SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC089 January 2025 - Submissions until 24-JAN-2025 23:59 UTC+1/CET

[Mister Fox]

Hello and welcome to the Songwriting Competition 089 - January 2025 / "Community Scramble"



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, "Premise" and Rules Summary for this months challenge can always be found in in post #002

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, License 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

[Mister Fox]

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Wednesday, 01st January 2025 to Friday, 24th January 2025 (24 days)

Challenge submission will end on 24-JAN-2025, 23:59 UTC+1/CET (Germany) - until further notice.

The current game deadlines can be found on the Global Countdown page and on the landing site. Short reminders will also be sent out via the newsletter, social media and Discord. Does the game time frame feel too long? Why not set yourself a personal shorter one of 5-7 days. Push yourself to focus on the essentials, then use the rest of the time to ask for feedback and possible refinements.



SONGWRITING THEME: "Community Scramble" (Special Sound Design Challenge / 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 our 7th special challenge on the Mix Challenge audio community - called "Community Scramble".



The twist of the current Songwriting Competition:
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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 can read more about the "Community Scramble" concept in the news post from September 2018.


This year, you get access to 60 new "community sourced" samples, with additional content off of the web for more variety, plus bonus content from my own recordings, and the occasional "recycled" material from previous games (to balance things out).

You can find the source material for "SWC089 / January 2025 - Community Scramble" here, and again further down below:
SWC089 Source Sound Package - on the Mix Challenge server (199,65 MB, regular ZIP)



Your task for this Songwriting Competition:
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This month, you can create a production in any music genre you feel like. Due to the community sourced content, this might be more electronic based. However, since this game's focus is creative sound design, there is zero limitation of which route this could go.


Some Ground Rules:

• you are only allowed to use the sounds and samples that have been provided for this particular challenge (exceptions apply)
• you are free to mangle the content as much as you like, in fact, this is highly encouraged
• you are allowed to use re-sampling, wavetable / sample-based synthesis, granular synthesis, modulation, or whatever else is at your disposal in terms of tools, to this counts:
  • time stretching, pitch shifting, 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)
  • you can use your synths and samplers to their full potential (layering of more samples and/or build in signal generators, spectral editing, granulation, built-in modulation like LFOs and/or ring-modulation, etc), as long as one/the main oscillator/"wavetable" is from the the provided content (please also see "Audio Examples" follow up post, especially Andrew Huang's videos on "make a wavetable out of everything")
• you are not allowed to add any additional sounds or instruments that have not been created from the available source material in any shape or form (e.g. synthesizer stock lead, pads or drum sounds, acoustic drum kits, pianos, choirs and/or strings from Kontakt samples, singing synthesis software, etc).
• you can add vocals and ad-libs (your own voice or a collaborating singer), or sounds and effects created from your voice (think: breathing, shouts, grunts, robot voice, etc). This material can be as clean or as processed as you want, be creative!
• if you feel the need that your production really can't do without, you are allowed to record an electric guitar or electric bass (actual hardware instrument, no software or samples!). As long as you twist, bend, glitch, warp and/or morph (blend with other sound sources) it in some form or another (the focus is sound design! not just guitar > DI > amp suite preset, see "Audio Examples" follow up post, especially Mick Gordon, Geoffrey Day and David Levy's videos)

Your creativity will be pushed to the limits this month. This is your chance to try something completely new out of your comfort zone, experiment with synthesis and sound shaping, to get a different perspective on sound design.

I am more than curious about the results.

Songwriting Rule Summary:

► Show Spoiler

Summary:

• create a production fitting to the given theme, genre and general premise
• you can use any tools that are at your disposal to mangle the provided audio content (samplers, wavetable synths, modulation tools, etc)
• you are not allowed to add any additional sounds or instruments that have not been created from the available source material (exceptions apply, see above)
• for newcomers: no finished 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 of other artists, no ripped acapella's -- please only showcase your own new and original content (you are allowed to "remix yourself", recreate an old project, etc)
• do not go higher than -14,0 LUFS ILk/-1,00 dBTP in terms of perceived loudness (mastering). Music doesn't have to be squashed to bits in order to be impactful
• name your files properly prior to uploading and make the production downloadable. If you opt to present your entry through SoundCloud, 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)

Add-On Rules:

• see "Ground Rules" above
• <no (additional) add-on rules specified>

Filename Template: SWC089__ArtistName__TrackName.wav or .mp3

• example: SWC089__MisterFox__ColorOfTheSky.wav
• example: SWC089__Mister_Fox__Color_of_the_sky.wav

Please also try to provide only one file format (ideally the highest quality possible).


