One Synth Challenge #182: Charlatan 3 by BlauKraut Engineering / karrikuh (Voting Started!)

[] Peter:H []

I'm making a public soundcloud list of everyone's personal top 3 entries. That is to say, your own three favorite tracks that you entered. If anyone would want to share theirs, that'd be great. I guess it might clutter up this thread. So perhaps put it here in the OSC general discussion thread?
viewtopic.php?p=8860051&hilit=general#p8860051
Or the discord: https://discord.gg/VptUQDRx
https://soundcloud.com/anotherjaysherma ... al_sharing

Nice idea. I have replied at the general discussion thread to avoid cluttering things for richard when he has to collect submissions from this thread.

[doctorbob]

Hi folks. Here is a gentle track, I have given it the genre "easy listening", but it sort of has overtones of a musical with a folky flute solo!

I hope you enjoy this.

DAW: Reaper 7
Track Details: 23 * Charlatan, ReaEq, LFX-1310 (autopan), OTT, TDR Nova, Twin Delay
Master: TDRVOS SlickEQ, MSED, Limiter No. 6
Meter: SPAN, Youlean Loudness Meter
Stats: LUFS: -14.5, DR: 7

https://soundcloud.com/doctorbob/the-ch ... is-exposed

[Viroo]

Due to unforeseen sound problems, I have withdrawn my contribution at short notice.

Question: Can someone explain to me why the sound on Soundcloud flutters when I play my song? It doesn't sound so choppy on my system. Is there a special setting I need to make?

[] Peter:H []

Due to unforeseen sound problems, I have withdrawn my contribution at short notice.

Question: Can someone explain to me why the sound on Soundcloud flutters when I play my song? It doesn't sound so choppy on my system. Is there a special setting I need to make?

I'm afraid you have to find a good read about what soundcloud is expecting in terms of input and how they are transforming the input internally. I don't have every tipp and best practice at the back of my head. But I think you should provide as good input as possible, i.e no mp3 128kbit/s but rather flac or better. You should not go too "loud", i.e. keep some headroom...
I for instance use Loudmax in my mastering chain and set the maximum to about -1.0 and ontop I have stopped to mix/master "too" hot, which I think helps as well. But this is just based on guess work...
Anyway - If you found the reason and based on that come up with a a good "setup", I think many of us will be interested in the result.
--
In the mean time I found something, quote from https://help.soundcloud.com/hc/en-us/ar ... quirements
We recommend you to upload in a lossless format like WAV, FLAC, AIFF, or ALAC. If you can, the bit depth and sample rate should be 16 bit and 48 kHz respectively.

When you upload a track on SoundCloud, we optimize it for streaming. As part of that process, we resample and transcode it to a high-performance codec. These codecs are highly optimized, but they can increase peak levels, which can cause clipping. We recommend that you leave between -0.5 and -1 dBFS of headroom to prevent artifacts like clipping during transcoding. Make sure to check the resulting stream in the rare case where more headroom is required.

[Viroo]

What I was able to find quickly is the recommendation to reduce the level by -3 dB to avoid the problem of excessive streaming optimisation. I'll try this out later and hopefully be able to post my contribution.

I've copied the article here because it might be of interest to other people.

"Instagram/Facebook/Social Media

Much like YouTube, the variables for most socials media posts are kind of a mess but at this time, the audio is usually converted to mono in a careless way on social media services/apps. This means that audio mastered very loud (which is most modern music) can very easily distort and sound bad on social media.

If you are using social media to heavily to promote and share your music, I highly recommend reducing the level so the peaks are no louder than -3dB. You may want to check your mixes and masters in mono to see how this translates.

I also suggest checking the audio of your video/post right away to make sure it sounds acceptable before others start to hear it."

https://theproaudiofiles.com/audio-mast ... uide-2014/

[Viroo]

After several desperate attempts, I found out that the sound problems seem to be caused by my browser, everything sounded as it should via the app on my tablet

As a so-called bedroom producer, I actually thought for a while about whether I should take part in the contest. The songs I've heard so far all sound very good. And the doubts grew after a few sound problems. I gave it a try anyway. Please feel free to contact me about what I can do better!

