Blamsoft and eXode VK-2 Viking Synthesizer Song Challenge

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Reasonistas
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23 Mar 2017

Welcome to the Blamsoft, eXode and Reasonistas VK-2 Viking Synthesizer Song Challenge.

3D renderings by Mikko Niiranen​ aka Nirude.
VK-2 Song Challenge 800.png
VK-2 Song Challenge 800.png (573.39 KiB) Viewed 5005 times
THE RULES
  • Judge's decision is final
  • Only 3 winners with no cash alternative.
  • Song challenge begins Thursday, March 23rd, 2017
  • Song challenge ends Saturday, April 22, 2017 @ 11:59 pm EST
  • After the closing date, you are not allowed to change, alter or resubmit your entry. Any re-submissions or alterations will result in disqualification
  • All entrants, when requested, must be prepared to provide evidence that the rules have been adhered to. This includes providing a copy of the Reason song file to verify that only the VK-2 Viking Synthesizer was used for synth sounds.
What you may use in your song (with copyright permission):
  • VK-2 Viking Synthesizer Re for all synth sounds
  • Any Reason native and rack extension Effects and Utilities, including R9 "Players" (no external plug-ins or hardware)
  • Any Factory Sound Bank drums and/or samples, but not drums and/or samples from external plug-ins.
  • Any recorded instruments and vocals (excluding external synths)
  • Any vocal samples
  • Any collaboration for any of the above
What you may not use in your song:
  • No synth that is not VK-2 Viking Synthesizer unless for modulation purposes
  • No external plug-ins or hardware
  • No instrument samples (you can use FSB drums samples and samples of VK-2 Viking Synthesizer but keep source file for verification)
  • No programs outside of Reason that generate synth sounds
  • No copyrighted material
  • No cover songs
THE SUBMISSION
All participants must post their song in this thread and we will update the OP to include each entry. This confirms your song was accepted.

THE JUDGES
Andrew @ Blamsoft
Daniel @ eXode
Noel G. @ Reasonistas

The judging will be based off the following criteria:
  • Showcasing of VK-2 Viking Synthesizer (this is critical)
  • Arrangement and songwriting
  • Originality and creativity
  • Mixing and engineering
THE PRIZES
1st Place: VK-2 and all other Blamsoft Rack Extensions
2nd Place: VK-2 plus 2 other Blamsoft Rack Extensions of choice
3rd Place: VK-2

VK-2 Viking Synthesizer shop page: https://shop.propellerheads.se/product/ ... nthesizer/

Good luck to everyone!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Accepted entries will be posted below.


Entry # 1 - bepemixer - EXO-DE-GENE'


Entry # 2 - Loque - Dawn In Mexico


Entry # 3 - bsp - vk2_demo-25Mar2017


Entry # 4 - raymondh - Continuum


Entry # 5 - Re8et - Palindrome


Entry # 6 - deepndark (Reflexion X) - CPU Overload (Blamsoft & EXode VK - 2 Synth Contest)


Entry # 7 - ryanneckel (Ryan & The Blunts) - Test Drive


Entry # 8 - BenedictRoff-Marsh - Moray Eel - VK - 2 Demo


Entry # 9 - flavolous - When Robots Are Tuning Up! (Unofficial Soundtrack)


Entry # 10 - Loque - Face Control


Entry # 11 - Libraquaricorn - Synthesist's Wife's Coin Toss Loss To New Soft Synth (Rigged)


Entry # 12 - Tommy Steger - Viking2- ts - Synthesizer Song Challenge


Entry # 13 - Noplan (Pawel Schulz) - Nordmann (Blamsoft and eXode VK-2 Viking Synthesizer Song Challenge)


Entry # 14 - Sympathetic Dissonance - Les Marais de Bell


Entry # 15 - Noise (Noise Shadow) - Broken Symmetry (VK2 Blamsoft Synth Challenge)


Entry # 16 - ThisIsNotTheMusic - Future X - VK2 Remix


Entry # 17 - freyelise - Maidentrip


Entry # 18 - teddymcw - Norðreyjar Vk-2


Entry # 19 - gullum (Gulli) - Love Is Our Way (VK2 Song Chalange)


