SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC074 October 2023 - Winners announced

[EsteveCorbera]

Good night,

What a pity the number of participants this month. And besides, we haven't given each other feedback so far. I am also responsible for this.
But the proposal has been very stimulating. Creating soundtracks with the freedom of not having to follow a conventional song structure has given me more comfort to create something different.
Usually my wife doesn't like the sound of the synths I use, this time she liked the sounds I chose better.

@Doc Jon, you mention that you used a template from the SWC038 competition, so this was my first time participating in this challenge. Currently, this challenge has become my greatest excuse to keep making music.
Congratulations to all of you for the work I have done.

I will give you some brief comments.

a Future In Noise__BehindTheScenes
Risky and original proposal. surprising
It really seems to accompany some images, because there is no normal structure. This is not bad considering the music that accompanies the images.
But it turns out to be too incidental to listen to alone, it's hard to follow. And it baffles me: Foley, piano, orchestra, all a bit disjointed.
In the mix I miss a little more reverberation, to place the elements in various depth spaces.

Doc Jon__BehindYou
Good start!! You already predispose to a terrifying atmosphere. I like the rhythm of the bass, also very suitable for the proposal of the month. I like guitars with synthesizer sounds as a delay.
Good work of sound environment.
If I had to criticize something, I would say that you have developed the subject a little, but this is also not a problem because your subject fits the objective that Mister Fox has asked us to do.

KukoBass__TheSleepingBeast
Nice attempt to create a menacing atmosphere with the sound effects. The piano and strings also add to this atmosphere. What I don't quite like is the trumpet, I see it more in a detective movie than a horror movie. You should play more with the reverb to create more space.
He finds the sound of the beast too repetitive.

VCA-089__Blinds
I like the slow evolution of the theme. You are approaching something mysterious.
Very cool ending, with that distant percussion and distorted bass.
Good creation of sound environment. Nice mix, I like the reverbs you used.
I couldn't say what could be improved.

becsei_gyorgy__Ghostly
As always, good work. You know how to create a great sound environment. Very fit for purpose the month.
I like voices when they sound out of tune, they make me afraid.
What I find most debatable is the cut and the change of atmosphere it causes, they seem to be a bit out of tune and the final melody doesn't connect me too much either.
But, as I told you, you have achieved the purpose of the month.

(translated with google)


This month is very difficult to choose. All the subjects are very good.

► Show Spoiler

01 VCA-089
02 Doc Jon
03 becsei_gyorgy
04 KukoBass
05 a Future In Noise

[becsei_gyorgy]

Hi,
This month, the main challenge for me was the tight time limit. I rarely use the Phase Plant synth, so it was nice to have it out again.
It was difficult to compose a complete song, I could imagine the ambient piece more like a soundtrack, so I wasn't thinking about a standard song composition. I focused more on creating general mood and atmosphere and making and using better FX.

a Future In Noise - Behind The Scenes
A definite cinematic experience, like a soundtrack to a movie (esp. cartoon).
I really liked the orchestra parts in the middle and from 2:45 onwards. Very nice motif, good orchestration. The piano and whistle intro at the beginning builds up well.
I like the darker, more melancholic melody, good breaks and unexpected instruments (brass 2:12). I liked the composition, it was interesting. Not something you're used to doing, I especially appreciate you trying new ways.

DocJon - BehindYou
Immediately captivating atmosphere, good sound effects, nice sound choices.
I would occasionally break the synth bass pulsating in the background (unexpected break or change of rhythm) because it makes the song a bit monotonous in the same tempo all the time.
Maybe this could be used to make parts of the song better.
Anyway, it's a professionally put together little song, it's totally fine. I also like the mix.

EsteveCorbera - Crescendo Terrorific
Well constructed mystical intro. I like the little discreet FXs. I like how the music box starts from 0:48 and heightens the tension. I like the change at 1:36.
The suspense at the end is quite brilliant, both in composition and instrumentation.
After the end the FXs are superfluous in my opinion (they are very different from the part before it), without them the whole work is also closed.
It is a perfect horror soundtrack with amazingly good build-up, climax and closure.

KukoBass - The Sleeping Beast
Interesting atmosphere with the snoring monster, disturbing sounds and instruments at the beginning. Which are a bit dry, need more reverb.
The trumpet sound brings in a slightly jazzy, noir atmosphere.
I like the song, but the trumpet reduces rather than enhances the tension and sense of dread. For me, its improvisation is more melancholicly soothing than suspenseful.
(If I were to joke, I'd write that the snoring monster fell asleep in a dark, smoky jazz bar towards dawn instead and and it seems is completely harmless.)
The trumpet playing itself is good, by the way. The song as pleasant dawn jazz it's entertaining. I liked.

VCA-089 - Blinds
Nice starting, great atmosphere, nice wide stereo feel.
The percussive elements are great, the synthesizer sounds are also good.
The theme itself unfolds slowly, there is no real motive. It would be great as background music for an exploratory, crawling horror PC game.
Towards the end, the tension is given by the percussive elements, the synthesizer motif is a bit restrained, it is too much in the background in the wide stereo space. Perhaps I would strengthen this more, leaving not only the drums to increase the tension.

