SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC041 January 2021 - Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

Hello and welcome to the Songwriting Competition 41 - January 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: Friday, 01st January 2021 to Sunday, 24th January 2021 (24 days)

Challenge submission will end on 24-01-2021, 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: Community Scramble (limited sound set challenge)
GENRE: free to select



Image Source: ArtsyBee (background, via Pixabay), released under Creative Commons CC0


A few word about this month's theme:

Hello and welcome to or third special challenge on the Mix Challenge audio community - called "Community Scramble".



The twist of the current Songwriting Competition:

Create a music production in any genre that you feel like. However, you are only allowed to use the sounds and samples that have been sourced and provided by the Mix Challenge audio community. You are free to mangle the content as much as you like. You are allowed to use re-sampling, wavetable synthesis, granular synthesis, modulation, or whatever else is at your disposal in terms of tools. But you are not allowed to add any additional sounds or instruments that have not been created from the available source material. Adding vocals and ad-libs (your own voice or a collaborating singer) or sound effects created from your voice (think: breathing, shouts, grunts, robot voice, etc), is the only exception.

You can read more about the "Community Scramble" concept in the news post from September 2018.



This year, you get access to 18 new "community sourced" samples.

This amount of "new samples" is sadly still less material than expected due to lack of participation (despite running the sample collection thread for two months, and doing way more reminders than 2019). But I've reached out to befriended musicians, created some additional fresh material as well and re-added content from my personal recordings (you will notice some material from previous games). I also found some additional supplementary content on the internet (memes / viral videos, interesting short camera recordings, some tonal elements) that I edited together. That should give us plenty of content to mangle this year.

The "Community Scramble" is here to stay and it will see it's 4th iteration in January 2022 - maybe even with a new twist. The next "sample collection thread" will start 1st November 2021 absolute latest and will run until 24th December 2021. My plea to you - this particular "challenge" is a change of pace to our other monthly recurring songwriting games. In order to make this endeavor even more fun and interesting in the future, please also join the first part of this game (the sourcing). But for now, let's focus on SWC041 / January 2021.



You can find the source material for "SWC041 January 2021 / Community Scramble" here:
SWC041 Source Sound Package - on the Mix Challenge server (140,99 MB, LZMA compressed, zip -- 210,38 MB extracted)


Your creativity will be pushed to the limits this month. I'm curious about the results.

Have fun!

Songwriting Rule Summary / Add-On Rules:

• create a production fitting to the given theme, genre and general premise
• You are only allowed to use the sounds provided in the package above
• you can use any tools that are at your disposal to mangle the provided audio content (samplers, wavetable synths, modulation tools, etc)
• 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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Source Files:

SWC041 Source Sound Package - on the Mix Challenge server (140,99 MB, LZMA compressed, zip)


The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression.
File size extracted: 210,38 MB, packed 140,99 MB (ZIP, LZMA)
In order to extract the files, we can recommend these programs:

Macintosh:
The Unarchiver - get it here
Keka (open source) - get it here

Windows:
7zip - Installation / Portable


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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

Since the genre this month is "free to select", there are no clear pointers


Difference: Wavetable Synthesis to Sample-based Synthesis (articles on Wikipedia):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavetable_synthesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sample-based_synthesis

"Wavetable Synthesis" has been turned into a common term, albeit technically wrong. Wavetables can be "single cycle" samples, while one "cycle" that declares a sound can be more than just the length a basic waveform like a sine/saw/square, as in "a couple of milliseconds or longer". The majority of tutorials, comments and posts all over the internet talk about "wavetables", but it can mean either forms of of this specific synthesis. To my understanding, the difference that declares the correct form, is the sample length and whether or not it can be morphed into another "wavetable" (then it would probably be declared "Wavetable Synthesis") or just long samples, "layered" without any morphing (then it would probably be declared "Sample-based Synthesis")

Disclaimer: the CEO of the Mix Challenge audio community is not an expert of synthesis. Things could be interpreted wrong. It is highly recommended to cross-reference with additional articles/books/sources.




