SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC082 June 2024 - Winners announced

[KukoBass]

Hello everybody,

this month I had several tasks that were taking a lot of time and energy, so my songwriting time was very limited. That is why I experimented using multiple sample loops to speed up the process, but I'm not really happy with the outcome. I could not write a "B"-part because I didn't have the instruments used in the sample loops and the loops didn't have a "B"-part. A lot of time was used for "humanizing" the very straight loops. In hindsight, the time would be better used for composing more of a melody.
In the end, the song doesn't feel like it is really "mine" and I would not use so many loops in a future song again.

My feedback:
If you are new here: Don't take my feedback too seriously, I'm still learning writing, arranging and mixing myself.

► Show Spoiler

APi_ZZ - Golden Light
I'm conflicted on this entry. On one hand, we're supposed to "just make music" and are allowed to use "all tools at our disposal" (except for some vocal samples). And in the end, AI is just another tool, just more advanced than "Scaler 2" or "InstaScale". And every one-octave melody has already been recorded and copyrighted anyway.
On the other hand, it feels just wrong: I want AI to help me with tedious tasks and not to replace me in the creative process that I enjoy.
I kind of like the chord progression and the melody the AI came up with. But the output of the AI just sounds strange, especially the voice with all the autotune-like artefacts. I wonder how this would have sounded with some decent instrumentation and a real vocalist, or at least Synth V for the vocals.


Arelem - Hands Up
This song would be great for the summer "Schools out"-parties in parks.
The boomy kick gets a little irritating over the length of the song, especially because it doesn't always fit the chords in the background. I think the song could benefit from some synth bass and some pad sounds to emphasize the chord progression.
The mix sounds good to me. I like the stereo effects starting around 1:25 and the effort you put in the glitch effects. And I really like the treatment of your vocals, I think this is one of your specific strengths.


AuderMarr - Lucid Sweltering Dreams
This song sounds like a game soundtrack for a surreal platform game. I like the atmosphere the song creates.
My main concern is the steel-drum-like sound starting around 1:21 which - in my opinion - does not fit the relaxed mood the intro was setting.
I think the mix could be improved. The synth bass is too much in the foreground for my taste. The chopped melody has indeed an air of uncertainty and unpredictability, but I think the arrangement could leave more space for the atmospheric sounds of the song. My favourite parts are the quieter parts (intro and the break starting around 1:45 in the song and the outro) and I feel the song should feature more of them.
All in all, an interesting and individual song. I'm curious what you'll come up with in the future.


BenijRage - Sunset in the Garden
A beautiful, peaceful, warm atmosphere. The song has the right pace for the melody to work its magic.
I like especially the interchange between the vocal "Ah" and the saxophone.
The mix sounds great; especially the use of reverb is awesome.


EsteveCorbera - Somni d'Estiu
I like the dreamy atmosphere of the song.
The melody sounds a little choppy. I think it could be improved by giving some of the notes time to fade out.
I feel that the drum rhythm is too fast for the atmosphere of the song. It might sound better if it was played half or even a quarter as fast.
Regarding the mix: The strings have a strong attack; they might sound better if they were pushed further to the background
My favourite part is the part where two pianos start playing the melodies in top of each other (starting around 2:07).


Jeroen Zuiderwijk - Follow the Sky
This reminds me of a CD I listened a lot to as a student. It was a compilation of drum and bass tracks that were somehow more chilling than the usual stuff. I can't remember the name, but Ruby - Saltwater Fish (Pershay remix) was on it.
I feel the song would sound more dreamy if the melody were played in half-time and the other instruments were pushed more to the back of the mix.
All in all, a song that I'd love to put on my private playlist for this summer.


Mellow Browne - Black Forest Tropicana
This reminds me indeed of the Café del Mar series.
I especially like the bubbly bass synth sound. I just wish the background chord synth was pumping a little less. I feel that the pumping effect is - generally - overused.
Another song I'd love to put on my private summer playlist. I had the feeling that it gets better when listened repeatedly.


Miha - PEACE
A very classical composed song with a strong melody.
The fast piano part on the right (starting around 0:33) is a little bit too much for my taste; I like the part where it slows down again (around 0:44).
The mix sounds good to me; only the violin sound might not be the best choice for this piece because it has a little delay before reaching the full volume. This sounds a little strange in the fast parts of the melody (e.g. at 0.26). Also, the instrument sounds a little bit harsh sometimes when playing higher notes.
The melody is the best part of your song: Give it room to breathe and shine.


