One-Synth-Challenge 26: ZynAddSubFX - Voting and Results

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@bjporter
Thanks for a really detailed review :)

I really must clear some time and offer some scribblings myself :roll:
It wasn't me! (well, actually, it probably was) - apparently now an 'elderly' so maybe I forgot!

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Thanks for the votes and nice comments! :)

Said this before, but so difficult to come to a decision when it comes to voting.. :? - but I've now heard them all a good number of times and forced myself to choose one over the other.

The sheer range of songs and sounds this time was I think unprecedented in OSC and a testament to the power of Zyn so kudos again. :love:

Criteria is imo to show the synth off in the best possible light, but that's obviously not only sounds or soundmaking, but song and production as well, so I've sort of summed them up and here's what I came up with:

5 pts: Bjporter - Stick em up, I got a Zyn Supersaw, now dance

So despite perhaps lacking the full range of the best sounds of Zyn (would be difficult to do with this beast), this had imo the best total score. The saw, strings, pad, bass and drums sounds it does have are anyway as good as they come, but the tune, however repetitive, is very good. Ok I'll come out of the closet and say I'm a sucker for a good trance lick which this is (although the 'heard it before' factor is there). Production is also very good imo, this sounds good. (cool pic too btw)

4 pts: Folderol "Into the Gates of Arram Koth"

The song that did indeed show the synth sound range to the fullest was this Linux-made one. Very smooth and lovely sounds and composition was nice with variation too. The fact that sounds were all made by the author himself makes it all the more impressive as I doubt no one else did. Since production value is not as measure of loudness but as a clear, sweet sounding and cohesive mix, this is good.

3 pts: Jackoo - Wild Cat in Space

Scored well on the melody with fitting parts which I really liked, sounds and range were also good. Production had good elements and the non-quantized hand playing made it organic and is usually a plus, but maybe a tad too much the other way on some parts here. Also there are notes which are too low etc. Shame you didn't clean it up just a little more or it might have been top score from me.

2 pts: Yeager - Too Little, Too Late

An unconfident title, but from similarly named entries in the past I know this can still be good. There's anyway a lot of melody/parts, good sounds and production to justify a better title, but I can anyway see what you mean, there's just that last magic we're used to from you missing. Production wise the overall sound and instrument matching good, but 'Effing Brilliant' would perhaps be just as big a title misnomer as some parts are slightly static. :D

1 pt: Mike777 - Restore A Planet To Life

Shows off the range of Zyn (can those strings be beat by any other synth tbh?) with some good melody parts, and although I like multipart arrangements generally, maybe a bit too disjointed for my taste this time. Also the production concerning overall sound and detail landscaping perhaps slightly under par. But no doubt a good effort again.

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Just the votes quickly this time, so I get 'em in in time, I promise to do reviews next time. just too freakin' busy this month! (hopefully I can finish Alpha!)

5 V'ger - Zynith (totally not sucking up, I just really dug it)
4 Zlouis - Tension
3 Yeager - Too Little
2 Paradoxun - Zyncon
1 Fundamental - Stepping

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Hi folks, yeah I'm back on planet OSC, and firstly, muchos apologiojos for not providing reviews ... simply no time, and it would have taken some collosal amount of time to write reviews which would do these tracks any form of justice.

Every listen has left me progressively more frustrated i couldn't get ZynAddSubFx to work .. absolutely glorious sounds, textures and beats throughout.

I started out giving marks out of ten, but unable to insult any single track with less than 8 and a half, I was a bit stumped!!

Anyway, difficult though it has been, here are my votes.

Too Little Too Late ..... 5 - quality! ... Yeager has once again moved up a gear .. and that guitar was the icing on the cake!

Tension ...... 4 - appropraitely named, but add dynamics to that title ... great track.

Zynith ..... 3 - Simply a beautiful listen

Restore A Planet To Life ....... 2 - Good range of sounds, and use of same with excellent dynamics and lots of drama.

Twelve o' clock ........... 1 - Love the chimes, top snare and some cheeky sounds in there

And a huge round of applause for the rest of you ... some stunning sounds and compositions, all produced to a high standard, and offering some incredible ripping, fibrous basses, rich pads and organ sounds, and harmonically fascinating textures. The featured synth is def my favourite of all the ones I've never managed to use ... and possibly the best synth ever to grace this comp ... impressive!!

