SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC041 January 2021 - Winners announced

[ChopSaVVs]

Awesome, I figured as much with SubLab and decided to steer away from it from the get go and thank you guys all for the speedy responses and I can't wait to share with you what I've been working on!

[DSPplug]

I'll be participating, I'm just a bit spread thin.

[DSPplug]

I edited this post, because I'd asked the silly question: Can I submit here. Admittedly, I'd been in a rush. I wasn't sure if there were private entries etc; but realized after inspection of previous contests that this is indeed where I post. So, here is the details.

Artist
DSPplug

Track
Too Many

Length
00:02:48

MP3 Format (320Kbps, 44100):

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Download .mp3

Wav Format (32 Bit Float):

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Download .wav

Youtube Youlean Loudness Meter Playthrough:

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FL Studio Project Zipped:
https://dspplug.com/wp-content/DSPplug-TooMany_80.zip
https://dspplug.com/wp-content/DSPplug- ... 0-edit.zip
https://dspplug.com/wp-content/DSPplug- ... -edit2.zip
https://dspplug.com/wp-content/DSPplug- ... -edit3.zip

DAW:
FL Studio 11 64 Bit

Vocals:
DSPplug Mono to Stereo++
DSPplug Excalibur
Fruity Reeverb 2
DSPplug Omega Compressor
Waves DeEsser Stereo
LA School Navigator
DSPplug Omega Presence

Master:
DSPplug Omega Compressor
VSTplug Esquire 2 Pro Limiter
DSPplug Omega Presence
Youlean Loudness Meter 2

Other:
Waves De-Esser
SonEQ
DSPplug Silverhawk Stereo
VSTplug Esquire 2 Pro Limiter
Fruity Reeverb 2

Meter:
Youlean Loudness Meter 2 Pro

• -25.9 LUFS
  Short Term
• -18.7 LUFS
  Integrated
• 2.0 LU
  Loudness Range
• 14.9 LU
  Realtime Dynamics
• 17.5 LU
  Avg. Dynamics (PLR)
• -14.3 LUFS
  Momentary Max
• -17.0 LUFS
  Short Term Max
• -1.4 dBFS
  True Peak Max

Samples Used

• sin_110Hz_-6dBFS_0.3s.wav
• mix-challenge rap 3 - processed.wav
• mix-challenge rap 4 - processed.wav
• Gas_Heater_Rattling.wav
• Gas_Heater_Rattling-part1.wav (sliced with edison)
• pipe harmonics.wav
• pipe harmonics-part1.wav (sliced with edison)
• Bawu - G-C-D 01.wav
• Bawu - G-C-D 01 - Part_1-seperated.wav (sliced with edison)
• Dropping Chunk of Ice in the Antarctic - Part_1 - Part_1.wav (sliced with edison)
• Glockenspiel High C mono up until 6k.wav
• Random_Smacks_on_Cushion_Bookshelfs_Floor_and_body.wav
• unhg.wav
• La Chancla Slap in the Face.wav
• Dropping Chunk of Ice in the Antarctic - Part_1.wav (sliced with edison)
• Leshy SFDesigner Random Noise 06 48kHz.wav
• Finger Cymbals soft attack mono up until 6k.wav
• Fridge Door Close.wav
• Water_Faucet_Drain_SWC041_Blang.wav
• Three Bleeps.wav
• burst_1000Hz_-6dBFS_x1.wav
• sin_110Hz_-6dBFS_0.3s_2.wav (Time Stretched in FL studio - Sliced with Fade IN and fade OUT in edison)

Methods
I used reverb once, for the glockenspiel sample; for the most part I isolated and sliced with edison; so as to utilize that sounds in an instance of the FL Studio's built in sampler. I liked the samples and did not feel they really needed much changing, though I ran out of time admittedly and did not have the time to find a good 808 sound.

Other than that, I used the sounds as sound fx.
Here's a video about what I did:

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!	Bonus Info
	This is the fourth edit, the other competitors humbled Me and I'd realized I needed to add 808 bass here and there, I also made sure the vocals popped. Though they sound a little tinny on tiny monitors and mono devices like a phone, I feel the essing, dynamic and punch is just right on everything else. I also incorporated stereo width very carefully with My own VST software.

