SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC088 December 2024 - Submissions until 24-DEC-2024 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#1

Hello and welcome to the Songwriting Competition 088 - December 2024

BEFORE WE GET STARTED:

Please consult the official and very simple "Rules and Guidelines" (TL;DR version) for the Songwriting Competition regarding principles of the game, it's engaging game mechanics (allowed editing/re-submission of your entry until the deadline has been reached) and upload/submission guidelines.
The general idea of this game is to "...just make music", to also challenge yourself by stepping a bit out of your comfort zone, and take a dip at realms you've never worked in before. Instrumentals are just as welcome as productions with vocals.
The Genre, "Premise" and Rules Summary for this months challenge can always be found in in post #002

Read more about this month's competition further down below. And if you got any question, please also reach out on Discord.

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SONGWRITING COMPETITION THREAD INDEX

Post #001 -- Introduction post and index for the various stages of the Songwriting Competition. Will be updated as we progress
Post #002 -- Submission Period: General Information, Source Material, Sponsors
Post #003 -- Cheat Sheet: A couple of examples / audio demos for this month's challenge (limited if genre is "free to select")
Post #000 -- Voting: Summarized entries and start of voting process
Post #000 -- Results: Results of the Songwriting Competition

#2

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Sunday, 01st December 2024 to Tuesday, 24th December 2024 (24 days)

Challenge submission will end on 24-DEC-2024, 23:59 UTC+1/CET (Germany) - until further notice.

The current game deadlines can be found on the Global Countdown page and on the landing site. Short reminders will also be sent out via the newsletter, social media and Discord. Does the game time frame feel too long? Why not set yourself a personal shorter one of 5-7 days. Push yourself to focus on the essentials, then use the rest of the time to ask for feedback and possible refinements.

SONGWRITING THEME: "Space" (Picture Theme)
GENRE: free to select

Image Source: Pexels, photo by Yuting Gao

Bonus Images (for inspiration): image pack for additional inspiration (standard ZIP file, 512kb, 07 images)

A few word about this month's theme:

Staff (Mister Fox) wrote: We're having a "Picture Theme" this month.

There will be no extensive brief with twists and turns. Please have a look, get inspired by the image(s) and the theme. Let your mind wander for a bit. Then start writing.
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Your task for this Songwriting Competition:
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This month, you can create a production in any music genre you feel like.

A short explanation of the concept of this month's game: The general idea is to draw inspiration from the picture(s). However do not solely fixate on that particular photo or illustration and it's details alone. Rather focus on the "overarching concept". The picture and possible provided key words can have many different meanings. How you interpret it, is up to you.

You set your own parameters and limitations, e.g. style and genre, melodic questions and counter arguments. As long as you don't exceed 10 minutes of runtime, neither have endless padded out repetition. Please keep us listeners engaged. And as usual - vocals are optional. Don't feel pressured to provide any.

Just make music and have fun!

I'm curious about what you come up with!

Songwriting Rule Summary:

► Show Spoiler

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LICENSE SPONSORS (Bonus Prizes):

A huge thank you goes to our very generous License Sponsors for this month's game. Those being (in alphabetical order):

Cherry Audio, Ghostwave Audio, Hollow Sun, Hornet Plugins, IK Multimedia, JRR Sounds, kv331 audio, Luftrum, Musiclab, Rekkerd Sounds, satyatunes - Sound / Graphic Design, and Tone2.

A detailed list of offerings can be found in the following information block.

► Show Spoiler

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Good luck to all participants.
And most importantly, have fun!

#3

AUDIO EXAMPLES:
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Articles and Info Pages:

A great starting point is the "Addendum"/Supplementary thread for the Songwriting Competition
Songwriting Competition - Addendum: Music Maps and BPM Charts

Since the genre this month is "free to select", there are no clear pointers

Music examples (selection for inspiration, 00 videos):

No music examples available this month. However, I can always recommend to enter random genre search words either on YouTube, Spotify or other music streaming services you prefer using.
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If you're new to songwriting, or you are in need for new helper tools, instruments, samples or presets -- please check out the following:

Songwriting Competition - Addendum: Tools to help with songwriting (outsourced megathread)

This mega thread also mentions companies that offer either free versions or demo versions of guitars, bass and drum instruments. Please have a closer look.

