ACE patch contest (very niiiiiiice) - voting

[Surphaze]

I don't know who made the Headcopter Meditation Suite but after knocking the stacks up to 4 and running a mono note 3-octave random sequence through that thing, I can say, that it's the first time I've heard my subwoofer growl

Thanks for sharing that one!

+1
I love the headcopter suite too. One of the patches that is most fun playing with. I decided against voting for it but it was a tough decision. In the end I chose patches with more complex routing but I do totally respect the art of creating an amazing sound with a minimum use of spaghetti.

Great job whoever has done it:-)

[UncleAge]

<snip>In the end I chose patches with more complex routing<snip>

Deciding on the criteria was tough for me. I couldn't decide what would receive more weight. There were 7 or so that I thought were equally awesome. However, I let one factor heavily influence my vote and that was, does the sound seem like it could be done equally as well in another synth. And by this I'm really asking if the preset highlights, in some clever way, the unique sound of ACE. One that I didn't list (and probably should have) was Twee Electric and I don't think that could be pulled of with success in any of the other synths I own. Even the notes pitched really high rang out sweetly from that preset. Pretty incredible.

I can't wait to see if there's another round and what juicy sounds might come out of that as well

[hakey]

Erm, now that the contest is all but over, a minor observation/slight rant -

What's with all the clipping!?

A few of these patches clipped *very* badly indeed, which, besides just being bad sound design, also makes auditioning patches a less pleasant experience and paradoxically, where a patch is already of the loud distorted type, being that bit louder than the competition might just confer an unfair advantage.

Mightn't it be an idea if in future contests there is a clear instruction to avoid audio clipping and a similar instruction to take this into account when judging?

/Rant

[GeorgeZ]

Well, it comes down to patch design experience. I know what you're saying though, the general mentality is that louder is better which is complete and utter BS. Not much we can do about that though

[hakey]

the general mentality is that louder is better which is complete and utter BS.

Agreed!

Not much we can do about that though

Well, if there's an explicit instruction to avoid clipping and likewise make it a basic criteria by which patches are judged, that might just give some pause for thought?

And it's not like it's so difficult to avoid - patch design 101: turn the output volume down until the DAW meter stops redlining.

[GeorgeZ]

Hey, it'd have my vote

[hakey]

Now that I've got that off my chest , a suggestion for a future ACE contest - design a patch that uses the mapping gen in an interesting way.

[Surphaze]

Well, if there's an explicit instruction to avoid clipping and likewise make it a basic criteria by which patches are judged, that might just give some pause for thought?

When the contest was announced, the rules said:

The only guidelines are: please follow the factory stuff for volume of the patches and CPU usage.

And it's not like it's so difficult to avoid - patch design 101: turn the output volume down until the DAW meter stops redlining.

Same for CPU load: If it the CPU-meter goes too high, turn down the quality.

It makes it harder to compare patches when you first have to adjust volume and quality settings on half of them. On the other hand it would be a shame to disqualify a great patch just because it's a bit too loud...

Best,


V

[hakey]

When the contest was announced, the rules said:

The only guidelines are: please follow the factory stuff for volume of the patches and CPU usage.

Well, I was talking specifically about audio clipping - related to perceived volume, but not the same thing. Nevertheless that was an instruction that seems to have been overlooked by some of the entrants.

On the other hand it would be a shame to disqualify a great patch just because it's a bit too loud...

If it's clipping badly it ain't a *great* patch.

[Surphaze]

And by this I'm really asking if the preset highlights, in some clever way, the unique sound of ACE. One that I didn't list (and probably should have) was Twee Electric and I don't think that could be pulled of with success in any of the other synths I own. Even the notes pitched really high rang out sweetly from that preset. Pretty incredible.

Agreed. Twee electric has a very special and unique touch. Unfortunately on my old Macbook Pro I have to turn quality to "draft" and stack to 3 to have any chance of playing it.
That disqualified the patch for me. I would love it running it on a faster computer though.

Best,


V

[Surphaze]

Now that the voting is over (I guess it is over... it's over, right?), will there be an official reveal of who made which patch?

If not, is it alright now to state my own patch without spoiling the contest?
Again, I guess, just waiting for an official "the contest is over" statement

Best,


V

[mcnoone]

Now that the voting is over (I guess it is over... it's over, right?), will there be an official reveal of who made which patch?
If not, is it alright now to state my own patch without spoiling the contest?

Not over until the xh3rv sings, at which point he will reveal the patch designers.
So we should wait, as someone else might vote.

[Surphaze]

Now that the voting is over (I guess it is over... it's over, right?), will there be an official reveal of who made which patch?
If not, is it alright now to state my own patch without spoiling the contest?

Not over until the xh3rv sings, at which point he will reveal the patch designers.
So we should wait, as someone else might vote.

I think he said that voting goes until the poll is closed which I think was yesterday but you're right, let's wait for an official closing statement:-)

[GeorgeZ]

Now that the voting is over (I guess it is over... it's over, right?), will there be an official reveal of who made which patch?
If not, is it alright now to state my own patch without spoiling the contest?

Not over until the xh3rv sings, at which point he will reveal the patch designers.
So we should wait, as someone else might vote.

Why's he gonna sing? Is he a fat lady?.... damn, I've been calling him dude all along

[hakey]

AND THE WINNER IS ...

going to be announced tomorrow around this time!

Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:34 am

We're a good 10 hours past xhr3v's declared end point.

But makes no difference to me - I don't think I'm in the running (looks like there's already a pretty definitive winner).