SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC025 September 2019 - Winners announced

[] Peter:H []

Thanks guys, for all your nice feedback. Now it's my turn...
Before I start a few words: I'm not a professional trained musician. All I know about music is self taught. Then I'm not a native speaker of the english langauge. That's why it's hard for me to write meaningful things about music...Please keep that in mind when reading my feedback ;-)
...anyway heres the feedback.

Overall Feedback: Quite a impressive collection of songs. It was intersting to see that the topic "turmoil" and "topic" is interpreted in so many different ways. It was a good lesson in how different people see the world. The productions a re overall well done.

DoctorBob

Do I connect with it / Topic: I think this is spot on. It's what I would expect. It's a little piece that has a relaxing mood to it. I can put it in the background and let it loop. It will not get boring, it does not fight for too much attention. It slowly sinks in and "changes" ones mood.
Mix / Mastering: Where I use "too much" bass (cannot understand how one can have too much bass :-) this has a lack of bass. And some parts are a bit crowded in the mids with to many elements fighting for space. I think if for instance the strings at around 1:00 were placed a little more to the back, or play an octave lower.
Composition / Songwriting: I cannot say anything here. DoctorBob is genius.
Sound / Design: Well selected sounds, perfectly fitting the intention. I my self thought after reading the topic of SW#25 - okay I figure that will be "strings and pianos" ;-)


TrojakEW - Invisible Power

Do I connect with it / Topic: A good start. The female voice lib produces beutiful sound. I like the song, but at the same time I miss the overall connection with "calming" and "inner turmoil"
Mix / Mastering: well done, as allwasy by TrojakEW. Like with DoctorBobs piece I miss a bit bass. But the balance over the spectrum is good. Well done placement width and depth. Here you can see what I meant with "place the strings a bit to the back to give room to other elements" (see my comment on Doctor Bobs piece)
Composition / Songwriting: Wishing it would have been longer. It keept me interested over the time, nice development.
Sound / Design: Well selected sounds. Like the Voice and the Flute Sound.

Gruskada - Deprecated

Do I connect with it / Topic: You wrote something about personal loss if I remember correctly. I can feel it...it has some sadness to it. A great song. It's like sad cafe del mare / guitar ambient. It's also a track which does not cry for too much attention. Put on low volume, it can be put o a loop.
Mix / Mastering: Well done overall. In my listening situation I have some resonances in the mids, only a little. Let's call it "a nouance to much emphasize" on the lead guitare. I like the drums and bass combo, they play well together and have enough room.
Composition / Songwriting: I feel it's a bit like what I do all the time... songs without to much structure.
Sound / Design: I think the sounds work well together. Probably DoctorBobs Piano and the Accoustic Guitar of this song would be perfect.

Donkey Tugger - The Road Down to the Sea

Do I connect with it / Topic: I like the begining more, it fits better to what I'd expect in "calming" and "inner turmoil". To the end - due to a song progression - it asks for too much attention.
Mix / Mastering: The spectrum feels a bit unbalanced. the bdr has no body at times and then it seems a bit over-eqed. probably because it's pitched? And it somehow does not connect with the rest. And I think there's to much EQ on the Voice...I don't know just a feeling.
Composition / Songwriting: Perfect - Nothing more to say. A good structure and it's keeps me interested from the beginning.
Sound / Design: Good selection of sound, only probably the Bdr could be in question

Ryanc - Red and Grey

Do I connect with it / Topic: What a nice voice. The Track has a nice sad mood to it. And it's perfectly fitting the "turmoil" and "calming" topic in my eyes
Mix / Mastering: Only thing I really do not like is the drums section in the beginning.
Composition / Songwriting: Cool structure. Well supported by Mixing (apart from the dums section eq-ing). I like the kind of voice-doubling in the chorus
Sound / Design: Perfect combo of sounds.

