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

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020 - Winners announced

Thematic Songwriting Competition - recurrence: monthly
Leonard Bowman
Posts: 74
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2019 00:09 CET

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020- Voting until 01-OCT-2020 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#71

Post by Leonard Bowman »

Finally got around to listening - thankfully this round was a very pleasant listening session.

Also, for those interested, I updated my post a while back with more details about how I came up with my piece, and what plugins I used.

canese - In sepia swell
guitar reminds me of a smooth jazz album I have, so it's pretty on point for the style in my opinion. It's a bit big and carries a lot of eneregy for the chill side of the style but it's very well produced and enjoyable to listen to.

Square - Finding my Footing
love the funky groove from the get-go! it's a bit aggressive but lofi for sure. The transition between the beginning and the dub section might be my favorite part, it's soothing and lets the listener breathe for a moment.
The dub section is also cool, sounds good, but feels completely unnecessary for the piece. I know that the switch was intentional but I think the song would be better as strictly one or the other, unless you could very clearly tie the melody from one into the other.

Double Tap - Plugin Boutique
Love the mood in this one - you did a good job of making it optimistic feeling. I love the brush sample - it works nicely in the flow of your song. The piece is smooth and I really like the overall package.
I guess it could use a more distinct hook but it's fine without.

Olli H - LoFi Feeling
I found it really pleasant - cleanly composed music that's also decently chill. It's fairly smooth and enjoyable, not much else to say. You captured the aesthetic pretty well.

becsei_gyorgy - Faces Of Love
The lofi sound is there for sure. Instrumentation is really nice and the production fits pretty well - violin is a neat choice. Composition is a bit bold/assertive compared to my stance on the lofi genre but it works well.
The Corinthians sample is novel but detracts from the calm mood for me. I think the song would have been fine without it though.

Mellow Browne - Like a Friend
I like the drum processing, although the prominence of that ride bell gets annoying rather quick - I'd suggest bringing it down in volume. Bass groove is awesome! My biggest complaint is the mix - that bell is so loud it covers over the vocals and makes them harder to understand.

TrojakEW - Lone Wanderer
That trumpet tone gets fairly grating after a while, but I see where you're going with it. Maybe just a bit more expression so it isn't the same flat straight-mute tone would be nice.
As soon as the drums cut, I lose any connection to the hip-hop style, unfortunately. The ending is beautiful but does not fit the brief at all, in my opinion. As you somewhat stated, it feels like a piece that you tried to force into the lofi style, and I don't think that teh lofi style does any justice to your piece, nor your piece to the style.

gruskada - TTL
that hard panned snare is quite distracting to me, but I like the boldness of the choice. The overall mood is very nice and smooth, which is greatly appreciated. The melodies felt a bit "noodly" as though you improvised them all as live takes. They sound nice but as a whole I can't really find a memorable motif or theme.

Shea - My Lofi Sky
The intro is spot-on with what I was expecting for lo-fi. I lovely. I feel like the snare is a touch loud but the overall mood is excellent. Production feels good for the genre, and even the bigger sections like the ending still feel nicely rooted in the lofi groove.
Also glad I'm not the only one who used bird sounds.

FunctionForm - This Too Shall Pass
nice groove, and I like the variations in the second section. Clean production, flows pretty well. I imagine the changes might be a bit distracting if I was trying to study by it, but I won't hold that against you; I find all music distracting when I'm trying to be productive.

Blang - Gloomy
Love the intro - the piano progression is great for the style. Really, everything feels good. Nice job with the sampling and production, it really comes through well. The vocals are present but not distracting which is hard for lofi.
I just wish it kept going longer! really nice tune.
Also, you did a good job of transforming the original samples into a new piece.