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Highly enjoyable bunch this. High production value, great use of this (great) synth.

Some notes/shorthand (for me) and for you :

Autostatic-TheSpeedingTrain - Solid buildup, catchy main theme, Nice flute, looses momentum in the middle but picks it up nicely at the end.

Bjporter-StickEmUpIGotAZynSupersawNowDance - Nice kick, great (thin) saw, BJ showing his true colours, you really like making this dont't ya ? , you should 'cause you're great at it!

Capdan-TwelveOClock - Old clock, solid snare, nice variety of bass sounds, love the slapbass/guitar around 2:46 and later at the end.

Folderol_-_Into_The_Gates_Of_Arram_Koth - Nice mature compo, glasspad, and vocals, nice lead, kota, melodic symphonic. Very good.

Fundamental-Stepping - great start, great ending, no song in the middle, but I liked what I heard.

Gorgorgathgorgorgor-Steam - Nice organvocal sound, great disgusting lows, sort of bossanova dub.

Jackoo-WildCatInSpace - Nice (familiar sounding) melody, vangelissy, good drums nice arrangement.

Laklop-ZynAndTheArtOfMotorcycleMaintenance - Nice buildup, wobbly, japanees, nice palette of sounds.

Mike777-RestoreAPlanetToLife - Nice bass, lots of variations, love it!, GREAT Organpart(s) sound/melody wise.

Paradoxun-Zyncon - KICK !, In the air tonight, Phil will love this remix, all fun asside, GREAT arrangement, solid kick/bass, nice collection of sounds/percussion, good job!

Ruedirena-Sandefur - Singing monk(s), great moodchange (reminded me of Amber by the Residents ( don't ask me why ?), Surprising blast at the end.

Vger-Zynith - Beautiful, hints of Flex'n Morph, I like your style ! grade A production !

Zlouis-Tension - Nice use of delay, love the distorted synthy , good use of stereo space, felt shorter than it was , well done.

And some points :

Vger - 5 points
Mike777 - 4 points
Paradoxun - 3 points
Jackoo - 2 points
Zlouis - 1 point.

There were more people I wanted to give points, but alas.

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Bump ... not long to go ... come on get those votes in and show appreciation for some first class work on a first class synth :)

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I'd like to thank you all for a wonderful challenge. Here are my votes:

5p: Mike777 - Restore a planet to life
4p: V'ger - Zynith
3p: Yeager - Too Little Too Late
2p: Bjporter - I've got a supersaw
1p: Zlouis - Tension

It was very difficult to decide, especially between the two top scorers.

@Mike777:
I liked the melodic quality. I think you are a very good composer, and music seems to be a natural talent to you. Your tune was the first that came playing into my mind, after listening to all of them. Epic use of the church organ!

@V'ger:
Great sounds! I like the way you build-up interest of the listener. You are very attentive to detail, and very technical. You are able to create a believable reality. But it's like there's a terrific intro, and a great outro, but the general theme is not present enough, enough to play back in one's mind after a listen... Also you did turn this synth upside-down... and explored a lot of it.

@Yeager:
Great variation. Also a good melody. Also very technical. I appreciate what you did with that electric guitar you've made. The main theme blends well with the rest.

@Bjporter:
Sounds really professional. It is a little repetitive, but the sound quality is really by the book.

@Zlouis:
Nice experimental sound design. Also very technical. I think it is describing 'tension' really well, and the speed of today's world.

@Folderol:
Nice universe of sounds. Your song is backing up a story, but it's like it's not telling the story itself. I think it would be quite good inside a movie, but in the background. It doesn't drag a lot of attention. I think the best part is at 3:22.

@Paradoxun:
The kick is a little too loud for my taste. Otherwise great sound. I like the mood it gives me.

@AutoStatic:
At 1:04 it gets really nice. I really like the bass line.

@Fundamental:
I like the beginning. It gets its way inside the brain and stays there. It deserves that you develop it more.