Each song was interesting, I liked that you had completely different ideas about the topic.

► Show Spoiler

01 EsteveCorbera - Crescendo Terrorific
02 a Future In Noise - Behind The Scenes
03 DocJon - Behind You
04 VCA-089 - Blinds
05 KukoBass - The Sleeping Beast

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
We're in the final 24 hours to submit your feedback and cast your vote.


Please check post #016 regarding the feedback and voting mechanic. Please don't let yourself be put at a disadvantage by not participating (fully). The Songwriting Competition lives from the given feedback towards each other.

Outside feedback is welcome, of course.

[VCA-089]

This time I found (once again) that dark music and particularly the suspenseful ambient/electronic is my thing. I have a lot of drafts similar to my entry and I could make a whole discography of such music. But I don't really know for sure that people are gonna like it. Is this music could be described as "enjoyable" and some one could add it to the playlist like any other songs, or it belongs to the realm of cinematic and video-game soundtracks only?

My feedback:

► Show Spoiler

01. aFutureInNoise - Behind The Scenes

This theme sounds like an old low-budget detective movie. The aspect of dread and horror is somewhat unpresent.
The song itself is like a collection of snippets (scenes, sketches). It may work for the actual movie, but there is no strong feeling of progression and development.
The sound is very dry, everything is out of context and feels too synthetic.
The whistling is nice. Never figured out how people do that.

02. Doc Jon - Behind You

This song may work as an opening to some of Tim Burton's movies (I haven't watched them though).
Great sound design. The acoustic sounds blend with electronic ones seamlessly.
The footsteps and door squeaks made me think of an actual scene in the movie, but it gets distracting after a few listens. These sounds would work better in the intro/outro of the song I think.
It gets a bit repetitive in the middle. The final section could happen earlier.
Good production and mix.

03. EsteveCorbera - Crescendo Terrorific

This song makes me think of old horror quest games from the early 90's.
I really like the overall synthetic tone of the song. It's very intriguing what is coming next in terms of the sounds/textures.
It develops really nicely, adding new sounds and textures here and there.
It might sound like a cliche (the bells, the kid laughing, chromatic runs etc.) but it fits perfectly with the aforementioned time period.
The mix is a bit harsh. The high mid frequencies around 2-3k could be tamed a little bit.

04. KukoBass - The Sleeping Beast

Another noir themed song that certainly has a dark attitude, but doesn't sound like horror at all.
The trumpet sounds really good, very playful and characterful, contrasting on pretty static background parts.
The roaring sound gets pretty distracting as it repeats throughout the whole song.
The mix is too dry and needs rebalancing in terms of levels and frequencies.

05. becsei_gyorgy - Ghostly

This song has the potential of being a good dark fantasy video-game soundtrack (something like Dark Souls/Elden Ring).
The vibe in the song is mysterious and intriguing rather than dreadful and uncomfortable.
It has a nice blend of natural and synthetic sounds. Getting an image of a dark, misty forest filled with ghosts and mythical spirits.
The song lacks definite structure. Sometimes it ends abruptly like something is going to happen, but it continues with the same set of sounds and energy.
The production is quite acceptable, but it still feels like a draft.

Voting:

► Show Spoiler

1. Doc Jon - Behind You
2. EsteveCorbera - Crescendo Terrorific
3. becsei_gyorgy - Ghostly
4. KukoBass - The Sleeping Beast
5. aFutureInNoise - Behind The Scenes

[A Future in Noise]

What I learned this month:

► Show Spoiler

That Spitfire Audio BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover is a far better plugin than I knew before. And that orchestration is fun (violins, violas, cellos and double basses). But the fact that this is a free version means there are limitations. No velocity sensivity, for example. A lot of volume automation, which was rather time consuming. I had not planned to involve a symphony orchestra, but as my efforts with this song went on, I decided to try to achieve the best possible orchestra sound (for the moment), and don't care too much about other aspects.

Note 1: the kettle drums are drenched in reverb and the strings have just as much reverb as they should. The grand piano is using studio settings, maybe it should have been otherwise.

Note 2: there is no whistling; just as I have said in my original post, from the beginning, it's a saw. Very much hall reverb.

Feedback:

► Show Spoiler

Becsei Gyorgi: Mighty crows! 1:48 – 1:57 very powerful dissonanses (voice and bell). I don't know how you came up with the 2:10 (reverse?) wall, but in any case it works well – I wanna know what's on the other side! More birds … Choirs … Whe're on the other side of River Styx? I'm not sure what the e-piano at the end has got to do there.

VCA-089: At first I thought the percussion from Latin America seemed a bit misplaced. The 1:36 Tranverse flute (although obviously a synth) is a good choice here, and you avoid using the same “figure” (the same sequence of notes) over and over again. As the dark mood in the beginning transforms into aggressiveness towards the end, I think your composition as a whole is a rather delicate thing.

