SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC091 March 2025 - Winners announced

[juhu]

Hi folks,

for my track I used the Full-Chord-Pattern MIDI.

Hi, I've had a few listens across two consecutive days and am now able to provide some potentially useful feedback, so here goes:

• I do like the cinematic soundscapes you've created by combining world folk instruments with classical orchestral instruments!
• Some voice-leading choices can sound a bit jarring at times - that is, whenever a note that has tension on it in a way that it "wants" to resolve to a specific neighbouring note, is instead being forced to "jump" to some "unexpected" target note that doesn't really resolve the tension naturally;
• Occasionally there's some low-mid frequency congestion in the orchestration;
• Perhaps more variation on MIDI note velocities would help make the entire piece sound even more natural and soulful?
• Overall, there is a lot of potential in this piece to become even better!

I hope this helps.

[Marc Fey]

Hi, first try here. I never found the time to participate in the previous challenges.
For this SWC091, I tried to create a vintage style track after a long "less vintage" intro (not so long, it's only an intro)!
So this intro is composed of acoustic guitar, cello and different scapes and pads.
The main part of the track, with not really verses and chorus, with a tempo x2, contains drums, bass, guitars, synths and mellotron.
I followed the chord progression throughout the track, with some slight inversions and a fade out to finish, and added a melody in the main part.
I'm not a guitarist, so the main and perpetual challenge is to try to use correctly Guitar VSTs...

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/51qtln7v ... iew24&dl=0

Any feedback is obviously welcome!

► Show Spoiler

DAW: Tracktion Waveform Pro 13.
Instruments: Ben Osterhouse cello, AD2 Vintage Dead, EZbass, Ample Sound guitars, Arturia Analog Lab.
FX: Melda EQs, IK MixBox, TDR Kotelnikov GE, Venomode Maximal 3.

File name modified to respect the filemane template.

[juhu]

So this intro is composed of acoustic guitar, cello and different scapes and pads.
The main part of the track, with not really verses and chorus, with a tempo x2, contains drums, bass, guitars, synths and mellotron.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jvndb9qv ... f4j1f&dl=0

Any feedback is obviously welcome!

This track is tricky as it didn't get to me on my first listen, but a few days later on my second listen it started growing on me - the intro no longer felt excessive and the main song started to evoke bitter-sweet emotions. Initially, I couldn't quite put my finger on why I suddenly started connecting with the track... until it dawned on me that there is definitely some resemblance to the aesthetic of the famous French ambient duo named Air which was popular globally back in the 2000's!

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
Including today, 07 days left to submit your production.

So far, we have 05 entries. (one user has completely withdrawn from the community, else we would be at 06 entries)

We need 09 participants for a regular sized podium, and more than 15 for an extended one.



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.

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.



For readability purposes:

Please also update your initial posts, not only with the most recent version (including declaring "this is the final version"), but also what instruments you've used (see TL;DR Rules). This makes it easier for me to collect all entries at the end of the month. Thank you.

[EatMe]

Here goes:



For listeners:
normalized .flac link: https://mega.nz/file/E6ZVCCgD#3CAoHu9rD ... DJJPeH2fRM
EatMe_-_SWC91_-_En_Route_Sur_San_Jose.flac

as entry:
-6.58 dBTP 48000Hz 24bit .wav link: https://mega.nz/file/FmJxEQpC#6gAMGrDFg ... myoUqhzJ3A
EatMe_-_SWC91_-_En_Route_Sur_San_Jose.wav

Hope everything is good as provided.

EatMe - En Route Sur San Jose (House, Trance, EDM) for the Song Writing Competition nr. 91 in March 2025.

Used:
the complete song scheme x2 as provided per MIDI

DAW:
Renoise 3.4.4

Instruments:
plucks (sylenth1)
plucks (sylenth1)
bass hi (sylenth1)
bass lo (sylenth1)
arp organ (sylenth1)
pad modern (korg wavestation)
pad ambient (korg monopoly)
pad hi (mausynth)
several edited kick drum samples
several edited cymbal samples and cymbal noise with reverb
a snare drum sample
a 909 clap sample
an edited snapping finger sample

fx:
internal Renoise effects (filter, flanger, phaser, compressor, equalizer, expander, maximizer, LFO, gainer, hydra)
BassChorus by CloneEnsemble
MJRotoDelay
SupaPhaser by Bram
TokyoDawn Kotelnikov GE
FreeVerb2

EatMe - SWC91 - En Route Sur San Jose (C) (P) Some Rights Reserved
Music by EatMe - http://www.eatme.pro/

[EatMe]

A personal reviews of the works provided so far:

APi_ZZ: Good, with generic instrumentation, a style choice.
These wonderful 80's/90's MIDI synthesizer instruments are all
over. These are used very well, especially the end is earjerking.
The key change/shift upwards in the middle is creative and does
not hurt the composition. The customer is still hanging around
the isle where this music is played, but did not purchase yet.


EFEMGIE: Wonderful trance.
It sounds like another (key) project transitioned into a
part with the provided material for this competition,
that is also possible, I guess. The instrumentation is
good and giving a trance classic vibe, the chosen sounds
all belong to that classic trance style sound. Before the end
is a repeated chord section, maybe more variation from the
provided chord scheme material could have been used.


