OSC17 - Basic64 - Mickrippon wins!!

[Mac of BIOnighT]

And aren't there rules about break time?

That's what I want to find out, but I'll have to wait till after summer - lots of people in the job information office will probably be on vacation or too tired to really search for the info I need, and I'm too busy here anyway to go to the nearest city...

Shame Switzerland is not in EU or you could pop over there and probably triple your salary, no?

Lots of people from my town work in Switzerland, actually, but unfortunately it's not easy to find a job there, as - by the Swiss laws - the employer can hire foreigners only if there are no Swiss applicants (or something like that). Plus, the unemployment rate has been growing over there, too
The other problem is that I need a part time job, plus the fact that any job I could find in Switzerland would be at least one hour by car from where I live...
I guess I'll have to talk to my bosses very convincingly and get them to hire some help. It'd be nice if I could keep this job, after all it's nice and has to do with music... we'll see what happens. Thanks for your concern, V'ger

[V'ger]

Wanna hint at what you're doing? At least a conciliation if the job is ok tho..

Cheers for the comments Yeager.

[Mac of BIOnighT]

Wanna hint at what you're doing? At least a conciliation if the job is ok tho..

Coincidentally, Yeager just sent me an email asking the same thing, so I'll just copyandpaste my reply here (it's not polite, I know, but it wouldn't make a lot of sense to re-write the whole thing - my apologies for the length, too).

"it's an auditorium/concert hall and I do... everything! I do the graphic work (posters, programs, ads), create and maintain the website, create and send out the newsletters, write articles for the local newspaper, distribute the ad posters to stores in two towns, I'm the stage lights engineeer, the sound engineer, I do all the translations, I'm the interpreter for foreign guests and musicians, I'm the PR person, I do the cleaning (and the place is fu**ing big), I welcome and assist the musicians and actors, and a lot more things I can't even remember... all entirely by myself.
All this for 600 euros a month (in northern Italy if you get less than 719 euros a month, the Italian government considers you a "person in state of need"... I get 600).
As I mentioned on the forum, my sister's cleaning woman gets almost 800 euros for 80 hours a month, no work on weekends or holidays, regular hours, right to a certain number of weeks of holiday a year while receiving the normal pay.
My days/hours are highly irregular (so I can't have and keep a second job), I mostly work when normal people stop working (which means my personal life is going to hell), I work weekends, I have no right to holidays. Considering all I do, even working 80 hours a month would be too much, but it's becoming increasingly common for me to work 160/170 hours in summer/holiday months. Add to this that if I have to drive to the auditorium, say, 20 times a month, I spend almost 100 euros in gas...

The bright side: I meet lots of amazingly gifted musicians from whom I can learn something, I occasionally listen to some great concerts, the fact that I do so many things makes the job less boring, I do part of the work from home, I can do things whenever I want as long as I do what I have to and I'm almost totally independent, the people I work for are great poeple (in spite of their not realizing my situation...)."

I'll try to salvage it, if I can...

[tattiemannie]

OK, that's the e-album links sent out to those who have perhaps not seen it here.
Got to dash now and get ready for a gig ... will get my votes up tomorrow

Olikana, 3ee, cheers for the votes

[tattiemannie]

About 40 hours left for votes ... keep 'em coming

[gravejester]

First off.. thanks for the votes.. this is my first OSC entry and I actually didn't expect any votes at all

These are the songs I liked the most and my votes:

All Aboard the Fish no Chips - Yeager: 7 points
Rainbowtrain - mickrippon: 6 points
Memory - Steplton: 6 points
FightForLove - Mulperi: 5 points

Thanks for a great competition!

Regards
gravejester / Peninsula Breeze

[V'ger]

Yea, nice first try Gravejester.

And well done for being a jack-of all trades there Mac, I can see how it's fun in a way, tho obviously tiring. But then you could of course become a cleaning lady for your sister?

The new E-album and all the older ones are now at archive.org and linked to from the page (check the 'various' section).

[Mac of BIOnighT]

you could of course become a cleaning lady for your sister?

Would you believe I thought about it (I'm serious)?

[Cubensick]

I barely had time to to listen and vote, as I have to leave for work right about now.. Here are my votes, and few random comments:



All Aboard the Fish no Chips - OSCXVII - Yeager 5p
Very nice sounding track, bit chippish to my taste

Basic 64 Gamalon 2p
horror-movieish

Flea Festival - tattiemannie 4p
for plain weirdness

Makrogoli - uiiuiiu
6p some really wicked sounds there..

Steplton
5p You sound like a keyboard player.. solid track

rainbowtrain_mickrippon.mp3
3p i really don't like chiptune.. quality song thou.. nice break

sunflower-deadeddy.mp3
2p some nice atmospheric stuff..


Hope the voting isn't closed already?

[tattiemannie]

OK guys, I got there! As you may be sick of hearing, time has not been on my side lately, and the result has been that I have not been able to do my usual 3 or 4 runs through all the tracks during the vote phase ... I have listened to them all a couple of times ... but in batches ... and tonight was my first listen through the whole collection in one sitting.

