SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC060 August 2022 - Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

Hello and welcome to the Songwriting Competition 60 - August 2022


This is the introduction post, where we directly link to the challenge corresponding basics (theme and premise, submission information, sponsors) and start of the voting process.

Before you get started, please consult the official and very simple "Rules and Guidelines" (Rule Book - post #6) for the Songwriting Competition regarding principles of the game, it's engaging game mechanics (allowed editing/re-submission of your entry until the deadline has been reached) and upload/submission guidelines.

Read more about this month's competition further down below.




This post will be updated with the corresponding links as we progress, and of course the suitable thread headlines. So please watch this spot:


Submission Period: General Information and Sponsors
Cheat Sheet: A couple of examples / audio demos for this month's challenge (limited if genre is "free to select")
Voting: Summarized entries and start of voting process
Results of the Songwriting Competition: Results of the Songwriting Competition

[Mister Fox]

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Monday, 01st August 2022 to Wednesday, 24th August 2022 (24 days)

Challenge submission will end on 24-08-2022, 23:59 UTC+2/CEST (Germany) - until further notice.


Want to find out if you're still within the deadline, please consult the following options:
The Global Countdown on it's dedicated page or the countdown on the home page. There will also be short reminders on Social Media and on Discord.

Does the game time frame feel too long? Why not set a personal shorter one of 5-7 days absolute max to push yourself to focus on the essentials, then use the rest of the time to ask for feedback and possible refinements.



SONGWRITING THEME: "Water" (Picture Theme)
GENRE: free to select



Image Source: Pexels, photo by Hilary Halliwell, released under Creative Commons CC0



A few word about this month's theme:

This month's game does not feature an extensive brief, with twists and turns. We have another "Picture Theme". Take a look, get inspired by both the image and the theme, let your mind wander for a bit. Then start writing.
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Your task for this Songwriting Competition:
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This month, you can create a production in any music genre you feel like.

You set your own parameters and limitations, e.g. style and genre, questions and counter arguments. As long as you don't exceed 10 minutes of runtime, neither have endless padded out repetition. Please keep us listeners engaged.


I am curious what you come up with.

Songwriting Rule Summary / Add-On Rules:

• create a production fitting to the given theme, genre and general premise
• you can use any tool that is at your disposal (samples, virtual instruments and/or real instruments)
• IMPORTANT: if you use non-licensed material (as in: non royalty free material from sample CDs, etc), give full credit to the source material
• for newcomers: no finished productions that have already been released outside of the time frame of the current Songwriting Competition (Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp, etc), no cover versions or remixes, no ripped acapella's -- please only showcase your own content
• do not go higher than -14,0 LUFS ILk/-1,00 dBTP in terms of perceived loudness (mastering). Music doesn't have to be squashed to bits in order to be impactful
• name your files properly prior to uploading and make the production downloadable. If you opt to present your entry through SoundCloud, the forum can also convert your links into a Soundcloud player through the [soundcloud] BBCode from the text editor (orange square with a white cloud in it)
• ADD-ON RULES:
  • Filename Template: SWC000_ArtistName_TrackName.wav and/or .mp3 (please use it!)
  • <no (additional) add-on rules specified>

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Please take note of the official rules - they can be found at the following thread:
Songwriting Competition - Official Rules and Guidelines (most notably Rule Book - post #6)

Please address any OT question in the official Gossip thread:
Songwriting Competition - Gossip and Discussion

If you like what the Mix Challenge (community) has been doing in recent months:
Please consider supporting the project

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SPONSORS (Prizes):

Prizes for Songwriting Challenge participants:

Note: All licenses are NFR (Not-For-Resale), except where noted.
Changes to available prices on short notice may be possible and will be announced separately.


