SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC058 June 2022 - Winners announced

[becsei_gyorgy]

Interesting songs were born this month as well.
I don't really understand jazz either, so I didn't evaluate according to the expectations of the genre.
To tell the truth, each song had its own good qualities and strengths.
However, I could even turn the scoreboard upside down because there were only small differences between the songs.

GamaGama - Spring 2022
Nice little song, pleasant sounds.
The kazoo part is a bit unexpected and strange, I'd rather imagine a trumpet in its place, but maybe I just don't like that sound
but it undoubtedly sounds a bit crazy.
A bit predictable song, maybe a couple of improvisational solos are missing, but walking bass is great and it captures the attention the most.
Overall a bit of a pleasant "traveler" song, it has a special, soothing atmosphere, I like it. Nice job.

KukoBass - The Cleaner
Very nice intro, as if a detective game was about to begin. Good bass, nice sounds, interesting start.
I feel the muted trumpet a little timid. I think I know the muted trumpet of Session Horns well and it can shine - if allowed .
1:57-2:09 I don't really understand this bitcrushed part - I don't think it fits into the song.
However, I like the use of BOZ Le Snappet.
I also like the bass playing, of which my favorite part is clearly the last part (2:20-).
Nice song with interesting organ play and nice trumpet sound. Maybe another little melody or motif is missing here too.

OlliH - Take The Garbage Out
The waltz tempo intro isn't bad at the beginning of the song, it gives a bit of a "cartoon" feel with this instrumentation, and I like it.
The instrument selection is also absolutely good, they sound good too (the brass too), maybe the clarinet hangs out a little down to me (but maybe the volume isn’t good (too loud?) compared to the others)? Maybe not, just its sound not the perfect for this song, I don't know.
I like the structure, the harmonies, the tempo changes.
The vocal parts are a little ambivalent for me. There are also simply stunning parts and moments that seem a bit amateurish.
Maybe a little balance in that area would be better.

MellowBrowne - Falling In Love With Jazzmin
Nice drum sounds at the beginning but I feel the drummer introduction is a bit long.
There are several instruments in the song, but the drums and later the bass unfortunately suppress a lot.
The overall effect is a bit dissonant, which is not necessarily bad for a jazz inspiration.
The instruments themselves get involved in the game well and interesting anyway, but I still lack the real harmony.
However, I don’t really find Jazzmine in the song, especially not the theme of falling in love .
Overall a good try in this difficult genre.

EsteveCorbera - Jazz en directe
The audience voice is an interesting idea, I like it.
Clearly the pianist is at the center, unfortunately the others are not up to his playing. There’s not a tenth of a variety in the drummer’s play as in his keyboard buddy, and the bass seems to be playing under a different track.
Though the song is well put together soundly, it has a good atmosphere, I imagine a real smoky jazz club, and that feeling brings the song well.
I also like the use of vocals, I like these vocal improvisations. They fit well with this song.
Overall, it would be sensational with a little better drumming and significantly smarter bass lines (which are better suited to the pianist 's playing).

VCA-089 - Two Days Before Summer
Very good sounding song, and the synthesizer solo is a real oldschool fusion sound. I like it.
I like the instrument choices too.
Which shows all along that the piano plays very rigid chords, many times in a row, its playing could be more subtle, more varied.
Maybe we need some stronger central melody or motif to which these instruments would return.
Otherwise a well-put together little song and it sounds very clear and good, congratulations.

► Show Spoiler

10 pt OlliH - Take The Garbage Out
09 pt GamaGama - Spring 2022
08 pt KukoBass - The Cleaner
07 pt VCA-089 - Two Days Before Summer
06 pt EsteveCorbera - Jazz en directe
05 pt MellowBrowne - Falling In Love With Jazzmin

[Olli H]

The vocal parts are a little ambivalent for me. There are also simply stunning parts and moments that seem a bit amateurish.
Maybe a little balance in that area would be better.

Thanks for insightful comments.

