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Got questions? Ask them here! + Personal Discord account Sticky

A topic by Grunt. created Jul 15, 2025 Views: 681 Replies: 25
Viewing posts 1 to 10
Host

If there are any questions you have that you feel concerns others, feel free to ask them here.

If you have questions that you want to talk about privately, then send me a DM on discord ('grunt._55644').

Can I write music for 30+ minutes?

Host

For now, I'd very much appreciate it if everyone sticks to the runtime limit that's already established (6-18 minutes).

However, if a longer runtime is something that multiple individuals ask for then I'll raise the maximum length.

Submitted

I would also be interested in making music for 30+ minutes.

Personally I would prefer more time to make an accceptable well structured work.

For fair voting, you'd also need to listen to somebody else's music in its entirety. I can't engage in critical analysis for an hour and I'm not sure many others would, so I'd say 30 minutes should be the absolute upper end of allowed time.

Deleted 308 days ago
Host(+1)

Between the stuff that I do on itch and my IRL commitments, and the fact that I'm unsure of whether or not this jam will be a regular thing, I don't have the time or the interest right now to set up a discord server.

Which is why I set up this page and try to answer questions whenever I can.

I kind of dont get the second bonus challenge, are we supposed to have max 1 track per instrument, or the ENTIRE song has to have only 1 track and that's it?

Host

My idea for this challenge is for you to create an entire piece of music using just one instrument. For example, your submission could include a song written for a solo piano, guitar, violin, etc.

You can have potentially more than one track in your DAW if you record the instrument in stereo, but the song should contain just that performance of the instrument.

(+1)

Thank you for the clarification, it certainly looks like an interesting challenge for the given theme!

(+1)

Another clarifying question: would it be in the spirit of this challenge to have multiple midi tracks  but send all of them through only one instance of a plugin on a bus? Like - use the pitch wheel, but have it affect only the melody, use an arpeggiator, but only on the bassline, counterpoint by midi channel... anything like that? I'm not asking to bend the rules,  just to get a feeling for the intended limits.

Host(+1)

Hmmm this is an interesting idea.

While I do think that would create some interesting ideas I think my answer here is this:

Any effect that you want to use is fair game so long as they can be used during the same performance of your respective instrument. So in your case if you can only use a pitch wheel or the arpeggiator on the composition in its entirety, then that is part of the limitation. You can absolutely use those ideas you've mentioned here as their own sections of the piece, no problem, but overall I would very much prefer that the song feel like you are making those kinds of adjustments on the fly as if you were sitting down and playing through the piece yourself.

(+1)

Awesome, thanks for clarifying.

Submitted(+1)

I didn't see the minimum two minutes rule until after I submitted. Some of my songs are under two minutes, is that alright?

Host

I'm gonna suggest that you find a way to ensure each track you submit follows the minimum runtime. Otherwise if I don't stay firm to the rules then other people might ask for exceptions  and it just wouldn't make sense given the length of this jam.

You should still be able to edit your submission with new iterations of your tracks.

Additionally, looking at your submission, I would also suggest you add a link to an actual streaming service (not just your Itch account). That way others can more easily listen to your music.

Submitted(+1)

Thanks, I changed it!

(+1)

I want to collaborate with another itch user. Is there a way to like partake in the jam with a team?

Host(+1)

Absolutely! So long as your team follows the rules of the jam then you can participate.

Once you and your team (keep in mind the 3-person limit!) are finished with whatever you want to submit, you can add the collaborators as admins on your itch project in the Dashboard. So when your editing your project, go to More --> Admins, and follow the instructions there. That way everyone gets credit.

Submitted(+1)

Very quick question about the submission formats. I saw wav files + streamable links. Does that mean both or just one or the other? 

Host

Hey there!

So the answer is both - wav files in order to actually submit a project on Itch, and a link to a streaming service so that your music can be listened to more conveniently.

Submitted(+1)

Thanks!

(+1)

Hey Grunt.  Quick question.  Can I combine all 3 tracks into a single song for my submission?  I know it seems trivial, but I'd rather just have them all together as one. 

Host(+1)

Hey there!

If each track still exceeds the minimum two-minute runtime, then that's totally fine with me. Just please be sure to make some indication of where each track begins and ends. ^^

(+1)

Awesome, thank you!  Yep, each track follows the guidelines, I just want to combine them, mostly for utilitarian reasons.  

Thanks again for the quick response.  Looking forward to hearing all the work for this jam!

Submitted(+1)

Hi, Grunt! Writing to say, that I'll add my DAW screenshots later, forgot to send them earlier! Sorry!

Host

Hey there!

Thank you for letting me know! Just please be sure to include those as soon as you can, and feel free to reach out if you have any issues attaching them to your submission. ^^