[Mister Fox]

Thank you for your entry. I will lead by example, since we still have 36 hours in this particular game, and you're allowed to edit/re-upload your entry/post until the deadline has been reached (see game mechanics for the Songwriting Competition).


First and foremost, I'd love to know what samples you've used in this production, especially since it's fairly minimalistic. It is hard to spot in your video, especially certain "subtle layers" like various noises


And since it's "minimalistic", I also miss some "ear candy".
Let me explain what I mean:

- the vocals for examples sound a bit "nasal", I'd actually go back and look at the frequency range between 460Hz and 800Hz, maybe also use a proximity tool to pull the vocalist a bit closer to the mic. On small speakers, the voice does stick out too much IMHO. And this doesn't help much on large speakers either, sadly. I'd also maybe leave some breathing in, or even experiment with reverse hall effects to create a bit of tension and more powerful interaction.

- there is barely any movement or "Interesting things" going on. I get that this is rap, and rap can be minimalistic. But the synth like is pushed too far into the back, stays slightly off center, doesn't move. The beat doesn't evolve that much either and the hi hats overpower the kick drum. I'd actually raise the synth a bit more volume wise, add a bit of stereo panning automation. For the beat section, I'd actually drop certain sections ever so often to not have a 2s loop constantly replaying, maybe even add some glitch effects. Or maybe add a second "clap" type for variation, plus maybe a properly timed (pre-delay) reverb as subtle effect. To tame the 16th at, I'd roll off the high end a bit.

- frequency wise, I'd definitely clean up the low-end section. There is just too much clashing there IMO, while the vocals are almost cut too high. This feels muddy and non-balanced to my ears.



Other than that, it is an interesting approach to what has been given to you in terms of samples.

But I'm curious if you can still "build up" on that.

[DSPplug]

Thank you for your entry. I will lead by example, since we still have 36 hours in this particular game, and you're allowed to edit/re-upload your entry/post until the deadline has been reached (see game mechanics for the Songwriting Competition).


First and foremost, I'd love to know what samples you've used in this production, especially since it's fairly minimalistic. It is hard to spot in your video, especially certain "subtle layers" like various noises


And since it's "minimalistic", I also miss some "ear candy".
Let me explain what I mean:

- the vocals for examples sound a bit "nasal", I'd actually go back and look at the frequency range between 460Hz and 800Hz, maybe also use a proximity tool to pull the vocalist a bit closer to the mic. On small speakers, the voice does stick out too much IMHO. And this doesn't help much on large speakers either, sadly. I'd also maybe leave some breathing in, or even experiment with reverse hall effects to create a bit of tension and more powerful interaction.

- there is barely any movement or "Interesting things" going on. I get that this is rap, and rap can be minimalistic. But the synth like is pushed too far into the back, stays slightly off center, doesn't move. The beat doesn't evolve that much either and the hi hats overpower the kick drum. I'd actually raise the synth a bit more volume wise, add a bit of stereo panning automation. For the beat section, I'd actually drop certain sections ever so often to not have a 2s loop constantly replaying, maybe even add some glitch effects. Or maybe add a second "clap" type for variation, plus maybe a properly timed (pre-delay) reverb as subtle effect. To tame the 16th at, I'd roll off the high end a bit.

- frequency wise, I'd definitely clean up the low-end section. There is just too much clashing there IMO, while the vocals are almost cut too high. This feels muddy and non-balanced to my ears.



Other than that, it is an interesting approach to what has been given to you in terms of samples.

But I'm curious if you can still "build up" on that.

maybe, I'm the vocalist; at the least I could affect de-essing. all samples I'd used were in the .zip; same you provided. I didn't use any effects like wavetables etc

[Leonard Bowman]

I think I'm done with my track, or maybe my track is done with me.


Streaming/.flac download:

I can provide another format if needed.


Produced in Reaper 6.
Much of the heavy lifting is done by MSoundFactory (clarinet, kick drum, bass) and Vital (flute, staccato flute/violin).
I also used Sitala for the aux percussion. All other instruments and effects were created in Reaper's arrangement view.

