SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC075 November 2023 - Winners announced

[Lady Incognita]

First time entering a challenge here. I spotted the prog metal challenge and it sparked an interest.
Thanks so much Mister Fox for the challenge and all the examples. I enjoyed this tremendously!! Also enjoyed listening to all the entries.

https://soundcloud.com/ladyincognita/sw ... 1abbe52fbe

About my track:

► Show Spoiler

I knew next to nothing about prog, metal or both together. I may know a tad more now, but can't say to what extent I met the genre in the end. My muse got carried away with some genre-bending and having fun with my first full track in Phrygian mode (most of the track) and Phrygian dominant scale (guitar solo). This allowed me to give the track, especially during the solo, a more Gypsy and ME flair, which are styles I enjoy a lot. I also love going cinematic, so I brought in the strings, inspired by APi. In the end, this probably traveled into the realms of symphonic gothic rock/metal with hopefully some idea of prog in it. I loved this so much, I've already started penning some ideas for another track in this style.

Got into a little time issue, so this is not quite finished. I didn't get round to recording the final vocals with slightly updated lyrics. It's mostly still scratch vocals. I also only completed part of a narrative music video I absolutely felt the need to make for this, very much with a Gothic Romantic Horror theme closely matching the track in feel and build.

I took the theme to heart. The track is very much about momentum, in the stripped-down drama of the lyrics and relentless build across the track, kept short and fast. The solo, choice of scale, drums, dramatic strings and even the experiment of a cyclical song structure, worked into that feel of building momentum. In line with the visual story, I wanted this continual feeling of slight dread and hurtling towards the end to something unforeseen.
This is the first time I've tried this song structure of something akin to pre-chorus/chorus, instrumental solo, chorus/pre-chorus - a mirrored/cyclical structure with everything fluff, even verses, cut out.

Any suggestions on how to improve the mix etc. is always welcome. The SoundCloud upload seems to have weirdly distorted my drums, not sure why or what to do about that. Once I finish the narrative music video and finalize the track, I'll try and share it in the Discord server. Thanks!

Lyrics (as in the current version):
I can't slow my momentum, I'm after you, I can't slow my momentum
I'm hunting for your love, you know it, you know it, you know it

Production details:

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DAW: Reaper
Instrumentation: EZbass for bass after coming up with a simple harmony/chord progression befitting the drama of the theme. SSD5 for the drums, using their metal drum grooves. Session Strings Pro for strings. Shreddage 3 Stratus free version for the rhythm/harmony guitar and guitar solo. I did the solo as a vocal improv first, then played it out on the midi-keyboard. I recorded my vocals on an AT2035.
Effects: Mostly plugins from NI Komplete, like Guitar Rig Pro on most of the guitars, Replika XT, Raum. Also Izotope's Trash.
Mixing and Mastering: Izotope music production suite (basically Nectar, Neutron and Ozone).

Mastered to -14.0 LUFS and -1.00 dBTP.
Usually otherwise I master to -13.5 to -12.5 LUFS depending on the track.

[becsei_gyorgy]

Hi,

Here is my submission this month.
It started out as a metal song, which slowly "evolved" into a more rock song.
Hard guitar music isn't really my thing, at most acoustic guitar Latin music, which I like among guitar music .
So the excursion into unfamiliar territory was quite educational. And at least I had the experimentation this month.

I was really inspired by the theme (Momentum) and the picture we got in the contest announcement. The theme of the lyrics also reflects this.



Lyrics:

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When the sun goes down
All the clock stops
All the stories come to an end

Sometimes
Every heart stops beating
Sometimes
Every tear rolls down our faces

(But)
Every day is a new start,
Everyday is a lie
Every morning I hope,
You'll finally leave now.

You're an angry devil, You're a spy
You're the one, Who make me cry.
You'll observe my tiny weaknesses
You, goddess of time

In the ticking of the clock,
Lost moments that we can't unlock
We're dancing in the shadows of time,
Chasing dreams, a rhythm so sublime

My devil who goes from five to six,
Know your face and your dirty tricks.
Yet you can't do anything to me
You, goddess of time.

