One-Synth-Challenge 23: Any Synth - Voting and Results

[V'ger]

Time to vote for your top 5 tracks. (All tracks are here)

RULES:
- Give 5 points to the track you think is best, 4 for second, then 3, 2 and 1.
- Voting is open to anyone.
- Last day for voting is 15th January (KVR time).
- If you have entered in the competition, you must vote to be eligible for prizes.
- No voting for yourself.
- Voters must have had 20 prior forum posts or participated in this month's contest.

HOW TO VOTE:
Step 1.
You should allocate your votes, in a single post, in this thread ... something like this ....
Track zxy - 5
Track xqy - 4
Track zyx - 3
Track zqx - 2
Track qzx - 1

Step 2. (optional)
Those who vote can also vote for a synth they would most like to feature in a future OSC.

NOTE:
Reviews, however brief, are always welcome. Even if you can only find the time to add a short comment, then please do! ...it keeps the thread alive and encourages others to listen/vote. A pro/con type review is always most interesting and useful, so do that if you can.

[Cubensick]

edit:

nevermind i need to learn to read

[vanmorrison]

Hi, I wanna be the first, cause it's so difficult to vote. I changed my name in J van Morrison, but I think it's not that great change.

All the songs where great, I tryied to riwiev them while I was listening them (not for the forst time).

Comments:
A journey...
very nice chill out music, with a lot of movements and ideas...cristal clear sounds (very nice plucked/bells melodies), it makes you fell to fly over a the sea ove a sunny day...the uplifting sensation it's also really good, for my taste, this is great.5

Archon
really relaxing tune, I could put it into ambient meditative kind of style, with a lot of christmas bells and melodies on that are very nice for the moment... well constructed, with a lot of changes, I like the emotional passage at 2.30 with that smooth violin.4

Lunatic
ipnotic sounds, let me tell the style (In my opinion), ambient electronic new age (to find the styles it's one of my fav things to do...) it's very interesting, out of the scheme for me, this sounds captures you after a while.1

uiiuiiu & cubensick
Here the sound is aggressive, with that 'nasty' bass and high pithed bells(?), it's a piece of suspence that goes well with a science thriller movie.

J.V. Morrison (myself):
I enjoied playing around with the gift of NI, the mikro prism for Reactor 5 (if you haven't got it go to check it, it's nice, although very cpu expensive).

Yeager
Bells vey peasant here, wiuth melody that caress your ear... until it goes into that hard change and then return back to tranquillity... very nicely done.

Gamma
I really like smooth mooglike sounds like those, the melody captures you and then the misterious backgrounds takes you in an enchanted world... very nice.3

IIRs
The intro is a bit scary (:)). Then those gating pads doesn't change the atmosphere. The basses are really good (being I a fan of the basses), a nice tune based on the bassline above all (IMO).

Tattiemannie
The style is you, for certain, the sounds are aggressive and the melody too; drums and melody goes together in a sort of frenetic dance that got a style of its own. Very original and well made.

Bzur:
A piece full of groove and atmospheare, the sounds of the leads, basses and drums are all very nicely done and melted.

dwsel
bells also here (as for contract), dark atmosphere and misterios sound of flutes lost in the dark of a foggy night (that is my impression). Great suspense in this tune.

Mrblitz000
As always very original, with no schemes in mind, exept creativity, I think. The pleasant melodies of the benning change continuosly dancing with the basses and other melodies that comes one after another.


5 A journey
4 Archon1024
3 Yeager
2 Uiiuiiu & Cubensick
1 gamma ut

[mickrip]

Hi Guys

I didn't get time to write a tune this time around! But I had the chance to listen to the tunes on a Lazy Sunday afternoon Once again, I apologize if my comments are offensive to some. I like to give everyone as much as my time as possible, and I like to give the same level of critical honesty that I expect!

All the best for 2011!

Regards,
Mick



Journey to the isles of Shudatiedoopdoop - RC1 [2 points]

A very nice vibe in this minimalist trance piece. Really listenable and replayable. Clear, concise and pretty well mixed. I felt like it padded out a little too much for a compo tune - it could have been 2-3 minutes less at least. (5:30 onwards felt rushed and a bit unnecessary). The side-chain sound was lovely and developed a great sense of tension, although I would have released that tension straight away by not bringing in the kicks as gently as you did! But that's this genre for ya!

