SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC026 October 2019 - Winners announced

[Moses]

Hey Folks, here is my entry!



Thanks for bringing back those memories.. loved those weekends.. sneaking out of the bed early, eating cereals out of the box..

some details:
beside some logic pro x stock samples and instruments i.e. mellotron, brass.. I used the laniakea sounds modern vocal loop, Synths from Artuira Analog lab, NiKontakt Studio Drummer and recorded some Guitars.

Thanks for reminding me:

[Olli H]

No matter what, Mickey Mouse was always positive…
It was an interesting and difficult challenge to create thoroughly positive song without lurking existential problems

Basic rhythm
- acoustic guitar
- piano (Kontakt)
- drums (SSD5)

First verse (F)
- trumpet (Kontakt)
- tuba (Kontakt)

Second verse (F)
- organ (DB-33)
- electric bass (Trilian)

Chorus (Bb)
- clavinet (Kontakt)
- electric guitar
- organ

Third verse (F)
- electic guitar
- clavinet with wah-wah

Chorus (Bb)
- clavinet
- electric guitar
- organ

=====

Early Morning Walk in the Magic Forest

ALBUM: https://drive.google.com/open?id=18Xznr ... qa9qb-FL6s

TV: https://drive.google.com/open?id=19RhvB ... U1fKcEeRZL

[Mister Fox]

Hey Folks, here is my entry!

Hi Moses,

welcome to the forum. Please keep the current task of the game in mind though:
viewtopic.php?p=6222#p6222

Your task for this Songwriting Competition:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...

The twist however will be, creating two versions of your production. A "TV edit" that is not longer(!) than 1:30min (90 seconds), and an "Album Edit" (anything between 2:40min and 10:00 minutes). You will not be punished if your edit is shorter, but it shouldn't be sorter than 0:45min (45 seconds)

...

You still have about 24 hours left, just edit your post and update it with the additional mix.

[Mister Fox]

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

[erictracks]

I've composed the theme song for a grim and gripping british detective show, SHELLHOUND.

I wanted the intro theme to be interesting enough for someone watching the show to comment to another friend, "Hey, this theme song rips". And the other friend says, "But have you heard the whole song yet? This is only the second half..."

---

Shellhound's Lament -- Intro Theme

Intro MP3:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yxx60hsqryavr ... o.mp3?dl=0
Intro WAV:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6jnw78vo3vgy0 ... o.wav?dl=0

Shellhound -- Full Song:

MP3:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/03hdevlhg0894 ... d.mp3?dl=0
WAV:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wvweb7ek45awm ... d.wav?dl=0

---

I used:

Studio One
Addictive Drums
Tone2 Saurus
Arturia Synths (Moog, SEM V, Matrix 12)
Jazz bass
Addictive Keys modern upright

[Mister Fox]

It is the 25th October 2019, 5:20am GMT+2/CEST - this month's Songwriting Competition has official ended

Hello and welcome to all new contestants.

We had 5 participants overall, which is 5 entries less compared to last month (10 entries), 0 more/less compared to last year (5 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. (3-position Winners Podium)

There were no productions submitted after the deadline.
No (number: 0) entry has been disqualified
One (number: 1) entry has been redacted (else, we would have 6 entries)



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 5 participants. That means that each participant can vote for 4 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 4) 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) - ...

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 forum 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!). The same goes for entries after the deadline, or those that do sadly not count for the current running game. 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

Although considering the lack of participation on requested themes, these requests might not happen prior to Q2/2020


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 Friday, 01-NOV-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET 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.


.

"Oli The Cat", a fictional cartoon based on my in-laws cat, who is constantly finding new ways of getting into trouble.

"Let You Down Easy"

Here's the full song (WAV): https://www.dropbox.com/s/maum6v8erwb4k ... y.wav?dl=0
Here's the TV intro edit (1:16, WAV): https://www.dropbox.com/s/gdjr3fbluyu6n ... 9.wav?dl=0

"Up early"

"Early Morning Walk in the Magic Forest"

ALBUM: https://drive.google.com/open?id=18Xznr ... qa9qb-FL6s
TV: https://drive.google.com/open?id=19RhvB ... U1fKcEeRZL

I've composed the theme song for a grim and gripping british detective show, SHELLHOUND.

