SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC049 September 2021 - Winners announced

[TrojakEW]

Oh, hmmm, thanks for letting me know. Sorry, what is RX?

If this is DAW-specific it's going to be difficult to know for sure what the real value is. Logic Pro X limiter is set to -1.0dB and the multimeter and volume meter both show True Peak L and R at -1.0dB.

Mr. Fox is there an official way to measure so I know what value I really have? I don't want to lose points because of Logic.

By RX I mean Izotope RX. Check previous round where Mister Fox explain how he measure
https://mix-challenge.com/forum/viewtop ... 5&start=90

[Johnny_Fingers]

Just to be safe I'm re-submitting my song at slightly lower LUFS and with everything together.



Ocean Full of Sand
by John Henderson

I wrote this song to mourn the loss of years of precious life experience to the pandemic, and the loss of my oldest friend this past summer. It has been a difficult year for everyone I think.

All guitars were recorded DI using SSL2+ and could be re-amped.
Vocals were recorded with a Rode NT1 condenser mic into SSL2+.
I created the song picture using a deep-learning neural network model.

LUFS
Integrated: -14.6dB
Range: 6.8dB
Peak left and right -1.5dB

All instruments: John Henderson
Main Guitars: Fender Strat and PRS Custom 24
Lead Guitar: Gibson Les Paul
Male Vocals: John Henderson
Female Vocals: Fernanda Ferreira (my partner)

Structure and Lyrics

Verse 1
The days they are long and the years go by fast
Time drifts away like the spray upon the waves
Don’t hold for less than the words you meant to say
Time drifts away like a cloud upon the wind

Chorus
And you cannot feel the ocean breeze
There is no light
Sometimes all that you think you know
Is just an ocean full of sand

Bridge
Is this how the world is going to be from now on?
Can we climb… back up that hill?
Will we ever see the days that were the normal way again?
Is the world we knew… forever gone?

Verse 2
The past is a sea that runs deep with fleeting years
Time drifts away like the spray upon the waves
Light turns to gray like the sky beyond the day
Time drifts away like a cloud upon the wind

Chorus

Lead Break

Verse 3
Tomorrow comes today and today is just the past
Plans drift away like the spray upon the waves
Don’t just delay, sing the song you meant to say
Friends drift away like a cloud upon the wind

Final Chorus
Combines main Chorus and Verse 2

Outro

[Johnny_Fingers]

Oh, hmmm, thanks for letting me know. Sorry, what is RX?

If this is DAW-specific it's going to be difficult to know for sure what the real value is. Logic Pro X limiter is set to -1.0dB and the multimeter and volume meter both show True Peak L and R at -1.0dB.

Mr. Fox is there an official way to measure so I know what value I really have? I don't want to lose points because of Logic.

By RX I mean Izotope RX. Check previous round where Mister Fox explain how he measure
https://mix-challenge.com/forum/viewtop ... 5&start=90

Thanks for the help! I don't have Izotope RX so I re-bounced with a max of 1.5dB in Logic. Hopefully that gets me under the bar.

[Mister Fox]

It is the 25th September 2021, 1:50 UTC+2/CEST - this month's Songwriting Competition has official ended

Welcome back to our regulars, and very warm welcome to those "dipping a toe" into songwriting this month.


If I didn't miscount, we had 8 participants this month, which are 8 entries more compared to last month (6 entries), and 6 less compared to last year (14 entries). Please scroll further down below to read up on the game mechanics and the voting process.



The "staff balancing vote" add-on rule does not apply (I might add final words regardless / step in if there are ties)
"Sole Winners Podium" rule (equal or less than eight participants results in a single winner) does apply. (1-position Winners Podium)

There was no (number: 0) production submitted after the deadline (I very generously count the entry by @Johnny_Fingers as "late update")
No (number: 0) entry has been disqualified (productions released outside of the game's timeframe)
No (number: 0) entry has been redacted



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 downloadable. We then perform with the final feedback and "public vote" system.


We have 8 participants. That means that each participant can vote for 7 tracks, the staff will will not cast a balance vote, unless there is a tie that can't be broken (or if it would add a bit more spin to the game).

Keep the Rules and Guidelines in mind. As long as we're not exceeding 20 participants, let's give feedback to all participants and(!) cast your vote for all of them.

The Top 7 list can look something like this:

01 (10 pts) - Mr Moon
02 (09 pts) - Mr Sun
03 (08 pts) - Mrs Venus
04 (07 pts) - Mr Mars and his companions
05 (06 pts) - ...

