SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC022 June 2019 - Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

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

For all new participants, please take note of the Global Countdown

[functionform]

My entry:


I went with Mellotron and Arturias Hammond emu for the ultimate in retro Bachiness. This was a tough month, no lie. I don't have formal composition training, and working through fixing some parts was difficult for me. I do like the output. It's a testament to Bach that I was able to get chills listening to something I didn't write and was only conveyed to me via midi.

I generated about 20 files to get a baseline of cadences, phrases etc, and then went Edward Scissorhands on it. Enjoy! Some more background info to read while you listen in Soundcloud.

[MarkS]

so for this contest i drew some notes in google's doodle. the melody i obtained from it, i used for some instruments as the midi with all notes. for some instruments i deleted few notes and left some of them. this is not a usual stuff i do. because i don't use a midi generator at all. i play some notes that sound interesting and it goes. so this entry had a small chance to appear but here it is.

instruments used:
synapse audio dune;
image line poizone;
Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra,Concert Harp patch;
magix independence, piano patch;

effects:
magix independece fx;
cytoSonic space360;
different effects included in magix music maker;

DAW:
Magix music maker MX

link to audio:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sdr4099fb8e0a ... d.wav?dl=0

link to image:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lmneouq0hempt ... s.jpg?dl=0




some words not related to this entry

► Show Spoiler

( i know Mister Fox you said i should try a new DAW, but for now i don't think i need to change it. i tried in the past
other daws too, but this still remains my favourite.this month i tried a new daw too. what i can tell about.
it is like driving your neighbour's car. you try and drive it, the car goes but, it reaches the destination too
slow. or you feel being in the wrong lane. I am also thankful for your previous feedback)

[Mister Fox]

It is the 25th May 2019, 1:45am GMT+2/CEST - this month's Songwriting Competition has official ended

Hello and welcome to all new contestants.

We had 8 participants, which is 2 entries less compared to last month (10 entries), but 8 more compared to last year (0 entries)
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 not apply. (regular 3-position Winners Podium)

There were no productions submitted after the deadline.
Technically, A Future in Noise's production is a bit too short (shorter than 1:30min). But I'll let it slide.



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 8 participants. That means that each participant can vote for 7 tracks, the staff will notcast a balance vote.

Keep in mind of the overhaul of the Rules and Guidelines. As long as we're not exceeding 20 participants, let's give feedback to all participants and(!) cast your vote for all of them.

The Top 20 list (or in this case, your top 7) 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
07 (4 pts) - Mrs Gaia

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
viewtopic.php?p=3522#p3522

It is also recommended to cast your vote in collective form through the "Spoiler" tag:

Code: Select all

[spoil]01 participant
02 participant
03 participant[/spoil]

Please use the username of the participant to make it easier during the score collection to address what vote belongs to whom.



Please also take note of the Rules and Guidelines (on giving feedback (mandatory for all participants, failing to do so results in a disqualification).

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 the future, please voice your opinion here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=168

Have some general feedback? Please voice your feedback/opinion/concerns here:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=97



Please have an eye on this thread!

[Mister Fox]

Let us kick off the VOTING PROCESS, which will end on Monday, 01-JUL-2019 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 (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.


.

"Red Now Wonder"



INFORMATION: sadly no screenshots

"AI-Fugue In D Minor"



Screenshots: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

INFORMATION: Production shorter than 1:30min

"On Wings"



Here's the score, screenshots, WAV audio file, compressed audio file for those with limited internet, and a binaural mix for those with headphones.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=12Fk2S ... pqnwGbWdoU

"Bachop"



Pics: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fj5fhavshpej ... K_4-a?dl=0

MP3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/t7r18qbblo2eh ... n.mp3?dl=0

picture daw: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zlvjumfqoeh7c8c/bach.png?dl=0

INFORMATION: Sadly no further documentation

"Oblivion ft Steelyvibe"



Here are some screenshots:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wz9kkh9hic0o2 ... 7.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrz70hgbscnqr ... 9.png?dl=0

"In the Trials"

"Slow Wind"

WAV: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sdr4099fb8e0a ... d.wav?dl=0

Screenshot: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lmneouq0hempt ... s.jpg?dl=0

ENTRIES AFTER THE DEADLINE:

"Homesick"



IMPORTANT: Production was submitted on 28th June, it is therefore sadly disqualified. But I'll post it in the "global submissions" regardless, since it is an interesting production. Please feel free to give some feedback, but it won't count to the global votes.

