arsenic

Well done Skol. good one. OK - now just watch the next picture completely flummox me

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1354200150' post='1883466'] [/quote] Perfect..looks like me as well....

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1354140798' post='1882758'] Close arsenic, I like to think its about development. Of your creative skills, your ability to interpret an abstract subject, work to a timeframe, take and give criticism and a wholebload more. Basically developing as a composer. For example it seems entries with vocals are doing doing particularly well. Now how are people who cant sing going to get by this? I dont know about you but Im eager to find out [/quote] Oh! I quite agree about the overall intention of the competition - I was just pointing what the fun element is, for me personally. Vocals, as you say, seem to be a big selling point at the moment. I never had a particularly good voice (read: bloody awful), but since I had surgery a few years ago (through the throat) I wouldn't stand a chance in a croaking competition. (now looking for frog smiley)

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1354139017' post='1882716'] Sorry Nig, I must be getting cynical in my old age I'm not an expert on human behaviour, but I know people like to win, (not just for material gain) and [b]asking friends for support may not seem so bad to everyone.[/b] This is a competition after all and every song entered is a campaign strategy. [/quote] No disrespect to anyone, (and certainly not having a go at Redstriper, just using his post as a reference) but this is the kind of thing I was referring to. If it comes down to people asking other to vote for them, it defeats the purpose. It's all about the composition, not who has the most friends and family willing to vote for them, just to stroke their ego. For me that would kill the whole point of the competition stone dead. The fun is in the creation, being judged by your peers, knowing that you will/will not win, based on your creativity. Knowing that you could loose because you play fair or because you don't use facebook, would certainly make me not want to bother next time. Sad, but true.

Oh! Forgot to add. I agree that starting the voting again was the right thing to do....... Anyway, My KRK Rokit 6s have just arrived - going to unpack and set them up....looking forward to the weekend now

OK. I've voted again. I Didn't enter this month due issues mentioned earlier in the thread - but as has been the said, the nature of the prize has probably made any issue a bit more of a drama than it would usually have been. I appreciate that 13 want to generate more social media traffic, but in my opinion, advertising it on personal facebook pages, is always going to generate a degree of "I entered a competition, sign up and vote for me" type response - intended or otherwise. This is obviously going to skew the voting, turning it into a popularity contest, as opposed to votes being cast on their own merits....which to me, defeats the issue. As for not listening to whole tracks.....I can see both sides of this. If you really don't like "X" style, it can be hard to sit through it, but, by the same token, If you want to vote, you should take the time to listen. Personally I can't judge a song, until I have heard it all. Anyway, just my thoughts - not criticising anyone. (Sits back and waits for the flak)

Voted. Good luck to everybody - There has been so much effort, with such good results this month - who ever wins deserves it. Providing I don't have any more weeks like the one I had a couple of weeks ago, I hope to in on the next one.

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1353070022' post='1871212'] ^ They say bad things come in... what is it, sixes in your case?! Sounds like you're having a proper 'mare of a week. Here's wishing you some positive karma and hoping that your KRK's come to the rescue this weekend. You could always try laying out your track using your computer's built-in speakers for the time being, then finishing it off once your monitors arrive? Not ideal but might be worth a go. [/quote] Thanks for the positive thoughts. I use a desktop so no built in speakers - and the laptop is not capable of running Reason - I do have copies of Ableton, Presonus One and Reaper, but I haven't had chance to get familiar with them yet - not really had to, as Reason is perfect for the way I work - I need to bully myself into getting my arse in gear. Anyway - Spoken to DV247 about the order, and they seem at a loss as to explain what is going on - but still seem hopeful that all will arrive on time. Anyway - got a good deal on two KRK RP6's, a set of angled acoustic pads and two balanced jack to XLR cables. Back on topic There have been some fabulous entries this month - So I'm not expecting to get anywhere. I have to keep reminding myself that it is a composition competition and not a mixing competition - although that obviously helps. Here's hoping everything turns out right with the world today.

Well, I was hoping to get something done over the last couple of days. Unfortunately, it's been one thing followed by another. Tuesday - discovered the fridge/freezer packed up and was rapidly defrosting - nearly 100 quids worth of food ruined. Wednesday - hospital visit for some spinal nerve root injections - doctor screwed up and I'm now in more pain that before. Thursday morning (early) - dragged myself to the music PC - old M-Audio speakers have packed up Thursday morning (late) - thought sod it and ordered a nice shiny pair of KRK Rokit 6's for next day delivery Thursday afternoon - after f'ing around with the speakers for a bit, gave up and put the headphones on, and promptly wheeled my chair over the cable and sliced it....they weren't much good anyway (constant crackling etc), but better than nothing. Friday - sitting around like a spare part waiting for new speakers - doesn't look like they have been dispatched. So - if they don't arrive today or tomorrow, I will have to miss this one as well, as I definitely won't have time during the week. Right now, I am not particularly happy.