Please take a look at the last two Songwriting Competition for how your feedback and vote could look like (sans the super technical information):
SWC048 - Song Collection and follow-up
SWC047 - Song Collection and follow-up

Please cast your vote in collective form through the "spoiler text" bbcode, in this form (for me to read more easily):

Code: Select all

[spoil]01 (00 pts) participant
02 (00 pts) participant
03 (00 pts) participant[/spoil]

Please use the forum username of the participant to make it easier during the score collection to address what vote belongs to whom.



Please also take note of the Rules and Guidelines (see post #7) on giving feedback (mandatory for all participants, the only main criteria to get disqualified if you do not participate). Even if you already gave feedback prior to the deadline, please offer some final encouraging words, and maybe give some additional tips for possible improvements on the way.

Feedback from non-participants 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 voice your feedback/opinion/concerns here:
Songwriting Competition - General Gossip Thread



Please have an eye on this thread!

[Mister Fox]

Let us kick off the VOTING PROCESS, which will end on Friday, 01-OCT-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST 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.


.

"Bon Voyage, Mon Amie"

"The Road Not Taken"

"Cami de Retorn"

"Brotes"

"Ocean Full of Sand"



Repost with Update (after the deadline): https://mix-challenge.com/forum/viewtop ... 471#p11471

"Infestation"

"Prayer"



bit wav: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19h2wp0 ... sp=sharing

"Delightful Horror"

WAV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14pqckG ... sp=sharing

.



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


<no bonus entries>
.


Please consult the last post on how your vote could look like (which links to more sources). And to make it simple for me for counting the votes - please use the forum usernames in your listing. Thank you!

SWC049 participants giving feedback to each other (to every participant) is mandatory. Ideally, please focus on the "overall experience", and what you think could be improved in a future release of this production (technical or even instrumentation). Please be open minded, objective and constructive.


INFORMATION: If you've 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, 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.
Also, please join this short survey on re-uploading your entries to SoundCloud. Thank you.

[TrojakEW]

Here is my feedback and voting. First part of feedback is about composition, mood and theme and second is about mix and master. Again I including some basic stats for all tracks .

---------------------------------------
GMoneh - "Bon Voyage, Mon Amie"

Nice emotional theme. Some story telling is there but it feels kind of linear. What I mean is that composition doesn't support the mood. There is no introduction, verse, chorus or outro there. It feels almost like a loop. No break or any bigger changes. It is kind of like there is not much to say. Yes there are some different parts in track but they feel very very same. Biggest change and break at 2:25 is not enough to break that feel. Adding brass after this short break doesn't do much and even at this end stage tracks feels same.

Regarding tonal balance track sounds good. Some peaks around 2KHz from guitar and also piano may need some taming. There are also some phasing issues in piano. It is definitely caused by piano, because section starting at 1:40 have a lot of negative values in phase correlation meter and yet it doesn't make stage better. You should upload wav to soundcloud instead of mp3.


Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -8.4 LUFS
Max short-term loudness -10.3 LUFS
Integrated loudness -13.8 LUFS
Loudness range 6.1 LU
True peak L +0.01dB
True peak R -0.18dB

---------------------------------------
EsteveCorbera - "Cami de Retorn"

As I said before, the mood crated with those pads are very good and it creates nice canvas for the story to be painted on it. It really is more a ambient background that doesn't tell much and it feels empty. There are some sadness there but without story. Best part is introduction up to 1:30 that is trying to tell something but it is not enough. Six and half minute of same background pad feel really really empty. Almost like space track made for previous round. Even that synthetic strings and brass lead is not enough to fill or rather said tell the story. I simply miss here some definition in regards of theme and melody.

Mix sounds bit better then before. Looks like you do not touch low spectrum and you are also worry about adding more air. This will balance the track more. There are still some minor peaks here and there. Good that you fixed your stage and phasing problems. Track sounds a lot of better in mono playback.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -10.0 LUFS
Max short-term loudness -10.9 LUFS
Integrated loudness -15.0 LUFS
Loudness range 9.6 LU
True peak L -1.21dB
True peak R -1.86dB

---------------------------------------
fjansenson - "Brotes"

I will start with mix. Really like the stage and instrument positioning. Very nice. I do also like mix overall in regards of balance. Very good work there.

