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Public Domain Day: Music Contest

This guide gives information on Public Domain, Audio Editing software, and the Music contest involving pre-1923 sound recordings

Music Contest Rules

Using at least one pre-1925 sound recording (ex. National Jukebox collections in Citizen DJ) and any other free or original music you want, create a musical project that highlights some of the new material available in the public domain. The music must feature prominently at least one pre-1925 sound recording and can be no longer than 6 minutes and playlists can contain no more than 6 songs. Remember to keep track of your source material because links to the original sound recordings will need to be submitted with the finished product.

Some examples of projects include:

  • Mash-ups
  • Remixes
  • Oral histories over one or more songs
  • Original music with public domain sampling
  • Playlists around a theme

 

Content Warning

Please remember as you are searching through the public domain that historical sound recordings may include harmful, biased, prejudiced, and outdated views. Think critically about what you are listening to and do not include offensive material in your project. If you have any questions about content suitability please contact the Music Librarian, Tiffany Gillaspy, at tgillasp@nd.edu.

 

Giving Attribution

The Citizen DJ project has an automated attribution section on the Remix page, keep track of these citations to include in your Google form with your submission. If using Public Domain sound recordings outside of Citizen DJ, make sure you are keeping track of composers, musicians, and URLs to the music you are using.

 

Contest Deadline:

February 16, 2024

 

To submit your project:

Fill out this Google form: https://forms.gle/m5Lc1HZixiohFW3T8

Make sure to upload your mp3 to Box and include your filename in the final question!

 

Judges:

Tiffany Gillaspy, Music Librarian

Tara Kenjockety, Undergraduate Community Engagement Librarian

Michelle Rivera, Music Library Specialist

 

Prizes:
3 winners will receive an "I Found it in the Public Domain" coffee mug. Creators of winning and honorable mention entries will be notified via email.

Winning and honorable mention entries will be posted on the Public Domain Day: Music Contest event page at https://libguides.library.nd.edu/public-domain-day

 

2024 Winner

Farewell

By Ben Tovar, Center for Research Computing
Listen to Farewell.

2023 Winners

Clish Clash

By Aubrey Breen, Sophomore, College of Arts & Letters, Music
Nolan Kyhl, Sophomore, College of Engineering, Computer Science

Listen to Clish Clash 

 

Clip Clop

By Benjamin Tovar, Research Software Engineer, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Listen to Clip Clop

 

Ophelia

By Julie Vecchio, Co-Interim Director, Hesburgh Libraries Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship