In about 10 minutes I will close the poll and announce the results back up in the first post.
@5pinlink will hopefully post a list of who made each track a bit later this morning (we're both in the UK)
We can now all start talking about who we voted for, the reasons why, and share some more details about how each of our tracks was made (perhaps even share the sessions too)
As for me, I voted for Track A.
I enjoyed every submission (yes, even my own!), but in this end find this one the most interestingly layered and crafted, evolving, well structured and evocative piece. It also did the best job (imho) of disguising the fact they were all sampled instruments. Bravo.
Finally, I am 100% sure that Track R is the entry by @DeanDaughters — and that Track K must have been submitted by Nobuo Uematsu — but I have absolutely no clue about any of the others!!
@dafingaz - Wait, What!?!
You are bringing the heat like nobody's business up in here!
That track blew me away! +1 for your intricate melodic work - AMAZING GOOD!
Enjoy the sweet taste of victory, Bro - You Earned It! Yeah!! 🤗😁👊
(notice what I said about your track on first listen below...)
@tk32 - I am indeed Track R - Nice one! @5pinlink - You can please call mine "Templeton's Theme" (+1 to anyone who gets that 😁👊)
OMG you guys!
My track would NOT render properly because of all the MONO synth stretching.
I had never done legato gliding lead synths in BM3, and I layered three up for my main synth, and it would NOT render these stretching mono "single cycle made synths" without AWFUL artifact sounds, so I had to just record the regular playback in AUM which is why mine sounds kinda lower than all of yours in volume maybe?.... ~sigh and lol !
I voted for @ronji again (Hot damn, you are getting a lot of votes from me lately! Great Work!)
Seriously, I think this is maybe the best produced thing i've heard from you to date.
I am very much jealous of this sound design, production quality, and overall vibe.
This is like DJ Krust and DJ Shadow met up in a dark alley in a Cyberpunk future world and then went and rocked a Secret Dubplate Track in a secret, illegal underground studio. My highest amount of praise for this work, mate. If I had a label, I would want to sign you to an EP *right now on the spot - no s**t - this is beyond FIRE, imho - just WOW! 🔥🔥🔥
(if anyone cares) Here are my INITIAL reactions and thoughts on the first listen:
A - Ethinc and orchestral - cinematic. Great tones, production and mixing! Nice variations!
F - Really unique. (Slight over use of panning in the into imho.) Amazing vibe on the heavy drop - maybe a bit too overdriven in the low end however. Really nice ideas in the sound design here! Ultra-Heavy! I like the chords and odd melodics in the 2nd half, too!
K - Violin, strings and Harp(?) - Very sophisticated and delicate melodic programming (KILLER JOB!) Very well executed, nice tension build! The piano works perfectly! This is really amazing work!
L - Jazzy, Broken Beats, Unique! Great production - love the drums! Super fun and funky - Nice One! This is really good programming to make it sound so ALIVE! Love the big CHORD stabs! Lovely!
R - mine
S - WHOA! Late night jazz/samba thing! Really nice chords and over all vibe. The acoustic double bass is very, very nice! imho, this track doesnt folow the rules quite 100% as it uses very distinctly a COWBELL, which is made of metal... Nice effot though, YEAH!
V - AMAZING SOUND DESIGN HERE! Really good mixing and sound design! I really want to see how this was made! The lead synth / pad sure sounds like a SYNTH - how did it come from wood? The bass? OMG? So heavy, so unique, so amazing! How did this amazingness come from wood? The pitch down, tape stop effect how was that made from a wooden source? I need a walk through of this beast! WOW!
Thank you for your vote, and your wlrds, @DeanDaughters!!
I used only my own iPad mic recorded samples of doing various things with a wooden clothespin, thumping on a wooden clipboard, and crumpling paper.
So my track is titled CP CB CP
I voted for @dafingaz. I really enjoyed each one of the submissions, and I knew K was @dafingaz based on his submission and comments on the last battle. Well done @dafingaz!! Reminds me of an anime soundtrack, and I love anime
Gonna comment on the other tracks as well when I have some more time!