Village in the Snow Globe - Archon1024 [4 points]

Lovely warm sound (albeit distorted in places!). Beautiful atmosphere. Musicality (ie. note choices in melody, harmony implementation), was only ok. Execution of the idea was wonderful; really felt like Christmas. Bell sound was fantastic. Perfect for this compo : gift-wrapped in a perfect package. Crying out to be a sentimental favourite.

Another day's another end - Lunatic Machinist

I feel bad for being so harsh, but I'm ultimately here to be constructive! The ugly 'attack' of the sitar/harpsichord got to me a bit. Actually, no, it got to me a lot. To distract me from the attack sound, I focused on the sustain sounds, and unfortunately the ugly harmonics were fatiguing and unnatural. The mids (around 500-2k) were too pronounced and to my ears, 80-120hz was absent. I have a feeling the VST was at fault for a lot of this - and on your behalf a lack of turd polishing with EQ. The first 5 seconds was promising, like "You turn the screws" by Cake. I love Cake. Unfortunately, the fatigue made it hard to enjoy.

Test of your mental strength - Uiiuiiu & Cubenstick

Oh my wobblebass goodness! This has attitude. Love the groove from 0:27 to 0:54! Not really a fan of the bridge afterwards, and the keyboard part during the recap at 1:22+ lacks a bit of focus. But I think the bass is really cool. The distortion at the end sounded silky too! Well done.

Tibet - J. Van Morrison

Nice chord progression. Great little tentative atmosphere going on. Interesting string textures. Would have loved an actual stereo delay for the melodic 'pizzicato' instrument (as opposed to a mono(ish) one you used). However, it lacked variation and seemed really unfinished.

I'm so Sorry - Yeager [3 points]

Yeager's superior production skills compared the song before is really obvious here (funny how it's in the same key ). Those bells are nice. The bassline is nice too. The section at 1:11 was too out of context to me. It felt a lot more relevant when you repeated it at 3:30. Overall, perhaps slightly uninspired and contrived by your standards - my favourite part was the melody at around 2 min, although once again it felt contrived (by your standards!! I must emphasise this.)

Marsh Wall - Gamma

Interesting "Lydian"ish sounding tune. Nice relaxing atmosphere with a twist of suspense and dissonance for flavour. The flute was too loud and perhaps would have benefited from more reverb.

Tubercular Bells - IIRs

Hmm, why does the intro sound familiar? Interesting twist when the gated strings comes in! To be honest, the tune was 'lost' until 2:26. I wished you'd removed everything, and put the part at 2:26 at 0:56 (and maybe shortened the intro by half). .. and then expanded on the the idea at 2:26.

Sonic Syringe - Tattiemannie [1 point]

The comical Tattie trumps are baaaack. Usually I have a lot to say by the end of the first listen, but I'm honestly speechless. (brb, making a cup of tea). (ok, back) .. It's so full-on. Conjuring a lot of weird and wonderful imagery; more the former than the latter To me, it's music that "does not compute", yet manages to stay cohesive and stimulates the imagination. Your music is a bit like a high maintenance girlfriend - it stresses me out, but is also hypnotic; you are taken by the power, yet you are compelled to fight the instinct of self preservation.

MenACE - bzur [5 points]

Woah, A+. Lovely atmospherics, and a great balanced job of conveying the idea. The instrumentation at 3:00 is great!! It's atmospheric, musical, detailed, catchy and uplifting without being cheesy. This tune is great. A worthy #1 in my books.

Looking at bright light Citys - dwsel

An atmospheric tune which I did the job. Quite overwhelming and lush. Personally, not my cup of tea as artistically it's just a soundscape, but I respected the aim of the tune and for all intents and purposes it does the job.


Enthusiasm Curves - Mrblitz000

Started off promising, and then goes *completely* downhill. I'm about to wear my heart on my sleeve here - but this is so bad that I'm having a certain physiological response to this tune which resembles a form of anger and illness (I'm actually grinding my teeth and grimacing as I type this!). I'm not being a deliberate troll I promise, it's just bad, and I don't have it in me to be polite about it.

