February Contest: Gossip

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Man. Almost can't find the time to listen. Here's the first batch.

Sepheritoh - A song about us.
Contrast: without and with drum and bass.
Unity: use of instruments, tonality, tempo.
Overall impression: big on pretty sounds, a bit weak on melody. I liked it.
Nitpicks: the bass sounds like it is late wrt the drums.

Patrick9 - Winter to Spring.
Unity: the same instruments through out.
Contrast: acoustic instrument (sax) vs synth backing.
Overall impression: You're interpreting this as two parts, separated
in character rather than in time. Cool. There is a clear contrast, yet they're
playing nice together.
Nitpicks: I'm getting some clicky stuff in the left channel if I listen with cans.

Shangsean - Alien Sun.
Unity: overall tonality
Contrast: ambient vs rhythmic. You list "light vs dark" which I don't agree with:
the ambient part is kinda sad. Restful though.
Overall impression: really nice soundscapes. Great sounding drums. Expertly put together.

ClaRago - Amales Potamos.
Unity: pretty synths throughout.
Contrast: ambient vs rhythmic (I sense this is going to be a common theme);
cool use of "found" samples in the second half
Overall impression: good work.

Sovarozum - Time Transcendence.
Contrast: acoustic vs synthesized. Quiet vs busy.
Unity: the harp tonality stays throughout
Overall impression: I liked how the acoustic sounds morphed, but their
character remained in the second half.

RuediRena - Vera Digital vs Dr Rock.
Contrast: electronic vs rock, straight vs swing, spoken vs sung
Unity: the backstory? No matter how, it works for me.
Overall impression: so far this is one of the larger contrasts. I dig it.

Nikp2000 - the Pell of Opening (that's what it says in the tags).
Contrast: guitar vs synth, the second entry with contrasts that are not in time;
the second half with the acoustic guitar backing is slightly different in character
but not that much to me.
Unity: it's pretty cool throughout
Overal impression: great soloing on that start
Nit pick: towards the end some sounds seem out of sync.

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Well once again I didn't get the time to work on anything. Partly because of lack of time and partly because of a collaboration with someone that's going really well that I've spent time on.

I'll listen to all the tracks and vote though.

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rollasoc wrote:Had a push on Saturday to finish the track in time for the deadline, but failed miserably. Probably 9/10ths finished.

Not happy with myself!

Will try harder next month!
robojam wrote:Well once again I didn't get the time to work on anything. Partly because of lack of time and partly because of a collaboration with someone that's going really well that I've spent time on.

I'll listen to all the tracks and vote though.
I too wanted to contribute to this cool theme, but didn't finish. :(

Was working on a duality theme of different time periods, past and future, and got stuck in the Cretaceous. Barely made it back alive...

Anyway I'm looking forward to listening to the submissions. :D

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But funk for next month? Got to blow the dust off the bass and practice my m7 piano chords :D

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May I say that I'm gratified with the votes I'm getting for an attempt to marry a failed solo and failed dance track? Maybe the whole is sometimes more than the sum of the parts.

Victor.

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Next batch

Hellfog - Death and despair.
Contrast: quiet synth part, busy synth part, quiet vocal? That's three.
Unity: Hm.
Overall: very cool synth work in the beginning; I didn't particularly care
for the keys under the vocal part.
Nitpicks: those parallel fifths.

Sleek Month - Ghosts.
You've been around here for a while, not? You should be able to embed ID3 tags in your track…
Contrasts: vocal vs guitar?
Unity: it's one song
Overall: absolutely fantastic raw sound.

offthewall - Love-Hate.
Contrast: love hate. duh.
Unity: it's still one song.
Overall impression: pretty cool song. Interesting how the "hate" part actually sounds more upbeat.

beanpole - Above 'n' Below.
Contast: acoustic vs electric
Unity: one song.
Overall: I find the second half considerably move convincing than the first. The voices in the
first half are a good idea, but it just does not move me.

