KVR Audio

esteband · Post by **esteband** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 4:35 am

Congratulations, winners!

That was cool. I think I'll stick around for a while and see if some of the talent can rub off on me.

-Steve

z.prime · Post by **z.prime** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 4:37 am

esteband wrote:I'll stick around for a while and see if some of the talent can rub off

welcome and wish there was some talent to give from me! Alas, only germs...

Touch The Universe · Post by **Touch The Universe** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 4:43 am

Hopefully you will pick up both talent and humility here, like the poster above me

Cheers

tatanka · Post by **tatanka** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 7:24 am

Hello,

congratulations to the winner, as I told before, "Richard" was my favourite too

(think someone will understand the joke), no thats no joke, it was really my absolute favourite.

Congratulations to the other winners too, all great songs.

Must say I am a little sad with my voting though it was first contest. I know it was just kind of hastingly cobbled together, more inspired from exitement then really intense working on it. And badly mixed, no really good soundscaping (even though I had some own patches) etc..

But the song or maybe better the song idea itself deserves more then the maker is my feeling. I still like it but thats what counts for me in the end and dont depends on any voting.

What I will have to understand is what counts in here (I think the "song" itself might be not the most important thing) and will have to learn as far as I could (and want, for me the song will EVER be the one thing that really matters) what these things are and how to make it.

There are some really good advice here in the last posts, for example just listning to the winners more under some technical aspects and filter out what they did in which way.

I think I have already learned some things in this contest, hopefully with more time I will learn a lot more in the next contests.

To sum it up: just love to be part of it,

to you all,

Richard

ThePresent · Post by **ThePresent** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:07 am

Congratulations Richard on your win!

spidergod · Post by **spidergod** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:22 am

Congratulations to the top 5 and also everyone that entered.
All good stuff.
Cannot wait for Aprils OSC now.

doctorbob · Post by **doctorbob** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:42 am

wagtunes wrote:Well, I just listened to this month's entry and it's much better than last month's so I should do better. If not then it's definitely the compositional style not being in line with what the general membership here is into, which wouldn't surprise me since I grew up in the 60s and 70s and that's the music I like. Today's EDM just isn't in my soul.

In the end, we all have to be who we are or we're nobody.

Don't worry about styles etc ... you need to do your own thing - just like what I do (hehe). I'm 10 years before you and perhaps that shows in my musical styles or stylings. We really have to be individuals or else we just wouldn't be ourselves!

I enter the comps because I like the idea of a "one synth", as it gives that extra challenge. I also like the deadlines - makes me work. I also like to "expose" these youngsters (hehe) to my musical ideas. Yes, there is a polarization, some love it, some hate it - that's music I'm afraid. But ...

I am very happy that those who had the top tracks also gave me high marks, even though my style is generally definitely not their taste at all. So thanks to you all, you know who you are.

My next track is very different from this one, but, it still has a basic song structure, has an intro and an outro, a middle-8 (ish!), lots of solos and so on.

I feel my mixing and production skills have improved quite a lot since starting off here a few months ago. This down to the good advice from all. Again, thanks, and, you know who your are!

So, take the advice and keep at it - maybe your tracks can rise up (mine recently have been on a downward route but, this does not now bother me).

Finally, congrats to the winners - my picks too, so my ears are not too bad even after being on stage and/or in front before the days of proper foldback or IEM. Basically people played LOUD! (Best time was using a Manor Mobile studio setup when supporting Hatfield and the North - a huge quad desk and about 3Kw per channel to the FOH! You felt the sound rather than heard it!!)

Cheers, and I look forward to your next track.

dB

MTLE · Post by **MTLE** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:52 am

Congrats to the Top 5.

This month I agree with the choice of the best.

But I also have same concerns like wagtunes about my own place. After all these rounds within OSC I'm still wondering, what people like or not. Sure we do this for fun. Putting all these hours in the tracks and finding the own name at the end of the list isn't funny at all. Reading January results really pissed me off and I needed some days to reactivate my motivation to continue OSC. Time that I missed near the deadline of February which was short anyway.

On the other hand since participating OSC I learned lot of skills that I never used before (EQs, Compression, Side Chains, ...) and mixing. Thats worth more than any of the prizes to win.

I don't care about winning but looking forward for better places

Cheers

bibz1st · Post by **bibz1st** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:28 am

I think maybe its a bit of a reality check, we all think we are the bees knees but maybe not everyone likes what we do so much, but thats life and also the reason we should carry on doing what we do, it means everything doesnt sound the same, that would be very boring. As long as you like what you do thats all that matters and if someone else happens to like or appreciate what you have put into it then thats a bonus.