[Lunatic_Machinist]

I think my view on things is quite subjective, my criteria - whether I like it or not, which is not that rational. But my belief is that if we sum up all the subjective, critical opinions about a thing, we can obtain the closest view to an objective view possible of the thing in question. so, here goes:

A journey to the Isles of Shubatiedoobop (RC1)
I love the beginning, those glitchy, phasey, tapesucked sounds, and then they so wonderfully are playing around with the first drums. Sounds lovely. But then they go away and what I'm left with is sort of, I suppose, minimalistic rhythm, which certainly ain't my cup of tea. I do like the ambientish bells @ 1.35 or so, the rest is good enough for what it is, though I can only suppose, for I have very little knowledge of this type of music. Ending's, however, great, just like the beginning, hehe.

archon1024-village in the snow globe
awesome, I dig this. Probably the best execution of the bell theme. I really like that deep, low bell sound that goes on in the background, but the rest of the sounds really do create that winter's atmosphere, even so - christmas atmosphere. If that was the target, then this is a great success. Violinish sound is great as well. The tune's a bit too happy for my tastes, with this soundset you could have created a gloomy winterdoom ambience, which would be much more to my enjoyment, hehe, but this is awesome, if a bit cheesy, as it is. Thumbs high up.

dwsel-looking at bright city lights
this is my favorite, beyond awesome. it's 98% perfect. two percent loss on the account of that sound that goes on, for example, at 1.14, even though it isn't all bad, it just seems a bit out of place. But, hah, I am deeply in love with the organic and sort of trembling and shaking background ambience, the dark percussion, eerie bells, violin/flute-ish sound that plays on the dramatic parts, everything is just beautiful. This creates wonderful pictures in my head, full of high, dark walls, mysterious lights above them, that can't be reached, yet seem to dictate our fates. Great, shadowy, evocative music.
now I remember that that violin/flute-ish sound reminds me of Claustrum, local dark ambient legends. just a small note.

j. van morrison - tibet
have been toying around the with mikro prism myself and can't wait to get my hands on the full prism (just a few days till my k7 upgrade comes in, woohoo). This has a very, beautiful, organic sound, just like they've been advertising, hehe, I like all the wonderful background sounds going on and the foreground melodies just seem to be so effortlessly rolling along. This is quite good, even despite that it feels like a glimpse into a longer work, for I don't feel it has a distinct beginning or ending.

IIRs - tubercular bells
this is very professional sounding. And you've quoted the best part of Oldfield's bells, hehe. But really, all sounds sound good on themselves and could easily be used in other contexts, kicks are good, bells are clear, yet resonant, bass sounds powerful and almost aggressive. I especially like that bass movement that begins at 2.00 or so and is resolved with bells again. Very nice and clear sounding, superb production.

gamma-ut - marsh wall
this is very (my kind of)ambient, sort of exotic sounding. ritual music coming out of deep caverns in the wildest jungle. beginning reminds me of o yuki conjugate (great, great, great experimental ambient collective). I wish this was muuuuuuuuch longer, really dig this.

bzur - menACE!
another nice electronic tune, all sounds are once again clearly defined and tight sounding. this feels as a sort of a journey or a hero's theme of sumsorts.

mrblitz000 - enthusiasm curves
lo-fi sounding (that's a good way to score in my book), sort of toy-ish feel, good weird music. can't say I love the melodies, but this is something I could easily listen to daily, good enough.

tattiemannie - sonic syringe
now this is really something I have a bit harder time stomaching, it's just in your face weird, loud and electronic, but gotta give it points for it certainly stands its own grounds. it has a beat, so it can go on in the background without too many problems, I love the massive sounds at the very beginning, reminds me of an underground local electronic/industrial artist Seasnsfdspair (his stuff can be obtained for free from http://maajas.lv/seasnsfdspair/ ). I respect this thing.

uiiuiiu & cubensick - test of your mental strength
hehe, luv the title. nice wobbles, I like the beat. melodies aren't too ear-caching, some of them sound odd with the aggressive beat as they seem sort of calmer, but towards the end there's the distorted sound which is a good company for this beat.

yeager - I'm so sorry
this is wonderful and clean sounding bell song, with a nice, pronounced bass. the loud, dance-ish break certainly got me by the balls, though, was a bit surprised, but I have to say it sounds very good. I'm not sure if I liked the combination at first. the distorted lead at a later part is very, very good. this could be a great adventure music, makes you wanna move, go somewhere, see something, do something, be epic! great.