Kuko Bass: The sleeping beast is rather easy to identify. Although the beast's breathing from the beginning until the end does not steal too much of my attention, I think it would have been more natural to use it as intro and maybe outro. The muted trp sounds good, but my thoughts are led towards something very thoughtful – I mean: I hear thoughtfulness rather than dread/fear.

Esteve Corbera: Good use of bell-like sounds and other synths (esp. an aaah-synth/voice). The laughter at the end is pretty scary. Good frequency spectrum, from deep bass to high treble.

Raising the chords by semi notes from 2:12 works rather well in order to create dread/fear. It seems, BTW, as if composers do this instinctively, when trying to create a scary feeling. I did it, myself, and also other participants, I believe.

Between 1:20 and 1:35 you repeat exactly the same “ladder” (8th notes up and down; high frequency synth that sounds like a mixture of a string instrument and a bell) four times with almost no variation when it comes to the other instruments. I always expect more variation/development than that.

Doc Jon: This starts in a rather promising way. The deep bass together with the dissonant synths create a feeling of fear. But it doesn't last for very long. Between 0:52 – 0:54 a major chord is (accidentally?) created, and after that the same sound as before is continuing, for too long, IMO.

Maybe you overuse the footsteps a little … And the creaking door is too much of a cliche. E-guitar 1:27 (also comes back 2:14) playing the same two notes (or four, if you want) over and over again. Kind of nagging. You repeat a tonal figure/pattern (brass-like) four times between 2:38 – 3:23 (with very little variation “behind”). Twice had been enough. 8th note synth bass all the way from 0:17 til the end. This static pattern does not strengthen the feeling of dread, I'm afraid.

Voting:

► Show Spoiler

1VCA-089
2becsei_gyorgy
3esteve_corbera
4kukobass
5docjon

[Mister Fox]

It's the 02nd November 2023, 03:00 (UTC+1/CET) - the Voting Period has officially ended.

Everyone has sent in feedback and cast a vote, we therefore have no disqualification.


Please no more changes to your feedback from this point forward.
I will post the results within 2-3 days. (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 074

The winners podium consists of:

1. @EsteveCorbera (57 pts)
2. @VCA-089 (55 pts)
3. @Doc Jon (54 pts)

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 / a final vote)
We have 0 withdrawn entries (but counts as submission within the deadline, yet couldn't be voted for)
We have no users still in the game 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-NOV-2023, 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 2021, 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.

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	INFORMATION: As of January 2023, I am adapting the same voting mechanic as most other International Songwriting Competitions utilize. Nearly all of these games use(d) a 01 to 05 points system (top 5 entries) in some shape or form. The main difference to our game: these ones don't offer bonus points or penalty points, neither are they tiered (depending on the participant amount). I hope to get that properly sorted out in form of an extensive Rule Book update in the foreseeable future (serious apologies for the waiting time). Breaking up a tie: There were no ties that needed to be broken. An explanation on the bonus points and penalty points: no bonus points have been withdrawn I did however opt to give everyone at least 1pt bonus for more fleshed out feedback this month Quick general thoughts on the entries (that doesn't fit anywhere else): While the idea is to "just make music", the task was still to tell a story that might send chills down one's spine. Some of you actually managed to do that. But there were indeed some entries that felt more like "detective suspense" stories (e.g. @ A Future in Noise and @KukoBass -- it's the instrumentation, really), while the rest was definitely more soundtrack oriented (especially @Doc Jon -- which had such an amazing twist in the end, or @EsteveCorbera -- which had a nice Carpenter-esque entry blended with some upbeat David Newman-type influences, @VCA-089 went full 1980s Carpenter style, and @becsei_gyorgy really embodied the topic "atmosphere"). Which isn't bad, mind you. You all made music in the first place, so you are therefore already winners in my book. I'm just pointing out that there was a specific task to handle. Maybe have an eye on that for SWC075 / November. Overall, you have all done an amazing job, despite the low participation. Please continue to spread the word, maybe we can get back to more than 10 participants on avg for the last two games of the year. See you folks in the next game.

License selection:

We will now perform with the usual. Selecting of 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, or Discord.



See you in in the next challenge!


Songwriting Competition 075 (November 2023) is still in full swing.
So is the Sample Collection Thread for SWC077 / January 2024 (Community Scramble).

There is currently no entry for either.

[VCA-089]

Congrats @EsteveCorbera! Well deserved!

[EsteveCorbera]

After many challenges, I finally managed to win one. I am very happy.
The truth is that if he was able to win it is thanks to you. Not because you voted for me, but because you have spent a lot of time helping me learn to make music, creativity, producing, mixing, mastering...
You taught me a lot!! I would even say that most of the things I know are thanks to you (and some courses and tutorials I've seen there).
I am very happy that you liked my song of the month of October.

As a prize I want to choose:
Luftrum Bioscape

Thank you so much
See you at the next challenge.

[Mister Fox]

This type of feedback really makes me happy.

And this is what our small community is about: learning, and growing from the experience. Glad to read that this worked out for you in the long run.


I also already responded to your license request.
As usual, I'll leave the game threads open for additional feedback and interaction.