Mix Challenge

Compared to the Mix(ing) Challenge, where there are more important rules to take note of, the Songwriting Competition is basically just "check the thread's second post (premise), start working, don't master too loud, upload to a place that is accessible for longer than 7 days, document your edits, give feedback to each other during the voting period".

This forum has clearly shown that even if the "rule book" has been linked to 5-6 times (same link, same wording, nothing changed, nothing extra or rules split up unless it's "addendum" content), people still don't read what has been written and are like "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know that.

I agree that the "Add-On Rules" headline below the premise could be reworded, but you do not have to jump through rules after rules to understand what's going on to get started. On the other hand, the Rules and Guidelines do need to be detailed, and the thread does need to have a certain structure however, so that everyone is on the same page.

Here is even a TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read) version:
viewtopic.php?p=712#p712



You've been with the community since 2018, participated in the SWC plenty of times. I'd say you understood the concept of this game, and how it's structured.

Mister Fox wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:01 CET

You've been with the community since 2018, participated in the SWC plenty of times. I'd say you understood the concept of this game, and how it's structured.

Yes, but that's not my point. It was just a guess, why not so many people wants to take up the songwriting challenge. Maybe there are guys reading four or five lines, then realizes there is much more, and then they never come back again. But I may be wrong.

But of course it's a matter of introducing all the stuff - not the quantity in itself. Maybe with inspiration from classic oratory: soon I'm going to say this and this and this. Then you say it. And afterwords a summary. Everything in one document - no links (apart from audio examples). Big and clear headlines. Just a suggestion.

If would be fun with at least 10 competitors.

We had more than 10 competitors in Q1/2019, and the threads and premise were just as detailed, if not more. I honestly do not(!) know where to cut down on text anymore without people then still saying "I'm sorry, I didn't understand".

The only way to make the SWC as successful as the Mix Challenge, is not the prices - it's spreading the word and saying "just try it, make music in the first place. It doesn't matter if you win. You already won if you joined". This is the mentality of the Songwriting Competition.


With that said - including today, 10 days left for your production.

Off topic, but as a response to a question raised in this thread about SWC participation. My main deterrent from participating more often is open voting during the voting window. I have no problem if the votes are revealed after the results. But having those votes visible to other voters during the voting process is not fair in my opinion, it has the potential for a lot of voting politics. The spoiler block doesn't do much to overcome this honestly. I really like the feedback rule though, but so long as the voting is open during the voting window, as was highlighted by one of the participants a year ago, I personally might not participate very often.

I am aware of the technical challenges of implementing such a system and we've had this discussion earlier with Mister Fox about why it's not feasible to have secret voting here and I understand and it's okay.

The rules of the game, the description etc. are actually very simple and relaxed compared to other competitions, no problem there in my opinion.

That said, I really like the SWC overall and might sneak in an entry this time. All the best to the participants!

Just a heads up - every follow up post will be pulled into Songwriting Competition - General Gossip Thread.

The Exponent wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 15, 2020 06:06 CET

...But having those votes visible to other voters during the voting process is not fair in my opinion, it has the potential for a lot of voting politics. The spoiler block doesn't do much to overcome this honestly.

I get that this is a constant concern for you. However, I've been on many forums where "open voting" is a regular game mechanic (often a lot of these forums also allow "votes from non-participants", which opens doors for manipulation). And since we introduced the "spoiler tags" rule, I've barely seen votes in favor but rather honest opinion and suitable ranking. In fact, the "spoiler tag" mechanic helped shift the focus on more feedback. Now since we see recurring participants (the regulars), that might look like bias at some point. But so far, I didn't see that.

Everything else was indeed explained in minute detail here.



Let us please get back to the game. Thank you.

A friendly reminder:
Including today, 7 days left to submit your production.

A friendly reminder:
Including today, 4 days left to submit your production.


So far, we have 0 entries.

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


We have 0 entries, still.

Family Discussion In The Key Of Love
MP3: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1T0nZu ... wvgI4U-gYf

This song is not about ”love within relationship”, but it’s about ”everyday love within family”.

As I have no singing skills I decided to make it instrumental. So I tried to invest in melody lines and chord progressions. I was after ”a warm and fuzzy feeling”.

Verses: Bm (dorian) - Bm (ionian) - Bm (dorian)
Choruses: D (ionian)

I was forced to buy me a new Mac computer and it came with latest Catalina though I asked it to be Mojave. Quite many of my trusted plugins are not yet compatible with Catalina, so this time I had a limited set of tools available. Luckily I found enough of compatible plugins. Mainly ReaPlugins, Valhalla, Klanghelm, Melda and TokyoDawn. (It's funny that these small companies seem to be more reliable than bigger ones.)

DAW: Reaper

Real instruments:
Acoustic guitar, Solo guitar, Tambourine

Virtual instruments:
Drums: Kontakt Abbey Road Drums
Bass: Trilian
Piano: Kontakt
Horns: Kontakt
Organ: Kontakt