SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC047 July 2021- Winners announced

[Koekepan]

It's OK. It's safe. I decided to go hardware.

Besides, if you want a lush background drone, it's hard to beat an analogue synth.

[Koekepan]

Dear <fictional company>

Please find here my first draft for your strategic space game music commission:

SWC047_JanKoekepan_Spacetheme.mp3

I listened to your suggested source material, and I think that I have a handle on where you are taking this. I decided to reach for elements of the Berlin sound to avoid the epic trap, while still having culturally identifiable markers to which an audience would respond.

I would appreciate feedback to make sure that I'm on the right track, specifically with regard to:

• Sound design - does it match the rest of the game in style?
• Do you have specific sound design elements that you would like me to add, such as muffled radio chatter, or footsteps?
• Is anything obviously off-kilter with your vision?

I will add a more involved/exciting part to reflect a frantic stage in the game, but I wanted to make sure that the fundamentals were sound first. Looking forward to your guidance!

Everything was done on an Akai Professional Force (firmware 3.0.6) although the background drone was sampled from a Dreadbox Erebus v3. Normalising to -1dB done in Audacity afterwards.

[VCA-089]

FLAC: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BUlxKe ... sp=sharing
MP3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a8IBhD ... sp=sharing

*Jul 07, 2021 - First WIP submission.
*Jul 12, 2021 - Second WIP submission.
*Jul 21, 2021 - Final submission.

This theme is propoused for an early-to-mid game stage that usually occurs in 4X strategies when you explore the space around your homeworld, gather resources, research new technologies and anomalies, build new ships, establish new colonies and diplomatic relations with other civilizations. You know there are highly like a massive conflict ahead, but you still have time to enjoy what you have built.

Instruments and techniques:

1. Repro-1 used for two sounds:
- A pulsing bassline that goes though the whole track;
- A trumpet-like patch that used for the solo.
2. Several instances of SampleSciene player:
- Two cellos playing slightly different sequnces and articulations in the middle section;
- A large string section from "Cinematika" pack, playing chords in the last section.
3. A synth-choir sound from SampleSience "Vaporwaves" with shimmer reverb adding high register harmonics.
4. A stacked pad from SampleScience's "Synthetic Vortices" in the outro.
5. Full Bucket "ModlAir" used to create soundscapes:
- A glittering/chimey texture based on two differently clocked S&H modules picking harmonics of a two resonant bandpass filters, layered on top of the strings in the last section;
- An eerie texture in the outro, made with resonant filters modulated by differently clocked LFOs;
- A randomly clocked arpeggio sequence that plays the same chords as in the first section, with sample rate reduction and modulation for amplitude and panning by LFOs;
- A simple filter sweep that goes into a middle section;
- A transition between loop points made with 4 FM Oscs and resonant filter.
6. Full Bucket's newly released "WhispAir" used in the middle section to create evolving eerie texture with the wavetable scanning feature and high resonant filter modulated by LFO.
7. Valhalla "Supermassive" used as a main reverb send.

Produced in FL Studio 20.7

About my final version:

Thanks Mister Fox and TrojakEW for your feedback and suggestions. I tried to follow and make my entry as good as possible. I spend some time franticly tweaking my entry, than I found myself in a constant "push/pull" routine and it seems that I couldn't make it any better. There is not so much time left to work and my vacation also comes to and end, so it's time to make a full release. I hope you enjoy it.

Technical details:

► Show Spoiler

Used plugins:

Generators:

x2 U-He "Repro-1"
x2 SampleScience Player
x1 SampleScience "Vaporwaves"
x1 SampleScience "Synthetic Vortices"
x5 Full Bucket "ModlAir"
x1 Full Bucket "WhispAir"

Native effects:

x5 Delay 3
x3 PanOMatic
x1 dB Meter
x1 Wave Candy

VST effects:

x11 TDR & VoS "Slick EQ GE"
x2 TDR "Nova"
x4 AdHd "Leveling Tool"
x5 Thomas Mundt "LoudMax"
x1 VoS "NastyDLAmkII"
x1 U-He "ColourCopy"
x1 Tritik "Irid"
x1 Walhalla "Supermassive"

Master Chain:

TDR Nova
TDR Kotelnikov
TDR Limiter N6 GE

Total:

x12 Generators
x39 Effects
x14 MIDI Patterns
x15 Mixer Tracks
No audio
x25 Automation Clips

phpBB [media]

[Mister Fox]

Dear <fictional company>

Please find here my first draft for your strategic space game music commission:

SWC047_JanKoekepan_Spacetheme.mp3

"Dear Koekepan,


thank you for giving us, <fictional company>, a first insight into your production. This is definitely appreciated.