Entry # 20 - RE8ET - CUCKLEBOO


Entry # 21 - Advanced Suite - 1 V


Entry # 22 - NekujaK - No Memory


Entry # 23 - Tau- Ceti - Viking 2


Entry # 24 - flavolous - Equater Chasor


Entry # 25 - plasticfractal (hex formes) - no response


Entry # 26 - Despondo - Collision Course


Entry # 27 - Despondo - Something's Watching


Entry # 28 - Olivier (eauhm) - Ode to Wendy ( Switched on Vikings )


Entry # 29 - Kimo The Beatmaker - Sertraline Symphony


Entry # 30 - CampfireBurning (TheNastyDragon) - Phinn


Entry # 31 - Future X - VK2 Stavanger Club Mix


Entry # 32 - teddymcw-playground - Zero to Sixty Vk-2


Entry # 33 - bsp604 - Nachtschwärmer [VK2 Song Challenge Entry#2]


Entry # 34 - Libraquaricorn - And Then Someone Dialed 921


Entry # 35 - Blast (Ignitionst) - Welcome the Viking


Entry # 36 - Audiotic - Systemic Contradiction


Entry # 37 - nikonovs (FURYWEEKEND) - VK-2 Spaceship Journey (Vk-2 RE Contest)


Entry # 38 - Aeox - Virtus


Entry # 39 - mystile - Before The Battle


Entry # 40 - The G - Viking Summer [WIP]


Entry # 41 - RE8ET - LEAVING PLUTO


Entry # 42 - teddymcw-playground - Just One Situation


Entry # 43 - teddymcw - Across the Earth


Entry # 44 - esselfortium - Augmented Existence


Entry # 45 - amnésica - Neon Viking Ship


Entry # 46 - artotaku - Velvet Kingdom (VK-2 Viking Synthesizer Song Challenge)


Entry # 47 - plastic fractal - tour de vk-2


Entry # 48 - plasticfractal - like a human eye - ten years ago


Entry # 49 - Viscor - Vaporize


Entry # 50 - Iggster (DFAC5) - Short Trip, Longship!


Entry # 51 - Breach The Sky - District 36


Entry # 52 - Adam Cadabra - See You in Valhalla (FEAT VK-2 RE)


Entry # 53 - Zhi Zhu (AJ 3000) - Nite Shift (Blamsoft & EXode VK - 2 Viking Synth Song Challenge)
Last edited by Reasonistas on 23 Apr 2017, edited 15 times in total.
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Loque
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23 Mar 2017

Appreciate this. Thx.
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Emian
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23 Mar 2017

nice contest, nice synth !!!


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scratchnsnifff
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23 Mar 2017

love the sound! but why is this one instance taking up all my cpu, i have a macbook pro (not the one with a touch screen but only like 6-8 months old) and my cpu bars only have one or two left! will this device manage consumption with an update? or is this my computer just being a dunce? can't wait to see a tutorial on the FM capabilities :)
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satyr32
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23 Mar 2017

scratchnsnifff wrote:love the sound! but why is this one instance taking up all my cpu, i have a macbook pro (not the one with a touch screen but only like 6-8 months old) and my cpu bars only have one or two left! will this device manage consumption with an update? or is this my computer just being a dunce? can't wait to see a tutorial on the FM capabilities :)
check out this thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7499055
you need an app to change to the better graphic card inside you macbook pro which improves your performance about 10 to 15 percent in reason.
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Karim
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23 Mar 2017

scratchnsnifff wrote:love the sound! but why is this one instance taking up all my cpu, i have a macbook pro (not the one with a touch screen but only like 6-8 months old) and my cpu bars only have one or two left! will this device manage consumption with an update? or is this my computer just being a dunce? can't wait to see a tutorial on the FM capabilities :)
I have an Imac 2016 I7 4 ghz. Same story with pads.. so I know I ll do reduce voices or back panel to reduce CPU or bounce. [emoji6]

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Loque
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24 Mar 2017

I ask this all the time again, but i think its ok to use other synths FX, like Kong env shaper?
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Reasonistas
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24 Mar 2017

Loque wrote:I ask this all the time again, but i think its ok to use other synths FX, like Kong env shaper?
Yes.
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Libraquaricorn
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24 Mar 2017

What if we need to bounce tracks to audio, because of the CPU issue with this device? I usually do this by recording an audio track in the song file I'm working on and then deleting the devices that have been bounced. Do we need to save and possibly forward multiple song files to prove that our entries are legit?

