SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Winners announced

#1

Hello and welcome to the Songwriting Competition 069 - May 2023

BEFORE WE GET STARTED:

Please consult the official and very simple "Rules and Guidelines" (TL;DR version) for the Songwriting Competition regarding principles of the game, it's engaging game mechanics (allowed editing/re-submission of your entry until the deadline has been reached) and upload/submission guidelines.
The general idea of this game is to "...just make music", to also challenge yourself by stepping a bit out of your comfort zone, and take a dip at realms you've never worked in before. Instrumentals are just as welcome as productions with vocals.
The Genre and "Premise" of this months challenge can be found in in post #002
Filename Template (NEW): SWC069__ArtistName__TrackName.wav and/or .mp3

Read more about this month's competition further down below. And if you got any question, please also reach out on Discord.

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SONGWRITING COMPETITION THREAD INDEX

Post #001 -- Introduction post and index for the various stages of the Songwriting Competition. Will be updated as we progress
Post #002 -- Submission Period: General Information, Source Material, Sponsors
Post #003 -- Cheat Sheet: A couple of examples / audio demos for this month's challenge (limited if genre is "free to select")
Post #030 -- Voting: Summarized entries and start of voting process
Post #047 -- Results: Results of the Songwriting Competition

#2

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Monday, 01st May 2023 to Wednesday, 24th May 2023 (24 days)

Challenge submission will end on 24-MAY-2023, 23:59 UTC+2/CEST (Germany) - until further notice.

Want to find out if you're still within the deadline, please either consult the Global Countdown (dedicated page), or the countdown on the landing site. There will also be short reminders on Social Media and on Discord. Does the game time frame feel too long? Why not set a personal shorter one of 5-7 days absolute max to push yourself to focus on the essentials, then use the rest of the time to ask for feedback and possible refinements.

SONGWRITING THEME: "This is nice!"
GENRE: Electronic (any sub-genre)

Image Source: Jan Zatloukal (via Pixabay), released under Creative Commons CC0

A few word about this month's theme:

Staff (Mister Fox) wrote: Imagine the following: You've just invested into a new synthesizer and want to check out it's capabilities. Or you've dusted off an old piece of equipment in your collection, wanting to reconnect with it after years of it just "being there". Yet suddenly, you want to see what this old thing can still do.

After hours of tinkering, and just out of pure chance, you've created something unique and fresh, just vibing with it.
Then you say to yourself... "I like this, this is nice!"

I want you to hold on to that feeling. That sense of awe you felt the first time you used that particular tool, all the positive experience you've had after breaking through initial frustration. The sense of of achievement after random happy accidents. This is what this month's Songwriting Competition will be about.
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Your task for this Songwriting Competition:
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You can create a production in any sub-genre of "Electronic Music". Doesn't matter if it's Techno, Trance, Electronica, Chiptunes, Synthwave, Drum and Bass, Electro-Industrial / Electronic Body Music, Ambient Electronic, Chill-Out/Lo-Fi, etc. As long as you make music, and have a great time while doing so.

My only request is, that you focus more on "electronic instruments". Meaning: maybe check out a synthesizer you haven't used before. Or as mentioned above, dust of an old device that you always dreaded using. Doesn't mean that you can't drag out your E-Guitar or E-Bass and go to town, or incorporate a nice acoustic piano, or use an acoustic drums/percussion as beat section, maybe some chopped up choir vocals for added effect.

The sky is the limit - and you set that threshold yourself. "Electronic Music" is a very broad term, and genres blending into each other are a thing. As usual - vocals are optional. Don't feel pressured to provide any.

Experiment, make music, and have fun!

Songwriting Rule Summary / Add-On Rules:

► Show Spoiler

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LICENSE SPONSORS (Bonus Prizes):

A huge thank you goes to our very generous License Sponsors for this month's game. Those being (in alphabetical order):

Cherry Audio, Ghostwave Audio, Hollow Sun, Hornet Plugins, IK Multimedia, JRR Sounds, kv331 audio, Luftrum, Musiclab, Rekkerd Sounds, satyatunes - Sound / Graphic Design, and Tone2.

A detailed list of offerings can be found in the following information block.

► Show Spoiler

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Good luck to all participants.
And most importantly, have fun!

