One synth EP Challenge (No competition or prizes - just for fun)

Great fun, great prizes! Good luck!
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Kuranes
Posts: 43
Joined: 20 Oct 2016
Location: Trier/Germany

31 Dec 2016

Holy shit, I did it. I made that E.P. Thought I'd go insane in the process; more than once I cursed myself for having set such a close deadline. But I did it. For sure, this thing is far from being perfect. I learned a lot, and especially I learned how much I still suck in many aspects of music production.

But I brought some melodies with me, that possibly might drill their ways through your hearing to fill your hearts with awe and wonder, fear and relief.

Some of those melodies are very grim melodies. Echoes of my disbelief in the face of events I never believed to be possible. When you hear it, you'll know what I mean.

Here's my E.P. "Kaleidoscope". Except drums and voice-samples, all sounds were produced with Lectric Panda’s mighty NOSTROMO!

Enjoy...

Full Tracklist:


Single Tracks:

1. "You know, there aren't six people in this room who know, how true this really is"


2. How to fail epic


3. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled...


4. Synchronicity


5. Mare Tranquillitatis


6. The art of keeping a smile under the most adverse circumstances


7. "The waves, they don't care (they were born out at sea, and they live to crash)"
“To be is to do”—Socrates.
“To do is to be”—Jean-Paul Sartre.
“Do be do be do”—Frank Sinatra.

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-del-vecchio

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TritoneAddiction
Competition Winner
Posts: 4219
Joined: 29 Aug 2015
Location: Sweden

31 Dec 2016

Kuranes wrote:Holy shit, I did it. I made that E.P. Thought I'd go insane in the process; more than once I cursed myself for having set such a close deadline. But I did it. For sure, this thing is far from being perfect. I learned a lot, and especially I learned how much I still suck in many aspects of music production.

But I brought some melodies with me, that possibly might drill their ways through your hearing to fill your hearts with awe and wonder, fear and relief.

Some of those melodies are very grim melodies. Echoes of my disbelief in the face of events I never believed to be possible. When you hear it, you'll know what I mean.

Here's my E.P. "Kaleidoscope". Except drums and voice-samples, all sounds were produced with Lectric Panda’s mighty NOSTROMO!

Enjoy...
Congrats on your EP :)
Finishing an EP definitely makes you improve as a musician/artist. And you did it in time too. Good job.
I listened through it quickly. Sounded cool to me. I'll get back with a couple of comments in a day or two when I have more time.

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Kuranes
Posts: 43
Joined: 20 Oct 2016
Location: Trier/Germany

31 Dec 2016

TritoneAddiction wrote: Congrats on your EP :)
Finishing an EP definitely makes you improve as a musician/artist. And you did it in time too. Good job.
I listened through it quickly. Sounded cool to me. I'll get back with a couple of comments in a day or two when I have more time.
Thanks Tritone! :) I wasn't sure, if I would make it, because in the end it was not much time I had to work on it. And honestly, for a second I thought about announcing the delay of the release of my E.P., because I thought I really couldn't complete it in an appropriate way.

But then I realized, there was no way to delay it, because that is, what I always did. So there was my deadline, and I had to do it. And in the night of 30th to 31st of December, after having worked 14 hours in my dayjob, I spent another 7 hours to complete my mission.

After the upload was done, I was so friggin tired - and so friggin happy. And I want to express my sincere thankyou, Tritone, for offering me the opportunity to create something, that I wouldn't have done without your impulse.

So, thanks Dude! I await your opinion with curiosity, but do not hurry, do it when you feel like.

And now I wish all of you a happy new year! May it be a year with more peace and better news, and filled with good music!
“To be is to do”—Socrates.
“To do is to be”—Jean-Paul Sartre.
“Do be do be do”—Frank Sinatra.

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-del-vecchio

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TritoneAddiction
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Posts: 4219
Joined: 29 Aug 2015
Location: Sweden

01 Jan 2017

Kuranes wrote:
TritoneAddiction wrote: Congrats on your EP :)
Finishing an EP definitely makes you improve as a musician/artist. And you did it in time too. Good job.
I listened through it quickly. Sounded cool to me. I'll get back with a couple of comments in a day or two when I have more time.
Thanks Tritone! :) I wasn't sure, if I would make it, because in the end it was not much time I had to work on it. And honestly, for a second I thought about announcing the delay of the release of my E.P., because I thought I really couldn't complete it in an appropriate way.

But then I realized, there was no way to delay it, because that is, what I always did. So there was my deadline, and I had to do it. And in the night of 30th to 31st of December, after having worked 14 hours in my dayjob, I spent another 7 hours to complete my mission.

After the upload was done, I was so friggin tired - and so friggin happy. And I want to express my sincere thankyou, Tritone, for offering me the opportunity to create something, that I wouldn't have done without your impulse.

