SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC021 May 2019 - Winners announced

[functionform]

I plan on submitting! I will say that the authentic aspect of the contest this month probably discourages the younger gen from participating. To them, synthwave is purely newretrowave etc. For myself, I *love* attempting to channel historical production styles - the research aspect is almost as much fun as the writing of music, and sometimes even more so.

[MarkS]

so in this track i used only one vst synth, even did not have this intention from the start.
but after hearing some presets i have said this should be it. this vst is an emulation of an ensoniq sq80.

the tools used:
SQ8L vst by Siegfried Kullmann -for all instruments in the track;
magix music maker mx-as the daw with its effects;
magix independence fx vst-different effects included in the plugin;

the link to audio:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uawdc8d56k9ri ... y.wav?dl=0

[Mister Fox]

I will say that the authentic aspect of the contest this month probably discourages the younger gen from participating. To them, synthwave is purely newretrowave etc.

I think the main difference is simple, but clearly specifies which "time frame" this production might have been made in: harmony and melody.

Modern-day Retrowave does "simulate" the old days in terms of sound, but still remains fairly monotone. Not to mention still uses modern sounds and production techniques (including: lots of saturation and compression - because this is what was the sound of crap 80s tapes as well - right?!). Hence me sitting down and finding a lot of material to educate yourself in this area.

I never said "only use Synth A and Synth B". You could use Omnisphere, Zebra, Synthmaster, Massive or whatever is out there - as long as the endresult sounds like something that would have(!) run on the radio in the 80s. Which is also why I linked "Vintage Synth", to get educated on the hardware that a lot of these synths list in their presets as sources.

For myself, I *love* attempting to channel historical production styles - the research aspect is almost as much fun as the writing of music, and sometimes even more so.

This is why this game is existing:
Look over the rim of a tea cup, step out of your comfort zone a bit, try something new. And... just make music.

[A Future in Noise]

Preferably submit a WAV file instead of MP3.

Only relevant for the Mix(ing) Challenge. The Songwriting Competition can be a MP3 or SoundCloud Link only. As long as the material is downloadable.

According to the rules here viewtopic.php?f=11&t=96 .wav is allowed in the Song writing competition: "Your entry can be created with any tool at your disposal. No limit on samples, instruments and effects (unless otherwise stated). The final result must be provided in digital form (WAV or MP3)."

(And it also says: "Every submission has to be properly tagged/documented with: used instruments/sample sets, players' and singers' (especially collaborations!), name of the composer (please also add that info to the ID tag of the audio file!), etc...")

[Leonard Bowman]

I'm going to try to whip up a track, but I make no guarantees that it will be finished in time, or that it will truly sound "80s." It might ends up closer to '70s... But it will still use synths galore.
At the very least, it has been fun to dive back into this music and learn a bit about how it was made. I'm a fair bit younger than the '80s, but this was the music I was raised on.

[VCA-089]

DAW: FL Studio 20.1.1
Author/composer/producer: VCA-089
Title: Winds of Spring
Genre: Synthwave
BPM: 115
Key: E-Dorian (D-Major, G-Lydian)

Soundcloud WAV:


FLAC: https://drive.google.com/open?id=150-La ... Fn4K_D39Tk
MP3: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yGkzp ... YOf4-xJL8E

Hello!

I'm not sure that this thing could be called synthwave. It feels to me more like retrowave and sometimes even EDM. I tried to emulate some techniques such as using only emulations of synths that exist in 80's and not using more than two instances of synths that didn't had presets feature.

I have to submit now, even if there is two more days left. I will not able to work and it could be great if I will get into voting (will be on the road for 3-4 days without internet).

Anyway, I don't think I have a chance against entries with vocals, it is a different layer of production that I overlook. Good luck and have fun!

Some techniques and instruments:

Everything done in MIDI, no audio tracks. There are very few automation tracks that emulates real-time knob and console fader movements.

Drum Machine
Samples of TR-707 and 808 from the free "Wave Alchemy 10th Birthday" pack loaded into "FPC" sampler. Two different XenoVerb instances for snare and the rest of the kit.

Juno Synth Bass
Created with "TAL U-No-LX" (Juno 60 emulation). I've made a patch and sampled it with DirectWave (have no license yet, free version doesn't work for me).

Electric Bass
A lite version of "Ample Bass P" passed through BIAS FX with low gain amp setting and chorus. Used as an accompaniment for a synth bass in the main section.

Acoustic guitars
Two instances of "Ample Guitar M" for strums and arpeggio. Used mainly in intro.

String Ensemble
Two instances of "Deputy" from Full Bucket Music playing strings and mono lead in the main section.

Poly keys
An instance of "OB-Xd" (Oberheim OB-X emulation) with tape chorus and shimmer reverb.

Background Sequence
An instance of "Repro-1" by U-He (Pro-One) with preset "Delivery" by Howard Scarr tweaked to the taste. One of my favorite presets, this sequence is so addictive on it's own. It was one of the core elements that shaped the whole thing, particulary the mood and main scale decision.

Unison Solo/Lead
And instance of "Repro-5" (Prophet 5) with a detuned unison strings patch.

