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Organized by: Yannis
Brown
GroovyCompo #6 Results
Placing Filename Author 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Last Total 1st pro-osc.it Protocol 8 3 3 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 152 2nd beef.xm FireLight 2 7 4 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 128 3rd ts-magi.it TitanStar 2 1 1 4 2 3 1 1 1 1 0 102 4th smeg_gc6.it Smeg 2 2 3 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 91 5th farside.xm Smash 1 0 1 4 2 1 3 4 0 0 0 87 6th ge-1998.it Genosha 1 0 0 3 2 6 3 0 0 0 0 85 7th tj-mowre.it Toejam 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 0 78 8th fx-chick.it Trinity/Flexible 0 2 1 0 1 2 1 2 4 2 0 62 9th bart-pps.it Bart 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 4 0 50 10th drz_pimp.it DrZachary 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 1 2 2 0 36 11th gc6wlfg.it Wolfgang 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 35 12th js-efb.it Jestyr 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 29 13th evoorg.xm BlackNova 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 15 14th dkinsdel.xm Decker 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 12 14th mik-gc06.it MikPos 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 10 15th dkda-jam.xm Darius & Decker 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 flowers3.it Ondine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 4 16th gc6-blip.it PurrNaK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 & Fractal Panther 17th sexman.it Gneuss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 Disqualified For Not Voting (or incorrect voteform) csf-ljcc.it CatsPaw/SonicFusion 0 1 3 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 0 76 Comments Comments On First Place: Quickly, i really was peaced out by tj-monkey wrench and thought it was really nice and uplifting. I thought protocol was good as always but it was a bit noisy for the time of the day and I hated that chord progression sorry :). Pro-osc sounded like a real song... it was awesome! It caught my attention early on, and kept it throughout the whole song. Ts-magi also had what it takes for a winning song, but pro-osc edged it out in overall song quality. Firelight's tune 'beef' was well-tracked, thoughtful, and displayed interesting variation. Chords, lead, percussion, etc, they all made me feel like a little kid again-- they were that good. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I realised how the cow sample added to the mastery of the track. Well done! I personally hate cheese. But variation deserves a lot of points, it takes time and skill. So Protocal's entry is the best. All entries lacked in style. Looked like the people took the 2 weeks for granted and ended up with hurried entries. Well, I like mysterious kind of tunes, and the instruments used in this module we're nicely chosen so that they all work with each other. The tune itself was great and the work of a main instrument, a bass instruments, and the drums were all nicely compiled. Interesting to say the least pro-osc.it is a really good song from a technical standpoint. it's a song with no immediate weak points, except that the transitions between the different lead instruments could have been done better if you let them relate/interact with eachother. instead, they end and appear very abruptly (but with a pushing feel like this, it might be just as well ;). all the other aspects of this song are done with great skill, and i see no option but that of you winning this silly compo once again =) btw. the opening of bart-pps.it rules! ;) A truly excellent track. The way the FireLight combines the limited samples into an inspirational piece of work in such a limited time shows unbelievable talent. The tracking style is very advanced and shows great skill. The samples, carefully selected by FireLight, came together beutifully with the energetically tracked patterns. This song deserves first place! PRO-OSC.IT first because: Completely well structured. The introduction has a very slick buildup and the hits clinch it up nicely in the end. This song was perhaps the most "melodically correct" (?) of all the entries in my mind. His use of the ehanced tom sound he got from doubling it with another percussive instrument was very effective. The scaling arpegios give the tune a sense of speed. The only one qualm I have with it is that it sounds extremely like a song from the "Y's" game soundtrack. :) As opposed to many of the songs: Protocol's "One Step Closer", which I awarded first place, had a steady beat and a recognizable tune. And while I could imagine the music in an old Super Nintendo racing game, or as the intro to some cheesy 80's japanimation, it is the only song which maintained a strong rhythm. It leapt right into the music without a dull introduction, and kept its musical integrity until the end. And the repeated use of its main chorus was well done and varied as opposed to the many songs whose choruses were tedious and over-used. And the interlude at playing orders 12-19 stood on its own without losing the focus of the song's main theme. MikPos' strangely titled "Groovy Compo is supra e" came extremely close to winning first place in my rating, aided by a strong bass guitar, but ultimately lost its focus and integrity at certain points. Both these two songs were head and shoulders above the rest because they each had tunes which could be followed and enjoyed, and patterns that melded seamlessly together. And neither were weakened by overuse of a theme such as the funky 70's style in many songs, but rather had their own idiosyncrasies within their tunes that gave the music personality. There were a few shining tunes here, but in my opinion, the best was Far Side by Smash. It was the most original tune out of the pack; the guitar sample was handled very well. The tempo change + bongos later in the song are a good touch. It was also the only song in the pack that I decided to keep for good. (js-efb.it) Yes. I have to admit that this song is Very much like Mr. Bungle. I am a very big fan of Mr. Bungle So I was quite critticle with this song. The Bottom line is I chose you over everyone else. It was a tough choice believe me. I love Jazz too so with all them Jazzy funky sounds I had to listen to each song about five times. Ok think I liked: The Mr. Bungle sound of course, I like the oddity of it all. :) Things I didn't like. The Mr. Bungle sound didn't really change much. Some improvments that could be made. Change that lead instrument and add some vocals too bad about that size restriction eh? That's about it. I enjoyed listening to this song and a couple of my friends loved it. I think TS-MAGI.IT is the best, because it is original. Titan Star has used an exciting and "new" music style, not the traditional funk or techno music. He does something new. Well well well. There was a distinct lack of musically interesting (or developed at all) songs in the pack. I for one would vote like a shot for a song that had a really good understanding of melody and had some really musically interesting leads. In the absence of this, you are left with the songs with the good technique to win. Which means that protocol and firelight, followed by catspaw, win nicely. Its a pretty poor reflection on a large amount of the pack when, to make top 10 the major qualification was to stay reasonably in tune.. Anyway. Protocol displayed excellent technique and produced an interesting and enjoyable song in a style that wasn't easy with the samples available. Firelight did a song remarkably similar to the songs he often does, but (maybe a reflection on the rest of the pack, eh) still got 2nd easily. Not very original, but at least it had a cow and some very good technique, and was skilled enough musically. Catspaw's song was enjoyable, had a good technique and nice melodies to put it in 3rd. Smeg deserves a mention in 4th for a well developed groove (especially for the downsampled snares, which gave them a great dirty sound). Smeg's song, along with maybe a couple others, showed some things which pretty much none of the others did: namely a grewvin drum trak, an actual chord progression, and a melody *shudder*. As compared with that phluid guy's song, which was 115% polish and cheese, and -15% substance, Smeg's song had variation and, of course, an elite Aeon Flux sample ;). Most of the other songs had some melody which went absolutely nowhere, or accompaniament which was fun for maybe 5 patterns, but then just kind of got boring and repetitive with no k-rad melody to go along with it. Smeg's song had that basic melody brought in in pattern 4 channels 16-19 and he kind of danced around it for the rest of the song (well most of the rest of the song). Pattern 6 channels 20-22 he brought in some other crazy instruments to build on the melody, adding some interest and more elite grooviness. Of course you can't have elite grooviness all the time, otherwise it would get boring and repetitive kind of like a Spice Girls' song. And unless you look like a Spice Girl you probably won't last long doing music like that. So from pattern 9 through pattern 12, Smeg adds some relief by cutting the melody and all the grooviness, and leaves you with some basic percussion, and you might even put in some harmony or bass, depending on the effect you're looking for. Pattern 14 channels 18-20, and patterns (not order) 20 through 24, there's some more variation on the melody. Remember you can't do the same thing over and over again. That sucks. Pattern 24 channels 31-32 there's some crazy ass noise. It may not seem very important, but crazy ass noises can add a lot of atmosphere to a song. And basically that's it. And I might as well mention the elite Aeon Flux sample again - elite voice samples work OK as long as they're not *coughmcscootercough* really annoying or *coughmcscootercough* really overused which makes them more annoying. And yea so that's about it. Of course you could really ignore all this if only you looked like a Spice Girl. Bart-pps.it got first place because it was a good song to listen to. The intro started out well, and then it led smoothly into adding drums, and then the melody came in. Everything progressed smoothly and sounded in tune with eachother. This song used repetition in a good way, unlike sexman.it, which I voted last for use of repetition in a bad way. Side note: good use of a banjo. I didn't think too many people would use a banjo sample. Overall, this was a very enjoyable song, both technically and musically. (Smeg-gc6.it) When this song comes into order 25, and the strings goes Gm - D# or Cm - Gm - F - Gm - Gm/D, I am getting goosebumps. The heavily echoed distortion samples fit perfectly, and together with the rest of the voices they create that very creepy, scary atmosphere. The song fades out while the "One wish"-sample is echoed between the speakers. Excellent! The buildup in order 12+ is also very well made. Extra points for a long song - most well-made songs in this compo lasted only one or two minutes :-( Ugh I hate these kinda things! Ok, protocol's tune sounded whole and complete. It had a definite melody line, whereas I thought most of the other songs didn't really seem to have a main melody, just a few chords here and there. The ending of protocol's song was good too, not just a boring fadeout or something. Hmm.. In a way it sounded 'old-skoolish' :) BEEF.XM could have taken over 1st place the GE-1998.IT, however it was incomplete (albeit a little late, too). It had strong potential. In the end it was GE-1998 that I have to rank at the top due to its smooth but not sluggish style, decent (but not spectacular) leads, and evolving percussion. CSF-LJCC.IT also showed decent effort, although it seemed a little muddled due to a heavy use of padding/electric piano. The the second section's lead was about two octaves too high. Oddly enough, I expected better funky songs given the wah-wah guitars. However, most of them turned out detuned, making me lean more towards the rest of the pack that didn't rely on those samples.
Comments On Last Place: (GC6-BLIP.IT) Fractal Panther's "Always Going Blip" would have been vastly improved if more than 13 patterns had been written for this 37 pattern song. It has a limited tune and could use a more complex rhythm and melody. A simple four or six note passage was perpetually played and replayed to the point of physical exhaustion. The song seems too focused on the basic beat, almost as if one were listening to a song's percussion without the lead instrument and melody. This is only half of a song, and the mesmerising beat that makes up the entirety of this module could easily drive the listener insane. The first pattern or two which seem at first to be an introduction turn out to be more or less the whole song, and no true song ever emerges. The patterns meld only slightly together and sometimes it seemed as if the composer had placed unconnected patterns together at random for some inexplicable reason. Basically, the composer would have written a better song if it had flowed better from pattern to pattern and had a melody with more complexity and variation. While the idea that the song was supposed to convey was apparent, with some more work this tune could be much better. I placed GC6-BLIP.IT last. You cannot call this music. It was noisy. No nicebass. No harmony. Only Noise Aagh, the synth5th sample is used as a lead instrument!!! This sample contains two tones, like C and G. That makes the sample very inapprociate for a lead. Also the notes seems very randomly placed. If the composer wanted dissonance, he overdid it, and if he went for harmony, this is just awful. "I am To give my alternitive Handle just in case. - I am Fractal Panther" (Very good idea!) This is written to "Fractal Panther" or whoever that is. Two main things: get a real drum trak, and get some harmony and a melody that work together. Oh yes and don't just make 12 patterns and then run them together over and over again in different orders. Repetition sucks. Anyway a drum trak consists (usually) of more than just 4 CLICK.PATs with insane panning envelopes. It takes a long time of playing around with different percussion sounds to get the right beat for your song. I realise this is just a silly GroovyCompo where you have a limited choice of percussion samples (although I thought the sample pack for this one had an unusually good selection) so you have to make do with what they give you. If you want to make a "standard" drum trak (which might not be a bad idea until you get more experience) it's not -that- difficult. I recommend you study the songs which have fairly good drum traks. GLiTcH (ftp.scene.org/pub/music/glitch/) immediately comes to mind. While people like necros may seem like they write really good drum traks, really they're just cheating and using extended samples for their drum traks :D. I suppose you could do that, as everyone else, including me, seems to do that to some extent. There's a Win95 program called HammerHead which'll make extended sample drumloops really easy for you, or I suppose you could just rip them from CDs or from other songs. Anyway enough about the drum traks. You also really need a sort which will kind of "go somewhere". Repeating the same patterns over and over again will not accomplish that :). While it may seem that that's all that some very successful musicians do, you have to remember that they probably have $5000 synths. And there's a law in our society that states "all who own expensive synths or look like the Spice Girls shall gain unimaginable wealth and fame without any talent". And besides I was just kidding: they are not playing -exactly- the same thing over and over again. Adding small changes to basic "plan" can change the visage of the music, and invoke different feelings in the listener. You'll probably notice in pretty every song you listen to. Of course everyone knows the standard formula for a song: intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-ending. Very few songs follow this formula exactly, but the basic idea is to alternate between the verse and the chorus. On the songs you listen to your radio, one verse is exactly the same as another verse, except with different lyrics (well except for people like Aqua who somehow get away with the same lyrics). Anyway I don't know why I'm telling you this because I recommend you don't stick to the formula anyway (although I suppose you shouldn't ignore it). Most songs, however, have distinct "parts" to them which, although completely different, have a common thread between them. This common thread can be a chord progression, a drum trak, a melody, or anything which would cause the listener's brain to say "hey...this is the same song". I'm rambling too much so I'll end it here. Variation. Don't forget that. And like everyone else who has ever advised a rookie, I'll give the standard advice. Listen to other peoples songs. Intently. Study them. Learn how they did different things. Learn how they made such a grooving drum trak instead of just saying "I wish I knew how they did that". But of course keep in mind there is a difference between learning from someone and copying them. So w00p yea that's it. Hmm.. No structure/coherency. Where was the basic key structure keeping the song going in the background that most songs have? Maybe some people would call it experimental music, but, well, it wasn't very good! This song completely lacked any discernable structure and at times was painful to listen to. Things that would have helped include a repetitive percussion or bass line to tie the song together. It resembles a jumble of sounds. Also, if you're going to put in a melody or some kind of padding, then lower the volume on high-frequency percussion because it just simply drowns out everything else. Suggenstion: practice making some simple percussion-only or bass-only MODs. Then add in the rest of the strings/synths/pads, and then add the leads. See the Zen of Tracking for some info on chords and progressions. *sigh* Try again... (Sexman.it) Just 3 patterns looped 4 times does not in anyway make a song. And if those three patterns suck as much as sexman's then I will definitely vote lamer for him. This is my frank opinion and to put it any other way would be a euphemism. The fact that the song stinks is one thing. But when TWO people work on it and you get something subtractively WORSE than what just ONE person might get, you begin to wonder if these people really have some creative differences, communication problems, or a conflict of interest. You tend to think something has gone dreadfully and terribly wrong. For their sake I hope they speak different languages (German and Eastern Swahili?) Ok, enough sarcasm. First of all Lesson 1: FOUR patterns looped to infinitum and back does not constitute a song, it is pure and unreal pain beyond belief. No, more is NOT better, and more of it is not only sadistic it's evil. Ok, enough sarcasm, Lesson 2: RANDOM notes and a sample repeatedly intoning "P-P-p-P-ppPeople are still having sex" is NOT a song. Sorry, i meant no more sarcasm :) I personally think that this song MUST be some "joke" song (ie: one of those, "Jeez-i'm-not-serious, this-is-just-a-JOKE-thing"), if not ..... I don't know what to say but to just listen to as much music as possible and try to see what sort of techniques, methods, and effects the author used. Develop a good ear for "what sounds right" and learn from emulation. And that is not sarcasm. OUCH! definite last! Why wouldn't it? :) I think it was made intentionally to be last place! The begining is interesting but kinda hmmm... How to put this nicly. It hurt my ears. The vocals are a nice touch. There is no music that I could find in this song. I started out writing Noise tunes such as this. I wasn't sure if this was a joke or something just thrown together in 30mins. There are in no way enough patterns to make this a "Song". Some Suggestions: Continue with the idea behind Pattern 3. That should increase popularity. If this was a joke. :) Interesting. This was a joke song. I hope. Sexman.it got last place in my opinion because first off, it wasn't even an enjoyable song for me. I sort of was puzzled at what my reaction was supposed to be. Some people make really good tracks with distortion and odd samples (ronin, for example) but this one just didn't hack it. The repetition was a bit much. There were only a couple of patterns and they simply repeated over and over. Then, the patterns themselves weren't all that exciting. Just a few instruments, playing the same notes over and over. Basically it comes down to the fact that the song was mainly repetition of a few badly written patterns. This song was lacking melody, and if melody wasn't necessary, interest was lacking as well. Bleah. Miscellaneous comments: This sample pack was odd, to say the least. Those wah-wah samples were horrendous :) Next time, could we maybe have some really good 8-bit samples, instead of wonderful 16-bit ones that sound crappy when you cut them down to meet the 200K limit? Two exceptional songs out of this compo: Genosha's and CatspawSF's. I really dug CatspawSF's song since it fit the Christmas season and though the ending is, well, lacking, overall it's just a really good song, especially using the sample pack we were given. And Genosha, you're improving- I really liked this song you did. Good luck in Chaos Theory and the next Groovy Compo. May the wah-wah samples DIE!!!! |
