Promo/Plasma Audio Competition

 

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This is a new page, currently under construction!

Submit your audio collections to [LINK] on the KDE Forum. Check the "Entering your Submission" section at the end of this page to know more.

Read everything on this page very carefully before entering your submission.

Contest Rules

Following these rules is mandatory

1. The deadline for submissions is (note to self: more than a month this time.).
2. All the audio must be original and created specifically for the contest.
3. The sounds must be produced in LMMS. Additionally, you may also use any other open-source program for mastering and post-processing the final files. If you use another program for modifying the final sounds, you should also include a text file in the source folder describing what modifications you made.
4. Your audio collection, and any other files sent must be released to KDE under a copyleft license (CC-BY, CC-BY-SA), or released into the public domain or equivalent (CC0).
5. Even if your work is not selected at first, your entire submission or parts of it may still be used in the future to promote KDE's software and in KDE software releases.
6. You may only use included LMMS samples, CC-BY(SA), CC0/public domain and synthesis instruments. Due to licensing concerns with the samples included in older versions of LMMS, you must produce your system sounds with LMMS version(???) or higher.
7. If you use any non-free/closed source plugins or FOSS plugins with no Linux version, you must provide stems for those plugins in a lossless audio codec (e.g., WAV, FLAC, WavPack).
8. The preview for audio can be hosted by any third-party service such as SoundCloud or YouTube.
9. Final resources, which includes final sounds in .wav (or any other format described in the "Technical Specifications for Sounds" section) + LMMS project files + text file describing modifications made to sounds by third-party software (if applicable) must be made available for download from a storage (FTP or similar) or cloud service.
10. Your entry must be available for listening until the end of the judging process. If not, your entry will be disqualified.
11. The organizers will disqualify and erase any entry that is racist, sexist, demeaning or inappropriate in any way.
12. Judges and contest organizers are forbidden from sending entries to the contest.
13. The organizers will disqualify and erase any entry that is copied from elsewhere with no or minimum changes or violates third parties' copyrights.
14. Disqualifications and deletions are final and cannot be recurred.
15. We reserve our right to delay or cancel the competition at any time.

Technical Specifications for Sounds

Following these rules is mandatory

This section describes what are the technical specifications for the sounds you will send. Even if you fail to comply with them at first, you will have the chance of making the necessary adjustments during the second phase (as described in the "Process" section).

1. Final sound files must be in WAV/PCM 48kHz, 16 bits, 24 bits or 32 bits float using the .wav extension. Optionally you can also use FLAC, WavPack or other FOSS lossless codecs with the same parameters.
2. Final sound files must be normalized to 0dBFS.

Process

The judging process will be divided up in three phases:

A jury made up of members of KDE, LMMS and a tie-breaker will judge the audio collections. The first phase is the submission phase and will last (how long?).

The second round will last one(??) week. During that phase, participants that already submitted their work will be allowed to update their sounds to comply with rules and/or to improve them.

At the end of that phase, the judging phase will begin. Judges will listen to all sounds and choose the ones that will be included in Plasma. That phase will last for three(???) weeks.

At the end, the winner of the physical prizes and other artists that had their sounds chosen will be announced.

The judging process will happen on KDE Forums. In the first and second phases, judges will comment and ask for modifications in order to make the submissions more suitable for Plasma. During the third phase, judges will gather together in a private chat and discuss who the winners will be.

The competition organizers are responsible for checking if submissions respect the rules and will also ask for modifications in case they do not.

Prizes

(Same prizes???)

One artist will be selected to win the physical prizes. The judges will select that person based on which ones they like best. The winner of the physical prizes and all other selected artists will also be promoted on KDE social media channels if desired.

Social Media Exposure:

All of the artists that had at least one of their sounds selected (including the winner of the physical prizes) will have the opportunity of getting promoted in many KDE social media channels. In the announcement of the winners, we will also promote your work and your social media/professional contact info if you so desire.

Physical Prizes:

The physical prizes will consist of a bundle of KDE Goodies, including stickers, apparel, and other goodies.

[EXAMPLES ONLY👇]

1. A KDE baseball cap
2. A plush Tux
3. KDE stickers
4. A frozen glass coffee mug

Disclaimer: We will do our best to get the prize to you, but please note KDE can't take responsibility if damage or any other problems occur to prizes during shipping.

List of Sounds

This section lists what categories of sounds you can send. You do not have to send all of the categories of sounds below to participate, but it's highly recommended you do so. If you choose any of the categories below you have to send all the sounds listed in it. You also have to name your sounds after the filenames given below.

ON/OFF sounds:

These sounds notify the user something has been turned on or off.