GMoneh - Anxiety
I'm missing some expression on that piano, almost every note in the melody feels really loud. Maybe it's just too loud in the mix as a whole. Some of the percussion hits are off-beat in a way that feels more sloppy than intentional, and that throws me out of the listening headspace. Aside from those, it feels a little too energetic and crowded the lo-fi hip hop style - to me, lo-fi hip hop is a fairly minimal and calm genre.
I like where you were going with this piece, but it feels too big to be lo-fi and too repetitive for something I'd want to listen to often outside the genre

VCA-089
I like the 808 kit here, it helps keep it closer to a hip-hop feel through out. I feel like the field recording samples might be a little excessive and distracting, although I like the thought. Maybe if they were more sparse and not all clustered in the middle section. I love the outro!

now for the hard part
► Show Spoiler
I think that's all. Thanks!
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canese
Posts: 94
Joined: Mon May 20, 2019 15:51 CEST
Location: <3 of SouthAmerica

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020- Voting until 01-OCT-2020 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#72

Post by canese »

Hello, awsome tracks this month. I love the creativity and the effort.

Square
"Finding my Footing"
percussion is super nice! Also production is very lo-fi, 2nd part reminds me of some trip-hop artist. It's not so chill, but it's a nice haunting track. Good job!

Double Tap
"Pugin Boutique"

Love the ambient sounds, and the jazzy snare. When the bass drops I feel everything coming togheter. I feel warm and calm. Percussions coming after distract from the ambient, it seems they don't belong there, they have differnt texture from the other instruments. The reversed guitars are perfect! I love it.

Olli H
"Lo-Fi Feeling"

Nice harmonies, very melancolic. The 6/8 tempo it's to remarkable by the hi-hats that it's not grooving, maybe if they were played by hand, or played another pattern it would have less strictness. It's a emotional track, but it doesn't fit quite well the genre.

becsei_gyorgy
Faces Of Love

Kick it's missing a lot of low end, and piano has a lot of chorus for my taste, maybe blending a dry one with the one with chorus would help. OMG, the brass it's epic! I feel in a mexican/spanish western, dystopian movie... Very well executed, sir.

Mellow Browne
"Like a friend"

Oh snap, nice ambience here, very chill and dope. This is very artistic, nice choice of textures. I don't understand a word but I feel it. Anderson Paak would love this!

TrojakEW
"Lone Wanderer"
Would love to hear a gorillaz vocal on top of this. THe melodies are strange and natural at the same time, they express some loneliness I almost never felt. Almost like it want's to say something but it gets stuck in your throat.

gruskada
"Time to Love"

Wow. It has al the lo-fi elements. The guitar blends in the mix so well you can hear in your head like your own thoughts. Feels like a jamming session with your friends, like nothing else matters right now, i'm where I'm supposed to be.

Shea
"My Lofi Sky"

Like if you took mushrooms and went for a walk in a forest, the trees sing this to you. From the start you expect nothing and then it delivers everything. Has so many nice elements, you could loop this for 10 hours and don't get bored.

functionform
"This Too Shall Pass"

Very edgy and professional production. It's not the hip-hop I was expecting, but it's fresh and fits nicely in a study session.

Blang
"Gloomy"
Awsome track, good ideas and they compliment each other. The piano chords are from other world, I feel some Radiohead mixed with jazz. The mix it's okay, but little muddy, maybe the low end it has a lot of side information. Putting all things below 150hz to mono would help I think.

GMoneh
"Anxiety"

Got the track's name, it is definitely gets you kind of uncomfortable. That doesn't it does't have nice elements, it has many parts with awsome melodies and harmonies, but maybe a little better choise of samples would help the track shine its creativity.

Leonard Bowman
"Good Morning Dust"

Mix doesn't help too much, it sounds like it's in a box, it lacks low and high end. Every lo-fi element it's there, you nailed the genre very well. I like the vibe, I would put this in my alarm clock and hear it every morning.

VCA-089
"I'm okay"

Percussion it's to sharp for the genre, feels more like normal hip-hop. Bass grooves with a good melody, too bad it's perfectly in grid. A lot of high-mids in the mix, and the bass it's a little loud also. I love the piano staccato part! seems random but with purpose and direction.

Vote:
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Mister Fox
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Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020 - results in preparation

#73

Post by Mister Fox »

It's the 02nd October 2020, 14:00 (UTC+2/CEST) - the Voting Period has officially ended.

All participants have submitted some final feedback and cast their vote, we therefore have 0 disqualifications due to lack of participation. Although technically, one participant submitted feedback after the deadline (I will think of something).


