SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC041 January 2021 - Winners announced

[satchboogie]

Hi!
I am giving my votes based on my own experiences throughout the competition. I respect the time you all put into your work. My main priority was sample diversity, song complexity (not length itself), mixing.

DSPplug - Too Many
I can hear the potential in your voice and your style of rapping. Your voice definetly has a character that you can build on. I like its nasal tone. However the production is not supporting it. Some frequencies seem to be overcrowded and a lot of them are vacant. I also ran into this problem with my song: when i was happy to create some instruments then i saw that it is very easy to get lost in the spectrum. The lyrics could compensate for the beat itself if you added some movement at least some panning. You are building on a short beat. That is okay if you keep up the attention through some changes (besides lyrics) and spread things over the spectrum or throw some effects/pads on us. You might have gotten out of time trying to come up with new sounds, which i understand because sound design was hard for me too.

Leonard Bowman - Uncharacteristic Departure
The beat you made got my attention and also liked the upbeat snare and effects. Shows lot of sound design elements. I wish the song led somewhere further. It would spice it up if you used some voices from the wavpack. You created a melodic build-up but you seem to get lost in those lines. Since many cases it gets even out of tune, you need to check the pitch more thoroughly when you create pitched instrument and maybe use frequency shifting to move it to the right range and tune it (not only transpose but microtuning). I feel like the bass parts are a little bit too upfront in the context of the song. I appreciate that you tried to create a song that has musical challenges as well.

Square - Save Yourself
I liked the pads in the intro parts and the stereo pumping synth bass sound later. The kick and the bass are pushed up to the lowmids and the song doesnt get the real low end pump. The tail of the kick is interfering with the song too much. The noise-like snare could be processed a bit more to give a more consistent effect and come out of glitchyness more. The tambourine is really nice and you also added the softer shaking to it before the hit. You had an idea of throwing the voices quickly after one another, which can give the effect of a vocally busy part. This is a viable option but i would have used more editing of the lines (slicing up). At 1:54 tremolo and phsaing synth effect comes up with a melody line, which add a lot. More favorable frequency spreading, relating the melodic parts more to each other (especially the one at 1:54) and editing the voices more would have given a rounder production as a song.

Blang -Needs Squeezing
Productiowise this one was the one i liked most. It really made me forget about all the samples i kept listening in my media pool for many hours. Mixwise its also nice, easy to listen, nice spreading of fx and rhythm section. Your voice also fits in. If i were only a listener i would give the 10 pts, but i also have take other things into consideration like sample diversity. The core of the song is about 1 min. long (including the 15 sec chorus part at 1:41). Your samples were really cleaned up. Nice job. You made a very nice 2:52 min. pop song out of it. You seem to really know what you were doing. Maybe you could have included some real beatboxing, not only for midi. I missed your voice in the chorus part at 1:41 could be a bit louder with more reverb and layers.

becsei_gyorgy – Beyond The Tales
Nice work. This is a real complex stuff. You spent a lot of time with sound design. The song has a build up and all the sections contain different elements. While listening the beat always made me waiting for the next variation, kept my attention. You also did very nice panning effects that related to the main synth lead. There are a lot of nuances in your work. I liked the intro idea very much and it makes the change into the beat nicely. I liked the reso bass, the bells, organs and bagpipes very much. The accompanying instruments until the whistles come in at the start is a little bit unclear for me and the mens choir at 4:22 is also blurred but i respect that you did it. After listening it several times i found that the drum beat is a little bit too upfront regarding the length of the song and comes a bit in the way. Maybe some frequency clashing rather then volume.

Shea – Time2Go
I really like the main theme, nice mix as well. The song really catches the sad moment when it is time to go. Subtle sitar in the background, upbeat variations and panning effects. Some nice sound design elements here. A little bit too much of waterflow in the song for me. You probably play some kind of windwoods in real life. I wonder if you were using samples for release on the bassoon-like melody. Nice, detailed windwood lines. The main theme is catchy, if you used some pads and vibrato here and there it would make it more interesting regarding the length of the song. Good job.