So, thanks Dude! I await your opinion with curiosity, but do not hurry, do it when you feel like.

And now I wish all of you a happy new year! May it be a year with more peace and better news, and filled with good music!
Thanks for the kind words. I really haven't done much except making a thread with some simple set of rules. But I can see how a ”challenge” and some limitations might be inspiring to create music. I basically came up with this EP challenge for myself. Then I thought why not see if other people are interested too.

Some comments about your EP:
I like that there's a ”warm” feeling to the production, kind of hard to explain but that's how I feel.
I think the EP feels cohesive and has it's own sound and identity. The whole EP has a nice vibe to it.
Personal favorites from the EP: ”You Know, There Aren’t Six People In This Room Who Know How True This Really Is” and ”Synchronicity”.
I think the shorter tracks like ”Mare Tranquillitatis” works fine too.
Really like the intro to Synchronicity with the rhodes sounding thing. Again the word ”warm” comes to mind.

Some constructive criticism. (Just remember this is just one opinion and if you don't agree with it just ignore it. No one knows what you art is about better than yourself.)

Regarding the drum loops, perhaps it's because I've heard them before that I find them a little uninspiring. You could probably alter them a little more to make them your own. Just a thought.
Also some transitions between different parts could be a little smoother, like in the Trump song. Parts sound a little seperated and cut off from each other in some places there.

I wouldn't alter anything now that the project is finished, even if you agree with my criticism. I personally try to never go back once something is released, instead I try to keep tips in mind for future projects.

Again congrats on your EP. Be proud of your accomplishment. That's what it's all about. Great work.
If you want feel free to make another EP with a new synth :)
Last edited by TritoneAddiction on 01 Jan 2017, edited 1 time in total.

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modecca
Posts: 807
Joined: 07 Jul 2016

01 Jan 2017

The remix of my Nostromo project has been completed (before the due date of my original ep)! Big Thanks to Peter Landsford, this guy is really talented and has tons of potential.





🔗💥

Peter

01 Jan 2017

modecca wrote:The remix of my Nostromo project has been completed (before the due date of my original ep)! Big Thanks to Peter Lansford, this guy is really talented and has tons of potential.
Thanks for the kind words and for giving me the opportunity to mess around with such awesome material! ;)

This was pleasantly unexpected and I stuck with the theme of using only Nostromo for synth sounds in the remix projects.

Still doing my own two track EP with Viking due Feb 7th.

Sorped
Posts: 200
Joined: 29 Nov 2016
Location: Denmark
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02 Jan 2017

Excellent idea, Tritone!
Will you let a noob enter? :)
If so, I'll be aiming for a Jan 31st deadline and I'll be using Orbis from Skrock Music.

Oh dear, what have I gotten myslef into..?
:D
Alio Modo: SoundCloud
-----------
Born to lose, live to win.
Don't forget to back up your projects! :thumbs_up:

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TritoneAddiction
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02 Jan 2017

Sorped wrote:Excellent idea, Tritone!
Will you let a noob enter? :)
If so, I'll be aiming for a Jan 31st deadline and I'll be using Orbis from Skrock Music.

Oh dear, what have I gotten myslef into..?
:D
Of course, you're more than welcome to join us, no matter what level you're at right now, so no worries :)
It's all about the joy of making music.

But with a deadline like that you better hurry and get to work right away :)
I'm sure you'll make it though.

Sorped
Posts: 200
Joined: 29 Nov 2016
Location: Denmark
Contact:

02 Jan 2017

TritoneAddiction wrote:
Sorped wrote:Excellent idea, Tritone!
Will you let a noob enter? :)
If so, I'll be aiming for a Jan 31st deadline and I'll be using Orbis from Skrock Music.

Oh dear, what have I gotten myslef into..?
:D
Of course, you're more than welcome to join us, no matter what level you're at right now, so no worries :)
It's all about the joy of making music.

But with a deadline like that you better hurry and get to work right away :)
I'm sure you'll make it though.
Yes, I'd better get going ;) I consider this an excellent oppotunity to learn how to finish a project. :)
Alio Modo: SoundCloud
-----------
Born to lose, live to win.
Don't forget to back up your projects! :thumbs_up:

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artotaku
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Location: Munich, Germany
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03 Jan 2017

I´m a big fan of 8 bit sound chip music so I´ll join the challenge with an EP featuring remakes/covers of 3 Atari ST YM2149 classic tunes by Mad Max (Jochen Hippel), all synthesized with Synapse´s Antidote.

I´ll keep the notes and original arrangements but make it sound more hifi (FX, stereo field etc) while trying to keep the original vibe.
So it´s more of a technical challenge than a muscial one.

