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

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 January 2023 - Winners announced

Thematic Songwriting Competition - recurrence: monthly
Post Reply
User avatar
Mister Fox
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3111
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2017 16:15 CEST
Location: Berlin, Germany

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 January 2023 - Winners announced

#1

Post by Mister Fox »

Hello and welcome to the Songwriting Competition 065 - January 2023



:information_source: BEFORE WE GET STARTED:
  • Please consult the official and very simple "Rules and Guidelines" (TL;DR version) 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.
  • The general idea of this game is to "...just make music", to also challenge yourself by stepping a bit out of your comfort zone, and take a dip at realms you've never worked in before. Instrumentals are just as welcome as productions with vocals.
  • The Genre and "Premise" of this months challenge can be found in in post #002
  • Filename Template: SWC000_ArtistName_TrackName.wav and/or .mp3
Read more about this month's competition further down below. And if you got any question, please also reach out on Discord.



.
:arrow_right: SONGWRITING COMPETITION THREAD INDEX

Post #001 -- Introduction post and index for the various stages of the Songwriting Competition. Will be updated as we progress
Post #002 -- Submission Period: General Information, Source Material, Sponsors
Post #003 -- Cheat Sheet: A couple of examples / audio demos for this month's challenge (limited if genre is "free to select")
Post #044 -- Voting: Summarized entries and start of voting process
Post #063 -- Results: Results of the Songwriting Competition
User avatar
Mister Fox
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3111
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2017 16:15 CEST
Location: Berlin, Germany

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 January 2023 - Submissions until 24-01-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#2

Post by Mister Fox »

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Saturday, 01st January 2023 to Tuesday, 24th January 2022 (24 days)

Challenge submission will end on 24-JAN-2022, 23:59 UTC+1/CET (Germany) - until further notice.

Want to find out if you're still within the deadline, please either consult the Global Countdown (dedicated page), or the countdown on the landing site. 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. :idea:



SONGWRITING THEME: "Community Scramble" (Special Sound Design Challenge / limited sound set challenge)
GENRE: free to select


Image
Image Source: ArtsyBee (background, via Pixabay), released under Creative Commons CC0



A few word about this month's theme:
Staff (Mister Fox) wrote: Hello and welcome to or fifth special challenge on the Mix Challenge audio community - called "Community Scramble". :headphones:



The twist of the current Songwriting Competition:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a music production in any genre that you feel like. However, you are only allowed to use the sounds and samples that have been sourced and provided by the Mix Challenge audio community. You can read more about the "Community Scramble" concept in the news post from September 2018.


This year, you get access to 47 new "community sourced" samples, with additional content off of the web for more variety, and once more some "recycled" material from previous years (to balance things out). :clap:

You can find the source material for "SWC065 / January 2023 - Community Scramble" here, and again further down below:
SWC065 Source Sound Package - on the Mix Challenge server (236,79 MB, LZMA compressed, zip)



Your task for this Songwriting Competition:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This month, you can create a production in any music genre you feel like. Due to the community sourced content, this might be more electronic based. However, since this game's focus is creative sound design, there is zero limitation of which route this could go.


Some Ground Rules:
  • you are only allowed to use the sounds and samples that have been provided for this particular challenge (exceptions apply)
  • you are free to mangle the content as much as you like, in fact, this is highly encouraged
  • you are allowed to use re-sampling, wavetable / sample-based synthesis, granular synthesis, modulation, or whatever else is at your disposal in terms of tools, to this counts:
    • time stretching, pitch shifting, layering, slicing into chunks, reversing, re-sampling, etc - then further treating the material with whatever is at your your disposal, and maybe redo everything again (e.g.: common technique for very stylized Reese Basses)
    • you can use your synths and samplers to their full potential (layering of more samples and/or build in signal generators, spectral editing, granulation, built-in modulation like LFOs and/or ring-modulation, etc), as long as one/the main oscillator/"wavetable" is from the the provided content (please also see "Audio Examples" follow up post, especially Andrew Huang's videos on "make a wavetable out of everything")
  • you are not allowed to add any additional sounds or instruments that have not been created from the available source material in any shape or form (e.g. synthesizer stock lead, pads or drum sounds, acoustic drum kits, pianos, choirs and/or strings from Kontakt samples, etc).
  • you can add vocals and ad-libs (your own voice or a collaborating singer), or sound effects created from your voice (think: breathing, shouts, grunts, robot voice, etc). This material can be as clean or as processed as you want, be creative!
  • if you feel the need that your production really can't do without, you are allowed to record an electric guitar or electric bass. As long as you twist, bend, glitch, warp and/or morph (blend with other sound sources) it in some form or another (the focus is sound design! not just guitar > DI > amp suite preset, see "Audio Examples" follow up post, especially Mick Gordon, Geoffrey Day and David Levy's videos)

:arrow: Your creativity will be pushed to the limits this month. This is your chance to try something completely new out of your comfort zone, experiment with synthesis and sound shaping, to get a different perspective on sound design.