Special Effects
Two instances of "GX-8P" for pad in the Intro and for alarm sound. Also a pink noise generator and "Mono/Fury" instance for gritty bass in the breakdowns.

Big Reverb Send
This is more like a special effect than actual reverb. I used "Blackhole" by Eventide that transforms instruments sent to it into lush pad sound. Eventide made many famous effects processors in the 80's (reverbs in particular), but I'm not sure if it was possible to create such sound in that era. Additionally, I gave it a little bit of lo-fi character.

Used Plugins:

Generators:

x1 FPC
x1 DirecWave
x1 Ample Bass P 2 Lite
x2 Ample Guitar M 2 Lite
x2 Full Bucket "Deputy"
x1 DiscoDSP "OB-Xd"
x1 U-He "Repro-1"
x1 U-He "Repro-5"
x1 Full Bucket "Mono/Fury"
x2 Martin Luders "GX-8P"
x1 Credland Audio "Pink"

14 generators used.

Native Effects:

x1 Balance
x11 Parametric EQ 2
x2 Stereo Enhancer
x3 Delay 3
x1 Reeverb 2
x1 Limiter
x1 Wave Candy

VST Effects:

x11 TDR & VoS "SlickEQ"
x1 Sonimus "SonEQ"
x1 Overloud "Gem EQ550"
x7 VoS "FerricTDS"
x3 VoS "DensitymkIII"
x1 VoS "Thrillseeker TC"
x4 VoS "NastyDLAmkII"
x1 TAL "Filter 1"
x1 Vladg "Molot"
x4 Audiority "Xenoverb"
x1 Positive Grid "BIAS FX Lite"
x1 JST "Pixelator"
x1 Eventide "Blackhole"

58 effects used.

Sample Packs:

Wave Alchemy "10th Birhday Samples"

[erictracks]

Composer: erictracks
Title: Burning Down the Night

I really liked this month's theme.

My quick initial note for the song was "this is about how the daily horrors of the world will burn you up, unless you feel the love of your favorite people. How a constant grind will wear down your conscientiousness, but there is hope in accepting the kindness of fellow humans, and killing the super wealthy."

This is a synthpop/synthrock production. I tried to keep this one upbeat on the surface. There are dark undertones, and some (I thought) nice contrasts. I tried to keep the mix and composition energetic and surprising. It's got a big goofy chorus. Also I didn't de-ess, sorry.

Honestly I was convinced this would fall apart several times during the month. I can't keep messing with it so here goes:

MP3:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gvo4ybm16x8jn ... t.mp3?dl=0

WAV:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i5wptvswarup1 ... t.wav?dl=0

I'm going to try and list it all:

DAW:
Studio One 4.5

VSTis:
Addictive Drums: Reel Machines DMX

Arturia
Mini-V (arp)
Matrix-12V (soft horns)
OB SEM V (bass)

Roland Cloud
JX-3P (stabs)
D-50 (bells, hits)
Juno-106 (chords, lead)
Jupier-8 (arp, chords)
JV-1080 (bells, EP - I know 1994 is pushing it sorry)
System-100 (lead)

Vocals
My dumb voice smashed and delayed and pitch corrected with studio one's melodyne instance

Guitar
Very ambient strat through bx bassdude and EchoBoy (I muted the guitar solo so I should win an award)

Shaker
uh a plastic shaker

Mix VSTs:
EQ: Pro-Q2
EQ: Burnley 73
Distortion: Decapitator
Crush: Devil-loc Deluxe
Warmth: Radiator
Delays: EchoBoy
Spread: Microshift
Reverb: Valhalla Plate and Room
Compression: MJUC
Compression / EQ: Boz +10 DB Channel
Compression: CLA Comps
Mix Bus Comp: PA Vertigo VSC-2
I made it louder through Boz The Wall

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
We're in the final 24 hours to submit your production.


If you've been sitting on the fence up until now, please take note of the Global Countdown and do not enter at the last minute. I'd love to at least see 10 entries this month - ideally even 15. So far we have 5 submissions.

[SimaGT]

Heya ,

this is my first entry n SWC,

Vsti :

Battery 4 - Drums
Korg M1 - Toms
Bassline - Tal - U-No-LX -V2 and Synth1
Keys , Pad - Reaktor (Juno-80 ,user library) , Synthmaster One
Guitars - Heavier7Strings ( ThreeBodyTech )

Wav:
https://soundcloud.com/user-253743970/s ... t-driveway

Hope you like it!
cheers

[functionform]

Submission:

https://soundcloud.com/functionform/river

DAW: Reaper latest
Drums: VPROM 2.0
Synths: Diva, Repro 5, and CMI V.

Effects across all tracks: Azurite (love this little guy and a freebie!), UVI Plate, Little Plate, Arturia Compressors (Tube and FET I think), various Soundtoys across everything, and then a bunch of Sonimus various EQS. FabFilter used for shaping prior to the colored plugins. Also Panagement to narrow the stereo field. Too many plugins are super wide today and I felt more mono better echoed the period.

This is probably my first 'song' in 15 years maybe? Crazy.