Mix Challenge

Hello and welcome to the Songwriting Competition 31 - March 2020


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.

We will try something new this month. A slightly overhauled introduction post, making clear where to find the rules, while the "premise" (theme, genre, short explanation), just like the Mix(ing) Challenge, is still in the second post. I hope this makes things a bit more efficient and less jarring for possible new participants.

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 and upload/submission guidelines,
• If you only post a SoundCloud link, please name the file properly before uploading and make your song downloadable
• IMPORTANT: please use the following naming convention for your productions (artist name = forum username):
  • SWC000_ArtistName_TrackName.wav and/or .mp3

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

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Sunday, 01st March 2020 to Tuesday, 24th March 2020 (24 days)

Challenge submission will end on 24-03-2020, 11:59pm CET/GMT+1 (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: Take a break
GENRE: Chill-out



Image Source: Pixabay, photo by A Different Perspective, released under Creative Commons CC0


A few word about this month's theme:

Staff (Mister Fox) wrote:Things came a bit of a grinding halt recently. Not only for the Songwriting Competition, but I also feel "in general". I just can't put my finger on it. So why not take a step back, "take a break", relax, look at things from a different perspective, then start fresh.

And this is all there is to it for this month's premise.



Your task for this Songwriting Competition:
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This month, you can create a production in the "Chill-out" genre.

There is no limitation on what type of "Chill-out" you go for. Hip Hop, Lo Fi, Downtempo, Jazz, Vaporwave. As long as the tempo remains below 120 BPM and it employs a laid-back groove/feel, we should be good to go.



Please have fun - I'm looking forward to your entries.

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 (no royalty free material from sample CDs, etc), give full credit to the source material
• It is recommended to not go higher than -14LUFS SLk (avg) or K-12v1 (avg) in terms of perceived loudness. Music doesn't have to be squashed to bits in order to be impactful
• for newcomers: no cover versions or remixes
• ADD-ON RULES: <no special rules declared>

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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, or any 2 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!

AUDIO EXAMPLES:
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Articles and Info Pages:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chill-out_music


I am happy to announce, that "Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music v3" is finally available.
This new page doesn't need Flash Player anymore and works in nearly every major current-day browser.

https://music.ishkur.com/

For this month's Songwriting Competition, I can recommend you to listen to various sub-genres listed under "Downtempo" and "Chill-Out", starting in the 1990s. Since this is a lot of material to dig through, and to find cross-references on Youtube, Spotify and co, there won't be any other links this month.

This is my version of Chillout.
This is for download
mp3
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LylcY ... 6ClRYDhD0Q
WAV
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Ozkgm ... TG-KocgH1e

Are you sure it's downloadable? It doesn't look that way to me.

The WAV is downloadable, but not the SoundCloud link.
Also, the WAV isn't named properly (please fix that until I collect all links at the end of SWC031).

I have corrected. I finished the mp3 format.

I got a question about using vocal samples .
I've found awesome female vocal acapella on loopcloud and i want to build a track around it. I bought it with loopcloud points so i guess it is legal.
Is it allowed to use acapella as a base of a track?

I had to read up on "Loopcloud" a bit. IIRC, it's a subscription based system by "Loopmasters", where you can selectively pick samples/samplepacks as needed from your monthly points/subscription.

I assume the content comes from the "Loopmasters" vocal sample packages. If that is the case, and the sample sets clearly list "usable for both free and commercial / royalty free" - I don't really see a problem with using these samples. Especially if you list full credits.

The focus of the Songwriting Competition is to create something in the first place. If you happen to have vocals, that is outstanding. How you got there (with the tools that you have legit acquired/that are at your disposal), doesn't matter.

Ok ty for clearing that out .