I am more than curious about the results. :phones:


Songwriting Rule Summary / Add-On Rules:
► Show Spoiler

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Source Files:

SWC065 Source Sound Package - on the Mix Challenge server (236,79 MB, LZMA compressed, zip)


The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression (specs from 2015).
File size extracted: 418,08 MB, packed 236,79 MB (ZIP, LZMA)


In order to extract the files, we can recommend these programs / apps:

Macintosh:
The Unarchiver - get it here
Keka (open source) - get it here (please take note of the file extraction guide)

Windows:
7zip - Installation / Portable


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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:

Image
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


Image
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


Image
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


Image
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


Image
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


Image
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


Image
Luftrum is kind enough to give away either a license of Lunaris 2, a license of Bioscape, or any two sound sets of winner's choice
License will turn into NFR
More info on Luftrum: http://www.luftrum.com


Image
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/


Image
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


Image
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


Image
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


Image
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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good luck to all participants.
And most importantly, have fun!
User avatar
Mister Fox
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3111
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2017 16:15 CEST
Location: Berlin, Germany

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 January 2023 - Submissions until 24-01-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#3

Post by Mister Fox »

AUDIO EXAMPLES:
---------------------

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



Difference: Wavetable Synthesis to Sample-based Synthesis (articles on Wikipedia):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavetable_synthesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sample-based_synthesis
► Show Spoiler



Creative Sound design examples (selection, Youtube, 12 videos):
► Show Spoiler


Sound Design Making of, Basics and Tricks: (assorted, multiple series and individual videos)
► Show Spoiler


Synthesis Basics (9 videos)
► Show Spoiler


Tool Showcases (more synthesis basics, and looking at various sound design plugins, 11 videos)
► Show Spoiler

A shout out to Andew Huang, Mick Gordon, David Levy, Geoffrey Day (GeoffPlaysGuitar), Cameron Gorham (Venus Theory), Ventjent, Draeden, Michael Wynne (In The Mix), Gregory White (White Noises), Mattias Holmgren, Dillio (DillioT2K), Levi Niha, Seamless (Stephen O’Leary), Savant (Aleksander Vinter), Tom from SYNTH ANATOMY, and the Sound Designer team from Spectrasonics
.



:arrow_right: 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
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


UPDATED: 30-DEC-2022 10:00 UTC+1, updated 01-JAN-2023 07:15 UTC+1
cotmm68030

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 December 2022 - Submissions until 24-01-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#4

Post by cotmm68030 »

Being asked to provide samples was finally the push I needed to come check out the SWC. Plus free reign with a focus on sound design was hard to pass up.

This is "matrioshka brain neural desynchronization", a pulsing and throbbing dark ambient soundscape lovingly hewn from a small selection of the samplebase provided. In this track, I imagine the sound of a solar system sized neural network stumbling into its final aeons, finally succumbing to the endless pull of entropy. What does dementia sound like when your consciousness eclipses the combined intellect of the entire history of humanity? What are the last thoughts of mind impossible to comprehend?

phpBB [media]

http://rustedmachines.com/SWC065-CotMM- ... zation.mp3

The song is composed exclusively from:
adlibs-90bpm-bm
bass-guitar-94bpm-gm
detunedHit
somaEther soundscapes
Scraping
Blubb
05_Pitchshifter_Feedback

Manipulation Methodology:
► Show Spoiler
My initial cut of this track ran over 13 minutes long and was less dense. I recut the entire track down to 6 minutes to try and make it a little more accessible for people that might not listen to ambient as their go-to genre. Enjoy!

For the curious, here is a folder with all of the raw tracks:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... share_link
Arelem
Posts: 120
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2021 06:09 CEST

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 December 2022 - Submissions until 24-01-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#5

Post by Arelem »

Hello All,

Here is my entry so far. I've been listening to it to try and see where I can make changes and I am not seeing anything at this point. Any feedback would be appreciated. I've updated the song. I tried to make the vocals a little clearer. (2nd Edit) I made some minor tweaks to the vocals and have uploaded the final version to the Soundcloud link below.