Interesting mood. Nice emotion. Like that shamanic drums that compliment piano and creates interesting part. I do not like that synthetic drums at 1:05 that are trying to do similar combination. That sounds do not fit there. It is too much synthetic and it interfere with the rest of instrument. You should use that shamanic drums instead. No variation in this sound creates machine gun effect for this part. Composition need more work. Track feels more like introduction or rather said concept. In second part that guitar strumming in left speaker sound off in regards of tempo but also the key. Track have nice jazzy feel that I like but it feels unfinished.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -11.6 LUFS
Max short-term loudness -15.4 LUFS
Integrated loudness -19.2 LUFS
Loudness range 10.4 LU
True peak L -1.84dB
True peak R -2.34dB

---------------------------------------
Johnny_Fingers - "Ocean Full of Sand"

Interesting track. It have some potential and tension but it doesn't reach desired level of emotion. I was waiting and waiting but nothing. It stop somewhere in middle of the road. This results in some kind of common pop track that lack something. Maybe it was that singing that stop the tracks reaching the final emotion I'm not sure. Composition is good but it feels bit cold. Best part and most emotional is intro. But after that it become something too "common". Singing, lyrics and track mood do not work together as it will be desired for this SWC theme.

Mix sounds good. Nice stage. Guitar have some minor phasing issues. Correlation meter shows some negative values. Playback in mono in intro shows that guitar lost some power and the voice become too dominant. Tonal balance is good but I will myself boost some frequencies around 80Hz, and 8-10Khz and some reduction around 250-300Hz. But overall sounds very good.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -6.2 LUFS
Max short-term loudness -10.3 LUFS
Integrated loudness -14.6 LUFS
Loudness range 6.2 LU
True peak L -1.49dB
True peak R -1.47dB

---------------------------------------
A Future in Noise - "Infestation"

Lyrics are about lockdown? Not sure but I'm missing the connection for this month theme. Composition, theme feels like another common pop track. Music itself, I mean mood doesn't support the lyrics and lyrics doesn't add anything here either. I really miss any emotion here. It kind of remind me of news in TV. I can not feel any loss here just complains. Composition is not bad and track is interesting (without lyrics) but it doesn't fit this month theme. No emotions there for me.

Mix sounds balanced but some boost around 10Khz can bring bit more air. Stage is bit narrow. Yes it is great in regards of mono compatibility but it now sounds almost mono even in stereo playback.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -8.9 LUFS
Max short-term loudness -12.0 LUFS
Integrated loudness -14.2 LUFS
Loudness range 7.5 LU
True peak L -1.15dB
True peak R -1.16dB

---------------------------------------
celiodie - "Prayer"

Track starts more like space music. Interesting start but then sudden disruption there. It is almost like another track was inserted on the top starting at 0:31. This create unpleasant moment and strange dissonance. Not sure what was the goal but I do not think this is good transition. Next part is nice in regards of mood but composition itself is, well there is nothing here. Track have more then six minute but it feels like noodling to stretch the time and make track longer. Longer doesn't mean more interesting. I would rather like to hear shorter track with more changes and more story. Mood is good but track becomes boring for me after 2 minutes.

Mix sounds muddy but also muffled. Some sounds like that synthetic pad have some phasing problems. Check correlation meter at 2:15. I see there mostly negative values there.


Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -11.8 LUFS
Max short-term loudness -13.1 LUFS
Integrated loudness -15.5 LUFS
Loudness range 10.5 LU
True peak L -2.90dB
True peak R -2.16dB

---------------------------------------
canese - "Delightful Horror"

Nice composition with good idea and emotional. Interesting transition at 3:58 that goes to nice and full part with more percussion elements. Theme is nice but I would like to hear some triplets in piano that could spice the melody a bit. Also going more powerful up to fff at this last passage with piano starting at 4:05 could also bring more contrast to previous parts and make the track even more dynamic.

What I do not like is mix. First please try next time go for bit louder track. It is again for listening experience. If I add all track in playlist for listening I need to really adjust volume especially for your track. Most of tracks are around -14 -15 LUFS and yours is -21. Regarding mix it is weak and muffled. You also have some stereo phasing problems. Most problematic is piano that is almost always in negative values in correlation meter. Here is picture to show what I mean. Look at imager but also tonal balance part.


I did very quick change on your track and trying to balance it a bit. Next screen will show the result regarding balance and stereo fixing.