Instruments & FX's

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VST:
Addictive Drums 2
Kontakt (Shreddage)
UJAM Iron
Spitfire Epic Choirs
Synthesizer V (Asterian)

FX:
Fabfilter Pro-Q3
Fabfilter Pro-C2
UAD API2500
UAD 176
UAD 1176 RevA
UADx Pultec
Trackspacer
Waves RDeEsser
Waves ButchVig Vocals
TaiChi

TDR SlickEQ M
Fabfilter Pro-MB
Gullfoss
bx_townhouse
Oxford Inflator
Oxford Limiter
SPAN
Correlometer
Youlean LM

[APi_ZZ]

First time entering a challenge here.

Hi Lady, glad to see/hear you here!
According to the rules: Your track should (/must?) be downloadable without any hassles.
I don't know if posting a track as private could be another hassle ...

[Mister Fox]

It is the 25th November 2023, 00:25 UTC+1/CET - this month's Songwriting Competition has official ended


STATISTICS:

• If I didn't miscount, we have 08 submissions this month (2 entries more than last month, and also 1 entry less than November 2022)
• We have 0 submissions after the deadline (as of 25-NOV-2023 03:30 UTC+1/CET)
• We have 0 submissions that has been disqualified (production released outside of the game's timeframe)
• We have 0 submissions that has been withdrawn
• The "staff balancing vote" add-on rule does not apply (special game mechanics do apply)
• "Sole Winners Podium" rule (equal or less than eight participants results in a single winner) does apply (1-position Winners Podium)

How do we go from there?

Over the course of the next (hopefully) 24-48 hours (usually up to 6-12 hours maximum after the game has ended), I'll gather all links into one post and hot-link to that from the first post of the thread. Please, no more changes to your entries, but please do check your links that these entries are accessible and downloadable. We then perform with the final feedback and "public vote" system.


We have 8 official participants. We are adapting the overhauled vote mechanic, as talked about in the following news blog:

Songwriting Competition - game mechanic changes: Voting Process (October 2022 Update)
(Info: I am aware that the Rule Book has not been properly updated yet. Time constraints, apologies for the inconvenience)


Summarized:

!

Bonus Info

Participants can (and must) vote for their Top 3 entries (tiered mechanic). You're furthermore asked to please reflect on your experience this month (2-3 paragraphs max), what you have learned, what you would like to do different in the future, etc. (personal growth) You are also asked to give feedback to at least three (number: 3) entries (tiered mechanic) -- things that stood out to you, providing some final thoughts and constructive feedback for possible improvements. This adds to the learning experience of our community. it is recommended that these entries are outside of your personal "top entry" voting. Have the chance to get additional bonus points if you decide to invest the time to provide more constructive feedback than the requested minimum. It must be more than just "nice production, please keep up the good work" however. This is to boost more interaction and can balance out your overall points on the score sheet. (get 1 point if you give constructive feedback to 1-2 more participant, get 2 points if you give helpful feedback for everyone) The "Voting Process" mechanic is mandatory for all participants, and the only criteria to drop out of the game by not partaking. The overall "Bonus Point" mechanic still applies. Please update your posts with proper production documentation, most notably regarding whom you have collaborated with (as in: proper credits -- not doing so will result in a 2pt deduction on the score sheet at the end of the game). You got until the voting period has ended. Please cast your vote (not the feedback) in collective form through the "spoiler text" bbcode (button on the WYSIWYG editor that features the orange triangle with an exclamation mark in it). Please use the forum username of the participant to make it easier during the score collection to address what vote belongs to whom.

.

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	For transparency: The staff (Mister Fox) will not give feedback to all entries and/or cast a vote this month. (unless there is a tie that can not be broken otherwise)

Feedback from non-participants and/or collaborators is highly encouraged (voting not needed!). The same goes for entries after the deadline, or those that sadly do not count for the current running game (even if you've exceeded the deadline, why not post your entry regardless?). Musicians and Engineers are always after constructive criticism. This is what this forum is about.