pffft, and now the hard part:
5 - dwsel-looking at bright city lights
4 - gamma-ut - marsh wall (if I could, I'd give those two a 10 each)
3 - archon1024-village in the snow globe (best winter bell thing)
2 - IIRs - tubercular bells (the most complete and self-sufficient electronic piece here, me thinks)
1 - yeager - I'm so sorry (almost too dance-ish saw-ish for me, but it certainly makes me wanna move)

eh, I wish I had more points, as there were several other extremely solid entries

now, regarding comments 'bout my shameless entrance - first of all, thanks for attention, hehe. sheesh, only now does it come to mind that I might create a disrespect for the awesome beast that reaktor carbon is, but bear in mind, that a rather ugly tune was precisely what I had in mind. now that I listen to it, it does sound unforgivably bad, playing's just awful and I wish I had worked more on getting drums together (made a few more drum sounds for added interest, but sleep got the better of me and didn't include them as a result, and it was the morning of first January after all here, hehe), and the bells are like an ugly appendix, but I was desperate to glue them somewhere, just so I could qualify for this.
@mickrip: your words certainly are not harsh, all very good points, worry not, I appreciate it, I'm still just learning. even though I totally was going for the lo-fi, harsh sound, which ideally should feel more as a diy acoustic piece, recorded unprofessionally on old tape.
@vanmorisson: hehe, thanks for the kind words. glad you got something out of it.

[V'ger]

Nice reviews guys, the pro and con types are so much more interesting to read and despite initial stings I think overall more useful, certainly is that way for me.

But please also nominate a synth for future OSC. Last coupla times this didn't produce a winner synth, and RMXL only narrowly before that. May I suggest people take a look at URS's new Tyrell synth? I haven't tried it yet, but knowing Zebra this ought to be a stonker, certainly better than his other freebie: 'Triple Cheese'?

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

Isles of Shubatiedoobop: Very well done piece...

Snow Globe: Good atmosphere.

another day's another end: Needs more variety of riffage. fun listen though!

Test of your mental strength: Amazing drums; cool interplay of notes/textures.

Tibet: Great, abstract sort of piece.

So Sorry: Incredible Bells.

Marsh Wall: A sort of 'neo-classical' piece.

Tubercular Bells: Very well done.

Sonic Syringe: This has got to be #1 this month.

MenACE: A sort of trip down an '80s memory lane. This one reminds me of Gary Numan, Flock of Seagulls, etc. ...lots of fun with this one!

bright city lights: It's impressive that it's all from smallqoo. Perhaps, minimalist, this piece does have a good sense of tension/release, sprinkled with a catchy harmony or three.

5 Sonic Syringe
4 Tibet
3 Marsh Wall
2 Looking at bright city lights
1 I'm So Sorry

Overall, this was a great collection of songs. It's too bad there aren't votes for everyone, because you're all winners!

[vanmorrison]

@mrblitz000, thanks alot
@lunatic_machinist, I think your tune is very interesting, very original, it reminds me sometime of chinese movies of martial arts, in a moment of suspence.My tune was made on the enthusiasm of the new 'toy' Mikro prism that is very nice, but, I want to ask, isn't it a bit high cpu working... what hardware have you got? I used 4 or 5 istances and my Fl studio cpu usage was at top...

[dwsel]

Thank you for votes and reviews A few more listens of latest entries and I'll write something more.

[tattiemannie]

Hey, happy new year guys ... great to get back in touch and find a late flurry of entries ... and so many votes and comments!!! ... it feels like I've not been around for a long time

Well, I guess I better catch up and give all the tracks a listen .... judging by the reviews, this is gonna be yet another cool collection

[Archon1024]

Hello everyone!

Thanks to everyone for the votes and comments thus far.

Like I did last time, I'm going to review each track and give my impressions in the areas of sound design, composition, and feel. Some very good tracks this time!

Reviews
A journey to the Isles of Shubatiedoobop by bjporter
Sounds: Sea, wind, waves, birds... all the effects were a nice touch. The steel drums sound great and really define the piece. The panning sand shaker sound was cool too, added that extra something.
Composition: I like how the piece starts... how the crazy noises slowly evolve into a beat with the sidechaining. The transition are all good and keep me interested. It felt to me that the pieces should have ended at like 5:30, though. The ending (while not detrimental to the piece) doesn't seem to offer much.
Feel: You did a great job of conveying the island feel. It's extremely catchy and easy to bob my head to as well. Also, bonus points for including a story in the posting... I love music with a story.