My bass sound was from thumping on the clipboard, layering the thump 4 times, pitch modding for extra thump, and cycle looping for extending the rumble, and lfo modulation for the wobbly grit, and resampling that and looping wisely for effect. The pads are both from looping a section of crumpled paper and layering
Thanks everyone for the kudos (and my apologies for not getting on here sooner; been a busy day, I'm in the US. LOL). Congratulations again to everyone for being so creative. Here is a little insight into my track (it actually ended up being a long post, so I hope you have time):
At times I get into my "Composer" mode where I channel my inner Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, John Williams, Tyler Bates, Henry Mancini, Junkie XL, Ludwig Goransson (the list goes on and on). Initially, I wanted to go down a more percussive path. But then, I really wanted to see if I could do a bit of an orchestral score/cue piece using only the iPad (I usually use ProTools/Garageband for orchestral stuff).
At this point, let it be known, I am not anywhere close to the level of the above mentioned names (and many others). But, on to the track....
For this I mainly used 3 sources for the audio components:
1) iSymphonic - Most of the solo string sounds came from this app. I would record a pass of the violin (for example). Then move on to viola, cello, flute, harp. (The flute and harp sounds also came from this app). I still have many more IAPs to get from this app and I am buying them slowly but surely (usually 1 per month).
2) Ravenscroft 275 - The piano sound is from this app. I no longer have the app in the Beatmaker session (more on that below), but I believe I used the basic preset you hear when you open the app. (I got this app on sale recently. Side Note: I also have over a dozen apps I'm "watching" to go on sale using AppSliced. Check that out and start watching some apps you want to get but don't mind waiting for them to go on sale).
3) Sonuscore Sustained String Chords - So this is one of the tricky ones. For those of you not familiar, Sonuscore released an excellent FREE Kontakt plugin last year. It was actually 2 plugins. One was the "Sustained String Chords" and the other was the "Sustained Orchestra Chords." The "orchestra" chords included brass/horn elements. I call them the "Instant Hans Zimmer" plugins.
The basic operation of the plugin is when you press a key hard, it would play a minor chord; when you press it soft, it would play a major chord. You also have 4 different ranges. C1 to B1 would be the full sound. C2 to B2 would be the low/bass elements. C3 to B3 would be the mids and C4 to B4 would be the highs.
A while ago, I took samples of each sound. I have always meant to create some type of sound bank using these sounds; I tried to do it in Cubasis, but just couldn't get it to work right. So, for this contest, I wanted to figure out how to get it to work with BM3.
I spent a few hours one night bringing in the samples and setting it up. After I thought I was done, I realized it was not set up the way I wanted to work and spent a few hours the next night to get it set up correctly.
I still have a few more kinks to work out, but once it is done (for the most part), I will plan to share it with the community.
Back to the competition: Due to the limitations of BM3 (or perhaps my iPad), I had to record a pass, bounce it to audio (record it to an audio track) and delete the MIDI track. So, the current session has 6 audio tracks:
iSymphonic Legato Orchestra Strings
iSymphonic Flute
iSymphonic Strings
iSymphonic Harp
Ravenscroft 275 Piano
Sonuscore Sustained String Chords
That is basically it. @tk32 for Battle 12, I'm thinking a vocals only battle. This may include any choir samples (giving me a reason to get another iSymphonic pack LOL), singing, vocal chants, hums, ethnic/tribal vocals.
This may also include any beat boxing. Basically ANY noises that can be made with the mouth. So maybe call it a "mouth only" battle?
For anyone looking for app suggestions, Jussi would be a good place to start, but I'm sure there are plenty more. (I really wish Output would make an Exhale app for iOS, lol).
Thanks to everyone for making it this far in my post. This is currently my longest post on the forums to date. LOL.
If you want to check out how the 2 free Sonuscore libraries work on the computer, here it is in under 2.5 minutes at the link below. Stay tuned for word on when I have it ready for BM3 (and don't tell them I'm bringing it over to BM3 LOL):
I had bigger ideas that I didn’t have time to really get through, and so I was really surprised to come in 3rd on this one! Everyone else’s tracks were so dang good and felt more finished to me. So kudos to everyone!
If people post updated versions and sessions, can you pm the links to me too please, my memory is rotten and i will forget they are here.
I have decided updating can go on as much as you like, i wont update the battle playlist, but the mixtapes will use latest versions, does that sound fair ?