Ha! Two great photos there. Will do my best to do them justice. Nige. you are a wicked man Skol - great picture - reminds me of this album, recorded by a few friends [url="http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=8137587"]http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=8137587[/url]

Well done, the pair of you. two very deserving winners.... [size=6]OK....Heads [size=5]off over [size=4]to the[size=3] other[size=1] fthread[/size][/size][/size][/size][/size]

Voted. I have to say the standard here is superb. Shame I could come up with anything for this one, but when I finally got an idea/inspiration, I had no time between work, a lousy cold a numerous hospital appointments. I even started to jot down some lyrics for this one, with the intention of singing - Ok it would have to be heavily processed to disguise the fact that I have the singing voices of a garbage truck in traffic accident, but still....

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1349551275' post='1827727'] ^ Damn. Sorry guys! Maybe I should've picked a different image? Or maybe take Dave's approach (above) and drink some cider for inspiration! [/quote] Awww! don't start talking about alcohol.....I've been tea-total for the last five years - bloody depressing it is too Don't worry about it mate, there's always next month if I get really stumped.....

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1349393091' post='1825904'] OK here's mine. It's call SHlTSHOERIOTFACE and it's inspired by badly dressed riotfaces. [url="http://soundcloud.com/silddx/shltshoeriotface-dscrf"]http://soundcloud.co...eriotface-dscrf[/url] [/quote] Great work. It gets straight to the point and kicks you in the face, checks to see if it has done enough damage before it wanders off into the crowd. I must admit, I'm stumped by this months picture.

Well done Skol. A very worthy win.

All great entries, and some amazing, and inventive ideas....Well done to everyone. Now, I have a problem - How the hell am I supposed to pick one of the other eleven to vote for.....

[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.

[quote name='bobbass4k' timestamp='1348158935' post='1810213'] [url="http://soundcloud.com/bobbass4k/ponizovje"]http://soundcloud.co...ass4k/ponizovje[/url] My entry. I know the mix is awful but I don't think I'm gonna get time to redo it. It ended up infinitely more complicated than I'd planned. Some advice, if you end up with 7 tracks labelled "glitchy texture", you should take a step back and ask yourself if maybe you've overdone things. I don't really expect anyone to like it, it's a little esoteric even for me, but I actually finished it which is a rarity for me, so i'm happy. Oh, and the tiltle is relevant, I'll be impressed if anyone gets the reference. I was going to put it in the original cyrillic for full pretentious points but it seemed a little inconsiderate. [/quote] Don't knock yourself. That is a great track. I'm only listening on my laptop, but the mix sounded fine. I think you have far less work to do on yours than i have on mine.... I would have liked to have fixed issues with mine, but I don't think I will have time - so it will stand or fall, rough mix and exporting cockup included. I will have to listen to all these entries again on a semi decent set of speakers.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1347984329' post='1807682'] My take on 'That Picture' [url="http://soundcloud.com/garrycribb/autumn-dreams"]http://soundcloud.co...b/autumn-dreams[/url] Garry [/quote] Ahhh! I like that - nice and laid back. Good work there.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1347889295' post='1806168'] I meant that the note stopped dead for me rather than fading out [/quote] You know - I never noticed that. I'm sure the original Reason file doesn't do that - I may have moved the end marker by mistake when I exported it..... I can re-export it if need be. I think it's one of those things - I've listened to it so many times, I think I was starting to zone out and not hearing it properly EDIT: I see what I did now - I added the reverse reverb at the start and didn't move the end marker to account for the extra couple of seconds I added....Stupid mistake

Thanks for the feedback so far guys. @Charic - I wanted the thing to finish on that slightly extended last note - keep them wanting more, as they say.

That PMG piece was great, Bilbo. I thoroughly enjoyed that. Thank you for posting.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1347802625' post='1805146'] I like that. Maybe needs a bit better EQing/panning on the sounds, but it has a sad Autumn feel about it. [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]It sounds like part of a film score. Infact, come to think of it, so do the other entries! Well if there's any film makers on here, there's a film to be made with the entries. [/font][/color] [/quote] You are probably right about the EQ/mix/panning - it sound OKish on the cheap monitors I use. I have just built a new PC, and need to get software sorted out. It's only got Reason and the Live freebie that came with the keyboard on it at the moment. Maybe export each channel and sling them into Reaper or something. I may do that if I have chance - I promise not to change the tune in anyway other than to actually tweak the levels/panning......If that is allowed......But, as I said, it depends on if I have the time to finish the PC properly. EDIT: I have just listened to it again while I was typing....Some things could do with levelling out - still, I don;t think it was too bad for just over an hours work. I don't get nearly as much time as I would like

Will add here: The other entries so far have been of a good standard - some nice interpretations of the subject. Bilbo - God that is disturbing - Are you sure that there is not a part of you that is a closet Goth Charic - That's great - Really epic feel to it. xgsjx - Nice take - some very clean sounds in there - nice mix. ...aaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddd based on my observations of the above, I should just delete mine before anyone hears it.....

Oh well....not posted much recently, but thought I would give this a go. Each part was recorded and quickly tidied up. A tiny bit of reverb was added to the higher piano notes and a short reverse reverb piano thing added at the beginning. Probably needs the levels changing to blend in a bit better - but hey ho. As long as no-one is expecting much in the way of technical ability, composition quality and enjoyment from this.....knock yourselves out. [url="http://soundcloud.com/as33/notes-for-an-autumn-morning"]http://soundcloud.co...-autumn-morning[/url] All criticisms taken with the usual amount crying an childish tantrums.