One Synth Challenge #88: TAL-NoiseMaker (Mac/PC) (z.prime wins!)

[barcode]

Newbie question - last month was the first time I entered (and voted). I'm curious how people give out points when there is not a fixed amount of points that you can spend. A hardcore winner's mind would give all others a 1 I guess, but that is no fun at all. I imagine cash prizes also makes it a notch more complicated.

I'm sure this has been discussed many times. Please direct me to some relevant thread or FAQ if possible.

[eraze the borders]

Newbie question - last month was the first time I entered (and voted). I'm curious how people give out points when there is not a fixed amount of points that you can spend. A hardcore winner's mind would give all others a 1 I guess, but that is no fun at all. I imagine cash prizes also makes it a notch more complicated.

I'm sure this has been discussed many times. Please direct me to some relevant thread or FAQ if possible.

I know that there was some discussion going on but can't find the threads right now. Maybe somebody else can help out here?

What i really enjoy about the OSC is that people are fair but also honest. They won't give low points only to have an advantage. Personally i try to be as objective as i can be to give a reasonable voting. If a song is done really well and i can see that the artist put a lot of work into the sounds, composing and mixing, i will at least give 3 points or more. But yeah, there's also the element of your personal taste which always plays a role. If i am not really feeling a song, even if it is technically on point, i can't give more than 4 points. After all we are talking about music and emotion plays an important part.

I almost never give out 1 point. Only if i think the song is really poorly done and doesn't have any feeling to it.

Again, i think the OSC is a great place, because the people here are friendly and fair and there's a lot you can learn about music production.

[ThePresent]

Newbie question - last month was the first time I entered (and voted). I'm curious how people give out points when there is not a fixed amount of points that you can spend. A hardcore winner's mind would give all others a 1 I guess, but that is no fun at all. I imagine cash prizes also makes it a notch more complicated.

I'm sure this has been discussed many times. Please direct me to some relevant thread or FAQ if possible.

Some threads have dealt with this question. Very wild and sometimes ridiculous theories have been launched about hate voting, tactical voting etc. , only to be ultimately answered by someone who has seen it all, in this case bjporter. Tactical voting may or may not have recurred once in a while but the bottom line is that here in OSC, there is a general consensus about which tracks are the best and should be in the top positions.

[barcode]

In a vacuum I had no idea how to place the points. I ended up doing it Eurovision Song Contest-style with one 5, one 4 etc and the rest 1. But if people commonly use an Amazon book review type of rating, where the average is 3, then my style feels extremely cheap. Maybe it doesn't matter much in practice, but it could.

[wagtunes]

Newbie question - last month was the first time I entered (and voted). I'm curious how people give out points when there is not a fixed amount of points that you can spend. A hardcore winner's mind would give all others a 1 I guess, but that is no fun at all. I imagine cash prizes also makes it a notch more complicated.

I'm sure this has been discussed many times. Please direct me to some relevant thread or FAQ if possible.

Some threads have dealt with this question. Very wild and sometimes ridiculous theories have been launched about hate voting, tactical voting etc. , only to be ultimately answered by someone who has seen it all, in this case bjporter. Tactical voting may or may not have recurred once in a while but the bottom line is that here in OSC, there is a general consensus about which tracks are the best and should be in the top positions.

And then there are those of us who are just personally hated.

[chk071]

I see genre voting as a bigger problem.

[wagtunes]

I see genre voting as a bigger problem.

And maybe that's really it because I don't do "thump, thump, thump, wub, wub, screaming saw, drop"

The music I do, most people here weren't even born yet.

Gotta stop letting myself get worked up over this but it still burns my cookies to really put effort into a track and come away with 16 1s.

[ispot]

first timer here, can we use the DAW built-in amp sims?

[bjporter]

first timer here, can we use the DAW built-in amp sims?

Best to avoid it, and if you do use it, use a very small amount.

[bjporter]

In a vacuum I had no idea how to place the points. I ended up doing it Eurovision Song Contest-style with one 5, one 4 etc and the rest 1. But if people commonly use an Amazon book review type of rating, where the average is 3, then my style feels extremely cheap. Maybe it doesn't matter much in practice, but it could.

Lots of ways to do it. Giving everything else a 1 definitely isn't how it was meant to be used though, so I'll break down my method:

If you really liked a song, give it a 5 (It's always in the moment thing too...). If it was good, a 4. A song that you didn't feel particularly anything for, but respected, give it a 3. Something off, something just not right in your ears or head, give it a 2.

1's should be reserved for songs that were clearly not finished (like 30 seconds long), or don't seem serious entries.

It's all in the moment for me, so I could possibly change my vote throughout the week. In this system, genre isn't important. Production is good, but not the primary thing i'm looking for.

It's good to feel out and understand the intention of the song producer too. What were they trying to make? Try hard... if it was all 8 bit and retro... clearly that's not going to compete with a heavy hitting modern dubstep track. But maybe the 8 bit song really made you feel... and also put interesting pictures in your mind (video game scenes, etc).

[barcode]

If you really liked a song, give it a 5 (It's always in the moment thing too...). If it was good, a 4. A song that you didn't feel particularly anything for, but respected, give it a 3. Something off, something just not right in your ears or head, give it a 2.

Thanks. I'll be using that method in the future.

[barcode]

The way I weigh production polish vs musicality vs my personal taste will be completely up to me, I suppose. If I find one of those aspects flawless, I will not give it less than a 3. Just thinking out loud here.

[ClaRago]

Here is my entry:
https://soundcloud.com/clauderagonnet/c ... ltraviolet
16 instances of NoizeMak3r in Logic X using native delay, reverb, EQ, compression + Cableguys PanCake
I was not able to listen to this on monitors and think there might be too much bass in the final mix.

[ThePresent]

OSC 88 Entry

ThePresent - Rehearsing in Pasadena

Cubase 6.5
95 instances of TAL Noisemaker

Cubase plugins, eq, reverb, delay, comp, limit
Melda MEqualizer
Klanghelm MJUC jr compressor
Klanghelm IVGI
Vladg Molot compressor
Ferox free demo
Limiter 6
TDR SlickEQ
TDR Nova

No distortion or ampsim plugins used on synthguitar

Percussion sounds are made of many layers to get as close as possible to acoustic sounds.
Comments are very welcome, will be responding later because of absence.
Enjoy!

Edit: New Mix
https://soundcloud.com/thepresentmusic/ ... pasadena-1

[Brisbane]

Hey guys! Here is my submission!

I've only started producing music about three months ago, so I have an extremely minimal concept of mixing and mastering. But, I love music and I try to make what I think sounds good to me, so that's good I guess! I hope you enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/therealbrisbane/ebbingtides

I made this track in Ableton Live 9 Suite with just 41 instances of TAL Noisemaker (No presets used) and a minimal range of outside-of-synth effects. Layering was my friend for this one:)

All Ableton Live Effects Used:
- Glue and Multiband Compressors
- EQ Eight
- Convolution Reverb Pro
- Simple/Ping Pong Delay (For stereo effect)
- Auto Filter
- Limiter
- Overdrive/Saturator (Very minimal usage mainly on drums, not even sure why I used them honestly because they didn't change the sound too much, I was just messing around:/)