.


Please consult the last post of how your vote could look like (which links to more sources). And to make it simple for me for counting the votes - please use the usernames in your listing. Thank you!

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.

SWC022 participants giving feedback to each other (to every participant) and casting your Top 7 vote is mandatory, else you will be disqualified.


Good luck to all participants!

[MarkS]

the feedback:

Mozex, maybe your melody is interesting but, i don't see your creativity here, as you can change another instrument playing this melody. maybe
you are new to songwriting but,this is basically the same piano from google's doodle, playing all the song. so i can tell what i did with piano too. so you can reverse your piano recording, edit it, add some effects. this result joined with the melody will be more interesting.

Clueless, tremolo/glitching sounds are interesting, i say this composition has its creativity revealed, despite using a chord generator.

A Future In Noise, this sounds like a medieval ceremony in a castle, an opening of a feast or something similar but nice in a some way.

canese, a quite interesting industrial epic theme i hear here, so much going on that i can barely hear the doodle's presence in composition, but interesting anyway.

functionform and Leonard Bowman, i think your compositions can fit together so you can collaborate for a single piece. of course there is not a total match in melodies, there are different notes and all, but the sounds fit together. It is like a choral chant or something like that.

SimaGT, i never thought that hip hop and Bach can work together but, this is a contest and everything is possible.
(i bet you got inspired by those glasses from picture with Bach )

and the top:

► Show Spoiler

1.Clueless-7 points;
2.canese-6 points;
3.SimaGT-5 points;
4.A Future In Noise-4 points;
5.functionform-3 points;
6.Leonard Bowman-2 points;
7.Mozex-1 point;


(as you can see Leonard and functionform have different places and points, so i wanted them to share the same place but, this
is contest after all)

[canese]

Many abstract compositions this month. It was hard to critic, but nonetheless here are my feedbacks:

Clueless:

I loved this piece, gave me a feeling of joy and awe. Many different parts in the song, reminds me of a bach suite. Great sound design and timbre.

A future in Noise:

Very barroque and sometimes felt in a medieval RPG. But has very little variation on velocity and volume and all seems very square and quantized in grid.

Leonard Bowman:

Impresive composition and lyrics. I imagine this being a national anthem. Can't believe this is only your voice, I hear many different timbres. I'd say that the mix is perfect, we can hear all the voices in the stereo image and they have a lovely reverb.

SigmaGT:
I Loved the last part of the song. The sloppy drums, the pluck instrument arpeggio and the deeeeep kick made a dark vibe that my ears liked. But first part was hard to listen, many disonances not resolving and couldn't catch a remarkable melody.

Mozex:

I hear nice harmonies, not sure if's only bach doodle output. But definitly could've programmed the velocity and the quantization to give more life to the song.

Functionform:

I Liked pace of the song (song structure). Also the melodies and harmony set me in a barroque ambience. Got to critique the timbre choices. I was hoping to hear a deeper bass sometimes. The strings also could be more bright and the organ has a effect (maybe a phaser or chorus) that didn't seem to fit in the song vibe. Overall, it seems little dull in the frecuency spectrum.

MarkS:

Nice sound design. You achieved the feeling of the slow wind. Good work!


My vote:

► Show Spoiler

01 Leonard Bowman -7 pts.
02 Clueless - 6 pts.
03 MarkS - 5pts.
04 A future in Noise - 4pts
05 Functionform - 3pts
06 SigmaGT - 2pts
07 Mozex - 1 pts

[Leonard Bowman]

It's so hard to compare these pieces because they took such different approaches to the task.

Mozex
It's neat but expressionless (see my note below). The piece also doesn't feel like it concludes, it just runs out of notes and stops. A better ending cadence (Perfect Authentic, because we're talking Bach) would bring more closure. In fact, you had that, but then there were a couple notes after that made me expect something more. I don't have all that much to say; it's a piano piece but the recording doesn't quite sell me on it, and for better or worse the recording/performance quality is a big focus of SWC.

