One-Synth-Challenge 24: RMXL - Voting and Results

[tattiemannie]

Hi folks, sorry I've not been around much .... been extremely busy lately, what with exposing Donald Trump as a Liar in our fab online news zine, and snapping at the heels of a few other high profile vermin ...

These tracks are sooo full of big belly, balls and butt! A real sense of cohesiveness between them .... be really cool if I could find the time to do an e-album of these, but I doubt very much if that is gonna happen .... shame, really strong collection.

Anyway, I'll get them all listened to another two or three times and get my votes and comments in by Monday.

[Mac of BIOnighT]

In the meantime, here are my votes:

5 points: Endless Ocean - Archon 1024

4 points: Mike777 - Fluorescent Sky

3 points: The 11.01 Rmxl Improv - Revorg 1

2 points: Yeager - All The Wrong Moves

1 point: Satyatunes - Go On

As I said, Archon's track is to me one of the most beautiful of all osc's so far, but all the tracks were good and, as pointed out by Tattie, very cohesive as a whole, so it was a pleasure to listen to them all

[tattiemannie]

Good stuff Mac ... and the same to every body else who has voted so far ... keep em coming

[Mike777]

Archon - Endless Ocean - 5
Dj Groovy - Maison Hipnotica - 4
bjporter - What life was probably like before MIDI (v14E) - 3
vanmorrison - China dance loop_2 - 2
Yeager - All the Wrong Moves - 1

[V'ger]

Good overall quality field this time and difficult to choose, I've played the list at least 10 times and still had to force a decision..

5 pts - Mike777 - Fluorescent Sky
Despite the odd sour note a brilliant composition that I thoroughly enjoy with good use of sounds showing the synth's pallete nicely. Well done.

4 pts - Archon - Endless Ocean
A very nice piece with soul and fitting parts that doesn't seem made to show off a synth, but most sounds are anyway there; different waveforms, short and long.

3 pts - Tattiemannie - Revealing My Kissing Lips
It seems not running the OSC anymore really did something for the songwriting to my ears as seen last time too; things are not so hectic and there's a coherency now. Me like.

2 pts - Yeager - All The Wrong Moves
Another good tune again here, varied parts and sounds with good production as usual but maybe a bit uniform to make top 3..

1 pt - Dj Groovy - Maison Hipnotica
Nice show of the synth with different type sounds that fit well and also with the title. Good overall production too.

[Julian Ray]

Here is my vote:

In the meantime, here are my votes:

5 points: Mike777 - Fluorescent Sky

4 points: Dj Groovy - Maison Hipnotica

3 points: Archon 1024 - Endless Ocean

2 points: vanmorrison - China dance loop

1 point: Yeager - All The Wrong Moves

Cheers

[HiEnergy]

Satyatunes - Go On : 1
Julian Ray - Lonely Love : 2
Yeager - All The Wrong Moves : 3
Endless Ocean - Archon 1024 : 4
Mike777 - Fluorescent Sky : 5

[Yeager]

Of all the beautiful and original tracks I liked these the most :

DjGroovy - Maison Hipnotica : 5 points
Nice groove, love what happens after 2:05.

Achon1024 - Endless Ocean : 4 points
Just beautiful, felt shorter than it really was.

JulianRay - Lonely Love : 3 points
Very nice melodies and distant percussion lovely jazzy ballad.

Mike777 - FluorescentSky : 2 points
Lots of good parts and variety (could lose some of the slides).

Tattiemannie - Revealing My Kissy Lips : 1 point
Great sounds, and haunting melodies, great use of delay/reverb.

Thank you all.

[Mike777]

... I've played the list at least 10 times and still had to force a decision..

10 times! I try and usually listen at least three times. Thanks for the vote, I always focus on composition (my strong point) over production (my weakness), and there indeed some "sour" notes in my work. I actually decided to leave in imperfections sometimes. Very good ear.

[satYatunes]

Here are my votes:
5pts. Gorgorgathgorgorgor - Cold Front
4pts. Juian Ray - Lonely Love
3pts. K-bee - Gone
2pts. MrBlitz - Scales of Charon
1pt. BjPorter - What life was...

excellent tracks as usual. good luck to all the contestants.

[tattiemannie]

OK guys, I really would have liked to listen to them all at least a couple more times before reviewing/voting, but the nasty old new organiser has made the voting period too short

Life before Midi .... lovely intro ... great how that thick dark pad opens out tonally, then those rock solid electro beats. Strong tight production, and good sounds, particularly that glassy perc sound which sprinkles around the melody. great composition ... moves in unexpected ways, but never in a wrong way.

Endless Ocean .... Sweet lead sound on the intro, effective melody and countermelody ... nice contrast to the drama which follows ... something very natural about the sounds here ... can almost hear strings rattling on frets, good production of a nice moody composition.

Wrong Moves ... outstanding percs! great sounds all round, and great use of filter on those leads. The melody part gets a little overwhelmed at times, but nevertheless, a cracking track, and excellent production. A professional sounding piece which does it's damnedest to sing up for a free synth.