TrojakEW - Summer Dreams
A very cinematic piece of music, very well arranged and instrumented. I love the background birds and water sounds and the orchestral percussion.
For the arpeggio, I would have chosen strings instead of the flute sounds. The mix sounds good to me. Only the fast piano and mallets are a little too loud for my taste.
The ending sounds somehow unfinished because it does not go back to the first key.


VCA-089 - Flamingo Sunset
What a great soundscape and atmosphere!
Excellent arrangement and mix. The only thing irritating me is that the wave sample and the ambience sounds sound like they were in a concert hall.
Unfortunately, the song has somehow a rather dark atmosphere due to the heavy drums and the prominent bass sound, which I find a little off the "summer dreams" theme.
The guitar sound is great and could be a little more in the foreground.

My Top 5:
Unfortunately, we can only choose 5 entries. So here are my - purely subjective - chosen 5 for this month.

► Show Spoiler

1. BenijRage - Sunset in the Garden
2. Mellow Browne - Black Forest Tropicana
3. EsteveCorbera - Somni d'Estiu
4. Jeroen Zuiderwijk - Follow the Sky
5. TrojakEW - Summer Dreams

And last but not least, a big "Thank you" to Mr. Fox for organizing such a great competition.

[TrojakEW]

As every time I trying to make some noise, this time too I learn that there is too much I need to learn. What I also found that most people prefer kind of over reverbed sound. I on the other hand like more dry sound since I trying to reach intimate sound. We are have different taste so it kind of doesn't matter. Since we are doing music as hobby we do not need to listen to anyone. We can do exactly what we want to do and this is magic of music making as hobby. We are not selling anything and we are doing it because we like doing it. At least some of us.
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Arelem - Hands Up
I like what you did with that glitch rhythm. It is interesting and even it repeats over and over it does not matter. It is nice and interesting. Vocal fit there nicely and you use AI as a tool in good way. What I do not like is beat. This is example of machine gun effect. Kick have same velocity and same amplitude and every hit sounds the same that make it "boring" especially with the same pattern played. Even when you switch off layering of that kick with that sub starting at 1:00 it doesn't do much change to the feel of the pattern. This broke the overall nice mood of the track and even with this interesting transition in the beat at 1:24 was not enough to make listening to this repeating pattern interesting. Also this piercing metallic snare does not help at all. Lifeless loop over and over kind of ruin the track. With different patterns and more human touch to this beat it can be really nice summer track. This means I think you hit the summer mood perfectly. Mix is not bad and and everything have it's own place. Kick and snare is dominant in the track but as I already write it is not interesting enough to drive the track. Repeating pattern or loop is not problem, but problem is to make simple loop interesting enough to make listener engaged.
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KukoBass - Summer Dreams
Nice mood and warm feel make it interesting and fitting for this round. Not sure what what of those are loops and what are instruments that played but I do not like that vibrating plucked synth lead that plays in I think three parts of the track. Very dry and it stick out of the mix too much. That epiano is bit better and that arp in back is nice. I like the best part that starts at 1:52 up to 2:24. Actually until that that plucked synth again. This is very nice calm part and if the whole track goes this way, in regards of mood and the atmosphere that is there, it will be very cool track. Beat pattern is not that bad but it feel bit overused without any breaks, changes to it. Simple variation in volume is not enough to make it more lively. Mix is not bad but not good either, There are some issues with phasing and mono compatibility and as I mention the puck synth for me stick out too much and I will personally liked that track far more without this instrument at all.
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EsteveCorbera - Somni d'Estiu
Intro part of track is nice and interesting. After a while piano part is become boring. It is used as main melody part and position upward in the mix confirm it but there is no melody there. It sound just random key noodling in selected scale. There is no purpose behind. It just play. The idea behind is good and the basic mood is set but it goes nowhere. Change at later starting at 2:08 does not help either. It sound more like another layer of piano played octave lower and it is more distracting. Overall instrument choice is good but the melody is missing. There is nothing that define the track and something that is easy to remember, something that goes to your head easily. Mix is not bad but not that good either. Intro is bit muffled and there the whole track is bit weak. It lack more umph. I will fir sure add almost 6DB around 60Hz, while suppressing some mid low around 300Hz maybe -3DB. I will also boost some mids from 2k up to 9kagain with about 3DB and again cut some high above 13kHz to balance it overall. Everything with dynamic not static EQ. You fit the the picture theme well but most problematic part as I mention is missing melody.
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JeroenZuiderwijk - Follow The Sky
