One Synth Challenge #112: Synth1 by Ichiro Toda (Photonic Wins!)

[doctorbob]

RIP Kiki



dB

[Eauson]

1st thing@ dB, I'm sorry that you lost your friend Kiki, I had a loss of a kind soul to cancer @ 12, just writing this has made me well up.

2nd, well done to the winners
I only gave out 2 5's one to TNS and the other dB, as I like me some toot
VCA-089 or as I like to call " moniker" well done, 1 yr and already 2nd place, you've started on a high.

[Eauson]

Dble

[Eauson]

Trple

[TrojakEW]

"but given that you gave me a 1, I have no idea why you're asking me about anything. I could just give you and The Chase the benefit of the doubt and assume that you accidentally voted on an opposite rating scale."

I didn´t want to offend you, or anybody.
I gave 1 pts to every song i liked because these songs gets the most points anyway.

There is no way that this will be offending in any way but...

How this lie help anybody? As I said better to forget about numbers but if you don't post your comments about track then numbers become feedback. Feedback is important and if you lie to somebody in order to "help" him you are not helping at all. I rather want to hear the truth even it is write like - your track sucks because I know real opinion from user point of view and the fact he don't like that track. How it help me when he tells me nice track but he just want to be polite but he actually thinks the track is bad. If somebody come here only to get high rank, points and claim the prize then he already loose.

The reason I like comments from Taron or for example PeterH or even Wagtune is, that they tell you what they really think about it. If they don't like something about your track they will tell you. This is real help. If somebody doesn't like critics you can tell us here something like this - Please post only positive comments about my track or rather do not post at all because I can't bear your opinion (your personal truth).

So please never ever tell lie if you really want to help. Never bring you personal feeling (good or bad) for certain person in commenting or if you are not commenting then to voting numbers. I personally want to hear even cruel truth so I can learn from it and improve because and I don't wan't to go backwards because I love music.

RIP Kiki



dB

Sorry to hear that and please take my Scroo track as dedication to Kiki.

[AlienXXX]

The sooner you forget about those points and all ranks here the better. OSC is about improving your skills. You have done good job. Your next goal is not to rise in this chart but to learn more. Some people born with talent and while other (like most of us) need to get them through hard practice. Still don't forget even these with born in talent need to practise otherwise they will be forgoten. Perfection can not be obtained and there is always something new to learn.

Very well said.

My journey is/was like this. Started at the bottom, finally rising to around halfway most of the time, with the odd one or two tracks getting to the top 5. It's a learning process ...

dB

PS. Thanks for all your kind words about my cat, much appreciated. 16yr old Grand Champion Persian tortoiseshell. I used to breed an show cats, so they have been a big part of my life. Mainly Red Colourpoint Persians (Himalayans to my USA friends).

I don't come here to win - I am neither that much of a fool or self-obsessed narcissist. And certainly can take a criticism as much the next man, especially if it is of the constructive kind.
But having participated for several years (on and off) I always find my track in the last 5 and, most of the time at the end of the list.
Not coming last became an achievement...

In your case you could see some progression, so you have reason to be happy.
To me it now came to the point where it is not funny/fun anymore, which was the whole point. Time to go somewhere else.

Thanks for caring enough to write something.
Sorry about your cat. I never was a cat person, but we have a cat now for a few years and she is a fantastic pet.

[doctorbob]

… To me it now came to the point where it is not funny/fun anymore, which was the whole point. Time to go somewhere else.

Hi, first thanks for the note aout my kittycat! Appreciated.

With reference to your track - this one was in the experimental/electronic genre, and we don't get a huge number of entries like this. I for one would miss hearing these - I used to work in this area back in the late 60's, with EMS synths, Revoxes and splicing tape! I know it's a very hard to grab peoples' attention, and most of my friends didn't have a clue about what I was doing (or even why!). My best friends still work in this area. I worked with the likes of Trevor Wishart, Andrew Bentley, Denis Smalley, Ambrose Field, Tony Myatt, to mention a few.

Your track was very "mono" and creating more space and movement would have improved it a lot. The great thing about experimental electronica is that you can delve into all sorts of interesting areas, e.g. ambisonics, 3D sound and so on - and you can easily create stuff to "blow peoples' minds", so to speak.

As I said, my experience here with OSC was similar, making noises different from the general genres like EDM, 4-on-the-floor thumping stuff, synthwave, trance, D&B, glitch, I was lurking at the bottom for many months.

All music is credible and the deadline set by OSC does motivate (but I can feel your demotivation). What I am saying is that each time we lose a member, we do lose something unique, especially their personal take on music. I find that constructive criticism always helped me improve, and like you, I can take any adverse comments - e.g. "what is this elevator musak crepe?". But I enjoy making music, and if people like it, fine. If they don't, well that's just fine too.

The Scroo is a strange synth, and you can get it to make some fine sounds - all I say is, give it a go and surprise us.

Cheers,

dB

[schiing]

… To me it now came to the point where it is not funny/fun anymore, which was the whole point. Time to go somewhere else.

Hi, first thanks for the note aout my kittycat! Appreciated.

With reference to your track - this one was in the experimental/electronic genre, and we don't get a huge number of entries like this. I for one would miss hearing these - I used to work in this area back in the late 60's, with EMS synths, Revoxes and splicing tape! I know it's a very hard to grab peoples' attention, and most of my friends didn't have a clue about what I was doing (or even why!). My best friends still work in this area. I worked with the likes of Trevor Wishart, Andrew Bentley, Denis Smalley, Ambrose Field, Tony Myatt, to mention a few.