My votes:

► Show Spoiler

01 (10pts) becsei_gyorgy
02 (9 pts) Blang
03 (8 pts) Shea
04 (7 pts) Square
05 (6 pts) Leonard Bowman
06 (5 pts) DSPplug

satch

[Blang]

Hi all,

I guess you've all got some new tricks up your sleeve by making these tracks. Here are my thoughts on your productions. May they be helpful to you in any way.

DSPPlug
Nice and scarce production, so the harmonic instruments that are present have maximum impact. The vocal could really use more presence to make it more compelling and intelligible. Since the bright (and loud) clap is also masking the voice quite a bit.
The hihat gets slightly stale after a minute or so. Perhaps let it evolve or groove more; everything is very much on the grid.. I know it’s not very common in hiphop, but I would have liked some more variation in the form of dynamics or stuff coming in and out of the track.
Some nerdy specific stuff: sometimes you doubled the clap and slightly delayed it (at 0:53 for instance). It feels a bit glitchy (combfilter sound) to me because I can hear it is an exact copy. If you pitch the double down a bit (2 semitones or more) it will feel more like a ‘new’ clap and have more impact, which was the intention I believe.
The bass instrument and kick could use some more low end if you’re going for hiphop.


Leonard Bowman - Uncharacteristic Departure
Nice beginning, clear and hooky. Wow, that chord (the seventh one) around 0:13 stray a bit far for the Western tuning that has been established earlier on. The flute that follows doesn’t have the same tuning as the underlying chords. Too spicy for me.
Ooh lala, nice bass drop. Cool sound and rhythm! Here I kinda like the gliding tone in the bass. At 0:58 the flute, bass and pulsing chords unfortunately are tuned too far apart from each other for me. The chords I can somewhat handle because the pitch modulates anyway in a eerie way.
The catchy bass line is cool , but for my taste there is not enough development in the composition to make it feel like a whole piece. It feels like a promising sketch to me. It might be interesting to give the flute an interesting quality with reverb/delay FX later on in the piece too make it more obviously artificial.

Square - Save Yourself
Immediately starts with a unique distinctive vibe! Could have built a bit quicker, because the ASMR type percussion and pressing bass are a bit much for me when it goes on for longer periods.
When that Daft Punk type synth comes it the track really seems to open; The chords rise and so oes the tension… I expected (and hoped) for a danceable 4-on-the-floor groove after that. However, if you choose to make this you climax then it might be stronger to stop there, just before the 1 (2:26); no fade out, just leave us with a reverb tail hanging mid air.


Györgey Becsei - Beyond the Tales
Haha! bagpipe vibes. The sounds you made before the drop sound a lot like FM synths.
“Everybody off the streets” So I’m thinking something big and scary (Skrillex-like perhaps) is about to come. It does become full and bigger, but actually a very pleasant vibe, chord and sound wise. Nice clear memorable themes with plenty of repetition.
Nice when the minor comes in a bit before 5:00, really makes it feel like an epic journey. The shape and flow of the composition feels very natural. The sounds deliver what they must do, but I would have liked some unorthodox sounds to make this piece really unique.

Shea - Time to Go
It has groove. Cool how the sounds swirl when the beat goes away. Most sounds and how the blend is very original, too bad the lead horn-type sound has a more generic timbre. The badu flute was sticking out a bit. With a touch of reverb/delay I think it would blend a bit more.
2:00 really really dig this part; it’s sparse and the water droplet work the charm.
Usually I like some development / variation / dynamics in a track. This one doesn’t have a lot, but exactly enough for me. I stay in one vibe, but does not get boring. Reminded slightly of me some triphop tracks on Gorilaz first album.