Ttripple cheese in nice synth. I used it few time in one synth challenge. I like freebie zebrallete from u-he more. It is still simple but more versatile. Now I'm not expert in dnb but there are some things I would not do as you have done. They way you deign the beat feel almost like cutting beat loop and not creating those break yourself. It sound strange to me and it have that this stutter effect you have trying to make is uninteresting. I'm talking about loop starting ad 0:30 and for example the ending start at 2:36. It is almost you are not able to breath and you are suffocating. The whole mix feels not just weak but also muddy. That super saws starting at the 1:04 make it sound better but still most instruments sound you squeeze them too much. It almost feel like the track is played from cheap radio that is able to play frequencies above 600Hz. Also that synth pluck in intro sounds ear piercing and bit ovecompressed. No matter what the music style is used, it should have something that define the theme and it makes this track memorable. Same as Esteve I'm missing some definition here, melody. It is also same that your piano just play kind of random key in the scale. As you describe you are tried to go more for dark side of the summer using more aggressive dnb and there is no problem with that. It just I miss the theme here.
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Miha - PEACE
This is interesting composition you have here. It have nice structure and you have break it in different interesting parts. It have weird mood and I not sure if I will called this track peace since there are some interesting dissonances that are not very peace like. It is not issue and it makes it interesting and engage listener go back to part where it almost sound you are playing it in wrong key. Instead of violin section you used, I will rather go for solo violin to accompanies the piano. I like the idea behind the track but there is one huge issue. The mix and overall sound is very bad. Violins tear my ears apart. Piano needs some boost in low to fill the gap in low freq spectrum and to give the mix more power, but for the violins it needs more processing then simple EQ. There is need to tame those bad resonances that are very unpleasant. Later added instruments does not make it better and make the mix more cluttered even there is not much instruments playing. You need to position instruments bit better so they will not interfere with each other. SO yes I like the track but it was very very hard to listen because of very very bad mix.
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AP_ZZ - Golden Light
I'm not sure if I understand the reason behind this track. I'm doing music because I like the process of creating it and this is most common reason for somebody that are interesting in music and it is a hobby for them. It is not about final product but about the process of making something that make me feel alive and happy. What is your purpose with music? Why are you doing it? It really does not make any sense. I understand the reason for somebody that need to add some background music to video as example and this person don't know anything and don't care about music making so he use the AI to generate the track for himself to put it there. I not going to review this track. There is no reason comment on something that does not have purpose. There is only one bonus point point for you and that is fact you have confess that this is not your work but AI.
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MellowBrowne - Black Forest Tropicana
Simple laid back track. Simple but keep me interested even the theme and pattern does not change much. It is interesting that it is not boring. I have to try to make such thing myself. Not easy task to do. Good use of syncopation in rhythm. I only do not like the intro and you should start straight from 0:17 part of track. Also not like choice of hihat sound, but it is only my taste. Otherwise good work. Mix sound good and balanced and track fit very well to the theme.
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VCA-089 - Flamingo Sunset
I start right from the end. Nice track you have here and I enjoy it much. I like the composition and choice of instruments. Lead guitar in second half is very nice addition and it blends very well with all the other sounds even those from dexed. Very soothing track that really fits the theme. Now the mix itself, ehm well. I think for my biggest issue is the reverb and way you used it. It create very artificial space in track that does not sound good to my ears. That ducking in that occur in high frequencies in the reverb tails sound weird. I'm sure this dry reverb also caused phasing issue in your mix mostly in mid low spectrum around 150Hz up to 1.2kHz. It is also hard to judge the mix itself because if that reverb. Otherwise very good job.
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BenjiRage - Sunset in the Garden
Short, simple and beautiful. Proof that sometimes less is more. I can clearly imagine picture of the garden in my head. Gentle vocals with that saxophone works very well together. There is nothing more I can write here about composition and mood. You nailed it perfectly. What I can however comment on, is mix. Yes that reverb add nice touch to the mood and create almost dreamy atmosphere, but at the same time it create phasing cancelation on your sound. Correlation meter is truly our friend and we should check it not just on overall mix but also on instrument level to see if our effect chain did not break something. In your situation it did. Quiet clear issues incorporated (I think) by the reverb you applied across the whole frequency spectrum. But still I like this track most because of the mood, simplicity and the end effect on me while listening.
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AuderMarr - Lucid Sweltering Dreams
Track really tell us the story and it can be quite close to what you describe. There are nice changes and breaks in composition. It makes track interesting and kind of evolving. The mood is nice and while it can fit the theme I was waiting more for less disturbing experience. While it is not bad idea, it is that just we face such a weird situations almost everyday in our busy life. At least it is how it is for me. Everyday stress in job so some more calming track is more welcome. Still as interesting experiment it is good. Mix sound good and balanced but for me it is drowned in reverb. It is for me that it sound almost music is playing in my neighbor.
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Now the hardest part - voting. Thanks to the AI track it makes it tiny bit easier because I removed it from voting straight away without thinking. It will be not fair to the rest of people who are tried to do something by themselves.

