One Synth Challenge #107: VK-1 Viking by Blamsoft (Jasinski Wins!)

[progtronic]

Fair warning: I will cast my vote on the last possible day and will dock 2 points from anyone who didn't bother to comment on my track, since feedback is at least half the reason I do this contest and those are my stakes. Negative feedback is welcome and yes, silent votes really are that annoying. In return, I will leave honest feedback on every track.

In other words, comment on my track for a guaranteed score of 3 from me, or you'll probably get a 1 because I'm jaded af.

Interesting methodology to employ for feedback.
While I can relate to your frustration I am not sure that this method will be that effective...

Seriously...

Actions and attitude like this should be grounds for disqualification IMO.

[bryemye]

I have voted, but am not done commenting on tracks and my votes can and will change as I spend more time with some of these tracks.

[] Peter:H []

Fair warning: I will cast my vote on the last possible day and will dock 2 points from anyone who didn't bother to comment on my track, since feedback is at least half the reason I do this contest and those are my stakes. Negative feedback is welcome and yes, silent votes really are that annoying. In return, I will leave honest feedback on every track.

In other words, comment on my track for a guaranteed score of 3 from me, or you'll probably get a 1 because I'm jaded af.

Hey foxAsteria,

I think I can understand what you want to achive: More feedback, be it positive or negative, in order to grow as artist. That's a very sound and positive goal.
There is different ways to communicate the same thing and the positive way is mostly the way that will give your more success. I will give you an idea here: Instead of threatening with deduction, offer something positive. What could that be? A repost into your network, a extended feedback in return,...?
And a good way to get feedback is to just ask people directly (use PM on SC of KVR). I think you will be astonished about the feedback you get when you just ask. And the good thing about that is, that you can ask people who you admire for a certain skill that you want to grow yourself...
That not all people are giving feedback to all tracks might have different reasons that should be respected. I wished myself to get more feedback many many times, but on the other hand I'm reluctant to give feedback myself...So why should I expect plenty of feedback. And I only comment a track if I feel like I can add positive value to a track thru my comment. I would say, that comments with that spirit are far more helpfull comments than "here's my comment, where's my 2 points"...
Anyway: Don't be so strict, try the positive way and just work on this platform (add your track to music cafe, take part in different challenges,...) I think the number of comments will steadily grow and grow...

[functionform]

Guys, I think I violated the rules by accident

Some of you asked for the patch of the bowed string instrument in my entry. When I looked it up, I realised that it uses a lot of reverb, 100% wet. I checked with the rules and it says that it is not allowed to use any effect to it's extremes. When I made this sound, I wasn't aware about the rule and it was also just a happy accident that it turned out as this cello sound.

Sorry about the cheating here

@BJ: I totally understand if this counts as a disqualification. I will be more careful the next time.

P.S. I could still share the patch for the cello if you want though

I will be happy docking you one point for it, no big deal! It still leaves you very high in my ranking, I liked your piece.

[zarf]

I totally get the desire to get people to comment. When I first started doing OSC a couple years ago, I found it really frustrating that so many people didn't leave comments.

But... making comments obligatory would increase the time commitment lots - especially in busy months - and in the end I think it would just push people away. Most people seem to be short of time - and I think it's better to have more entries, and more engagement - than a handful of people who are prepared to comment on everything. That might just kill this wonderful thing off!

I always try to comment on every track because it is important to me. But no problem if people don't. IMHO it all needs to be relaxed and easy (Finishing a track is hard enough!) You could interpret the number of comments you get - or not - as a kind of feedback in itself!

@eraze the borders
use of fx is obviously a grey area, subject to interpretation. Personally I would say the important thing is sticking to the spirit of the challenge, so in cases like this - well, never mind. You clearly aren't taking the pi** so nothing to worry about in my book

[baalisoda]

While I can relate to your frustration I am not sure that this method will be that effective.
I went back to see if I had left you a comment, which I had so I guess my score from you will be safe from the penalty.
But had I not already left a comment I don't believe I would have been inspired to make a comment under threat of a penalty. In fact I believe I would have stubbornly refused to leave a comment just out of principle had I not already left one. This seems a small step away from "donate to my PayPal or I will give you a lower score" which is extortion for votes.

I try to leave comments when something about a track inspires me to do so. For the month out of 28 tracks I had left comments on 22. Not a great ratio, but not terrible either.
Sometimes a track just doesn't stand out to me, in neither a positive or negative way.
With my limited knowledge/experience it is often a case where I simply don't know what steps might be taken to improve a track to offer advice, or even if it needs improvement at all if it is of a genre I don't particularly listen to or enjoy.
There is also the need to factor in that some people just don't want feedback unless it is 100% positive and will get offended should you offer a suggestion for improvement. I have seen comment wars spring up in the past over this. It can get ugly.
So unless I know from either previous experience with the person or they have specifically stated that they welcome all feedback (including negative) I might refrain from commenting.

I understand the disappointment of being in a field of 40+ contestants and getting just a handful of comments, it happens to me quite a bit. It can be discouraging.
But for me personally I would rather have fewer but honest and helpful comments (I especially welcome negative feedback if it includes advice on how to improve) than comments made just because the person feels obligated to say "something".

Could not have said it better! I am in total agreement with each of your sentences above

Personally, many a times I don't leave comments in OSC, not because I am being rude but simply due to my lack of greater musical knowledge. There are tracks that comes from genres that I have rarely ever listened to, for me to make any sort of honest critical assessment of it would be criminal.

[doctorbob]

Personally, many a times I don't leave comments in OSC, not because I am being rude but simply due to my lack of greater musical knowledge. There are tracks that comes from genres that I have rarely ever listened to, for me to make any sort of honest critical assessment of it would be criminal.