Shellhound's Lament -- Intro Theme

Intro MP3:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yxx60hsqryavr ... o.mp3?dl=0
Intro WAV:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6jnw78vo3vgy0 ... o.wav?dl=0

Shellhound -- Full Song:

MP3:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/03hdevlhg0894 ... d.mp3?dl=0
WAV:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wvweb7ek45awm ... d.wav?dl=0

.


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 forum 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.

SWC026 participants giving feedback to each other (to every participant) and casting your Top 4 vote is mandatory, else you will be disqualified.


Good luck to all participants!

[ryanc]

Wow I really enjoyed all of this month's entries. Nice work everybody!

As usual, I like to mention aspects of each entry that I like as well as things that I think could be improved.

Gruskada - "Oli the Cat" Very nice arrangement, I like the mix of instruments, especially the horns and the electric guitar. This song is definitely cartoon-esque, even though the competition guidelines say that these songs could fit any type of TV show. Very fun song - I think of Pink Panther when I hear it. The only improvement I could mention is there are a couple of timing issues in the recording, especially in the vocals. I think this may be partially due to the lyrics being a bit wordy in fast parts, making it difficult to fit all the words in such a short space of time.

Moses - "Up Early" This song has a good mix. It uses fun sound effects which helps it fit the theme. Very good use of diverse instruments. However, I would like to see a little more diversity in the chord progression and motif's used - It mostly repeats over and over again throughout the song without much variation.

Erictracks - "Shellhound's Lament" I really like the rhythmic motif's in this song. Very interesting chord progression and use of the instruments. I especially enjoy the bassline at about 2:00. My only complaint with this song is that it is quite long for an instrumental song - I found myself losing interest after around 3:00. Also, the TV edit went over 90 seconds which was specifically mentioned in the contest guidelines, so I'm not sure how much of a penalty should be applied...

Olli H - "Early Morning Walk in the Magic Forest" Great song! I really enjoyed the melody in this song. Very well structured and arranged. Also, I don't know if you are the one playing all the instruments, but this song showcases great talent on multiple instruments - very well done! I also liked the use of the stereo image; throughout the song several instruments are panned to one side or the other and it makes for a very interesting and enjoyable listening experience. My only suggestion with this song is I think it could use some vocals... and maybe the title could be shorter? f

Thanks, everyone!

► Show Spoiler

01 Olli H - Early Morning Walk in the Magic Forest
02 Gruskada - Oli the Cat
03 Moses - Up Early
04 Erictracks - Shellhound's Lament

[Olli H]

Here’s my subjective comments.

=========

Ryanc - Let You Down Easy

Great song, I enjoyed. But it doesn’t sound so much as a early morning song (”Saturday Morning Breakfast Cartoons”) to a six year old.

Second verse starts nicely with guitar riff, actually so nicely that the opening verse starts to feel a bit weak and wavering in comparison to that.

The role of the drums behind the verse is not clear yet. On the other hand it dominates, but on the other hand the played groove is a bit unclear. If you solo it, does it sound like something played by drummer, or are they just separate hits? Now it sounds to me that drums are the last added element, what other instruments didn’t hear.

Behind the guitar riff drums feel right.

I like how the chorus starts with many prewords. But the first chorus somehow dies away. I had some expectation, but they were not fullfilled. But chorus starting at 1.50 is very good, now it’s clearly different from verse, and it opens the song, and it shows that there’s a great musical idea behind.

That said, I think you have a great song growing here, but it’s not ready yet. It’s something that deserves to have more time from you. (For simple arrangement ideas, listen ”Oasis - Half The World Away”)


=========


Moses - Up Early

Starts very nicely. Sounds cool and balanced.

Clearly modern stuff to use vocal samples (from YouTube, Splice?) as a part or one’s own composition. But I think it starts to repeat too much. Around 0:20 it begins to feel as a scratch in a vinyl. Maybe you could have added some pitch shifting to it, to make more ”melodic” variations, as in this case it has so dominant role.