Creative Sound design examples (selection, Youtube):

Andrew Huang - Guitar Power (ft. Rob Scallon) (2015)
dilliot2k - How To Make Michael Jackson's Scream (2016, layering samples to create a rich and interesting drum beat)
Andrew Huang - I spent a year recording radiators to make music (2017, a song made out of radiator clicks and hums)
Levi Niha - Making Music With Windows XP Sounds (2018, the beat was not created from the source sounds)
Andrew Huang - Making music with actual sounds from Mars (2018, sounds from Mars winds vibrating NASA equipment, added custom beats)
Andrew Huang - Made my greatest beat ever with this weird device! (2020, creating a track from a recording with a "Baby Doppler"/Fetal Doppler, also explaining his "make a wavetable out of everything" tricks)
4 PRODUCERS FLIP THE SAME SAMPLE ft. Anomalie, Zomboy, Kilamanzego (from October 2020, to get some inspiration for sound design, Andrew in particular almost always creates every sound from scratch with the sample he recorded)



Sound Design Basics and Tricks:

Mick Gordon - DOOM: Behind the Music (2017, worth watching these 60 minutes, Mick Gordon also unveils his sound design chain for DOOM 2016, starting at the 17:02min mark and going until about 27:51min)

SynthSchool - Overtones, harmonics and Additive synthesis (2010, how to create any wave form out of a basic sine wave)
Dash Glitch - Four Most Common Synthesis Methods - How Do Synthesizers Generate Sound? (2018, short video)
In The Mix - Sound Design and Synth Fundamentals (2019, there is also a follow-up called "Advanced Sound Design and Synths Tutorial)
White Noises - Granular Synthesis EXPLAINED (2018)
Justin DeLay - Wavetable Synthesis Explained (2018, released through Reverb)
Mattias Holmgren - Top 4 Granular VST Plugins & Granular Synthesis Explained (2019)
Andrew Huang - Modular synthesis EXPLAINED (2020)

Seamless - FL Studio Basics 29: The Granulizer (2013, short Granular Synthesis tutorial)
Savant In The Studio With Future Music (2014, showing how he re-synthesizes his recorded sounds)
iZotope - Iris 2 (2015, Spectral Synthesizer Pad Sound Demo by SYNTH ANATOMY)
Andrew Huang - 12 sound design tricks I use! (2018)
Andrew Huang - It turns any sound INTO A WAY COOLER SOUND (2018, showing off a wavetable synthesizer)
Spectrasonics - Omnisphere 2's User Audio Import Feature (2019, Sound Designer team shows off "everyday sounds" turned into bell pads)
Spectrasonics - Omnisphere 2's User Audio Import Feature (2019, Quay presents synthesis with a Fishing Reel as sound source)
Spectrasonics - Omnisphere 2's User Audio Import Feature (2019, Quay presents synthesis with striking a Water Jug as sound source)
Venus Theory - Meet Vital: The INCREDIBLE New Free Synth Plugin (2020, Venus Theory showing off this free "sound design beast" of a synthesizer)


A shout out to Andew Huang, Mick Gordon, Cameron Gorham (Venus Theory), Michael Wynne (In The Mix), Gregory White (White Noises), Mattias Holmgren, Dillio (DillioT2K), Levi Niha, Seamless (Stephen O’Leary), Savant (Aleksander Vinter), Tom from SYNTH ANATOMY, and the Sound Designer team from Spectrasonics



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)


Tools worth a look for this task:

MuTools - MUX Modular (you can currently acquire "temporary user keys" that fully unlocks the software until the MuTools store re-opens in Q1/2021, and MuTools MuLab/MUX Modular Version 9 is released)
Matt Tytel - Vital - Matt also created the highly praised "Helm" synthesizer
GlitchMachines - Quadrant, Cataract, Fracture XT, etc
illformed / dblue - Glitch
Valhalla DSP - outstanding free modulations tools
Bedroom Producers Blog - BPB Plugins like BPB Dirty Filter and Saturator
Sound Guru - The Mangle (page takes a bit to load, but affordable Granular Synthesizer)
Sonic Charge - Typhoon (Yamaha TX16W sampler)
CWItec - TX16Wx Sampler (more than just an affordable sampler, as it can read WAV, SF2, Logix EXS, Typhoon, etc)