For a full set of rules, please consult the Official Rules and Guidelines (see Rule Book post #6). If you got any questions regarding the game mechanics or similar, please either utilize the global Gossip and Discussion thread, or reach out through Discord.

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Source Files:

SWC089 Source Sound Package - on the Mix Challenge server (199,65 MB, regular ZIP)

The provided files were packed using normal ZIP compression (Deflate, Ultra). This format should work on all operating systems and does not require any special tools to extract. If you have problems extracting the files, please make sure that your OS apps are up-to-date!


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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

Available Bonus 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:


Cherry Audio is kind enough to give away one license of Voltage Modular Ignite, plus either a license of "Year One Collection" or "Year Two Collection"
Licenses will turn into NFR
More info on Cherry Audio: https://cherryaudio.com



IK Multimedia is kind enough to give away one license of MODO BASS 2 to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on IK Multimedia: https://www.ikmultimedia.com



Musiclab is kind enough to donate any 1 guitar of your choice to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Musiclab: https://www.musiclab.com



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



kv331 audio is kind enough to either give away a SynthMaster 1+2 Bundle, or a freely selectable set of 3 SynthMaster Expansions
Licenses 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 to 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 to give away either a license of Lunaris 2, a license of Bioscape, or any two sound sets of winner's choice
License will turn into NFR
More info on Luftrum: https://www.luftrum.com/



Rekkerd Sounds is kind enough to 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: https://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: https://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 to give away any one license of winner's choice, alternatively any-2 licenses "Custom Bundle" with a total value less than 20 EUR MSRP
License will turn into NFR
More info on Hornet Plugins: https://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: https://satyatunes.com/



THANKS FOR THE DONATIONS!
And also a thank you to all former contributors as well.

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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 "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

► Show Spoiler

"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.

Video Collection -- providing Sound Examples, Synthesis Basics, Tips, Tricks and Tutorials (hours of content!):

► Show Spoiler

Creative Sound design examples (selection, Youtube, 13 videos):

► Show Spoiler

Depeche Mode - People Are People (1984)
Kutiman - I'm New (2009, from the "Thru-You" project)
Mick Gordon - Voices of Devs (2012)
Andrew Huang - ROCK PAPER SCISSORS (2013)
Jackson Tyler - Song I Made Using Random Sounds (2014)
Andrew Huang - Guitar Power (ft. Rob Scallon) (2015)
Karagamii - Paper Music with Andrew Huang (2020)
Gourski - Turning Random Sounds Into Music (2020)
harvo - made a beat with cat noises (2020, the beat was not created from the source sounds)
Meredith Bull - Sick of this Empty Cup (2021, some instruments were not created from the source sounds)
TerraBlade feat. Udge - Stickersus Symphony (FULL VERSION) (2021, every sound was made from the "Stop posting about Among Us" meme)
Jeff Nang - Making Beats with random objects (2022)
Venjent - Unmask Your Emotions (2022, some instruments might not have been created from the showcased sounds)

Sound Design Making of, Basics and Tricks: (assorted, multiple series and individual videos)

► Show Spoiler

Beardyman - The polyphonic me (2013, TEDTalk with Beardyman, explaining how he turns his own voice into various instruments)

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)
Draeden - The Ultimate Doom Instrument (2020, an attempt to get close to Mick Gordon's sound from DOOM and DOOM ETERNAL)
Keepforest Instruments - Become a Bassline Beast (2022, sound designer Joe Ford shows how he created some of sounds for the "Evolution: Devastator Breakout" sample pack, heavily inspired by Mick Gordon's work)
David Levy - DOOM Eternal - The Ancient Gods BTS (2021-2022, playlist)
GeoffPlaysGuitar - "What if XYZ sounded like DOOM Eternal" series (2021-2022, series -- I can recommend watching Hades, Dancing Mad, One Winged Angel and Mass Effect, also the making of on "Fall of Davoth", which is a "proof of concept" song)

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)
Joshua Milo - I made a song out of random objects (2018, a song made out of random items)
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 1 SAMPLE - Series by Andrew Huang (2018 to 2024, series -- hours of content, plenty inspiration for sound design)
Venus Theory - Turning Talking into Ambient Pads (2020, Venus Theory uses PaulXStretch and for additional FX the Reason 11 Rack VST, but the principle works with every tools at your disposal)
Venus Theory - The secrets to making a track from only ONE note (2022, creating an ambient music cue built around a 1-note drone sound)
Venjent - How to make a beat out of anything... (2022, was used in the remix of "Butterfly")

