SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC082 June 2024 - Submissions until 24-JUN-2024 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#1

Hello and welcome to the Songwriting Competition 082 - June 2024

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 (Important): SWC082__ArtistName__TrackName.wav or .mp3
- example: SWC082__MisterFox__ColorOfTheSky.wav
- example: SWC082__Mister_Fox__Color_of_the_sky.wav

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 #000 -- Voting: Summarized entries and start of voting process
Post #000 -- Results: Results of the Songwriting Competition

#2

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Saturday, 01st June 2024 to Monday, 24th June 2024 (24 days)

Challenge submission will end on 24-JUN-2024, 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: "Summer Dreams" (Picture Theme)
GENRE: free to select

Image Source: iStock.com, photo by ogeday çelik

A few word about this month's theme:

Staff (Mister Fox) wrote: We're having a "Picture Theme" this month.

There will be no extensive brief with twists and turns. Please have a look, get inspired by the image(s) and the theme. Let your mind wander for a bit. Then start writing.
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Your task for this Songwriting Competition:
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This month, you can create a production in any music genre you feel like.

A short explanation of the concept of this month's game: The general idea is to draw inspiration from the picture(s). However do not solely fixate on that particular photo and it's details alone. Rather focus on the "overarching concept". The picture and possible provided key words can have many different meanings. How you interpret it, is up to you.

You set your own parameters and limitations, e.g. style and genre, melodic questions and counter arguments. As long as you don't exceed 10 minutes of runtime, neither have endless padded out repetition. Please keep us listeners engaged. And as usual - vocals are optional. Don't feel pressured to provide any.

Just make music and have fun!

I'm curious about what you come up with!

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

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

Music examples (selection for inspiration, 00 videos):

No music examples available this month. But I can always recommend to enter random genre search words either into Youtube, Spotify or whatever music streaming services you prefer using.
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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

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UPDATED: 31-MAY-2024 23:00 UTC+2, updated 00-JUN-2024 00:00 UTC+2

#4

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

Unfortunately, we have no entry so far.

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.

Arelem · #5

Hello All,

When thinking of what summer dreams meant to me, I thought more of my youth. Back when summer was a time of no school, hanging out with friends, and just having a good time. I started writing something energetic and uplifting. I found myself leaning a bit towards a sort of hyperpop sounding pop song and so I wrote some summer 'party' lyrics for it. I played a lot with automation to get the glitchy-ness that goes on in the track as well as the in and out of the different elements. I've made some weird and/or glitchy stuff before but this one I put a fair bit of time into. If I learned anything, it's that sometimes there are no shortcuts. In order to get the track to do what I wanted, I had to manually draw in the automation. Sometimes that included automating, bouncing to WAV and then automating again. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it!

Details:

► Show Spoiler

TrojakEW · #6

Hi again.

There is never enough time for everything we want to do, but I was able to do short track for this round. We will se how much often I will be able to join but I will do my best. As same as my CPU struggled a lot, my head struggled too. But it was fun. I do like the name of this round theme so I decided to use it not just as inspiration but also as name for the track. The picture provided for theme was also direct inspiration for my track, mood and whole composition. I wanted to have as much dynamics as possible so I added only very gentle compression to master. Also most of effects used were included on board of Kontakt instruments so not much in the list of used effects. I'm sure I will not do any changes to it because of the lack of time. So consider the track as finished. Lots of crashes in FL studio during production.

► Show Spoiler

TrojakEW · #7

Arelem wrote: ↑
Wed Jun 12, 2024 02:57 CEST
Hello All,

When thinking of what summer dreams meant to me, I thought more of my youth. Back when summer was a time of no school, hanging out with friends, and just having a good time. I started writing something energetic and uplifting. I found myself leaning a bit towards a sort of hyperpop sounding pop song and so I wrote some summer 'party' lyrics for it.

Quite nice track you here here. Just for information check your loudness otherwise you will loose some bonus points for that. I see there -9.5 LUFS integrated loudness.

I never heard of Audimee. I just checked a youtube video and it looks Interesting and fun.

Arelem · #8

Yeah, I know my LUFS are too high. I've decided that I don't care. I've talked to Mr. Fox and others about why the challenge has that limitation and while I can appreciate some of the reasoning, I'm not going to limit myself that way anymore. Some genres may be ok with it, and some specific tracks, but ultimately, I am going to do what I think sounds best for each track. Love it or hate, the industry standard for most music is not going to fit that limitation. There is definitely a skill to keeping within that limit and I appreciate that what I have learned because of it. There is also a skill to mastering loud while sounding good and impactful as well.

@TrojakEW Nice track submission. Some nice linear progression. I like the vocal 'instrument' and all of the elements fit well together. Well done.

#9

Arelem wrote: ↑
Mon Jun 17, 2024 04:06 CEST
Love it or hate, the industry standard for most music is not going to fit that limitation. There is definitely a skill to keeping within that limit and I appreciate that what I have learned because of it. There is also a skill to mastering loud while sounding good and impactful as well.

What the "considered Industry standard" is (as in, people on Youtube and in magazines stating: "master loud, the playback medium loudness normalizes anyway"), is something I do not agree with, and have stated this multiple times over.

Of course it is easier to "press" everything to it's limits. But it is also art to make your entry work at every volume (with suitable mix group handling and summing bus compression) -- "mastering" in such a way, that it translates to every playback medium possible. For example for Tape, for Vinyl, for CD. And funny enough, they all share the same "upper limit" (loudness wise, or rather the "ideal hotspot"), which happens to be the current agreed upon industry standard for streaming platforms of -14 LUFS ILk max (although -14 LUFS is really pushing the vinyl medium, -16 LUFS is actually more safe for cutting).

Then again, you made the conscious decision to forfeit those bonus points. I can and will not try to persuade you to change that.

Maybe some day, you will experiment more in this realm and realize "wait... tracks can still be as punchy at lower loudness". I mean - was music from mid 1990s to early 2000s (the height of CD releases) really that bad at being -16 LUFS ILk to -14 LUFS ILk max as well? Doesn't matter which genre, by the way (electronic, rock, metal, pop, hip-hop, orchestra, etc).

With that said...

A friendly reminder: including today, 8 days left for your submissions

#10

This is my WIP for this month.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g7QWMB ... drive_link

This month, I tried working with some sample loops. I found the experience quite limiting: I could not write a part B because the instrument samples had no part B. I could not change the dynamics, so I doubled the drum loops with Modo Drum and put a little variation of volume and timing in there (over 8 bars). I doubled the pads with a string pad and added a little volume automation.

Are there any more tips and tricks how to humanize sample loops?

The e-piano and the bass are not loops; they were played and recorded by me.

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