And what a night!!! .... I dont know what to say, because I already said in a previous comp I was running out of words to describe the quality, variety and creativity that spills out of these collections ... however, once again, I will use the word 'stunned' .... Absolutely excellent work.

To review this number of tracks without having at least as many criticisms may seem a little dishonest, but seriously, I struggled to find anything to criticise! Well done to everyone!

And so here are my comments ....

All aboard - quality sounds and the promise an epic from the second this track kicks off, engaging and dynamic. Simple but strong and effective melodies, and strong production ... a winning combination for sure!

Bits and pieces - Calming intro opens out to a selection of lovely thick edgy sounds weaving around each other in hypnotic fashion. Now stir in the drama! Gunshots and eerie unsettling passages .... Great track, good production, but most appealing is the infinite number of intriguing stories the track has to tell.

64 blues - Ah it's those bloody Residents again! ... actually, I'm wrong, it's more reminiscent of a series of tapes of improvised experimental music my punk band did back in '83 for a festival ... beautifully carefree, yet highly musical ... in a strange and compelling way. Love the use of stereo field and the thick muddy sounds which slurp into each other whilst leaving the percussion and the higher pitched sounds be.

64 gamalon - this is one crazy track .... an angry weasel with a sore throat running around muttering inside a bell tower hooked up to a tape delay .... phew! I really dont know how to review this kinda stuff ... I love it.... and tend to let it wash its way through me and let it do to me as it will... then its finished, and I think "F*ck ... I've not written anything"

Dreaming Cuyahoga - Nice simple melody in a thick brassy kinda sound. The whole sound is a little on the thick side, and then it changes, opens out, some tinkly bells, the percussion gets some attention, ... and cool percussion sound they are! ... and the melody second time round has some real authority!

Fight for Love - Ah, nice little twist there ... again, a strong but simple melody leads in, and then the ol' cerebral floppy disc gets written over with a 6/8 beat. Some nice rich edgy sounds in there. I dont really know where to place this track ... I was thinking more like maybe a TV documentary theme ... love the ending as well!

Fun - This one knows how to start a party! ... and thats before the fantastically cheesy catchy melody kicks in. Excellent track, and well named 'fun' ... Good strong sounds, good production and lots of feel good factor ... love it ... even if a little bit short.

Makrologi - fantastic sounds all round, and good range of same! love the snappy snare. A good dynamic, dramatic and clever composition, well produced and absolutely gripping .... superb track!

Memory - Steplton! .... did you really do this track with Basic 64????? ... Fkn WOW! ..... great composition with huge emotional impact, great production, but most importantly ... excellent sounds! .... and all working so perfectly together

Murceps Revenge - nice dialogue between some really interesting sounds ... and some top quality sounds as well ... those bongo/tom drum sounds are particularly impressive, composition a bit messy at times, but I think where the track suffers unnecessarily is re. overall volume ... maybe a bit more of a squeeze through compression on the master bus would have made this track demand more respect and attention.

Masonbee - Another track which opens up with a promise ... and delivers! Fantastic, quality percussion sounds holding a load of stuff together which would otherwise be dangerous! All round excellent, punchy production full of dynamics, and the composition a clever mix of melody and dissonance. Cool track!

Rainbowtrain - classic chiptune .. as has already been said! ...but it's more than that. This is a great composition with a lot of variation, snappy fills and even a nifty key-change ... in less than 3 mins! I love this track .... a cheery little beast it is!

Sunflower - wooaah! ... scary! ... big bells and violins! ... with lots of scary harmonics ... bring it on! .... and then, ... hmmm what's coming next?? ....and you know what? ... This is cool! ... a good example of how avoiding conventional melody in a composition can free up it's capacity to have emotional impact! ... and to facilitate the hearing of different sounds for what they are .. as opposed to what their purpose is. It took me places simply because it never pretended it was taking me anywhere in particular .... does that make sense? Excellent brass sound in there as well, and such impact with no percussion!

...
Ok, that was the easy bit ... now the votes.

Sunflower - Dead Eddy ... 8
Memory - Steplton ... 6
Masonbee - Z3ROTON1N ... 5
All Aboard - Yeager ... 3
Rainbowtrain - Mickrippon ... 3
Makrologi - Uiiuiiu ... 3

.... and a great pleasure it is that all but 3 of my points are won by newcomers, or relative newcomers to OSC ... go home Yeager, there's nothing to see here...

[tattiemannie]

OK, still around 9 hours to get some votes in ... or a bit more if you want to risk squeezing them in on the off chance I'll still be in bed an hour or two beyond the deadline ... however, now that we have our website and other vote counters who may be up and around while I snore on, that narrow little window of opportunity may be a thing of the past!

[tattiemannie]

V'ger ... big cheers for archiving the e-albums ... I was going to ask you to do just that ... nice to know you are a good couple of steps ahead of me!

