Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition 2

Congratulations to the team from The Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at The University of Memphis, which is the winner of this year's Shure Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition.

 

The five-member team of William Boywid, Alex Fleming, Christopher Larkin, Jeremy Smith and Fallon Stillman, with faculty advisor, Professor Jeff Cline, won this year's contest with an original song by Lauren McCuistion called "Burn Me A Goodbye" (Copyright 2006 - Lauren McCuistion).

 

Fantastic Scholastic 2 - Recording Competition

Click here to view this year's winning project from the University of Memphis 

Click here to listen to Burn Me A Goodbye (copyright 2006 - Lauren McCuistion), this year's winning project from the University of Memphis team.

 

Fantastic Scholastic 1 - Recording Competition

Click here to view last year's winning project from Berklee College of Music

Click here to listen to En La Cima (copyright 2004 - Marco A. Godoy), last year's winning project from the Berklee College of Music team.

 

Shure is committed to supporting emerging musicians and recording engineers. This is why we launched the Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition for students enrolled in four-year, degreed audio education programs.

 

Fantastic Scholastic 2 Poster - PDF 552KB

 

 

PRIZES

 

The school represented by the winning team takes ownership of the entire Microphone Locker, consisting of:

  • 1 Beta 52®A kick drum microphone (retail value $336.70)
  • 1 Beta 91TM kick drum microphone (retail value $436.80)
  • 3 Beta 98D/S snare/tom microphones (retail value $457.60 each)
  • 2 KSM27/SL large single-diaphragm microphones (retail value $575.00 each)
  • 2 KSM32/SL embossed single-diaphragm microphones (retail value $1,070.15 each)
  • 2 KSM44/SL large dual-diaphragm microphones (retail value $1,393.60 each)
  • 2 KSM141/SL dual pattern instrument microphones (retail value $770.00 each)
  • 4 SM57-LC instrument microphones (retail value $158.00 each)
  • 1 SM7B studio dynamic microphone (retail value $619.50)
  • 1 VP88 single-point, stereo condenser microphone (retail value $1,266.60)
  • 1 A27M stereo microphone adapter (retail value $76.65)

 

The school represented by the winning team also receives a donation of $3000.00 towards a scholarship fund for that school.

Each individual member of the winning student team (no more than five members) receives a KSM27/SL large single-diaphragm microphone of retail value $575.00.

 

 

COMPETITORS

 

Thanks again to the student and faculty participants for all their hard work throughout the competition. 
Below are the ten schools selected by random drawing to participate in last year's contest. Stay tuned for details regarding next year's contest.

 

 

School Faculty Advisor
DePaul School of Music Thomas Miller
New England Institute of Art Allan Shapiro
College of Saint Rose Mary Anne Nelson
Cleveland Institute of Music Bruce Egre
The University of Memphis Jeff Cline
Barton College Philip Valera
Capital University Conservatory of Music Rick Brunetto
Northeastern University James Anderson
Lebanon Valley College Barry R Hill
Shenandoah University Golder O'Neill

 

 

JUDGES

 

Shure would like to thank our 2006 Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition judges, Joe Barresi, Dave Hewitt, and Bob Ludwig for all the time and energy they contributed to judging the contest. Stay tuned for details regarding next year's competition.

 

Last year's judges:

 

Joe Barresi: Los Angeles-based producer and engineer Joe Barresi has worked with an impressive list of top rock acts. He has produced albums for such bands as Queens of the Stone Age, Fu Manchu, L7 and Loudmouth. His engineering credits include Fastball, Hole, Anthrax, Veruca Salt, Beth Hart, and The Jesus Lizard.

 

David Hewitt: Chief engineer and president of New York-based Remote Recording, the definitive name in location recording. From the Academy Awards to The Rolling Stones, 7-time TEC Award winning engineer David Hewitt and his crew have brought professional and reliable service to the industry for over 20 years.

 

Bob Ludwig: Bob Ludwig is President and founder of Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine. He has won The "Les Paul Award", a Latin Grammy, he has hundreds of gold and platinum albums to his credit, twelve TEC Awards for mastering and his studio facility has won eight TEC Awards as well. Bob Ludwig's facility is recognized as a leader in mastering and DVD production.

