SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC038 October 2020 - Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

Hello and welcome to the Songwriting Competition 38 - October 2020


This is the introduction post, where we directly link to the challenge corresponding files (theme, submission information, sponsors) and start of the voting process. There will be no Round 2.

Read more about this month's competition further down below.




Please take note of the following

• Please consult the official "Rules and Guidelines" for the Songwriting Competition regarding principles of the game and upload/submission guidelines. As of August 2020, we have some more engaging game mechanics that allow you to submit your entry, gather feedback and then re-upload with enhancements until the deadline has been reached
• IMPORTANT: please use the following naming convention for your productions (artist name = forum username):
  • SWC000_ArtistName_TrackName.wav and/or .mp3
• IMPORTANT: if you only submit your production through Soundcloud, name your files properly prior to uploading and make the production downloadable. The forum can also convert your links into a Soundcloud player through the [soundcloud] BBcode from the text editor (orange square with a white cloud in it)

This post will be updated with the corresponding links as we progress, and of course the suitable thread headlines. So please watch this spot:


Submission Period: General Information and Sponsors
Cheat Sheet: A couple of examples / audio demos for this month's challenge (usually not available if genre is "Free to Select")
Voting: Summarized entries and start of voting process
Results of the Songwriting Competition: Results of the Songwriting Competition

[Mister Fox]

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Thursday, 01st October 2020 to Saturday, 24th October 2020 (24 days)

Challenge submission will end on 24-10-2020, 23:59 UTC+2/CEST (Germany) - until further notice.

Want to find out if you're still within the deadline, please consult the following options:
The Global Countdown on it's dedicated page or the countdown on the home page. You can also consult the World Clock at the top of the forum or alternatively the following tool - in this case please select "Berlin (Germany)" as location 1, and your location as location 2: Time and Date - World Clock Meeting Planner. We do post reminders via our Twitter account and Facebook page.



SONGWRITING THEME: The Things That Scare Us
GENRE: Soundtrack



Image Source: Pexels, photo by Francesco Ungaro, released under Creative Commons CC0, slightly modified


A few word about this month's theme:

We're in the "Spooky Season" of the year. The months where things slowly turn quiet, leafs start to fall, urban legends and ghost stories resurface. Oh wait... I think I've took a wrong turn there. Or did I?

There have been a couple of genre requests that dip more towards "soundtrack creation". Someone had the desire for a TV show theme with a "1980s synth style" twist, and then there was the idea of a "song production according to a given cue sheet". I'm quite liking the idea. In fact, I've been tossing around the concept to run a "1950s style" sci-fi/horror TV show soundtrack game for a while now. Things you've heard in "The Twilight Zone" or old alien movies that heavily overused the Theremin for "spooky sounds". Although maybe not exactly this month.

One of the biggest meme of the year 2020, is "what disaster will strike next, to finally wipe us all out?!", which in turn is also a great source of inspiration for our theme.




Your task for this Songwriting Competition:
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This month, you can create a production in the so called "Soundtrack" genre


What I'd like to see/hear this month, is you telling a story through music. Either pick up on an urban legend, a nightmare, a fictional endtimes scenario, a so called creepy-pasta, SPC, a good old ghost story from your area, or maybe even a good dark sci-fi/horror short-story that you'd like to "reinterpret". You then try to turn this into a "mental cinema" ("Kopfkino" in German) with whatever tools you have at your disposal. You can go all out on sound design, blend genres, be modern or be cheesy with 1950's Theremin "horror music", go 1980s "Synthwave", etc. Just keep things interesting.

Along with that, please also write down a short three to five sentence story what the inspiration for your production was, or what your music is actually trying to convey us.


What I do not want to hear:
Going "super epic" with orchestra, horns and choirs. I know, there is always an incentive to go this route is there. This is a soundtrack genre after all. But try to make it "fitting" for the story that you came up with. On that behalf, just 3 minutes of the same 20s ambient noise/pads loop - while technically a soundtrack and fitting to the genre... this would be a bit boring, don't you think?