Samples used:
Stereo Singing Bell (mainly for the pulsing chords)
Bawu G-C-D 02 (soaked in reverb and somewhat quiet)
Clap - Big Tiled Room (big reverby hits)
Dropping a chunk of ice... (processed using ReaCoMa to filter out the wind noise)
Finger Cymbals (reversed, very quiet)
Glockenspiel High C (also quiet)
Four Hits on a Tuna Can (in the aux groove)
Here We Go Y'all (this one should be obvious)
Pipe Harmonics (in the first drop and the build to the second)
Powerline Arcing Phase to Phase (soft bass washes before each drop)
Smash Wine Bottle (in the aux groove, also reversed before drop 2)
Water Faucet Drain (riser into the drops)
Stomp (Smack in the Kitchen Sink on a Sponge) (in the aux groove)
Hit Metal Barrel (in the aux groove)
Lightswitch (also aux groove)
Smash Printer (sliced to make the foundation of the aux groove)
Flute Natural C (autotuned, compressed, and played through MSoundFactory's and Vital's samplers to build the instruments
Violin Tuning A-String (played through MSoundfactory to make the "clarinet")

Audio Effects:
lots of pitch and time edits in Reaper
internal effects in MSoundfactory and Vital
ReaEQ
ReEQ
ReaComp
MTremolo
MAutopan
Protoverb
ReaGate
Cocoa Delay
ReaPitch
Dragonfly Room
OTT
GClip
FreeClip
DeRez2
JS Chebyshev 4-pole filter
airwindows Vibrato
Full Bucket Phaser
Valhalla Supermassive
Avocado Ducking Glitch Generator
MUtility
Voxengo SPAN
MLoudnessAnalyzer
Limiter No6

[DSPplug]

I updated Mine, thanks.

[Mister Fox]

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


Please keep the deadlines in mind, and possible server glitches around the last hour of the game.

[Square]

Hello all,

Heres my submission.

I played around with granular synthesis for the first time other than basic edits and breaktweaker from izotope for most of the 'percussion'

I will update with a brief of which samples i used etc. at some point tonight (yes actually ^^)

It was fun playing around with, never really did any thing like that.

Also the hip hop song from dsplug was cool, neat to see someone turn this into a 'proper' song

and the Electronic piece that was submitted by leonard has some nice oompft to it.

Ill obviously do a fuller review of those and update this, ive just only seen 2 as of now and had a very quick listen through.

Catchyas soon¬

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TIHmKT ... sp=sharing

[Blang]

Hi fellows,

The song:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-RH3U9 ... sp=sharing

For this SWC I separated the sound design from composition. Starting with the first I put the samples in different categories: Tonal, Voice, High Frequencies, Hits, noisy textures. From there I made an Ableton Live drum rack with sounds that could function as a: Kick, snare, hihat etc. Most of the synths were made by using Live’s Sampler; often combining multiple samples.
Even the slapback echo and two reverbs are made from the samples (glass, clap and water faucet) by importing them as an impulse response in a convolution reverb (it’s easier than is sounds ).

The songwriting process began fairly traditional: I asked my gf if she needed any assistance in the kitchen. There wasn’t really anything, so I made some suggestions and ended up singing the first line of the chorus to be “Sometimes…”. I thought that could be a good starting point for a song and with the help of an acoustic guitar I finished the song in its very basic form. Then I could move back to the computer and make an arrangement with the pre-made instruments. I really wanted something familiar (pop song) to be at the base of such a new type of production technique, so that I wouldn’t get lost in the endless “cool sound” forest. To exhibit the sounds made for this track, I went for a high contrast between the different parts in the song; each with its own vibe.

I estimate that I used about 60% of the pre-made instruments, but I tweaked all of them during the process. When the production was taking shape, I made some new instruments for specific things that were lacking in the arrangement at that point.

For the hihat in the chorus I used the water_faucet sample because this is mainly noise. I reversed it so that the high frequencies decay naturally and made a fade out so it’s exactly one 16th long. To create different dynamics I picked four different parts of the same sample. Then with Live’s sampler I used the zone feature so that the ‘louder’ samples would be triggered at higher velocities. I beatboxed the hihat pattern and converted the audio to midi. To keep the groove organic but tight, I only quantised it about 50%.
It would be a very long read if were to explain how each sound was made, but I if you have questions regarding something specific, I would be happy to oblige.