One Synth Challenge #87: Podolski by U-he (Jasinski Wins!)

[Examigan]

FTR, my track is a step above pure garbage. Why? Because I spent an hour on it.

and now you complain about your score ... come on man
I spent hours and hours and hours and only got to 19 ...

Well you got robbed. If you read my comments, yours was one of my favorites.

Next month will really prove my point. Spent over 80 hours on my track. I'll still get 16 1s and be near the bottom.

I never do that great, but I don't care. I write songs much better when I have my own time time to think them through, and use a synth and (usually) a drum plugin that I own already. The Hive OSC was one of my best and it was only 25th place.

It would be cool to win something, but if you don't, it doesn't mean you can't write good music.

I've used one synth many times (besides the drum track, that is..) to make demo tracks for companies like KV331 Audio, Tone2, and Sonic Projects.

Anyway, don't let it get to you Wag.

[zippy731]

Congrats to winners, and everyone else! Tons of creativity on display, both sound design and music composition.

This is only my second OSC, but personally I find it far more educational than other contests I've participated in.

Working within the tight constraints of just one synth, I learn its (and my) limits and try to push myself. Then I get to hear the incredible sounds that others manage with those same constraints, and it gives me new perspective on what I could / should be doing differently. And new ideas I can take into the next project.

Very humbling, but educational.

Good luck everyone with this month!

Peace,
Z

[DruMunkey]

Another "hint" that it would be really cool if U-He threw the contestants a discount code!

[Dragonsongz]

Congrats Jasinski! No surprise there though.


Haven't checked the actual standings tho, so let's see how I did...

EDIT: No surprise there either XD

[z.prime]

I guess it's my turn to pick a prize... I'll take the u-he Uhbik.

Cheers and see you next month!

And always there will be talking about the scores. I'll just say again, there are 3 primary things you need to do very well in order to win, because other people are doing these very well: composition/creativity, sound design/selection, mixing/mastering. That's it. The reason rghvdberg didn't do as well as he should have is because the mix did not bring forward the great track he had as well as some others did. The reason JackKetch didn't do as well as he should have was because the sounds were not as realistic as they should have been for the genre. You could win with a classical track, but it should have sounds that are realistic, a stereo spread like an orchestra would have with sufficient layering of the various instruments, and a very solid composition. Focus on your weakest points and get better.

But, there's also a point of diminishing returns... spending 80 hours listening to the same loop/melody/progression and trying to figure out what to do can sometimes get very difficult and it becomes more work than fun. The faster you can finish a track, the better. In OSC, it's a lot trickier because you need to spend a lot of time making/finding sounds... what I'd suggest as a reasonable approach to the month is: spend 1 week or 2 weeks building a sound library with the synth: presets, tracks, etc... freeze/disable them within your project if you need to. Along the way, you'll have some nice melodies maybe and some chords and some drums and some good loops. Now, after the 1 or 2 weeks, delete all the music (not the percussion) and save a new project (this might pain you at the time to lose some beautiful music you've created). Now, start over with this soundset you've created that should already work together (since you made some loops and such you presumably liked) and spend the next 1 or 2 weeks to actually make something. You will probably still have to do some sound design along the way but it will be quicker because you're more familiar with the synth. You will also have some drums programmed you can quickly use, so you can focus on getting a melody/loop done very quickly and making a coherent track around this. You won't be sick of listening to it right away, which will let you focus on making a good track with a good arrangement, which is a necessary portion of the composition you need.

[H-man]

Yes, I have become my grandparents.

KMN

You crack me up mate

Oh and get more sleep will ya

[H-man]

Oh and congratz to the winners

Thx also for comments and votes all, and thx of course to Peter for another fun collab. So many great people in this comp so don't be afraid to connect with others here.

[Mechanought]

Congrats to the winners! This was great fun, especially for my first entry. I really appreciate all the input I got on my track, like really. I leaned a TON from this and look forward to participating in the future. I might miss out on the noisemaker OSC due to moving state, but you'll definitely see more of me.

Great work to everyone, there wasn't a single track that I actively disliked, and there were many that I liked very much.

Cheers!

[jasinski]

And always there will be talking about the scores. I'll just say again, there are 3 primary things you need to do very well in order to win...

Listen to the man...