I think that's quite natural result when the low skill to sing meets the high will to sing. I certainly wouldn't participate if this was a singing contest instead of a song-writing contest.

Some years ago I realized that I would never learn the art of singing — it just gets worse — but still I constantly need a placeholder for vocal lines, and most practical way to do them, is to do them all by myself. Now I can do quick changes, when I finally realize that my song ideas didn't work at all. It happens quite a lot.

Furthermore, it helps to develop other musical skills when one can test details of arrangements with at least some sort of human voice — even with crappy one — filling hopefully temporarily the place of the real vocalist. Without placeholder there's a danger to compensate the lack of vocal line by adding too dominating ideas into the background.

[becsei_gyorgy]

Overall, the vocals aren’t bad at all. (And believe me, your worst vocal parts are better than my best vocals. )
It also shows that you can sing well, that there are some particularly good parts in the song as well.
I think there are 1-2 parts in the song that maybe you could have tried again.

... there's a danger to compensate the lack of vocal line by adding too dominating ideas into the background.

Yes you are absolutely right. That’s why I get annoyed sometimes that I can’t sing a simple part as a melody .

[Mellow Browne]

Really interesting submissions this month. So here we go:

becsei_gyorgy:
Chaotic theme, fast tempo, nice instrument choice, i really like the main theme, it has that dark “gangster” vibe to me, sophisticated “melody”, good length, is not getting boring, also with the key change, although this specific key change is a bit simple to my ears, which lowers the musical level a bit. Sometimes the drums are doing there own thing and don’t really fit to the other instruments rhythm and groove. I would have like to hear a real dramatic or complex key change. But this is just complaining on a higher level. All in all you did a good job. 7

GamaGama: instant jazz feeling with that upright bass and jazz guitar. Yes, you said it is boring, and it is, but in a good way because it’s relaxing. Nothing fancy but, to my ears, very musical especially with different chord progressions. I really had to laugh when I heard that crazy kazoo solo, it sounds like a man is singing “hahaha”, this is like comedy. The one thing I really have to criticize is the end, I would’ve love to hear a more sophisticated ending or a key/tempo change because the story ends to quickly to my ears, in my opinion, you could repeat that last segment 2 or 3 times to emphasize that is ending. Overall a good submission. 6

KukoBass: good choice of instruments, nice bass playing. Sounds like a commercial background music to me, or a funny segment in a Mr. bean clip for example, “boring” but effective. The drums are too dominant in the overall mix. The only thing I don’t understand is that drum and bass sample, but that’s just my opinion. Only thing I would’ve love to hear is a little key change or variation, apart from the trumpet “solo”. Good submission overall. 5

OlliH: this submission sounds very musical to my ears and I like the instrumentation. Only the trumpet sounds a bit „cheap“. To my ears the singing doesn’t fit all and at times the lyrics are not clear enough in the mix and I struggle to understand them. But very interesting submission. Pretty good job. 8

EsteveCorbera: nice intro, instant “concert” feeling. Very musical and boring in a good way. I would’ve love to hear something else from here, its more of that standard “badadida”-singing, maybe some lyrics or a really high note, to my ears its a bit repetitive after 4:33. Also, the end is too sudden to my ears, that little fade out takes away that concert feeling. A more complex ending or chord changes at the end would fit that performance perfectly. Very good submission. 9

VCA-089: this entry really stands out because of the more modern touch, the instrumentation is really not what you would expect from a “classic” jazz song and to me this is the only chaotic submission this month. Very musical, and that tempo switch at the end is nice. Awesome submission. 10

@becsei_gyorgy: what do you mean by dissonant? Did I play some wrong notes? And, yes, maybe the drums and the bass are a bit too dominant, I think this happened because I wanted to hear more of my playing performance. I was really hyped, I never thought I could play these instruments by myself.

Thanks for the feedback so far!

► Show Spoiler

01 (10 pts) VCA-089
02 (9 pts) EsteveCorbera
03 (8 pts) OlliH
04 (7 pts) becsei_gyorgy
05 (6 pts) GamaGama
06 (5 pts) KukoBass

[GamaGama]

Thank you very much for the very interesting theme, the interpretations are very varied and all with a strong personality.