We would love to hear the music being neutral and not too distracting. If you can for example make "muffled radio chatter" work in a musical context, we can talk about specifics and/or possible needed changes in a follow-up review. The initial sound design and overall feeling is definitely there. However at this point, we can't comment that much further as this is but a 1:11min snipped of a possible longer presentation (hopefully around 5 to 7 minutes).

Please continue to work on your production, and reach out to us again within the scope of this game. Thank you."

The "official speech" aside (which I hope gives all participants a small snippet of "how this conversation usually goes"), your creation is a good start. I like the overall idea, so far it fits the brief/premise. But it is really just too short to already get "the bigger picture". Please continue working, but keep in mind that each participant will (officially) only get two feedback posts from me until the deadline has been reached.

Please also keep the correct file naming in mind. I understand that this was a WIP, But it should still use the mentioned naming convention of SWC000_ArtistName_TrackName.wav or .mp3 (while ArtistName = Forum Username) as file to download.



Also for everyone involved, please keep updating your initial post after your WIP posts, so that I have it easier at the end of the game to find your files. But post separately that you made an update. I'll comment on VCA-089's track next.

[Mister Fox]

https://soundcloud.com/infravolt/universal-plan

This is an early version of my submission, seeking for a feedback. I'm pretty sure with my decisions and I don't think I will make some drastic changes, but I want to join this newly added mechanic and hear your opinion.

This theme is propoused for an early-to-mid game stage that usually occurs in 4X strategies when you explore the space around your homeworld, gather resources, research new technologies and anomalies, build new ships, establish new colonies and diplomatic relations with other civilizations. You know there are highly like a massive conflict ahead, but you still have time to enjoy what you have built.

Hi VCA-089,


thank you for joining this months as well. So far, you're spot on with the given "brief"/premise. And with 8:30min of runtime, you currently offer the longest production in the game. As with SWC046, I've listened to your song on headphones (over 15 year old Beyerdynamic DT-990, insanely bass heavy at this point) and 2" active PC speakers to get an idea of how things translate.

I like the overall "pulsar"-type feeling of the bass, even though it feels a bit monotone, and off-putting during the first 2 minutes of the song (in cases, even a bit too "gritty"). But by the 4:00 minute mark, where you start to play around with more sounds and melodies, you're drawn into your "audio story". While I do like the overall sound design, the final part starting at 7:20min (with a brighter bass, and things basically going off the rails), might be a bit much for the context of a game. At least on first listen. But then again... it's bold, I like it so far.

On small speakers, the bass pulses are a bit more "pleasant", but then the pads and synth leads really stick out in places (the ones in the first 1/4th of the song can sound very overpowering, the later pads until the 3:20min mark are really mid-tone heavy as well). And while the change of the LPF for the main bass pulse is interesting, I'd actually pull back on reverb a bit, maybe play around with delay ever so often (to get some more movement in, which you do at around the 4:00 to 4:45min mark - although the delay is quite bright). This is something that needs experimentation however - not a clear "do it".


All in all - you understood the premise, you got really far with "merely 10 hours" of production time. All you need to do now, is work on the mix, finding a good instrument balance (see for example the part at the 6:00min mark, although there are less pad stacks here), then you're good to go. A warning however: please keep an eye on the LUFS values!

Looking forward to the your next edit.

[canese]

Hello,

I want to post this song for this month competition.


I love the monthly theme. It was great source for inspiration and motivation to create something I always heard and loved. It was highly influenced after binge watched the Mandalorian and also by years and years of strategic gaming (civ 5, divinity 2, age of empires, etc etc). I wanted to recreate the main subject of this types of games, war, domination and action. I wanted to give a feeling of beeing in the field fighting for your nation and killing other being. The end represents victory for me, but you can take it as you want it.

Track was made in FL Studio.
Track is in D minor, I wanted to end it in D major but it was too piccardious.
Song structure is ABCDCE. or intro, prechorus, chorus, bridge, chorus, and outro.
BPM 191 overall.
Texture was hard on this one, I want it to sound orchestral but also modern and futuristic. It has guitars, both acoustic and electric. It has percusive taikos as well as percussive synths. It has brass and strings as well as lead synths with phasers and flangers. It has bells and pianos as well as plucky synths with odd delays. Pads and ambience sounds are also a combination of organic and more synthetic sounds.

Percussions are from a sample pack called sounds of sparta: it Has mainly Taikos, I added a transient shaper and reverb to give them punch and ambience
Guitars are played and recorded by my childhood friend, tatin. Also heavy processed with distortion, reverb and delay.
Pads are from Byoscape and Massive. Almost untouched
Pluck synths are from Massive and GMS from FL studio. Only added delay and reverb
Other synths are from Sawer, Strobe, Sakura and Korg M1.
Bass is a mix from Modo Bass and Korg polysix.
Other sounds like brass, strings, pads and SFX are from my sample library.

