SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC042 February 2021 - Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

Hello and welcome to the Songwriting Competition 42 - February 2021


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, it's engaging game mechanics (allowed editing/resubmission of your entry until the deadline has been reached) and upload/submission guidelines.
• 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: Monday, 01st February 2021 to Wednesday, 24th February 2021 (24 days)

Challenge submission will end on 24-02-2021, 23:59 UTC+1/CET (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 Meaning of Life
GENRE: Psychedelic Rock



Image Source: Pixabay, photo by Gerd Altmann, released under Creative Commons CC0


A few word about this month's theme:

"Good morning, O Deep Thought. Do you have...er, that is..."
"An Answer for you?", interrupted Deep Thought majestically. "Yes, I have one"
"To Everything? To the great Question of Life, the Universe and Everything?"
"Yes. Though I don't think," added Deep though. "that you're going to like it."
"Tell us!",
"All right," said Deep Thought. "The Answer to the Great Question... Of Life, the Universe and Everything..."
"Is..."
"Yes...!!!...?"
"Forty-two," said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (edited)


Well, that was unexpected. And actually kinda trippy. I mean, did you notice, my dear reader, that we're already at the 42th songwriting game on our community? That is 3,5 years - time sure flies. A lot has happened throughout the years.

I apologize for the fact, that this month's segue is not as sophisticated and witty than usual. So let's get right to the nitty gritty details.




Your task for this Songwriting Competition:
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This month, you can create a production in the "Psychedelic Rock" genre. "Psychedelic Music" in this case acts as an umbrella-term. This genre is defined by the way the music has been produced (songwriting, effect usage, etc). Read more about this further down below in the Cheat Sheet, and especially the Music Map (see Songwriting Competition - Addendum)


What I'd like to see/hear this month:
Psychedelic Rock from the early 1960s to very late 1970s were quite interesting "rides" so to speak. Something that has been slowly resurfacing again in the last 5-10 years. These productions were telling stories with just music, often being the result of a hallucinogenic induced dream state. I want you to be inspired by the phrase "The Meaning of Life", and then build upon it with your music skills.

Ideally, use similar techniques like "back in the days" with the sound of old tape machines, Phasers/Flangers, panning effects, long reverbs on vocals, etc. You can even add reversed sections, if you feel that your production needs that particular effect. I'm definitely not stopping you. You can even exceed the otherwise 10 minutes run time limit this month. But only as long as you can keep your listeners engaged (you'll know if you managed to do that during the feedback stage).

Vocals are always optional, of course.


What I do not want to hear:
While "Psychedelic" can easily drift off once more into "Vaporwave" territory, please keep it more on the rock side of things. Please, also don't utilize the occasional guitar chord or single note, and let the rest of the ambience be produced by random noises from a loop pedal.


Looking forward to listening to your stories.

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 (as in: non 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 productions that have already been released outside of the time frame of the current Songwriting Competition (Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp, etc), 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

Additional Articles on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_rock




Music examples (selection, Youtube):

The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows (1966, "The Chemical Brothers" were probably heavily inspired by this song with their release of "Setting Sun" in 1997, and later "Let Forever Be" in 1999)
KALEIDOSCOPE - Sky Children (1967)
Strawberry Alarm Clock - Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow (1967)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Purple Haze
Iron Butterfly - IN A GADDA DA VIDA (1968, can't decide if Progressive Rock or Psychedelic Rock)
Aphrodite's Child - End Of The World (1968)
Deep Purple - Child In Time (1970)
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
Blue Oyster Cult - She's as Beautiful as a Foot (1972)
Hawkwind - The Psychedelic Warlords (1974)
Can - Vernal Equinox (Edit) (1975)
Echo And The Bunnymen - All My Colours (1981)
Mood Six - Just Like a Dream (1981)
Jimmy Stewart - Pigory
Bruce Lash - I Went to Tea With the Elephant Man
Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun (1994, can be considered Grunge/Alternative Rock, but... Soundgarden was always mixing things up)
Butthole Surfers - Pepper (1996, technically alternative rock, but has some Psychedelic Rock influences)
Palmas - Flowers (2016)
Flyte - Faithless (2017)
Shadowgraphs - I've Been Around (2018)
Maybird - Don't Keep Me Around




Bonus Image (for inspiration)
Cameron Gray (parablevisions, animated, IMGUR) - original, non-animated version can be found on Instagram




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)

Also recommended to check out:
GG Audio - Blue 3 and Spin (E-Organ and Vintage Rotary Speaker)
MusicLab - RealGuitar series
WavesFactory - not only some of their plugins, but also Legacy Drums (most notably: Tea Towel)
Bedroom Producers Blog - for a selection of free/affordable saturation tools

If you need more drum samples, maybe check out the following two sources:
Bedroom Producers Blog - Acoustic Drums full kits (some links might be outdated)
Drumwerks - free acoustic drum samples



UPDATED: 31-JAN-2021 21:45 UTC+1 (sourcing content: a couple of hours), updated 06-FEB-2021 23:25 UTC+1

[A Future in Noise]

Also recommended to check out:
GG Audio - Blue 3 and Spin (E-Organ and Vintage Rotary Speaker)
UPDATED: 31-JAN-2021 21:45 UTC+1 (sourcing content: a couple of hours), updated 06-FEB-2021 23:25 UTC+1

Cool

[SoundBeing]

Sorry, newbie here. How do I upload my track directly to this forum?

Thanks!
SoundBeing

[A Future in Noise]

How do I upload my track directly to this forum?

I don't think that's possible. But you can use Soundcloud, GoogleDrive or any other provider of storage on the Internet. And then you post a link here.

[Mister Fox]

Sorry, newbie here. How do I upload my track directly to this forum?

Thanks!
SoundBeing

Direct fileupload to this forum is not possible due to various reasons.

Please link to your material from any place you'd like, as long as it's available for more than 45 days and downloadable. (SoundCloud, Google Drive, DropBox, etc), then link to that file from the game thread in question.

Please check in with the official Rules and Guidelines, and also take a look at recent games of how this post might look.



For everyone else - a friend reminder:
A bit more than 6 days left to submit your production. So far, we have no entry.

[SoundBeing]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/55l484qhs5egl ... l.wav?dl=0

Ok, here's my song. Written, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by me using Protools with a Trident Series 80B and some classic outboard (Distressors, LA-3A, LA-610, API 550b, API 527, API 560, TK Audio BC501, Avalon 737, TubeTech CL-1B).
I also used a lot of tape and vintage based plugins to crunch things up and get that vintage vibe.
Example:
Kramer Tape
Tape Echo
Massey's TapeHead

The rest of the plugs are:
SSL EQ
SSL Comp
C1-Gate
Waves EQ 1-10
CLA-2A
Renaissance Bass, Axx, DeEsser, Reverb
Bomb Factory 1176
SansAmp PSA-1
Scheps Omni-Channel
Studio Reverb
Enigma (I used this on a lot of little sneaky things)

I read a post of FB recently that you won't be taken seriously if you don't use UA plugins. I hope to be taken seriously without them.

This song relates to the topic but was conceived in the idea that Covid-19 sucks and closed my studio for good and now it's time to be the freelance engineer/artist that was part of a 5 year plan that got moved up and to "Don't Bail" out. This was the last drum recording I made on that console and that outboard. The only things I kept were my mic collection, my guitar collection, my bass and my API lunchbox. RIP

[Mister Fox]

Welcome to the forum. Always great to see new talents on here.

I read a post of FB recently that you won't be taken seriously if you don't use UA plugins. I hope to be taken seriously without them.

Quite honestly, what you're read on FB is stupid IMHO. Same goes for any comment that is on the lines of "you won't be taken seriously if you don't use xyz tools". In the Songwriting Competition, it doesn't matter what equipment you have and/or use.

What does matter the most, is that you create music in the first place and have/had fun while doing so. How you got there, should not be important.

[SoundBeing]

Welcome to the forum. Always great to see new talents on here.

I read a post of FB recently that you won't be taken seriously if you don't use UA plugins. I hope to be taken seriously without them.

Quite honestly, what you're read on FB is stupid IMHO. Same goes for any comment that is on the lines of "you won't be taken seriously if you don't use xyz tools". In the Songwriting Competition, it doesn't matter what equipment you have and/or use.

What does matter the most, is that you create music in the first place and have/had fun while doing so. How you got there, should not be important.

I agree and thank you for saying so. The minds of some are so narrow that they can only travel as far as they perceive possible instead of breaking through barriers they don't know exist.