RXML .... intriguingly strange .... that whistle is so natural ... and that hammered string is begging for mercy. Some confusion between the percs and the bass rhythm, but really interesting composition full of little surprises.

Scales of Charon .... yesssss, piano lessons on acid! Mr Blitz's motto ..." if it aint broke, FFS break it!" ... The disturbing thing is that all of the sounds seem like they were perfectly good instruments until they were detuned, torched, tumbled down a flight of stairs, and then nailed back together again for the gig! Musically, a very cleverly constructed piece, and a thoroughly enjoyable experiential track.

China dance ... Something warm and intimate about this piece, and a teesy bit sad as well, and yet peaceful and soothing. The sounds are cool, and feel like they belong together. Cant quite define those pianoesque sounds other than 'harpischord' ... but nice interplay between those two similar sounds, and all in all, one of those tracks that makes you want to close your eyes and go wherever the music takes you .. this feeling is more than accomodated by the bass that simply gets on with it's job without looking for attention.

Go on .... Nice clean edgy sounds. Atmospheric and laid back, nice simple, memorable melody which is crying out to be developed beyond the scope of 2 minutes. Good mix and decent production ... probably the strongest 'too short' OSC track ever.

Flourescent ... this one Screams quality from the off, beautiful sounds, and a pleasant and bravely melodic piece with tricks galore to span a range of genres in a seamless meander. One of the most believable guitar sounds I've heard from a free synth, and this aided in no small way by the composition being true to what we would expect from a guitar. I would hazard a guess that Mike777 knows his way around a geetar. I could write so much more about this track, but I think it speaks for itself. Great work!

RMXL Impro .... Oooh, lovely pingy-stringy, resonant sounds. lovely 'wash all over' free composition, featuring some convincing natural instrument sounds, and excellent techniques. The composition is fantastic, and it feels like a real performance. impressive track.

Lonely Love ... Great opening .... Again, some beautiful natural sounds, dominated by hammered strings, combined with quality synthesised tones. Rich production ... a simple but strong melody enhanced by thoughtful arrangement which allows all elements to shine through.

Gone .... A pleasant sounding piece as is, but didnt really go anywhere, and few sounds. Well constructed though and could be a good 'bed' for something more developed.

Cold Front .... Infectious groove, love the soft-yet-assertive edge on the lead sound ... reminds me of an electric guitar played through the once popular H+H transistorised amps with the trademark Valve Sound switched on. The sounds are good, ( the bass is convincing, and that block is def made of wood! ) and despite the lack of them, this track stands up well

Maison Hypnotica ..... Some beautiful sounds, and some not so beautiful ... but quality nonetheless .... and great range. Nice arrangement and dynamics. Quite a challenging track, creepy as hell! ... but incredible blend of harmony and dissonance ... which I really like!

Iowa Tundra .... Quality elec piano sound! ... yep, could be a rhodes no prob. nice development from the mellow start to the clever interplay between piano and melody. Nice production which presents some great fizzy/metallic sounds in a way which tames their potential harshness. love the changes of tempo and mood through out. A great range of quality sounds throughout. A well worked composition.

OK, still listening to a selection, but think i know how i'm voting ... hang on a minute or two ...

[tattiemannie]

Flourescent Sky - Mike777 .... 5
All The Wrong Moves - Yeager .... 4
China dance loop - vanmorrison ... 3
Scales of charon - Mrblitz000 .... 2
RMXL Improv - Revorg .... 1


Would love to comment further re. my reasons for the above votes, but I think the variety in the above tracks alone are testament to how hard this was. Like comparing apples with second hand footwear! ... or diamonds with birds of prey.

I think I've used all credible superlatives in my assessment of OSC collections, so how do I go on? I dont need to ... I think the variation of style and approach, in combination with the quality and creative imagination presented in the above tracks defines this comp .... and marks RMXL up for inclusion in the OSC hall of fame.

Excellent work guys ..... every one a pleasure to listen to every time, and will continue to be for time to come

Oh, and to add to the praise, my teenage son would not go to bed until he'd heard all the tracks at least once ... and made all the appropriate teenage noises in appreciation

[tattiemannie]

... Oh and for what it's worth, Yeager's track was his fave ... but I told him to sort himself out!

[Mac of BIOnighT]

I think I've used all credible superlatives in my assessment of OSC collections, so how do I go on?

You might start using those nobody would ever believe
Seriously, I have the same problem

[bjporter]

Really awesome songs people!

Points:
--------------------------------------------------
Mike777 - 5
Revorg1 - The Functional Iowa Tundra Party - 4
Revorg1 - The 11:01 RMXL Imrpov - 3
K-Bee - Gone - 2
Julian Ray - 1

Runners Up:
Yeager
SatYatunes
Archon1024 - Endless Ocean
Tattiemannie
MrBlitz
Dj Groovy
Van Morrison
Gorgorgathgorgorgor



Reviews (starting from the list going backwards)
------------------------------------------------------------
Tattiemannie - Revealing My Kissy Lips
Although usually one would put this in the con, around 2:30 and earlier (1:38) there were some patches that sounded like a group of dying sci-fi cows. At first was totally freaky, but then I got used to it. Nice plucks, and prickles of the strings. Love the chords that were introduced at the intro, and used throughout song, give a pleasant vibe. I wasn't too fond of the baseline, but the notes themselves were groovy, and made me dance a little.