To get an idea how it will sound like, here is a WIP I started yesterday:


Deadline: 31st January 2017.

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modecca
Posts: 807
Joined: 07 Jul 2016

03 Jan 2017

Here is a late 4th track to complete my Nostromo EP.

I have made a ton of improvements to my music game over the last few weeks and this song perfectly represents that.


🔗💥

User avatar
Kuranes
Posts: 43
Joined: 20 Oct 2016
Location: Trier/Germany

03 Jan 2017

TritoneAddiction wrote:Thanks for the kind words. I really haven't done much except making a thread with some simple set of rules. But I can see how a ”challenge” and some limitations might be inspiring to create music. I basically came up with this EP challenge for myself. Then I thought why not see if other people are interested too.

Some comments about your EP:
I like that there's a ”warm” feeling to the production, kind of hard to explain but that's how I feel.
I think the EP feels cohesive and has it's own sound and identity. The whole EP has a nice vibe to it.
Personal favorites from the EP: ”You Know, There Aren’t Six People In This Room Who Know How True This Really Is” and ”Synchronicity”.
I think the shorter tracks like ”Mare Tranquillitatis” works fine too.
Really like the intro to Synchronicity with the rhodes sounding thing. Again the word ”warm” comes to mind.

Some constructive criticism. (Just remember this is just one opinion and if you don't agree with it just ignore it. No one knows what you art is about better than yourself.)

Regarding the drum loops, perhaps it's because I've heard them before that I find them a little uninspiring. You could probably alter them a little more to make them your own. Just a thought.
Also some transitions between different parts could be a little smoother, like in the Trump song. Parts sound a little seperated and cut off from each other in some places there.

I wouldn't alter anything now that the project is finished, even if you agree with my criticism. I personally try to never go back once something is released, instead I try to keep tips in mind for future projects.

Again congrats on your EP. Be proud of your accomplishment. That's what it's all about. Great work.
If you want feel free to make another EP with a new synth :)

Thanks a lot, Tritone, for taking the time and giving me extensive, constructive Feedback, I highly appreciate it!

It was indeed the limitations of that challegene, that really made me learn some things. For example, one of the greatest achievements for me was, when I managed to rebuild a cool sound from The Legend with Nostromo (the brasses in "synchronicity" were emulated on the "devil's brass" patch of The Legend, although in the mix they sound crappy, because my mixing skills are underdevelopped, to put it mildly :D).

I think I know what you mean, when you say that the EP has a "warm" sound. That might be, because I myself like music with (but not solely) a warm sound. Radiohead's "Kid A" is an example for that, especially the first track of that LP ("everything in it's right place") has this warm, comforting sound.

I really appreciate, that you perceive the EP as being cohesive and having it's own sound and identity, and that for you, the EP has a nice vibe to it.

I mean, I could have dealt with, if you would have said, this EP is the worst piece of music that ever came to your ears; for sure! :D ;)

No honestly, I am really happy that you generally approve that EP, but even more I appreciate your constructive criticism, because with that I know, what to work on for the next time, and by god, I know, that in my way of producing music, there is "noch viel Luft nach oben" (There is still a lot of air up), as we say here in Germany :D

And clearly, the drums/the beats are one aspect of music production, where I still lack profound skills. That's why I had to use some of the templates. Your tip, to alter them to make them my own, is a good starting point. But I guess, if I wouldn't have picked such a close deadline, I would have put more work in the beat-creation, I was already experimenting with the Panda's FRITZ. I got cool results, but they led me too far away from the track's original idea, so I didn't use them.

Another important point you make: "Also some transitions between different parts could be a little smoother, like in the Trump song. Parts sound a little seperated and cut off from each other in some places there."

When I listened to the EP and paid close attention to the transitions, I fully understood, what you meant. Indeed, that is also something I have to work on. The transition in "the art of keeping a smile" between the last chorus and the outro with the sample of Charlie Chaplin (did you recognize him? I really hope, that every listeners gets it, that this is NOT a pro-Trump-song) is way too bumpy.

"I wouldn't alter anything now that the project is finished, even if you agree with my criticism. I personally try to never go back once something is released, instead I try to keep tips in mind for future projects." I think I can understand, why you do it. Because only in this way you really can finish something. If you keep coming back and back again to a track, in the end something will happen, that in Germany we call "Verschlimmbessern". That means, at a certain point it might happen, that, the more you work on something, the more you ruin it.

Yeah, I really like the idea to not get stuck with an idea, but rather keept the tips in mind and move on to try something new.