Village in the Snow Globe by Archon1024 (less a review, and more just commentary since it's my own song)
Sounds: I love all the bell sounds that I was able to make with Ogun. Several people mentioned that the lead sounds like a violin, which is cool. I had it pictured as a cherubic vocal. I made several attempts to expand the piece with new sounds, but everything just seemed to detract from the sound of the bells, so I left it alone.
Composition: The piece is divided into two distinct parts: the happy part and emotional part. The two parts are in different time signatures and the emotional part uses a lot of expressive tempo fluctuations.
Feel: I was trying to captures the feelings of Christmas in a three and a half minute song. The holiday means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

another day's another end by lunatic_machinist
Sounds: Bagpipe-organ-harp... interesting. The percussive sound is a nice touch and sounds suitably distant.
Composition: I'm not sure what to make of this composition. The mid section seems to be all over the place and doesn't always fit with the established beat.
Feel: Workin' for the Man under the hot sun. When one day ends, the next has just begun.

Test of your mental strength by Uiiuiiu & cubensick
Sounds: The lead worble sound is really cool and well performed. The bells all sound dissonant and broken... which fits well with the piece. There are a lot of abrasive sounds overall that really add to its character.
Composition: I think this works well as an atmospheric or "scene setter" piece. We pick up a slight new development after the midsection but otherwise there's not a lot of change.
Feel: I picture a late night deal at at the city docks. Very urban and dirty. Cold. Dark. Wet.

Tibet by vanmorrison
Sounds: Everything sounds "airy". All of the sounds fit well together, though I do wish there were some more variety. I understand the limitations of the synth, though.
Composition: To me, this feels like a "jam track". I can't pick out distinct sections or any real transitions. When the song ends, it could easily loop back to the beginning. This works well as ambiance or thought music.
Feel: This is the music of the clouds... like there is a carefree civilization up there creating their music among the golden-tinted wisps.

I'm So Sorry by Yeager
Sounds: I love the bell montage at the beginning. As usual, your percussive sounds catch my attention. The two dueling sounds in the bridge are fantastic.
Composition: I think this piece flows extremely well and love the big, saw-your-face-off section that comes out of nowhere. There always seems to be a new sound or development that pops up to make me pay attention. The massive dynamic changes really do this for me. Very well done.
Feel: This piece is big. I feel the drama of life in this one. There is a story of sadness and survival. I picture Requiem for a Dream.

Marsh Wall by Gamma-ut
Sounds: The lead sound is a little too much for me. Had to turn down the volume. I did enjoy many of the background ambient sounds, though.
Composition: This is a very moody ambient piece. There's a lot of uncertain, jerky sounds that really lend this piece its feel.
Feel: There is something secretive, mysterious, and possibly nefarious going on. I see dark forest spirits laying their plans, always just beyond the gaze of infringing men.

TubercularBells by IIR
Sounds: I thought the bells were quite well done. The percussion sounds kind of thin, but the kick is still punchy. The morphing bass sound is pretty cool and is my favorite sound in the song.
Composition: I like how you took the idea of the original song and expanded on it. Seemed at times like the original theme playing in the later section didn't quite fit.
Feel: I get a sense of traveling from this, especially the later sections. A mission of some sort. Infiltration. There are moments of suspense punctuated by stretches of action.

Sonic Syringe by Tattiemannie
Sounds: My goodness, those are some interesting sounds. Tattiemannie's drunk and belligerent brass section playing their broken horns again. Whatever that softer noise at around 1:44 is... it's awesome.
Composition: I actually think this is pretty damn cool. The second half is always doing something interesting. Wasn't a huge fan of the beginning since there wasn't enough going on yet to really ground me amidst the insanity.
Feel: I can see this being used in a J-RPG video game boss fight. The heroes have angered the Carnival Master and now he is sending his army of broken toys against them! Attack? Magic? Item? Flee?

MenACE by bzur
Sounds: Crisp, clean bell sound. I like it. The multi-part lead in the beginning is really cool. All the sounds are solid and well-varied.
Composition: Excellent flow that never stagnates. The ending section seems drawn out, but on further through... I think that's a good thing.
Feel: I'm driving fast down a scenic ocean byway with the top down. The sun is shining and the sea breeze is in my hair. Things are relaxed, happy. Life is good. Got no where to be, so I can drive this road all day.