RECURRING LICENSE SPONSORSHIP:


Cherry Audio is kind enough to give away one license of Voltage Modular Ignite, plus either a license of "Year One Collection" or "Year Two Collection"
License will turn into NFR
More info on Cherry Audio: https://cherryaudio.com



IK Multimedia is kind enough to give away one license of MODO BASS 2 to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on IK Multimedia: https://www.ikmultimedia.com



Musiclab is kind enough to donate any 1 guitar of your choice to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Musiclab: https://www.musiclab.com



Tone2 is kind enough to donate a license of Saurus3 to the winner (until further notice)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Tone2: https://tone2.com



kv331 audio is kind enough to give away a bundle of either SynthMaster 1+2 Bundle, or a freely selectable set of 3 SynthMaster Expansions
License will not turn into NFR, you need to have a kv311 audio user account in order to pick up Expansions
More info on kv331 audio: https://www.kv331audio.com



JRR Sounds is kind enough to give away any-1 sound sets or sample set of winner's choice (exception: Bundles)
More info on JRR Sounds: https://www.jrrshop.com/jrr-sounds



Luftrum is kind enough to 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



Rekkerd Sounds is kind enough to give away 1 sound set of winners choice (exception: Krezie EDM and Neurofunk Vol. 1)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Rekkerd Sounds: http://sounds.rekkerd.org/



Ghostwave Audio (Vincent Bastiat) is kind enough to donate any 2 sound sets to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Ghostwave Audio: http://ghostwaveaudio.com



Hollow Sun is kind to donate one license of "Music Laboratory Machines - The Suite I" to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Hollow Sun: http://www.hollowsun.com



Hornet Plugins is kind enough to give away one license from the depicted tools (see image) to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Hornet Plugins: http://www.hornetplugins.com



Sound / Graphic Designer, and honorary Mix Challenge staff satYatunes is donating one commercial product of winner's choice (until further notice)
More info on satYatune's page: http://www.satyatunes.com/





THANKS FOR THE DONATIONS!
And also a thank you to all former contributors as well.

If you want to sponsor content (please have a focus on instruments, samples and sound sets), please get in touch with the Mix Challenge staff.

Please spread the word of the challenge on social media.
For example with our dedicated Twitter Account or Facebook Page

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Good luck to all participants.
And most importantly, have fun!

[Mister Fox]

AUDIO EXAMPLES:
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Articles and Info Pages:

A great starting point is the "Addendum"/Supplementary thread for the Songwriting Competition
Songwriting Competition - Addendum: Music Maps and BPM Charts

Since the genre this month is "free to select", there are no clear pointers




Music examples (selection for inspiration, 00 videos):

No music examples available this month. But I can always recommend to enter random genre search words either into Youtube, Spotify or whatever music streaming services you prefer using.
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Please also check in with the following threads in the the Gear Talk sub-forum, if you're on the look-out for new tools:
Places to fuel your GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) (the starting point if you're in need of audio tools -- from free to affordable)

Also recommended to check out the following tools, if you're new to/need help with songwriting:
Plugin Boutique - Scaler 2 (highly recommended tool!)
Xfer Records - Cthulhu
CodeFN42 - Chordz (Transition is also recommended, if you want more experimental/generative MIDI, Free, Windows only)
W.A. Production - InstaChord and InstaScale
Fabrizio Poce / J74 - Progressive ("Max4Life" is needed, Ableton Live bound)


More tools of the trade

► Show Spoiler

Need a good starter kit of instruments?

AKAI - MPC Beats (limited to 8 MIDI + 2 Audio tracks, but can be used as VSTi in any other DAW)
IK Multimedia - MODO DRUM CS (one drum kit)
Rayzoon - Jamstix (Free, an amazing drummer brain)
IK Multimedia - MODO BASS 2 CS (one e-bass)
Spitfire Audio - LABS
Spitfire Audio - BBC Symphonic Orchestra Discover (now free)
kv331 audio - Synthmaster Player (Free Version, comes with over 600 presets!)
VSTBuzz - Freebie Collection page, plenty of good material to find there (often Native Instrument Kontakt bound)
CWItech - TX16Wx Software Sampler (If you want a highly powerful Soundfont2 loader / sampler)

UPDATED: 31-JUL-2022 22:00 UTC+2, updated 01-AUG-2022 00:00 UTC+2

[A Future in Noise]

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Title: The Tide
Composer and lyricist: A Future In Noise

This is a collaboration between me and alavault.

alavault: electric guitar, electric bassguitar and mixing (also partially drums programming)

A Future In Noise: electric piano (synth), synth programming and drums programming

Ian T: Vocals

Kristian Nicolai Rundlöf: Saxophone

This is a song I wrote four years ago. I had it on my Soundcloud for a while, but not very many people listened. So I removed it, and after a while I had forgotten all about it.

