SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC086 October 2024 - Submissions until 24-OCT-2024 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

[PonySho]

Here are the stems: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BqjnP ... p=drive_fs If anybody else wants to give it a go, I'm more than happy to be shown up.
Thanks again!

Hi Ryan. I'll be working in my studio today, so will rework your mix and send you back the stems so you can see what I did...hopefully that would be helpful for you.

[KukoBass]

Hello everybody,

this is my abandoned WIP for this month:


The .wav is here:
Hope will grow

I got a new job, so I had little time to work on this. I really wanted to write some lyrics for this and sing, but I ran out of time. The e-piano in the B and C part is meant to be the melody of the voice.

Tools used:

► Show Spoiler

DAW: Ableton Live 12

Sample at the beginning and the end:
Crows at Dawn 1 by silentseason -- https://freesound.org/s/335870/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Klevgrand Brusfri
Ableton Compressor
Ableton Utily for the blend in and fade out

Chords:
On the left: Melda Production Sound Factory "Power Strings"
On the right: W.A. Productions Babylon 2 "KY Alfred Plus"-preset

Melody and placeholder for the voice:
Applied Acoustic Systems Lounge Lizard EP4 "Growl 1"-preset

Viola (counter melody)
Native Instruments Session Strings Pro 2 "Violas - traditional"-preset

Drums:
IK Multimedia Modo Drum "Jazzy"-Preset and groves from "Try"

Shaker:
Puzzling Recon Shaker loop from Heavyocity Free Production Loops

Bass:
IK Multimedia Modo Bass 2 "Violin Bass"-preset

Reverb: IK Multimedia Sunset Studio Reverb "Live Room 3"-setting

Master Chain:
IK Multimedia TR5 Saturator
Hornet ThirtyOne MK2 Equalizer
brainworx bx_masterdeck True Peak to make the song louder and to make bass frequencies below 120 Hz mono
ADPTR Streamliner to make sure the loudness is below the target of -14 LUFS integrated -1 dB peak

Tools used for mixing:
AYAIC Mix Monolith
YouLean Loudness Meter 2 Free to check for loudness problems
Hornet VHS to calibrate the frequencies for my Beyerdynamic headphones for mixing

[ryanc]

Final Submission: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Bouys ... p=drive_fs

As per the generous suggestions I got from fellow musicians this mix has a few changes:
• I chose a less harsh-sounding snare sample. I still struggled to get it to sit well in the mix, but I think it sounds better
• Timing adjustments. Some of the instruments weren't synced well. Not perfect now, but better and hopefully less distracting
• EQ on the entire mix but especially on the guitars as there were some unpleasant resonances, again not perfect, but better.

Thanks again, friends, for your constructive criticism. I look forward to learning more from you!

[ryanc]

Here are the stems: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BqjnP ... p=drive_fs If anybody else wants to give it a go, I'm more than happy to be shown up.
Thanks again!

Hi Ryan. I'll be working in my studio today, so will rework your mix and send you back the stems so you can see what I did...hopefully that would be helpful for you.

You're the man! I look forward to hearing it!

[ThomC]

Hey everyone!

Here's my entry! Sorry for the sub-par mix, I had about 30 minutes to mix it and less than a day to compose it, I'm new to this forum and I saw the songwriting challenge posts a bit late

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LjQcex ... drive_link

Here are the lyrics of my track :

So many stories of the sky are written in the ground
Where the sunrays are always to be found
Some say its memories are flooded
The earth is such a vast page to fill in

We cannot forget, no we cannot forget
We cannot forget, no we canno tforget

If we took all the time we've left
Like a moment to harvest
To bale the straw and protect the nest
We'd feed the grown plants beating in our chest

Hope you'll like it!

[Ike H-mope]

FINAL SUBMISSION (second try...)

Actually this song is very good. It's funny and simple, but musically it's not a joke at all. It's not easy to make simple songs with melody hooks that one can remember afterwards. This one really stuck to my brains. I have nothing to complain in melody lines etc. So, when it comes to songwriting, I think you have done excellent job.

But when it comes to arrangement, you could work more on that area, or take the role of conductor. I'm pretty sure each instrument part on its own is fine as it is. But now when they're playing all together, it sounds like the Harvest Festival has hit midnight, and they're playing against each other.

Even though you have to pay for the whole band, that doesn't mean they all have to play at the same time. I would try to use the mute button and create separate areas where each instrument has its own place of dominance. If a horn has something nice to say in the background, don't cover it with other instruments. That way there would be more sonical variations etc. As an inspiration to mute button's use, listen for example Edith Piaf or Mireille Mathieu singing Marseille in front of huge orchestra. With quick listening it feels as if in many places there's only one long note (not a chord) supporting the singer.

Thanks for the feedback. Appreciate the your words on the songwriting, and will consider your arrangement thoughts when (if?) I finish this.

FWIW, the interplay and overlap of strings, brass and vocal is intentional, though can always make it better. The orchestration is "classical", but I'm thinking more like jazz or western swing. The bass marking time, the rest of the strings comping like a guitar, and then the brass as ostinato and horn section.