Thanks for hearing and good luck!

[Mister Fox]

Hello,

I want to post this song for this month competition.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ogG5OH ... sp=sharing

Hi canese,


thank you for submitting your initial entry. From what I heard so far, I sadly have to inform you that you're drifting a bit away from the given premise of a "sci-fi 4X strategy game", at least if we talk about the first minute of the production. On first impression, your inspiration definitely take a dip towards fantasy games, only to take a turn around the 1:35minute mark (as you said yourself, "space western" feel from "The Mandalorian").

You have a great concept so far (being a strategy gamer yourself). And while some of the examples below (notice: "Into the Breach" and "Star Renegades") also grace at that particular overall sound, I'd love to hear a bit more "synthetic content", or a better blend of the "organic" with the "synthetic". Maybe through doubling string sections with synth pads, or upping up the reverb a little on the brass sections.

Which brings me to the listening environments. On headphones (with large drivers), you definitely hear more subtleties (in the intro, like rumbles and sound FX), there is also more presence of bass frequencies. The sci-fi feel definitely kicks in a bit sooner - giving my initial impression of "too fantasy oriented" a totally different viewpoint. On small speakers (to which I've listened first), the guitar, brass and the initial strings section really sticks out. And while there is a lot of low frequency content, it (sadly) does get a bit lost on occasion (the crux of using small speakers), and there is so much going on. You might definitely need to take a closer look at your low-end frequency range (hint: EQ, reverb -- or maybe even experiment a bit with a tool like Hainbach/AudioThing "Motor").

I am curious what you make out of that production still, as the kind of cuts off at the 3:34min mark with a fade-out.


And to you as well - please don't forget proper file naming.

[TrojakEW]

Here is my submission - final version. I'm happy I was able to put something together and will ho no time change or tweak it.

Goal was to make some ambient parts with kind of space mood. Few different short parts for that strategic part background music. There is also short part for more action driven part in game with more character and more tonal theme.


Made using FL Studio 20.6
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Instruments used:
8x Rigid Audio Perception, 3x Rigid Audio Limerence, 1x 8Dio Hybrid Tools Neo, 2x 8Dio Hybrid Tools Terminus, 1x 8Dio Hybrid Tools Phenex, 3x 8Dio Hybrid Tools Equinox, 1x 8Dio Liberis, 1x Output Signal, 2x Heavyocity Damage, 1x Heavyocity Evolve, 1x Heavyocity Evolve Mutation 2, 1x NI Symphony Series Percusion, 1x Metropolis Ark 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Used Effects:
1x Pro Audio DSM V3, 1x Izotope Neutron 3, 4x Izotope Neutron 3 Equalizer, 1x Brainworx bx_refinement, 1x Izotope Ozone 9, 1x Izotope Tonal Balance 2, 1x Izotope Insight 2, 1x Noveltech Vocal Enhancer, 1x NI Raum, 5x zOne.sk Arx One, 4x Frurty Parametric EQ2, 1x Fruity Convoler, 1x Fruity Peak Controller, 1x Fruity Limiter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -8.2 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -10.0 LUFS
Integrated loudness -14.4 LUFS
Loudness range 7.7 LU
True peak L -1.01dB
True peak R -1.01dB
DC offset L 0% (-112.1dB)
DC offset R 0% (-111.3dB)

[TrojakEW]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ogG5OH ... sp=sharing
This is not my final entry and I'd appreciate some feedback if possible.

Track is and sounds very very good but I agree with Mister Fox that is more fantasy game soundtrack.

Please find here my first draft for your strategic space game music commission:
SWC047_JanKoekepan_Spacetheme.mp3

Track and mood itself fit the space game. You should look at sub a nd low frequencies. Too much rumbling there. Also that 8bit pluck sound is very dry compared to the rest of sounds. It stick out too much. There is almost nothing in 2kHz and above so it is sounds muffled.

This is an early version of my submission, seeking for a feedback. I'm pretty sure with my decisions and I don't think I will make some drastic changes, but I want to join this newly added mechanic and hear your opinion.

First of all that bass is very bass heavy. Too much especially considering it goes and goes whole 8 and half minutes. I'm not sure if it is good idea to make such long track. I think it is better to make it shorter and think of it as music demo or rather said short presentation of your idea. Put there your track ideas instead of trying actual long length audio track. Theme fits the space game although melodic part are drifting away a bit from it. Like that plucky/pizzicato at the beginning. Mix sounds good only that bass need taming. Also it doesn't matter you are trying to put some movement, changes to the bass sound, the same rhythm for whole track for that bass in well repeating.

[VCA-089]

I have updated my post with a new WIP version...