In mid July me and alavault decided to try to make a new and better version, and this version is very different from the original one. The only thing that is left from 2017 is the vocals (and the chord progression, of course). And the ePiano, but the sound of it is different. One of the choruses has been totally removed, but on the other hand the saxophone solo at the end is much longer (because a real saxophone is much better than a fake one).

We could not know, in mid July, what the theme for August was going to be, and we were not thinking about the Mix-Challenge community at all when we started working. But the image (frozen tears, an icicle?) and the theme water, and the appeal: “ … let your mind wander for a bit”, fits this song rather well, we think. Or rather: if I had read the instructions for this month's competition first, I guess, in theory, I could have written a song like this, with the title The Tide (here in the sense ebb and flow). Now, as I have already mentioned, the lyrics is four years old, but as I understand the rules it's permissible to reuse old stuff if it's rearranged. The word 'tide' appears in the lyrics, BTW.


Probably processed, somehow, by Soundcloud.

For comparison, probably unprocessed:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i9LpsC ... sp=sharing

Instruments / plugins used:

Squier Strat, Ibanez RG, Squier Jazz Bass
A tenor saxophone
Superior Drums
Studio one stock plugin synth
Classic ZynAddSubFx

FX: For electric guitars and bass: Amp emulation from Antelope (integrated DSP)

5 reverbs : short, medium, long, plate with pre-delay and pitchshited reverb (Valhalla DSP)
6 delays : 1/8D, 1/4, 1/2, slap mono, slap stereo (IR of a SST282) and circular delay. Stock Studio One plugins
3 parallel busses : drum and bass, vocals, the rest.
EQ : SSL channel strip for broad EQ, stock EQ for surgical moves. Compression either SSL or 1176.
And finally, a shit load of automation.
On the epiano; amp sim for crunch (Fender Blackface-like)

[Arelem]

Hello Everyone,

I struggled a bit to get something going because the prompt is pretty vague, but I eventually got something that I'm happy with. The track started with some ambiance and some water sound samples and I built on it from there. I'm not sure what genre the track would be because it pulls from a lot of different places. There are some rap-type vocals and a more melodic chorus. The drums are pretty trappy but the bass is more synth or reese-like. I wrote and performed the lyrics/vocals. I am far from a vocalist so go easy on me. (Edit: lowered bass by about a dB to make more room in the mix for everything else. Also, increased the guitar's volume a bit during the breakdown)



Lyrics:
Got my feet stuck in the sand
Can't tell where the river goes
feel it slippin' through my hands
feel it on down through my toes

out like a ship in the pouring rain
storm comin' on like a hurricane
got all this lightnin' in my brain
lost at sea 'till I go insane

I don't know where I need to go
can't find any resemblance of hope
It's helpless for me, how can I cope
please tell me something cuz I don't know

cuz I'm losin' it out there
can't seem to find any air
walls closin' in, sight's gettin' thin
can't get no traction, spiralin'

(Chorus)
I'm underwater
don't remember how to swim
head underwater
try-in ta get back in
So I hold on tighter
to a place back then
can't be the fighter
I know that I can't win
(Chorus)

So can someone throw me a line
which of these thoughts are mine
tell me what is my crime
why does it feel like I'm serving time

can't believe I could feel this helpless
can't believe you could be so selfish
leavin' me out ta sea with the shellfish
what'd I do to you, can you tell this

got me drownin' here in my thoughts
get the plank out and I walk
air my lungs out and I cough
cannot breathe, how can I talk

I'm slowly sinking under
to a place I can't recover
soon to be another
just a fading memory of her
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DAW is FL Studio

Sounds and Effects:
Drums are various samples and bussed to Neutron 4.
The drone is Analog Dreams in Kontakt with some fruity reverb 2, fruity delay 3, and fruity filter all automated to come in and out throughout the track.
The twinkling plucks are also an Analog Dreams sound with some fruity EQ 2 on it.
The water sounds are a sample of running water that I cut up. I then added some fruity reverb 2, fruity delay, fruity delay 3, fruity compressor, Maximus, fruity EQ2, and fruity chorus. A low pass is automated to give it some movement.
Both the basses I sound designed in Vital and use a fruity limiter on them to use as a sidechain with the kick.
The guitar is a Flex preset with RC-20 on it.
For the vocals, I have Nectar 3 for the initial processing/EQ/De-Esser/Compression. For the verses, I also have Cymatics Origin to give it a bit of low-fi character. I also used Vocal Finalizer for reverb and delay. For the chorus, I have Nectar 3 again and RC-20, but it's only there for the tilt-EQ (kind of a lazy way to get tilt EQ but it works). Also, voxbox for some stereo width, Megaphone for some color, and again finished with Vocal Finalizer.