@5pinlink said:
If people post updated versions and sessions, can you pm the links to me too please, my memory is rotten and i will forget they are here.
I have decided updating can go on as much as you like, i wont update the battle playlist, but the mixtapes will use latest versions, does that sound fair ?
@MSandoval thank you! I try my best. I think the built in EQ is probably fine and can get the job done well enough, but I'm someone who needs to also see the spectrum analyzer, and there are just plain way more options for slope, even having more options for the Q, etc. It's well worth it to me but I did still make music without it before it was released, haha.
B3s native EQ hasa few issues that need sorting, it doesnt conform to any known EQ naming conventions etc either, which means it is quite a pain to use too.
Is there a way I could lyrically dominate?
Drop a flow so smooth it'll be just like checkmate?
My beats kickin' woofers into subspace?
And I'm just about to open up the floodgates!
Been living like I'm eighteen lately!
Rockin' like the A-Team in a daydream, maybe?
Blazin' on the mic, you'll have to call me Shady!
Hands in the air and everybody get crazy!
Btw, if you've already decided to go with all voices that's cool. But allow me to throw one other suggestion into the mix, inspired by @DeanDaughters excellent recent video...
Comments
Ok. Here's what's gonna happen next...
As for me, I voted for Track A.
I enjoyed every submission (yes, even my own!), but in this end find this one the most interestingly layered and crafted, evolving, well structured and evocative piece. It also did the best job (imho) of disguising the fact they were all sampled instruments. Bravo.
Finally, I am 100% sure that Track R is the entry by @DeanDaughters — and that Track K must have been submitted by Nobuo Uematsu — but I have absolutely no clue about any of the others!!
I need names for tracks off @dean daughters @ronji @msandoval and @tk32 (bonus)
You can call my bonus "Kong plays Congo"
BTW 5pin, is there any chance you can keep the original track name in brackets at the end on Soundcloud. It helps when reading through this thread.
For example
dafingaz - Entry K
Dean Daughters - Entry R
MSandoval - Entry A
TK32 - Entry L
TK32 Bonus - Entry S
DenX - Entry F
ronji - Entry V
@dafingaz - Wait, What!?!
You are bringing the heat like nobody's business up in here!
That track blew me away! +1 for your intricate melodic work - AMAZING GOOD!
Enjoy the sweet taste of victory, Bro - You Earned It! Yeah!! 🤗😁👊
(notice what I said about your track on first listen below...)
@tk32 - I am indeed Track R - Nice one!
@5pinlink - You can please call mine "Templeton's Theme" (+1 to anyone who gets that 😁👊)
OMG you guys!
My track would NOT render properly because of all the MONO synth stretching.
I had never done legato gliding lead synths in BM3, and I layered three up for my main synth, and it would NOT render these stretching mono "single cycle made synths" without AWFUL artifact sounds, so I had to just record the regular playback in AUM which is why mine sounds kinda lower than all of yours in volume maybe?.... ~sigh and lol !
I voted for @ronji again (Hot damn, you are getting a lot of votes from me lately! Great Work!)
Seriously, I think this is maybe the best produced thing i've heard from you to date.
I am very much jealous of this sound design, production quality, and overall vibe.
This is like DJ Krust and DJ Shadow met up in a dark alley in a Cyberpunk future world and then went and rocked a Secret Dubplate Track in a secret, illegal underground studio.
My highest amount of praise for this work, mate. If I had a label, I would want to sign you to an EP *right now on the spot - no s**t - this is beyond FIRE, imho - just WOW! 🔥🔥🔥
(if anyone cares) Here are my INITIAL reactions and thoughts on the first listen:
A - Ethinc and orchestral - cinematic. Great tones, production and mixing! Nice variations!
F - Really unique. (Slight over use of panning in the into imho.) Amazing vibe on the heavy drop - maybe a bit too overdriven in the low end however. Really nice ideas in the sound design here! Ultra-Heavy! I like the chords and odd melodics in the 2nd half, too!
K - Violin, strings and Harp(?) - Very sophisticated and delicate melodic programming (KILLER JOB!) Very well executed, nice tension build! The piano works perfectly! This is really amazing work!
L - Jazzy, Broken Beats, Unique! Great production - love the drums! Super fun and funky - Nice One! This is really good programming to make it sound so ALIVE! Love the big CHORD stabs! Lovely!