...anything that can load WAV files as wavetables (e.g.: kv311 Audio SynthMaster, Waves Codex, iZotope Iris 2, Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2, etc) or one-shots (Decomposer Sitala, AKAI MPC Beats, etc)



UPDATED: 28-DEC-2020 08:50 UTC+1 (sourcing content: a couple of hours), updated: 02-JAN-2021 09:05 UTC+1, updated 04-JAN-2021 00:20 UTC+1

[satchboogie]

Hi !
First of all i wish a Happy New Year for everyone ! Thank you for all the effort that Mister Fox and the contributors make to keep things rolling. I will provide samples for the next similar competition. I find this challenge very intuitive. I've also learned so much from this community that i am very grateful.

My question: Is it okay to layer several processed samples to create an "instrument" and export it into a wav and then use only the wav file in the song or i have to place the original wavs in the session and do the mangling there?

Thank you,

satch

[Leonard Bowman]

I see nothing wrong with resampling, layering, bouncing, exporting, etc. These processes help keep a tidy project and open up new sound options.
For bookkeeping, you should try to hold on to the intermediate projects or files in case someone questions you - if you can reasonably show how you got those sounds from the original samples you'll be fine.

[satchboogie]

@Leonard Bowman

Thank you.
satch

[Mister Fox]

Since these are questions that pop up with every "Community Scramble" Songwriting Competition, let me summarize:

For the time being (as of SWC041 / Community Scramble 2021)

• Allowed - time stretching, layering, slicing into chunks, reversing, re-sampling, etc - then further treating the material with whatever is at your your disposal, and maybe redo everything again (e.g.: common technique for very stylized Reese Basses)
• Allowed - you can use your synths and samplers to their full potential (layering, spectral editing, granular synthesis, modulation, etc), as long as you only used the provided content as "wavetable"
• Not Allowed - creating synth sounds from scratch with synth built in sine waves / triangle waves / square waves. You must use the provided sample material in some shape or form. Which is why there are generated "raw tones" provided that you can use as "wavetable"/"sample-based synthesis", or properly sliced up as "single cycle waveform"

I am fully aware that as "basic wave tones", there are only sine waves, rectangle pulses (careful with your speakers!) and two noise types. But with the right layering and added harmonics (through distortion/saturation), you can create basically any sound.

Here is an explanation in video form (I will add that to the "cheat sheet" above):
SynthSchool - Overtones, harmonics and Additive synthesis (2010, how to create any wave form out of a basic sine wave)



While the main concept of this particular "challenge" is sound design, the twist here is that you don't create new sounds from scratch through basic wave forms, but you use samples as "wavetables" (single cycle, short cycle) or even just straight up layered sounds (sample player). You can still use these "core sounds" for pretty much any synthesizer form: subtractive, additive, FM, wavetable, granular, and bog standard sample triggering.

How you get to the sound you want (including heavy FX usage), doesn't matter. Just make music. Experimentation is the key element here, having fun and learning something new in the process.


I highly recommend to check out the videos above in post 3

[DSPplug]

Is using Iris2 ok? It uses a sample but it's spectral and not technicially a wavetable? I guess I could provide the patch?

[becsei_gyorgy]

Is using Iris2 ok? It uses a sample but it's spectral and not technicially a wavetable? I guess I could provide the patch?

Of course, you can use Iris2, PhasePlant, Pigments, anything if you use only the given samples.
You can use also wavetable synths but you can't use "synth built in sine waves / triangle waves / square waves".
All audio material can only be based on the samples you received.

[DSPplug]

Is using Iris2 ok? It uses a sample but it's spectral and not technicially a wavetable? I guess I could provide the patch?

Of course, you can use Iris2, PhasePlant, Pigments, anything if you use only the given samples.
You can use also wavetable synths but you can't use "synth built in sine waves / triangle waves / square waves".
All audio material can only be based on the samples you received.

Cool, here's a free one btw, it uses granular distortion with a sample (Win/Mac):
https://www.abc.se/~re/GranuLab/Granny.html

And here's a vid about it:
https://youtu.be/tAf5zjyUm00

A bit buggy I hear, but it works.