Satchboogie - Everybody
Nice guitar like picking (a bit Crowded House vibe). But the vocoder was an combination that I haven’t heard before, Cool! The guitar and organ (well done!) are almost falling in the uncanny valley for me, so making slightly more artificial work better with people’s expectation of particular instruments. Some variation in dynamics and register, particularly in the guitar and organ (you would have to go back to the midi tracks for that) would also help making the whole feel more alive. Oh and then it stops.. For a second I actually thought “Hey did I accidentally paused it?”. You might not even need new parts to make this composition feel finished. You could go back to the intro.
The vocal samples are placed real nice! “Save yourself” does not really fit with the general happy vibe of the track, but ah well.

► Show Spoiler

01 (10pts) Shea
02 (9 pts) becsei_gyorgy
03 (8 pts) Square
04 (7 pts) Satchboogie
05 (6 pts) Leonard Bowman
06 (5 pts) DSPplug

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
We're in the final 24 hours to submit your feedback and cast your vote.


Please don't let yourself be disqualified by not participating. The Songwriting Competition lives from the given feedback towards each other.

[Shea]

Hello everyone. Good job on completing this competition. Here is my review plus my wife's input as well. Rating is always tricky as there are many elements that need consideration, and which ones mean the song is best is opinion of the reviewer. My top choices were given to the songs and beat I found most interesting. A few were just not my style but I still gave points for creative production value.

DSPplug - Nice start to a song with beats and lyrics. I appreciate the real, down-to-earth lyrics. I had to listen twice. Your beat production wasn't awesome but also not terrible. Many hip hop songs have minimal beat production value. I felt like it could use more dynamics... specifically, macro dynamics. A build over time and a chorus would work wonders for your production. Catchy beat. Decent mixing although the snare was a bit too loud for me (varying dynamics would help). You had the most complex, thought provoking, lyrics.

Leonard Bowman - A very nice start. I was totally digging until the minor chord @ 0:15 and then the main flute which is outa tune too much for my tastes. The song carries a bit too much dissonance. Interesting beat and flow. Song would've been better without such extreme pitch changes and key changes. Just a touch is nice and interesting but too much is distracting. However, that drop was sweet! Felt that more than other songs... had grit. Decent mixing and nice bass. You get my vote for having the most felt drop.

Square - Beat was cohesive but didn't hold my attention well. I think it lacked groove. Maybe more of a gaming track than a dance. I liked the sound that comes in at 0:49 a lot. However, song had too much vocal use! The first O O O O kay was sweet but then classiness of song goes down with the cluttered following vocals. Could remove a lot of em and bring up the production IMO. The "everybody get your children off the street" (the pitched down one) was cool but a lot of the other could be eliminated. The production doesn't grow enough 'beat-wise' to hold my attention. Reintroducing lyrics later would help. Production had variation, points for that, but lacked feel.

Blang - Intersting intro. I noticed pretty quick that kick could use more punch. Funny lyrics. The feel of this song reminded me somewhat of Owl City. I was never into Owl City as their songs were too light poppy for me. This song falls into that category. I don't mind the funny lyrics, points for creativity, but the somewhat cheesy beat would have me skipping this track on a playlist. Thats just me though. Beat could've used more variation to help hold attention. Great job on a complete song with lyrics and production even if it wasn't my style.

Bescei Gyorgy - Very engaging intro that drew me in. Song starts tense and then lightens with the bagpipe irish feel. Interesting storyline. Very creative. Not really my taste of EDM but held its own with variation... maybe too much. Felt like it lacked some consistency, 2:12 - 2:29 didn't fit in song IMO... removing I feel like song would've held my attention in the mood that dominates this song. Lead synth was a tad too dominate and could level down a notch. Major points for all the creative choices and flow.

Satchboogie - Decent vibe. I dig the guitar. Not digging the lead synth @ 1:00, just my taste. Good vocal use although slightly cluttered. Very short, did you run out of time?? Would've gotten more points from me had it been longer... felt unfinished. Needs more storyline... the intro and build were done well enough that song could've been at least another minute longer with not so much lyric use squeezed where it was, rather reintroducing lyrics later in track.

► Show Spoiler

01 Leonard Bowman 10 points
02 Becsei Gyorgy 9 points
03 Blang 8 points
04 Square 7 points
05 DSPplug 6 points
06 Satchboogie 5 points

[becsei_gyorgy]

Hi folks,

I really liked the songs of this month, quite neat things were born. Congrats.

DSPplug - TooMany
Nice oldskool rap song.
I think the vocals fit well with this minimalist style. I like the tone too.
Although a minimalist style, I would have expected a little more variety on the drums. Both in the number of sounds and in the rhythmicity.
And if we stayed with the existing sounds, we could have played more with the stereo image.
Overall a neat job in this style. Looking at the theme of the month (Sound design) I feel a little bit few, there could have been more sound (playfulness, FX) in it (retaining the minimalist character).

Leonard Bowman - Uncharacteristic Departure
Great start, nice sounds. The change at 0:38 is great. That bass! That bass is really there, I love it. Good rhythm, nice groove.
0:57 the flute comes in very dry. I would rather have played with it (pp delay, reverb). (It might distract the song in the direction of a dance song , but I would like it better).
Nice break and great buildup again until 2:14.
Great FX at 2:33.
The mix overall very bass heavy but is good for the song.
I liked the sounds, the groove, nice job.

Square - Save Yourself
Nice minimalist style song and clever play with vocal samples.
Overall, I lack a stable, good deep foundation for this style.
In several places are missing a good sub (first and last part).
1:54- Nice lead sound

Blang - Needs Squeezing
Many different, varied sounds, great work, good sound design.
Good vocals, congratulations.
1:08- Great pluck sound
Overall nice work with the sounds, nice vocal, catchy melody. Great.

Shea - Time2Go
Remained the oriental, organic vibe . Nice sounds.
The intro creates a pleasant atmosphere that stays in the song throughout.
Good song, nice atmosphere, great sounds, I miss the melodic elements a bit, but could be very good background music for games (a bit reminiscent of the background music of historical/city-building games, I got into a whole nostalgic mood ).
Very nice job.

Satchboogie - Everybody
Nice guitar intro. I also like the FX's. and I like the way the drums play.
1:03- nice synth (bass) arpeggio - could be more emphatic later, could come to the foreground because it sounds very good.
A bit short song and ends very suddenly.
Good ideas, clever playfulness, but maybe it should be finished.

► Show Spoiler

10pt Shea - Time2Go
09pt Blang - Needs Squeezing
08pt Satchboogie - Everybody
07pt Leonard Bowman - Uncharacteristic Departure
06pt Square - Save Yourself
05pt DSPplug - TooMany

[Mister Fox]

It's the 02nd February 2021, 01:45 (UTC+1/CET) - the Voting Period has officially ended.

Sadly, not all participants have submitted some final feedback, we therefore have 1 disqualification (@Square).


I will post the results within the next 24-48 hours, please have an eye on this thread.
(this is not an automated process)



EDIT 02-FEB-2021 3:30:
Due to the lack of final feedback/vote by Square, we have a "tie" situation that can also not easily be cleared up by checking who has more "points per tier". I will think of a suitable solution. This however might shift the release of the score-sheet by another 12-24 hours.

[Mister Fox]

We're having a "tie situation" with SWC041. Usually, a tie is broken up by checking who has the higher points (as in: who has more 10's, then who has more 9's). It is sadly not that simple this time around since both top spots actually have the same points. I wish that Square would have cast his vote, as this might have resulted in a slightly different outcome. However, I Square didn't further participate, so here we are.

I could have utilized a random number generator and therefore shifted the votes without any further commentary. But I think the better solution is to provide even more feedback, and then apply some more points. I will use no modifiers, but since I can give feedback to all entries... there will be 7 votes further down below.