I agree, any genre can win. You just have to do the genre very well. Some genres, because they are more popular, will have an advantage but it's not a guarantee of winning. There is an extra challenge if you are doing a style that requires realistic sounds. Your sound design has to on point. Even if you are doing a modern synthetic dance oriented genre- to get a truly modern sound that matches what the pros are doing is not easy. The closer you get to reaching it the more you'll realize what you are missing.

[aluode]

FTR, my track is a step above pure garbage. Why? Because I spent an hour on it.

and now you complain about your score ... come on man
I spent hours and hours and hours and only got to 19 ...

Well you got robbed. If you read my comments, yours was one of my favorites.

Next month will really prove my point. Spent over 80 hours on my track. I'll still get 16 1s and be near the bottom.

I never do that great, but I don't care. I write songs much better when I have my own time time to think them through, and use a synth and (usually) a drum plugin that I own already. The Hive OSC was one of my best and it was only 25th place.

It would be cool to win something, but if you don't, it doesn't mean you can't write good music.

I've used one synth many times (besides the drum track, that is..) to make demo tracks for companies like KV331 Audio, Tone2, and Sonic Projects.

Anyway, don't let it get to you Wag.

I used to work countless hours on my songs. Sometimes 18 hours a day. Then I got anxiety disorder and
suddenly I could no longer stress. So I write my songs fast. Often in hour, two.

But the thing is. I can keep on writing like this. Every day.

But I can not polish old songs. So I make little pieces I offer for free for people to use on youtube. .

I like making music at this point in time. In the future I may stop. But right now. I like doing it.

That is why I do this.

Expecting your songs to fare well is really stressful. Trying to polish them. Trying to do your hardest
so that people would love them.. It is tough on the psyche, especially if you can not do it..

But if you let go of that expectation. If you just make music for yourself and you like it..

It is much less stressful.

[rghvdberg]

Every OSC I learn new skills, find things I need to improve on. And that should be awarding enough.
But it's not.
I want to win, someday.

Only thing to do now is learn and work.

[Taron]

I absolutely love that about the OSC and keep saying, when ever this exact topic comes up again. By my count that's about every other OSC, hahaha!

Anyway, don't you always frown, when successful performers tell newbies to just "go out there and enjoy yourself!". ...but that's exactly it! Love what you do, love every chance to realize another piece that was missing or a neat "trick" to improve something else!? It's purely wonderful!

Some of us have made music for decades off and on, developed an understanding without much or any guidance. To stumble onto the OSC is like hitting the jackpot all by itself.

When one gets frustrated about not meeting the resonance that was so desired, I find it important to reset yourself every time that happens, so you can actually also forgive yourself for a weak moment in public, when you felt weak. We all have them and we all deserve to vent, when frustrations run high. So this forgiveness to yourself should always get yourself back to being ready for the next run at the most important thing there is: The thing you love to do!

[rghvdberg]

I compare this with my piano playing.

When I play piano people say it looks so easy and intuitive but I had to work very, very, very long and hard to make it look like that.
Only after countless hours of hard work I can "enjoy myself".

So, now I'll have to work countless hours on sound design and mixing. That's just the way it is.

Oh, btw, I'm not that really that good a pianist but the things I have to or want to play I can do without too much effort.

[photonic]

For the prize: I pass forward. Nothing left in the prizes I can use or I what I do not allready have.

Sometimes my approach for a new track is very similar to the method of Z. The first thing with every new synth is make some sounds and to leran how the synth works. Some times I make short musical notes, some bars of groove or chords and later I build up on those ideas.
But the best tracks are those where the synth inspires me with one certain sound where I start playing arround with it and start to create melody and chord progression at the same time. Like playing a piano or a guitar alone. Good old song writing. And when the song structure is defined, I start arranging and sound design to make a whole track out of it. Cosmic Circus is one of those tracks, where I worked with this method.
But I cannot force a special method. It comes from alone. And when not, I pause this month and do other things in life. The good thing when you are a hobby musisian is, that you can do music when you want and not when you have to. Most of us had the idea how it would be to make music for a living. It would be stress and a business and not the joy we have now!

[IrionDaRonin]

Then, is my turn to ask for a prize? I don't remember how many winners can get prizes. Thanks Photonic.