OSC15 - StringZ - Yeager Wins!!!

[Mac of BIOnighT]

Now, lemme see: all I need to beat yeager is 36 votes. Or a wooden club. I think I'll go for the wooden club, it's easier to get.

[tattiemannie]

... I could try some dodgy arithmetic??

[Mac of BIOnighT]

That'd be nice, thanks Although the wooden club would be more fun... Uhmmm, let me think about this for a while, I'll let you know which one I decided for.

[abstractcats]

Now, lemme see: all I need to beat yeager is 36 votes. Or a wooden club. I think I'll go for the wooden club, it's easier to get.

Don't you mean a wooden Cub!

[Mac of BIOnighT]

Don't you mean a wooden Cub!

Anything goes, as long as it hurts!

[V'ger]

Here are some of my comments/thoughts :
[...]
Complexity - HiEnergy :
"This tune was prototyped in Cognitone MPS/Synfire Pro" <- what does this mean ?
[...]

I use a software called Synfire Pro for "planning" my tunes. It basically allows you to design a piece of music like an automobile designer plans the design of a new car using a CAD software.
The intermediate result of the process of prototyping is a midifile that gets further refined, orchestrated and produced using a DAW.

I checked it out when you submitted but still confused about it. It's a bit like .NET where after reading a bunch about it, I still don't know what it is!

But judging from the description, building on phrases or clips sounds an awful lot like the idea with Ableton, no?

[V'ger]

Perhaps equally interesting is the battle between the flasher and the transvestite for 4th place, and their appropriately named tracks 'freaks of nature' and 'strung up' .... ! Only one point seperates them, and if anyone has the power to do so, please seperate them further, and quickly for everyones sake!!

LOL

That's good..

[Mac of BIOnighT]

the battle between the flasher and the transvestite for 4th place, and their appropriately named tracks 'freaks of nature' and 'strung up' .... ! Only one point seperates them, and if anyone has the power to do so, please seperate them further, and quickly for everyones sake!!

I only got it now

[tattiemannie]

Well this is painfully hard to judge, so much excellent work in this collection.... all the more impressive in view of the fact our featured synth had a tendency to exhibit a mind of its own and potentially, the malevolent will of a wild animal! ... but tame it you did, and gave it a voice, a heart and a soul.
So here are my comments ...


Comforting Song - Dwsel ... Well, I dont know the original, but this is cool! ... Only 3 sounds, but quality! The bass is very convincing, as is the sax, and that glassy sound turns into a large number of mandolins playing in unison ... which kinda makes up for only having 3 sounds! .. nice human feel to it.

Complexity - HiEnergy ... Nice warm sounds, interesting composition with lovely melodic interplay, love the change from the flighty, to a more, almost formal, classical feel. Its strongest point is perhaps the integrity of the sounds and how they bind comfortably together.

Freaks of Nature - Mac of BIOnighT - Love how this track develops, from the almost vocal 'puffing' to the atmosphere of melodramatic tension. ... has a beat to it despite the absence of recognisable percussion sounds. Very atmospheric.

Io - V'ger ... Excellent sounds, rich, beautiful track, well composed, and well produced, a bit too short, but engaging throughout. So much variation on a note by note basis, excellent work.

Jam in F Minor - Mr blitz ... Interesting, anarchic sounds and Excellent composition, however, its as if Mr Composition, a concert pianist, and Mr Sounds, a blacksmith, met up in a mental health institution and decided it would be a good idea build a new piano entirely out of horseshoes and write a tune together inspired by their escape from said institution.

Deofaropario ... James Otucson ... lovely rich strings to start .. nice composition .. love how the lead sound morphs interestingly and seamlessly between an ethnic wooden flute and a drunken fiddler.

No StringZ Attached - Hi energy ... Solid sounds, track on the whole is a bit sombre, but a good varied melody wins through.... of all the tracks, this is the one more than the rest which continues to sound better with every play.

Overture from a Marmite Field - Yeager ... Great sounds, lovely composition, powerful production with plenty of dynamic range, staccato violin sounds particularly impressive, clever variations of melody/lead. Excellent piece of work.