R - mine
S - WHOA! Late night jazz/samba thing! Really nice chords and over all vibe. The acoustic double bass is very, very nice! imho, this track doesnt folow the rules quite 100% as it uses very distinctly a COWBELL, which is made of metal... Nice effot though, YEAH!
V - AMAZING SOUND DESIGN HERE! Really good mixing and sound design! I really want to see how this was made! The lead synth / pad sure sounds like a SYNTH - how did it come from wood? The bass? OMG? So heavy, so unique, so amazing! How did this amazingness come from wood? The pitch down, tape stop effect how was that made from a wooden source? I need a walk through of this beast! WOW!
Apologies about the cowbell.
Oops
if you take this ☝️ out of context, it is the best post in the history of ever.
Hey @dafingaz
Congrats on the win. Do you have any ideas how you'd like to set the rules for Battle 12?
Thank you for your vote, and your wlrds, @DeanDaughters!!
I used only my own iPad mic recorded samples of doing various things with a wooden clothespin, thumping on a wooden clipboard, and crumpling paper.
So my track is titled CP CB CP
I voted for @dafingaz. I really enjoyed each one of the submissions, and I knew K was @dafingaz based on his submission and comments on the last battle. Well done @dafingaz!! Reminds me of an anime soundtrack, and I love anime
Gonna comment on the other tracks as well when I have some more time!
My bass sound was from thumping on the clipboard, layering the thump 4 times, pitch modding for extra thump, and cycle looping for extending the rumble, and lfo modulation for the wobbly grit, and resampling that and looping wisely for effect. The pads are both from looping a section of crumpled paper and layering
Congratulations @dafingaz, really well done!😁
Nice one folks. Was debating between dafingaz and ronji's entry, but ultimately the way that beat comes in on ronji's track did it for me.
Thanks everyone for the kudos (and my apologies for not getting on here sooner; been a busy day, I'm in the US. LOL). Congratulations again to everyone for being so creative. Here is a little insight into my track (it actually ended up being a long post, so I hope you have time):
At times I get into my "Composer" mode where I channel my inner Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, John Williams, Tyler Bates, Henry Mancini, Junkie XL, Ludwig Goransson (the list goes on and on). Initially, I wanted to go down a more percussive path. But then, I really wanted to see if I could do a bit of an orchestral score/cue piece using only the iPad (I usually use ProTools/Garageband for orchestral stuff).
At this point, let it be known, I am not anywhere close to the level of the above mentioned names (and many others). But, on to the track....
For this I mainly used 3 sources for the audio components:
1) iSymphonic - Most of the solo string sounds came from this app. I would record a pass of the violin (for example). Then move on to viola, cello, flute, harp. (The flute and harp sounds also came from this app). I still have many more IAPs to get from this app and I am buying them slowly but surely (usually 1 per month).
2) Ravenscroft 275 - The piano sound is from this app. I no longer have the app in the Beatmaker session (more on that below), but I believe I used the basic preset you hear when you open the app. (I got this app on sale recently. Side Note: I also have over a dozen apps I'm "watching" to go on sale using AppSliced. Check that out and start watching some apps you want to get but don't mind waiting for them to go on sale).
3) Sonuscore Sustained String Chords - So this is one of the tricky ones. For those of you not familiar, Sonuscore released an excellent FREE Kontakt plugin last year. It was actually 2 plugins. One was the "Sustained String Chords" and the other was the "Sustained Orchestra Chords." The "orchestra" chords included brass/horn elements. I call them the "Instant Hans Zimmer" plugins.
The basic operation of the plugin is when you press a key hard, it would play a minor chord; when you press it soft, it would play a major chord. You also have 4 different ranges. C1 to B1 would be the full sound. C2 to B2 would be the low/bass elements. C3 to B3 would be the mids and C4 to B4 would be the highs.
A while ago, I took samples of each sound. I have always meant to create some type of sound bank using these sounds; I tried to do it in Cubasis, but just couldn't get it to work right. So, for this contest, I wanted to figure out how to get it to work with BM3.
I spent a few hours one night bringing in the samples and setting it up. After I thought I was done, I realized it was not set up the way I wanted to work and spent a few hours the next night to get it set up correctly.