Here are some notes:

► Show Spoiler

becsei_gyorgy "The Saint And The Sinner":
Beautiful interpretation of the theme: the wind designs are extremely effective and compelling. The variation starting at 2:35 and the following introduction of the plan is less pleasing to me, it seems out of place. It seems that the song develops in different situations that are a bit too disconnected from each other.
The really significant and interesting part of the song for me is between 0:49 and 2:35 I really liked it! Unfortunately I have to make a note to the part of the drums, which seems to me not very functional to enhance the song. I would also have liked more "interpreted" horns, with greater intentions and more thrusting articulations.
I also really enjoyed the pretty video essential and with really appropriate colors.

KukoBass "TheCleaner":
The piece moves on a harmonic turn that creates expectations on which unfortunately the melody is not fully expressed which is only hinted at by the muted trumpet and is a little "shy".
Too bad the melody was no longer highlighted. It gave me feelings similar to those of Henry Mancini's Pink Panther Theme: it's a compliment!

Olli H "Take The Garbage Out":
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! I really appreciated the irony and playfulness of the song: there could be minimal imperfections in the guitar parts or in the singing (but thanks to the imperfections it helps to express irony and the fun of the performance).
Surely the most apt interpretation of all.

Mellow Browne "Falling In Love With Jazzmin":
The very long introduction of percussion (although very beautiful) does not help the piece that seemed to me lacking the melodic part that I was unable to identify: in fact, I perceived the harmonic turn that was gradually enriched with some variations on the rich and interesting rhythms . Likewise, I have not identified a bass line that would certainly have contributed to completing the rich and beautiful rhythm part. Maybe I don't understand the song well, or maybe the work is not yet completed?

EsteveCorbera "Jazz En Directe":
The live simulation of the song well played by the trio in a moderate and a little banal / boring way (like spring cleaning) and with the scat intervention used in a more than appropriate way is very bright and nice. Perhaps some changes could have been made on the drum part (Hihat -> Ride and vice versa in the different parts) to decrease boredom a little ...
It is still a beautiful idea. Congratulation.

VCA-089 "Two Days Before Summer":
Very interesting track, I liked the chord loop, the bass part and the synth sound from 1:49 up to 2:30. Minus the drums which do not seem to me to help to tie the piece, especially in the final.

And here the valutation:

► Show Spoiler

01 (10pts) - Olli H
02 (9pts) - EsteveCorbera
03 (8pts) - KukoBass
04 (7pts) - becsei_gyorgy
05 (6 pts) - VCA-089
06 (5 pts) - Mellow Browne

°°°°°°°°°°
GamaGama

[KukoBass]

Hello everyone,

the results of this competition are overwhelmingly good and fun. With so many good entries, I had a hard time to put them into a ranking.

► Show Spoiler

01 (10 pts) - OlliH
02 (9 pts) - VCA-089 aka Infravolt
03 (8 pts) - becsei_gyorgy aka György Becsei
04 (7 pts) - EsteveCorbera
05 (6 pts) - GamaGama
06 (5 pts) - MellowBrowne

The combination of "Jazz" and "Cleaning" brought Jean Reno as "The Cleaner" in the Film "Nikita (1990)" to my mind. Or Harvey Keitel in the Remake "Point Of No Return (1993)" ("Codename: Nina" in Germany).
As it is a songwriting competition, I put my emphasis on the song structure and the themes of the melody. Mixing and production are only mentioned if they get in the way of the overall impression of the song.


Feedback in alphabetical order of forum names:


becsei_gyorgy aka György Becsei: "The Saint And The Sinner"

This song has enough material for at least three good songs.

The intro 0:00 up to 0:36 reminds me of film scores for italian western films, Ennio Morricone and others. Then a beautiful walking bass sets in, drums start swinging, big band horns set in and it sounds like a swing concert in a high class 1920 speakeasy. The clarinet with its interleaving melodies brings in some chaos.
1:45 I'd never thought latin piano grooves would work with swing, but they do.

