Composition Challenge #5 - Voting

Antique_Guitars · November 2014

Hi Everyone,

Decided just to combine the voting and discussion threads as it should be easy enough to sift through to get the votes.

Thanks to all that entered the competition.

Please use this thread to cast your votes for your favourite entries to Fretboard Challenge #5.
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Voting System - voters can pick their top 3 favourite entries.

First choice gets 5 points - Second choice gets 3 points - Third choice gets 1 point

Entry with the most points wins.

Simply post in this thread your top three choices for winner in order, 1st choice first etc etc.

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(Note for Entrants of the competition: Self Voting is NOT Allowed)

The winner will be announced just before midnight on the 30th November, this thread will be locked and voting closed at 11.30pm on that day.

(you can edit your vote up to the time the thread is locked)

A reminder of the competition Guidlines:

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Compose a piece of music inspired by the 80's, whether you love hair metal, new romantic, alt indie, electronic music or even if you hate 80's music now is your chance to re-create some of those classic sounds!
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Entries: (in no particular order) (Entrants - please contact me if there are any mistakes with your uploads)

Please see all the entries uploaded on SoundCloud HERE in the FB Challenge #5 playlist.

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Dindude

Thecolourbox

TTony

Daveww

Littlegreenman

Lev

SteamAbacus

Fretwired

Antique_Guitars · November 2014

Wow some awesome tracks there!

I have only just listened to all of them now, well done everyone amazing!

steamabacus · November 2014

Just listened to all the entries on SoundCloud. Congrats to everyone - some really excellent entries there! It's going to be difficult once again to pick a top 3, let alone a winner.

I was a little daunted when I first saw this challenge as, although I first learned to play during the 80s, I was always more influenced by music from the 70s. I really wasn't into most mainstream music in the 80s and I still detest the sound of 80s production methods (kind of 50s Phil Spectre wall-of-sound only done on the cheap with low bitrate digital reverb - euuuugh!).

My first thought was to use a knackered old Alesis Quadraverb I have and get some (horribly cheesy) early digital chorus and flanging going. I also threw in a bit of gated reverb for good measure.
I've never really understood 'genres' in music - I realised this stemmed from an early exposure to Frank Zappa who taught me that ALL genres and styles of music could be made to sound interesting - even Country & Western could be good if you made it funny enough!
Also, I remembered learning most of the theory I know from Ralph Denyer's 1982 classic 'The Guitar Handbook' which includes this never-to-be-forgotten quote from Zappa ..

"I think that any device that's been manufactured for usage is worth messing around with, but I try to find applications for them that are unusual. The biggest challenge in making a record, though, is just trying to get the best possible sound from the instrument, to make the instruments sound as good as possible without flanging the piss out of them."

So that's my 80s inspirations - FZ and crappy digital fx.

Right, time to pick a winner..... I'll have to have a few more listens.

Fretwired · November 2014

I've just finished a quick listen and there are some fine entries. Well done everybody. I need a few more listens but I think I have a favourite.

When I think of the early 80s I think of electronic music so I opted for a homage to Kraftwerk. It may sound simple but there's over thirty layered tracks - everything was played live on my synth/keyboard/ancient drum machine and the only samples are the vocals which I treated to make them more authentic.

I need to improve my mixdown as everything sounds clear until I mix down when it gets a little muddy. Overall I'm pleased with the result. Let's see what everyone else thinks.

dindude · November 2014

Wow, some awesome stuff here, will need more listens before I vote. I'm also surprised, with this being a gutar forum, that mine is the only cock-rock entry. Loads of synth loveliness here.

TTony · November 2014

@daveww - where's the rest of it ??

Lev · November 2014

This is though to call, I've listened to them all a few times now and I like elements of each one. Outstanding work. I'm going to have listen some more before voting.

steamabacus · November 2014

TTony said:

@daveww - where's the rest of it ??

Trapped somewhere in 1983?

ftumch · November 2014

Ok I'll kick off the voting, I've chose these based on what I felt fitted the 80's theme best, and obviously which ones I liked most. All great though

1st- lev
2nd-littlegreenman
3rd-fretwired
Thanks for letting me hear your stuff

TTony · November 2014

Fretwired said:

When I think of the [early] 80s

Beginning of the 80s, I was still at school with no clue what I wanted to do. By the end of the decade, I was working for a bank "in the City" during the red braces & Porsches period, and before banking and the City had been totally discredited. Though, in hindsight, the direction of travel was pretty much set.

Anyways ... musically for me, the beginning of the 80s was the arse-end of punk, leading into part-time disco & radio work through Uni days, then Quo broke-up, Live Aid happened and I don't remember much more. Music was still walkman rather than iPod, which made it a lot less accessible.

One of the definitive 80's tracks for me is Tainted Love. Hated it, but there were some hugely extended 12" mixes that (a) filled the dancefloors and (b) meant that I could get to the bar. And the lav. And back to the bar again.