This is oh so true ... even in this round I have listened to some tracks over and over, and just can't get my head around them to make any "meaningful comment". I usually try to comment on all tracks if I can, pointing out parts I think are great and/or unique/clever, and also parts which I think in my personal opinion could be done differently in some way (mix,sound design,tuning, etc). Sometimes tracks just stand out and it's those which I focus on in my own mind and try to think "what is it in these tracks which I am not doing??"

Simply put, I try to learn every time, and it's NOT always the top tracks which necessarily aid that learning process.

dB

[ontrackp]

Fair warning: I will cast my vote on the last possible day and will dock 2 points from anyone who didn't bother to comment on my track, since feedback is at least half the reason I do this contest and those are my stakes. Negative feedback is welcome and yes, silent votes really are that annoying. In return, I will leave honest feedback on every track.

In other words, comment on my track for a guaranteed score of 3 from me, or you'll probably get a 1 because I'm jaded af.

I get your frustration -- the feedback is my favorite part of participating, too, and I try to leave one or two comments on every track. But... this is a friendly community and your attitude is a little aggressive, unfortunately.

I suggest you wait for the scores, and then DM people who you would like to get feedback from to find out why they either scored you low or high.

Good luck!

[TheNeverScene]

Oh my, I got heavy into voting and such last night. This is a bit of a surprise.

I think voting closes on the 15th for a reason Gives everyone a fair amount of time.

[mostlyjustj]

Fair warning: I will cast my vote on the last possible day and will dock 2 points from anyone who didn't bother to comment on my track, since feedback is at least half the reason I do this contest and those are my stakes. Negative feedback is welcome and yes, silent votes really are that annoying. In return, I will leave honest feedback on every track.

In other words, comment on my track for a guaranteed score of 3 from me, or you'll probably get a 1 because I'm jaded af.

Interesting methodology to employ for feedback.
While I can relate to your frustration I am not sure that this method will be that effective...

Seriously...

Actions and attitude like this should be grounds for disqualification IMO.

I agree with the majority that it is definitely too extreme to withhold points from somebody because they didn't comment on your track. I think this competition really encourages interaction quite well as it is!

For those who are competing for a top spot where 2 points could make a real difference - I could see how this could be interpreted as BS bordering on disqualification territory. It should be about the quality of music!

Requiring more from each user could tip the balance and make this less attractive for the more skilled among us. I'm guessing that for some, the default language of english commenting sucks for them.

We have lots to learn from everybody beyond the comments. There are enough rules - let people do this competition their own way without warping the vote!

[mostlyjustj]

Dup.

[mostlyjustj]

Personally, many a times I don't leave comments in OSC, not because I am being rude but simply due to my lack of greater musical knowledge. There are tracks that comes from genres that I have rarely ever listened to, for me to make any sort of honest critical assessment of it would be criminal.

This is oh so true ... even in this round I have listened to some tracks over and over, and just can't get my head around them to make any "meaningful comment". I usually try to comment on all tracks if I can, pointing out parts I think are great and/or unique/clever, and also parts which I think in my personal opinion could be done differently in some way (mix,sound design,tuning, etc). Sometimes tracks just stand out and it's those which I focus on in my own mind and try to think "what is it in these tracks which I am not doing??"

Simply put, I try to learn every time, and it's NOT always the top tracks which necessarily aid that learning process.

dB

Haha... I have to say dB, that going through all of the tracks to set up my voting (I try to comment on all too!) and following your trail of comments along the way - and seeing that you have *zero* to say on mine kind of makes me nervous, haha... NOT to say that you should have or anything but my insecure side makes me wonder if it's time to totally pack it in and take up cake decoration or something

[doctorbob]

@mjj! I'm still working my way down the tracks - hehe - as I said, my votes are likely to change as I listen more. A lot of my initial voting is to put tracks into "bins" - I usually have a few tracks which FOR ME simply go to the top as 4 or 5. Then the rest seem to go into 3 and 2 - I then review my lower bins, and usually find most tracks in each bin feel/sound similar to me - then I start to listen critically to what has been achieved, and how. That's when tracks get moved around - and also when things get comments -

I suspect your track will get a comment or two from me - just watch your space ! I do try to be helpful, even if I don't understand the genre fully.

Now - I did work with Andrew Bentley, Dennis Smalley, Ambrose Field, Tony Myatt, Richard Orton and Trevor Wishart (to name drop a few electro-acoustic composers!). So, your start reminds me of the days when I used the good old EMS VSC3 (in it's Synthi-A incarnation!). All tape stuff too - lots of splicing on 2-track Revox's. So, I will get round to it - I promise!

Cheers,

dB

[mostlyjustj]

@dB: Thank you sir! It would be a bit dishonest if I said I was in no way fishing there , but for real it was a bit freaky to see a total void of your comments after getting used to seeing you chipping in on each of the tracks throughout my voting!

None of the names you mention ring any bells, but one of the styles I've been working on this winter is all based on looping 2 or 4 bars at a time, and filling in hits and stabs with nothing but my voice through effects to create evolving funky rhythms - and I'm guessing that's the modern Cadillac version of what was done with splicing loops back in the day.... and definitely influenced the style of my entry.

I'm guessing I'm probably a bit older than many of the folks around here (born in the early 70's) so I tend to naturally gravitate to old-school electronic styles and sounds. I like that this competition has a short window, because it forces many of us to just squish out something as quickly as we can without overthinking it so a lot of individual musical tastes show up in the final products

Anyway I've appreciated your feedback, not just on my track - but all the tracks. This is a fantastic competition, I'm learning a ton, and I'm challenging myself to stick with it this month and for the months to come.

[mostlyjustj]

oops