To master, I started with fruity Limiter to reign in the loudness and fruity EQ2 for high and low cutting. I used a custom patcher preset that cuts the sides from the lows. Maag Magnum-K is used with the comp section off and the Mono Maker and Stereo Width on. Then True Iron is used for some light warmth/saturation. Finally, Ozone 9 for EQ, limiting, and Compression.

[A Future in Noise]

A new version of The Tide has been uploaded to Soundcloud as well as G-drive.

So If you have already downloaded the previous version – please delete and download again.

(Main improve(?)ments: More low end and volume to epiano in the beginning. More overall low end.)

[Arelem]

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Title: The Tide
Composer and lyricist: A Future In Noise

This is a collaboration between me and alavault.

Hello,

Nice song! The guitar parts have some nice accents to them that help them sound more realistic. I will say the way they're processed makes it a bit difficult to differentiate from the ePiano at times (especially with chords). I really like the track after it picks up from about 2:45 on. Before that, it is a bit bland and that is kind of a long time to get to the good part so to speak. That's just my opinion though, so take it with a grain of salt.

-Arelem

[alavault]

Hello,

Nice song! The guitar parts have some nice accents to them that help them sound more realistic. I will say the way they're processed makes it a bit difficult to differentiate from the ePiano at times (especially with chords). I really like the track after it picks up from about 2:45 on. Before that, it is a bit bland and that is kind of a long time to get to the good part so to speak. That's just my opinion though, so take it with a grain of salt.

-Arelem

Hello Arelem,
I hope the guitar parts sound realistic as I played all of them!
Don't you think having the guitar on the left and the epiano on the right is enough to differentiate the parts? Maybe you might have some tips for this !
Also, how would you have worked out a long 'first section" like we have here? More percussions, pads or nothing like this?

See you soon around here!

alavault

[A Future in Noise]

... makes it a bit difficult to differentiate from the ePiano at times (especially with chords).

Thanks for your feedback, Arelem. Would you have prefered a grand piano over an epiano? One clean ( the grand p.) instrument and one with overdrive (gtr)?

It's in fact two (real) eGtrs.

[Arelem]

Hello Arelem,
I hope the guitar parts sound realistic as I played all of them!
Don't you think having the guitar on the left and the epiano on the right is enough to differentiate the parts? Maybe you might have some tips for this !
Also, how would you have worked out a long 'first section" like we have here? More percussions, pads or nothing like this?

See you soon around here!

alavault

Oh, nice! I guess I just assumed eGuitar meant synthetic instead of electric guitar, lol. Well, it is played really well =). As for the differentiating of the guitar and piano, it isn't as much that you can't tell them apart as maybe it isn't necessary to have them played over each other. They occupy around the same frequency spectrum and sound similar enough that they get 'muddy'. If I listen really closely I can make them out most of the time, but it would be ideal if it was more apparent IMO. The 2 to 2:45 range is a good example of them stepping on each other. It doesn't sound bad per se, just cluttered or difficult to distinguish.

There are a few ways I might try to correct that, and I would try a few and go with whatever I liked best. You could just remove that section from one of the instruments so they aren't overlapping. Change the note range of one of them since they are in the same area sonically (move one up or down an octave or maybe a 3rd, 5th, or 7th). Maybe process the ePiano a bit differently so the two instruments don't sound as similar. Maybe a multi-band sidechain, like Track Spacer, on the piano so that it ducks when the guitar is playing.

I don't really have a good answer for what to do with the longer beginning part. Again, it's not bad, but maybe it just isn't my preference. Knowing that I like the later part more, it makes me feel like I'm just waiting for that section. I re-listened to see if there is anything you could add but the track actually does a good job of changing things up to keep it interesting. Sorry I couldn't be more help on that end.

-Arelem