At 1:58 the big band theme sets back in and brings more chaos via polyrhythms into the song. The idea is good but somehow the marimba parts do not work well with the horn parts here.

At 2:40 a B part starts and sounds like an entirely new song. I would love to hear more of the big band in unison feeling from 3:17.

From 3:45 on the now transposed and speeded up trumpet parts sound like a tv theme for a crime series. Perhaps the comeback of the latin piano grooves is a bit much here.

Overall, the song is great fun.


EsteveCorbera: "Jazz En Directe"

The idea with the virtual audience is good and gives the song a little live feeling. I would have loved to have a little more of this during the entire song, some crowd noises mixed in very lightly.

The vocal samples are a good choice. The song does not depend on them, but they add a little extra, bringing in polyrhythms between vocals and piano.

The fade out is a pity as it destroys the illusion of listening to a concert in a small club.

My favourite thing about this entry is, how well bass, piano and drums work together. The changes of velocity on the piano sound very natural. Hard to tell for me if it is not an established jazz trio playing there.


GamaGama: "Spring2022"

I love that walking bass and the guitars. Beautiful chord progressions, a tune for a lovely Sunday afternoon. Though it is a little short on the chaotic side, I would not call it boring. It's charming.

The kazoo solo sounds almost like singing. I would have loved to here more kazoo, probably one octave higher, to give a little silly contrast to the lovely tune.

The song has a classic structure with A and B parts and good ending. The only reason this song isn't in my top three is that the challenge asked for the "chaotic" side of jazz. It is one of my favourite entries, anyway.


MellowBrowne: "Falling In Love With Jazzmin"
(pun on "minor" chords intended?)

This song is not going for the obvious choice of swing drums I went.
Instead, it starts with some African sounding polyrhythm percussion, and adds modern sounding jazz chords from 0:54.

The drums have a nice "natural" feel. Slight timing things are not very disruptive. But feel free to correct the timing; in my opinion, editing is part of the creation process and not cheating. As the rules say: "you can use any tool that is at your disposal (samples, virtual instruments and/or real instruments)" and midi editing is one of those tools.

What is there is very cool, but I wished you would have varied it a little, e. g. write a B part or shift the chords or something.

I like the overall sound of the production of the song.


OlliH: "Take The Garbage Out"

This time you gave everything including the kitchen sink. The song has a real big band swing feeling. The different instrument parts change fast as they would in a big band arrangement. The horns sound very natural. It is "controlled chaos" indeed: It has the energy without getting the song too cluttered.

The main theme is very memorable. But what I like most about the song are the jazz guitar parts. Well done!


VCA-089 aka Infravolt: "Two Days Before Summer"
(Are the birds at the beginning an homage to Donald Byrd and / or Charlie „Bird“ Parker?)

I'm usually not a fan of modern jazz-fusion, but the sound is on point and reminds me of "Dirty Loops". The song starts a little "slow", but takes off at 1:34. And it avoids my main issue with jazz-fusion: The horrible pseudo-brass-lead-sound-syndrome. The lead sound you picked is more interesting without getting out of the genre.

I loved the bass part from 1:00 on, the harmony changes, the polyrhythms, and the tempo changes.

Wow! What more can I say?

[EsteveCorbera]

Hello family

The groups of (virtual) musicians who have performed my song thank you for your comments. Needless to say, they did a good job and gave it their all, but it’s me who didn’t do it well enough. I have not been able to tie the fragments of his interpretations well.
We would like to thank Ms. Joana Parabará (also virtual / sample) for letting us publish this topic.
I leave you my comments and vote:

01 becseigyorgy - TheSaintAndTheSinner
Good start with a dialogue between two trumpets. The sound of these trumpets is very well received, it seems very real. In contrast, the trumpets or horns that come after, when the bass and drums are already there, no longer sound so real.
From the minute 2:40 it seems that another song begins, it is not until later that you return to initial subject. It seems as if for a moment we have changed song.
I really like the various melodic lines you draw. Marimba, piano, more trumpets, clarinets (?)