1. Sound for plugging in device (like a USB drive). Filename: device-added
2. Sound for unplugging device (like a USB drive). Filename: device-removed
3. Sound for power plug. Filename: power-plug
4. Sound for power unplug. Filename: power-unplug
5. Sound for turning on many generic options (like night color or the touchpad). Filename: Sys-App-Positive
6. Sound for turning off many generic options (like night color or the touchpad). Filename: Sys-App-Negative

Warning sounds:

These sounds warn the user something has happened.

1. Sound for when a common error happens. Filename: dialog-error
2. Sound when a serious error happens. Filename: dialog-error-serious
3. Sound when a critical error happens.Filename: dialog-error-critical
4. Sound for when an app wants to show the user some information. Filename: dialog-information
5. Sound for when an app wants to warn the user of something. Filename: dialog-warning
6. Sound for when an app wants to show a special message (mainly used when system update says the user must restart their system to apply updates). Filename: Sys-Special.ogg
7. Sound for low battery warning. Filename: battery-low
8. Sound for when the trash is emptied. Filename: trash-empty

Login sounds:

These sounds greet the user when the turn on/off their computer. These can be a little longer, but not excessively so.

1. Sound for when logging into the desktop. Filename: desktop-login
2. Sound for logging out of the desktop. Filename: desktop-logout

General Recommendations

These are not required for participating, but still highly recommended:

1. Don't know where to start? Take some inspiration from the interface itself. What does Plasma make you feel when you look at it? Look at the colors, the shapes, the effects and notice the feeling you get. Try to transform that feeling into a sound that fits the interface. You can take a look at Plasma screenshots [here]. (Include screenshots or mockups of the newest designs for Plasma).
2. Keep some consistency between sounds. Those sounds won't be used in isolation: they need to be part of the same theme and have a similar feel to them. Consistency can be achieved by making sure the sounds of the same category don't feel or sound extremely different from one another. That doesn't mean you can't use different instruments or techniques, just that you should be careful to make each sound part of a cohesive theme.
3. We recommend making very short sounds for every category other than login/logoff (<1 to 2 seconds).
4. Login/logoff sounds can be a bit longer but not excessively so. Remember that these will be heard every single time someone turns on or off their computer. (1 to 5 seconds)
5. Try choosing some natural sounding instruments, even when using a synthesizer.

Entering your Submission

[Click here] to go to KDE Forum and check other people's submissions. You can check more details about how you can participate by [clicking here].

To send your sounds, you can click on the "New Topic" button on the [forum page] or go straight to the new topic page by clicking [HERE].

Please note you will need a KDE Identity account in order to post on the forum. You can create your forum user by clicking here and following the instructions.

F.A.Q

What is KDE?

"KDE is an international team co-operating on development and distribution of Free, Open Source Software for desktop and portable computing. Our community has developed a wide variety of applications for communication, work, education and entertainment. We have a strong focus on finding innovative solutions to old and new problems, creating a vibrant, open atmosphere for experimentation." - You can see more details HERE.

What is Plasma?

Plasma Desktop is a beautiful and productive way of using your Linux computer. Use Plasma to surf the web; keep in touch with colleagues, friends and family; manage your files, enjoy music and videos; and get creative and productive at work. Do it all in a beautiful environment that adapts to your needs, and with the safety, privacy-protection and peace of mind that the best Free Open Source Software has to offer. CLICK HERE to know more about the project.

What is LMMS?

"LMMS is a sound generation system, synthesizer, beat/baseline editor and MIDI control system which can power an entire home studio. Sounds and tones can be generated, played and artfully arranged to create entire tracks easily, giving you the opportunity to create music from beginning to end. The tools to create the sounds, arrange the sounds and rhythms to create tracks, layer the tracks to create songs, and then save the songs to an output format are all there, ready for you to use. LMMS can also connect to your MIDI keyboard, allowing you to play music live." Learn more about LMMS here.

Can I use another DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) program for making sounds for this contest?

We are working together with the LMMS community, so you cannot use another DAW for this contest.

Where can I get public domain samples for my sounds?

You can either use synthesizer instruments or download samples on Freesound and the LMMS Website. You can check the licenses each sound has on their respective download pages. If you use a CC-BY licensed sample, you need to post the link for each sample on the forum post with your submission.

Do I need to make a new forum topic for each sound or subset of sounds I send?

No. You can include all of the sounds in a single topic on KDE Forum.

How can I get my prize after the contest is done?

We will let you know if you have won the contest by replying on your submission topic. We may also reach out through a private message on the forum as well. Please pay attention to comments on your submission and to your forum private messages.

Help and Feedback

You can ask the Promo and Plasma team for help and feedback any time during the competition! Just join the the Promo and Plasma channels on Matrix and ask away.