SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC083 July 2024 - Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

And with post #030, I've covered all entries that have been submitted prior to 21-JUL-2024 at 23:59 UTC+2/CEST. I hope you enjoyed this experience and the feedback was helpful.

This concludes the special "one-time feedback by the client" mechanic for this month's game. But SWC083 hasn't ended yet. Those of you that submitted early still have plenty of time for adjustments and re-uploads. Please mark your follow-up versions accordingly, so that I have it easier at the end of the game for the global collection post.


I currently count 8 entries on my HDD.
We need 9 participants for a 3-position winner's podium, and 16 for an extended podium.

If you've been sitting on the fence so far, or were short on time, please get your entry sorted out within the next 2,5 days.

Please continue to spread the word. Who knows, maybe you can get a befriended songwriting wizard involved that will provide something at the very last minute.


Thank you for participating.

[juhu]

Hi Mr. Fox, I've got this one more question to ask regarding how to name revisions in SWC:

Please mark your follow-up versions accordingly, so that I have it easier at the end of the game for the global collection post.

Q: is there a standard SWC Rule for how to mark the filenames of follow-up revisions? I know there is the _R# suffix in MC, but I couldn't find anything about filename suffices in SWC Rules, so what I did was I renamed my original version as _R1 and then uploaded my next version without suffix, i.e. the file without any suffix is always my latest version. Am I doing this wrong? Should I instead have a suffix for the latest version? Thanks!

[Elcubano]

Hello,
It's my first participation, and I tried to make a very repetitive music with a rhythm reminiscent of brick assemblages, mainly using Arturia's OB XA synth.

Old version :


new version:


https://drive.google.com/file/d/13GfaJI ... sp=sharing

► Show Spoiler

DAW: FL studio
plugins :
Drums : addictives dums 2
Synth : Arturia OB XA V
Synth : Arturia Mellotron V
Master : Ozone 11

[KukoBass]

Hi @juhu,

Q: is there a standard SWC Rule for how to mark the filenames of follow-up revisions? I know there is the _R# suffix in MC, but I couldn't find anything about filename suffices in SWC Rules, so what I did was I renamed my original version as _R1 and then uploaded my next version without suffix, i.e. the file without any suffix is always my latest version. Am I doing this wrong? Should I instead have a suffix for the latest version? Thanks!

There is no rule in SWC how to name your versions. As long as your initial post is linking your final version, you're in the clear.
Alternatively, when you have multiple links in one or many posts, you can write "this is my final version" over the link to the final version.

I hope this helps

[EsteveCorbera]

Dear fellow challengers and Mister Fox.

First of all thanks for the feedback Mister Fox. I've tried to heed most of the things you suggested: I've tuned the trumpets to the key of the project, I've improved the bandwidth of the bass, I've tried to fix the problems with the reverbs...

Apart from that, I want to tell you what I have done this month. To begin with, it is something completely different. I've tried to get closer to Jazz, but as I said, a messy version of Jazz. I thought that this kind of music would look good in the video game, as a description of the construction of a city that is also messy, in patches, with modern things and old things, with multiculturalism... That's why I wanted to make a jazz theme . It also wants to be a tribute to Lalo Schifrin.

Small details, I played two drums at the same time, with slightly different patterns. The bass player has played notes at random but has adapted to the changing rhythms of the drums to raise or lower the speed of the bass.
I've also used free samples for the trumpets. Which I changed the BPMs and tuned (or detuned) to the scale of the project. This was something new for me. He had tweaked little things, but he hadn't hit all the notes on some samples.


Well, I hope you can give me ideas to improve it or highlight what you would have done differently.


Thank you colleagues.

