That seems reasonable enough. And I defiantly don't have Finale figured down to the cue, so I'll avoid anything that may cause that problem for my own benefit.

But with the judging thing..aren't the members of DLO voting for finals? There's just going some sort of bias in the judging. Whether good or bad, the bias will take place according to the sound fonts used, since that's really the only factor left.

I hope that we can all vote as fair as possible, but VDL can just get the message across so much better to the average voter. The average voter being every one but the initial judges who have seen the score..

I guess what I'm saying isn't relevant as of yet, but when it comes down to finalists, there may be some inequalities.

With a anonymous, standard formatted, standard instrumentation piece contest, the only flaw I see in this perfect system of fairness is the differences in sound presentation.

There's not much of a difference in yamaha and the softsynth. Hypothetically speaking, if my entry made it into finals, I would want the presentation of mine to be equal as well.

I don't doubt the initial judging abilities, c'mon.

As fair as we try to be on listening, there could be a unavoidable bias. (If a VDL sound file even makes it to finalists.)((I could just be wasting my time.))

I'm honestly just trying to be fair. I use VDL2, so it's not like I'm trying to whine or anything.

It's just that everything is so fair, and this is the only imperfection. It's fine, I won't say anything more.

I only hope the best cadence wins.

We are not going to require that everyone has VDL or an equivalent. I completely understand tapspace doing that because they sell the product. This site is educational in nature and this contest is too help improve writing skills not to see who has the money to purchase VDL. Again, you are putting too much stock in sound. A crappy cadence might sound better with VDL, but it is still crap.

Wait, now I'm confused. I'm defiantly not asking anyone to get VDL2. I was saying maybe VDL users should bring it down a notch to finale stock.

Just making sure you know I'm not completely ignorant.

He knows, but we're not about to ask people who spent all the money on the program to not use the program they spent so much time learning to use.

It works both ways. Not everyone has the money or desire to use VDL, so it would not be fair for them to be required to use the program. Also, it would not be fair for the people that have spent the money and put in the time to learn the program to not be able to use it.

I understand your point, but it seems less fair to me to make a requirement than let everyone use what means they have at their disposal.

Ok, it is December 31st, so that means you have until midnight to send in your cadences for the contest. As of this posting, we have 12 submissions. I was expecting more than that, so maybe there will be a late run before the day is over.

I believe in your second post you said you would be making an announcement about the judging panel and prizes. I was just wondering when/if that announcement is going to be made.

We are going to wait and see how many submissions we receive before anything related to prizes is announced. Some of the submissions will be disqualified for not following the rules, so we are going to see how many are left for judging.

When the prize announcement is made, the judging panel will also be announced.

Final note: if your submission is disqualified, please do not get upset and go on a rampage against the moderators. Honestly, it is your own fault. The rules and requirements have been posted for months now, and I mentioned earlier that some of the cadences did not meet the requirements. I even sighted some examples. So, if you did bother to read the rules or the warnings, I have no sympathy for you.