SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC07 March 2018 - Winners announced

[donkey tugger]

Here I am, finally...!

Right..here we go..

Nige - Summer Soul/Winter Mind

I do love my rock and metel, yet only ever seem to write a decent riff once every 5 years. Loads of 'em here - especially like the, 'sleazy' (no other word for it..) main one in the verse. All seems to sit together cohesively as a composition; despite all the little excursions away from the main theme you don't stray too far from the riffage so it's driving all the way, and the attention to detail is marvellous - the harmonies on both guitar and vocal work really well.

Mix wise-well a lot's been said. Sounded good to m, nice and powerful. Only things I'd change would be to have a bit more boom on the kick, in the Bonham stylee, and turn up the vocals a bit - struggled in parts to hear the lyrics. Other than that, top job - 10 points


Fix in the Mix - Contra Tiempos

....And now for something completely different.. The lo-fi bit at the start works really well. That's a great chord progression and the bassline works really well against it. The little stop for the fingerclick is a nice touch! The lead guitar is well done as well - great 'tone' as they say. I think the only thing that lets it down a bit is the drums. I do appreciate that you're wanting something quite simple, but it does all sound quite one level/velocity and I think a few edits/bit of automation between the quieter/louder sections would raise it quite a bit. Nice job though - 9 points


Kc23 - Coffee.Nothing

Like the way this one builds and the repetition, but for me it does take a bit long to get to the middle part and build (I am impatient!). I think at the end the guitar part could be more prominent (doubled with one an octave up?) and there could also be higher/rising stuff going on with the keyboard - it's an old but good trick to use over a repeating bassline like this. Mix wise the kick seemed to get a bit lost against the bass (too boomy?) at times, other than that, quite nice and clear here - 8 points.

[Mister Fox]

Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the results of Songwriting Competition 07

The winners podium consists of:

1. donkey tugger
2. FixInTheMix
3. Nige

Everyone voted, no ties, <4 participant rule not in use
We have no disqualifications
"Sole (License) Winner" rule applies

kc23 and Nige were tied, however according to the Rules and Guidelines, Nige ultimately made 3rd place due to having one 10pt vote



Here are the results as chart in image form:




Thank you so much for your participation.



License selection:

We'll now perform with the usual. The top three spots can select from the available price pool. First place has the first pick, then second place from what is left, then the third place. Selecting licenses is handled in public, please. After that, please get in touch with me (via PM) with your contact data. In case of the "Bjulin Waves" sponsorship - the winners podium can additionally select one "Inspire Me" package on top of the license selection (please mention that in the PM).

As usual - you're not forced to pick up anything. You can pass and therefore offer more to select for the next person in line. Just let all participants/winners/the staff know in a timely manner.



Feedback about the "Songwriting Competition" is welcome (please do so here). Please take note of a proposed rule change for SWC07 in the very same thread.

See you in in the next Challenge!

[Mister Fox]

A final word on the Nige / FixInTheMix debate...


I took a listen to all entries so that I can fully understand the main criticism given:
Production being too loud and certain parts being distorted

Here are the numeric readouts for all entries. Although please keep in mind - I got these values from MP3s since only one participant submitted a WAV. So dBTP readouts can be way off (MP3 to WAV conversion).

donkey tugger - Oncoming Traffic
- production was in 44/32 (MP3 conversion)
- Loudness was -13,0LUFS ILk, -10,3LUFS SLk max
- track was +0,04dBTP max
- mixdown had a DC Offset of about -115,3dB

FixInTheMix - Contra Tiempos
- production was in 48/32 (MP3 conversion)
- Loudness was -13,0LUFS ILk, -10,5LUFS SLk max
- track was -0,18dBTP max
- mixdown had a DC Offset of about -67,0dB

Nige - Summer Soul Winter Mind
- production was in 48/32 (MP3 conversion)
- Loudness was -4,7LUFS ILk, -2,7LUFS SLk max
- track was +1,04dBTP max
- mixdown had a DC Offset of about -102,4dB (Left) / -72,3dB (right)

kc23 Coffee.Nothing
- production was in 48/24 (WAV)
- Loudness was -17,1LUFS ILk, -12,6LUFS SLk max
- track was -1,68dBTP max
- mixdown had a DC Offset of about -78,7dB



Technically, Nige's entry was a rule violation, as they clearly state (and I quote)

It is recommended to not go higher than -14LUFS SLk (avg) or K-12v1 (avg) in terms of perceived loudness (mastering)

Now this loudness can be explained due to the following main things:
1) the track was pushed mastering wise
2) a very, very undefined bass
3) probably DC offset issues (see numeric readouts)

After pulling the production down to -12LUFS ILk (like the majority of the entries), it actually felt more quiet compared to DT's and FixInTheMix's entry because of the lack of transients and the (again) undefined bass. The vocals were a clear sound design choice here - so I won't argue.

But this topic is definitely(!) something to look out for in the future. Especially considering the Loudness War - and in case of Nige's former comment "I am working on an album", also for the distribution plant.



We could argue for pages regarding "lounge music" versus "rock music". But the idea of the Songwriting Competition is to (first and foremost) create "something", then talk about technical details later. There is no focus on super detailed mixing and mastering in the SWC, but a lot of people do this nearly automatically while songwriting/producing these days. However, I do agree that our main attention should be more on the songwriting/production side of things, rather than "is this thing super great mixed".

I also understand that it is not easy to compare tracks with each other, especially if the music genre is not equal. That will always be a problem - and personal taste will always play a huge role in this as well. Unless we really start to focus on "themes" and "locked" genres (which will happen in the near future). But I wanted to create more general participation first, before we dive back into certain limitations.



That is all from my side of the fence.
You all did great - because you "created" something! You can add that to your learning experience and can only grow from this in the future.

See you in the next challenge

[Nige]

Congrats winners and thanks Mister Fox for organizing.
After taking on board everyone's feedback I decided to do a few revisions.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions, it's really appreciated.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/tjea7q79bxkud ... d.mp3?dl=0