I am really curious who of you can send the most chills down my spine

Songwriting Rule Summary / Add-On Rules:

• create a production fitting to the given theme, genre and general premise
• you can use any tool that is at your disposal (samples, virtual instruments and/or real instruments)
• IMPORTANT: if you use non-licensed material (no royalty free material from sample CDs, etc), give full credit to the source material
• do not go higher than -14LUFS ILk/-1dBTP in terms of perceived loudness (mastering). Music doesn't have to be squashed to bits in order to be impactful
• for newcomers: no cover versions or remixes, no ripped acapella's
• ADD-ON RULES:
  • <no add-on rules specified>

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Please take note of the official rules - they can be found at the following thread:
Songwriting Competition - Official Rules and Guidelines

Please address any OT question in the official Gossip thread:
Songwriting Competition - Gossip and Discussion

If you like what the Mix Challenge (community) has been doing in recent months:
Please consider supporting us

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SPONSORS (Prizes):

Prizes for Songwriting Challenge participants:

Note: All licenses are NFR (Not-For-Resale), except where noted.
Changes to available prices on short notice may be possible and will be announced separately.


RECURRING LICENSE SPONSORSHIP:


IK Multimedia is kind enough give away one license of MODO BASS to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on IK Multimedia: https://www.ikmultimedia.com



Tone2 is kind enough to donate a license of Saurus2 to the winner (until further notice)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Tone2: https://tone2.com



kv331 audio is kind enough give away a bundle of either SynthMaster 1+2 Bundle, or a freely selectable set of 3 SynthMaster Expansions
License will not turn into NFR, you need to have a kv311 audio user account in order to pick up Expansions
More info on kv331 audio: https://www.kv331audio.com



JRR Sounds is kind enough give away any-1 sound sets or sample set of winner's choice (exception: Bundles)
More info on JRR Sounds: https://www.jrrshop.com/jrr-sounds



Luftrum is kind enough give away either a license of Lunaris, a license of Bioscape, or any two sound sets of winner's choice (exception: Bundles and Nano Electronics)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Luftrum: http://www.luftrum.com



Rekkerd Sounds is kind enough give away 1 sound set of winners choice (exception: Krezie EDM and Neurofunk Vol. 1)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Rekkerd Sounds: http://sounds.rekkerd.org/



Ghostwave Audio (Vincent Bastiat) is kind enough to donate any 2 sound sets to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Ghostwave Audio: http://ghostwaveaudio.com



Hollow Sun is kind to donate one license of "Music Laboratory Machines - The Suite I" to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Hollow Sun: http://www.hollowsun.com



Hornet Plugins is kind enough give away one license from the depicted tools (see image) to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Hornet Plugins: http://www.hornetplugins.com



Sound / Graphic Designer, and honorary Mix Challenge staff satYatunes is donating one commercial product of winner's choice (until further notice)
More info on satYatune's page: http://www.satyatunes.com/





THANKS FOR THE DONATIONS!
And also a thank you to all former contributors as well.

If you want to sponsor content (please have a focus on instruments, samples and sound sets), please get in touch with the Mix Challenge staff.

Please spread the word of the challenge on social media.
For example with our dedicated Twitter Account or Facebook Page

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Good luck to all participants.
And most importantly, have fun!

[Mister Fox]

AUDIO EXAMPLES:
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Articles and Info Pages:

A great starting point is the (new) "Addendum"/Supplementary thread for the Songwriting Competition
Songwriting Competition - Addendum: Music Maps and BPM Charts




Music examples (selection):

Ennio Morricone - Humanity (Pt 2) (1982, for the movie "The Thing", fairly monotone, but most notably 2:30min mark to 6:00min mark)
Elliot Goldenthal - Pet Sematary Main Theme (1989, for the movie "Pet Semetary")
American McGee's Alice - Village of the Doomed (2000, for the video game if the same name)
Graham Plowman - The Shadow Over Innsmouth (2014, HP Lovecraft inspired soundtrack)
Disasterpeace - Heels (2014, for the movie "It Follows")
Mick Gordon - The Phantoms and Into the Tunnels (2017, for the video game "PREY")
Artur Kordas - Green People (2017, for the indie horror video game "Darkwood")

Notable mentions:

Bioshock Soundtrack (Garry Schyman), Eternal Darkness Soundtrack (Steve Henifin), Silent Hill video game soundtracks (both the vocal tracks, and the BGM - Akira Yamaoka), American McGee's "Alice" video game series (Chris Vrenna, Jason Tai, Jason Tai, Marshall Crutcher), Stories Untold video game soundtrack (Omar Khan), Maid of Sker video game soundtrack (Gareth Lumb), In Sound Mind video game (The Living Tombstone)


Keep in mind:
"Soundtrack" doesn't mean ambient or orchestra only. You can also add clean lead guitars, a lead synth, pulsing rhyhthms, etc. You decide which route this goes, how "dark" and/or interesting things get.