I still have a few more kinks to work out, but once it is done (for the most part), I will plan to share it with the community.
Back to the competition: Due to the limitations of BM3 (or perhaps my iPad), I had to record a pass, bounce it to audio (record it to an audio track) and delete the MIDI track. So, the current session has 6 audio tracks:
iSymphonic Legato Orchestra Strings
iSymphonic Flute
iSymphonic Strings
iSymphonic Harp
Ravenscroft 275 Piano
Sonuscore Sustained String Chords
That is basically it. @tk32 for Battle 12, I'm thinking a vocals only battle. This may include any choir samples (giving me a reason to get another iSymphonic pack LOL), singing, vocal chants, hums, ethnic/tribal vocals.
This may also include any beat boxing. Basically ANY noises that can be made with the mouth. So maybe call it a "mouth only" battle?
For anyone looking for app suggestions, Jussi would be a good place to start, but I'm sure there are plenty more. (I really wish Output would make an Exhale app for iOS, lol).
Thanks to everyone for making it this far in my post. This is currently my longest post on the forums to date. LOL.
If you want to check out how the 2 free Sonuscore libraries work on the computer, here it is in under 2.5 minutes at the link below. Stay tuned for word on when I have it ready for BM3 (and don't tell them I'm bringing it over to BM3 LOL):
Thanks, everyone!
@huphtur thanks for the vote man!!
I had bigger ideas that I didn’t have time to really get through, and so I was really surprised to come in 3rd on this one! Everyone else’s tracks were so dang good and felt more finished to me. So kudos to everyone!
Here’s a quick look at my submission:
And here’s an updated export after I toned the bass down just a tad (I boosted it before submitting and didn’t even listen to the export until it was live in this thread) and also added a little bit of an intro:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l8qvnflqajyp8r5/battle 11 (160.00 BPM) - MAIN OUT.wav?dl=0
And here’s my session zip:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4rivq3soqsjk6k3/ronji-battle11.zip?dl=0
If people post updated versions and sessions, can you pm the links to me too please, my memory is rotten and i will forget they are here.
I have decided updating can go on as much as you like, i wont update the battle playlist, but the mixtapes will use latest versions, does that sound fair ?
Sounds fair to me!
@MSandoval thank you! I try my best.
I think the built in EQ is probably fine and can get the job done well enough, but I'm someone who needs to also see the spectrum analyzer, and there are just plain way more options for slope, even having more options for the Q, etc. It's well worth it to me but I did still make music without it before it was released, haha.
B3s native EQ hasa few issues that need sorting, it doesnt conform to any known EQ naming conventions etc either, which means it is quite a pain to use too.
@dafingaz trying to get me on the mic ?
Hmmmm....
Is there a way I could lyrically dominate?
Drop a flow so smooth it'll be just like checkmate?
My beats kickin' woofers into subspace?
And I'm just about to open up the floodgates!
Been living like I'm eighteen lately!
Rockin' like the A-Team in a daydream, maybe?
Blazin' on the mic, you'll have to call me Shady!
Hands in the air and everybody get crazy!
Wait, What?
@DeanDaughters looks like we have a winner for the next round already! LOL.
@dafingaz
Once you're ready, please post a new thread for your Battle 12 challenge
I recommend a deadline of at least 3 weeks, and suggest it ends on a Sunday evening.
Other than that, it's all up to you, champ
Btw, if you've already decided to go with all voices that's cool. But allow me to throw one other suggestion into the mix, inspired by @DeanDaughters excellent recent video...
Videogame theme tune remixes!!
I like both ideas. How to choose....Either way, looks like we have the next 2 showcases planned. LOL...
Thanks for watching @tk32
👊
the best/worst video game theme tune remix everrrrr
Finally got to listen to these. Have been off in the woods camping.
Amazing selection! Really professional sounds. I’m blown away.
So the next battle is voices?
A bit of inspiration
@dafingaz
Just a quick nudge to say all us faithful beat-battlers are eagerly waiting for you to set the rules for the next challenge.
@tk32 It has been submitted. My guess is the Intua Gods have to approve the post before it goes up. LOL. Stay tuned!...
@dafingaz posts dont need approving mate, i think it may have gone bye bye ?