Fall 2025 Halloween Competition

The competition is over and the results are in!  To check out the winners go here:

The competition is now closed and all the entrants have posted their compositions for your review!  Please go here to vote for your favorite entries:

The members have voted and decided upon a Halloween themed competition!  This is a just-for-fun competition without monetary awards.  But I will be making badges to reward the participants and to give them kudos!  I'm thinking I'll make a badge for "Strangest/Weirdest/Most Outlandish piece", "Spookiest/Scariest piece" and "Overall 2025 Halloween winner" which will all be decided by a popular voting poll.  The participants will also be able to earn an "Ardent Reviewer" badge if they review all the other participants works!  Please reply to this topic to declare your intent to participate in the competition!  The competition has the following constraints:

Instrumentation - Free choice of any of the following ensembles:

1. Piano Quintet/Quartet/Trio
2. String Quintet/Quartet/Trio
3. Woodwind Quintet/Quartet/Trio
4. Brass Quintet/Quartet/Trio
5. Mixed Quintet/Quartet/Trio

      Additionally, the participants are allowed to include Harpsichord, Organ or any other instrument which they believe would facilitate a Halloween-themed piece, as long as they keep the total number of instruments used between 3 and 5.

Duration:  3 - 7 minutes with a sweet spot of 5 minutes.

Deadline:  Friday, October 31st, 2025

Entrants thus far:

@Thatguy v2.0

@Justin Gruber

@Omicronrg9

@TristanTheTristan

@Kvothe

@UncleRed99

@sebastian Pafundo

@Maxthemusicenthusiast

@HoYin Cheung

@therealAJGS

@ferrum.wav

@MK_Piano

@Wieland Handke

@Micah

@Dima

@Cosmia

Here is the submissions thread for the competition where participants are encouraged to post links to their composition (rather than posting their piece directly into the pre-existing topic - make your own dedicated topic so the members at large can review your music there):

On 10/5/2025 at 7:42 PM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Please reply to this topic to declare your intent to participate in the competition!

I declare my intent to participate in the competition

I'm a little confused. If everything's decided via popular poll, what exactly are the criteria for "judging"? For instance, do I need to spend a lot of time on a score? Will I be be viewed less favorably if my audio recording is just standard MIDI? The competition idea is exciting, but don't know where I need to focus my time if I were to join.

11 minutes ago, Monarcheon said:

I'm a little confused. If everything's decided via popular poll, what exactly are the criteria for "judging"? For instance, do I need to spend a lot of time on a score? Will I be be viewed less favorably if my audio recording is just standard MIDI? The competition idea is exciting, but don't know where I need to focus my time if I were to join.

This is a very informal competition.  Usually, in a formal competition we would have dedicated judges who used judging criteria and scoring definitions.  But, then, if they were a judge they would not be allowed to participate in the competition themselves.  And the submissions would also have to be kept anonymous to stave off any impression of favoritism.  But since, ultimately, this competition is just a fun challenge without monetary rewards, we decided to do away with all that formality.  But, we would be honored if you (or everybody really) donated their very valuable time to review the music submitted in as detailed a way as you feel is necessary and appropriate!  AND, if you review all the participant's works you get an "Ardent Reviewer" badge which everyone will be able to see in your profile!

In previous, formal competitions we used the following scoring definitions:

And the following scoring categories:

It would honor us if you (or anybody who feels up to the challenge) used these categories and definitions to review the pieces submitted!  Thank you for whatever time and effort you're willing to give!

Let's go. I'll try. Deadline a bit bad to me but I'm sure something can be done.

Entrance here. I am in.

Edited October 10, 2025Oct 10 by TristanTheTristan

I am joining this competition: I can be a judge. 🙂

2 hours ago, Kvothe said:

I am joining this competition: I can be a judge. 🙂

This is an informal competition.  All the participants are free to judge the entries as they see fit.  And if you review all the participants pieces in the competition you can get an "Ardent Reviewer" badge!

I have made a Competition Reviewing Template for those who want to review the pieces using the scoring definitions and categories mentioned above.

