Mix Challenge

A friendly reminder:
We're in the final 24 hours to submit your production.



Please get your production ready and submitted (through the forum) today.

And to make it easier for me to create the collection post, please update your initial post with the appropriate links (final version), or explicitly mark your entry as "final entry". Thank you.

We have 9 entries so far, which makes me really happy!

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	Important Information Due to personal (and time-restrictive) reasons, the Voting Process for SWC069 May 2023 will not start as usual (meaning: early in the night on the 25th), but actually more towards the end of the day of 25th. In fact, I might not be able to update the thread right at the end of the game as usual. But please, do stick to the given deadlines. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience.

I wrote the song on guitar and it evolved from there. Many moons ago I won the Synthmaster One during this competition. I’ve been using it for all kinds of things ever since. This gave me a chance to tweak around and dial in some live recorded automation. The beats were created thru Xpand!2 and re-amped with various effects to evolve the arrangement.



DAW:
ProTools Ultimate

Instruments:
Arturia MiniLab MKII controller
Taylor MCE314 Acoustic Guitar
Synthmaster One
Xpand!2
Foot Stomps
Finger Snaps
Hand Claps

Plugins EQ & Dynamic:
Waves Gold
Waves Rennaisance Maxx
BombFactory
Kramer Tape
SplitEQ
One Knob Phattener

Plugin Efx:
Enigma
Sci-Fi
Tremolator
PhaseMistress
Lexicon LX480
Studio Reverb
FuzzWah
Mod Delay 3

Master Buss
SSL Comp
Q10
Kramer Tape
Abbey Road Mastering Suite
Waves C4
Waves L1 Ultramaximizer
PAZ Analyzer
YouLean Loudness Meter 2

Samples:
Various Homemade Reamped Voodoo

SoundBeing wrote: ↑

Wed May 24, 2023 10:47 CEST

I wrote the song on guitar and it evolved from there. Many moons ago I won the Synthmaster One during this competition. I’ve been using it for all kinds of things ever since. This gave me a chance to tweak around and dial in some live recorded automation. The beats were created thru Xpand!2 and re-amped with various effects to evolve the arrangement.

This is a really nice vibe. It is the combination of the basic chord progression and the beat that works great. For me personaly I think there are some elements that sound too to 'jumpy' / 'happy'. That is absolutely not a bad thing but I like the dreamy vibe and the high note synth theme is breaking that dreamy vibe a bit ;-)

Overall a good prodution. The guitar sounds really good by the way.

cheers,

Jeroen

Hi,

I almost forgot about the challenge

I did this today in a few hours and I'm happy I could finish it. All instruments are Arturia Modular V3, the bass is a combo of Bassynth and Sublab.
I don't really know what I was going for, I just tried to mix old and modern sounds and did some afro cuban percussion patterns.
I could imagine some vocal chops or runs on top to spice things up a little bit but I don't have the time right now.

Here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gNkV8F ... sp=sharing

Tools I used:

WAV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15t_LCv ... share_link
FLAC: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jAQuFD ... share_link
MP3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c-YfJP ... share_link

"Summer is here! The Sun is brighter than ever and the heatwaves are rushing on the land, just like adrenaline in your bloodstream. So ride your car as fast as you can! It's time for a holiday road trip..."

I found an old project (maybe three years old) where I've been testing D16's Drumazon (an emulation of TR-909). I tried to replicate workflow typical to minimal techno setups, when you interact with a drum machine like a synth (creating a single pattern, muting/unmuting tracks, tweaking live etc.). The other parts are also inspired by classic techno setups. The thing that isn't typical for techno and EDM in general is the electric piano improvisation (I'm sorry, I like to experiment).  

Instruments and techniques: 

1. D16 "Drumazon" as a drum machine;
2. U-He "Repro-1" as a bass synth;
3. Cherry Audio "Voltage Modular". The patch I created is intended to represent TB-303 acid-bass sequence (sort of);
4. The chord sequence is from Full Bucket "Fury 800" that emulates an old Korg synth with chord memory (playing a minor 7th chord on a single key). This synth was also used for a background shimmering SFX that appears in some places;
5. Sampleson "Electrix" is used for piano improvisation;
6. TAL-Bassline101 is used for plucky synth;
7. Some noises and stock FL Studio samples here and there.

Produced in FL Studio 21.

Technical details:

Here is my piece, 'Swoon Waltz'. (Sure, I might alter the name slightly. The idea is that one is carrying on at the same time as kind of fading out.)

https://soundcloud.com/g-jardine/swc069-crosshatched-swoon-waltz

This is the least significant piece in an EP I hope to make. But I wrote it just this month.

