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Hello! Were there any changes to the rules?

The following paragraph may seem long, but in actuality they are all fairly minute changes.

The song is Hornpipe from Water Music by Handel this year, great song. They added that it must be percussion strings or wind. On the music, notes outside the range, same range as last year, are permitted but will not be scored. Part 1 and Part 2 from last year are now the same thing. In the knowledge part, part i. was removed, and the test must contain at least three questions with at least one pertaining to percussion, strings, and wind instruments. They also now recommend that event supervisors use a written test. The max amount of points is now 140, In parts i ii and iii of Part 1 in the old rules, have been combined into one 5 point category in the new rules. Each song is now worth 15 points each. The knowledge portion was bumped up to 60 points total. Lastly, the new recommended tempo is Allegro=152.

Good luck and may your mallets fall stronger, your lungs blow harder, and your frets be more perfectly spaced
Ian

I have some questions.
If one team makes an instrument out of PVC and another team makes it out of copper, then would the team who made the copper instrument get more points because of the higher quality materials?

If I make an alto flute, would I get docked off points for originality? Most likely? But it is only one point, right?

On the rules, it says that notes outside of the allowable range are permitted but must not be scored. Does that mean that if I make an instrument that goes out of the allowable range, I won't get any points for range? Or it is that I wont get any additional points?

In the sound quality part: If an instrument has an average sound quality compared to other instruments, what score would they most likely get? (Like a 75 percent level of sound quality compared to the other instruments)

What instruments should I make? I want to do an alto flute for Instrument A, but I am scared that it is too common.
What should I make for Instrument B? I can't make anything too expensive or time consuming (because of my studying events), but I really want to medal in this event!

Thanks.

I have no idea about the quality, but I don't think they would give the other team more points.

I really doubt they would mark off points for originality, I made a cello last year and never was docked any points.

No, you just wont get extra points, I think they allowed extra points for a larger range last year, but I guess they got rid of that rule.

I have no idea about sound quality ...maybe?

I think an alto flute is fine, and maybe you can make a cello? haha it was time consuming, but definitely worth it when I won medals!

Lots of quotes ahead:

ScienceOlympian wrote:If one team makes an instrument out of PVC and another team makes it out of copper, then would the team who made the copper instrument get more points because of the higher quality materials?

The team with the copper flute would likely score more points. Not necessarily because it is higher quality materials, but because PVC flutes/recorders are among the most popular and easy instruments to make. The judges will be listening to PVC stuff all day.

ScienceOlympian wrote:If I make an alto flute, would I get docked off points for originality? Most likely? But it is only one point, right?

I don't see any reason why you would get docked points for originality. Alto flute is certainly an obscure instrument in these types of competitions.

ScienceOlympian wrote:On the rules, it says that notes outside of the allowable range are permitted but must not be scored. Does that mean that if I make an instrument that goes out of the allowable range, I won't get any points for range? Or it is that I wont get any additional points?

You only get points for the notes in the allowable range. If your range covers all of the allowable range and then some, you will still score the maximum number of points.

ScienceOlympian wrote:In the sound quality part: If an instrument has an average sound quality compared to other instruments, what score would they most likely get? (Like a 75 percent level of sound quality compared to the other instruments)

Sound quality is tough to measure percentage-wise, but if I thought that it had a 75% sound quality I would score it to reflect 75% of the total points. Keep in mind that if your instrument sounds 75% like an actual instrument, that is actually very very good and would probably earn full marks on that section.

ScienceOlympian wrote:What instruments should I make? I want to do an alto flute for Instrument A, but I am scared that it is too common.

I always say make what you are most familiar with. So if you are most comfortable playing a flute, make a flute. My first year in this event flutes were very common, but my partner was such a good flute player that she more than made up for having a common instrument. No sense building an instrument you can't play, right?

ScienceOlympian wrote: What should I make for Instrument B? I can't make anything too expensive or time consuming (because of my studying events), but I really want to medal in this event!

Don't make another woodwind instrument. Build whatever your partner has experience on. Be wary of brass, though. A brass player by trade, I avoided that and went with percussion instead, knowing it would be easier to build. My personal suggestion is- if you can get this to work- build a nice, deep, rich bass marimba. It would sound great with a flute. That's easier said than done though. Get the wood to resonate well and you're on the right track.

Thank you!

I heard once that, though your instrument could go out of range, you weren't allowed to play those notes out of range. Is that still true?

does our second song, the one you get to pick, have to be in the allowable range?

To be honest, this is something I've never been quite sure of. It's not hard to stay in the allowable range though... I mean, it's a couple octaves, so what reasons would you really have for going outside that range? Better not to risk it.