02 GamaGama - Spring2022
I like the remote battery you put in. Maybe I should have placed the other instruments farther away. The depth situation you did doesn't just tie me up.
Instead, to the kazoo you did give them depth (at first I thought it was a sung part). But I find them out of place from a musical point of view. But that can be a matter of taste.
The subject is simple and effective, perhaps little varied. In the end it gets a little repetitive. Maybe he's missing a change, a bit of improvisation. Good bass line.

03 KukoBass - TheCleaner
I like the beginning, you add things up and you create interest. I like the drums and the organ, which also sets the rhythm. Then, little by little, the subject becomes a bit chaotic (which demands the challenge of the month). From minute 1:57 something strange happens, but you fix it right away.
You could have adjusted the piece with a higher sound level. Maybe we need some more changes, variations on the organ, more prominence on the trumpet, ...

04 OlliH - TakeTheGarbageOut
I like your themes. They always have a humorous tone that suits them very well. I like the pair of ‘you’ singing. I like the 0:30 changes, the theme wins in space, good instruments, impeccable sound. Very good mix. You notice that you are good.

05 MellowBrowne - Falling_In_Love_With_Jazzmin
The beginning seems more ethnic than jazz. Gradually you introduce sounds that change the type of music and bring it closer to jazz. But the subject falls short, it lacks something. After a while you expect significant changes but they just don’t come.
Of course, the sound and the choice of instruments are very good. The rhythm may be slow at times, but the variety of percussive elements you put into it is cool.

07 VCA-089 - Two_Days_Before_Summer
The topic is the most concise entry of all. You use more modern instruments. I like synth improvisations, they remind me of 80's computer games (specifically Konami's Nemesis 2 for the MSX platform, which had a very powerful sound chip).
I also like the change of pace, at first it's a bit sudden, but then I think it's great.
Maybe piano chords sound the worst. Static moles, not ...
The mixture is very well worked.

Thank you all


(translated with google)

► Show Spoiler

10p VCA-089 - Two_Days_Before_Summer
9p OlliH - TakeTheGarbageOut
8p becseigyorgy - TheSaintAndTheSinner
7p KukoBass - TheCleaner
6p GamaGama - Spring2022
5p MellowBrowne - Falling_In_Love_With_Jazzmin

[VCA-089]

Here is my feedback:

► Show Spoiler

1. becsei_gyorgy - The Saint And The Sinner

The arrangement is really good here, kinda Big band style with a lot of organic parts. The oveall vibe reminds me a bit of James Bond theme. It's really got that cinematic feel with a bit of latin flavour. The composition is a bit awkward to me. In the middle it switches to completely different theme and mood, more suitable for a classic jazz. The contrast between both themes are too drastic. It's also gets a bit repetitive at the end. The drums has a pretty good rhythm that supports the feel of the song. The production quality is very good.

2. GamaGama - Spring 2022

A very relaxed and smooth feel in this song. It has a nice clean guitar part and the overall arrangement is suitable for classic jazz. The solo part in the middle has a really interesting and unusual timbre, but it feels too short and undeveloped. It gets a little repetitive at the end because of no other parts or changes are involved. The production quality is quite good.

3. KukoBass - The Cleaner

Another chilled jazz tune. The walking bass is really nice. The trumpet solo has a relaxed and soothing feel. The supporting instruments like piano and organ could have more room for their own inprovisation. The drums and percussion are kinda wierd to me. The snaps are playing too loose and the drums feels like a collection of loops (the electronic part was really out of place). No complaint for mixing and mastering quality.

4. Olli H - Take The Garbage Out

I really like the style that you introduced in the past challenge and it seems this is the right place for such kind of production. The song is very cool and the topic fits the premise. The drums, percussion and foley elements are spot on. I really like the guitar improvisations, they do feel alive and musical. Great production overall!

