ACE patch contest (very niiiiiiice) - voting

[jandy]

Looking forward to the next comp.

I'm looking forward to the next competition too.

[mcnoone]

1.v_universal jungle
2.Analog Crystalline Bells
3.Pianog

[Surphaze]

Well, that's the trick really isn't it? Make it sound good, but don't fry the CPU. Getting a nice balance

I'd say the trick is to just turn down the quality until CPU usage gets acceptable.
I didn't consider patches for my votes that didn't play without crackles on my CPU without manually turning down the quality. I don't actually mind it, I even prefer all patches to be on full quality setting. I just wanted to take into account that other patch designers actually took care to lower the sound quality of their patches.

I still like some of the CPU-burners a lot

Best!

[djsubject]

Phat old mini (mw)

Potato

v_universal jungle

[xh3rv]

Seems like interest in ACE contests are pretty high, that's great to see. Thinking next one could be retrigger, legato, and duophonic voice modes only? (A little bit of structure past 'submit whatever' could be good, too much is definitely bad ...)

[GeorgeZ]

Ye, it's a bit of a mixed bag if you have "do whatever" comp. Limits definitely pushes one's creativity, so I'd be keen for this

[musikmachine]

Would be more cpu friendy too.

[runray]

Hard to choose, because almost all sounds is great , but:
1) ThickBassStack
2) Static Pads
3) Pianog

[Debby747]

1. Honeysuckle
2. Really Bad Reception
3. Twee Electric

I also the Electric Quay.

[Surphaze]

Thinking next one could be retrigger, legato, and duophonic voice modes only? (A little bit of structure past 'submit whatever' could be good, too much is definitely bad ...)

Some frame would make sense.
Rather than "modes" in that case I think it'd make sense to first define somehow a "goal" for the sound that had to be made clear in the voting as well. What I wanna say: The judging criteria varies a lot. Some people vote more for sounds with a great innovative design and unique character, others rather judge how useful the sound can be actually used. I wasn't sure myself what to vote on here for example I love "fallout" but it could as well be delivered as a sample and I'd probably not use it in a song because it's too unique. "honeysuckle" on the other hand is very useful and nice to play with the controls. Not a sound I've never heard before but a very well patched highly useful preset.
I voted for both but I don't think they can actually be compared.

Dunno how a judging/voting system could be implemented to fit my suggestions here, maybe instead of or in addition to just choosing fab 3, it could be something like picking fav(s) in categories like
- usability
- uniqueness in sound design
- patching creativity
- ...


Well... just thinking loud here
Was definitely fun to patch ACE demo

Best,


V

[hakey]

1. Fallout
2. Bad Reception
3. Morning on Venus

[blurk]

1. Icepick Pad (some almost formantish action happening there)
2. Heavenly Beings Pad
3. KbMi Analog Crystilline Bells

[AzureWave]

Well, that's the trick really isn't it? Make it sound good, but don't fry the CPU. Getting a nice balance

I'd say the trick is to just turn down the quality until CPU usage gets acceptable.
I didn't consider patches for my votes that didn't play without crackles on my CPU without manually turning down the quality. I don't actually mind it, I even prefer all patches to be on full quality setting. I just wanted to take into account that other patch designers actually took care to lower the sound quality of their patches.

I still like some of the CPU-burners a lot

Best!

I have to confess that one of my submissions is a complete CPU-burner! and if I was submitting the patch now I would have set the quality to standard rather than accurate.

Having said that, it is very easy with ACE to reduce the CPU load by switching the quality setting from accurate to a lower one, so when I vote CPU won't be a criteria. As a sound designer with ACE you have the opportunity to give tips to the user in the patch info text, so maybe the answer is to indicate how to reduce the CPU overhead or why it might be wise to increase it (for instance when playing very high notes for a better sound or making music for bats).

It is difficult to know how to vote though, because there are two ways that sounds are used, one obviously as part of a track, the other as a spot effect in a soundtrack for film etc. The criteria for the two are very different. Perhaps this could be the basis for a more focused future competition.

Will be voting later, as there are so many great inspirational sounds in there I need to play them all again!

[hakey]

It is difficult to know how to vote though, because there are two ways that sounds are used, one obviously as part of a track, the other as a spot effect in a soundtrack for film etc.

But utility mightn't be the only yardstick by which one measures the merits of a patch. A patch can be interesting on its own aesthetic terms, without suggesting an obvious use. Many of my favourite patches are of the 'sonic sculpture' type - perhaps not conventionally useful, rather what might almost be considered artistic creations in their own right.

As for how one judges these contests, I don't think there's an easy way to codify a scoring system - it's pretty much down to each person to make their own subjective judgement.

I just tend to go by what I like - 'is it interesting?' is probably the foremost consideration, followed by questions such as is it well balanced/focused, is it a good example of its kind, is it playable, has the designer demonstrated skill, has AT, MW, PB been employed and, if so, has it been used appropriately (to add interest and enhance the patch), are there any problems with the patch (eg clipping, only sounds good within a restricted key range), etc.

[j3l1yt0t5]

1: Big Bad Digital
2: Battlestar
3: Potatoe