One-Synth-Challenge 52: Podolski - Voting and Results

[IrionDaRonin]

I hope you can boost your messages at least for the next OSC and be part of the voters, or better yet, to participatee contest.

Thank's!

well, I do understand the strictness, I can wait

So, does this mean I also need 40+ posts to join the next OSC and that i can't be a part of this month's endeavor?

Cheers!

Probably the next month will be only 30 prior posts instead of 40, but let's see.
So if today you have about 20, you will need only +10 posts before this month deadline/creation of voting thread for the next one.

Thanks for understand it

Have a nice day

[Doc Jon]

Have narrowed it down to a shortlist of 12 tracks after going through all the entries twice

65 TRACKS??!!
When am I supposed to eat and sleep?

[wakkadude]

Dudes,

As I am not allowed to vote yet, here's my top 5, in no particular order!(just for kicks:)

My picks were based on a combination of things like composition, patch-design and originality. Getting chills up my spine was also a major factor.

Sonnydeluxe - Fields Of Glory-The Last Battle Of General Podolski
Very emotionally charged, very epic! Stylistically, original in contrast to the other 64 track. Beautiful synthetic orchestration, IMO this is great sound design.

BjPorter - Nature Was The Machine
This track, man.. this track.. I like it's spirit and vibrancy, it really takes you on a journey - a well composed, mixed and balanced one at that!
What this track doesn't give me in comparison to Sonnydeluxe's, is that raw emotional charge and originality in sound design. Otherwise this one would be my favorite by far!

Diego Callegari - Frog walk
hmm.. I think what I've wrote about the former track applies here to, more or less. Only frog walk is half as short, in this case though that's rather a compliment.
I think it's amazing that this track gives you a complete experience being only 2:30 minutes long!

Dzah - Watermusic
At first I doubted whether it was a good idea to place this piece in the top 5, considering the aesthetics of OSC, or rather what I expect those aesthetics to be. That made me rethink my aesthetics. This track has no kick, snare, lead, no pad, none of that good stuff 85% of the entrants would go for(me included). Despite that.. I am moved! As I listen and the song slowly progresses, it invokes a strange kind of tension upon me, which i recognize very well, yet don't know how to name.
Amazing! how can a track with such a sparse arrangement, made with a relatively simple synth stir me up emotionally this much? We'll, that's craftsmanship! I think this composition should get the 'biggest balls award' for it is stylistically so daringly different!


RuediRiena - Black Hole Gold
I think this doesn't really qualifies as a track.. or a song.. I would say it's more of a sound collage! Very tasteful sound design. Personally though, i think it could use some reverb maybe, to make it more spacious and immersive, to enhance the creepiness! If it the song was a little bit longer, with more peaks and valleys i would have been impressed to the teeth! Nevertheless to me it's another daringly different winner!


Further, there were more good tracks that tickled my fancy, especial those geared towards 'dancy and electronic' (don't really know how to better categorize those) type of music. But, BjPorter and Diego Callegari produced the most exceptional ones imo.

Thanks for listening, hopefully this is not too much for a comment?

Good luck to all contenders!

Cheers!

[wakkadude]

Probably the next month will be only 30 prior posts instead of 40, but let's see.
So if today you have about 20, you will need only +10 posts before this month deadline/creation of voting thread for the next one.

Thanks for understand it

Have a nice day

Got it! Thank you.

And a nice day to you too!

[V'ger]

I wouldn't give a lower rating to a really great track because it didn't have "good programming" or "good melody". You know, if Mozart was alive, he'd probably have bad mixes

Just had a picture of him with a mouse and keyboard..

People seem to put varying weight to the different aspects when voting as you point out, but it seems from watching a number of competitions here (and also some others) that a good mix is vital to do well. But it all connects of course. As we know, a melody line that would be laughable played at a piano can be the coolest riff if really worked on with the right sound and with the right automation + effects etc. In a way the strength of synth anyway in my opinion. Likewise a semi-decent melody and synth knobbing can be elevated with a punchy and shiny loud mix etc.

In order to get at least coherent results, one should compare tracks two by two. And even so, sometimes you end up realizing that A > B > C > A Paradox.

Indeed Voting can be tough.

Will OSC allow more than one 1st prize winners or will OSC insist on having only one 1st prize winner.

In the unlikely event that they can't be separated by the number of 5 points etc, I guess the position must be shared, as frequently happens with the lower positions that don't have enough points to be separated. I guess just draw lots who gets first choice from the prize pool in that case, or even a revote between those like you say Mushy.

i would vote to set a rule to "Only one track per person".

Yes let's include this point in the next rules vote.

[Diego_C]

Hi, after listening to all I have to say there's really a lot of nice and creative stuff, and huge skills in designing and mangling sounds and producing music out of one synth only!
Great synth music community really.


voted!

[bjporter]

In order to get at least coherent results, one should compare tracks two by two. And even so, sometimes you end up realizing that A > B > C > A Paradox.

DUDE I KNOW!!! I was doing the same thing... ok so this will be easy, just compare track A vs B, take the best one, and keep moving along (like a sorting algorithm) until the end, take the best and remove it from the list and start over.

Nope... the paradox exists...