Synthesis Basics (13 videos, 1 playlist)

► Show Spoiler

SynthSchool - Overtones, harmonics and Additive synthesis (2010, how to create any wave form out of a basic sine wave)
TruncatedTriangle - Basic Waveforms (2015, an overview of basic waveforms, and how they're created)
Dash Glitch - Four Most Common Synthesis Methods - How Do Synthesizers Generate Sound? (2018, short video)
White Noises - Granular Synthesis EXPLAINED (2018)
Justin DeLay - Wavetable Synthesis Explained (2018, released through Reverb)
In The Mix - Sound Design and Synth Fundamentals (2019, there is also a follow-up called "Advanced Sound Design and Synths Tutorial)
Mattias Holmgren - Top 4 Granular VST Plugins & Granular Synthesis Explained (2019)
Andrew Huang - Modular synthesis EXPLAINED (2020)
Introduction to Cherry Audio Sines Synthesizer with Tim Shoebridge (2022, explaining creating other waveforms from just sine waves)
c't-Tutorial - Drum-Synthesis with Waldorf Attack (2015, German, automatic translation possible - creating kick, snare, clap and hi-hats, can be recreated with other synths)
Geonkick - Geonkick Tutorials (various tutorials how to create kicks, snares and hihat sounds)
In The Mix - Make Your Own Snare Drums - Sound Design Tutorial (2020, a more complicated way to synthesize snares)
4 steps to make funky hihats like Tale of Us or Maceo Plex (2020, including a quick tutorial how to create your own hi-hat sounds)
CamaCon - Snaretober Day 19 (catchup) - Delay Lama Rim (2024, Twitter, creating a snare out of Delay Lama)

Tool Showcases (more synthesis basics, and looking at various sound design plugins, 14 videos)

► Show Spoiler

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)
Simpliciter from NYSTHI - Overview and Tutorial (2020, Omri Cohen explains modular tools for both VCV Rack and DISTRHO Cardinal)
Venus Theory - Meet Vital: The INCREDIBLE New Free Synth Plugin (2020, Venus Theory showing off this free "sound design beast" of a synthesizer)
Venus Theory - 10 Of The BEST Free Plugins You Should Know for Sound Design (2020, showing off a handful of synth and FX plugins for sound design)
Venus Theory - 9 Excellent FREE Plugins (That Shouldn't Be Free) (2022, showing off a handful of synth and FX plugins for sound design)
Soundpaint - User Sample Import (USI) (2022, Troels Folmann showing how to use own samples in Soundpaint)
Ashtraybentley - Unlock Sample-Processing Secrets in Vital (2023, explaining how to use the sample OSC to it's full potential)

A shout out to Andew Huang, Mick Gordon, David Levy, Geoffrey Day (GeoffPlaysGuitar), Cameron Gorham (Venus Theory), Omri Cohen, Joe Ford, Ventjent, Draeden, Michael Wynne (In The Mix), Gregory White (White Noises), Mattias Holmgren, Dillio (DillioT2K), Levi Niha, Seamless (Stephen O’Leary), Savant (Aleksander Vinter), Ashtraybentley, Tom from SYNTH ANATOMY, Oscar from "Underdog Electronic Music School", Troels Folmann (8Dio / Soundpaint) and the Sound Designer team from Spectrasonics

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If you're new to songwriting, or you are in need for new helper tools, instruments, samples or presets -- please check out the following:

Songwriting Competition - Addendum: Tools to help with songwriting (outsourced megathread)


This mega thread also mentions companies that offer either free versions or demo versions of guitars, bass and drum instruments. Please have a closer look.


Additional tools worth a look for this month's special task...

► Show Spoiler

Dawesome - ZYKLØP "Machine Learning" synth (can load WAV files and re-synthesize them)
Iurie Nistor - Geonkick (Percussive Synthesizer, can load WAV files, free version reduced to 1 layer, Windows / Linux only)
imaginando - FRMS (Granular Synthesizer)
WarmPlace - Virtual ANS (simulating the Russian ANS "photoelectronic" synthesizer, offers additional features for audio manipulation, standalone, cross-platform / app)
Renoise - Redux (sampler that works like old Impulse Tracker software)
Sonosaurus - Paulstretch (time stretching tool, multi-platform, open source)
GlitchMachines - Quadrant, Cataract, Fracture XT, etc (free plugins available)
Exp DSP - Exp Filtertable Lite (Wavetable Filter, Windows only)
tugrulakyuz - various sound design tools (free / pay what you want)
FKFX - Influx (Distortion Plugin)
Robbert van der Helm - NIH-Plug (a collection of very interesting sound design tools)
Minimal Audio - various sound design tools, Squash and Rift Feedback Lite are freeware
Ohmforce - various sound design tools, their legacy plugins have turned freeware
Unfiltered Audio - various distortion and modulation tools (through Plugin Alliance)
MuTools - MuLab Plugin
White Elephant Audio - Syndicate (a sandbox plugin chainer like Kilohearts Snap Heap, but it can load any VST plugin at your disposal), etc
Kilohearts - Phase Plant, MultiPass and Snap Heap incl. all available SnapIns (multi-FX)
Bedroom Producers Blog - BPB Plugins like BPB Dirty Filter and Saturator (also use the page's search function)