► Show Spoiler

01 BenjiRage - Sunset in the Garden
02 KukoBass - Summer Dreams
03 VCA-089 - Flamingo Sunset
04 MellowBrowne - Black Forest Tropicana
05 Arelem - Hands Up

[Arelem]

Hello All,

I had fun making my entry this month. Like I said in my initial post, I learned that automation can sometimes benefit from a more manual approach however tedious it might be. I also had some fun with Audimee and seeing what that is capable of. It does a good job of converting the vocals but it does require a good product to go in; it isn't going to fix your mistakes for you.

Feedback

► Show Spoiler

TrojakEW - The vocal chants are nice and fit well into the track. All of the instrumentation seems to work well actually. I like the subtle use of drums/percussion, it helps drive the track.

KukoBass - The choices on drum sounds are really nice. The synths work well in the mix. The track feels like it's leaving room for vocals despite there not being any. Overall a good track but not quite enough going on to keep my interest.

EsteveCorbera - There's a bit of dissonance in the guitar and the organ that takes away from the pleasant feeling in the song. The drums sound good but are maybe too present in the mix. Probably because everything else feels a bit pushed back and muddy. The melodies seem fine but the different elements don't really have their own space in the mix.

JeroenZuiderwijk - The phasing synth is a little too constant and got obnoxious for me, and it felt a bit out of place before the bass came in. After the bass comes in it fit better in my opinion, but it would still benefit from a slower phase shift or maybe just coming in and out less often. Beyond that, everything sounded good and I really like the sound choices for the bass.

Miha - The violin is pretty shrill, I would tame the highs a bit. Also, the VST used is very obviously a VST especially when playing the faster notes. There is some off notes played or the double is out of key, not sure, but it did not sound right to me. The piano sounds good however. Being that those are the only two element really present in the track, I don't really have much else to comment.

Api ZZ - I'm not really sure what I would be giving feedback on as this is an AI generated track. Beyond some weird artifacting which is standard with AI at the moment, the vocals are mixed far to forward in the mix to me.

MellowBrowne - I am really not a fan of the snare(?) pattern here. It doesn't sound good IMO and it is off time in a way that I am really not feeling. The keys and bass both sound good. The vocal accents and the synth also work well. I just had a really hard time focusing on anything through that snare. I know that being off beat at times can help create a nice groove but be careful that it still 'feels' right.

VCA-089 - You seem to have really settled into the dream aspect of the prompt and it comes through in the track really well. While the reverb and delays help with that feel, I think the track could benefit from some dryer elements that cut through the mix. The electric guitar almost fits that bill but maybe could have the reverb pulled back just a little, or a dryer sounding cabinet depending on how it was processed.

BenjiRage - The piano sounds great here. I'm not sure the brass quite fits for me but it doesn't sound bad. I think some more bass presence might be nice. You could go with a double bass that accompanies the strings maybe just to round out the sound. The vocals sound ok but they make the track feel like a gospel song which I'm not that's what you want. A little slow for my tastes but it does sound nice.

AuderMarr - A very chaotic track that almost works for me. I would try to make some space by maybe simplifying some of the elements while others come in and out. For example, the bass is playing a lot of different notes quickly but so is the lead synth. Maybe when the synth comes in, the bass gets a more simple melody to play so that it's easier to focus on the synth. The track is also very quite, I assume that is to meet the LUFS requirement. It takes some doing, but it is better to adjust the mix rather than just turn down the track as you will get a better result that way IMO.

