March Contest: Gossip

[IrionDaRonin]

Nice theme this month.
For doing a little 30 seconds track i guess lots of people will come to participate this month.

Have a good day guys

[slartibartfast]

Another initial observation on the tracks submitted this month.

My first listen through was on headphones. I then listened to the same tracks on my car stereo while driving to/from work. The difference in my views of some of the tracks was substantial, depending on the listening environment. Some of the better (IMHO) tracks while listening on headphones became seriously uninteresting on the car stereo - I think because the subtler details got lost in the background noise. Given the nature of this month's theme, I think those subtleties are important in creating a hypnotic ambience - so this month my comments (and voting) will be based on the impressions while listening on headphones.

Has anyone else noticed such large differences while listening to this month's tracks in different environments/on different equipment? How do you take account of these differences when deciding your votes?

[rockstar_not]

Another initial observation on the tracks submitted this month.

My first listen through was on headphones. I then listened to the same tracks on my car stereo while driving to/from work. The difference in my views of some of the tracks was substantial, depending on the listening environment. Some of the better (IMHO) tracks while listening on headphones became seriously uninteresting on the car stereo - I think because the subtler details got lost in the background noise. Given the nature of this month's theme, I think those subtleties are important in creating a hypnotic ambience - so this month my comments (and voting) will be based on the impressions while listening on headphones.

Has anyone else noticed such large differences while listening to this month's tracks in different environments/on different equipment? How do you take account of these differences when deciding your votes?

I only use headphones for listening to KVR tracks.

[GMoneh]

May the odds be ever in your favor (sorry, couldn't resist).

Someone went to the movies this weekend...

BTW, thanks for the top vote

[yevster]

Haha, yeah, I did.

And you totally deserve it. Your piece was wicked catchy. And I'm a sucker for catchy things. And I love your textural development. Gonna listen to some more of your stuff...

[pljones]

Has anyone else noticed such large differences while listening to this month's tracks in different environments/on different equipment? How do you take account of these differences when deciding your votes?

I only use headphones for listening to KVR tracks.

I have three "listening environments" -- well, all sitting in front of my computer...
1) Nasty Sony PC 12" LCD monitor speakers
2) Far less nasty ViewSonic PC 24" w/s monitor speakers
3) Pretty nice Technics RP-F350 headphones

In any month, I'll use one of these for all entrants... picking which is a little hit and miss but once I've started, that's the treatment all get. I don't compare a track across environments but I recognise that some tracks work better in the lower fidelity environments than others - i.e. they're more "radio friendly" in that sense.

[slartibartfast]

Thanks for sharing your listening environments, pljones, rockstar_not. Having participated (and voted) in many of these contests in the past, this is the first time that I have noticed that the difference between listening on headphones or on speakers is so huge. I can only put this down to the nature of this month's theme, and the more ambient nature of many of the tracks. Interesting.

[D.H. Miltz]

Next month's theme: Get to the point, already. Make something musically complete and meaningful (to you and, possibly, to voters) that lasts no longer than thirty seconds. Or as farlukar might put it: a thinly disguised free-for-all with a thirty second time limit.

Wow, that's really short for a month... Can we make two submissions?

I think I'll keep it at one submission. Although, just like any other month, you could do one by yourself and one collaboration (or none by yourself and two collabs).

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

rachMiel, thanks for the vote!

if anyone else liked 'prayer wheel 12', here are some early versions:

http://archive.org/details/PrayerWheels

edit: oops, prayer wheel 12 attempted some '5/8 riffage', where it turns out the older versions were using much more '6/8'.

[pljones]

Sorry for the short comments this month: I'm rather distracted by uni work. No offence intended: this is capturing my immediate reactions mostly for the purposes of voting.

First, the top ten (as it was at the time - the order will have changed by now)
forw - Yes. This. Does it. Oh yes. Challenge to stay awake here - that's good!
Patrick9 - Worked. Very nice.
Emerald Tablet - Like that, yes...
kryptonaut - Ahhh... Tick that tock. I can get into this.
inboxzero - Kept waking me up with the odd rhytmic jumps but otherwise pretty hypnotic.
knockman - Mmm, very mesmerising. Nice tune, too.
liqih - Ah, I can see this one's goal but it's n.... ot going to work (that middle bit does better).
offthewall - This simply has to score some points. Nicely done as ever!
D.H. Miltz - Mmmmm.... relaxing
nikp2000 - Well, it's trying to hypnotise someone. It needs to try hard but it's got the idea right.

And the rest as they came (of course, if I listened to them all again, some of these could be promoted into the upper division)...
Interferon - Crackly. "Couch" as in padded? Pad? Geddit?
Mister Natural - Felt a little grey and dull rather than dali-esq...
Bjulin - Um, no. Took me nowhere.
Doc Jon - More ticking and "rain"? I like the piano. The rain sounded very fake in the end. Lovely track, though.
Jerru - Mmm, started off a little weak but improved in the middle. Less keen on the ending - too busy.
mrblitz - FFS?! W'uh? Seriously?
farlukar - Became irritating after a good start.
yevster - Nice tune. I can see the idea but it didn't quite get under my skin. Good length.
bzur - I wasn't. Nice snap at the end, though. At least, I don't think I was. Was I?
beanpole - Distracting and irritating rather than hypnotic...
Laguna Rising - Bouncy castles in the fog. Or something. Becoming French. Weird...
rachmiel - Throbbing. But somewhat unfulfilling.
evo2slo - Nice song but... um, the theme?
Vulcandj - Eastern and mystical yet not hypnotic.
oddbod - Eastern and mystical yet not hypnotic. (Uh... take two!)
rockstar_not - Hm. No connection, sorry.
slartibartfast - Needs hypnotoic visuals, I think.
Peterhud - Pleasant enough.
GMoneh - Nice tune but... not doing hypnotic for me.
satYatunes - More rain - sounds more realistic, too. But very wide awake.

(edit: 10 is an even number.)

[Laguna Rising]

yevster, thanks for the vote !

(HM: almost voted laguna's piece #1, but it 'wasn't hypnotic'. the progression to that is so cool.)

Thanks

laguna rising - great crazy melody!

Thanks

Laguna Rising - Bouncy castles in the fog. Or something. Becoming French. Weird...

Thanks

[GMoneh]

Sorry for the short comments this month: I'm rather distracted by uni work.

Short comments is better than no comments. Any comments at all are appreciated.

GMoneh - Nice tune but... not doing hypnotic for me.

That's cool. Thanks for the listen anyway.


Ummm.... you do know that the top 10 should have only 10 entries, right?

[pljones]

Ummm.... you do know that the top 10 should have only 10 entries, right?

See, that's what I get for going over them so many times..!! Gah! Sorry yevster.

D.H. Miltz, can you just ignore yevster or should I edit my vote entry?

[forw]

forw - Yes. This. Does it. Oh yes. Challenge to stay awake here - that's good!

@pljones: Thanks alot for listening and your kind words!!

[rockstar_not]

rockstar_not - Hm. No connection, sorry.

)

Does this mean you couldnt listen to the track or it didn't fit the theme in your opinion?