(translated with google)



Equipment:
DAW:
Reason 13.0.1d42

Reason Instruments:
NN-XT Advanced Sampler
Thor Polysonic Synthesizer
Parsec 2 Spectral Synthesizer
Redrum Drum Computer
Subtractor Polyphonic Synthesizer

Reason Effects:
RV7000 MkII Advanced Reverb
The Echo
PEQ-2 Two Band Parametric EQ
MClass Compressor
Pulveriser Demolition Unit
Synchronous Effect Modulator
Scream 4 Sound Destruction Unit
MClass Maximizer
Rotor Rotary Speaker
Sweeper Modulation Effect
Alligator Triple Filter Gate
Audiomatic Retro Transformer
Channel EQ
Master Bus Compressor
PH-90 Phaser
MClass Equalizer
Quartet Chorus Ensemble

Reason Players:
Scales & Chords
PolyStep Sequencer
Quad Note Generator
Dual Arpeggio

Reason Utilities:
Combinator
Mixer 14:2
Line Mixer 6:2

Reason Packs (like Presets):
Reason Drum Kits 2.0

• Meg Stereo Mix

• Eddie Stereo Mix

Reason Rack Extension:
ProjectSAM Orchestral Sampler Filmscore Instrument

Other instruments outside of Reason:
UJAM Virtual Bassist MELLOW
Native Instruments Kontakt

• Heavyocity Foundations Staccato Strings

• Kontakt Factory Library > Tenor Saxophone.nki

Other effects outside of Reason:
Accusonus ERA Noise Remover

Samples:
NATHAN-FITZGERALD--TRUMPET---FLUGEL-BANDLAB

Other tools:
HoRNet Plugins HoRNet SongKey MK4
iZotope Ozone 9
Plugin Alliance SPL HawkEye
HoRNet Plugins HoRNet VHS

[Mister Fox]

Q: is there a standard SWC Rule for how to mark the filenames of follow-up revisions?

A thank you to @KukoBass for already addressing this as well.

The long and short of it is, no... there is no particular rule with the Songwriting Competition. You can rename your original versions to "xyz_draft", you can name your final version "xyz_revision_576_v28_HDD_crashed.wav", you can even create a follow-up post rather than updating your initial post.

As long as you clearly point out "this is the final version, please use it for the global feedback and voting process". Else, I have to scrape through every post, find the most recent version and then use that one.

[Mister Fox]

Since the "1-time Client Feedback Mechanic" has ended, I technically do not need to do this anymore (other than giving final feedback on the updated edits). However, we're all here to learn and improve our skillsets.


First and foremost, welcome to the community, @Elcubano.

I took a listen to your entry -- this could indeed work for this fictional video game. And it's also not as repetitive as you made it out to be. It has some nice melody mutations, and I the 1980s Synth-Pop inspired tone is enjoyable.

Mix wise, it's mostly fine. Although I would dial back the lead synth a bit (volume wise), with the background melody being a bit more automated (volume wise) in places. This is the most apparent on "small speakers" yet again, different listening experience on headphones. The drum placement is also a matter of preference. On headphones, the synth panning is a bit erratic and can feel distracting really quickly. WIth the slightly perceived louder hat hits on this place, your ears try to focus on something, but can't. Maybe try keeping the panning a bit more centered for this particular synth, the hi-hat a blt lower in volume, and maybe add a touch of delay or reverb to it. This is at least what I would do.

Another thing of note:
Since this is the first time you're participating, please keep the Rule Book in mind. Bar minimum, renaming the file on Soundcloud, make it accessible (downloadable). It's also exceeding the loudness specs. Both are not a criteria for disqualification, but would set you back 5 bonus points right from the get go. Oh and... please mention which tools you used... you don't need to list every FX plugin, but at least the synths. This would add to the learning aspect.

Thanks for participating.



There are still roughly 35 hours left for this month's Songwriting Competition.
I wonder if we can exceed 12 entries...

[Doc Jon]

Thanks @Mister Fox for the constructive feedback
I made some mix changes as suggested, also softened up some of the transitions
I have updated my original post with the new version together with some updated track info

[Elcubano]

Thank you very much @Mister Fox for your very constructive feedback
and I'm sorry I didn't pay enough attention to the rules, I'll be more careful next time

[Mister Fox]

No harm done. Thanks for updating your post.

I still recommend maybe taking another look at your entry, maybe do some touch ups. And with your possible follow-up version, please remember the filename template (see post #002 or the TL;DR Rules), and maybe also adhere to the loudness limits.