Diva mini-Patchbank Contest: Results

[satYatunes]

It's hard to believe that I finished at #4. Not bad for a newbie in sound design . A big thanks to all the contestants and voters who liked and voted for my bank. It's a huge motivation. Playing with Diva was fun as usual. I am planning to continue and create another handful of patches and share it with everyone. That's all I can give back to this beautiful community but is the quality of my patches any good? If it is worth it then I will spend more time on it otherwise no point. So please be honest and let me know the things that I should focus on.

satYatunes's bank, my number 5, has a nice vintage rawness to it, the S.Arp (great duophonic fun!), the String Pad and the Phasey Pad are just lovely.

Thanks for the feedback.

Last but not the least, a BIG THANKS to hakey for organizing the contest. Looking forward to next one.

[Aiynzahev]

It's hard to believe that I finished at #4. Not bad for a newbie in sound design . A big thanks to all the contestants and voters who liked and voted for my bank. It's a huge motivation. Playing with Diva was fun as usual. I am planning to continue and create another handful of patches and share it with everyone. That's all I can give back to this beautiful community but is the quality of my patches any good? If it is worth it then I will spend more time on it otherwise no point. So please be honest and let me know the things that I should focus on.

satYatunes's bank, my number 5, has a nice vintage rawness to it, the S.Arp (great duophonic fun!), the String Pad and the Phasey Pad are just lovely.

Thanks for the feedback.

Last but not the least, a BIG THANKS to hakey for organizing the contest. Looking forward to next one.

IMO sound design is less about skill than it is about taste. Your bank was very tasteful which is probably why so many liked it. If you've got the idea in your head and your innovative its only a matter of time, if you've not really got real goals and themes in your mind its less likely that your patches will resonate with anyone. So yes even if its only for your own music, which has been the biggest benefit for me of spending time learning how to program nice patches.

[xh3rv]

Can't believe I finished so high in the ranking

I can, it was good stuff

xhr3v's bank, thematically a bit inconsistent I thought

That's about how I feel about it too

I feel like I had, execution errors - volume, some of the wheel mapping, fx settings on half the patches were just off. Half I'm happy with. Somehow the deadline always pops up before I expect it

Trying to think what the best tips for execution are ... check volume, check volume up and down the keyboard, check volume w/ velocity, check inside a mix, check outside a mix ... If it seems like tweaks are circular and not really getting anywhere, that's probably a sign to back off. Plan on needing time to back off.

[xh3rv]

So yes even if its only for your own music, which has been the biggest benefit for me of spending time learning how to program nice patches.

I think I agree - like, patching is more productive for me than sitting down and thinking, 'OK - Issue a melody!', that never works

[satYatunes]

IMO sound design is less about skill than it is about taste.

Actually it's both and taste is very subjective. Person X likes some patches where person Y totally hates 'em . But yes, the creator needs to come up with something that appeals to a lot of people.

Your bank was very tasteful which is probably why so many liked it. If you've got the idea in your head and your innovative its only a matter of time, if you've not really got real goals and themes in your mind its less likely that your patches will resonate with anyone. So yes even if its only for your own music, which has been the biggest benefit for me of spending time learning how to program nice patches.

It's actually a huge motivation for me that so many people liked it. I always do something with a theme in mind. With the newage bank I was targeting to create patches that will suit Newage genre. I completely agree with the last statement.

Have we decided on the next contest yet?

[Fritze]

IMO sound design is less about skill than it is about taste.

Actually it's both and taste is very subjective. Person X likes some patches where person Y totally hates 'em . But yes, the creator needs to come up with something that appeals to a lot of people.

Thanx for this. Couldn't have said it better than that.

[Resonator63]

Congrats Aiyn.
Thanks to hakey for running this.
Some great patches and good fun

[hakey]

Have we decided on the next contest yet?

Nothing's been decided upon...

Maybe Tyrell V2, but a freestyle, two patch contest this time - perhaps with a slight twist (borrowing a suggestion or two from the past)?

[audientronic]

Congratulations to Aiyn and Doc Jon!

Thanks for the contest. This was my first time trying my hand at programming patches, and I learned a lot in the process. Of course, I'm still at the wait-what-does-this-switch-do-ooh-that's-cool phase but I'm learning a lot from looking at all the great entries and it's been an inspiration to keep learning. Thanks to all…

[JJBiener]

Aiyn, why does it not surprise me that you came out on top. Congratulations. Fine work as always.

[ho66it]

Congratulations! I really enjoyed these banks

I want to urge people maybe to watch their output level as many banks had many presets that peaked. That makes me a sad panda:)

Congrats to the winners, and well made to all of you:)

Going back and reviewing my patches, I confirmed that, as I suspected, I was one of the volume violators!!

Sorry...I had the Diva GUI set to Large and was loving life but I let it obscure the meters in my DAW. I am relatively new to DAWs and software synths and will probably continue to make noob mistakes like this...

So, how about some feedback? What output level(s) should I shoot for when building a patch? I'm sure there are no hard and fast rules, but what are some of your preferences?

Also, Resonator63 and Arrested Developer, thanks for your votes! When I combined the facts that this was the first contest I've ever submitted any patches to, and I don't have a midi keyboard that transmits aftertouch-so I couldn't even go there, I suspected that I might not get ANY votes. Seeing as how I managed to get a few, maybe I'll keep on trying!

And thanks again to Hakey for running this contest!

[hakey]

What output level(s) should I shoot for when building a patch? I'm sure there are no hard and fast rules, but what are some of your preferences?

1. There's a difference between perceived volume (how loud something sounds) and the absolute output volume (the magnitude of the signal as indicated by your DAW's output).

2. Try and match the perceived volume of your patches with those in the factory banks - in particular those prefaced HS. This will mean attempting to make some patches sound louder (without clipping) and others quieter (and different styles of patch may suit slightly different perceived volumes eg delicate pads vs basses).

3. If you're having trouble getting a patch sufficiently loud without clipping, then there's something wrong with the patch, namely energy being wasted in part of the audio spectrum without contributing to the desired timbre.

(This last point is a theory of my own - one that makes sense to me, but one that it seems not all sound designers agree with. So, pinch of salt etc... )

[glokraw]

One can only learn from the creativity in some of these sounds, it really was an inspiration.

speaking of which, I tried your Tyrell soundbank,
and it is wonderful, and will be in new music soon.
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers

[glokraw]

Can't believe I finished so high in the ranking - I'm truly speechless and big thanks to everyone who voted for me!!
(don't worry glockraw - hope your wife is feeling better!)

Your contributions in any category are always musical,
hence the well deserved reception. And thanks for the kind words.
Look forward to your next efforts.
Cheers

[Aiynzahev]

Thank you everyone again for all your comments.

I went with DIVA. Its just addictive. I'd rather fewer destinations with nicer scenery.