#3

AUDIO EXAMPLES:
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Articles and Info Pages:

A great starting point is the "Addendum"/Supplementary thread for the Songwriting Competition
Songwriting Competition - Addendum: Music Maps and BPM Charts

Additional Articles on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_e ... sic_genres

Music examples (wild selection of music from various genres, selection for inspiration, 18 videos):

► Show Spoiler

Other Channels and videos to check out (13 videos):

► Show Spoiler

Please also check out Hainbach, Ah! Kosmos (Basak Günak), Venus Theory (Cameron Gorham), Espen Kraft, Alex "Hyper EZ" Banks, Mick Gordon, David Levy, Joe Ford (Sound Designer and DnB Musician), Bjulin (former license provider "Bjulin" / Bjulin Waves), Jan Koekepan, Treyt and also starlainjury (one of the admins of the ThaSauce Compoverse), just to name a couple more very talented musicians and sound wizards.
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Please also check in with the following threads in the the Gear Talk sub-forum, if you're on the look-out for new tools:
Places to fuel your GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) (the starting point if you're in need of audio tools -- from free to affordable).

if you're new to/need help with songwriting - please check out the following tools:

► Show Spoiler

More tools of the trade

► Show Spoiler

UPDATED: 30-APR-2023 22:50 UTC+2, updated 07-MAY-2023 00:35 UTC+2

#4

This is fate, no joke I have just invested in a new Juno-X that I got on Sunday, I feel compelled to have a go at this month's comp!

#5

Just as a quick and more visual reminder for everyone that wants to join SWC069 / May 2023

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Bonus Info

Please take note that the filename template has been adjusted with SWC068 / April 2023 already. This will bring the templates in line (similar to the Mix Challenge) and will be a great help when creating the Statistic Sheet.

The request to use double underscores between the SWC number, the artist name (participant name) and the track name, is also for a better readability. To not cause any issues for yourself and on the file server you use, please use single underscored between separated words and not just empty spaces. Please also check that you don't have .wav.wav as file endings.

Furthermore, please also mention in your main entry post, how your song is called. This makes it easier for me to set up the "Global Song Collection" post.

Note that failure to follow this template for the SWC will not disqualify your entry. However, you might loose 1pt with the Bonus Point mechanic, which in turn may determine your placement on the final score sheet.

Thank you for reading.

Please use the following Filename Template (NEW, also always check in with post #001):
SWC069__ArtistName__TrackName.wav and/or .mp3

Examples:
SWC069__Mister_Fox__Chaos_Inbound.wav
SWC069__TresTiempos__CableadoEnCaliente.mp3

#6

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

So far, we have 0 entries -- and barely any game 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.

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.

#7

I am happy to announce the following sponsor for the Mix Challenge community:

Tone2 is kind enough to donate a license of Saurus4 to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Tone2: https://tone2.com

Tone2 has been with the Mix Challenge since MC001 - June 2014. They renew their partnership for the Songwriting Competition with Saurus4. This offer is retroactive (starting with SWC069 / May 2023).

A huge thank you goes to Tone2 for providing the licenses.

#8

Hi everyone,

here is my entry for this contest: Overlaps

WAV:

MP3:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sip35e ... share_link

This month, I tested a lot of synthesizers for sounds. After a few trials and errors, I decided to use KV331's Synthmaster 2 and especially some of the soundpacks that contain vintage sounds.

► Show Spoiler

Arelem · #9

Hello All,

Here is my track "Inside". The vocals are me but pretty heavily modified. I wanted to get something pretty electronic and almost unintelligible but still a bit recognizable at the same time.

Info

► Show Spoiler

#10

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

So far, we have 2 entries -- with unfortunately barely any 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 3 days to have enough time to get possible feedback (if needed/wanted) and continue to work on your song. Please also remember, vocals are not mandatory -- instrumentals are just as welcome.

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.

Los Angeles / US	New York / US	London / UK	Berlin / DE	Moscow / RU	Tokyo / J	Canberra / AUS

Mix Challenge

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Winners announced

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Winners announced

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Submissions until 24-MAY-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Submissions until 24-MAY-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Submissions until 24-MAY-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Submissions until 24-MAY-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Submissions until 24-MAY-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Submissions until 24-MAY-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Submissions until 24-MAY-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

Re: SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Submissions until 24-MAY-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC069 May 2023 - Submissions until 24-MAY-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST