September Composition Competition!

[xgsjx]

Like Skol say's, you don't need to associate Facebook with it if you don't want to.

[Dave Vader]

Okay, I think I've heard most of the competition now, and having just finished the final mix on mine, I am fairly sure I'm not going to win.
However, it has forced me to actually finish something for once. Which is a good thing, hope we keep this up, it's really good fun.
I am mightily impressed with everyone's work, would point out my favourites, but favouritism is very nice. I'll just say that I really like pianos. And am fond of drum and bassage.
Will upload my ode to cider drenched summer evenings later when I am on a better connection (this studio PC is no good for the internet).

[Dave Vader]

[url="http://soundcloud.com/plastic-squirrel/slightly-rattled-bc"]http://soundcloud.com/plastic-squirrel/slightly-rattled-bc[/url]

Here it is, got away from me a bit this one did. Not too bad, even my banjo hating wife quite likes it.

[Skol303]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1348258782' post='1811645']
Here it is, got away from me a bit this one did. Not too bad, even my banjo hating wife quite likes it.
[/quote]

Nice playing. Very upbeat and I definitely get the cider vibe - I was practically weened on the stuff growing up in Hereford!

I really dig the banjo too. The intro in particular is great.

Interesting how everyone has conjured up a different mood from the picture!

[Dave Vader]

Yeah, it's been really interesting getting all the different mindsets on the picture. Now stop posting here, and get yours done Skol....

[Skol303]

Ok, finished! Finally… or more like 'abandoned' as most of my mixes end up.

http://soundcloud.com/skollob/nightingale-basschat

I kinda went 'off piste' with this and did something very different to my usual drum 'n' bass / dubstep / angry electronic stuff. Used a bunch of natural field recordings for the various water and wildlife noises (sourced under creative commons license from www.freesound.org). Also sampled a few toy instruments from Skol Jnr's collection!

The very minimal bassline is all mine (I'm a poor player so kept it simple). As are the vocals - in fact this is the first time I've [i]ever[/i] recorded myself singing. It could also be the last

I've really enjoyed this process and thanks to Charic for setting it up!

[JamieMillsBass]

Hopefully get mine mixed tomorrow, I say that as if I'm actually any use whatsoever at mixing. ha

[Bilbo]

I am not sure that 'liking' it covers it, Skol (I wouldn't buy it, for instance) but I admire the creativity and production. Zs for the vocals, you need to recognise that being a 'good' singer isn't just about high notes and technique, it is also about expression and character your vocal on this is very fitting for the context/vibe you arae creating. Fit for purpose, I think the expression is.

[Dave Vader]

That's great Skol, I agree with Bilbo on the vocals, perfect for the track. Drip hop is the future....

[lowdown]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1348269403' post='1811857']
[url="http://soundcloud.com/skollob/nightingale-basschat"]http://soundcloud.co...ingale-basschat[/url]
[/quote]

I quite like that Skol.
The only thing for me is the duck call or bird sound jiving out all the way through.
I found i was kinda of listening to that mostly, i think the point was made in the first 16 bars or so,
but that's me just being me. Bass break in the middle breaks it up nicely.
Good stuff.

Just been listening to the tracks, some really good ideas floating around peeps.


Garry

Edited September 22, 2012 by lowdown

[arsenic]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1348258782' post='1811645']
[url="http://soundcloud.com/plastic-squirrel/slightly-rattled-bc"]http://soundcloud.co...htly-rattled-bc[/url]

Here it is, got away from me a bit this one did. Not too bad, even my banjo hating wife quite likes it.
[/quote]

Liking the Banjo. Good stuff.

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1348269403' post='1811857']
Ok, finished! Finally… or more like 'abandoned' as most of my mixes end up.

[url="http://soundcloud.com/skollob/nightingale-basschat"]http://soundcloud.co...ingale-basschat[/url]

I kinda went 'off piste' with this and did something very different to my usual drum 'n' bass / dubstep / angry electronic stuff. Used a bunch of natural field recordings for the various water and wildlife noises (sourced under creative commons license from www.freesound.org). Also sampled a few toy instruments from Skol Jnr's collection!

The very minimal bassline is all mine (I'm a poor player so kept it simple). As are the vocals - in fact this is the first time I've [i]ever[/i] recorded myself singing. It could also be the last

I've really enjoyed this process and thanks to Charic for setting it up!
[/quote]

That is great. Good use of the natural sounds .Nicely different.

[charic]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1348258782' post='1811645']
[url="http://soundcloud.com/plastic-squirrel/slightly-rattled-bc"]http://soundcloud.co...htly-rattled-bc[/url]

Here it is, got away from me a bit this one did. Not too bad, even my banjo hating wife quite likes it.
[/quote]

Nice work

The banjo stuff is great and the bassline worked great

[charic]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1348269403' post='1811857']
Ok, finished! Finally… or more like 'abandoned' as most of my mixes end up.

[url="http://soundcloud.com/skollob/nightingale-basschat"]http://soundcloud.co...ingale-basschat[/url]

I kinda went 'off piste' with this and did something very different to my usual drum 'n' bass / dubstep / angry electronic stuff. Used a bunch of natural field recordings for the various water and wildlife noises (sourced under creative commons license from www.freesound.org). Also sampled a few toy instruments from Skol Jnr's collection!

The very minimal bassline is all mine (I'm a poor player so kept it simple). As are the vocals - in fact this is the first time I've [i]ever[/i] recorded myself singing. It could also be the last

I've really enjoyed this process and thanks to Charic for setting it up!
[/quote]

That's really different and I found myself really enjoying it. The mix sounds really good on my monitors too I particularly liked the panning and the fly sound right near the beginning actually seemed to pop out a bit

[Bilbo]

Am I the only one who can't wait for next month's picture?

[charic]

Addictive eh?

[Mornats]

Ok, so the picture sums up an image of Somerset (where I now live) for me. So, inspired by my trip to Glastonbury (the town, not the festival) I came up with this composition which I decided to enter partway through recording and mixing. So just about based on the image at the start of this thread!

http://soundcloud.com/mornats/somerset

[bobbass4k]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1348181709' post='1810677']
Very nice! I'm all up for alternative stuff and this certainly floats my boat.

I think you're being hard on yourself as the mix sounds fine to me (I'm listening on headphones - no monitors at the moment). Maybe loosen up a wee bit on the compression; especially around the 2 minute mark when the distorted guitar kicks in (sounds like it's 'flattening' the other instruments a little). No big deal. Generally the mix sounds nicely wide and 'sparkly' (that's the best technical term I can offer!).

Anyway, nice work like I said. I particularly like the percussive/glitchy elements during the first half of the track - reminds me of early Aphex Twin (Ambient Works, etc).

I'm guessing Ponizovje is a reference to Metal Gear Solid 3?? (yes, I have access to Google… and yes, I'm a games geek).
[/quote]

Aye, Ponizovje is an area in MGS3, which contains a crocodile infested Russian swamp, it's the first thing I thought of when I saw that picture, unfortunately google image search doesn't really correlate with my memories of it, but i still see that picture and think "better equip the croc cap".

Looking forward to the voting, i've been confined to 3g since i posted mine so I haven't been able to listen to the new ones, but it should be a very interesting competition.

[Skol303]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1348304105' post='1812030']...being a 'good' singer isn't just about high notes and technique, it is also about expression and character your vocal on this is very fitting for the context/vibe you arae creating. Fit for purpose, I think the expression is.[/quote]

Cheers Bilbo, appreciate the feedback and words of encouragement! I'm a very self-conscious singer but I might break out the mic a bit more in future. Glad you think it all hangs together ok.

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1348305306' post='1812050']That's great Skol, I agree with Bilbo on the vocals, perfect for the track. Drip hop is the future....[/quote]

Cheers Dave! And likewise, good to know the vocals aren't as bad as I'd imagined.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1348308103' post='1812096']I quite like that Skol. The only thing for me is the duck call or bird sound jiving out all the way through.[/quote]

Thanks Garry. I know what you mean about the nightingale sample; I think I ended up being oblivious too it by the end of the mixing process. I was trying to use it instead of a lead synth, but it probably ended up a little too 'chirpy'. More's the point, I've had comments from friends that the water noises aren't advised when the drinks have been long but the journey to the toilet even longer! Although it's good to know the track induces an emotional response in folks

[quote name='arsenic' timestamp='1348311713' post='1812155']That is great. Good use of the natural sounds .Nicely different.[/quote]

Thanks Arsenic. I had the idea of using field recordings the minute I saw the picture. It took a lot of faff chopping them up and looping them in time, but definitely something I'll try again.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1348335689' post='1812528']
That's really different and I found myself really enjoying it. The mix sounds really good on my monitors too I particularly liked the panning and the fly sound right near the beginning actually seemed to pop out a bit
[/quote]

Cheers Charic. Good to know it sounds ok thru monitors. Thanks again for setting up the competition, I've really enjoyed it and it's great to hear so many different interpretations of the picture.

