1. Rules
   
2. Timeline
3. Judging
   
4. Grading Criteria
   
5. Prizes

1. First Round - "Belligerent Youngsters"
2. Second Round - "Flying Solo"
3. Third Round - "3x3"
4. Fourth Round - "Vox Populi"
5. Final Round - "A Malevolent Masterpiece"

• The purpose of this competition is to submit a remix of a musical piece from a game that falls under RPGamer's coverage guidelines and adheres to the theme presented for each round.
• There shall be four (4) preliminary rounds of competition and one (1) final round.
• To allow for accurate judging and fairness, all submissions should be in mp3 format, preferably with a bit rate of 192kbps.
• All submissions must include the following information: the title of the remix, the name of the artist, the original title of the piece used and the game from which it came, and a few words describing the composition. The title of the the remix must not be exactly the same as that of the original piece utilized in its creation. If more than one piece is utilized, the artist is to list all of them—the first piece named being the source of the main theme used in the piece.
• An artist may join at any point of the competition. Failing to submit in one or more rounds does not disqualify an artist from ultimately winning the competition.
• An artist may only submit one (1) remix per round of competition.
• Only the winners and runners-up of each of the rounds shall be qualified to submit for the final round.
• The entries may be posted in the Sound Test updates as they are submitted.
• Each contest round shall welcome submissions from anyone except from the three judges of that particular round. RPGamer staff member submissions will not be eligible for prizes.
• The competition will progress according to the timeline below. Any submission for a particular round that shall not fall within the indicated period of that round shall be treated as a regular submission to Sound Test. The timeline is subject to change as decided by the Sound Test Curator and the public shall be duly informed when such an event occurs.

Round 1: "Belligerent Youngsters" - January 30, 2009 12:01 AM GMT+8:00 - March 13, 2009 12:00 MN GMT+8:00
Round 2: "Flying Solo" - April 10, 2009 12:01 AM GMT+8:00 - May 22, 2009 12:00 MN GMT+8:00
Round 3: "3x3" - June 19, 2009 12:01 AM GMT+8:00 - July 17, 2009 12:00 MN GMT+8:00
Round 4: "Vox Populi" - July 24, 2009 12:01 AM GMT+8:00 - August 21, 2009 12:00 MN GMT+8:00
Final Round: "A Malevolent Masterpiece" - September 18, 2009 2:01 AM GMT+8:00 - November 13, 2009 12:00 MN GMT+8:00
Announcement of Winner: December 23, 2009

The panel of judges shall consist of myself, Francis "Fermat's Last Theorem" Gayon, and at least one other RPGamer staff member. The judges' scores will be averaged in each individual criterion (Theme, Remix, Creativity, and Production) and shall each be multiplied by 0.5. The products shall comprise the "Judges' Subtotal."

Aside from the judges' scores, there will be a reader-submitted score. At the end of each round will be a week of reader evaluation, where readers can submit their score. The reader scores will be averaged in each individual criterion and multiplied by 0.5. The products shall comprise the "Readers' Subtotal."

The Judges' Subtotal and the Readers' Subtotal shall be added to produce the final score for each round, represented as a percentage. The artist with the highest sum shall be named the winner of the round and the artist with the second highest sum shall be named the runner-up. The winners and runners-up of Rounds 1-4 shall be determined this way.

As discussed above, only the winners and runners-up of the first four rounds shall be allowed to submit for the Final Round. In the said round, the judges' average score for each criterion shall be multiplied by 0.3 to produce the Judges' Subtotal; that of the readers shall be multiplied by 0.7 to produce the Readers' Subtotal. The two subtotals shall be added to produce the pre-final score of the round. To encourage artists to submit each round, an artist shall be awarded two (2) bonus percentage points per round won and one (1) bonus percentage point for each round in which s/he was a runner-up. These bonus points shall be added to the pre-final score to produce the final score. The artist with the highest fnal score shall be named the winner of "The Grand Audition 2009."

Theme (10%) - This score represents how well the submission adheres to the theme of the particular round. Unlike in the previous competition's rules, a grade of 0 is not possible for this criterion, as a submission which fails to adhere to a particular round's theme in its entirety will not even be eligible for judging and shall be treated like a regular submission to Sound Test. There can be some gray areas, as most rounds' themes shall be comprised of multiple conditions; thus, remixers are warned to be very specific and exact with their remixes.

Remix (35%) - The category encompasses how well the remix represents the original work(s). The piece should be strong enough that someone familiar with the original work recognizes the source material, but that it also strong enough to stand alone from the original.

Creativity (45%) - This category is a critique of the artist's compositional decisions in the songs creation. What has been added to really breathe life into the remix? Does the piece flow solidly from section to section, and stay fresh without becoming repetitive? Is listening to this song enjoyable?

Production (10%) - This category encompasses the technical qualities of the sound, including the quality of samples used, of any recording done, and of mixing and panning.

The winner, as determined by the abovementioned mechanics shall earn the title of "Resident Remixer" for RPGamer.com and shall receive a copy of Blizzard's "Echoes of War."