I must also admit, I had a personal clear winner right from the start, but you all did a great job with the material given to you. Who knows what will happen January 2022.



DSPlug:

Our first entry for this competition, is also probably the most simplistic one. However, throughout the course of the SWC, it did see significant upgrades in terms of instruments and sound design. It definitely is an interesting "slice and play" type hip hop production. But it sadly also feels a bit flat. By that I mean, that the mix mostly comes "out of the middle", not only stereo wise, but frequency wise as well. The "flow" of the vocals are purely subjective, so I won't go into that. However, the vocals feel very nasal and mid-range heavy. I've talked about this before, and I'd definitely run a different FX chain. In fact, the vocals now seem to jump around in the stereo field (as if there is a random panner applied).

Music wise, I still think the hi-hat is too prominent. Due to the overall mix balance, this results in ear fatigue really quick. Especially with ear-plugs and small speakers. You don't hear the subtleties of the bass, and the kick also doesn't cut through as much as it should for this type of genre. I get the overall idea of "dirty south" and "mid 1990s demo tape" type feel. But I'd have loved to see a bit more attention to detail in the mix here.



Leonard Bowman:

There is... quite a lot going on here. The sound design is very interesting, considering the amount of samples you've used. The majority definitely went into the beat (it looks like recording myself randomly hitting various things really paid off for most "Community Scramble" productions in recent years).

The overall mix feels balanced and keeps you engaged while listening. But the thing that completely thew me out of the loop (and in fact still does), are the dissonances and wonky pitches of the instruments. Not the main chorus and beat part, mind you. But definitely the rest. I think this is where the song title comes from: "Uncharacteristic Departure". We listeners always expect a perfect pitch with productions. I think you really threw us a curve-ball here.

There are a lot of "subtle" sounds in this production that I would have loved to hear more of, or a bit more prominent (so many layers that probably blend into each other). But the overall result is outstanding - and I think the biggest compliment here is, that I found myself keeping the main "drops" on loop.



Square:

From my understanding (documentation), the two most used tools were Izotope's Breaktweaker and Steinberg PadShop Pro 2. This production is definitely more "artificially generated" than all other entries (Breaktweaker's loop engine), and therefore has a more machine-like feeling. On purpose even. Lots of glitching and random noises. some interesting lead sounds. I wouldn't call it a "disgruntled sound play" though.

Unless we talk voice samples, because those do not fit for this production IMO. They feel disjointed, and just thrown in rather than resulting in coherence. I either would have not used them at all, or just one of them. Or I might have tried to slice them up to work with the beat. But then again, that's just me.



Blang:

The documentation threw me a bit for a loop here. Should have paid more attention, because you only used the guitar as "scratch track" and basically created a pop production from the provided sounds. More impressive here is that you already created "sounds" before you even started the song. Clearly shows how different each and everyone of us works.

The production is very 1980s electro-pop, quite enjoyable and with some very interesting sound-design (including using the sustain trails from samples as "reverb"). I would have maybe put a different attention to the main beat. While this sounds like and old drum machine for sure, I would have changed the EQ for the "snare" a bit. Same goes for the kick. Then towards the more busy parts, things just... smear too much into each other. But the overall concept (the "package") is working like it should. Also, the vocals are super funny.



becsei_gyorgy:

Well... this was certainly unexpected. Instead of going to town with the provided samples (like most participants did), becsei_gyorgy basically went "One Synth Challenge" veteran on us, and created nearly all sounds from scratch with basic wave-forms in Kilohearts Phase Plant. An outstanding feat with over 6 minutes of runtime. If there would be multiple categories for this particular challenge, then this is a clear winner in terms of sound-design.

I've got nothing to add here, really. I might have mixed the kick a bit more "modern" sounding, but other than that... impressive.