Lyrics
► Show Spoiler
The main components of the track as far as how they were created here.
► Show Spoiler
Last edited by Arelem on Tue Jan 24, 2023 01:06 CET, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
A Future in Noise
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 09:26 CET
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Contact:

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 December 2022 - Submissions until 24-01-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#6

Post by A Future in Noise »

Arelem wrote:
Fri Jan 06, 2023 09:36 CET
Any feedback would be appreciated.
The mix seems to be OK. I wouldn't want to raise or lower the volume on anything. But the sound reminiscent of somebody whistling (2:46 and forwards) is way to sharp, IMO. Especially the high notes. I don't know what to do about it, but it almost feels like a razor blade against the eardrums. I didn't even care to try to listen to the lyrics. It sounds OK, from an audio point of view, but since English isn't my native language, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to perceive more that every second word, or so (falsetto, dealys and all that).
Arelem
Posts: 120
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2021 06:09 CEST

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 December 2022 - Submissions until 24-01-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#7

Post by Arelem »

A Future in Noise wrote:
Fri Jan 06, 2023 15:32 CET
Arelem wrote:
Fri Jan 06, 2023 09:36 CET
Any feedback would be appreciated.
The mix seems to be OK. I wouldn't want to raise or lower the volume on anything. But the sound reminiscent of somebody whistling (2:46 and forwards) is way to sharp, IMO. Especially the high notes. I don't know what to do about it, but it almost feels like a razor blade against the eardrums. I didn't even care to try to listen to the lyrics. It sounds OK, from an audio point of view, but since English isn't my native language, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to perceive more that every second word, or so (falsetto, dealys and all that).
Thanks for the feedback. I tamed the sound you were complaining about a bit. Hopefully, that is enough. I also added some white noise in the chorus that is heavily side-chained for a pulsing effect. I just wanted to add a little bit more interest in there as it felt a little boring to me. Maybe that's just because I've been listening to the same song for so long now :confused:
Arelem
Posts: 120
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2021 06:09 CEST

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 December 2022 - Submissions until 24-01-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#8

Post by Arelem »

cotmm68030 wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 21:47 CET
Being asked to provide samples was finally the push I needed to come check out the SWC. Plus free reign with a focus on sound design was hard to pass up.

This is "matrioshka brain neural desynchronization", a pulsing and throbbing dark ambient soundscape lovingly hewn from a small selection of the samplebase provided. In this track, I imagine the sound of a solar system sized neural network stumbling into its final aeons, finally succumbing to the endless pull of entropy. What does dementia sound like when your consciousness eclipses the combined intellect of the entire history of humanity? What are the last thoughts of mind impossible to comprehend?
I can see what you are going for here and it does have a good ambient, background, sound to it. I don't know how well it will be received in a songwriting contest though. I would maybe go for like some lo-fi EDM something and add some drums to it. Maybe arrange it into more of a song with the drums coming in and out, IDK. That's just my opinion though, maybe others will feel differently.
User avatar
A Future in Noise
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 09:26 CET
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Contact:

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 December 2022 - Submissions until 24-01-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#9

Post by A Future in Noise »



NP = Not participating

For the most part I have relied on the Surge Synth, and used wavetables made from the material provided. At the moment I don't know exactly which wavetables come from where, but a large number, which I have saved in a bank, are made from the graph of the electric drill. The drum sounds are the plastic tub, the staples in the plastic box and the real hi-hat sounds that someone contributed.

If I am asked to prove, or show, how I created my wavetables, it will be difficult. But of course it can be done. It's only a question of how much time must be spent.
Last edited by A Future in Noise on Wed Jan 18, 2023 07:54 CET, edited 6 times in total.
alavault
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 15:00 CEST
Location: Dijon, France

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 December 2022 - Submissions until 24-01-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#10

Post by alavault »

Hello !
Submission for this month : Rubber Banding - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J3IByH ... share_link
(WIP)
Basses : Sine and Cat Rubber Bass. Clean and distorted. Added 808-style kick with bucket-punch and sin55
Guitar: Guitar E
"Piano" : Electric Sparks (trimmer)
Kicks: Same 808 as above, another made with bucket punch and a last one sine 55-Ultrafold Stab
Snare : Bouncing bottle, Hit Metal Barrel, Thumb stack pour
Shaker: Marching Drum thing + thumbstack
FX : hand chimes reversed + electric drill reversed
Post Reply