[Mac of BIOnighT]

Thanks for the cool review, Tattie
(though my favorite bit is in Mrblitz's "an angry weasel with a sore throat running around muttering inside a bell tower hooked up to a tape delay"

)

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

lol

Thanks for the reviews!

That gamalon piece was 3 instances of basic 64, each playing a whole tone scale, but there was a 'main' synth, and the 2 other synths were tuned slightly up/down respectively from the 'main' one.

Between the 3 synths instances, I was trying to make an '18-note scale' like they have in 'Bali' or somesuch.

Thanks everybody for participating (entering/reviewing/voting)...

[mickrip]

Hey guys, sorry I'm late on this one! Been flat chat and living underwater for the last few weeks. Thanks for the nice comments

Here are my votes and comments.


Flea Festival (6 points)

Boom Boom Boom, kchchch, yeaaaahhh. The snare sound is great! Rhythm is top notch. Atmosphere, attitude, instrumentation and implementation right on the mark. Perfect instrument choice really drives it along and helps focus the melody; very unique and engaging. My favourite of the lot.

All Aboard the Fish no Chips - OSCXVII - Yeager (4 points)

Lovely atmosphere. I appreciate the minor chord 'slides' supplementing the tension of the main theme. Harmonically strong, a nice sense of progression and a great mellow atmosphere driven by some lovely arpeggios. Perhaps the mix could have been more "frontish" (too much reverb perhaps? I'm nitpicking) and the middle section shorter - but overall, impressive

Steplton - (4 points)

Lovely classical vibe. Lovely sense of sophistication. Beautiful diminished run in the melody Sophisticated, sad, intense - a bit lonely if you like! You got a certain richness which I never envisioned for basic64 when I tried to work with it. I just wished it were longer.

FightForLove-Mulperi (4 points)

Intro is effective - builds tension nicely! Nicely balanced and 'transparent' bass sound. Actually, the sound programming overall is great on this. The music inflicts a certain level of sentimentality and passion, which the names suggests as well. Really satisfying and robust.

Sunflower-deadeddy (4 points)

Woah, loud and intense! Interesting vibe. Great effects! Appropriate soundstage. Love that trumpety sound. This is the best of the atmospheric pieces. A lot of atmospheric pieces sound random and cop-outish - but this has a sense of skill and judgement. Well done!

Dreaming Cuyahoga - ouroboros (3 points)

Yes, very dreamy. Nice subtle use of the chord progression. The melody is engaging and clever. Really love that bass sound! Wish you exploited it more! Great kick! Can I hear sidechaining in this?

Makrogoli - uiiuiiu (2 points)

Beautiful bass work. Well mixed. Textures were interesting, rich and well done considering you didn't fall back on reverb/delay. Robust un-lazy structure. Both subtle and packed with variation. Well done.


Basic64 Blues

Interesting play on the blues chord progression! But required some old fashion cohesion for this to work I think. Felt a bit too far out in places which conflicted with my musical sensibilities - really needed cohesion to bring it all together.

Basic 64 Gamalon

Melodic glitch with a vengeance. Panning automation was effective. Interesting textures. Very alternative. You could hear the descending pentatonic scales doing their thing. I suppose I had trouble relating to this because it felt a little "too easy" because of the notes-everywhere syndrome. But a nice alternative diversion.

BITS_AND_PIECES-Mac_of_BIOnighT

Nice catchy driving bassline. I reckon the percussion could have been louder/more compression? Kinda has that ninja vibe! Some lovely shapes in the musical themes. That little bang in the percussion sounded good (once again wish the bang was louder!). Satisfying.

Fun - gravejester

Lots of fun. A bit cheesy; I love cheesy. I could hear all sorts of musical ideas, like a counter melody and some textural interests. It was like you were in a hurry in this one. Simple, sweet, lovely, but so much missing! Still though, made me happy - mission accomplished

masonbee_Z3R0T0N1N

I like that little snare sound. Rhythm is quite cool. Really tense and cool. Harmonics in the bassline were very clever. Beautiful beginning; a real winner. However, I think you squandered your perfect beginning and went a little too abstract for my tastes. Your outro idea should have been the main idea! It's like you found the right sound at the end, but you didn't remove the abstract stuff after the intro; I would have. Of course, this is all subjective so take my opinion with a grain of salt!


Murtceps revenge - The BeatSoul

Were midi drums allowed? Was this against the rules? Anyway, regardless - I'll comment on it from a musical perspective: Well … a bit musically primitive. There's a fine line between weird and interesting; unfortunately I think you erred on the side of the former rather than the latter. I was distracted by the non-basic64 sounds too which didn't help!


rainbowtrain_mickrippon

Well, this is mine. I had fun writing this. I actually wrote this while at the traffic lights in the car - I sung the intro melody into my phone so I wouldn't lose it. I wrote the actual chorus bit in the shower. I get a bit distracted and overwhelmed by technology, so composing away from the computer works best for me Obviously the jamming parts later were just done on the fly. Heavily inspired by the Commodore 64 and a c64 hero of mine, Jeroen Tel.