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UPDATED: 30-NOV-2024 23:08 UTC+1, updated 00-OCT-2024 00:00 UTC+1

Dasein · #4

Hi, It's winter time and a good moment to watch the skyes at night and think about the infinite possibilities of different civilizations across the universe hehe. About the song: This is a sister song of Black Sunset (Which I used in October), so no vocals, just instruments. The song was inspired on the moment in which the sun starts to dissapear and stars make their appereance, so we watch them and get inspired. Thus, I think this song is appropiate for this competition. It was in my computer for some time, but finally I decided to finish the project and release it.

I hope you like the concept and I'm ready to improve every detail, so I can release a final version.

Update 1: I made The Grand Piano more upfront moving pedals a bit and playing with reverb and tightness; I did the same with strings to make them more lively and expressive. When it comes to Cellos I tried to make them less expresive since they were taking all the protagonism. Now everything feels a little bit more alive, but maybe (Piano and Strings) a liitle bit too much? I'm looking forward to hear your feedback.

Update 2: Thanks for the feedback @Mister Fox @Ike H-mope. I added more Dynamic to the Strings and Piano from 1:17 onwards. I hope that this gets closer to what you had in mind. Still, I may polish some transitions, but this is like the final idea.

Update 3: I pollished and refined some minor details. Final version.

Instruments used:

► Show Spoiler

#5

First and foremost, thank you for breaking the ice, @Dasein. This was very quick, and I hear a lot of interesting ideas in your song. However, I think you can still work a bit with dynamics for the string sections (expression), some of the strings vanish in the mix even (EQ and reverb for room placement could help). Maybe compress the piano just a tad to make it more "upfront". Also, the production currently sounds a bit dry, or rather... what came with the used VSTi (Labs). Reverb and delay could help here.

It is a good starting point. Please keep at it. You still got a lot of days left.

For all other participants:

I have updated the bonus image material that can be found with post #002. After I had finished and published the first post, I had the feeling that "something" was missing. And that "something" was a photo of an observatory. I also added another photo of a starry sky.

Please take a look at the additional content for inspiration.

Also, no one seems to have noticed that the deadline was misspelled in the thread title. This has also been fixed. The game still ends on 24-DEC-2024 23:59 UTC+1/CET. Including today, is in 20 days.

Dasein · #6

Hi, thanks for your comments. I'm still very unskilled on the editing field, so I'll learn how to change Reverb and Delay on Reaper. Additionally, I'm still figuring out how to gradually change volume of specific instruments (like it's done on the Audacity App) to make some sounds stand out from other in specific parts of the song. I think that this could help, but I don't know how to do it (Except from changing one note's volume at a time). Finally, yeah, I agree with that some of the strings vanish from 2:50, so I'll work on that, thanks!

#7

I do not know how the LABS instruments are mapped on default, but a starting point is the mod(ulation) wheel (MIDI CC #1), which is usually mapped to the "dynamics" fader of the VSTi. I'm unsure on the "expression" slider, but it could be linked to the Expression pedal (MIDI CC #11), although I'm pretty sure things can be mapped as you deem fit.

Playing with this alongside your MIDI notes should already do a lot.

Reverb and Delay in Cockos Reaper - maybe take a look around on Youtube how to set up AUX / FX Return channels.

Dasein · #8

Hi everyone. I modified some things based on your feedback, and, I must say that I was very happy with the outcome on the App (Reaper). Though, when I render it...boom, a lot of background noise :c

The probable reason: I modified the VSTi (MIDI CC#1 on Autogrand Piano, Cello and Strings and CC#19 (Reverb) on Cello). When I use the instrument in default mode, then problem gets fixed, but what's the point if you can't modify it.

Update: I fixed it through "Save live output to disk (bounce)..." option.

#9

Hi all,

this is my track for the SWC088 it is called: A Journey.

I made it with the provided synths and instruments in Sunvox. I also mixed it within Sunvox. I really like the reverb and eq in Sunvox....those are top quality. The song is very basic but I tried to keep things interesting by adding more layers during the different sections of the song.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3i3ub7l6 ... 3jvrw&dl=0

Cheers,

Jeroen

Ike H-mope · #10

FINAL SUBMISSION

Stars

Nothing very insightful to say about the process this month. I saw the romantic, earthly side of this month's image. I heard either shimmering brass or strings, and decided to put my new Viola Da Gamba library to use. This song is more like a songwriting "etude" for me. It's a little too sappy and treacly for me, but still tried to make it a good, solid song and recording.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5qexjuuc ... erwmt&dl=0

Documentation

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