[ghettosynth]

In order to get at least coherent results, one should compare tracks two by two. And even so, sometimes you end up realizing that A > B > C > A Paradox.

DUDE I KNOW!!! I was doing the same thing... ok so this will be easy, just compare track A vs B, take the best one, and keep moving along (like a sorting algorithm) until the end, take the best and remove it from the list and start over.

Nope... the paradox exists...

Have any of you guys ever graded papers? It's next to impossible to be completely objective from start to finish. You will see something in one paper that you will then have to consider in all future papers, but, you don't really have the time to go regrade all of the previous papers.

I listen to a few (20ish) seconds of each track and score 1,2,3. The threes move on, nothing else does. This nets about 1/3. I then listen to about a minute of the threes and score 1,2,3. The threes move on. If I don't have five threes, the twos move on as well. I then listen to each of those tracks and score 1,2,3,4,5. If there is no ambiguity, I have my order, if not, I make a judgement call.

This process is fair in the sense that I listen to all the tracks in part, while my ears are fresh and without really trying to judge but trying to find the standouts. This is often how DJs buy records. Yes, it's subjective. I suspect that taste dominates objective assessment of music in almost everyone's voting.

I think that it's better to encourage MORE people to vote subjectively than to discourage people from voting by saying that we should all try to be olympic judges.

[Kondarivan]

I hope you can boost your messages at least for the next OSC and be part of the voters, or better yet, to participatee contest.

Thank's!

well, I do understand the strictness, I can wait

So, does this mean I also need 40+ posts to join the next OSC and that i can't be a part of this month's endeavor?

Cheers!

As far as I know, you don't need 40+ posts to enter the competition (aka create a track and submit it). You need 40+ posts to vote (that's for preventing account spamming and cheating and other ugly things that everyone hate). However, if you entered one competition, you're automatically qualified for voting in that particular competition - unless you vote for yourself, which is forbidden - and you are also encouraged to do so, as prizes are only given to the ones who also voted. In fact, here's a link to the rules page; it's much clearer than what I can explain: https://sites.google.com/site/kvrosc/rules
If you choose to join, be welcome!

I like one entry (song) per person instead of being allowed to spam the contest with a ton of entries and hoping one sticks.

I know that can happen, but spamming a contest with a lot of entries doesn't really let you focus on composing them properly, so it would still end up with low quality weak ones.

Anyway, why are we all expecting to see people who're trying to slip by the rules and do anything to win some prize?
(I wouldn't vote for a jerk anyway - unless he's reaaaly good).

[cytoSonic]

voted.

[ricler]

Voted.

[idfpower]

I listen to a few (20ish) seconds of each track and score 1,2,3. The threes move on, nothing else does. This nets about 1/3. I then listen to about a minute of the threes and score 1,2,3. The threes move on. If I don't have five threes, the twos move on as well. I then listen to each of those tracks and score 1,2,3,4,5. If there is no ambiguity, I have my order, if not, I make a judgement call.

This process is fair in the sense that I listen to all the tracks in part, while my ears are fresh and without really trying to judge but trying to find the standouts. This is often how DJs buy records. Yes, it's subjective. I suspect that taste dominates objective assessment of music in almost everyone's voting.

I have no issue whatsoever with the methods ppl use to narrow down the song list. Whatever works for you. BUT... I will say this: by doing so you may miss the whole point of a song. After listening to ALL songs submitted for OSC I can tell you that a lot of them have a building or shifting vibe; some have long intros; others have some weird interludes; some of them have a few awesome sonic twists towards the end that completely change the listener's perspective and so on. If you don't listen 'til the end, you will not get the emotion/feeling the author has put in that song. Just my 2 cents

[photonic]

... If you don't listen 'til the end, you will not get the emotion/feeling the author has put in that song. Just my 2 cents

Exactly! Well spoke.
It is so easy to listen to several parts of a song in SC. I listen to all songs. When I do not like a song very much, I click to about 30sec later in the song, like a fast forward. But so I can hear if something interessting changes in the track.
My method is to listen to every new entry day by day and to download the track if I immediately like it. This can be sounddesign, composition or just the feeling of the track. At the end I only have to listen closely to those tracks.

[Kondarivan]

... If you don't listen 'til the end, you will not get the emotion/feeling the author has put in that song. Just my 2 cents

Exactly! Well spoke.
It is so easy to listen to several parts of a song in SC. I listen to all songs. When I do not like a song very much, I click to about 30sec later in the song, like a fast forward. But so I can hear if something interessting changes in the track.
My method is to listen to every new entry day by day and to download the track if I immediately like it. This can be sounddesign, composition or just the feeling of the track. At the end I only have to listen closely to those tracks.

+1.

I also sometimes fast-forward through a song (not necessarily OSC-related) where the waveform clearly tells that it's the exact same loop repeated for more than a minute or so. I guess this makes me a bad listener

[z.prime]

I, for one, listen to each and every track in entirety - I think it's only fair. I'd like for people to listen to my track from start to finish (how could you not, because they're so awesome ), so I do the same. I believe people earn that for taking the time to create something in the OSC, no matter if I don't particularly like the style or other aspects of a track.

And I definitely agree with what's already been said: many times you'll find nuggets or awesome aspects beyond the first 30 seconds - arguably the worst representative timeframe of any song...