Mid part from 0:30-1:10 feels as if the vocal is muted by accident. (Maybe the video content demands the music be more like bg-music.)

Mid-part from 1:10-1:20 very nice.

Verse/outro starting at 1:25 doesn’t bring anything new. I think you should should serve the main idea here with all spices.

Overall: I think your sample based musical idea has a potential to be much bigger than what it is now. Every part as such is nice, but for some reason they don’t build up a song yet, they are more like good loop ideas that you’re testing. You ought to develop that great idea to use vocal samples as a main element, but to make it a song, maybe you should somehow have more focus on the development of song.


==========


gruskada - Oli The Cat

Excellent short intro. Directly to the content.
Classic ”Hit the road Jack” -chord progression suits fine this genre.
0.46 cool part, horns very nice and well done

Production is a bit chaotic and uneven. Maybe caused by pianos and drums. Two pianos compete with others. And drums create wrong kind of chaos, as if the drummer hasn’t decided yet what he will play, and he’s testing different ideas. And maybe for that reason, other instruments are not listening drums properly. Somehow the band is not playing together best way yet.

But under that chaous there’s very well built song with good and simple melody that delivers it’s message to early morning audience. I can see the video in my mind: a beloved cat that every morning starts a new adventure that ends up to a catastrophe, at least according to his humans who have to clean up the mess.

So in my mind: excellent song about chaos created by a curious cat, but the arrangement should be a chaotic in a different way.

=========


erictracks - Shellhound
Best production. Clearly.

Nice intro. But around 0.22 I was expecting intro to end. Maybe I am too impatient. Now the intro riff lasts about 1 minute.

1:32- cool

2.00- Nice bass solo

2.20- This part could be before the bass solo. That way the bass solo would have a bigger role as it would grow out of stillness.

2.50 My attention starts to escape

This song challenges the listener. Lot’s of delicate nuances. I like every part as such, but from the song’s point of view to me it feels as if the lead instrument or vocal part is missing. Now it’s something that must be listened with headphones and with full attention. But as a cartoon music for kids it may be too demanding.

Drums are very nice: just what is needed to support the song, nothing else. In that sense very ”Ringo”-style drums.

► Show Spoiler

1: gruskada - Oli The Cat
2: erictracks - Shellhound
3: Ryanc - LetYouDownEasy
4: Moses - Up Early

[gruskada]

RyanC
Great song. I like the guitars that start the TV edit a lot. The double-tracked vocals are great, and I really like the different time signatures in the chorus - bold move.

There is some nasty room resonance, esp. evident in the opening vocals on the album edit. Also, some words also don't sit right (maybe slightly out of tune?), "know" at 1:40 is an example.

My biggest issue is that I don't see how this is a Saturday Morning Cartoon song. I can't picture what kind of cartoon this would work with. Could definitely work with another type of show, though. I re-read the rules, and it's a little ambiguous to me if a song outside of the Saturday Morning Cartoon category is ok or not, so I've decided to not let that count against you for my vote.


MOMAS
The track is not supposed to have sound effects, and song lengths are below the minimums, so some points off for that. But, with the sound effects and happy vibe, it does capture the feeling of Saturday Morning Cartoons, though. The guitars and horns work well together, and the chopped up vocal effects are kind of cool.


Ollie H
Dammit, you've got this theme stuck in my head! It's a nice, happy theme that I think would really work well as a cartoon theme song.

Wow, the Kontakt trumpet sounds good. Changing the instruments on the theme for the 2nd verse is a nice choice. The organ sound at :48 (TV edit) is a nice touch and unexpected.

Interesting choice to essentially finish the song on your B section. Not sure if I agree with it or not - I think it works.

I like the piano noise at the end, especially considering your comments about how hard this was for you to write

Nice, clean mix, too. Great job!


erictracks
The theme starting at :12 (tv edit) reminds me way too much of "Down In A Hole" by Alice In Chains. However, the theme starting at 1:32 on the album edit is very interesting.

There's a lot going on with the album edit, but it's all pretty cohesive, and makes for an interesting song. I like the 70's feel, with the chord choices and keyboard portamentos.

► Show Spoiler

01 Ollie H
02 RyanC
03 erictracks
04 MOMAS