SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC081 May 2024 - Winners announced

[Doc Jon]

@Arelem What you have produced sounds excellent with some powerful bass and drums driving the track. Your use of the stereo field and 'front to back' depth in the mix is excellent.
It does sound like you are going for a more minimalistic feel but for me it could do with just one more layer of sound here and there to enhance it further. I only say that because as I'm listening to it I want to break out my synth and riff along with it!! I really wouldn't change anything that you have already done, I would just add in a little bit more.
At 0:40 we do get the introduction of an additional element but I was anticipating more of a full blown pad sound or a lead melody riff to appear. Likewise at 1:30 where we get a repeat of the previous section I was expecting a new sound to be introduced running up to the break at 1:51. At 2:22 I would capitalize on the additional layer that you do introduce by also bringing back in the lead riff from earlier or even throwing caution to the wind and throw in a host of new elements building up to the finish.
Having said all that please be aware that this advice is coming from someone whose tracks invariably end up sounding like an 80s synthfest so feel free to ignore me if I have misinterpreted the feel you were going for!

PS your 'wiring' screenshot is not visible to me for some reason

[Arelem]

PS your 'wiring' screenshot is not visible to me for some reason

I added a Drive link because the embedded link doesn't seem to be working.

[Arelem]

Thanks for the feedback @Doc Jon. You are right that I am going for something pretty minimalistic (not strictly minimal per se but inspired by). I tried to apply your feedback and add where I thought it made sense. I didn't end up changing much but I think it does add a little to the progression of the track. I also took away some elements in different parts so that they could be introduced later to also aid in that progression. Here is where I am at currently:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uNjP2o ... drive_link

[Doc Jon]

Thanks for the feedback @Doc Jon. You are right that I am going for something pretty minimalistic (not strictly minimal per se but inspired by). I tried to apply your feedback and add where I thought it made sense. I didn't end up changing much but I think it does add a little to the progression of the track. I also took away some elements in different parts so that they could be introduced later to also aid in that progression. Here is where I am at currently:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uNjP2o ... drive_link

I think you have made some improvements to an already great track. It builds nicely and flows really well, great clean mix, well done

Personally I'm still struggling to put something together for this month, I really do not understand modular synthesis at all, too many wires for my liking!! I'm probably going to have to stick to preset modular patches and will try concentrating more on the modular signal flow/Fx side of things

[Arelem]

[/quote
I think you have made some improvements to an already great track. It builds nicely and flows really well, great clean mix, well done
[/quote
Thanks

[/quote
Personally I'm still struggling to put something together for this month, I really do not understand modular synthesis at all, too many wires for my liking!! I'm probably going to have to stick to preset modular patches and will try concentrating more on the modular signal flow/Fx side of things
[/quote]
Starting with presents is a good way to learn what things do. It's kind of getting late in the month but maybe you can try getting a present that is (or is almost) where you want it and then tweak a little bit. I'm sure you'll come up with something good, you always do.

[Arelem]

Hello All,

I really wanted to tie the first drop into the last so I worked on doing that. Here is the result:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_jD6I- ... drive_link

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
Including today, 7 days left to submit your production.

So far, we have 1 entry, and plenty of amazing interaction. Please keep it up!



Now is the perfect time to post your entry!

If you want to access the extended game mechanics of the Songwriting Competition (asking for feedback during production), please try to release your first edits within the next 3 to 4 days to have enough time to get possible feedback (if needed/wanted) and continue to work on your song. Please also remember, vocals are not mandatory -- instrumentals are just as welcome.

And to those sitting on the fence - please don't feel scared off and think "the bar is set too high, I will never make it" - set yourself a shorter private deadline. Just make music, submit your entry, join the conversation. See where this goes.

By joining, you're already a winner. The rest is bonus.

[Arelem]

Hello All,

Slow month so far, lol. I updated my first post with my final entry as well as details. I also put a link to Drive where I have images of the patcher instances that I created.

-Arelem

[EsteveCorbera]

Dear fellow challengers and Mister Fox.

This month I have returned to the type of music that I like to listen to. You will see that there are a lot of pads, simple but melancholic melodies, ethereal sound environments, a simple rhythm, a bass that complements the chords... And a sound very close to Vangelis.
I started by taking some preset sounds from Cherry Audio Voltage Modular (CAVM) and tried to modify them a bit. But I saw that this was consuming more than 100% of my CPU. I couldn't add more because everything stopped. I had to switch the tracks to audio and disable the plugin. I also used Cardinal but it also ate the CPU, I stopped using it.
Once that was done, leaving the two PAD tracks that came from the CAVM audio, I chose to use the modular synthesizer that Reason has: the Complex. From here I also started from presets and made the sounds of the bass, the percussion, the melody and the sound effects.
Then I added cinematic percussion and some more pads that come from the Thor synths and sampled analog sounds.

Cables, connections and Modularity:
As for using Cables, Connections and Modularity, this is how Reason works normally. Reason is like a rack where you interconnect instruments, effects and utilities, and players. Most of the time these connections work like any other DAW, as if you had a plug-in chain. But sometimes, if you manipulate the cables, the sound burps can be very different and even wild, as requested by MrFox.
Here are some of these different connections I've made this month, aside from the cable connections that the Complex synth allows:
- Apply reverberation to the SIDE sleep part of one of the layers.
- Apply phaser and reverb to the melody part.

Front:


Back:



- Modulate two-tone stereo with an external phase-inverted LFO for each tone.

Front:


Back:


I hope you like it or at least can appreciate the work I have done.

Thank you colleagues.

(translated with google)




Video-screenshots:

phpBB [media]

Equipment:
DAW:
Reason 12.7.4d3

Reason Instruments:
NN-19 Sampler
Complex-1 Modular Synthesizer
Kong Drum Designer
Monotone Bass Synthesizer
Dr. Octo Rex Loop Player
Thor Polysonic Synthesizer

Reason Effects:
RV7000 MkII Advanced Reverb
The Echo
Sweeper Modulation Effect

Reason Players:
Scales & Chords

Reason Utilities:
Spider Audio Merger & Splitter
Pulsar Dual LFO

Reason Rack Extension:
ProjectSAM Orchestral Sampler Filmscore Instrument
Red Rock Sound RE 181 Mid/Side Audio Converter
Kilohearts AB kHs Gain
Kilohearts AB kHs Stereo
Kilohearts AB kHs Filter
Ekssperimental Sounds SPACEXPANDER

Other instruments outside of Reason:
Cherry Audio Voltage Modular

Other effects outside of Reason:
Valhalla Supermassive
Waves Vitamin Sonic Enhancer
Beatskillz Slam2
Plugin-alliance TBTECH Kirchhoff-EQ

Other tools:
iZotope Ozone 9
Plugin Alliance SPL HawkEye
HoRNet Plugins HoRNet VHS

[Koekepan]

Just under the wire! My submission this time is at https://files.catbox.moe/v93qvb.zip

I decided to slip outside my comfort zone with some Dub Techno this time. To do this, here was my setup:

Sequencer: Social Entropy Engine
Synthesis:
- Behringer Neutron (bass)
- Behringer Pro-1 (arp)
- Roland JP-08 (accent)
- Waldorf Streichfett - pad
- KORG Volca Keys - chord
- Novation Circuit - percussion

I patched up the semi-modulars, then recorded them all directly into the Tascam DP-32SD. Then, with the tracks recorded I unplugged everything and set up just the Tascam, with two Zoom G3n multi-effects units patched to the send outputs of the Tascam. These I then used to save wet stereo tracks. Finally, I layered the tracks in a mixdown.

To match the needs of SWC, I then used Audacity to do the LUFS normalisation.

It's not the ultimate in musical sophistication, but it's an experiment.

Editing to add the patch notes because in my hurry I forgot to take pictures.

On the Neutron I set it (this is a firmware setting) so that the assignable output replicated MIDI velocity. I put this into its utility mult, and patched one of its outputs with filter frequency. I then took the other side of the mult and patched it into the Pro-1 to resonance CV in to try to add a bit more snap to the arp's filter sound when the bass hits to keep them both distinct, regardless of later mixing phases. I then patched the filter envelope out to the mod wheel CV input of the Pro-1 to add a bit more life to the sound.

Nothing extreme; this amounted to subtle pre-mixing during the sound design phase to help the two sounds live next to each other in peace.