Aside from that, the process was largely
1. Write out the music on sheet music. Do this largely at the keyboard.
2. Record the midi at the keyboard.
3. Select synth voices for everything. Keep some of the piano VST in the accompaniment to add definition. There's a little bit of arranging voices, but actually not that much.
4. Adjust tracks, mix-buses, etc.; lots of EQ, some other basic adjustments and fixes, and some effects. Finally adjust main bus and pan.

The B or Trio section is probably the nuisance here, in writing, recording, needing to bounce to tracks to have any idea how it would sound...
And A indulges in the smooth, lots-of-high-frequencies synth sounds that I am so fond of. (Note I say 'smooth', not 'crisp and clean'.)

edit: so you see, this is all digital VSTs in a DAW, except that the way I input the MIDI is through my keyboard. I used a few different synths.

Hi everyone, long time since I last entered this forum.

This is my entry "Noisemaker"
WAV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FQnFIl ... drive_link
MP3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NbEyL9 ... drive_link

Ill try to be quick as I dont have much time until the deadline ends.
Long story short: each and every sound from drums to bass, leads, etc was made from a single freeware synth "TAL Noisemaker" hence the name of the song.
I started by synthetizing drum sounds first, I managed to get a decent kick and snare that I rendered and applied heavy eq, compression and saturation.
hats and crashes are easier as its mostly noise. For the toms I struggled a lot to get a sound I liked. I can share the basic presets I made if anyone is interested.
then a basic chord progression I was playing with consisting of a iv - V - i - i in Bm
I modulated the parameters of the pad throughout the song to get different articulations.
Bass was pretty straighforward, a simple filter, also modulated the parameters to get different timbre for each section.
Theres an arpeggiated chord playing the same progression with its pan modulated heavily.
The lead that starts the song is a simple squarewave / saw wave mix running through an amp sim.
Finally the melodic synths are simple filtered and unfiltered saw waves, one I decided to harmonize and pan separately.

Apologies if the documentation seems chaotic, and apologies for being this late, I was making adjustments until the very last minute.

Hello,

This is my entry for this month competition. https://www.dropbox.com/s/4khbpn21ml241 ... d.wav?dl=0
The idea begin with the chord progression that stays all the song, and it grew from there. I added the kick and then some melodies. I think it lacks from a bridge but I preferred to stay simple this time.

Track is made in FL Studio 20 and has many synths like Massive, Gx-80, Arturia V, and Synthmaster. Piano is from FL studio stock plugin.
Drums are from samples in the internet.

Ty for listening

It is the 25th May 2023, 00:10 UTC+2/CEST - this month's Songwriting Competition has official ended

Apologies for closing this one out so late.


STATISTICS:

• If I didn't miscount, we have 15 submissions this month (4 entries more than last month, and also 6 more than May 2022)
• We have 0 submissions after the deadline (as of 25-MAY-2023 00:10 UTC+2/CEST)
• We have 0 submissions that has been disqualified (production released outside of the game's timeframe)
• We have 0 submissions that has been withdrawn (one counts as entry within the deadline, one has been completely removed and not added to the total entry amount)
• The "staff balancing vote" add-on rule does not apply
• "Sole Winners Podium" rule (equal or less than eight participants results in a single winner) does not apply (3-position Winners Podium)

How do we go from there?

Over the course of the next (hopefully) 24-48 hours (usually up to 6-12 hours maximum after the game has ended), I'll gather all links into one post and hot-link to that from the first post of the thread. Please, no more changes to your entries, but please do check your links that these entries are accessible and downloadable. We then perform with the final feedback and "public vote" system.


We have 15 official participants. We are adapting the overhauled vote mechanic, as talked about in the following news blog:

Songwriting Competition - game mechanic changes: Voting Process (October 2022 Update)
(Info: I am aware that the Rule Book has not been properly updated yet. Time constraints, apologies for the inconvenience)


Summarized:

!

