No, you may not make remixes (Music Showcase rules prohibit them, iirc (EDIT: only if the file is on omni itself... still no remixes)). I should probably say in the post that the song must be original.

With all the great music writers on Omni, I was surprised to see a lack of music contests in the contests board. That being said, I don't think this will be a thing to conflict with other contests, but considering most of the music writers here are not in Cemetech Contest 12, this will start immediately, and end before the month is out. So without further ado: the rules and description!

The Unofficial Omnimaga Music Contest 2014! Theme: "Chill"

The Challenge:
Write a song, of any length and any instrumentation, that represents the theme "Chill"
Songs can be done using any program, recorded live, or both.
Songs can be instrumental or have lyrics, if you wish.
Users may submit as many songs as they like.

Rules:
Songs must be original.
Songs must have more than one voice, though. Just a melody does not qualify as a piece of music here, sorry.
Songs writers must post in this topic that they are competing by Saturday, August 16 at 11:59 EDT
Completed songs must be posted in this topic, either as an attachment in the form of an mp3 file (I know it's not lossless, but this is in order to stay under 1 MB easily) or as a link to the song in any format playable by VLC for download and/or for streaming.
Completed songs must be posted in this topic by Saturday, August 30 at 11:59 EDT

Community Votes:
Once a song is posted in this topic, I will link to that post with the username and song title beside it here.
Rankings will be decided by community votes in a poll attached to this topic once the first song has been submitted. Users will be allowed to change their vote.
Users may not vote for themselves. Doing so will result in a disqualification of all songs submitted by said user.

The Theme:
The theme is "Chill."
This means that the song must be able to make someone listen to it and say: "This is chill," or something of that nature.
An example song I made (and this is not the best example, but it is an example nonetheless) is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_rRGhX27sY-N2lBUGZ6QzZDdlU/edit?usp=sharing

I will, in fact compete in this competition, since I have no input but a single vote, as much as anyone else, but not with that song.

Good luck, and have fun!

That said, when Cemetech contest ends there is often an Omni contest starting too anyway

Thanks for the heads-up, there being no official announcement and all

Since I seemingly can't get back to sleep, I'm going to be working on this for a bit tonight. Wish me luck!

Bumpity bumpity bump!

I would really like to see more people compete here! Don't be shy. Sign up!

I like what's going on here with the guitars and bass.

The only problem I have is the drums during the verses, and it's not the pattern that bugs me, but more the soundfont/pattern combo. The open high hat is a bit too much with the soundfont you use. Not to mention that you probably shouldn't use the open high hat as the main cymbal for the pattern. I see what you are trying to do, but also open high hat is meant to be used as a break from the closed high hat, or as an effect, and should pretty much never be used as the main cymbal for a pattern. If you want a more "ringy" sound for the main cymbal of a pattern, I suggest you move the open high hat pattern to the ride.
Also the closed high hat has more pressure than there should be for a quarter-note pattern, but not enough for an eighth-note pattern. That is entirely the soundfont's fault and there's nothing you can do about it, unless there is a different patch you can use that has the closed high hat with a little less pressure. My suggestion for this: if you know someone who plays set, record them playing the set in your final recording.

That said, I like the patterns themselves. The only issue is tamber, really. Keep rocking!

Well that last one now has its own topic, since it is finished: http://www.omnimaga.org/music-showcase/with-fire-comes-light-pimathbrainiac/

That last one sounds pretty good. I like the melody and drums. I also like that build up or whatever it's called at around 2/3 of the song

Thanks! The build up with the organ was my favorite part, too. I used my AP Music theory skills to create a Phrygian Half Cadence there.

Also I spotted the metal style track demo above and it kinda sounds cool. If it was remade with more realistic electric distorted guitar it would sound really epic.

I'll look into that with a different soundfont.

The first two songs are not bad either and I like the ambient-ish background in the first one.

I personally didn't care for them, but thanks anyways!

That's very true with the whole variation thing. Varying the cymbals you use, the cymbal pattern, the snare hits, and the kick pattern for each section really makes a piece more interesting. As for when to use toms: In most types of rock, jazz, and *shudder* pop, toms are almost exclusively used in fills and solos (eg. Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson, Muse (older stuff), Buddy Rich, Other jazz drummers, and I'm not even going to name a pop group) and to accent hits (in jazz, typically), while in prog metal, and some other types of metal, toms are more used, typically outlining the melody (eg. Dream Theater). I have no idea about drums in power metal, though. That said, toms can be used as part of a main pattern in rock (eg. the song MK Ultra by Muse). It really depends on what you're trying to do.

Also I'm a percussionist/drummer, so I have figured this stuff out by now

EDIT: Also nice song. It's like you must be a chart topper or something *runs*