SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC094 June 2025 - Voting until 01-JUN-2025 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

[EsteveCorbera]

Dear colleagues and Mister Fox,
Thank you for your support!!!
I was in the hospital for 15 days because I had a heart attack and had to have 3 bypasses.
Fortunately, I am now at home recovering.
I look forward to hearing your new work.
Good luck to everyone.

[Mellow Browne]

Hi everybody,

Street art, I immediately had New York in my mind, so I relied heavily on samples from DJ Pain1‘s unfinished friday sample kits to create a Hip Hop beat

I made 7 beat sketches in total but I couldn’t decide which one to pick for this challenge (and I was too lazy to write lyrics), so I thought why not make a little mashup with the ones I liked the most. Each beat represents a different area of NYC showcasing the different vibes from the hood and dirty streets but also from the skyline.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find the time to mix the beats and I only did some initial gain staging and panning, I still hope they can give you a certain feeling.

For the third beat I played the bass guitar myself, a Yamaha I received as a gift almost 20 years ago.

So, here is my entry for this challenge:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r0pN-9 ... share_link

Edit: @EsteveCorbera That's terrible to hear! Get well soon! All the best to you!

Tools I used:

► Show Spoiler

Samples of DJ Pain1's "Unfinished Friday" kits
Various samples for scratches and gun shots

Serato Sample
Kickdrum
Sylenth1
SublabXL
RealGMS
RealLPC2
Polymax
IKM Philharmonik 2
Xpand!2
Kontakt
Orchestral Companion Strings

Yamaha Bass guitar (don't know which model)

Halftime
Comeback Kid
SPL EQ
Amek Mastering Compressor
StandardClip
SmartLimit

[BenjiRage]

Dear colleagues and Mister Fox,
Thank you for your support!!!
I was in the hospital for 15 days because I had a heart attack and had to have 3 bypasses.
Fortunately, I am now at home recovering.
I look forward to hearing your new work.
Good luck to everyone.

Oh crikey, Esteve, that's awful but I'm so glad to hear you made it through and are at home recovering. I wish you all the best and a speedy path back to good health.

Sorry everyone that I didn't get around to participating this month. I have been working on a track but it's still not in what I would call a "postable state" at present as due to doing the MC104 feedback and a wedding gig I was playing at the weekend I just haven't found the time to develop the ideas.

There're some quality entries, @Mellow Browne especially, very nice beats!

[Mister Fox]

It is the 25th June 2025, 02:00 UTC+1/CET - this month's Songwriting Competition has official ended


STATISTICS:

• If I didn't miscount, we have 04 submissions this month (06 entries less than last month, and 01 entry less than June 2024)
• We have 00 submissions after the deadline (as of 25-JUN-2025 02:00 UTC+2/CEST)
• We have 00 submissions that have been pushed to "Bonus Entries"
• We have 00 submissions that has been withdrawn mid game (therefore it can't count to the overall participation)
• The "staff balancing vote" add-on rule does not apply (special game mechanics do apply)
• "Sole Winners Podium" rule (equal or less than eight participants results in a single winner) does apply (1-position Winners Podium)

How do we go from there?

Over the course of the next (hopefully) 24-48 hours (usually up to 6-12 hours maximum after the game has ended), I'll gather all links into one post and hot-link to that from the first post of the thread. Please, no more changes to your entries, but please do check your links that these entries are accessible and downloadable, not to mention documented. We then perform with the final feedback and "public vote" system.


We have 04 official / still active participants. We are adapting the overhauled vote mechanic, as talked about in the following news blog:

Songwriting Competition - game mechanic changes: Voting Process (October 2022 Update)
(Info: I am aware that the Rule Book has not been properly updated yet. Time constraints, apologies for the inconvenience)


Summarized:

!