Vote

► Show Spoiler

1st VCA-089
2nd JeroenZuiderwijk
3rd BenjiRage
4th TrojakEW
5th KukoBass

[Arelem]

I just wanted to say that I am super disappointed that so many people are so heavily considering how they feel a song matches the theme. Obviously there could be some extreme examples of where it's apparent that the prompt was not an influence, but beyond the extreme, it's not something that I really consider at all. Who am I to tell someone else that the prompt didn't inspire their track? Everyone is going to interpret things differently and I don't think that just because it isn't how I expected it, that it should be held against them. Obviously there were references like this to my track and others I've had in the past, but I've also seen it against others too. This month's challenge had a couple that I could say didn't fit the prompt in my opinion, but that's just a difference between how they and I see things. Everyone is free to judge how they like but it really feels bad to get dinged for a difference of interpretation rather than an issue with the product itself.

Just my 2 cents on the matter.

[BenjiRage]

Hi everyone

Thank you for all the feedback so far, some interesting points have been raised and have given me some food for thought for future compositions.

The simpler ideas this month seem to have been working well, which is a big takeaway for me - often I find myself trying to come up with big, thick pop productions where I over-tweak and obsess over the littlest details in the composition and mix, which not only saps away the hours but is very draining at the same time, so I'm really happy that the simpler song has worked for this one.

I'm also really glad that the saxophone has proved to be popular, I'm intending to keep up practice with this and hopefully my future songs will feature more of it.

Well done on all your entries too this month, it's been a lot of fun listening to them this weekend. Here's my feedback for everyone:

► Show Spoiler

@Arelem - "Hands Up"
This definitely feels like a club tune for a hot summer night. Very good job on the production qualities, as always from you, Arelem. Drums are spot on for the chosen genre, powerful and dominating. The frequency spectrum is well filled with drums & bass dominating the high and low and synths / vocals filling in the middle; it feels full and thick yet still spacious and never crowded, nice job. I like the transition of the vocals between central and drier to wide and filtered as the song sections change, it helps keep the song interesting. The lyrics are perhaps a bit cheesy / clichéd and I think the vocals need to be a bit more polished; in quite a few places they're not quite on the beat which chips away at the professionalism of the track a little bit. Otherwise I think this song would be worthy of today's commercial charts.

@TrojakEW - "Summer Dreams"
I really like the vocals in this song (the ahs especially); even though I can't tell what they're saying lyrically, they add great humanity and interest. I love your use of the orchestral toms for energetic build ups; and indeed all the orchestral instrumentation has been well chosen and arranged - the dynamic contour of the track is excellent because of this. The birdsong gives it a distinct summer feeling too, which really helps to hit the brief. It does feel like it ends a little too soon, but time always seems to be in such short supply to get things finished the way we would like; I often struggle with this too.

@KukoBass - "Summer Dreams"
Great shaker rhythm, this really helps to drive the song and I like the half-time drums that help to give the song a laid-back, dreamy feel. I really like the Rhodes melody; it's lovely and feels improvised and human (I've just read your notes that this was indeed improvised - very nice job!). The repeating three-note theme that underpins many sections is similarly well written and helps tie things together. I can't help the feeling that there's something missing; it feels like maybe it needs a stronger melodic lead, but I'm not quite sure. Overall though a very pleasing track that I could listen to on repeat.

@EsteveCorbera - "Somni D'Estiu"
The start to this song is wonderful and peaceful with the waves and soft guitar / e-piano. The choice of drums feels a bit too heavy for the style of the track though; it sounds very much like a rock kit (especially the slappy kick drum), I think a brush kit would have been a better choice. While the chord progression, driven by the strings, in itself is quite interesting and works well; the notes of the piano melody don't always work with over the top, sometimes they are clashing. However, this is still a pleasing and interesting song that feels very relevant to this month's theme.

@JeroenZuiderwijk - "Follow the Sky"
For a drum and bass track, I think the kick and the mix overall need more low frequency to be impactful; but the rhythms are very good and never boring - there are little variations all over, which shows the attention to detail of a musician. Apart from the "B" section, which has some movement, it doesn't feel like there's a lot of harmonic content; it feels like the track is largely centred around one chord and I think the interest level suffers a bit because of this.

@Miha - "PEACE"
I like the arpeggiated piano underscoring the track but the string melody is way too piercing and loud - softening this would make the track much more enjoyable (although this is largely a mix decision rather than a songwriting one). For this instrument, you could also bring the attack time down a little bit (or automate it down temporarily) as on the faster phrases the notes have barely entered their sustain phase before the next one starts so they're almost lost.