5. Mellow Browne - Falling In Love With Jazzmin

This entry is a good example of background music that some one could use in the video or improvise on top of it, and it's actually the problem. There is no strong melodic parts, only an accidental lines and arpeggios in the background. The drums and percussion creates an interesting groove, too much off the grid sometimes. The bass sounds really good with overdrive, but it would fit more into rock/fusion composition. The mix seems pretty balaced to me.

6. EsteveCorbera - Jazz En Directe

This entry has a nice live performance feel. The piano part really sounds like a jazz improv with a slightly chaotic feel. To me the vocals appears too randomly through out the song, which is a little distracting. After a while you can recognize the same thrases and articulations that the vocal performance is constructed from (same problem with all those sample libraries). To me there is not much bass in the mix, but this may be a matter of taste.

Voting:

► Show Spoiler

01 (10 pts) - Olli H - Take The Garbage Out
02 (09 pts) - becsei_gyorgy - The Saint And The Sinner
03 (08 pts) - GamaGama - Spring 2022
04 (07 pts) - KukoBass - The Cleaner
05 (06 pts) - EsteveCorbera - Jazz En Directe
06 (05 pts) - Mellow Browne - Falling In Love With Jazzmin

[Mister Fox]

It's the 02nd July 2022, 09:35 (UTC+2/CEST) - the Voting Period has officially ended.

All main participants have submitted their final feedback, we therefore have 0 disqualifications.


I will post the results within 2-3 days and take "late feedback" into consideration.
(this is not an automated process)


Please have an eye on this thread

[Mister Fox]

Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the results of Songwriting Competition 56

The winners podium consists of:

1. @Olli H
2. @VCA-089
3. @becsei_gyorgy

Apologies for the waiting time, this is not an automated process.

<4 participant rule is not in use (staff comments and votes, my vote would count as bonus)
We have 0 disqualifications (due to lack of feedback)
We have 0 withdrawn entries
We have 0 votes after the deadline - therefore -5 points penalty
We have 0 users that tied

• no (more) users that tied

"Sole (License) Winner" rule does apply - 1-position Winners Podium (<= 8 participants prior to the deadline)


STATISTICS SHEET:
Overview of Submissions (PDF - updated: 03-JUL-2022, full sheet)

!

Bonus Info

Short info: I am using Wavelab 10 for batch analysis, then I manually port the CSV export to a Microsoft Excel/Open Office Calc sheet with custom layout (this is not an automated process). As pointed out in this post from SWC047 / July, Wavelab has different tolerances for dBTP max analysis compared to tools like iZotope RX, Youlean Loudness Meter, NUGEN Audio VisLM, etc. To find a common ground, I've implemented "allowed tolerances" (just like with the Mix Challenge). These are based upon allowed offsets mentioned in the white papers for EBU R128 and ITU-R BS.1770-4. Since no measurement tool is the same, to be on the save side, please export at -14,1 LUFS ILk max, and -1,1 dBTP max. As usual, I did list/analyze alternative releases (MP3s and FLAC). If you've submitted your entry in multiple file formats, the statistic sheet 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. In this case, FLAC and MP3 are merely for information purposes.

Here are the results as chart in image form:



Thank you so much for your participation.



License selection:

We'll now perform with the usual. Selecting licenses is handled in public. Please select one license/company out of the pool (in order of the winners podium) and mention it in this thread, then (important) please get in touch with me (via PM) with your full name, email address and your license selection.

As usual - you're not forced to pick up anything. You can pass and therefore offer more to select for the next person in line (if there is a spot existing / not available for "sole winner" mechanic). Just let all participants/winners/the staff know in a timely manner (within 5 days). Once one company has been selected, it's out of the pool for the next person on the podium.



I re-open the field for talking some more about each others' productions. If things drift a bit too off-topic, please use the General Gossip thread.



See you in in the next challenge!


Songwriting Competition 059 (July 2022) is still in full swing. And it has quite the interesting twist this month.
Please help spread the word!