[Skol303]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1348342928' post='1812670']
Ok, so the picture sums up an image of Somerset (where I now live) for me. So, inspired by my trip to Glastonbury (the town, not the festival) I came up with this composition which I decided to enter partway through recording and mixing. So just about based on the image at the start of this thread!
[/quote]

Nice work Mornats! You've got a good tone on your bass and I love the chords that kick in around 1:25 (my favourite melody in the whole track - really nice). The drums are solid too, they almost sound as though played live (maybe they were?).

The mix itself sounds good through my headphones; well balanced and nicely produced.

[JamieMillsBass]

Heres mine.

Gave up on the mixing completely because I'm useless at it.

When I first looked at the pic I thought it looked nice, then when I looked again I thought there was a bit of a sinister thing to it, as if something really bad is about to happen, so I tried to get this into the tune.

It's all bass, no guitars at all and the wee solo bits at the start were all improvised. I'm not really totally happy with the layout but it's all I could do in the time, anyways, enjoy!!

[url="http://soundcloud.com/jamiemillsbass/summergonesour"]http://soundcloud.com/jamiemillsbass/summergonesour[/url]

[BigRedX]

Hers's my entry:
http://soundcloud.com/bigredx/bigredx-september

Rather than use the picture as inspiration, I used it to generate audio data, which I then cut up and re0arranged to form something a bit more musical.

There's some delay, reverb and compression applied, but otherwise everything you hear was generated from the the data in the JPEG.

[Skol303]

[quote name='JamieMillsBass' timestamp='1348439179' post='1813744']
Heres mine. Gave up on the mixing completely because I'm useless at it. When I first looked at the pic I thought it looked nice, then when I looked again I thought there was a bit of a sinister thing to it, as if something really bad is about to happen, so I tried to get this into the tune. It's all bass, no guitars at all and the wee solo bits at the start were all improvised. I'm not really totally happy with the layout but it's all I could do in the time, anyways, enjoy!![/quote]

Wow. Super smooth tone and great playing - I wish I had your skills! I like how it builds momentum from start to finish; very natural and the change around 2 minutes is great. Mix sounds fine on my headphones.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348439238' post='1813745']
Rather than use the picture as inspiration, I used it to generate audio data, which I then cut up and re0arranged to form something a bit more musical. There's some delay, reverb and compression applied, but otherwise everything you hear was generated from the the data in the JPEG.[/quote]

That is insanely genius! It's like something from the mind of Aphex Twin… really clever stuff and you've done a good job in creating something musical from it. Reminds me of an experimental electronica night I used to frequent in Manchester (sadly no longer running), called 1bpm. Going to share this with a few mates who will no doubt love it! Good work

[charic]

Votings now up still need to listen to the latest entries!

Although I'll probably relisten to the lot.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1348441783' post='1813778']
That is insanely genius! It's like something from the mind of Aphex Twin… really clever stuff and you've done a good job in creating something musical from it. Reminds me of an experimental electronica night I used to frequent in Manchester (sadly no longer running), called 1bpm. Going to share this with a few mates who will no doubt love it! Good work
[/quote]

Thanks! It's a idea I've been toying with for quite some time, but this was the first time I've used it for anything more than just some audio textures. You are completely at the mercy of how the image translates into sound - a lot of the time nothing even vaguely musical or rhythmic is generated. Luckily this image generated a sequence of notes which I've used although in a much slower form and slightly rearranged as the original was far to frantic and atonal to go with the image.

Of the listen to what everyone else has produced now. I've deliberately avoided checking them out before so I wouldn't be influenced and more importantly I wouldn't give up when I heard how much better they were than my effort was turing out.

[Skol303]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348476467' post='1813907']You are completely at the mercy of how the image translates into sound - a lot of the time nothing even vaguely musical or rhythmic is generated. Luckily this image generated a sequence of notes which I've used although in a much slower form and slightly rearranged as the original was far to frantic and atonal to go with the image.[/quote]

Out of interest, what software do you use for generating audio from images? I'd like to try this out myself some time.