 

 

RULES

  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 an initial random drawing (as detailed below) to participate in the 2006 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 and pursuing a four-year degree program in Music Production, Audio Recording or Engineering, or Electronic Media (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 for the Team in connection with the Competition. Only one entry per School is permitted. Multiple entries from any School or any 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 faculty advisor 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 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 random drawing detailed below. 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 p.m. Central Standard Time on Thursday, October 6, 2005 and ends 11:59 p.m. Central Standard Time on Monday, November 14, 2005. 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. 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 that tampers 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 November 17, 2005, 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. 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 than notify Shure on or before December 5, 2005 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.

    On or about December 5, 2005 Sponsor will send to each Contact Person for the Recording Teams 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: two KSM27/SL, two KSM32/SL, two KSM44/SL, two KSM141/SL, four SM57-LC, one Beta 52®A, one Beta91TM, two Beta 98D/S and one SM7B. The Contact Person agrees to return the Toolkit to Shure no later than Friday, March 3, 2006 whether or not a Recording is submitted.

    The recording shall be of a live ensemble (no sequencing, samplers, or line level sources) using only the following Shure microphones provided by Sponsor and no other microphones: KSM44/SL, KSM32/SL, KSM27/SL, KSM141/SL, Beta 52A, Beta91, Beta98D/S, SM7B, SM57-LC. The Recording shall not exceed five minutes in length. In order to facilitate the objective evaluation of microphone placement and technique, please also provide (on the same CD, after the finished mix) 30-45 second, unmodified sample tracks of each sound source used in your finished recording. Stereo mixes of instrumental sources, where appropriate, are also required as long as sample tracks of individual instruments are still provided and signal processing, including, but not limited to, reverb, compression, and equalization, is not used. Each team must provide a detailed track listing for both these unmodified sample tracks as well as the detailed listing of tracks used in the finished mix. The musical content is at the discretion of the Recording Teams, subject to the above limitations. The production and engineering may only be conducted by Recording Team members.

    Completed recordings must be received by Shure at KSM Student Recording Competition, 5800 W Touhy Ave, Niles IL, 60714 (the "Competition Address") by 11:59 p.m. on March 3, 2006. Recordings must be delivered in Red Book CD audio format (16 bit, 44.1kHz sample rate). The CD must be accompanied by the following production notes: A) Song Name, Song Composer(s), Copyright owner of the musical composition and sound recording. B) Performers. C) Track list for both unmodified tracks as well as finished mix D) Which microphone was 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); G) Mic preamp and signal path from Microphone to recording device.

  2. ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS

    Sponsor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotional agencies and the immediate family members of each are not eligible. Entry in the Competition constitutes the agreement of all 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. 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 (regardless of musicianship), and especially creative arrangements, instrumentation or use of overdubs will grade better).

    At the conclusion of the judging, a tentative Grand Prize Winner will be declared, pending confirmation of the eligibility of the Entrant(s) and receipt of an Affidavit of Eligibility, Release of Liability and Publicity Release from the Entrants. Announcement of the Grand Prize Winner will take place on or about May 8, 2006. Within fourteen (14) days of attempted notification that a Team is the tentative Grand Prize Winner, the Team submitting the Recording designated as the tentative Grand Prize 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 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 Winner.

  4. PRIZES

    The school represented by the Grand Prize Winning Team will take ownership of the Toolkit which the Sponsor has loaned to such school for its Team's participation in the Competition. The approximate combined retail value of the Shure microphones comprising the Toolkit is $10,500. The school represented by the Grand Prize Winning Team will also receive a donation of three thousand dollars ($3000) from the Sponsor towards a scholarship fund for that school. Additionally, each member of the Grand Prize Winning Team will receive a KSM27/SL microphone (approximate retail value $575).

    Competition 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. Prize is 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 Winner, available after May 8, 2006 and before July 31, 2006, 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.

 


Release 38