CLOSED: Please Read+Spring Contest

Hey guys, it's been brought to my attention that some of you have been avoiding the contests! For personal reasons I don't have time to overhaul the system right now (which is also why it's so late), but I'd be really appreciative if you'd leave in the comments what you would like to see change. Thanks! Sorry about it being late. Without further adieu, here's the Spring Contest.

For this contest all you have to do is submit your UTAU singing. The theme is spring this time around, however it is not mandatory to match the theme, and you are free to post whatever song you want. There will be no penalties, or bonus points depending on what your song of choice is. The use of USTs made by others is totally fine. Do me a favor and post your entry in this journal. Not through a note, or on the club's profile. We've almost forgotten about an entry a couple of times due to multiple posting places, so please post it in the comments section below. Do not reply to yourself when adding an entry. We are not notified if you do that, even if we are in the middle of a conversation. deviantArt only notifies a person if there is a new comment, or if a person is replied to directly. We are also not notified of an edited comment, so I ask again that you make a brand-new comment when adding or editing entries. You can submit your UTAU singing up to 5 songs, but you'll only win once. 5 should give you enough wiggle room in case you produce a better cover in time. If you hit the limit, and make an upgraded version you MUST make a new comment (not a reply) and erase one of your old entries. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUBMIT 5 ENTRIES. After all, if you only submit 1 and it's high quality, that's all you really need! Anywhere from 1 to 5 entries is acceptable. ^^ As far as where to upload your entry, just post it somewhere and drop us the link in the comments section. Personally I recommend using soundcloud (and it is the platform our judge prefers), but youtube, a mediafire link, or any place where we can access it is fine too.

The use of the plug-in UtaRisu is only acceptable for short talking or rap parts. The program is extremely sensitive and picks up the slightest vocal waver, and as such you are not allowed to use it during a singing part in a song since it relies on your ability to sing rather than your ability to tune, and that isn't fair to those who don't have the best singing voices. You also may not use it in a song that is mostly rapping, or during a rap part that lasts a long period of time. Example of when UtaRisu would be allowed: (2:44-3:00) youtu.be/l69v6SVoE9k?t=2m44s Example of when it would not be acceptable: every rap part of Juvenile combined (found here www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm59196… ) because rapping is most of the song. The song juvenile is perfectly, fine as long as you've tuned it by hand, and haven't used utarisu. Vocal Shifter is also off limits for the same reason. I ask you to use your best judgement, but if you aren't sure if it would be okay to use UtaRisu or Vocal Shifter for a certain situation ask! I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have!

Now, about duets. If you do a duet with somebody else's UTAU/even a vocaloid they have to be on HARMONY and you must have permission from their owners to use them in your entry. If the UTAU that is not your has a short melody part that would be okay. For example in the song Antichlorobenzene let's say the Rin is your UTAU and Len is someone else's ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfkn9F… ) at 2:11 Len has a little solo part. That would be fine since the song is primarily sung by Rin. If you have two UTAUs that both belong to you singing a duet, it doesn't matter who sings what, or whether or not they sing equally. If they both (or all in the case you use more than two) belong to you then there's no problem. Again, if you have any questions on this or you aren't sure if it would count, please just ask. You could send me a note, comment here, comment on the club's profile, my profile, anywhere I can see it and I'll let you know!

As far as favoritism goes, our judge doesn't have an UTAU herself and doesn't use the program, so there's no real room for bias. On the other hand, this also means that she is NOT familiar with the mechanics of UTAU, and will not be able to recognize the signs of a bad UST, so choose carefully! Original songs are ALWAYS welcome~!

If you were a winner last time, we ask that you sit this round out and join again next contest. Sorry, we just want to give everyone a chance. Looking forward to your participation next time though! ^^

This contest is being judged solely based on sound, so you will never lose due to not having a matching MMD video, or because of a lack of cover art. On the other hand, even if you have a full-length PV it won't help your entry either. It's all based on tuning, mixing, and how well the voice fits the song.

If you missed one of the rules, I'll answer your question and tack a message onto the end. It's copy-paste, and it doesn't mean your in trouble, I just want to make sure you don't miss any of the other rules or guidelines that might make your life easier ^^ Here's the message: 'Please review the rules stated in the journal. If you missed this rule you may have missed something else! This is a copy-pasted message, and you aren't in trouble, and you're not being reprimanded in any way.'

As per usual, prizes will only be available if they are donated, so please give us a hand! Every small donation counts, even if it's just a quick sketch ^^

Since we got a late start I'll push the contest right up against summer. The deadline will be June 19th. Sorry again!