@APi_ZZ - "Golden Light"
Hmmm, to me this seems like a bit of a lazy effort getting AI to write the bulk of the song for you. While it's a fun experiment, for a competition I don't think it's wholly appropriate either; but at least you have been honest about it so nothing is hidden. I would love to hear an original track of yours that isn't based around AI and/or loops, I'm sure you are more than capable. Anyway, all that aside based purely on the finished product I think the track isn't bad, but it's not particularly good. It has a pleasing enough chord progression and melody, but lots of little artefacts, rhythm inconsistencies, things not quite on the beat make it hard to really enjoy it.

@Mellow Browne - "Black Forest Tropicana"
I like this track; it has a cool, kind of whacky videogame feel to it from the outset. The rhythm and the pumping groove are great and I found myself foot tapping and moving my body while listening. I did also find my mind drifting while the music was playing; it struggled to hold my full attention, which I think is because there wasn't a stronger melody for me to hook into. You've crafted a good, balanced mix here though with strong bass frequencies that are powerful but not overly so, well done. I love the little drum fill at 3:06 back into the main theme, great addition.

@VCA-089 - "Flamingo Sunset"
Very chill/vaporwave, laid back, summery and dreamy - spot on for the theme. I think the mix needs more high frequency and air, it just sounds a little bit muffled to me. The harmonic progression also feels a bit unexpected in places that somewhat detracts from the listening enjoyment, even though musically it makes for an interesting choice and showcases your strong musicianship. The guitar is really cool and combined with the reverb and effects really help to place this track squarely in the genre. I love the use of the DMX too (my studio friend James has an original hardware unit! )

@AuderMarr - "Lucid Sweltering Dreams"
This has quite a "Stranger Things" vibe to me and would work really well for one of the on-screen pre-action sequences. I like the choice of instrumentation and the synths in particular really help to give it the vibe. It's quite abstract in terms of its harmonic centre, but in the context of what you've been trying to create (a dream-like state with unpredictability and unstable elements) I think this fits well. It does feel a little unpolished and unfinished like you say; I would love to hear the "finished" version if you're thinking of polishing it up.

This is a hard choice as pretty much everyone has made a great effort, so I've had to vote with some degree of consideration for personal taste. Apologies if I haven't voted for you, even though you deserve it.

► Show Spoiler

1. Arelem
2. TrojakEW
3. VCA-089
4. KukoBass
5. Mellow Browne

Best regards,

Benji

[EsteveCorbera]

Good night,

Thank you all for participating. It is a pleasure to enjoy such a variety of music.
As some other colleague comments, I too am here to have fun, to experience new things every month, and above all to learn. Learning from your feedback, learning by listening to your songs and imagining how I would make them.
I agree that I need more music theory but time is what it is and there are many other things in my life that occupy my time.
I also want to make a comment on the subject of structures. Not all topics have to have a conventional structure. I have spent most of my life listening to film music. I have a large collection of CDS in this genre. This type of music, by the mere fact of accompanying some images, does not have a conventional structure. Therefore, I live from this influence and I don't care too much about the structure part.

Thanks.

I leave you comments about your work:

Arelem - Hands_Up
Good production. Very powerful sound, as you are used to us. Good use of voices. I have to tell you that I do not master the style of your music at all, so I am not able to find anything to improve it.
As a comment, I find the music too aggressive for the image provided, but this is not a criticism, but the expression of different ways of thinking.

TrojakEW - SummerDreams
Good start, makes you stop what you're doing to pay attention to the music.
I like powerful orchestral percussion. The vocals sound great too. I also like the structure of the piece, very cinematic.
As a criticism I would only say that it looks like two pieces joined together, the part of the intro (long) and the part of the end. Perhaps more variation is needed in the flute arpeggios and the sound of the Xylophone (but this is very subjective).

KukoBass - SummerDreams_v4
Music that immediately transports you to the image this month. The percussion parts and the synth melody, the first time I heard them I found something wrong with them, but then when I read your intro comments for your theme I got it. This gives it a special life. Really good.
On a mixing level, I would maybe play a bit more with the reverb on some elements of the percussion. But this is a comment at the level of personal preferences.