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UPDATED: 30-DEC-2024 22:30 UTC+1, updated 00-JAN-2025 00:00 UTC+1

[ffx]

@Mister Fox just for understanding: I can use any sample of the pack and also do "single cycle" like loops in the Bitwig sampler?

[ffx]

@Mister Fox ...And also allowed to use all the Bitwig modulators like sample accurate pitchbending, envs, etc?

[Mister Fox]

@Mister Fox just for understanding: I can use any sample of the pack and also do "single cycle" like loops in the Bitwig sampler?

If you only want to focus on a specific section of a sample, or just "one cycle" of it (single cycle) to turn this into a wavetable... that is within the parameters of this game.

...And also allowed to use all the Bitwig modulators like sample accurate pitchbending, envs, etc?

This has been answered in post #002 as well.

Let me quote

you can use your synths and samplers to their full potential (layering of more samples and/or build in signal generators, spectral editing, granulation, built-in modulation like LFOs and/or ring-modulation, etc), as long as one/the main oscillator/"wavetable" is from the the provided content

If I assume that you are using Bitwig's sampler with a section or single cycle of any of the samples, you can still add a second OSC layer from a built-in synth engine, modulate them with LFO's, ENV's, etc, then run all that through an FX chain to create something new, and then you can still(!) use that new material to go from there.

The general idea is to use the provided sample content as "starting point", your main available building blocks. How coarse or fine detailed you get, is up to you.




Plot Twist...

Unlike the sample packages from the last years, there are no "clean" sine waves this time around. Doesn't mean you can not acquire one from the provided content regardless.

(hint: post #003, Synthesis Basics)

[i-dont-like-mixing]

Hello,

here's my attempt, kind of abstract/ambient style.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13-Dv0E ... sp=sharing

Samples used:
Shodanmind
Galaxy Kick
InfectedBreak_sn_125bpm
Finger Cymbals soft
PedalHH
C64 Pure Triangle
waveform-02
Smash Wine Bottle
Alton Towers Ride - Oblivion

[reaby]

Hi everyone,

Well... idk, just testing somethings...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13nDv8i ... drive_link


Samples used

Sub Bass:
1. CeeTzar-Kick (used to generate sub bass sine wave from tail of the kick)
2. buzzerHarmonicRotation (used to generate mid-bass)
pre-eq -> Drumbus + eq

Mid Bass:
1. C64-Pure--Saw-decay-max (panned 15L, spread 26%)
2. C64-Pure--Saw-decay-max (panned 15R, spread 26%)
3. C64-Pure--Saw-decay-max (center, transp +12st)
SerumFx (hypersaw-3) + eq

Used Iris2 to generate bells:
1. Waveform-7
2. Waveform-1
3. Waveform-7
4. Waveform-7
SerumFx --> Transient master --> Delay --> Eq --> Supermassive

Pad:
1. C64-pure-pulse-and-tri-decay-max
2. (unused)
3. Waveform-3
4. C64-pure-pulse-decay-max
Lowpass Filtered with some resonance --> Eq -> Vocal Doubler -> VC 2A

Kick:
1. Electric-Kick (Kick body, Envelope automation for transpose to make downwards motion)
2. Lightswitch (Used to generate snap)
Both run to mono -> DrumBuss -> Eq -> Raum

Clap:
1. Wooden Sticks
Drum Buss -> Vocal Doubler -> Eq

Snare:
1. LinearBreak_sn_160bpm (sliced)
EQ --> VocalDoubler --> CamelCrusher

Hihat:
1. LinearBreak_sn_160bpm (sliced, and chopped very short)
no further processing

Crash:
1. Crash-01
reversed with timewarp double lenght, and used normally as well

Sweeps:
1. thudFade (Granulator 3 with transpose +12st, grainsize 2sec etc etc)
Filter automation --> Eq --> Vocal Doubler --> delay + supermassive