SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC065 January 2023 - Winners announced

[A Future in Noise]

Submission for this month : Rubber Banding

Cool, vey inventive and not anywhere near Scorpions. But although you introduce some variation here and there, there is still two or three passages that get a little too monotone.

[alavault]

Cool, vey inventive and not anywhere near Scorpions. But although you introduce some variation here and there, there is still two or three passages that get a little too monotone.

There is a lack of motif variation indeed. Working on that. Maybenext week ?

[KukoBass]

(Maybe you have a favourite among these three?)

IMHO, it would be best to choose only one of them. My favourites are 1 and 3. I like the bass from 2, too, but I don't like the melody instrument.

[KukoBass]

Any feedback would be appreciated

I'm not quite sure about this, but on my headphones the sound of the keyboard chords seems to clash with the vocals.

The changes you implemented have improved your mix from V2 to V3.

[A Future in Noise]

(Maybe you have a favourite among these three?)

IMHO, it would be best to choose only one of them. My favourites are 1 and 3. I like the bass from 2, too, but I don't like the melody instrument.

Thanks for feedback! (I like the epiano in 2, it's actually a wavetable created from the elctric drill (you can create hundreds of wt:s from it that will all be totally different) further modulated in the Surge synth.)

[Mister Fox]

Just a quick heads up.

The focus of this months is "sound design", and the focus should be on "creativity", to see how far your can push your skills. Ambient Music has just as much place as "pop music" or electronic. Especially this month.

Most of you might not know this, but this is @cotmm68030's "signature sound". I've heard WIPs behind the scenes, and I really liked his ideas.


Other than that -- you (as participant) can create as many WIPs as you would like, but please only release one finished production that is longer than 1:30min. Try to maybe shoot for 3:30min on avg (mostly aimed at @A Future in Noise).


Still 16 days left on the clock. I am happy to see 4 entries already.
Please continue to spread the word - the more participants, the more to learn and interact.

[Arelem]

Just a quick heads up.

The focus of this months is "sound design", and the focus should be on "creativity", to see how far your can push your skills. Ambient Music has just as much place as "pop music" or electronic. Especially this month.

Most of you might not know this, but this is @cotmm68030's "signature sound". I've heard WIPs behind the scenes, and I really liked his ideas.

I didn't mean to imply that the song didn't meet the criteria, just that it might not have a lot of mass appeal. The sound design is neat and all, but for me, it gets pretty boring pretty quickly. I was only making suggestions of things I might do to make something more similar to what I think the average person envisions when they think of a 'song'.

[cotmm68030]

I was quite aware that a strictly ambient track was already fairly outside the traditional operative norms of SWC, however with that focus being on sound design, it felt like a perfect opportunity to challenge expectations and explore the edges of what a lot of people consider 'a song'.

Things like the slowly changing rhythmic interplay of naturally droning noises like fans in different parts of a building, or oscillating whir of the compressors in freezers at the grocery store have always fascinated me. To me, it feels almost magical to find the beauty hidden in these unexpected placed, unintended and ignored but still reflecting small facets of the giant gem we call music.

Looking at middle of last century at things like musique concrete makes it evident to me that there is an innate desire to capture these various sounds and shape them into something. Maybe if we look at the label of 'song' or 'music' as simply meaning 'art' in the sonic realm, the limitations we put on our expectations become less burdensome.

I listen to a lot of dark ambient and drone pieces. I think there's a great joy to be found in the exploration of what someone else thought was important enough to dwell on for long periods. As Deckard Cain said, 'stay a while, and listen'.

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
Including today, 14 days left to submit your production.

So far, we have 4 entries -- with some great interaction.



If you want to access the extended game mechanics of the Songwriting Competition (asking for feedback during production), please try to release your first edits within the next 7 days to have enough time to get possible feedback (if needed/wanted) and continue to work on your song.

And to those sitting on the fence - please don't feel scared off and think "the bar is set too high, I will never make it" - set yourself a shorter private deadline. Just make music, submit your entry, join the conversation. See where this goes.

By joining, you're already a winner. The rest is bonus.

[A Future in Noise]

Dear colleagues: it has become obvious that sitting hour after hour at the computer (not only for music purposes) is not so good for the body's joints. A static body position must be avoided, and therefore I am not really sure if I will be able to complete this month's submission. For a week, I will limit the time spent with mouse and keyboard to an absolute minimum and try to exercise, instead. Then there are three days left until January 24. We'll see what comes of this.