Olli H - Evil Eye

Do I connect with it / Topic: Hm,damn I don't understand a single word...so the music has to speak to me: It's kind of a pop song...thus I don't feel the turmoil and the calming.
Mix / Mastering: Well produced song. Voice is perfectly intelligable - I admire all you guys for that mixing skills. Voices is really hard to mix, give them enough room.
Composition / Songwriting: Well produced song.
Sound / Design: Good selection. I like the Organ

Canese - Hang in Time

Do I connect with it / Topic: This is exactly the Prototypical ambient style thing the I'd expected. It's so beautiful. This is like stuff I often listen on youtube - if you just need a song that comforts yur soul but does not cry for to much attention.
Mix / Mastering: Nice mix - nice width and depth and nice balanced spectrum. Only probably the bass is a bit to low in volume.
Composition / Songwriting: Typical Ambient not a real phrase-chorus-repeat structure but nevertheless a nice development.
Sound / Design: I love the very reduced Piano at around 2:50. Overall a nice selection of sounds

MarkS - Days Come and Go

Do I connect with it / Topic: It's funny though I first thought - no this has nothng to do with calming or inner turmoil - but I think it has potential. the voice in the background could be like a mantra-hypnothic thing.
Mix / Mastering: The song has potential. But I think some parts do not connect with the rest in terms of mix. Damn, it's the same thing I do all the time. I'm a lover of "sounds" and "textures" and if I happen to create a new sound...I use it, even if it does not help the song. I think the lazer sounds is a good example. The part that features the lazer shot - I think it would have helped to reduce it and rather feature the mantra voice and bring it to the front: You could have used a voice-doubling like Ryanc did...
Composition / Songwriting: Nice song, it changes between quite and more emphasized parts.
Sound / Design: Apart from the lazers it's a good selction of sounds.

► Show Spoiler

Place (Points) Track
1. (10) Canese - Hang in Time
2. ( 9) Ryanc - Red and Grey
3. ( 8) Gruskada - Deprecated
4. ( 7) Donkey Tugger - The Road Down to the Sea
5. ( 6) TrojakEW - Invisible Power
6. ( 5) DoctorBob
7. ( 4) MarkS - Days Come and Go
8. (3 ) Olli H - Evil Eye

[DoctorBob]

Thanks Peter - kind words and praise indeed. I am humbled. I agree, not enough bass, but then, perhaps the only bass freq we should use is Alpha 8-12Hz or Beta 14-30Hz, bur most of us can't hear those low freqs!

dB

[donkey tugger]

Vocals have a near Mancunian feel?

You have a good ear for an accent! Originally from Oldham (Greater Manchester for those not in the know...) but have lived in Yorkshire for a looooong time!

[DoctorBob]

Thanks! Funny, I was actually thinking Oldham because your accent is a little less "sharp" than pure Mancunian! I'm originally from Somerset, came North in 1967 on the steam trains, and stayed in York ever since, probably still have the West Country twang. My daughter spent 5 years at Leeds College of Music, now a music teacher, private and peri!

dB

[MarkS]

the feedback:

gruskada, your song gives a feeling of a melancholy or a loss and regretting about it. it is sure a rock tune, but i think it will sound good too with some vocals. not sure if it has a calming wave, but i hear it like maintains a feeling for long.

Olli H, you song sounds a bit funny like a cowboy song or something similar. But for me it is like an encouraging tune.i don't think you need to change something.

ryanc, your song sounds like ,,Rag'n'Bone Man - Human,, . it is not very similar, but maybe you got inspired by it.The intro made me expecting some industrial or experimental song but after some seconds i heard the difference.

TrojakEW, a trap song i hear, but maybe some more vocals will make a good change to it or it will give it a little shine. these beats really ask for them.

canese, a calming tune good for meditating or doing something without being overwhelmed by it sounds or rhythm.

donkey tugger, a good tune for a drink or two to remember something and becoming fine with its ending. I don't make fun of your song. But this song playing at late night in a pub with low lights flashing and some smoke of cigarettes.This is what i imagine when i listen to it.

] Peter:H [, your song will fit well to a video game where main action take place in the future or in space.This is so experimental that i think it needs no change at all.