JeroenZuiderwijk - FollowTheSky
I like the floating synth (like it's blowing air), it's a good idea. The rhythms you have put are not so much to my taste, which does not mean that they are bad, but that I do not like this type of music.
I like the position you give (reverberation) to the main synths, they make the sound warmer, nicer, more real.

Miha - PEACE
Good sentence: Short, like peace in this world!
Good composition. Your composition really sounds like a summer dream. Pity of the used ones. The strings are too artificial, too dry. Maybe using some other kind of instruments would improve things. I like the constant piano arpeggio on the piano, it gives it a classic touch. I also find the use of stereo panning in the final part questionable, I guess you did it so that all the melodies can be appreciated, but it creates a strange feeling.

APi ZZ - Golden Light
It really is a theme that ties in perfectly with the image of this month's challenge.
I don't know what to say... I haven't tried using AI tools at this level yet. As an experiment it works.
But things I would criticize (kindly) would be the piano melody, sometimes I find it detached from the song. Could you treat the vocals a bit more, maybe more reverb?

MellowBrowne - BlackForestTropicana
Summer dreams in Ibiza. Very chill out. Good atmosphere and good vibes. But few things happen, too repetitive, too long the same sound. Yes, good mix.
I like the final sound.

VCA-089 - FlamingoSunset
I was not very interested in your production this month. This comment is not intended to be derogatory, but rather that you tried something different from what you usually do and it didn't hook me. Matter of taste.
But it's a good production. Correct sounds that refer to the years 80-90. The Miami Vice series comes to mind, with DX7 sound (in this case Dexed). Very reverberant drums too.

BenjiRage - Sunset_in_the_Garden
The first time I heard your song the 4th chord sounded out of place. As the issue progresses, I no longer feel that way. I like the voice and the feeling of tranquility. What a beautiful garden you must have if this music inspires you. I like the piano composition. Well done !!

AuderMarr- LucidSwelteringDreams
Risky and innovative proposal. Difficult to classify. You have really managed to make something unpredictable and unstable, and very creative at the same time. Therefore, it is very difficult for me to be able to judge her. The mix needs work. It all sounds too screwed up.
But it catches my attention to hear your next works around here.

Thanks.

(translated with google, sorry for the imperfections that the translation may contain)

► Show Spoiler

01 BenjiRage - Sunset_in_the_Garden
02 TrojakEW - SummerDreams
03 KukoBass - SummerDreams_v4
04 AuderMarr - LucidSwelteringDreams
05 Miha - PEACE

[BenjiRage]

01 BenjiRage - Sunset_in_the_Garden
02 BenjiRage - Sunset_in_the_Garden
03 KukoBass - SummerDreams_v4
04 AuderMarr - LucidSwelteringDreams
05 Miha - PEACE

Wow thank you, Esteve for the love you've shown my song! But I don't know if the double vote there is a mistake?

[Mister Fox]

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


Please check post #029 regarding the feedback and voting mechanic. Giving feedback is mandatory (the only criteria to become disqualified). 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. Don't just "collect" and then move on - this is unfair to all other participants.

Outside feedback is welcome, of course.

[EsteveCorbera]

01 BenjiRage - Sunset_in_the_Garden
02 BenjiRage - Sunset_in_the_Garden >>> TrojakEW - SummerDreams
03 KukoBass - SummerDreams_v4
04 AuderMarr - LucidSwelteringDreams
05 Miha - PEACE

Wow thank you, Esteve for the love you've shown my song! But I don't know if the double vote there is a mistake?

Sorry!!!
You're right, I liked your song!!!, but maybe not enough to vote it twice

I have corrected the votes in the original post

[VCA-089]

This month was another great opportunity to compose music in my favorite style and bring it to another level. Unfortunately, the whole month was covered in the fuss of getting a real instrument (the bass guitar) and all the equipment it needed. Learning to use something that you have seen only on the TV/Internet is a lot of pain (I was quite shocked by the size and weight of it), but it may give me more motivation and make me a better musician after all.

Also, I (finally) got a proper audio interface. The sound of it is drastically different from an integrated sound card of my laptop (as expected), so my judgement of mix and master quality of the entries would depend on it.

My feedback:

► Show Spoiler

1. Arelem - Hands Up

It feels to me like a typical song for a TikTok video.
Overall sound is very harsh. The upper mids are very present in the mix.
Everything feels squashed and distorted. I heard a lot of extremely loud music, but this one just doesn't sound pleasing.
The instrumentation feels like a collection of loops. It gets pretty repetitive hearing the same parts.
The drum section also feels very repetitive with only a few variations and instruments.
The vocal part lacks energy and feels robotic. Are those people really enjoy what they are doing?
The overall production quality is pretty "acceptable" it terms of "modern" sound.