Bonus Info

Participants can (and must) vote for all entries. You're furthermore asked to please reflect on your experience this month (2-3 paragraphs max), what you have learned this month, what you would like to do different in the future, etc. (personal growth) You are also asked to give feedback to all entries (tiered mechanic) -- things that stood out to you, providing some final thoughts and constructive feedback for possible improvements. This adds to the learning experience of our community. Since there are only four (number: 4) entries this month, and you have to give feedback to all, there will be no bonus points for additional feedback The "Voting Process" mechanic is mandatory for all participants, and the only criteria to drop out of the game by not partaking. Please don't just collect feedback, and not give back to the community. The overall "Bonus Point" mechanic still applies. Please update your posts with proper production documentation, most notably regarding whom you have collaborated with (as in: proper credits -- not doing so will result in a -2pt deduction on the score sheet at the end of the game). Please also make your entries downloadable, or provide an additional download link if not existing already. You got until the voting period has ended. (please: no changes to the arrangement anymore) Please cast your vote (not the feedback) in collective form through the "spoiler text" bbcode (button on the WYSIWYG editor that features the orange triangle with an exclamation mark in it). Please use the forum username of the participant to make it easier during the score collection to address what vote belongs to whom. And please, only have one post as final feedback and vote. Thank you.

.

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	For transparency: The staff (Mister Fox) will give feedback to all entries and/or cast a vote this month. (Balance Vote mechanic for <5 participants)

Feedback from non-participants and/or collaborators is highly encouraged (voting not needed!). The same goes for entries after the deadline, or those that sadly do not count for the current running game (even if you've exceeded the deadline, why not post your entry regardless?). Musicians and Engineers are always after constructive criticism. This is what this forum is about.





Have some general feedback? Please provide that here:
Songwriting Competition - General Gossip Thread, or on Discord.



Please give me a moment to collect all entries.
Please make sure your files are accessible, and please have an eye on this thread!




EDIT: 25-JUN-2025 02:05 - initial post

[Mister Fox]

Let us kick off the VOTING PROCESS, which will end on Tuesday, 01-JUL-2025 23:59 UTC+2/CEST latest.


There is a GLOBAL COUNTDOWN to check for deadlines.
Just follow this link: Global Countdown (on homepage)


Here is the collection of productions from all participants (in hope that I didn't forget anyone). As usual, if you click on the small upwards-arrow right beside the quoted name, you can jump to the original post and read up on the documentation for this production.


.

"False Gods"

"Wall of Light"

WAV: Dropbox playback and download

"Approaching/Alive"

"New York New York"

WAV: Google Drive playback and download

.



WITHDRAWN (not participating - feel free to give feedback, but you sadly can not vote for these entries)


<no withdrawn entries>
.



BONUS ENTRIES (submitted after the deadline / outside of game scope - feel free to give feedback, but you sadly can not vote for these entries)


<no bonus entries>
.



GAME MECHANIC SUMMARY:

► Show Spoiler

Please consult this news blog post regarding an overhaul to the voting mechanic. To make it simple for me for counting the votes - please use the forum usernames in your listing, not the song titles. Thank you!

Please also consult the previous post that features a summary for this month's mechanic (see "Bonus Info" in the red colored box).

New to the game and don't know how to give feedback efficiently? Check in with previous Songwriting Competitions.
.


This month's SWC participants giving feedback to each other is mandatory, it is the only criteria to drop out of the game by not partaking. Please also do not just collect feedback, and give nothing in return. The concept of the Songwriting Competition is interaction and "learning by doing". If you have collaborated with somebody, then only the one doing the main entry needs to give feedback and vote. Bonus feedback is always welcome. However, please be open minded, objective and constructive.


INFORMATION: If you have submitted your entry in multiple file formats, the statistic sheet (posted alongside the results) will focus on the uncompressed material first (WAV), then FLAC, then MP3. The higher the quality (e.g. lossless format), the less possible loss on bonus points for "Loudness Specs" due to offsets introduced by a used CODEC.

Good luck to all participants!




If you have an idea for a future Songwriting Competition, please post about this in the theme/genre request page or on Discord.



Post updated: 25-JUN-2025 02:40 UTC+2/CEST -- initial post