Have some general feedback? Please provide that here:
Songwriting Competition - General Gossip Thread, or on Discord.



Please make sure your files are accessible, and please have an eye on this thread!

[Mister Fox]

Let us kick off the VOTING PROCESS, which will end on Friday, 01-DEC-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET latest


There is a GLOBAL COUNTDOWN to check for deadlines.
Just follow this link: Global Countdown (on homepage)


Here is the collection of productions from all participants (in hope that I didn't forget anyone). As usual, if you click on the small upwards-arrow right beside the quoted name, you can jump to the original post and read up on the documentation for this production.


.

"Eternal Odyssey"

"Monumental Memorandum"

"Resource"

WAV: DropBox playback and download

ADMIN INFO: This is a WAV file, but the extension is <name>.mp3.wav

"Metal A Tope"

"Escape from City 17"

"Kror Amfpten"

"Momentum"



ADMIN INFO: This track is tagged "Private" and can only be listened to if you open the link in a new tab

"Goddess Of Time (feat Asterian)"

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WITHDRAWN (not participating - feel free to give feedback, but you sadly can not vote for these entries)


<no withdrawn entries>
.



BONUS ENTRIES (submitted after the deadline - feel free to give feedback, but you sadly can not vote for these entries)


<no bonus entries>
.



GAME MECHANIC SUMMARY:

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Please consult this news blog post regarding an overhaul to the voting mechanic. To make it simple for me for counting the votes - please use the forum usernames in your listing. Thank you!

Please also consult the previous post that features a summary for this month's mechanic (see "Bonus Info" in the red colored box).
.


This month's SWC participants giving feedback to each other is mandatory, it is the only criteria to drop out of the game by not partaking. If you have collaborated with somebody, then only the one doing the main entry needs to give feedback and vote. Bonus feedback is always welcome. However, please be open minded, objective and constructive.


INFORMATION: If you have submitted your entry in multiple file formats, the statistic sheet (posted alongside the results) will focus on the uncompressed material first (WAV), then FLAC, then MP3. The higher the quality (e.g. lossless format), the less possible loss on bonus points for "Loudness Specs" due to offsets introduced by a used CODEC.

Good luck to all participants!




If you have an idea for a future Songwriting Competition, please post about this in the theme/genre request page or on Discord.


Post updated: 27-NOV-2023 05:20 UTC+1/CET

[Chrisantimos]

Cool track!
Hint: I assume you should read the initial posts of Mister Fox; they define rules for track naming and demand ability to download.
I don't know if not following these rules initiates conflicts ...

Many thanks!
Well spotted @APi_ZZ on the download issue, I'm normally very careful but overlooked it this time! Thanks for pointing it out
Filename I think should be fine, Soundcloud allows you to edit the track name after uploading while leaving the original filename intact (which I tend to do just because it looks better displayed as just the song title on my page without the extra bits!). The downloaded file will still have the correct original filename as per the rules. I'm sure @Mister Fox will let me know if I'm wrong!!

Hi Doc, I just wonder how I make my track downloadable from Soundcloud? I see that my entry does not have the download button in the upper right corner. Thanks

[APi_ZZ]

I just wonder how I make my track downloadable from Soundcloud? I see that my entry does not have the download button in the upper right corner. Thanks

How to make a Soundcloud track downloadable:
Log in with Soundcloud. Go to your track that should be downloadable.
Under the track is a little menu bar with Likes, Share, Copy link, Edit and ··· More.
Click Edit. The form to put data to your track appears. There the upper main menu now reads:
Basic info . Metadata . Permissions . Advanced
Click Permissions. The first entry there is Enable direct downloads; this one is disabled by default.
Click the lefthand circle to enable.
Scroll down a bit to click Save changes.
Done!