DoctorBob, some good ambient theme i hear here as its title says all about it. At 02:55 it has a slow increase in tempo, but it slows fluently back as from the start, and rises one more time but with low intensity and ends. This seems like thinking about something and then realizing it is not so significant.

So about the ranking, it is difficult to make it when are different genres and themes, but i will give it a try.

► Show Spoiler

1.canese - 10 points
2.DoctorBob - 9 points
3.donkey tugger - 8 points
4.gruskada - 7 points
5.Olli H - 6 points, for the happy mood
6.TrojakEW - 5 points
7.ryanc - 4 points
8.] Peter:H [ - 3 points

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
Less than 24 hours left to submit your feedback and cast your vote

[donkey tugger]

Apologies, these will have to be quite quick - got to get off to some work event for tomorrow after some other bugger cried off..


Ryan C - Ahh, some vocals! Nice singing and good composition - slightly bluesy in its way. Not mad keen on the drumkit used - would have liked to hear something flabbier and jazzier (or even brushes) to heighten the feel. Nice ending. 10

Olli H - Interesting stuff. Didn't see that chorus with the guitars coming at all after the low key intro. Production/arrangement wise you could do a lot with this, particularly in terms of builds and drops. Like it. 9

Canese - Quite sparse and minimal but there's something memorable about it - chord progression reminds me of something (I'd tell you if I could remember what!) One of those things that sounds like an intro to a big huge piece, although I would say it stands on its own as well. 8

Peter H - Ominous sinthesiser. Again not my cup of tea, but well done, and you can tell the thought that has gone into the sounds etc. Some of the percussion bits seem to 'poke out' a bit much - but perhaps intentional? 7

TrojakEW - Quite 'modern' sounding although perhaps missing a nice propulsive bass between the 808 and the sinthesisers to drive it on occasionally. Like a lot of instrumental stuff (to me) it seems like it's a nice backdrop waiting for a vocal! - 6

Doctor Bob - not really an 'ambient' type of person, but this was pleasant listening with nice sounds. Not sure I'd remember it though - perhaps one major theme is missing. - 5

Grukskada - Nice minor key progression, but it never really takes off properly for me after the first big guitar reveal - was expecting a bit more build. Whilst the guitars do sound nice, you (well ok, me...) can tell a lot of it is sampled stuff as it lacks the 'organic' quality somehow (sloppiness?? ) - 4

MarkS - Sort of early 'ouse music in a way. The 'peow' noises are a bit loud! Like how it builds up, but then it never really sustains the build. Some decent ideas, but it lacks coherence and 'flow' for me - 3

Right, apologies once again for the relative brevity of the above, and back to packing and shite..

[Mister Fox]

It's the 02nd October 2019, 7:30am - the Voting Period has officially ended.

All participants have cast their vote. Although I am a bit sad to not see any more feedback from bystanders.


I will post the results the coming days, please have an eye on this thread.

[Mister Fox]

Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the results of Songwriting Competition 25

The winners podium consists of:

1. canese (69 pts)
2. donkey tugger (68 pts)
3. ryanc (62 pts)

Apologies for the waiting time, this is not an automated process.

<4 participant rule is not in use (staff comments and votes)
We have 1 disqualifications (one entry released in 2018 already)
We have 0 votes after the deadline
We have 0 users that tied
"Sole (License) Winner" rule does not apply - 3-position Winners Podium



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. Selecting licenses is handled in public. Please select one license/company out of the pool (in order of the winners podium) and mention it in this thread, then (important) please get in touch with me (via PM) with your full name, email address and your license selection.

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 (if there is a spot existing / not available for "sole winner" mechanic). Just let all participants/winners/the staff know in a timely manner.



Feedback about the "Songwriting Competition" is welcome (please do so here).



See you in in the next challenge!

[Mister Fox]

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

I'm reminding you of the Rules and Guidelines. I didn't say anything this time around, since I think I'm preaching about this enough. HOWEVER - both DoctorBob and Peter:H didn't utilize the proper file naming convention for SWC025. Should you join SWC026, please try to pay more attention to that.