I'd like to congratulate all participants for the real special quality of this competition!
Last edited by jackoo on Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
== VDX == One Man can make a difference!
My music is on https://soundcloud.com/vdxi | Info | More Info

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Thanks for the points nice comments guys, and you might well be right about the slim middle part Jackoo. Good to be reminded of this. :)

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5 : Yeager - Too Little Too Late
4 : Bjporter - I've got a supersaw, put your hands up now
3 : Mike777 - Restore A Planet To Life
2 : ParadoxUn - Zyncon
1 : Laklop - ZYN and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

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1. Zlouis - Tension
2. Mike 777 - restore
3. Yeager - too little too late
4. Fundamental - stepping
5. Jackoo - Wild Cats in Space

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Another great contest and amazing tracks.

5 - Vger - Zynith
4 - Bjporter - Stick Em Up I Got A Zyn Supersaw Now Dance
3 - Ruedirena - Sandefur
2 - Autostatic - The Speeding Train
1 - Folderol - Into The Gates Of Arram Koth

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Hi there,

better late than never;)
The first will be the last and the last will be the first - but it seems not this time... anywhere ... I mean anyhow here are my result/reviews (in a nutshell):

Autostatic - The Speeding Train: (3)
- missing some energy and speed;) but nice idea and realization

Bjporter - Stick em up, I got a Supersaw, now dance: (5)
- very nice, like that break around 1.10, nice explosion then pads/choirs and finally the build up of the melody
- nice end, but inbetween it gets a little too repetitive

V'ger - Zynith: (5)
- very nice epic piece, nice intro, nice percussion/drums
- don't like the fade out...

Yeager - Too little too late: (3-4)
- nice drum/percussion sounds
- on the one hand I like the guitar part but on the other hand the first part is a little too "hard" in contrast to the rest of the song,
I like the second/end part

Laklop - Zyn and the art of motorcycle maintenance: (3-4)
- like the motorcycling fx sounds, the intro is a little bit too long, although very interesting
- like the guitar part in the middle
- like the wobble bass, but IMO the beat doesn't fit, because of lacking energy/power

Fundamental - Stepping: (3)
- lovely and interesting sounds, but I don't like the composition

Gorgorgathgorgorgor - Steam: (3)
- lovely and interesting sounds (again:), nice idea but I would have expected something more industrial like

Folderol - Into the Gates of ...: (5)
- nice composition, showcasing some of ZynAddSubFx powerful sounds

RuediRena - Sandefor: (2-3)
- nice vocal sounds
- is the last sound intentional? although interesting it doesn't fit IMO

Mike 777 - Restore a planet to a life: (4)
- nice beat at the beginning, nice pad part in the middle
- nice usage of the organ sound, but I don't like the bass sound because IMO it doesn't fit to/with the other sounds

Zlouis - Tension: (5)
- nice percussion usage, nice build up of the tension (2x) although the second part last a bit too long and I miss something at the end (a resolution of the tension)

jackoo - wild cat in space: (5)
- normally I can't stand that howling sound, but this time it fits really well. Nice melody and composition overall, sounds somehow familiar, very vangelis/jarre like;)

ParadoxUn - Zyncon: (4)
- nice pumping kick, I personally don't like the pad, lead and hihat sound but all in all nice composition (better than mine;)


and here are the/my end results:

5 points: V'ger - Zynith
4 points: Zlouis - Tension
3 points: Folderol - Into the gates of ...
2 points: jackoo - wild cat in space
1 point: Bjporter - Stick em up

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capdanX wrote:
RuediRena - Sandefor: (2-3)
- nice vocal sounds
- is the last sound intentional?
No.
Image

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Voting over and the winner is ... me :wheee:

1 V'ger - Zynith 54
2 Mike777 - Restore A Planet To Life 35
3 Yeager - Too Little Too Late 34
4 Bjporter - Stick em up, I got a Zyn Supersaw, now dance 29
5 Zlouis - Tension 27
6 jackoo - Wild Cat in Space 18
7 Folderol_-_Into_The_Gates_Of_Arram_Koth 17
8 AutoStatic - The Speeding Train 16
9 ParadoxUn - Zyncon 15
10 fundamental - Stepping 8
11 Laklop - ZYN and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 6
12 CapDan - Twelve o' clock 4
13 RuediRena - Sandefur 4
14 Gorgorgathgorgorgor - Steam 3


Full scoreboard is here.

Big thanks to all who voted for my song.. :)

I will choose Wusik as my prize, so Mike, you're next to choose.

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Congrats V'ger , well deserved :party:

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