Your track was very "mono" and creating more space and movement would have improved it a lot. The great thing about experimental electronica is that you can delve into all sorts of interesting areas, e.g. ambisonics, 3D sound and so on - and you can easily create stuff to "blow peoples' minds", so to speak.

Yeah, I echo some of dB's points here - your track is not dissimilar to a lot of stuff I'm listening to from the 1970s, and I'm currently working on a pet project trying to assimilate that feeling - working title "Italia '73," pretentiously enough.

But I'm not sure how to approach productions like yours in OSC. The near-mono approach, the ever so slightly off-beat drum pattern, some rather toneless patches - all of this could be a deliberate, stylistic attempt to evoke earlier times or the ghost of Bernard Fevre (well, ghost... I guess he's still going strong!)

But any of these things could also be down to your lack of skills. I don't know you (or any of the other contestants for that matter), so I simply don't know where you're coming from.

The reason I gave you a 3 this time was that, while I enjoyed the overall end result, I thought there were some giveaways that maybe you weren't quite on top of your game (some unpleasant frequencies, dubious gain staging and some melodic and chord choices that didn't really make sense to me within the context and a general lack of development).

But I guess that whatever your intentions were, it will be harder for tracks like these to get a high score... and I can certainly understand the way you feel being constantly caught in the last 5.

For what it's worth, I have enjoyed the stylistic diversity you've brought to the OSC, and I think that with a little more work and a couple of YouTube tutorial binges, especially in the mixing area, you could quite easily elevate to the middle of the list.

[TrojakEW]

What I am saying is that each time we lose a member, we do lose something unique, especially their personal take on music. I find that constructive criticism always helped me improve, and like you, I can take any adverse comments - e.g. "what is this elevator musak crepe?". But I enjoy making music, and if people like it, fine. If they don't, well that's just fine too.

The Scroo is a strange synth, and you can get it to make some fine sounds - all I say is, give it a go and surprise us.

Cheers,

dB

Yup I definitelly agree with that.

But having participated for several years (on and off) I always find my track in the last 5 and, most of the time at the end of the list.
Not coming last became an achievement...

In your case you could see some progression, so you have reason to be happy.

You are looking in wrong way about your progress. Short story for better understanding my point of view since English is not my native language so I rather use different example. Few years ago friend of mine started to complain that he should do something with his weight since he thinks he is kind of fat. So he started train with me. At begining he was slow and he gets fatigued really fast. He can't run for long without break. 1 hour training in gym was more than enough for him. These days we train 2 and half hour and even after training he is still full of energy. Running is easy for him now and there are days that he can run better then me. Now back to point. After these years he still complain that training doesn't help him much and he is still fat - almost same weight as before. So his goal from start was to loose weight and he was not able to make it. But truth is that he gain more than he thought. He is condition that most youngster these days won't reach. What he get is more important then those stupid numbers on the scale and he is the proof. During physical tests (police) he beat every one and he was oldest guy there. 2nd oldest there was man half of his age . So old man beat them all yet he still complain about his weight. I said you just need more time and more training .

[doctorbob]

… wrt AlienXXX

For what it's worth, I have enjoyed the stylistic diversity you've brought to the OSC, and I think that with a little more work and a couple of YouTube tutorial binges, especially in the mixing area, you could quite easily elevate to the middle of the list.

Please stay and join me in the middle of the list!!!!!!!!

dB

[schiing]

… wrt AlienXXX

For what it's worth, I have enjoyed the stylistic diversity you've brought to the OSC, and I think that with a little more work and a couple of YouTube tutorial binges, especially in the mixing area, you could quite easily elevate to the middle of the list.

Please stay and join me in the middle of the list!!!!!!!!

dB

As a fan, I gave you a 3 this month, as well, dB! Sorry about that, I felt bad about it - it was as enjoyable as ever - but, like you mentioned, it did come across as a bit of a quickie! You'll be back where you belong, on a top score, next time I'm sure!

[Eauson]

… wrt AlienXXX

For what it's worth, I have enjoyed the stylistic diversity you've brought to the OSC, and I think that with a little more work and a couple of YouTube tutorial binges, especially in the mixing area, you could quite easily elevate to the middle of the list.

Please stay and join me in the middle of the list!!!!!!!!

dB

If we're talking about the middle, then I have mastered it, definitely stay AlienXXX, as there is no better place to have your music heard by a wide variety of musical tastes. There was a competitor called Abstract thoughts who used to submit, to me anyway, really interesting tracks, after a time no more submissions, this varied eclectic mix is really needed for OsC..

[AlienXXX]

Thank you for the various messages of support and encouragement.

I think I will take a break from submitting.
I had in any case already decided early on to skip Scrooo since I could not get any decent drum sounds out of it, and I am not in the mood to do a drone piece or something like that.

Although it can create some very interesting and unique sounds, it is not the kind of synth that I would enjoy using as the single sound source to build an entire track.

I will keep an eye on what other synths come up and may have another go when I find one that inspires me.

[doctorbob]

Thank you for the various messages of support and encouragement ...

I will keep an eye on what other synths come up and may have another go when I find one that inspires me.

Great! Will look forward to your next track! Take care.

dB

[doctorbob]

As a fan, I gave you a 3 this month, as well, dB! Sorry about that, I felt bad about it - it was as enjoyable as ever - but, like you mentioned, it did come across as a bit of a quickie! You'll be back where you belong, on a top score, next time I'm sure!

Thanks Didn't know I had a fan! Check your PM for a WIP of my current Scrooo track.
Cheers,
dB