Castle Paradox

LeRoy_Leo · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:37 pm Post subject: Leroy's Challenge!

I hereby challenge everyone to rate the OHR community music.
Some songs have been up on the list for a few years without getting more than a few ratings! This is unsettling, as we should be supporting each other more than that. There are dozens of active members on this forum and literally hundreds of members total. We have 12 pages of music and many of the songs don't take longer than a couple minutes to listen to. It might take a few days, but if we all just take a break, grab a snack and a pair of headphones, and a big ol' container of headache medicine, we can get this thing done. I just finished, so everyone knows.

For quick and easy reference, here is the easy-go rating system I devised that one may choose to use if they see fit to...

0 - Abysmal... not even a song, if you ask me. The artist has some work to do.
1 - Below average. The song was either too short or unorganized. Some improvement required.
2 - Average. It was a decent piece. Only a few things could be improved or polished, but the composition wasn't solid.
3 - Solid. The composition was organized and every layer overlapped well. Huge props for originality if there is any.
4 - Above Average. This song really sticks out! Of course, even a masterpiece is never completely done.
5 - Mind Blowing! I was completely blown away by both the originality and quality of the piece. It's really difficult for a Midi to reach this rung in the ladder, but it's not impossible.

Some simple rules:

The Rule of Balance - If a music selection has been rated before and has a high score but it's quality as a piece and/or originality is no where near the score it received it is ok to give them a lower score to balance the average out. Don't be overly generous, like I can be at times.

The Rule of Sound - Obviously an MP3 has better quality than a MIDI has, but let's not be biased. Quality is a very small fraction of the big picture. The masses may prefer a good quality to an old time, NES sounding piece, but that doesn't make them right. Try to judge based on organization and originality above all.

The Rule of Remakes - A remake is often a crowd pleaser, but keep in mind that the artist who remade the piece wasn't the original artist so they are penalized one rank. A mind blowing remake still only gets the Above average rating, and so on and so forth.

There it is. The gauntlet has been thrown onto the table and spilled your chalice of orange koolade. There is no turning back. Cool

_________________
Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "

Moogle1 · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:33 pm Post subject:

LeRoy_Leo · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 4:37 pm Post subject:

Thank you, Moogle. An explanation or perhaps a helpful suggestion would be very appreciated.
I am a tough critic when it comes to music. I even go as far as looking for cliche chord progressions and note arrangements. And like I said above, use the rules if you like. I like to see the average score represent the true potential of the piece rather than one's popularity. How else is one to improve?
_________________
Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "

Moogle1 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:00 am Post subject:

Okay, let me clarify:

Balance: "This song is rated at 5, but it deserves a 3, so I'll vote 1. Bingo!" That's not how ratings are supposed to work.

Remakes: That's not how ratings are supposed to work. You're rating the quality of the song itself. Also, there's the small matter of arrangement and sequencing to consider here.

LeRoy_Leo · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:14 am Post subject:

Thank you, Moogle1.
I want to sincerely thank you for making me clarify myself. I also respect the fact that you seem confident on your ability to rate music, seeing as how you are lecturing me. I look forward to seeing the number of votes rise with your help. Happy

I may have said potential, but maybe that wasn't the right word to use. The word I should have used was originality. Potential is good too, but it doesn't pay the bills, as they say. And going on what you said about quality, you're only inadvertently agreeing with that point I made earlier with the rule of balance. So we agree on this.
Here's what I mean. If I think a song deserves a 3 and it has a 5 and I give it a 3, that'll only take the average to a 4.25 or so, depending on the number of votes it has received. This creates chaos and gives people a wrong impression of the music in my opinion. I can always change it later, if I need to.
Since originality of a piece is also important, a remake comes up short in that department. Sequencing and arrangement... bah. If I changed the handwriting or the font when I write/type a famous poem that I didn't think up, it doesn't make that poem mine, but it can make it look nice. I'm all for giving good ratings based on the amount of work put into the remake.
If it makes you feel any better, I never give my own music a rating higher than 4, and only if I think I'll need to balance the rating out later. I'm a very humble person.

When all is said and done, regardless of whether a person has a good sense of right and wrong or not, we still need to see more votes.
I'll say this one more time, this is the easy-go rating system I devised that one may choose to use if they see fit to... "If they see fit to".
I hope we both now have a better understanding.
_________________
Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "