- Pro Audio Home >
- Contests
Fantastic Scholastic Prizes & Rules
2009-2010 RECORDING CONTEST STUDENT TEAMS
The following student teams have been selected to compete in the 2009-2010 contest:
Belmont University
Dan Wujcik, Faculty Advisor
Student Team Members: Chris Diener, Art Lindman, Michael Hardesty, Jason George
DePaul University
Thomas Miller, Faculty Advisor
Student Team Members: Shane Hendrickson, Joe Marcus, Katie Butler
Drexel University
Cyrille Taillandier, Faculty Advisor
Student Team Members: Chris Pollock, Jeremy Cimino, Monika Arielle Julien, Justin T. Chapman, Lenard Reuben Skolnick
Emerson College
Owen Curtin, Faculty Advisor
Student Team Members: Nils Montan, Michael Moschetto, Peter Olivo
Peabody Conservatory of Music
Ed Tetreault, Faculty Advisor
Student Team Members: Ian Lowther, Dan Price, Jason Rogers, Dan Cherouny, Wei-Chao Xu
Shenandoah University
Golder O'Neill, Faculty Advisor
Student Team Members: Donald Taylor, Ashton Vaudt, Matt Cooley, Kimberly Moon, Liam Bauman
University of Central Missouri
Eric Honour, Faculty Advisor
Student Team Members: John Stanczak, Chuck Nardi, Ben Rigby, Chris Fischer, Tim Gormly
The University of Colorado, Denver
Pete Buchwald, Faculty Advisor
Student Team Members: Ryan Longnecker, Chris Foster, Jake Montenegro, Anthony Catalano
University of Southern California (Thornton School of Music)
Rick Schmunk, Faculty Advisor
Student Team Members: Kevin Rivers, Kevin Winrich, Corey Margolis, Emilie Brailey, Jeff Garoon
William Paterson University of New Jersey
Dave Kerzner, Faculty Advisor
Student Team Members: Colin Rieser, Miles Austin, Douglas Raus, Christian Deutsch, Daniel Fyfe
Check out the grand prize-winning project from last year’s contest here.
2009-2010 CONTEST JUDGES
Shure would like to thank last year’s Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition judges for all the time and energy they contributed to judging last year’s contest.
Stay tuned for the list of judges for the 2010 Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition which we will announce alongside the results of the contest in April. Click here to see a list of last year’s judges.
2009-2010 CONTEST PRIZES
Grand Prize
The school represented by the Grand Prize winning team takes ownership of a selection of Shure KSM microphones, consisting of:
· 1 KSM313 Dual-Voice Ribbon Microphone (retail value $1,560)
· 2 KSM44/SL large dual-diaphragm multi-pattern condenser microphones (retail value $1,575.00 each)
· 2 KSM32/SL embossed single-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphones (retail value $1,075.00 each)
· 2 KSM141/SL dual pattern instrument microphones (retail value $770.00 each)
· 1 A27M stereo microphone adapter (retail value $76.65)
The school represented by the Grand Prize winning team also receives a donation of $3000.00 towards a scholarship fund for that school. Each individual member of the Grand Prize winning student team (no more than five members) receives a KSM32/SL large single-diaphragm condenser microphone of retail value $1075.00.
Runner Up
The school represented by the Runner-Up Prize winning team takes ownership of a selection of Shure KSM multi pattern condenser microphones, consisting of:
· 1 KSM44/SL large dual-diaphragm multi-pattern condenser microphone (retail value $1,575.00)
· 2 KSM141/SL dual pattern instrument microphones (retail value $770.00 each)
· 1 A27M stereo mic stand adapter (retail value $76.65)
The school represented by the Runner-Up Prize winning team also receives a donation of $1,500.00 towards a scholarship fund for that school. Each individual member of the Runner-Up Prize winning student team (no more than five members) receives a SM27-LC small diaphragm instrument condenser microphone of retail value $575.00.
Honorable Mention
The school represented by the Honorable Mention Prize winning team will receive a donation of $1000.00 towards a scholarship fund for that school. Each individual member of the Honorable Mention Prize winning student team (no more than five members) receives an SRH440 Professional Studio Closed-back Headphone of retail value $125.00.
OFFICIAL COMPETITION RULES 2009-2010
1. HOW TO ENTER: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
ELIGIBILITY / SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE COMPETITION
Ten (10) entries will be chosen from all eligible entries in a random drawing (a “Drawing” as
defined below) to participate in the 2009-2010 Shure Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition
(the “Competition”). The Competition is open to teams of students enrolled at a college, university
or institution of higher learning located within the fifty United States or the District of Columbia
who are pursuing a bachelor’s degree program with a focus or concentration in fields related to
Audio Engineering (for example, Music Production, Audio Recording or Engineering, Electronic
Media, Sound Recording, or a similar program). In these Official Competition Rules (the “Official
Rules”) each such educational institution is referred to as a “School” and a team of students at a
School is referred to as a “Team”. Each Team may be comprised of no more than five students and
must have a faculty advisor (who serves on the teaching faculty in a music or related department at
the same School as the Students) who serves as the Contact Person (defined below) for the Team in
connection with the Competition. Only one entry per School is permitted for consideration in the
Drawing (as defined below). In the event that multiple entries are received from a School, Shure
will conduct a random drawing from among all entries received from a particular School prior to
the Drawing so that only one entry from each School is entered into the Drawing. Failure to abide
by these Official Competition Rules (“Official Rules”) will result in disqualification.
For a chance to participate in the Competition, the Team’s Contact Person should complete the official
entry form available at the Shure Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition website at
www.shure.com/contest (the "Competition website"). The official entry form requires Entrants (as
defined below) to specify all Team members who will participate in the engineering, producing, and
recording of the recording that will be submitted in the Competition (the “Recording”) if such official
entry form is selected in the Drawing detailed below. The musical composition to be embodied in the
Composition must not have been previously released by a major label. The official entry form must be
completed completely and accurately and submitted during the Registration Period to be eligible to
participate in the Competition. The Registration Period begins at 12:00 a.m. (as determined in the Central
time zone in the United States (“Central Time”) on Monday, September 14, 2009 and ends 11:59 p.m.
Central Time on Monday, October 19, 2009. For purposes of the administration of the Competition and
award of any prizes, Sponsor will communicate with the faculty advisor listed on the official entry form
and such person with be deemed the “Contact Person.” Contact Person, on behalf of himself and/or
herself and all Team members represents and warrants that he or she and the Team members, as the case
may be, have all authority, rights, and permission to submit the Recording in the Competition, and to
permit streaming audio transmissions of the Recording (including the musical composition) from the
Competition website without compensation. Any licenses or permissions required to include the musical
compositions embodied in the Recording shall be the sole responsibility of the Entrants. Entrants must
use their legal names in connection with their entry in the Competition. Entry in the Competition
constitutes each Entrant’s consent to receive additional promotional information from Sponsor (as used in
these Official Rules, the term “Entrant” refers to the Contact Person and Team members). The Official
Rules will be posted at the Competition website for the duration of the Competition.
The Competition is sponsored by Shure Incorporated ("Sponsor"). Sponsor assumes no responsibility for
any lost, late, misdirected, illegible or incomplete entries, or for any computer, software, online,
telephonic, data entry or technological malfunctions. If for any reason the Competition is not capable of
being conducted as contemplated in the Official Rules, including, without limitation, if due to computer
virus, bugs, tampering or technical failures which compromise the administration or integrity of the
Competition, Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to terminate or modify the Competition. All
entries become the property of the Sponsor and none will be returned. Sponsor and Competition judges
reserve the right to disqualify any Entrant who tampers with or attempts to tamper with the entry
procedure or the Competition website or violates these Official Rules.
COMPETITOR SELECTION/RECORDING CRITERIA/RECORDING SUBMISSION
On or about Wednesday, October 21, 2009, ten (10) entries will be selected by random drawing from the
pool of entries made on the official entry form and submitted during the Registration Period (the
“Drawing”). Subject to eligibility confirmation, the Teams designated in those selected entries will have
an opportunity to submit a Recording in the Competition. Any ineligible entries drawn or Entrants that
notify Shure on or before Tuesday, October 27, 2009 that they have opted not to submit a Recording will
be disqualified in which case additional random drawings will be held until a total of ten valid entries of
Teams have been selected.
The Teams selected to submit Recordings in the Competition (“Recording Teams”) will be posted at the
Competition website on or about Friday, October 23, 2009.
On or about Monday, November 2nd, 2009, each Contact Person for the Recording Teams will receive,
from the Sponsor, a Shure microphone kit (“Toolkit” as defined below), on a loan basis only, for use in
making the Recording. The “Toolkit” is defined as the following Shure products: one KSM313, two
KSM32/SL, two KSM44/SL, two KSM141/SL, four SM57-LC, one SM27-LC, one Beta 52A, one Beta91,
three Beta 98D/S, one Beta 57A, one SM7B, one VP88, and one A27M. The Contact Person agrees to
return the Toolkit to Shure no later than Monday, February 1, 2010, whether or not a Recording is
submitted, using the prepaid UPS return label supplied by the Sponsor.
The recording shall be of a live ensemble (i.e. no sequencing, samplers, or line level sources) using only
the following Shure microphones provided by Sponsor and no other microphones: KSM313, KSM44/SL,
KSM32/SL, KSM141/SL, Beta 52A, Beta91, Beta98D/S, Beta 57A, SM27-LC, SM7B, SM57-LC, VP88,
A27M. The Recording shall not exceed five minutes in length. The musical content is at the discretion of
the Recording Teams, subject to the above limitations, as long as the submitted Recording contains at
least one vocal track. The production and engineering may only be conducted by Recording Team
members.
Recordings must be received on CD by Shure at KSM Student Recording Competition, 5800 W Touhy
Ave, Niles IL, 60714 (the “Competition Address”) by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, February 1, 2010. The
audio track of the Recording must be delivered in Red Book CD audio format on a CD (16 bit, 44.1 kHz
sample rate) and should consist of an un-mastered stereo mix. The project production notes must be
emailed to the Sponsor contact and must include the following information: A) song name, song
composer(s), copyright owner of the musical composition and sound recording; B) performers; C) track
list for the finished mix; D) designation of microphone used on each track (source); E) placement for each
microphone (approximate distance and angle relative to source); F) polar pattern, sensitivity pad, filters
used (if applicable); and G) microphone preamp and signal path from microphone to recording device. In
addition to the above information, each team is required to provide digital photographic files sufficient to
show all microphone placement as well as an electronic project journal documenting microphone
selection, microphone technique, and signal path choice. The journal and digital photos should be
submitted as a single PDF file with a file size of no more than 5 MB. Journal text should also be a
minimum of five (5) pages and a maximum of ten (10) pages in length.
2. ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS
Sponsor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotional agencies and the immediate family
members of each are not eligible. Any School named the Grand Prize, Runner-Up, or Honorable Mention
winner of the 2008-2009 Shure Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition and any participant on such a
winning team is ineligible to participate in the Competition. Entry in the Competition constitutes the
agreement of Entrants to be bound by these Official Rules. Entrants agree to be bound by the decisions of
the Competition judges and such decisions shall be final. In the event of a tie, the Competition judges will
break the tie by re-judging the tied entries. All decisions of the Competition judges shall be final.
3. COMPETITION JUDGING/WINNER SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION
Recordings will be judged by the Competition judges utilizing the following criteria: (a) Clarity of Sound
(30%; fidelity, signal to noise ratio and overall clarity of acoustic sources), (b) Microphone Technique
(30%; selection and placement of microphones as they contribute to the overall spectral balance and
stereo field, consideration given to creative, or unusual use of microphone selection and placement, phase
coherence or room acoustics), (c) Mixing Technique (30%; overall sonic balance of the combined
acoustic sources and placement of musical elements in the stereo field. Greater consideration will be
given to effective and creative placement and relative levels of recorded sources in the stereo field and
lesser consideration given to the effective use of equalization, compression and other signal processing of
sources to create an engaging mix), and (d) Performance/Production (10%; evaluated on performance
characteristics over which the recording engineer has some control. For example, poor intonation of
instruments, audible edits or “punch-ins” and inconsistencies within composite takes will grade less well.
Especially energetic or dynamic performances will grade better.)
At the conclusion of the judging, a tentative awarding of the Grand Prize, Runner-Up, and Honorable
Mention Winners will be declared, pending confirmation of the eligibility of the applicable Entrant(s) and
receipt of an Affidavit of Eligibility, Release of Liability and Publicity Release from such Entrant(s).
Announcement of the Grand Prize, Runner-Up, and Honorable Mention Winners will take place on or
about Friday April 9, 2010. Within fourteen (14) days of attempted notification that a Team is the
tentative Grand Prize, Runner-Up, or Honorable Mention Winner, the Entrant(s) submitting the
Recording designated as the tentative Grand Prize, Runner-Up, or Honorable Mention Winner will be
required to execute an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release. By entering the
Competition or by accepting a prize each Entrant agrees that Sponsor, the Competition judges, and their
respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and the officers, directors, agents and employees of any of the
above entities (collectively, “Competition Parties”) are not liable for injury, loss, death, or damage of any
kind due to or associated with acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the Toolkit and any prize and/or
participation in the Competition. Except where prohibited by law, Entrants submitting the Grand Prize,
Runner-Up, or Honorable Mention Winning Recording further grant to the Sponsor the right to use such
Entrants names, photographs, voices, likeness, and city of residence for purposes of advertising,
promoting and publicizing the efforts and activities of the Sponsor without further consideration or
approval, except where prohibited. Non-compliance or the return of any prize notification as
undeliverable may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate Grand Prize, Runner-Up, or
Honorable Mention Winner.
4. PRIZES
The School represented by the Grand Prize Winning Team will be awarded a new set of Shure KSM
microphones comprised of the following microphones: one KSM313 ribbon microphone, two KSM44/SL,
two KSM32/SL, one KSM141/SL Stereo Pair, one A27M stereo mic stand adapter. The approximate
combined retail value of the Shure microphones comprising the Toolkit is $8,500. The School
represented by the Grand Prize Winning Team will also receive a donation of three thousand dollars
($3,000) from the Sponsor towards a scholarship fund for that School. Additionally, each member of the
Grand Prize Winning Team will receive a KSM32/SL microphone (approximate retail value $1,075 each).
The School represented by the Runner-Up Prize Winning Team will take ownership of one KSM44/SL,
one KSM141/SL Stereo Pair, one A27M stereo mic stand adapter (approximate retail value of $3,200).
The School represented by the Runner-Up Prize Winning Team will also receive a donation of one
thousand, five hundred dollars ($1,500) from the Sponsor towards a scholarship fund for that School.
Additionally, each member of the Runner-Up Prize Winning Team will receive a SM27-LC microphone
(approximate retail value $575 each).
The School represented by the Honorable Mention Prize Winning Team will receive a donation of one
thousand dollars ($1,000) from the Sponsor towards a scholarship fund for that School. Additionally,
each member of the Honorable Mention Prize Winning Team will receive an SRH440 Professional
Studio Headphones (approximate retail value $125 each).
Sponsor reserves the right not to award any prize or prizes, should Competition judges, in their opinion,
deem insufficient entries satisfactory to warrant the award of a prize or prizes as the case may be.
5. GENERAL TERMS/CONDITIONS. GRANT OF LICENSE TO SPONSOR
All federal, state, and local taxes on prizes awarded in the Competition are the sole responsibility of the
recipients. No prize substitutions permitted, except by Sponsor, who may substitute a prize of equal or
greater value if advertised prize becomes unavailable. Prizes are not transferable.
Entrants should retain at least one copy of the Recording, and hereby release Sponsor from any and all
liability for loss of, or damage to, the copy of the Recording submitted. Sponsor may, at its discretion,
keep or discard any entry after completion of the judging.
Recordings submitted in the Competition may not have won previous awards. Team members must also
be amateur engineers. An amateur engineer means that during the twelve-month period preceding the
start of the Competition such person did not earn more than $5,000 from recording and/or engineering,
including any income earned from royalties and any monies earned from any other recording and/or
engineering contests. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend this
Competition should causes beyond the Sponsor’s control corrupt the administration, security or proper
administration of the Competition.
6. LIST OF WINNERS
For the name of the Grand Prize, Runner-Up, and Honorable Mention Winners, available after Friday,
May 14, 2010 and before Friday, August 27, 2010, send a self-addressed stamped envelope (except
where not required by State law) to: Competition Winner’s List at the Competition Address.
7. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED
The Competition, including the interpretation of these rules, is governed by the laws of the state of Illinois
and is VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.