It might have been an influence on my composition.

Lev · November 2014

One of the definitive 80's tracks for me is Tainted Love. Hated it, but there were some hugely extended 12" mixes that (a) filled the dancefloors and (b) meant that I could get to the bar. And the lav. And back to the bar again.

It might have been an influence on my composition.

Maybe you should have called it 'Tainted Lav'..... I'll get my coat

daveww · November 2014

steamabacus;416612" said:
TTony said:

@daveww - where's the rest of it ??

Trapped somewhere in 1983?

@Ttony and @steamabacus lol it's stuck in 84 not 83. Can't you tell?

Tbh I didn't dare subject you guys to anymore.... Seriously there's some brilliant efforts here. I'm amazed at the quality of some of the recordings as well. I had a quick listen to them all last night and I'm really impressed. It's not going to be an easy choice but I guess it's going to come down to what 80s means and it'll mean different things to each of us.

thecolourbox · November 2014

=[ beginning to wish I hadn't entered haha or at least had done my usual "last couple of hours before entry closing" effort so I have an excuse... I feel like a taxi driver being the only one with vocals, ie I'm the worst person for the job but do it any way and leave everybody else to suffer for it

Some excellent work here fellows, can't pick a favourite just yet so will listen again

Antique_Guitars · November 2014

wow we have had 236 listens in the last 24 hours thats pretty good going.

thecolourbox · November 2014

That might have been me

Lev · November 2014

5 points - @fretwired

This is just so 80's and the main keyboard drone/riff really stuck in my head after listening. Quality recording also.

3 points - @thecolourbox

This is such a charming little song, it works both in a contemporary context but also could have been release in 1984. There's definitely an 80's Indie feel and I can hear some Morrissey in the vocals.

1 point - @littlegreenman

Chorus, shimmery delay, what's not to love? Excellent lead and bass work also. Brings me back to some early Satriani albums.

All tracks were fantastic, well done everyone!

steamabacus · November 2014

Right, votes are in .....

1st @Fretwired Strom 5 points
Excellent production. Took me right back to sitting in my mate Simon's bedroom as he played Trans-Europe Express really loud trying to convince me to like Kraftwerk. Of course, now I'm older and wiser I realise that Kraftwerk were really good - before the two guys left to form Neu! and Florian and co went totally electronic.

2nd @thecolourbox Sheena Is A Monster 3 points
Great, quirky tune. This is about Sheena Easton's bizarre transformation from pre-X Factor Scottish reality TV star into Prince's muse, yes?

[As an aside, Challenge #4's clip from the Night of the Living Dead would make an excellent tongue-in-cheek video for this song - I can just see Annie Nightingale introducing this on (The-no-longer-Old-or-Grey) Whistle Test]

3rd @Lev Murphs Boogie 1 point
Very authentic 80s - to the point where that vocal sample and pounding snare really gets on my nerves!

But once I'd managed to get past that, I realised there's some excellent guitar playing in this one. Is the title an Alan Murphy reference?

horse · November 2014

1 - @Thecolourbox
2 - @LittleGreenMan
3 - @Lev

Tough to choose between them all tbh. Liked @SteamAbacus nod to the Bergerac theme, and @Dindude's pinched harmonics in particular as well!

steamabacus · November 2014

horse said:

Liked @SteamAbacus nod to the Bergerac theme

Er ....yeah, right. Totally deliberate (NOT!)
:-/

Funnily enough, in the late 80s, my mate's landlord/flatmate also played guitar and his favourite tune to play was the Bergerac theme. Something must have buried itself in my subconscious. I haven't heard it in years but I'm off to YouTube now to listen to it.

TTony · November 2014

Listening to these properly really exposes the limitations of my production techniques. Or maybe I should look beyond iPad Garageband. Or maybe I should just learn how to use that properly ...

I think I have my favourites sorted, but, tbh, there's so much depth to some of them that I'm hearing different aspects each time I listen to them, so I'm going to listen again tonight. Which won't be a hardship!

Lev · November 2014

Sorry @steamabacus for getting on your nerves :-) I do know what you mean though.

Yes, Alan Murphy was very much the inspiration for this one.

horse · November 2014

steamabacus said:

horse said:

Liked @SteamAbacus nod to the Bergerac theme

Er ....yeah, right. Totally deliberate (NOT!)
:-/

Funnily enough, in the late 80s, my mate's landlord/flatmate also played guitar and his favourite tune to play was the Bergerac theme. Something must have buried itself in my subconscious. I haven't heard it in years but I'm off to YouTube now to listen to it.

At first I thought of The Police, but then Bergerac came to mind - haven't listened to see if I was remembering clearly though so might be way off!

steamabacus · November 2014

horse said:

steamabacus said:

horse said:

Liked @SteamAbacus nod to the Bergerac theme

Er ....yeah, right. Totally deliberate (NOT!)
:-/

Funnily enough, in the late 80s, my mate's landlord/flatmate also played guitar and his favourite tune to play was the Bergerac theme. Something must have buried itself in my subconscious. I haven't heard it in years but I'm off to YouTube now to listen to it.

At first I thought of The Police, but then Bergerac came to mind - haven't listened to see if I was remembering clearly though so might be way off!

My initial idea was 'The Police backing Frank Zappa' but it settled into strongly 'early-80s Zappa' influenced and not much of 'Mr. Sting' and co. But that Bergerac theme is the same sort of cod-reggae.

Fretwired · November 2014

Thanks for the votes guys .. I always think it a risk to record an electronic track and post it on a guitar forum .. :-)

Later this evening I shall pour a cold beer and listen to each track and make up my mind ...

daveww · November 2014

Very difficult choice. My favourite is LittleGreenMan but really struggled with 2nd and 3rd. I've have given equal points to 4 of the other but have to decide so its:

1 @LittleGreenMan
2 @Dindude (contrary to reports above I'm sure he didn't pinch anyone elses harmonics!)
3 @Fretwired

Well done guys! Great stuff all around. As mentioned by Ttony above I also think it really shows that perhaps I need to get something better than just micing up an amp through garageband on an ipad. I've been toying with geting a midi keyboard as well but I'm prety clueless when it comes to editing software etc.

thecolourbox · November 2014

Yes thanks indeed for the votes chaps, very kind indeed. I feel spoiled

The quality and sense of "finished product" in all the entries this time around is astounding. I am also really enjoying that people are coming to it at different angles due to having been there or not. I was never more than two and a half years old during the 80s so feel mine is more of a parody with some very obvious "borrowed" elements, one of which has already been caught out, some others sound more authentic and i like it

Love these challenges

Oh and to those saying about their setup needing more, mine is fairly simple again...free chiptune NES synths off the google, zoom g3, usb mix, all into cubase. All fake instruments were "typed" in, not played through a midi keyboard or anything

TTony · November 2014

The votes from the TT jury are in.

1st place to @Fretwired. There are so many different references to the 80s in there. Will dig out Fade to Grey later.

2nd place @Steamabacus. The Police!!!

3rd place @Lev

But what a totally brilliant set of tracks.

How would people feel about doing a brief overview of how they created the tracks - ie the thinking / planning / creating process, and then the samples / software used, the recording and mixing ... Etc??

daveww · November 2014

thecolourbox said:
Oh and to those saying about their setup needing more, mine is fairly simple again...free chiptune NES synths off the google, zoom g3, usb mix, all into cubase. All fake instruments were "typed" in, not played through a midi keyboard or anything

Perhaps I just need to learn more about whats posible. I wouldn't have a clue how to type in fake instruments etc and I've no idea what NES synths are. Need to get myself educated but it's hard teaching an old dog new tricks :-)

TTony · November 2014

daveww said:
Perhaps I just need to learn more about whats posible. I wouldn't have a clue how to type in fake instruments etc and I've no idea what NES synths are.

One of the great things about these challenges for me, is that they've forced me to learn some stuff that I've not learned for years. Specifically, I now know the basics of using GarageBand - I just used the iPad version, but I'm going to have to move on to the full Mac version sometime soon.

Using GarageBand, I play in the drums and keys, and then edit the bum notes out (and.put a few extra decent notes in!) using the piano-roll type view. Which is pretty similar to just typing the notes in, but feels more natural to me. If you've got an iPad around, give it a go. If not, put one on your Christmas list.

NES synths sounds like a job for Google ...

thecolourbox · November 2014

daveww;418298" said:

Perhaps I just need to learn more about whats posible. I wouldn't have a clue how to type in fake instruments etc and I've no idea what NES synths are. Need to get myself educated but it's hard teaching an old dog new tricks :-)

If its any help its not as difficult as it sounds, typing in is possibly misleading lol in Cubase there's a midi bit where you have a keyboard down the left and like a big piece of graph paper with the bars and beat lines on, where you sort of draw the notes on. Its more intuitive than it sounds, but essentially not that different to how you might play stuff in Garage band

Oh by NES synth, i mean its a synth (free one) based on an 8 bit style sound from an old Nintendo video system. That's the only one i used as I'm also a synth noob

thecolourbox · November 2014

TTony;418297" said:

How would people feel about doing a brief overview of how they created the tracks - ie the thinking / planning / creating process, and then the samples / software used, the recording and mixing ... Etc??

I'd be happy to do that and moreso to read everybody else's. Though I'd rather leave the creative process bit until all votes are in just in case my theft of certain ideas offends people out of voting for me...

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Composition Challenge #5 - Voting

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