Laguna Rising - Surf & Turf.
Contrast: summer vs winter?
Unity: nifty guitar stuff throughout.
Overall: the first half starts with a nice and summery beat but after half a minute it, hm, loses excitement?
The switch to a swing-meets-samba beat halfway through is nifty. I like the wah solo.

Kryptonaut - Brand New Day.
Contrast: depressed vs cheery
Unity: one storyline
Overall: great song. I love the cello part.
Nitpick: the mix sounds a bit bottom-heavy.

VicDiesel - Never the Twain.
Utter brilliance! I'm speechless.

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Here are some thoughts on this month's entries. Sorry if some comments are a bit sparse, they are based on notes I made when reviewing for voting.

beanpole Above n Below
Nicely done choir parts and instrumentation, heaven section is mournful but tranquil, hell section is lively and beaty. Shouldn't be the other way round? ;) Nice transition from heaven to hell.

bzur hummingbird vs sea elephant
Fluttery jazzy piano + drums in part 1, nice transition to solemn and lugubrious part 2, great buildup at end, perhaps would have liked a more climactic finish!

ClaRago Ameles Potamos
Death to rebirth. The music is enjoyable, but I'm not really sure about the 'foley effects', I think maybe they're a little bit overdone for my taste.

DHMiltz WakingUp
Two nice contrasting soundscapes which segue together very well. Must have been a scary dream though! Love the moods you've conjured up.

docjon introversionextroversion
Tasteful piano part 1, U2-alike part 2. Well implemented, and certainly contrasting! Would have prefered a decisive ending rather than a fade.

hellfog Death and Despair
A two-part track in 4 parts! Really liked the arpeggiated section near the middle. The distortion in the last half didn't quite work for me.

LagunaRising SurfTurf
Great live and summery feel. I felt there could perhaps have been more contrast between the 'surf' and 'turf' parts, though.

nikp2000 the spell of opening
Really like the combination of sounds and the melody particularly in the final quarter. I would have liked more contrast between parts 1 and 2.

offthewall Love-hate
Part 1 is a nice love song. Being picky, I think the reverb+echo on the vocals feels not quite in keeping with the style. And then, such venom in part 2! The words are almost spat out! Great contrast vs part 1, and masterful playing.

Patrick9 Winter to Spring
Love the blend of sax and wintry pads in part 1. Then it all warms up for Spring. Very nice. There is a slight 'popping' attack to one of the sounds in part 2, which unfortunately detracts slightly, but the overall effect left me feeling nicely mellow

RuediRena Vera Digital vs Dr Rock (Kill Kill Kill vs Homebrew)
Part 1 - frantic, sinister, technical. Part 2 - nice bit of rock. Definite contrast, both halves very enjoyable in their own ways.

sepheritoh A song about us
Mournful and melancholy first part 1, transitioning into an accelerating and more upbeat part2, whilst retaining the overall theme. Fits well with the descriptive text!

shangsean aliensun
Delicate and atmospheric part 1, giving way to a terrific and thunderous part 2. Love that percussion!

sleek Ghosts
Digitally destroyed vocals, with what seems like an 80's-style backdrop. Then the exuberant lead in part 2. It's all strangely appealing!

SoughtafterSounds SorrowToLight
Very nicely orchestrated and composed, and conveying the sadness and optimism themes very well.

Sovarozum Time Transcendences
Part1, reminds me of Mike Oldfield in his heyday. Part2 also reminds me of Mike Oldfield in some ways, I can't quite put my finger on why - but it's good!

VicDiesel Never-the-twain
Beautiful flute playing over a subtle drone in part 1, followed by a sympathetic but quite different part 2 - shades of Ozrics in the fade out, would have like to hear more! Firm favourite this month.

zabrilla 26hours
part 1 feels a tad disjointed to me, part 2 was my prefered half and seems a lot more solid - not sure how that fits with the backstory! The distortion was bold, but works well I think.

