SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC013 September 2018 - Winners announced

[donkey tugger]

Sterling work MOA!

...and onto my dirge. Bit of a preamble first;

Such is the uncertain nature of our life these days that a lot of people (particularly men it seems, the suicide rates are apalling) go through a period of doubt and anxiety in their 20s - you're suddenly an adult without ever having realised things have changed, and you carry on like you did in your teens. This happened to me after the breakup of a long-term relationship and a lot of heavy drnking, and I had a very nasty bout of clinical depression, which I got through thanks to my parents and our very enlightened family doctor. For fucks sake, if you ever start feeling that life isn't worth living etc, get help quckly - isn't 'manly' or brave to bottle it up - acting quickly for yourself or for friends can save lives.

Anyway, I'm older and (some may disagree... ) wiser now and with this can recognise that the highs and lows will come and go, and can put things in perspective. This is a song looking back on that time in my life the good and the bad. Bit of a retro, almost soul sound in parts (hopefully) with all the little noises-off left in for good measure...

http://www.bennyleeds7.myfreeola.uk/swc ... s-case.mp3

The manifest...

Variax electric guitar hollowbody model (ES-335 one I think..)
Shitenbacker (ok, Gear4Music) 12 string electric guitar
Epiphone acoustic guitar
Addictive Drums Blue Oyster kit
Scarbee Rickenbacker Kontakt bass
Kontakt Unacorda piano
Air Structure mellotron strings
Kontakt Factory Library mellotron strings
Singing

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
Including today, 7 days left to submit your production.


Spread the word! Let us get more than 10 submissions this month!

[MarkS]

i used for composition same stuff from magix and synapse audio, as from previous entry. This time i just added some vocals.
they are made with some tts voices, so this is no real singing.

The song is called darkness and light. Thus, darkness represents: negative emotions, bad influences, different addictions, crazy
thoughts or even worse things. At a opposite side lists: positive thinking, a clear mind, logical decisions, good memories and
so on. i came with the idea that one side can not exist without another( maybe other will not agree).
This happen because, sometimes one part can really come after another.And it depends on the person's decissions or actions.


link to audio:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sqzh77iedtt3s ... t.WAV?dl=0

[Thelace43]

Hi there

I held back posting for a few reasons:

-Since I don't really write songs as one might do, say, with a theme in mind from the beginning, I thought that it felt like cheating to submit a song that I didn't actually write FOR the competition. However, I didn't see anything that mentioned this stipulation.

-I really wanted this to sound better. The drummer was not playing to my liking, vocals could be better, better this, better that, etc.

-I am depressed to the point that it's hard to do things like roll out of bed and submit a song.

However, I noticed that there is a lack of submissions, so I went ahead and tried my best to make the mix sound better than when I recorded it back in '15. I am still not satisfied, but it's the song that counts here. Also, as I said above, I can relate a lot to the theme, and I also feel like the OP did a good job making sure everyone knows that it's a serious topic. (thanks)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=10CyvP ... sk8nODcMNq

-Mike : )

[CeZar]

Hi there,

Let me submit this song here.

Wav: https://we.tl/t-hW43483b5Y
Mp3: https://we.tl/t-Zo5OKt7LXf

The song is written by me, I had a few instrumentists help me out with drums, bass, piano, cello and violin.
The production and mix is mine.

I have many more to go, in case you're looking for new songs for the mixing challenge also.

This one is more like singer-songwriter in genre, towards passenger/jason mraz. Pop-Rock in a nutshell.

Hope y'all like it

[SotosBakas]

Hello guys!

I am Sotos Bakas and I tought to share with you my song "Dreaming My Escape" for this songwriting contest.

Good luck to everybody!!

My Entry: https://soundcloud.com/sotosbakas/dream ... otos-bakas

[TrojakEW]

I have started to work on track just yesterday since I saw post from compyfox on KVR . So it is 2 day or rather say 1 day track . Very basic concept with very basic theme and no mastering. Uploading it as it is since I do not have more time tomorrow to make changes for it.

