2024-MAR-01 Info: Check out Songwriting Competition 079 if you're into "Synthwave" music making.

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Winners announced

Thematic Songwriting Competition - recurrence: monthly
TrojakEW

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Voting until 01-10-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#21

Post by TrojakEW »

First of all, I'm not a musician so my comments in regards of harmony theory and all relevant requisites are irrelevant :grin: . Take my rating as view of the ordinary and unaware person. I do like music and I do like creating some weird stuff that can be hardly called music. Since english is also not my native language I have problem to understand lyrics in song so included lyrics help.

1. MOA22 "Stay Good"
2. donkey tugger "Hopeless Case"
3. CeZar "You"
4.Thelace43 "Rainy Days"
5. ollyaudio "Heavenly Ocean"
6. MarkS "Darkness & Light"

6. MarkS "Darkness & Light"
Well I get the idead of track, kind of but it sound too artificiall. No expressions and selected instruments get repetitive quickly without added dynamics. At 1:50 when piano start it getting weird. Maybe this was what you want but for me it is not. This part is off beat and hard to listen. It looks like track have three parts. Intro till piano starts is first, then piano part and then last part that is similar to intro only with added another instrument. Yes it is really gets repetitive. Mix and overall sound needs more work. Better instrument placing on stage. It now sound more like instrument is only in center or on both sides. There are some resonant frequencies especially that synth voice and reverse synth. I also missing some sparkle in high and some softness in low.

5. ollyaudio "Heavenly Ocean"
Yup this tracks sound more heavenly then it should. Even there are some parts that can take you closer to the chosen SWC theme, track sounds more like it is over and there is no illness anymore. For instrumental track I would like to hear more changes in composition. Regarding mix, well beat/drums are all in center without added space. It just mono while rest of instruments are almost everywhere. Similar to MarkS track so that instrument is just mono in center or on both sides.

------------------------------------
This and comment bellow is for all next four tracks. These are on different levels and it is hard for me to judge them. Actually I'm afraid to say something bad about them. Also rating starting from here is very difficult since those tracks are somewhat "similar" in style. I do normally not listen to that type of music since I do prefer instrumental tracks so I can use my imagination to "paint" the rest of "story". Like comparing book with movie. Movie will give you exact definition about everything and leave you almost no place for imagination. No offense it just those are simply not my cup of tea. Singing also distracts my attention from music. So I will only tell what I - mere human think about those tracks.

4.Thelace43 "Rainy Days"
Music itself have rather happy feeling. I miss some anxiety here. Lyrics won't change this happy feeling.

3. CeZar "You"
So I like music in this one more but again theme is ... more like lost love and not Dark Corners of the Mind.

2. donkey tugger "Hopeless Case"
Regarding music and composition this one is best. It is nicelly evolve from beginning till the "climax" and again "fade out" nicely. I do not like voice so much. I'm not talking about voice itself like color but about intonation in same parts like for example in 2:25. Theme is too neutral and I miss some "war" between light and darkness or between sanity and madness.

1. MOA22 "Stay Good"
It is first because of overall feel. Musically it is one track that is the closest one to the choosed theme .

I always judge feel of the track based on music itself and lyrics are just cherry on a cake that add little more to theme. So if the cake if not the right cake cherry doesn't help. All those four tracks are nice with nice mix and mastering but ... hate me all you want, they are too common. Nothing that you can't hear anywhere else. I need to be shocked or taken away from reality. Of course if any of you are making music only because you enjoy the process of making like me, then it doesn't matter since those are really really really really nice tracks and I can only envy silently in the corner. :tu:
MarkS

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Voting until 01-10-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#22

Post by MarkS »

So this is the top of this contest:

01.donkey tugger-10 points
02.Moa22-9 points
03.CeZar-8 points
04.ollyaudio-7 points
05.Thelace43-6 points
06.TrojakEW-5 points

and these are my comments:

Donkeyt-It is a very melodic tune, telling some memories.

MOA22-I have nothing to say, just it is a great song.

CeZar-There is a good vibe in your song, but i think you need to shorten the breakdown part. Then you should add the same drums
from endind to verses and rearrange a bit your mix.

Olly Audio- Your song is promising too, but i think you need to rearrange your mix. Try to add a breakdown between industrial
style part of your song.