I will post the results shortly (as in - within the next 72 hours, by Sunday night latest), please have an eye on this thread.
(this is not an automated process)
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Mister Fox
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Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020 - results in preparation

#74

Post by Mister Fox »

:arrow: I am happy to announce the following sponsor for the Mix Challenge audio community:


Image
Luftrum is kind enough give away either a license of Lunaris, a license of Bioscape, or any two sound sets of winner's choice (exception: Bundles and Nano Electronics)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Luftrum: http://www.luftrum.com




Luftrum has been with the Songwriting Competition since SWC003 / November 2017. They renew their partnership with an updated array of tools. Not only that, their offer has been retroactive (already starting with SWC037 / September 2020).

A huge thank you goes to Luftrum for providing the licenses. :tu:




The results of SWC037 / September 2020 will be posted shortly.
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Mister Fox
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Location: Berlin, Germany

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020 - Winners announced

#75

Post by Mister Fox »

Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the results of Songwriting Competition 37

:arrow: The winners podium consists of:
  1. @Shea (143 pts)
  2. @Blang (126 pts)
  3. @Leonard Bowman (126 pts)

Apologies for the waiting time, this is not an automated process.

<4 participant rule is not in use (staff comments and votes)
We have 0 disqualifications, but a -10 pts withdrawal (see next point)
We have 1 vote after the deadline, but I didn't disqualify anyone this month (I will get to this in a separate post)
We have 4 users that tied
  • Blang has 4x13pts, 2x12pts -- Leonard Bowman has 2x13pts, 3x12pts -- Blang therefore scores higher
  • GMoneh has 1x10pts, 0x9pts -- Square has 0x10pts, 0x9pts -- GMoneh therefore scores higher
  • the ties could have been solved, if the participants in question would have either not run their tracks too hot (LUFS and/or higher -1dBTP), or took special care for naming the file / added documentation
"Sole (License) Winner" rule does not apply - 3-position Winners Podium



Here are the results as chart in image form:
Image

Please note the following:
Participants that exceeded either -14LUFS and/or -1dBTP, did not get a bonus point. I did not point out this fact this month (apologies - but there are only so many columns on the score sheet for readability). There are no disqualifications this time around, but a -10 pts withdrawal instead. I am currently working on a new points mechanic that doesn't straight up throw anyone out of the game, but will hurt on the score sheet in the long run. More about this the coming days in the General Gossip thread.



Thank you so much for your participation. :clap:



:arrow: License selection:

We'll now perform with the usual. Selecting licenses is handled in public. Please select one license/company out of the pool (in order of the winners podium) and mention it in this thread, then (important) please get in touch with me (via PM) with your full name, email address and your license selection.

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. Once one company has been selected, it's out of the pool for the next person on the podium.



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



See you in in the next challenge!


Please help spread the word to get the Songwriting Competition to 15-20 participants on average. :help:
Mellow Browne
Posts: 93
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2018 20:54 CET
Location: Freiburg, Germany

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020 - Winners announced

#76

Post by Mellow Browne »

Congrats to the winners.
Leonard Bowman
Posts: 74
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2019 00:09 CET

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020 - Winners announced

#77

Post by Leonard Bowman »

Congrats @Shea and @Blang, you did an excellent job with this round.
Also, congrats to everyone for finishing a song for the contest - I enjoyed listening to all of the tracks even if I still had to rank them at the end of the day.

Personally, I feel like the -10 pt penalty seems a bit harsh considering the votes in question were entered less than an hour after the deadline, but I do understand that you want to keep things as timely as possible to ease the administrative side of things. Anyways, it didn't affect the podium for this round; for practical purposes it doesn't matter now :shrug:
functionform

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020 - Winners announced

#78

Post by functionform »

Congrats winners on the truly inspiring pieces and thanks everyone for sharing your quality feedback. As usual, lots to think about and improve from.
Square

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020 - Winners announced

#79

Post by Square »

Congrats to the winners, super chill tracks. Great constructive feedback from everyone, and a good learning experience for me, looking forward to doing it again this month!

Peace and Love ~
TrojakEW

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC037 September 2020 - Winners announced

#80

Post by TrojakEW »

Good round. Congrats to winners and also all for joining and working hard. :tu:
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