15 minutes ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I have made a Competition Reviewing Template for those who want to review the pieces using the scoring definitions and categories mentioned above

Do we have to follow this template when we review in order to have our reviews counted?

3 minutes ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Do we have to follow this template when we review in order to have our reviews counted?

No - you can review the pieces the way you usually do.  Or you can make a new template for yourself with completely different categories and on a completely different scale/point system.  It's all up to you!

1 minute ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

No - you can review the pieces the way you usually do.  Or you can make a new template for yourself with completely different categories and on a completely scale/point system.  It's all up to you

Cool! I won't follow and make any template then since they make this fun comp less fun!

I declare my intent to participate in the competition
(Copied from @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu hehe)

El 10/05/2025 a las 21:42, PeterthePapercomPoser dijo:

Los miembros han votado y decidido organizar un concurso con temática de Halloween. Es un concurso lúdico sin premios monetarios. Sin embargo, crearé insignias para recompensar a los participantes y darles reconocimiento. Estoy pensando en crear una insignia para la "Obra más extraña/rara/extraña", la "Obra más espeluznante/aterradora" y el "Ganador general de Halloween 2025", que se decidirán mediante una encuesta popular. Los participantes también podrán ganar una insignia de "Reseñador apasionado" si revisan todas las obras de los demás participantes. ¡  Por favor, respondan a este tema para declarar su intención de participar en el concurso!   El concurso tiene las siguientes restricciones:

Instrumentación - Libre elección de cualquiera de los siguientes conjuntos:

1. Quinteto/Cuarteto/Trío para piano
2. Quinteto/Cuarteto/Trío de cuerdas
3. Quinteto/Cuarteto/Trío de viento madera
4. Quinteto/Cuarteto/Trío de metales
5. Quinteto/Cuarteto/Trío Mixto

      Además, los participantes podrán incluir clavicordio, órgano o cualquier otro instrumento que consideren que facilite una pieza con temática de Halloween, siempre que mantengan el número total de instrumentos utilizados entre 3 y 5.

Duración : 3 a 7 minutos con un punto óptimo de 5 minutos.

Fecha límite : viernes 31 de octubre de 2025

Participantes hasta el momento:

@Thatguy v2.0

@Justin Gruber

@Omicronrg9

@TristanTheTristan

@Kvothe

@TíoRed99

Aquí está el hilo de presentaciones para el concurso donde se anima a los participantes a publicar  enlaces a su composición  (en lugar de publicar su pieza directamente en el tema preexistente: cree su propio tema dedicado para que los miembros en general puedan revisar su música allí):

 

El 10/09/2025 a las 0:42, Thatguy v2.0 dijo:

Declaro mi intención de participar en el concurso .

 

Hola quiero participar

3 minutes ago, sebastian Pafundo said:

Hola quiero participar

Hola!  Bienvenidos a nuestro concurso!  Estoy aprendiendo espanol con Duolingo en mi celular!

2 minutes ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Hola!  Bienvenidos a nuestro concurso!  Estoy aprendiendo espanol con Duolingo en mi celular!

 

Excelente trabajo, ¡sigue así! 😀 (Bienvenido = welcome (singular) | Bienvenidos = welcome (plural))

8 minutes ago, sebastian Pafundo said:

Hola quiero participar

¡Genial! Ánimo con ello y bienvenido al foro Sebastián. Si tienes cualquier consulta, no dudes en escribirnos al privado, preguntar por el chat, o en este mismo hilo. 

¡Un saludo!
 

LoL what are all these Spanish!

I declare my intent to participate in this competition.

I do hereby proclaim mine intent to partake in this noble contest.

i'll join i guess.

aight im in

Hi there! I am a new guy after being recommended to come here by UncleRed99, I would like to participate in this spooky contest as well. Consider this my declaration.

10 hours ago, MK_Piano said:

Hi there! I am a new guy after being recommended to come here by UncleRed99, I would like to participate in this spooky contest as well. Consider this my declaration.

 

Why Herro my brudda

I declare my intent to participate in the competition.

I've been writting a string quintet inspired by different cryptids. I'd love to submit it - not sure if it has to be written specifically for this challenge.