This is how #mod_shrine compos work general:
Compos are announced in the IRC channel, usually by saying everyone's name in the channel to set off their highlight. Amount of advance warning is usually less than 15 minutes.
The host provides a sample pack in the topic. Make your own tune in one hour (sometimes also 30min, 15min etc...) in MOD / S3M / XM / IT format.
Send your tune to the compo host by DCC, uploading, e-mail or whatever (described in the channel topic). Please stay anonymous, i.e. don't put your name in the song title or whatever
The host creates a votepack with all tunes and uploads it.
Download the votepack and listen together with everyone. Keep track of scores during this time.
Vote on all the tunes, except your own. Send the filenames to the host via PM, ordered best to worst.
Wait until everyone has voted. Results are to be announced then.
The main rule is: use the samples in the sample pack. No adding of external samples, but you don't have to use every sample in the pack. Sometimes, you are allowed to add a sample, but this is the exception rather than the rule and is explicitely announced before the compo.
For editing samples, you can do anything that your tracker is capable of, like amplifying, reversing, unsigning, etc...
Chipping (cutting the sample or setting a very short loop so that it makes a chip-like waveform) is discouraged.
In case you use ModPlug Tracker 1.16, stop using it - switch to OpenMPT (and if you don't want to switch, avoid using DirecX/VST plugins at least and avoid player quirks that MPT doesn't get right). In case you use OpenMPT, avoid most features that are new in this version (like smooth midi macros, resampling per instrument, filter mode per instrument, etc... - note fades ~~ are an exception, as they are an original feature of the IT format) - If you want to be sure, just use the "Find MPT Hacks in Song" item from the "View" menu and use "Compatibility Export" from the "File" menu to save the final version of your compo tune. Note: XMPlay (and players that make use of libbass) supports virtually all ModPlug-specific features (except VST plugins) - newer OpenMPT features are not supported, though. Always enable the "More IT compatible playback" flag from the song settings to make the playback as compatible as possible. This should be enabled by default.
We listen to all the songs at the same time because it's fun and you get to hear everyone's comments about the song in real time.
The host waits for everyone to download the pack.
The host says "queue (song name)", and you load it in your player or tracker. Abbreviations like "q (song name)" are of course also possible, just pay attention to the IRC channel. :-P
The host says "play (song name)" and you HIT THAT PLAY BUTTON.
Don't use MilkyTracker, MikMod, or Winamp (default mod plugin) to play back songs. They all break most .IT-format songs.
OpenMPT, XMPlay or a player that uses libbass / libopenmpt are recommended for playback.
Don't criticize shawnphase's song or you might offend him.