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Reasonistas
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24 Mar 2017

Libraquaricorn wrote:What if we need to bounce tracks to audio, because of the CPU issue with this device? I usually do this by recording an audio track in the song file I'm working on and then deleting the devices that have been bounced. Do we need to save and possibly forward multiple song files to prove that our entries are legit?
Yes, unfortunately this is the only way to verify compliance with the rules.
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Blamsoft
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25 Mar 2017

I recommend the Bounce In Place feature or manually muting clips after bouncing audio.

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Loque
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25 Mar 2017

Blamsoft wrote:I recommend the Bounce In Place feature or manually muting clips after bouncing audio.
That does not help enough. The tracks still consume CPU.
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eXode
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25 Mar 2017

Not sure how many tracks everyone can get but I'd try to challenge myself regarding the amount of tracks and restrict the use of polyphony.

Like I stated in the the other thread, my psytrance demo track uses at most 7 monophonic instances of VK2, all set to max quality. I'm also running one instance of Kong for drums. With those settings my CPU is almost maxing out. If I set everything to the lowest quality I get 2-3 bars. This is on a 4 year old Core i7 3770K system with 16 Gb RAM running Win 7 64-bit.

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Karim
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25 Mar 2017

eXode wrote:Not sure how many tracks everyone can get but I'd try to challenge myself regarding the amount of tracks and restrict the use of polyphony.

Like I stated in the the other thread, my psytrance demo track uses at most 7 monophonic instances of VK2, all set to max quality. I'm also running one instance of Kong for drums. With those settings my CPU is almost maxing out. If I set everything to the lowest quality I get 2-3 bars. This is on a 4 year old Core i7 3770K system with 16 Gb RAM running Win 7 64-bit.
I touch 3 or 4 tracks with buffer to 1024. maybe more. the trick to join 2 or more songs is not bad . above all if you have the song planed in your mind is doable.
Deadmau5 has lot of analog synthetiser but he normally bounce to audio fron them as his normal workflow for what I can see in his streams... another kind of workflow.

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JiggeryPokery
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25 Mar 2017

eXode wrote:Not sure how many tracks everyone can get but I'd try to challenge myself regarding the amount of tracks and restrict the use of polyphony.

Like I stated in the the other thread, my psytrance demo track uses at most 7 monophonic instances of VK2, all set to max quality. I'm also running one instance of Kong for drums. With those settings my CPU is almost maxing out. If I set everything to the lowest quality I get 2-3 bars. This is on a 4 year old Core i7 3770K system with 16 Gb RAM running Win 7 64-bit.

My X4 965 simply can't run more than 2 monos instances. It pretty much won't run a single polyphonic one ;)

And that's with 24,576 sample with a 512ms latency in the ASIO.

Congrats, this very first synth plugin, ever, to entirely beat my Phenom!! :clap:

On the other hand, surprisingly I've been able to run around 6-7 mono tracks on my XPS laptop (Skylake i5 - I forget which, 6200HQ?) - so it's also the very first time that's beat my Phenom, which surprised me, and I don't entirely understand it. Although these days there's so much background crap running on the Phenom from NAS to scanner drivers etc etc I suppose it's not surprising that eventually a leaner laptop installation might see an advantage.

Anyway, I've got a Ryzen 1800X on order... :lol:

PS, Thanks for including the Low CPU patches! :puf_wink: :p

PPS, I think you have a slight issue with limited voices in poly for release stages: the voice switching in poly where one has medium to long release time is quite obvious. My guess is you handle mono voices similar to how we did in the JPS, not heard any issue with VK-2's mono mode. In poly however, while I also opted to default to 6 voices, as that was a good trade-off between decent poly and CPU, I allowed up to 64 voices even though no PC could probably handle that in a live scenario. The advantage there, however, is that in render, one could increase the number of voices from 6 to prevent strange artifacts. In VK-2 they can't be mitigated. Since you went for a pop-up preset list, which is fine, perhaps consider adding a 12-voice option, maybe even a 24-voice option too. Again, it doesn't matter if no-one can use it "live", but it would be useful for rendering to prevent obvious note stealing.

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Auryn
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25 Mar 2017

JiggeryPokery wrote:Since you went for a pop-up preset list, which is fine, perhaps consider adding a 12-voice option, maybe even a 24-voice option too. Again, it doesn't matter if no-one can use it "live", but it would be useful for rendering to prevent obvious note stealing.
IMHO Mr Pokery makes a fair point here, for rendering purposes this might be quite useful, even though I can also imagine the developers being slightly wary about having that option in the pop-up menu. Maybe a little switch on the back... "24 voice CPU Ragnarok mode (do NOT touch while operating, unless you are from the future)"
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JiggeryPokery
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25 Mar 2017

Auryn wrote:
JiggeryPokery wrote:Since you went for a pop-up preset list, which is fine, perhaps consider adding a 12-voice option, maybe even a 24-voice option too. Again, it doesn't matter if no-one can use it "live", but it would be useful for rendering to prevent obvious note stealing.
IMHO Mr Pokery makes a fair point here, for rendering purposes this might be quite useful, even though I can also imagine the developers being slightly wary about having that option in the pop-up menu. Maybe a little switch on the back... "24 voice CPU Ragnarok mode (do NOT touch while operating, unless you are from the future)"
Actually one of the cool things about pop-up lists (and devs know there are plenty of things that aren't cool about them ;) ) is that the pop-up list and the display text aren't actually linked. So potentially the pop-up itself could say, simply "12 Voice (Render)", or "12 Voice (High CPU)" etc etc, while the display is limited to "12 Voice".

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Carly(Poohbear)
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25 Mar 2017

Loque wrote:
Blamsoft wrote:I recommend the Bounce In Place feature or manually muting clips after bouncing audio.
That does not help enough. The tracks still consume CPU.

I get quite a big saving..

Test ran, created one Subtractor and 13 VK-2 running simple pattern in a loop (all running a the delay effect with high feedback), 9 set to mono, 4 set to 2 voices, Peaks my DSP in the red.

Bounce and mute all VK-2 midi tracks, my DSP sits a one and still sits a one with the new audio tracks playing (just a laptop running i7 @2.6)..

scratchnsnifff
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25 Mar 2017

satyr32 wrote:
scratchnsnifff wrote:love the sound! but why is this one instance taking up all my cpu, i have a macbook pro (not the one with a touch screen but only like 6-8 months old) and my cpu bars only have one or two left! will this device manage consumption with an update? or is this my computer just being a dunce? can't wait to see a tutorial on the FM capabilities :)
check out this thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7499055
you need an app to change to the better graphic card inside you macbook pro which improves your performance about 10 to 15 percent in reason.
no way! thanks bud, haha was hoping there was a way to optimize performance of my mac thanks!
Mayor of plucktown :evil:

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bepemixer
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25 Mar 2017

Io uso Reason perchè funziona sempre!! : :reason: :record: :recycle: :ignition: :refill: :reload:

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Loque
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25 Mar 2017

I just had enough time to finish a track, just before my girl comes back :-D.

So, here it is. Very different to my normal stuff, but i had this idea in my head for a while and this synth let me realise it. All, i mean ALL, sounds are made by VK-2.

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bepemixer
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25 Mar 2017

scratchnsnifff wrote:
satyr32 wrote:
scratchnsnifff wrote:love the sound! but why is this one instance taking up all my cpu, i have a macbook pro (not the one with a touch screen but only like 6-8 months old) and my cpu bars only have one or two left! will this device manage consumption with an update? or is this my computer just being a dunce? can't wait to see a tutorial on the FM capabilities :)
check out this thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7499055
you need an app to change to the better graphic card inside you macbook pro which improves your performance about 10 to 15 percent in reason.
no way! thanks bud, haha was hoping there was a way to optimize performance of my mac thanks!

Use a PC!!!!!
Io uso Reason perchè funziona sempre!! : :reason: :record: :recycle: :ignition: :refill: :reload:

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Blast
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25 Mar 2017

can I use Synchronous in the song challenge?

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Blamsoft
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25 Mar 2017

I had six VK-2's playing at once in my demo Ridin' the Wave. I didn't use maximum quality settings and just left it that way for the final bounce. That worked for me on a late 2015 iMac.

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