear I read in the contest rules that the actual song was to be judged and not the quality of the recording.

I guess an example would be one set of tracks being mixed down by anyone interested in participating and then judged on the quality of the engineering.

Feel free to ask me why I would care being that I don't have the gear (or skill) to produce an amazing recording myself. I was just pondering the thought and wanted to see what people thought about the idea.

[brandondrury]

I didn't mean without music but I swear I read in the contest rules that the actual song was to be judged and not the quality of the recording.

I know what you are saying. It would be nice if we could come up with a purely engineering, non-musical contest of some kind. The mixing this is one way.

Unfortunately, I don't see any point in doing this. Without the music, we are just doing sound design. We could have a competition to see who could record the best door slam, but I wouldn't enter it. That's boring to me.

Try mixing a song you love and then try mixing a song you hate. The difference between the two is astronomical. I'm of the opinion that it is impossible to mix a song you don't believe in. Sure you can compress the vocals and EQ the overheads, but I mean REALLY mix it. You can't.

Mixing is about making the music as intense as possible. When I mix well, it's because I'm excited. I'm feeling the same thing the singer is trying to convey and I'm trying to intensify it. When I mix a boring song I get stressed out because no amount of delay, reverb, or automation will make the song non-boring.

So beyond the mixing contest you suggested (which I do have big plans on doing) I can't think of any other way to have a contest. I'm concerned that the mixing contest may be awfully boring. I can't imagine hearing 150 mixes of the same damn song.

Feel free to ask me why I would care being that I don't have the gear (or skill) to produce an amazing recording myself. I was just pondering the thought and wanted to see what people thought about the idea.

Easy bucko! If you are going to talk like that you need to put "YET!!!" at the end. "Don't" and "Can't" and "Won't" are dramatically more powerful than you may realize. Your words are insanely powerful. Some quantum physicist say that your words are the future. (It gets into a screwed up combination between philosophy, math, and physics).

Check out a DVD called "The Secret". I'm confident that it may be one of the most important experiences of my life.

Brandon