Thelace43 or Mike Dorsey-The song has a happy mood, but i think it does not correspond to current contest theme.

TrojakEW- Your song reminds me an OST from a horror movie or a trailer to it, and that's all.
MOA22

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Voting until 01-10-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#23

Post by MOA22 »

Hi !

not enough time to spend on the comments, sorry for that !

10 pts Thelace42, Rainy days. An extravagant arrangement. Many production issues for me. But I must admit that I loved the atmosphere,
the song is really nice even if sometimes I feel a bit lost. Congrats !

9 pts Donkey Tugger, Hopeless case. Really nice song. Just makes me remember of a french artist named Alain Bashung (Arrangement).
Not as much layers than you use to mix, so the song is not as "full" as usually. I must admit that I prefer when you "fills" it !

8 pts Cezar, You. A nice and classical ballad. Pretty well produced.

7 pts Trojakew, Broken Mind. Really really dark ! Nicely done ! Bravo !

6 pts Ollyaudio, Heavenly Ocean. Some good ideas, this is a pretty nice soundtrack

5 pts MarkS. Sorry but not really a fan of it, but I have to say : just keep on working and having fun. The submission needs more
changes and a real construction for me.


Sotos Bakas would have been ranked at the Third place. Nice Crescendo. Just no chord change at all. Btw you were able to
do a good instrumental song. Congrats !

Sorry for the (too) short comments !

Moa22
ollyaudio

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Voting until 01-10-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#24

Post by ollyaudio »

01 (10 pts) - Sotos Bakas
02 (9 pts) - donkey tugger
03 (8 pts) - CeZar
04 ( 7 pts) - TrojakEW
05 ( 6 pts) - MOA 22
06 ( 7 pts) - MarkS
07 ( 6 pts ) - Thelace 43
The result.
1. Sotos Bakas

Super. Music conveys the emotions of the contest theme.
2. donkey tugger

I really liked the song. I see in it an inner core and strength. There were not enough musical emotions of sadness.
3. CeZar

. This song is professional. I liked it, but I expected more emotion.
4. TrojakEW

I heard an incredibly strong start. Excellent rhythm section. Guitar spoiled the impression. I was expecting a flute solo. A flute is a funerary musical instrument. She cries. Your music would be much more beautiful if a flute or a recorder were playing solo.
5. MOA 22

Beautiful song. I'm at a loss to pick something in the track.
6. MarkS

In music, there is more deviation in the darkness. It has more horror than the sadness of the departed irretrievably.
7. Thelace 43
Beautiful music. I can not associate it with suicide. It is beautiful as a full-fledged track.
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Mister Fox
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Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Voting until 01-10-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#25

Post by Mister Fox »

A friendly reminder:
24 hours left to submit your feedback and vote.



IMPORTANT:
I've uploaded a temporary backup for CeZar's track "You" (which expired on 29th September). This is an exception(!) to keep the game alive and interesting.

In the future, and to be fair for all other participants: if you use WeTransfer or any other webspace that only keeps your production online for a certain amount of time so that there is no chance for either the staff or the participants to take a listen, you will be disqualified.

Please get your votes in ASAP. Thank you.
donkey tugger

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Voting until 01-10-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#26

Post by donkey tugger »

MOA22 - Shades of Radiohead in those intro guitars, some clever chord changes going on. I like that the drums are nicely understated as well, plus the fact that you resisted the temptation to, 'rock out' at the end - sometimes a bit of restraint is more effective! Nice clear mix. Excellent stuff -10

Thelace43 - Quite a loose feel but it holds together well and I love all the little touches where it goes into almost 10cc/Queen territory. Some great playing and the quite dry production is well suited to the material. Would have liked to have had the piano a bit darker and more old soundng, but that's my preference. Good stuff. - 9

TrojakEW Production is a bit off in places (some elements seem to stick out a bit too much in the mix at various times, and it could do with the guitar having a bit more naturalist programming..but..I do like the feel of this and the suggestion of reined in aggression, almost in bits like really early Joy Division. With a bit more refinement (and a vocal...) this could be a really good track. - 8

MarkS - Some interesting collage parts in this, almost reminded me of PIL or Bauhaus (in their more off the wall moments) in parts. With stuff like the this the usual 'rules' about mixes etc don't really apply as the lofi nature of some of the sounds are what gives it the edgy nature. Liked it, in a weird kind of way! -7

Ollyaudio - Quite melancholy/New age-y start. Love the almost reggae style drums that come in . Loads of ideas which could be further developed in this. I think let down by the arrangement which doesn't really build and go anywhere else after the drums come in. Would work well with film though I think. Production wise it's well done and the effects suit the sounds, mix is good. -6

Cezar - Nice guitar. Vocal does sound as if it's a bit too de-essed and processed for me, good performance though and the song is good. Finishes a bit abruptly - one more time round needed on that last chorus part? Mix is a little bit dull sounding overall -perhaps needs a little bit of exciter/air eq to bring it to life? -5

and...

SotosBakas - I'm always a sucker for a nice Rhodes sound (don't use it nearly enough) and it builds nicley towards that climax. I'm not a fan of Saxophones though. Production is ok apart from the drums sound a bit overcompressed to me (the telltale cymbal 'sucking' effect).
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Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Results in preparation

#27

Post by Mister Fox »

It is the 02nd October 2018, 9:45am GMT+2/CEST - the voting and feedback period has officially ended

Sadly, we lack feedback and votes from Thelace43, CeZar from from our bonus participant SotosBakas.
I will be posting the official result ts later tonight.


In the meantime, SWC014 is in full swing - please spread the word:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=177
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Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Winners announced

#28

Post by Mister Fox »

Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the results of Songwriting Competition 13

:arrow: The winners podium consists of:
  1. donkey tugger (37 pts)
  2. MOA22 (35 pts)
  3. TrojakEW (27 pts)
Sadly not everyone has voted, else this would have been an interesting run for the top spots for sure.

We had no ties, <4 participant rule not in use (staff comments and votes)
We sadly have three disqualifications (CeZar and Thelace43 due to lack of participation during the voting process, and Sotos Bakas because the production was created in 2012 already)
"Sole (License) Winner" rule applies


:arrow: Criticism: The given feedback getting better, but is still a bit sparse in places. Furthermore is it such a waste to hear outstanding productions, and then we have a lack of participation on the feedback side of things. Those that vanished got feedback, but didn't give any in return. Despite sending out various reminders (mailing list, social media, etc). What's discouraging for everyone involved.

I hope this will change for the better for SWC014.





Here are the results as chart in image form:
Image



Thank you so much for your participation. :clap:



:arrow: License selection:

We'll now perform with the usual. Since the "Sole (License) Winner" rule applies, only the top spot can select something from the license pool. Selecting licenses is handled in public, please. After that, please get in touch with me (via PM) with your contact data. In case of the "Bjulin Waves" sponsorship - the winners podium (in case of MC013, the sole winner) can additionally select one "Inspire Me" package on top of the license selection (please mention that in the PM).

As usual - you're not forced to pick up anything. You can pass and therefore offer more to select for the next person in line (if there is a spot existing / not available for "sole winner" mechanic). Just let all participants/winners/the staff know in a timely manner.



Feedback about the "Songwriting Competition" is welcome (please do so here).

See you in in the next challenge!
TrojakEW

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Winners announced

#29

Post by TrojakEW »

Congrats to donkey tugger for first place. As I write before for me music in this track was most inspiring for me, especially composition and how that track evolve. Well all tracks were interesting but some of them still needs more work.

I hope I can join next round but I already interrupt my work on track for Open Souurce FM challenge because of SWC013 and now next round of KVR OSC is waiting. Making three tracks in such a time will be "fun". But I don't want to post concept track like it was in this round. Two days is really not enough.

Regarding feedback. Yes it is little sparse but it is all the same anywhere you go. Even in KVR OSC you have most feedback like nice or I don't like that - such words doesn't help anyone. :lol: I also found people vote based on some personal feeling. What I mean is when you comment track with some critics and suggestion you can see then in vote how much this affect points given by that person. They always try to return the favor by giving you lovest score. I always score track based on production quallity as whole and even I don't like certain style it doesn't affect my vote. I also suggest to all participants to forget about points and prize. Those challenges are best way to improve your skills and acquire the best prize ever - knowledge. :tu:
Thelace43

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Winners announced

#30

Post by Thelace43 »

I didn't know I was supposed to vote!

Damn.
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