Made in FLStudio 12.5.1
Used Kontakt Instruments for it
2x ProjectSam Symphobia - high toppings for high dissonant like strings, sordino strings + low brass + low strings in intro
1x ProjectSam Symphobia 2 - dbl bass and cello
1x DAT Repetitive Bass
1x DAT Dream Circle - cymbals in intro
1x NI Studio Drummer
1x NI Kinetic Metal - this thing uses 20% of my CPU power with just one note played at time , never used this before
1x Heavyocity Evolve - for breath effect
1x Heavyocity Gravity - sub hit in intro
1x NI Symphony Series Brass Ensemble - flutter effect
1x NI Action Strikes - to boost Gravity hit sound
1x OTS Dracus
1x 8Dio Hybrid Synphony - synth bass to boost Symphobia 2 low frequency
1x 8Dio Liberis - children intro song
1x 8Dio Adagio Cello - spicc on bow tight

Used my laugh recorded few years ago.

DAW effects:
2x Fruity Parametric EQ2
1x Maximus
1x Fruity Multiband Compressor

Other Effects:
2x VSTzOne QUO
1x VSTzOne Amplio 2
1x VSTzOne Stratum

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder
Less than 24 hours left to submit your production


We're 7 entries in, with one bonus production that was created 6 years ago already (sorry SotosBakas, please re-read the Rules and Guidelines again). Please keep the the material coming.

[Mister Fox]

It is the 25th September 2018, 5:30am GMT+2/CEST - this month's Songwriting Competition has official ended

Thank you so much for your participation and tackling such a difficult topic. I hope I treated it with as much respect and attention as it deserves.

We had 7 participants, which is 0 more entries compared to last month (7 entries).
We have one extra entry, that was actually created 6 years ago - however according to the Rules and Guidelines, this sadly doesn't count
The "staff balancing vote" add-on rule does not apply
"Sole Winners Podium" rule (equal or less than seven participants results in a single winner) does apply.

There were no productions submitted after the deadline




How do we go from there?

Over the course of the next (hopefully) 24-48 hours, I'll gather all links into one post and hot-link to that from the first post of the thread. So please, check your links again. Mistakes and hiccups do happen on the internet. We then perform with the "public vote" system.


We have 7 participants, those being: ollyaudio, MOA22, donkey tugger, MarkS, Thelace43, CeZar, TrojakEW -- bonus: SotosBakas (song written 6 years ago).
That means that each participant can vote for 6 tracks, the staff will not cast a balance vote

The Top 10 list (or Top 6 per participant rather) can look something like this:

01 (10 pts) - Mr Moon
02 (9 pts) - Mr Sun
03 (8 pts) - Mrs Venus
04 (7 pts) - Mr Mars and his companions
05 (6 pts) - Mr Hale-Bopp
06 (5 pts) - The Rings of Saturn

How your voting could look like, please take a look at these posts (sans the technical information):
viewtopic.php?p=2311#p2311
viewtopic.php?p=2478#p2478
viewtopic.php?p=2819#p2819



Please also take note of the Rules and Guidelines on giving feedback

Feedback from non-participants is highly encouraged (voting not needed!). Musicians and Engineers are always after constructive criticism. This is what this forum is about.



If you have an idea for a theme/genre or want to see a specific theme tackled in August, please voice your opinion here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=168



Please have an eye on this thread!

[Mister Fox]

Let us kick off the VOTING PROCESS, which will end on Monday, 01-OCT-2018 11:59pm GMT+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:

"Heavenly Ocean"

WAV: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cveitgbwbq9lc ... n.wav?dl=0

"Stay Good"

MP3: https://drive.google.com/open?id=17QG5o ... c7xlmPLCEZ

"Hopeless Case"

MP3: http://www.bennyleeds7.myfreeola.uk/swc ... s-case.mp3

"Darkness & Light"

WAV: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sqzh77iedtt3s ... t.WAV?dl=0

"Rainy Days" (technically written in 2015, but remade for SWC013)

Download (incl. Lyrics): https://drive.google.com/open?id=10CyvP ... sk8nODcMNq

"You"

Wav: https://we.tl/t-hW43483b5Y
Mp3: https://we.tl/t-Zo5OKt7LXf

MIRROR: MP3 on Mix Challenge Server

IMPORTANT: Files on We-Transfer - will be deleted on 29th September!
UPDATE 30-09-2018: Temporarily uploaded a mirrored file to the Mix Challenge server

"Broken Mind"

"Dreaming my Escape"

IMPORTANT: written/released in 2012, feedback is welcome anyway

Please consult this post of how your vote could look like. Alternatively, the last post (which links to more sources).

Keep in mind, this month's genre was "free to select". So comparing tracks to each other is no simple feat. To make it easier on yourself, and more helpful for each participant, maybe focus on the overall production value. What you really liked with the song, what you'd like to see improved, etc.

Good luck to all participants!