Delighted, we are.

70 entries, and counting. And it’s not over yet! Many thanks to all of you that participated! and hurry up if you still did not sent your works, you have two weeks left to show us your… talent!

On past Wednesday (August, 2^nd), some of us (Estelle, Hélène, Nicolas, Sébastien and Romain) who started the contest idea sat down around the table in a quiet, cool meeting room and carefully listened to all entries. We discussed those in regard of the rules and what we wanted. A [yes|no|perhaps], because game, you could say.

The contest is not over, that was merely an informal meeting to hear how things are going. Moreover, we were just a few, so this post will not represent the opinion of all employees. You may find it noticeable anyway, as we tried to make significant points, and we almost always all agreed. There may be some truth in here.

Wait. What was that? Can you play it again?

Here are our main points:

• the standing-out factor; many entries will sound similar in the long run (same sounds, or almost same idea); that’s an issue as we really would like something different;
• the sound samples length; the rules state is should be 5 seconds long at most;
  1. not everyone made it within this limit; longer entries just won’t make it, so please check yours;
  2. this is the maximum length; if you think your sample should be shorter, just do it. For instance, we were several to think that, in the end, the closing jingle should be no longer than 1 second long: when you shut your system off, you want this to be fast;
• idea clarity; some nice entries are cluttered by too many things happening at the same time, or by something just popping out at the last moment, somehow breaking the very first idea; some effects and sounds could just be dropped, for the better, in many cases;
• moreover, some people noticed that some areas have not been covered yet, like traditional instrument sounds, field recording, human voices or animal sounds. That sure would be nice to see entries like these as well;
• some broad ideas for sound design have been expressed at this meeting; if these appeal to any of you, you might try it, but again, this is not a simple receipt to success: stardust, star filante, galaxy, ouverture, innovation.

The contest is not over yet, so there is room for new entries and for improvements. Note we are making general points here, and they may not apply to all entries; so if you feel confident with your work, stay so. As to keep the contest a contest, we won’t make specific notices to any contestant.

Be sharp and short, that could be the two master words for the right entry. Thanks again for your work and your contributions, keep up with the good work!

Results of the contest:
The winner, Martyn CLEMENT, chose to publish his artwork under the Creative common CC-BY-SA license and his opening sound has been included in every edition of the Mandriva Linux 2007 distribution. He received a copy of Mandriva Linux PowerPack+ 2007, a GlobeTrotter 2.0, and an Archos Pocket Media Assistant PMA400 for his nice work. Thanks to everybody who participated to this contest.