Jeez I almost believe all that myself

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:29 am

Okay, I listened to the two top tracks (which by the way were my two favorites) with headphones and I get it.

What the tracks have in common though they are so different.

1) Slick sound. Very "commercial" sounding.

2) Pro production. Excellent stereo placing of instruments. Levels perfect.

3) Arrangement not static. Many changes throughout but not obviously so. More like a woven tapestry with things coming in and going out and then coming in again.

4) More riff and mood based than melody based. Melody is almost secondary to the overall frame so nothing really distracts from the rest of what's going on. So you get the whole picture and all the little nuances. In other words, nothing sticks out like a sore thumb. All the parts fit, like a perfect jigsaw puzzle.

5) Musical structure is solid. No weak parts. Enough changes so that it's not monotonous but still consistent enough so that it's not too chaotic. This is a very difficult line to walk and these guys do it masterfully.

Now, I listen to MY track and I hear one background "pattern" going through the whole thing with just a lot of different lead synths playing different melodies. It gives the illusion of "variety" but in reality, it's monotonous as hell. There are no highs and lows. It just starts and stops and in spite of its "noisiness" it's dull as hell. It's a kind of glitz with no real substance. I won't even touch on the poor production where everything is pretty much dead center.

In short, in comparison, it's pretty bad if I'm going to be totally honest. I need to take a totally different approach if I'm going to even have a prayer of finishing in the top 50% let alone near the top 5.

Whether or not I have the talent to pull this off, that's another matter. Richard's drum beats in his track are sick. I absolutely do not have that kind of rhythm in me being an old white guy from the 60s. LOL. But I'll give it my best shot.

The winners deserved to win and I pretty much deserved what I got if I'm going to be completely honest.

The track, in comparison, really blew.

bibz1st · Post by **bibz1st** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:38 am

wagtunes wrote:
Richard's drum beats in his track are sick.

Haha you maybe from the 60's but you are down with the kids

Parduz · Post by **Parduz** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:13 pm

wagtunes wrote:...There are no highs and lows. It just starts and stops and in spite of its "noisiness" it's dull as hell....

While i'll not define your track "dull as hell", the quoted part is what i meant when, with my poor english, i said in a post in the OSC71 thread that i did'nt get the "meaning" of your music.
As I was'nt sure if it was just me don't getting a precise style choice from you part i also said that maybe we were "talking two different languages". That was what i meant.

I could say more or less the same for MTLE track. I feel he's trying to tell something, but i "can't get the point" and i get lost in the middle of the track.

Now, this all from a guy who never had a penny for his own music and that develop software for a living, so pls take my words for what they're worth: my opinions and nothing else.
I'm talking just to try to be constructive and for the pleasure to discuss about music.

Parduz · Post by **Parduz** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:22 pm

Guys, thanks a lot!
I'm flattered by this result, which is unexpected 'cause i feel there's more track that deserves the highest places.
I just don't have enough words, so let me say "thank you" one more time.

MTLE · Post by **MTLE** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:41 pm

Parduz wrote: I could say more or less the same for MTLE track. I feel he's trying to tell something, but i "can't get the point" and i get lost in the middle of the track.

Thanks for your honest opinion. Sometimes I try to tell something and everything in the track has a special meaning ("Its out there" OSC#69). Sometimes I just let things happen and like what's going on. I should take care about these points. Feel free to PM me, if you want explain it more detailed to me.

Parduz wrote: ... this all from a guy who never had a penny for his own music and that develop software for a living...

You're not alone

fese · Post by **fese** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 6:38 pm

Wow, didn't expect that outcome for me, especially after i was so frustrated at times during the production of the track. I knew the song was good and arranging wasn't a problem, but I struggled a lot with the synth and the sound design because let's be honest, Eclipsis doesn't have the best sounding oscillators and filters and you have to work around that.
Also while I quite liked the FM and filter modulation options the overall concept of Eclipsis is somewhat unorthodox (why the heck an envelope for the filter modulation but not for the oscillator FM???). So some sounds took several iterations and all in all I never spent so much time on an OSC track so far. But it payed off obviously.

So thanks to everyone and congrats to the other winners and especially to Parduz for being a top-5-noob, too (and with a really beautiful contribution!)
Special thanks to sfiks for pointing out that in the first version "the snare kills the song", you were obviously right!

Oh right, the prize. I think I'll pass, too, because I really don't need another synth plugin or a soundset and the only effect in the list i already have

One Synth Challenge #72: Eclipsis by VSTZONE (Richard Semper Wins!)