DAW: FL Studio
Plugins: Some FL Studio EQs, Limiter (FL), Maximus (FL), LoudMax, MSED, TDR Nova, TDR Kotelnikov, Valhalla Supermassiv, Youlean Loudness Meter

https://soundcloud.com/viroo-828602724/ ... al_sharing

[empphryio]

After several desperate attempts, I found out that the sound problems seem to be caused by my browser, everything sounded as it should via the app on my tablet

As a so-called bedroom producer, I actually thought for a while about whether I should take part in the contest. The songs I've heard so far all sound very good. And the doubts grew after a few sound problems. I gave it a try anyway. Please feel free to contact me about what I can do better!

It sounds good. For soundcloud 16/48 and 1dB of headroom should be fine.

[Ronny Pries]

As a so-called bedroom producer, I actually thought for a while about whether I should take part in the contest. The songs I've heard so far all sound very good. And the doubts grew after a few sound problems. I gave it a try anyway. Please feel free to contact me about what I can do better!

Good sir/m'aam/them, thee track sounds fine! Especially given the limitations at hands. I'm glad you overcome your doubts. The 'doing better' comes naturally. If anything, I'd encourage to trust in that.

[HappySpark]

Hey challengers!
Wanna share something with you.
There are just 12 instances of Charlatan, Reaper 7.15 as a host, native Reaper EQ, Comp, also added TDR Molotok, Kotelnikov and OTT.

https://soundcloud.com/greg-ive/happysp ... al_sharing

[MalToné]

As a so-called bedroom producer, I actually thought for a while about whether I should take part in the contest. The songs I've heard so far all sound very good. And the doubts grew after a few sound problems. I gave it a try anyway. Please feel free to contact me about what I can do better!

Well I'm glad you did enter. Hearing all the varied musical talent and styles at the OSC is one of the main attractions for me.

I like the X-files vibe with an edge you got on your track.

[Viroo]

@empphryio
@Ronny Pries
@MalToné

Thank you very much for all your kind words and encouragement. It's really very, very motivating. I really appreciate it!

[z.prime]

I felt like kicking the tyres -- I've always liked the Charlatan synths. So I made a simple thing. At first I thought Charlatan 3 might be close to, or even be the BSE. But alas, there are a few things that have kept it from the BSE status. Nevertheless, I think it's a great synth despite my inability to do great things with it. Cheers for this wonderful thing you've provided, @karrikuh!

https://soundcloud.com/z_prime/zprime-i ... get-better

Charlatan 3 instances: 29

Bitwig 5.1.8 with stock FX:
EQ+
Tool
Dynamics
Mid-Side Split
Delay-2

And other FX:
NI Raum (the big reverb you hear is Charlatan)
Xfer OTT
TDR Nova
Limiter no6

[zipidowski]

My entry https://soundcloud.com/zipidowski/cemetery

16 instances of Charlatan 3

DAW:
Bitwig 5.1.8

FX:
TDR Nova
TDR Molotok
Wider
Cramit
Valhalla SuperMassive
A1 TriggerGate
PANCZ
kHS Reverb
kHs Delay
Raum
Bitwig compressor, dynamics and tool

[ThePresent]

Hi people, here's my entry

https://soundcloud.com/thepresentmusic/ ... al_sharing

29 instances of Charlatan 3

DAW:
Cubase 6.5

FX:
Cubase Studio EQ
Cubase Autopan
Cubase Maximizer
TDR Nova
Oril River Reverb
George Young Limiter
Airwindows Console5
Airwindows ToTape5
Airwindows IronOxide5
Airwindows PurestGain

[empphryio]

This was a bad month for music.
I originally wrote an industrial noise microtonal track. Or tried to. I sort of liked it. And then hated it. So I tried some reggae/dub though purposely pretty fast. Mostly made two tracks. They have their moments but a bit generic/cheesy. I don't quite have the hang of reggae. Meanwhile I kept trying to fix the industrial noise microtonal and failing. So then last night I started a new track. Finished it in about two hours, not counting time spent listening in my car. It's vaguely chiptune bullshit. But at the moment it's more enjoyable to hear...

I was going to submit it. But, you know, it's not actually the music that it's my goal to make. It's just a distraction. I wouldn't want to share it with people IRL. It's pleasant but vaguely embarrassing.

Sorry....