OSC Rules

**Please Follow the rules or your track may not be qualified**

General:

• • Challenge to run from  the 1st to the end of the last day, every month (Timezone: UTC-8 time )

  • Unless specifically announced before the competition, you must use only one virtual synthesizer for all sounds including percussion. Layering several instances of the synth is allowed.

  • Your entry must be composed specifically for this contest. Cover tracks are not permitted.

  • Collaborations are allowed. The collaborators do not need to be KVR members.

  • Max 1 submission per entrant (person or team)

  • No track length limit

  • Your entry may be edited / changed / updated as frequently as needed up to the deadline

  • Commercial synth patches/soundbanks are not permitted

  • OSC might request project files at any time. Failure to produce it upon request will lead to disqualification
    (intellectual property respected with file used for examination only and destroyed immediately afterwards)

Samples:

• • No use of samples, sample libraries or live sounds (like voice, guitar etc allowed).
    However, for convenience or CPU saving, synth bouncing are allowed but only where the EXACT same result could have been achieved using the original synth: - This means that for example pitching and reversing is not allowed; sampling a bass drum in order to get a consistent sound is not allowed either.
    Samplers used must be host samplers or freeware and easily available.

• More Clarification: Audio must not be touched at all once it leaves the DAW (i.e. after bouncing a track or a stem). For example: One cannot master the audio in another software or service. Also, If you need more performance / CPU a workaround is to freeze all the tracks.

Effects - what is allowed:

• • Most Native DAW effects may be used (see below for what NOT to use)

  • Many freeware 3rd party plugin effects are allowed (Again, see below for what NOT to use):
    3rd party effects must be easily available freeware: this does not include plug-in betas, demos, magware or freeware that has expired, unless a special exception is made that month.

  • As an example we have provided a list of some valid, commonly used free plugins here. 

  • Distortion: Please use distortion / tape saturation / bit crushing sparingly. Use your best judgement. Try to keep the original sound recognizable. Note that this does not apply if the distortion is built in to the synth.

  • ANY Built-in effects native to the plug-in itself may be used. (So built in chorus / modulation / heavy overdrive / etc is allowed)

  • Midi plugins are allowed, or sending midi from one Daw to another.
    Output from any commercial midi plugins or another DAW should be rendered to midi in the timeline

Effects - what is NOT allowed:

• No commercial (paid for) plugin fx may be used, unless a special exception is made that month. 

• Chorus, flanger, phaser, rotary, or related modular effects. 

• Any type of modulation effect (e.g. chorus, phaser, flanger, rotary etc.). (Please note that effects like reverb or delays that perform modulation to achieve their sound are ALLOWED, but the modulation usage must be minimal.)

• Tapestops, Granular delays, pitching, or related sampling effects. 

• Effects that pitch the sound (e.g. pitched / granular delays, tapestops etc.

• Turning up the effect too much where it transforms the nature of the synth (Heavy overdrive / distortion, etc)

• Any effect that transforms the sound to make them unrecognizable as being from the synth (Overdrive, heavy distortion, bit crushing, or related). Never go full 11 

Submissions:

• • Submissions uploaded to SoundCloud only. File format is any supported by SoundCloud. Submissions must be downloadable.

  • Soundcloud file-name format: Artist - Track Title where artist name is the same as KVR nick.
    For collaborations, just put both names as artist name, for example Artist1 + Artist2 - Track Title.
    If the collaborator is not a KVR member, put the KVR member's name first, like this: KVR Name + Collaborator name - Track Title. 

• • Soundcloud entry MUST have downloads enabled

  • Submissions must be announced in the submissions forum thread with a link to the song's soundcloud, and include a brief report how it was made:- The DAW/host, all FX used, and how many instances of the synth and FX was used.

  • Track licenses are whatever you set it to when they are on your own account at SoundCloud, but when in archive it's: Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0

Voting: 

• • Voting to run from 1st to 15th the month following submission, UTC-8 time

  • We will announce when voting is ready on the KVR forum, and on the respective challenge page here. In the announcement will be a link to the voting page.

  • Voting is done by giving ALL submissions a score between 1-5 points (where 5 points is best). Max 1 point for your own entry.  Once voting has ended, all votes will be published

  • Collaborators need only vote once. In other words, you vote as if you are one person.

  • You are free to vote if you participated in the competition. If you did NOT participate, you may vote, as long as you have more than 40 KVR forum posts prior to the competition start. The only exception is if you are the developer of the Synth (You get one vote max)

• Voting is mandatory for participants (disqualification if not voted). ALL tracks must be scored, and if you don't, you'll be DISQUALIFIED.

• In the case of equal scores after voting, submissions will be separated by how many 5pts they got, then 4pts and so on

Prizes: 

• • Prizes are given to the top 5 placings, winner gets first choice of a (single) prize and so on down. 

  • If the field is less than 20 entries, only 4 prizes will be available. If less than 15, 3 etc. 

  • Clarification: Skipping a prize allows the person below get a better chance of receiving a preferred prize. 

  • Prizes are only for those who placed.