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VicDiesel wrote: Sleek Month - Ghosts.
You've been around here for a while, not? You should be able to embed ID3 tags in your track…

Which ones? I think you'll find that it is tagged as being by "sleek", from the album:"yer mum" released in 2013 and being in the genre "Christian Gangsta Rap"...

I mean, how much info do you need?
VicDiesel wrote:Contrasts: vocal vs guitar?
Unity: it's one song
It's more about feel, soundset and tonality.

The first half, as opposed to being about vocals, is about massive '80's polysynth and is happy and major. The second half is where things get dark and '70's, with a harmonic structure that is minor and a progression that is a key bent (and wobbly) full step/second.

So, soundset-wise, it goes from Jump/Abacab to Floyd, and mood-wise it is like at the end of Raiders where the ghosts start off benign, then turn malevolent and start melting faces.
VicDiesel wrote: Overall: absolutely fantastic raw sound.
Thanks. It was kind of what I wanted. I drank a 40oz coffe and got all weirded out, so I recorded it on the quick while I felt weird and edgy, then f**ked off to the gym :hihi:
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And the last batch.

Zabrilla - 26 hours.
Contrast: pretty sounds, dirty sounds
Unity: the beat goes on
Overall: the first minute-and-some sounds like the intro to something truly epic. But since this is not a dance trace, we get some nasty distortion. Marks for creativity, even if I have to say that I hate the actual sound.

Doc Jon - Introversion / extroversion.
Contrast: introversion / extroversion, as clearly as ever I saw.
Overall: from piano to stadium rock? This is about the clearest
translation of a title as is imaginable. Very nice work in both halves.

D.H. Miltz - Waking up.
Man, if I had such nightmares I'd be happy to wake up to chirping birds too.

bzur - Hummingbird vs Sea Elephant
Constrast: light to heavy, the opposite of the expected sequence.
Unity: I have no idea.
Overall: the second half is seriously impressive. The piano in the first half is not all that light.

Sought after sounds - Sorrow to light.
Contrast: sad fiddles to happy fiddles.
Unity: reuse of the fiddle sound.
Overall: pretty cool mockup of real instruments. The first half convinces me more with just the fiddle solo'ing (in fact, that's great stuff): the second half doesn't quite know if the violin, the piano, or the clarinet carries the lead.

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Maybe it's just me..I feel like the voting process would be much easier if more people would use a (soundcloud or whatever)player..cause it just takes a lot of time always going through the whole thing again when theres only a play button.
After listening to all the pieces from start to finish and making some notes I start listening to almost all of them again and I'm always happy if I can skip through certain long intros..I think it's hard to do justice to those pieces that build up and the strongest part is in the middle or even at the end.

Every month we have around 20-30 pieces and 20-30 voters could all save some time
:party:

Ok, I know, theres also the opportunity of downloading every piece, but I also feel this is 20 minutes down the drain for each voter every month if everyone could have it easier..and I think it's cool to see some pics that composers upload with their music.

what do you think?

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For exactly that reason, I use this:
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/sonic-explorer-by-proxl
It saves a huge amount of time, and is even more convenient than Soundcloud for this kind of thing.

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forw wrote:Maybe it's just me..I feel like the voting process would be much easier if more people would use a (soundcloud or whatever)player..
Everyone has their own workflow. I often download everything, put it on an iPod and go for a long walk. I don't think SoundCloud would allow me to do that.

Victor.

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kryptonaut wrote:For exactly that reason, I use this:
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/sonic-explorer-by-proxl
It saves a huge amount of time, and is even more convenient than Soundcloud for this kind of thing.
that seems great!
thanks.

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kryptonaut wrote:For exactly that reason, I use this:
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/sonic-explorer-by-proxl
It saves a huge amount of time, and is even more convenient than Soundcloud for this kind of thing.
Only for Windows.

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How much time is it left for voting?

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