Alphageeks: Good, but with some low quality bitrate sources.
It sounds like you have used some source material with
an obvious lower bitrate than CD quality (sound like some
computer generated .wma drums) and that will certainly
come back as ringing the more it gets encoded and re-encoded.
The arrangement is decent, the whole structure still lacking
a complete song feel.


MarcFey: Good arrangement.
The lead bell/xylophone is a little too resonantly ringing.
The drums are processed very well, yet I feel the closed hihat
in the middle section is too much below the strings and bell
level and they overwhelm the (closed) hihat. The guitar solo
has some odd out of key notes that it keeps hanging on,
rather more fast arpeggios would be more pleasant.


juhu: A somewhat robotic take.
Strings can use alternated short attack time per string,
but rather do not increase in volume the same way each strike.
The notes in the composition are somewhat random and do not
really connect well, there is almost no repetition,
only a really short part progression in the middle
suddenly is good and the notes are related.
On the strings can be more high pass filter and maybe 1-3KHz
mid reduction, less wet reverb, to certainly below -24 to -32 dB.

[Marc Fey]

This track is tricky as it didn't get to me on my first listen, but a few days later on my second listen it started growing on me - the intro no longer felt excessive and the main song started to evoke bitter-sweet emotions. Initially, I couldn't quite put my finger on why I suddenly started connecting with the track... until it dawned on me that there is definitely some resemblance to the aesthetic of the famous French ambient duo named Air which was popular globally back in the 2000's!

Many thanks, I didn't expect so much, Air is very great reference!
Obviously I'm far from them but to succeed in making you to think of them is already fantastic!

[Marc Fey]

MarcFey: Good arrangement.
The lead bell/xylophone is a little too resonantly ringing.
The drums are processed very well, yet I feel the closed hihat
in the middle section is too much below the strings and bell
level and they overwhelm the (closed) hihat. The guitar solo
has some odd out of key notes that it keeps hanging on,
rather more fast arpeggios would be more pleasant.

Many thanks for your feedback!
I tried to fix resonance and closed hithat, but I won't have time to look at the guitar solo.
Initial post updated.

[EatMe]

Many thanks for your feedback!
I tried to fix resonance and closed hithat, but I won't have time to look at the guitar solo.
Initial post updated.

You have fixed the resonance on the bell and the level of the closed hihat in comparison to the bell/strings.
I took a new listen and, level-wise, everything now sounds in place. Much better than as in your initial post.

[EsteveCorbera]

Dear challenge partners and Mister Fox.

This month's challenge immediately motivated me.
Based on the chords that were provided to us in MIDI format, I drew all the tracks (or almost all). I extended the 4 groups of chords 16 times (if I remember correctly), that is, now the chords last 16 times longer and I used it for the pads. For the bass and the melodies, I took advantage of the same chords but staying with only one of the notes (I deleted 3 of the 4 notes of each chord). And then I stretched or shortened each piece and assigned different instruments to each melodic piece.
I'll give you a little outline:


Pads...... |___________1___________|_____________2___________|________________3_____________|_________________4_______________|
Arpeggios |_______________________|_____________2___________|________________3_____________|_________________4_______________|
Bass...... |___________1___________|_____________2____________|________________3____________|_________________4_______________|
Melodies |________________________|___1-2-3-4_|_1-2-3-4_______|_____________________________|____________1-2-3-4_______________|


The pads are made with 9 layers where I've put 9 Reason systemizers playing at the same time with padS presets and I've been panning them to make the sound wider.
I've also worked a lot on the mix.

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

Thanks guys.
Thank you colleagues.

(translated with google)




Equipment:
DAW:
Reason 13.1d330

Reason Instruments:
Monotone Bass Synthesizer
Radical Piano Advanced Acoustic Piano
Europa Shapeshifting Synthesizer
Thor Polysonic Synthesizer
Algoritm FM Synthesizer
Complex-1 Modular Synthesizer
Grain Sample Manipulator
Malström Graintable Synthesizer
Parsec 2 Spectral Synthesizer
Polytone Dual-Layer Synthesizer
Subtractor Polyphonic Synthesizer
Dr. Octo Rex Loop Player

Reason Effects:
Reason Equalizer
Master Compressor
RV7000 MkII Advanced Reverb
The Echo
Synchronous Effect Modulator
ECF-42 Envelope Controlled Filter
MClass Compressor
MClass Equalizer
Audiomatic Retro Transformer
Scream 4 Sound Destruction Unit
Channel EQ
Sweeper Modulation Effect
Ripley Space Delay

Reason Players:
Scales & Chords
Dual Arpeggio
Quad Note Generator

Reason Utilities:
Combinator
Mixer 14:2
Gain Tool

Reason Rack Extension:
Kilohearts AB kHs Pitch Shifter (Effect)
ProjectSAM Orchestral Sampler Filmscore Instrument

Other instruments outside of Reason:
KV331 Audio SynthMaster v2.9.9
Native Instruments Kontakt v7.1
UVI Workstation

Other effects outside of Reason:
Rob Papen RP-Pan
Plugin-alliance TBTECH Kirchhoff-EQ
HoRNet Plugins HoRNet Harmonics Pro

Kontakt/UVI Library:
KONTAKT Sonuscore Trinity Drums
UVI Soundbank PX Sunbox

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