Bonus Info

Participants can (and must) vote for their Top 7 entries (tiered mechanic). You're furthermore asked to please reflect on your experience this month (2-3 paragraphs max), what you have learned, what you would like to do different in the future, etc. (personal growth) You are also asked to give feedback to at least seven(number: 7) entries (tiered mechanic) that either stood out to you and you would like to provide some additional final thoughts, or where you could provide constructive feedback for possible improvements. To add to the learning experience of our community, it is recommended that these entries are outside of your personal "top entry" voting. Have the chance to get additional bonus points if you decide to invest the time to provide more constructive feedback than the requested minimum. It must be more than just "nice production, please keep up the good work" however. This is to boost more interaction and can balance out your overall points on the score sheet. (get 1 point if you give constructive feedback to 2-3 more people, get 2 points if you give helpful feedback for everyone) The "Voting Process" mechanic is mandatory for all participants, and the only criteria to drop out of the game by not partaking. The overall "Bonus Point" mechanic still applies. Please update your posts with proper production documentation, most notably regarding whom you have collaborated with (as in: proper credits -- not doing so will result in a 2pt deduction on the score sheet at the end of the game). You got until the voting period has ended. Please cast your vote (not the feedback) in collective form through the "spoiler text" bbcode (button on the WYSIWYG editor that features the orange triangle with an exclamation mark in it). Please use the forum username of the participant to make it easier during the score collection to address what vote belongs to whom.

.

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	For transparency: The staff (Mister Fox) will not give feedback to all entries and/or cast a vote this month.

Feedback from non-participants and/or collaborators is highly encouraged (voting not needed!). The same goes for entries after the deadline, or those that sadly do not count for the current running game (even if you've exceeded the deadline, why not post your entry regardless?). Musicians and Engineers are always after constructive criticism. This is what this forum is about.





Have some general feedback? Please provide that here:
Songwriting Competition - General Gossip Thread, or on Discord.



Please have an eye on this thread!

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	Important Information Due to personal (and time-restrictive) reasons, the Voting Process for SWC069 May 2023 will not start as usual (meaning: early in the night on the 25th), but actually more towards the end of the day of 25th. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience.

Let us kick off the VOTING PROCESS, which will end on Thursday, 01-JUN-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST latest


There is a GLOBAL COUNTDOWN to check for deadlines.
Just follow this link: Global Countdown (on homepage)



Here is the collection of productions from all participants (in hope that I didn't forget anyone). As usual, if you click on the small upwards-arrow right beside the quoted name, you can jump to the original post and read up on the documentation for this production.


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KukoBass wrote: ↑

Fri May 12, 2023 17:34 CEST

"Overlaps"



MP3: Google Drive playback and download

Arelem wrote: ↑

Sat May 13, 2023 08:57 CEST

"Inside"

JeroenZuiderwijk wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 19:26 CEST

"Waves Are Moving Fast"

WAV: OneDrive playback and download

Johnny11771 wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 21:40 CEST

"X"

MP3: Google Drive playback and download

becsei_gyorgy wrote: ↑

Sun May 21, 2023 22:01 CEST

"Womb"



BONUS VIDEO:

► Show Spoiler

phpBB [media]

EsteveCorbera wrote: ↑

Mon May 22, 2023 00:14 CEST

"ElectroFun"

ontrackp wrote: ↑

Mon May 22, 2023 22:01 CEST

"Carnival"

Doc Jon wrote: ↑

Tue May 23, 2023 16:24 CEST

"One United Nation"

avinash wrote: ↑

Tue May 23, 2023 18:32 CEST

"In Ryhthm"



ADMIN INFO: Song can not be downloaded

SoundBeing wrote: ↑

Wed May 24, 2023 10:47 CEST

"Lickable Blotter Paper"



ADMIN INFO: Song can not be downloaded

Mellow Browne wrote: ↑

Wed May 24, 2023 15:15 CEST

"Modular Art"

WAV: Google Drive playback and download

VCA-089 wrote: ↑

Wed May 24, 2023 18:46 CEST

"Ride On"

WAV: Google Drive playback and download
FLAC: Google Drive playback and download
MP3: Google Drive playback and download

BONUS VIDEO

► Show Spoiler

phpBB [media]

Crosshatched wrote: ↑

Wed May 24, 2023 20:45 CEST

"Swoon Waltz"

FixInTheMix wrote: ↑

Wed May 24, 2023 22:37 CEST

"Noisemaker"

WAV: Google Drive playback and download
MP3: Google Drive playback and download

canese wrote: ↑

Wed May 24, 2023 23:56 CEST

"Give Me What I Need"

WAV: DropBox playback and download

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WITHDRAWN (not participating - feel free to give feedback, but you sadly can not vote for these entries)


<no withdrawn entries>
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BONUS ENTRIES (submitted after the deadline - feel free to give feedback, but you sadly can not vote for these entries)


<no bonus entries>
.



GAME MECHANIC SUMMARY:

Good luck to all participants!




If you have an idea for a future Songwriting Competition, please post about this in the theme/genre request page or on Discord.


Post updated: 25-MAY-2023 23:00 UTC+2/CEST