Looking at bright city lights by dwsel
Sounds: Lots scary sci-fi sounds. Upon listen a few times, I really like the ambient tremolo pads. All in all, there's a lot of character to these sounds that isn't obvious at first. I think I was initially thrown off by their lo-fi nature.
Composition: The composition of this piece definitely tells a story. There's establishment, rising action, development, climax, and resolution. A very interesting flow, and one I would be interested to try myself.
Feel: Suspenseful and decidedly supernatural. A fleet of alien ships have appeared above Earth. The world watched with fear and wonderment. In the distance... an army approaches. Weapons explode. Is is us or them?

Enthusiasm Curves by Mrblitz000
Sounds: The instruments sound like they are being played by a toy band. The extreme panning gives them additional character.
Composition: As usual, I find myself highly conflicted with month's Mrblitz entry. Your pieces are so unique they are difficult to judge on the same scale as everyone else. I will say this: I smiled constantly while listening to this song.
Feel: I picture a gingerbread house... a family of stick people live there. Captions tell a story that teaches a life lesson in a series of jerky animations.


Votes

5 - Yeager - I'm So Sorry
Why: The bell sounds are great, the song is musically very interesting, and I love the contrast between the soft and loud sections.

4 - bzur - MenACE
Why: Everything fits very well together. Tons of variety with a driving core.

3 - tattiemannie - Sonic Syringe
Why: The second half of the song is fantastically complex and wacky. The sounds are very unique and somehow work together quite well.

2 - bjporter - A journey to the Isles of Shubatiedoobop
Why: The special sounds in this are great (birds, waves, etc). Plus the song is really fun to listen to.

1 - dwsel - Looking at bright city lights
Why: For the character of the sounds, and the structure and atmosphere of the piece.

0 - Mrblitz000 - Enthusiasm Curves
Why: An Honorable Mention goes out to Mrblitz000. The more I listen to your song, the more I enjoy it. The only problem is that it's a completely different genre of music from anything else submitted. I keep imagining all sorts of different places where it would fit *perfectly*. A great piece for what it is.


Synth suggestion: SuperWave P8

[dwsel]

A journey to the Isles of Shubatiedoobop (RC1)
I hear some interesting bird sounds during breakdown. I guess your will of exposing them made the break itself IMHO a bit too long and soft. Release is a bit too slow and this makes an impression that no additional elements were added during it.
Bells serve the song well as a background, but somehow I'd love to hear them more exposed in the mix (more complex patterns maybe?) BTW, are there two types of them or they just sound different at different pitch? I prefer their second - more harmonic entrance - at 4:44.

Archon1024 - Village in the Snow Globe
Great piece! I hear a lot of different quality bell sounds. Are you sure that jingle bells aren't sampled? they sound so real! Supporting instruments sound calm and natural as well.

lunatic_machinist-another day's another end
I like plucked/viola combo, bell does not sound very bellish - for me rather like xylophone or organ attack.

Haha, gotta warn you, if you're allergic to terrible playing (all done on pc keyboard, mind you, though!) and most likely very bad mixes, steer clear from this one. This something raw & ugly for the contrast,

I'm allergic here mainly to non quantinized notes. I play on PC keyboard only for tests and quickly saving ideas which I later program by hand on the grid of piano roll or create score in traditional notation. I checked different PC keyboards to have bad, bad, very bad latency... and for me they're almost useless for live playing.

which I deeply enjoyed making.

And that's the essence of this competition

Uiiuiiu&cubensick - Test of your mental strength
My mentality hasn't suffered... that much
I hear bells mostly at the beginning, at higher pitch they lose their disonant character.

We were a bit plug-in-happy this time..

vanmorrison - Tibet
I have problems with finding any bell qualities in this song. Composition is very calming though.

Yeager - I'm So Sorry
Fantastic bells: musical box, marimba - interestingly introducing melody lines played with more harsh sounds (almost non fitting and surprising in this kind song).

Gamma-ut - Marsh Wall
I can hear hint of bells after 0:20 - later they got hidden somewhere. I highly prefer first part of the composition, melody part in the second part is too strong IMHO and it's covering other interesting things that are happening in the background.