2. TrojakEW - Summer Dreams

I think this is a good draft for a fantasy/adventure movie soundtrack.
The song has a dreamy atmosphere with a touch of mystery in it. In my opinion it fits the image best.
The orchestral arrangement is very good. There are a lot of different sections that play together seamlessly.
The looped vocal phrase feels very synthetic and gets too repetitive through the song.
The song is quite short and I think it lacks a "B" part.
The production quality is very good. The mix feels balanced and there is a right level of dynamic for the orchestral song.

3. KukoBass - Summer Dreams

This chilled downtempo song may fit for evening walks.
It has the calm, dreamy and warm vibe that fits the image I think.
The drum section feels a bit undeveloped with only a few variations. I also feel like the snare isn't tuned to the song.
The solo parts in this song seem to be played live. The improvisation is good, but sometimes it hits off the tempo too hard.
I really like the background harmony part with all the different pads and arpeggios.
The production is quite good here.

4. EsteveCorbera - Somni d'Estiu

This song is like a collection of loops that doesn't really fit together.
The very bright and intense drum part is overwhelming in the context of a mellow sounding arrangement.
The bass is very weak. It needs to be much louder, upfront and rhythmically intense to follow the drum part.
The piano melody part feels like a random generated AI performance.
The electric and acoustic guitar parts are too quiet and getting lost in the mix.
The overall production quality is acceptable.

JeroenZuiderwijk - Follow The Sky

This song might've been used for some racing simulator on a tropical island.
The song has a dreamy vibe at some point, but generally it's very driving and intense.
Good programing on those classic DnB grooves, but the drum part needs to be compressed much harder.
Great sounding reese bass part. It has enough fat and the top end.
The melodic parts do feel random and sometimes missing a tempo. It may be done for variations, but this type of music really needed a steady memorable riff/sequence.
The overall production is quite good, except that the upper mids get pretty harsh when listening loud. Also, there could be a little bit more bass.

Miha - PEACE

Sounds to me like a snippet of a movie soundtrack with a lot of classical influences.
There is a strong sense of drama in the song. Not sure how it's related to dreams of summer.
The mix is very mid range heavy (the 1k to 3k range), it's very hard to listen to.

ApiZZ - Golden Light

This song could've been a summer pop hit, but in the current state it feels like a very rough demo.
The vocals sound too synthetic. It seems that old software just cannot compete with 2024's technology.
Somehow the arrangement doesn't feel cohesive. All the parts are playing on their own and competing, some of them are missing the tempo.
The mix is very unbalanced. Some of the parts are overwhelmingly loud and some of them barely hearable.
The frequency spectrum also needs to be entirely rebalanced.

Mellow Browne - Black Forest Tropicana

Music to chill in the bar at the beach while looking into the sunset over the sea.
The song has a warm and chilled vibe, good for dreaming of summer days.
Good programing and processing on drums. The grooves are very catchy.
The arrangement has some creative layering of different parts.
The song lacks a main melody/riff that could make it much more memorable.
The overall production and mix balance is very good.

BenjiRage - Sunset in the Garden

It's a good ambient piece, but it feels like a draft for a pop song where the drums, bass and vocals are missing, just the background parts.
It creates a dreamy and soothing atmosphere. The chords sound very interesting.
The piano doesn't feel real, the chords are stereo and the melody is in the centre.
The sustained sax notes and adlibs diversifies the arrangement a little bit.
The song has a pretty good mix.

AuderMarr - Lucid Sweltering Dreams

This one sounds very experimental and (retro) futuristic.
It creates very contrasting vibes. It feels like exploring an alien planet.
I really like the sound palette. The glitchy soundscapes in the intro are my favourite.
The melodies and riffs sound pretty random to me, but I like the overall craziness of it.
The drum part feels like it's playing in another room. It lacks dynamics and there is too much reverb.
The mix is very mid range heavy and lacks dynamics.

Voting:

► Show Spoiler

1. TrojakEW - Summer Dreams
2. MellowBrowne - Black Forest Tropicana
3. JeroenZuiderwijk - FollowTheSky
4. KukoBass - Summer Dreams
5. BenjiRage - Sunset in the Garden