<apologies - this month, there are no extensive music examples - either because the genre is "Free to Select" or I didn't make it in time>




Please also check in with the following thread in the the Gear Talk sub-forum, if you're on the look-out for new tools:
Free Tools, Samples and deals (collection thread)



UPDATED: 05-SEP-2020 23:40 UTC+2 (sourcing content: a couple of hours, also a thank you to becsei_gyorgy and canese for providing additional examples)

[A Future in Noise]

Just keep things interesting for ideally more than 3:30 to 4:00 minutes (though no worries if it's a bit shorter).

This is a little bit unclear, I'm afraid. If it's more than 4:00 minutes, then it's automatically more than 3:30 minutes. So why mention 3:30? May I ask: what are the recommendations regarding time? (You say no worries if it's a bit shorter, but if it is too short, it will probably affect the voting.)

[becsei_gyorgy]

What I do not want to hear:
Going "super epic" with orchestra, horns and choirs.

E.g. is this kind of music "allowed" ?
Purely orchestra, horns, chorus, but I don't think it's "epic":

phpBB [media]

I’m just asking to clarify in advance what the main direction is this month.
The horror films of the 50s has also often purely orchestral soundtracks of course.

[Mister Fox]

This is a little bit unclear, I'm afraid. If it's more than 4:00 minutes, then it's automatically more than 3:30 minutes. So why mention 3:30? May I ask: what are the recommendations regarding time? (You say no worries if it's a bit shorter, but if it is too short, it will probably affect the voting.)

You are right, which is why I've just removed this whole "try to shoot for" section.

My goal was to try to get people to write songs longer than 3:30minutes. Although if you can't get past the 2:30min mark, so be it. You won't see any points withdrawn from me on this one.

E.g. is this kind of music "allowed" ?
Purely orchestra, horns, chorus, but I don't think it's "epic":

...

I’m just asking to clarify in advance what the main direction is this month.
The horror films of the 50s has also often purely orchestral soundtracks of course.

I hear you on that. My reason for "not going super epic" is, that this is a whole different genre. The "Epic Music" genre is usually an orchestra constantly stepping on a gas pedal (being "high energy"). Many swells, loud and aggressive string runs, being more "uplifting" and "calling to battle", etc. An orchestra can do so much more - that was my main reason to mention this.


I've listened to the HP Lovecraft example - yes, I would allow this "kind" of music

Apologies that I didn't manage to provide audio examples this time around.

[canese]

Here is my contribution to examples (correct me if I'm wrong):

phpBB [media]

I loved the movie, mainly because of the soundtrack. It's so scary and awesome at the same time

[EdThorne]

Hi everyone. This is my entry for the SWC038 scary story line songwriting competition, it's my first time entering. This song is about the end of the world. Scary enough?

Please listen below:


Spotify

iTunes

Alternatively listen HERE

I hope you like it. Thanks for listening :-)

[TrojakEW]

Hi everyone. This is my entry for the SWC038 scary story line songwriting competition, it's my first time entering. This song is about the end of the world. Scary enough?

I'm sorry but you need to make track specially for this competition. What I see on your page that release date is September 25th 2020. You also need to provide downloadable version of track with some details regarding what you used to make it.

[Mister Fox]

Hi everyone. This is my entry for the SWC038 scary story line songwriting competition, it's my first time entering. This song is about the end of the world. Scary enough?

Hi Ed, welcome to the forum.

As @TrojakEW brought up correctly, you've went against the established Rules and Guidelines.

While the Songwriting Competition Is indeed all about making music, it is however not a platform for (blatant) shout-outs/promotion of what you've already created (especially through pay platforms like iTunes) to get the word out about you. The song does have to be produced for the game in question. Or if it's an old production of yours from way back, redone/"finished" during that particular month.

Furthermore, your track is more on the melodramatic, yet uplifting "pop side" of things, rather than "soundtrack".


Please get re-acquainted with the official rule book - there are still 20 days to create something new:
viewforum.php?f=20

Here is my contribution to examples (correct me if I'm wrong):

Nice selection. I wasn't fully aware that Disasterpeace also created horror soundtracks (I only know his work from video games).




EDIT:
Just updated the song examples with some more "ambient" heavy content. Keep in mind - there are no rules as to "how" you want to tell your story. If you want to use synths, if you want to add clean guitars, a choir, singing, etc. As long as it feels like a "Soundtrack" ("mental cinema").