[Doc Jon]

Hi Doc, I just wonder how I make my track downloadable from Soundcloud? I see that my entry does not have the download button in the upper right corner. Thanks

@APi_ZZ to the rescue once again! Great advice given. @Chrisantimos I see you have made the change as your track is now able to download

[Lady Incognita]

Hi Lady, glad to see/hear you here!
According to the rules: Your track should (/must?) be downloadable without any hassles.
I don't know if posting a track as private could be another hassle ...

Thanks APi! Done and thanks for the details just above as well. Though I prefer leaving tracks as private until I feel I've finished them, so will leave that as is. In any case, I'm just enjoying participating in the challenge, so no worries about points lost etc. : )
I don't use SoundCloud that much, and noticed how weirdly it's distorting some elements like my drums with their compression. Need to look up what to do for that in the future... Glad you joined the challenge and kept me inspired to submit something in time! : )

[becsei_gyorgy]

Hello everyone,

For me, November is always a challenge here, because I'm not really into metal music, I've hardly ever listened to it.
However, it's always interesting to try it, even though I'm a complete amateur when it comes to guitars (not just the real ones, but VSTs too )
So the challenge of the month for me this time was to find the right guitar sounds.
I guess like before, I couldn't eq and mix them well, I don't really have the sense (or ear?) for it. But it was nice to experiment with them.
It was also a big challenge to write a text without proper knowledge of the English language. It got a bit clunky, but I think it serves the purpose (to sing something).

Thanks for participating everyone, it was great listening to the songs.
it was very interesting and useful to listen to them, they had good ideas.

Feedbacks:

► Show Spoiler

Arelem - Eternal Odyssey
I like the lyrics as it fits the style. The music is ok, the vocals are good. I have nothing to add. The mix is good, although very clean, a bit more distortion on the guitars might be nice (just for the metal feel). But not sure at all.
Great song.

APi_ZZ - Monumental Memorandum
I like the organ, it has a symphonic metal feel, I like it.
The organ part combines well with the guitars, but the mix is not really well put together. Some instruments are too prominent, the balance isn't perfect (and the whole song is too loud).
One or two mix improvements, better compression would be good for the song.
But I like the overall composition and the mix of styles. Nice.

Brandon740 - Resource
Nice guitar play intro, and I really like the sound of the drums. A bit ambient feeling, pleasant, although not really metal. Later the distorted sounds approach the style.
Too bad there was no description of the song, I would have been interested to know what it was made of, because it sounded pretty good.
The mix (or composition) was a bit lacking in the middle for me. There is room for additional elements in the frequency range between 500-1k. A bit empty in the middle.
(But maybe that's the concept(?), overall the song sounded good.)

EsteveCorbera - Metal_a_tope
I like the percussive elements, and the composition is about right.
The main guitar is very loud and from 400k upwards, especially in the midrange, the correlation is not good (bad stereo image). Overall interesting song, nice attempt at style.

DocJon - Escape From City 17
Great song, very good vocal (what are the synth V parts of this?), nice composition.
A bit typical so nice british rock music - in the best possible sense Congratulations.
For me the bass is a bit loud (just a tiny bit), but that's a matter of individual taste.

Chrisantimos - Kror Amfpten
I think this song is a very good composition, it was a pleasure to listen to it.
The 7th chords kept the interest going throughout - you couldn't deny your experience in jazz . Nice song.

Lady Incognita - Momentum
Superb song, and you have a very good voice, it really suits a gothic rock song.
I think this much reverb on the vocals is also good for the style.
However, the song itself seems a little bit "washed out", those who are much smarter and more experienced than me will tell you why I feel this way (maybe the bass is a bit too much?, reverbs?, M/S?)
However, I really like the song, I'm curious to see what the final version will be like when it's finished.
I also like the symphonic elements, the style itself really suits me. I also like the oriental (gypsy?) motifs.

Top3

► Show Spoiler

DocJon - Escape From City 17
Arelem - Eternal Odyssey
Lady Incognita - Momentum