Revorg1 - The Functional Iowa Tundra Party
Love the intro, reminds me of major old school. Loved the effects used after that. Wasn't too fond of the 50 seconds thing, although by 1:19 that synth definitely made it nicer. Love the slight organ sounds. Great effects at 2:29. 2:46 was really epic with the reverb, and stuttering - seriously one of the coolest things ever - yeah maybe I'm out there in space, who knows - A little confused at 3:00 with the speed up??? Nice trumpets at the end!

Dj Groovy - Maison Hipnotica
Not fan of the intro melody or harmony, seems a bit off, or the kick. By 0:36 it definitely gets some character with the bassy shot, and the upper synth. Just wasn't feeling it too much here. Interesting pad sounds towards the end though.

Gorgorgathgorgorgor - Cold Front
Wasn't really feeling the sounds, but interesting non the less. Could see it being used in a game like 2D RPG where you're in a town full of happy people maybe...

K-Bee - Gone
Really interesting intro, musically, and nice texture too. Love the pad at 0:30. Surreal vibe at 1 minute with the new synth… surreal. Love the outro.

Julian Ray- Lonely Love
Cool airy intro… like floating in the clouds. Wasn't into the melody or harmony at 0:50 for some reason, felt something was off - not that it matters, the sounds were cool - Love the vibe around 1:50… almost love sick or something - a droning lonely synth hehe. Love the sounds after 3:50… song really picks up for me.

Revorg1 - The 11:01 RMXL Imrpov
Interesting harmonies, and sounds. Unique atmosphere here… wasn't too into it as a hole, but I really liked certain bits like my favorite was after 4:00, just great stuff!

Mike777 - Fluroescent Sky
I might be biased by how much I like the music, just amazing, reminds me of the time I heard Mulperi's "running" from earlier OSC, nearly crapped my pants. This song is 100% epic, a journey to pluto and back riding on a donkey strapped to 1,200 rockets through the flurescent sky! The intro is great, nice flavor here. Nice change up at 38 seconds, and then a beautiful transition to 1:07… melody too good haha. Epic at 1:32 blows up the speakers. 2:33 was like wow, then ends, total tease, then comes back haha. Enough about the music though… the sounds were nice, and fit well - the crunchiness of 3:15's pluck was tasty. Really beautiful use of the synths at 4:29ish

SatYatunes Go On
Love when the pads come in at the beginning. At 0:26.. Its pretty groovy, reminds me of a montage scene from an 80's movie in an office… like people doing their work, and someone is throwing a paper airplane, and some chic's flirting with a dude across from a cubicle… then pans into the next scene. 1:36 love that sound, sounds a bit similar to what I used for the lead in mine… it's a whiny kind of solo sound, lots of edge.

Van Morrison - China Dance Loop (RMXL)
Was interesting sounds. Wasn't too fond of the first half, the sounds were not interesting to me, I did like it after 3:00.

Mrblitz - Scales of Charon
The notes were interesting here, musically intriguing… I could see this working awesomely well as a video game scene in a really awkward mansion… maybe a cartoon style adventure game like Sam & Max, or Maniac Mansion. Was a tad hard on ears at 2:58. Liked the ending.

HiEnergy - RMXL
Lead has a nice metalic twang that works well, but lost interest in it a bit later, maybe was the melody that was too plonky… or the metal of the synth. Cool percs at 1:40. Awesome sounding almost vocals at 2:15!

Yeager - All the Wrong Moves
Great kick. Liked the arrangement and the arpegio sounds. 1:22 reminds me of some old school 1997-1999 trance sounds, especially the mini buildup at 1:41. Favorite part was 1:55, really cool sounds. The shakers were nice. Most mostly fond of the breakdowns. The tension at 4:30 was nice.

Archon1024 - Endless Ocean
The intro reminds me of music from some RPG's I played when I was younger. Pleasant sounds after 0:58… reminds me of a song but can't put finger on it, very enjoyable! Really great melody after the intro… just felt it was more suited to a rock song perhaps.

Bjporter - What Life Was Probably Like Before Midi (contest entry)
Eeks made this one 3ish hours before ending, because my projects broke weeks before and should have mixed down then, instead wait. Sound wise, I like the kick, and the clap a lot. The other stuff is pretty standard. Liked melody a lot. I wish I put more filter on the intro, and added a few more effects. The 1 minute after the silence could have had another melody to keep people more interested, it's a bit too cluby probably for OSC but I liked it so kept it at the time. I would have added a nice arp on top that switches up every 8 beats maby. Favorite part by far is around 2:12 when melody comes in… gets me every time (I'm weird like that with my own stuff )


Congrats everyone for nice tracks! All of them were beautiful in their own way