Shea:

The documentation threw me a bit off at first. I initially thought, that Luftrum's "Bioscape" was used "as is" for sound design purposed. Then I remembered that this Kontakt Instrument can load "custom samples" and offers a quite interesting sound design/modulation engine. I did not expect participants to basically access a certain full blown sample set, then completely ignore it's content and rather use the engine as custom "granular"/additive synthesizer. Great out-of-the-box thinking, and using your tools for "more than it was originally made for". An unexpected, yet welcome sight.

Production wise, the beat feels a bit "off" at first, especially since the beat starts so sudden and is also slightly off-beat throughout (if only there was a bit of an intro). But looking at the whole production, it provides a perfect "laid back" feel with a touch of oriental influences. I really liked some of the custom created instruments here. The mangled voice sample towards the end of the song also worked great and doesn't fell out of place. In fact, it is like an icing on top of this weirdly, slightly off-beat production that feels way too short, but is actually still 4 minutes long.



satchboogie:

Another interesting "Pop" production, which felt like a video game soundtrack on occasion. The production does feature some interesting sounds in the almost too short runtime of 1:48min. However, there was also a huge clash between instruments, voice samples and the overall mix. The voice samples definitely felt out of place, and the instruments didn't feel like having enough "space" in the mix (frequency wise, panning). Also, the production sadly falls apart on small speakers (you barely hear any percussion work)

It's definitely a good start, but I'd love to hear "more".... hear where this goes. Maybe some day, you'll get back to that production and finish it out.




I definitely understand the monthly struggle to declare a ranking, because it is really not easy. If I look at the productions from a pure technical standpoint, I do have a clear winner - undisputed even. But from a more "subjective"/music feel standpoint, it already looks different. If I'd do two lists, we might still have a tie. It doesn't feel fair, all of you put so much effort into your productions and sound design. But the game mechanics demand one top spot.

So without further ado.

► Show Spoiler

10pts - Shea
09pts - becsei_gyorgy
08pts - Blang
07pts - Leonard Bowman
06pts - DSPlug
05pts - Square
04pts - satchboogie


Personal Winners:
"Musical" winner(s): Shea and Blang
"Technical" Winner: becsei_gyorgy

[Mister Fox]

Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the results of Songwriting Competition 41

The winners podium consists of:

1. @Shea (72 pts)
2. @becsei_gyorgy (71 pts)
3. @Blang (67 pts)

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

<4 participant rule is not in use (staff comments and votes, although staff stepped in to break a tie)
We have 1 disqualification (due to lack of feedback, see overhauled game mechanics)
We have 0 withdrawn entries
We have 0 votes after the deadline
We have 2 users that tied

• Shea has 2x10pts, 2x9pts, 1x8pts -- becsei_gyorgy has 2x10pts, 2x9pts, 9x8pts
• the ties could have been solved, if all participants would have provided feedback and cast a vote. To break the tie, the staff (Mister Fox) stepped in, provided additional feedback and cast an additional vote

"Sole (License) Winner" rule does apply - 1-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. Once one company has been selected, it's out of the pool for the next person on the podium.



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



See you in in the next challenge!


Songwriting Competition 042 (February 2021) is still in full swing.
Please help spread the word to get the Songwriting Competition to 15-20 participants on average.

[Shea]

When I posted my song I wasn't expecting a win. I had to rush to finish. I am glad it was received well. What a great process and thanks for the solid feedback everyone.

Bioscape is great, now I gotta check out -
Luftrum's Lunaris

[Leonard Bowman]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, and congratulations to all for making a track within the limitations of the challenge.

Since a lot of y'all commented on my tuning, I should probably note: a lot of it was intentional, for better or worse. I tuned the synths in 41edo and aimed to use some non-standard harmonies. Some smaller elements were tuned using a tuner or just tuned by ear to where I liked the sound of it.
I'm still learning how to balance new harmonies with ease of listening, so this was very helpful feedback to me. Perhaps next time things will be smoother