IIRs TubercularBells
Everything is in place in this song, appropriate instruments used. Tune itself is well.... highly inspired

Tattiemannie - Sonic Syringe
Quite dissonant bells (their fundamental sounds as hollow as an 80% square wave, PWM?), but after a while my all focus goes to the guitar part and these weird critters living in there. I wonder about that guitar part and those complex strumming/bending at i.e. 0:14 (did you use any strumming/arpeggiator midi plugin, you played this on the midi keyboard or you programmed this all by hand?). Later sound at 0:28 looks much simplier to program still interesting.

bzur - MenACE (Ace)
Bell sounds very FM-ish. Composition with strong foundation, but somehow... I can't really focus on this song. Maybe it lacks some turnaround or someting?

dwsel - Looking at bright city lights (me)
Mp3 compression cut top part of spectrum and hurt a bit belltree and maracas. Problems with flute attack at 1:05 and between 1:19-1:21 that came only after rendering - while previewing I haven't seen it. Flute crashing with trumpet (living at the same place of the spectrum), from perspective I think I could transpose one of them octave up or sidechain one with another for better result. More kittens at the end - they came out too quiet - I can hear only one of them at 3:13.

Mrblitz000 Enthusiasm Curves
This happy tune captures well Christmas mood I see you went a bit out of your typical lo-fi convention of highpassing most of your instruments. I really like the breakdown part beginning at 1:44.
I have a pretty bad feelings about hard panning though. I prefer to keep mono compatibility at some point. It reminds me a story about me as a child investigating stereo nature of radio broadcasts. I had a bumbox with rather closely located speakers and I had problems with hearing stereo so I asked my cousin to be my reference. When the songs were playing on the radio we listened to them saying to each other: 'I can hear keyboard part on the right speaker', 'I can hear it too on the left one - no stereo so far '. After a hour or two we encountered finally song that had hard panned sound and it was like: 'I can hear saxophone on the right speaker', 'I don't hear it... Whoaaa... This is really stereo!!'


This time my main directions were:
1) bells,
2) qualities of other sounds,
3) original/interesting composition.

My votes are:
5 - Archon1024 - Village in the Snow Globe
4 - Tattiemannie - Sonic Syringe
3 - Yeager - I'm So Sorry
2 - Mrblitz000 Enthusiasm Curves
1 - Gamma-ut - Marsh Wall
0 - Uiiuiiu&cubensick - Test of your mental strength

Synth: Pink

By the way... No Google docs voting this time?

[Lunatic_Machinist]

@vanmorisson
I haven't tried mikroprism on the pc I made day's end, it'd probably eat the poor old amd sucker alive, but my daw has an i7 920 beating inside and I've yet to hit a real life bottleneck (have crapped it out with some experimental reaktor resynthesis ensembles and intentional pushing the limits). one instance of mikroprism usually used 20-30%, but the funky thing is that flstudio, while running on asio4all (don't have a dedicated audio card yet, heh) at 10 ms latency, starts crapping out at only 95+%, and considering 8 threads, about 4 instances of m-prism per thread, that's 32 mikroprisms in theory. plenty of organic wonders for everyone, I think.


hehe, and about synths, well, I think, when Tyrell's reached a some sort of stable state, we should give it a shot, bound to sound awesome, haha.
and, hell, while we're on Urs, maybe we should use the alpha state of Bazille. that is, if Urs doesn't mind. that'd be really hardcore and mega-awesome, that thing sounds like nothing else.

[vanmorrison]

@dwsel
Where are the bells? In the title ... who doesn't know the tibetan bells? And that plucked sounds that makes the melody could not be a bell sound, not a big bell, but a tiny one with a lot of echo? P.S.: the tune is intentionally done as a loop, because I wanted to 'capture' the enthusiasm for the new mikro prism I was trying for the first time, so I just captured the moment...

[vanmorrison]

@vanmorisson
I haven't tried mikroprism on the pc I made day's end, it'd probably eat the poor old amd sucker alive, but my daw has an i7 920 beating inside and I've yet to hit a real life bottleneck (have crapped it out with some experimental reaktor resynthesis ensembles and intentional pushing the limits). one instance of mikroprism usually used 20-30%, but the funky thing is that flstudio, while running on asio4all (don't have a dedicated audio card yet, heh) at 10 ms latency, starts crapping out at only 95+%, and considering 8 threads, about 4 instances of m-prism per thread, that's 32 mikroprisms in theory. plenty of organic wonders for everyone, I think.


hehe, and about synths, well, I think, when Tyrell's reached a some sort of stable state, we should give it a shot, bound to sound awesome, haha.
and, hell, while we're on Urs, maybe we should use the alpha state of Bazille. that is, if Urs doesn't mind. that'd be really hardcore and mega-awesome, that thing sounds like nothing else.

Thanks for the rewiev, nice to see that the i7 behave well with it... and how can we have bazille or Tyrell... ?