Also hearing is even better then seeing so I render adjusted track. I will delete it once you download it.
https://soundcloud.com/trojakew/canese/s-gl1gCsv3ML8

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -11.2 LUFS
Max short-term loudness -14.6 LUFS
Integrated loudness -21.1 LUFS
Loudness range 13.9 LU
True peak L -5.04dB
True peak R -2.28dB
---------------------------------------

► Show Spoiler

01 (10 points) canese - "Delightful Horror"
02 (09 points) fjansenson - "Brotes"
03 (08 points) GMoneh - "Bon Voyage, Mon Amie"
04 (07 points) EsteveCorbera - "Cami de Retorn"
05 (06 points) celiodie - "Prayer"
06 (05 points) Johnny_Fingers - "Ocean Full of Sand"
07 (04 points) A Future in Noise - "Infestation"

[A Future in Noise]

Loss – definition: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries. ... glish/loss
And it seems it isn't a synonym for pain.

[TrojakEW]

Loss – definition: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries. ... glish/loss
And it seems it isn't a synonym for pain.

This is only my view on theme and meaning of word loss. I once lost one shoe but I do not consider it as crucial loss. It may sound funny but this shoe for me is suitable metaphor for you lyrics. It is simply not a loss we should talk about. But as I said it is my opinion and nothing else.

[canese]

Hello guys,

It was nice to have you all here this time and hoping we can continue doing this sharing every month, here is my feedback for you:

Xil Arya
Bon Voyage Mon Amie

Cool feeling, very emotional, sometimes too much it gets corky and uncomfortable. We can tell it's a midi song(maybe automating parameter cc64(pedal) on the piano), it lacks life and human touch. Mix it's okay, it lacks a little of low mids warmness and also too much reverb in all instruments.

TrojakEW
The Road Not Taken

Intro doesn't compare to what comes next. Maybe changing/elimnating the piano melody from to 0,8 to 0.36, the first bars where okay but then the melody doesn't have power or meaning. THe strings that comes next are excellent they are so moving and the melody is very orignal and epic. Voice also very cool. The mix is on point, very well cooked.

Esteve Corbera
CamiDeRetorn

Very nice ambient. I love it. I'm very fan of this kind of music. It's very simple and minimalist yet very emotioanl and complex at the same time. Sound desing and automation !0/10. Mixing wise I'm expecting more low end but i'ts okay. Mood is not about loss until the end, during the song I get totally happy feelings.

ferjansenson
Fer Jansenson Brotes

Very original and pleasant to the ear. I like the harmonies and melodies that come and go. Charango playing is awesome. Unfortunately, we can tell the piano is not a real one. It's very dry and robotic. If you don't have the chance of recording a realone, I would suggest recording your midi playing instead of drawing notes in the grid of your DAW. Then also a little automation in: swing, pedal (midi parameter 64), velocity, note aftertouch or release also can help masking the unrealness of a piano. Very good job, fer!

John Henderson
Ocean Full of Sand

Great song! Lyric, structure and overall energy are excellent. I appreciate a lot the honesty and intention with this song. Mix could be improved a little bit to get it to a more professional song, and definetly it would pass on the radio!

A Future In Noise
AFutureinNoise_Infestation

Very well produced, it has every thing. Nice melodes good groove and song structure. MIx is very good, very professional.


Celiodie
SWC049 Celiodie Prayer

I love the piano in this one. Very simple but moving.It nails the monthly theme. It has good melodies, harmonies and timbres. I love it.


Votes:
Very very hard this time to cast a vote this time. I honetly think every track here is very creative and for me it's hard to rate them in order regarding separate parameters (harmonies, melody, timbres, structure, mixing, monthly theme, etc.)

► Show Spoiler

01-Ferjansenson
02-Celiodie
03-Esteve Corbera
04-John Henderson
05- Future in Noise
06- TrojakEW
07- Xil Arya

[GMoneh]

Thanks MrFox, TrojakEW and Canese for the feedback. Very much appreciated.

Xil Arya
Bon Voyage Mon Amie

Cool feeling, very emotional, sometimes too much it gets corky and uncomfortable. We can tell it's a midi song(maybe automating parameter cc64(pedal) on the piano), it lacks life and human touch. Mix it's okay, it lacks a little of low mids warmness and also too much reverb in all instruments.

Not sure what you mean by "a midi song"... yes, the piano was recorded as MIDI because I do not own a grand piano, only virtual pianos, but all the parts were performed by a human (myself) via a keyboard (yes, with a sustain pedal that produced CC64, but not automated, just my foot), or in the case of the guitar, by an actual guitar.

Just wanted to clear that out...