StringZ Expressions - GilJ ... this track follows on beautifully from 'marmite' to the extent it could be the second half of the same song! Nice mellow strings ... then the bass promising a change of direction .. and doesn't disappoint! ..and we have decent percussion sounds as well! Great composition, nice use of dynamics, well produced, lovely sounds which work so very well together ... excellent!

Underdog - Mr Blitz .. So typically mr blitz, each part appealing in its simplicity, but the relationship between them very complex. Thought provoking in that it obeys music theory, yet sounds like it is a law unto itself! Has me hanging onto every note for fear it leaves me behind. Good variation and development in the composition. Production seems quiet and a bit weak though, and the sounds are a little too similar.

Waiting Room - Objectman... really nice sounds, from warm to icy, brassy, stringy, lovely shifts of dynamics and tone, nice floaty, simple but strong melodies, production spoiled a little by one note which overpowers intermittently, but overall, a very nice composition.


And the points ....

Sorry Yeager, it was you all the way, until V'gers track cheated by playing itself over and over in my head and persuaded me that it had everything and more.
So ....

Io - V'ger ... 5 ... simply beautiful.

Marmite - Yeager ... 3 ... accomplished composing, great track.

StringZ Expressions ... 2 ... following on from marmite could have had a detrimental effect on this track, but in fact, the opposite was the case, and a claim for the 3, or even 5 points was strong.... in fact i am almost changing my mind as I write.

As difficult as it is to seperate the above, the decision as to who gets the single point was much much harder, and I had to abandon all logical criteria to simplify things ... and so it goes to ....
Jam in F minor - Mrblitz000 ... 1 ... because somewhere in this world there has to be a reward for squeezing talent, uncompromised madness, excitement, entertainment, weirdness, and ill advised uniqueness into one track.

And so anyway, 1 day, 12 hours and about 15 minutes to go!!

[Mac of BIOnighT]

this track follows on beautifully from 'marmite' to the extent it could be the second half of the same song!

I'm glad you noticed that, too, I thought it was just me! The first time I listened to the tracks, I just played them in the player's order without looking at the authors' names nor at the titles: I didn't even realize it was two tracks I was listening to until I played them the second time and read the names, I thought it was just the same track evolving!

[Yeager]

this track follows on beautifully from 'marmite' to the extent it could be the second half of the same song!

I'm glad you noticed that, too, I thought it was just me! The first time I listened to the tracks, I just played them in the player's order without looking at the authors' names nor at the titles: I didn't even realize it was two tracks I was listening to until I played them the second time and read the names, I thought it was just the same track evolving!

I didn't notice, cause I took my track out of the equation, when I listened to the others, but I just played them back to back and, they go very nicely together.

Personally I think ALL the tracks fit together very well .

[Mac of BIOnighT]

Personally I think ALL the tracks fit together very well .

Very true. I think this is the most album-like osc so far!

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

tattiemannie, i was going for 'a piano and 3 cellos' on 'jam,' and just '2 pianos' on 'underdog.' i hear you about Underdog being quiet. Maybe i'll have to go back and pump up the volume a bit.

As for the 'piano' sounds, i was trying to get a 'toy piano' sound, just like in several of the previous OSCs. The 'exact right' tone was elusive. Anyway, this contest was a major blast.

Mac, you're right; these songs all fit together quite well. That is one of the things which is so appealing about your entry; it's one of the 2 or 3 which are noticeably different. So many of these pieces remind me of 19th century chamber music, but yours has a modernist vibe to it.

Anyway, i really enjoyed all of these entries. For a second there, i thought i'd killed the voting thread with hyperbolic superlative mushiness; but thankfully it all pulled through.

[tattiemannie]

OK, work has begun on the StringZ e-album .... Need some pics tho!

[Mac of BIOnighT]

it's one of the 2 or 3 which are noticeably different.

Thanks Actually, it's partially merit of Tattie, who suggested I'd do something to freak the listener out instead of chilling him out