Clueless
The swells from the get-go are really cool. Once the rhythm is established at 0:54 it's pretty nice, and the timbral variety you have is really nice. I must voice my inevitable tranisition comment though; the split between the first and second half is a little awkward. From there though, the return to a stuttered/glitch rhythm is really good. Ending is a litle sudden but from the reverb tail it seems intentional.
I'm just missing a clear melody to bind the whole thing together. I don't doubt there's one there but I can't hear it so I can't get it stuck in my head.

A Future In Noise
I really like this one even though it lacks some expression. I can hear some dynamics, but not phrasing. With a real ensemble this would be quite lovely. The ending rit. gives it a good sense of closure, but some timing variation throughout could add more interest to the render (see my note below) Production wise, (although that isn't really the goal I'm guessing) the treble instruments get in the way of each other's frequencies, especially towards the end when the volume picks up. maybe a little EQ could help, or just more attention to octave ranges.

Canese
Neat concept, and your production is pretty solid. The vocals don't quite work for me (except the wails @ 1:00; love those). I'm not sure there's much else to say. Good job.
Maybe would have liked some more obivous Bach harmonies throughout, but you still used it so I won't fault you for that.

Functionform
I like the Mellotron & organ, gives an interesting tone to the piece and is a valid excuse for "expressionless" MIDI. the ending tag is nice, probably my favorite part of the whole thing. All in all I like the piece and the harmonies worked really well. I just wish I could percieve and overall meaning, a reason for why there are four repeats of very similar content. Feels like a hymn but it needs some words to vary the verses IMO.
Also, some slight timing changes to vary the phrases could help give a little more emotion to the performance (see below).

SimaGT
Really neat right from the start. Would have liked more expression on those strings though, to match the swells and such in the beginning. Maybe it's just the slow tempo, but the groove feels a little loose to me, like it was performed live and not quite cleaned up. It gets better once the tremolo keys & sub line really kicks in though. Transitions are really good IMO. Bach comes across well and while it maybe lacks some final sense of "polish" to the mix it still has me bobbing my head. Well done!

MarkS
The frequent changes of key center throw me off a bit, but the individual motifs you have are really nice. I'm not the biggest fan of all the pumping that happens, but it does add a bit of timbral interest. speaking of, I love the various sounds and FX you used, they fit together well, with the possible exception of that delay pop that sometimes gets in the way of the rhythmic flow and stops abruptly.
I also wished the whole song would end more gradually, and maybe start with a small fade in to the "wind." Generally you should have a little bit of silence at the very start and end of the track. The atmosphere is almost there but little production thing stop me from being able to fully immesre myself into the track.


General note to everyone re: expressive MIDI-- One excellent (free) tool for adding expression to MIDI is Director Musices. The UI isn't great but it allows you to make phrases in your MIDI and it will add volume and time expression to your piece. I used it to "humanize" a pipe organ solo I did for the One Synth challenge in January. I needed to do some cleanup after exporting but it got a lot of emotion out of some grid-perfect MIDI.

Finally, the votes.

► Show Spoiler

7- SimaGT
6- Canese
5- A Future in Noise
4- Clueless
3- FunctionForm
2- MarkS
1- Mozex

[NERVA]

I hope I’m not too late, sorta hit a brick wall with this one.. its super short. Its not my usual trance influenced track, but I did my best to do as much composing as possible. Once again I arranged a string section for most of my intro, and I went with a mostly acoustic drum track. I remembered to pan over on a track this time, hope someone catches that. Anyway hope it’s a good listen although it may seem a bit sappy.



Pardon my absence by the way, I’ve been super busy making self improvements at work. And good luck to everyone who submitted this month, I really look forward to hearing your stuff.

-ANTHEMIC



[moderate=Mister Fox]A trade off for you not being able to change the post anymore, but now your track is instantly replayable.[/moderate]

[Leonard Bowman]

@Anthemic You're most likely too late for the competition but you've made a lovely piece of music. If you could have gotten this in as an entry I think you'd be right at the top.
The string/piano intro is so wonderful, and the more synthetic sounds that come in later are quite tasteful in my opinion. I think the percussion, especially the crash cymbal, is a little loud (my vice as well) though; it starts to take over the track instead of blending with the other instruments.