"Again congrats on your EP. Be proud of your accomplishment. That's what it's all about. Great work." - Again, thankyou very much! Yes, I am proud. Not that it's perfect, it clearly isn't. But that I managed to do it according to the rules. And it was great fun, even when I remember now, that in the morning ours of December 31st my eyesight showed a significant failure (I saw everything doubled), when I tried to decypher the values on my screen to finish that goddamn mastering :D

To make another EP with only one synth is something, that I'll certainly consider in the future, but I have to admit, that it's also great fun to put my full arsenal of synths to work again.

Without a doubt, what I learned in the previous challenges and last, but not least with your challenge, certainly will help me to produce better tracks in the future.

And I can tell you, there's a lot of inspiration. To quote Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails: "There's still no shortage of things, that piss me off!" ;)

Thankyou very much, Tritone, for everything, and good luck with your own projects! C Ya!
Last edited by Kuranes on 04 Jan 2017, edited 1 time in total.
“To be is to do”—Socrates.
“To do is to be”—Jean-Paul Sartre.
“Do be do be do”—Frank Sinatra.

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-del-vecchio

User avatar
Kuranes
Posts: 43
Joined: 20 Oct 2016
Location: Trier/Germany

03 Jan 2017

artotaku wrote:I´m a big fan of 8 bit sound chip music so I´ll join the challenge with an EP featuring remakes/covers of 3 Atari ST YM2149 classic tunes by Mad Max (Jochen Hippel), all synthesized with Synapse´s Antidote.

I´ll keep the notes and original arrangements but make it sound more hifi (FX, stereo field etc) while trying to keep the original vibe.
So it´s more of a technical challenge than a muscial one.

To get an idea how it will sound like, here is a WIP I started yesterday:


Deadline: 31st January 2017.
Hi! Your approach is very interesting and IMO certainly valid, because we do this challenge not for material purposes, but rather to learn something, and I think you'll learn a lot in the course of completing your mission.

As I learned myself during the production of my own EP, to know how to tweak Synthies & Effects can be a challenge on it's own.

Have fun! :)
“To be is to do”—Socrates.
“To do is to be”—Jean-Paul Sartre.
“Do be do be do”—Frank Sinatra.

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-del-vecchio

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Kuranes
Posts: 43
Joined: 20 Oct 2016
Location: Trier/Germany

03 Jan 2017

modecca wrote:Here is a late 4th track to complete my Nostromo EP.

I have made a ton of improvements to my music game over the last few weeks and this song perfectly represents that.


Holy #, Dude, that is a fine piece of music, I really like it. I don't really want to ask, how you did it, because that is like asking a magician, how he managed to do his tricks, and by doing that, killing the magic.

But it's fun to think about, how you possibly could have done it. :)

One thing is for sure - NOSTROMO is a mighty beast, isn't it?
“To be is to do”—Socrates.
“To do is to be”—Jean-Paul Sartre.
“Do be do be do”—Frank Sinatra.

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-del-vecchio

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modecca
Posts: 807
Joined: 07 Jul 2016

04 Jan 2017

Kuranes wrote:
modecca wrote:Here is a late 4th track to complete my Nostromo EP.

I have made a ton of improvements to my music game over the last few weeks and this song perfectly represents that.


Holy #, Dude, that is a fine piece of music, I really like it. I don't really want to ask, how you did it, because that is like asking a magician, how he managed to do his tricks, and by doing that, killing the magic.

But it's fun to think about, how you possibly could have done it. :)

One thing is for sure - NOSTROMO is a mighty beast, isn't it?


Thats quite an encouraging compliment, I really do appreciate it!
🔗💥

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TritoneAddiction
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Location: Sweden

07 Jan 2017

Working on my Chip64 EP right now and man does Chip64 have a lot of bugs. It has to be the buggiest synth in Reason. Pitch gets out of tune, plays one note even though poly count is set to 8. Well at least it hasn't crashed yet as it did a couple of times when I first bought it.

I don't usually get annoyed by minor bugs like with Uhbik A and McDSP EQs, but this is getting to a point where it's really annoying to work with Chip64.

It's a shame because otherwise it's a pretty fun little character synth.

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TritoneAddiction
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07 Jan 2017

@Libraquaricorn

First of all, congrats on your birthday yesterday. I hope you had a great day.

But how's that Oberon EP going? The deadline was yesterday. We want to hear those tracks. :)

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Libraquaricorn
Posts: 345
Joined: 15 Jan 2015

07 Jan 2017

I''m terribly sorry, but there's been a delay....let's just say there was a problem down at the pressing plant... any day now...

And thanks, I had a wonderful birthday.

I got these as a gift:

Image

They will be a nice portable addition to my studio cans, which are these:

Image

User avatar
Kuranes
Posts: 43
Joined: 20 Oct 2016
Location: Trier/Germany

08 Jan 2017

TritoneAddiction wrote:Working on my Chip64 EP right now and man does Chip64 have a lot of bugs. It has to be the buggiest synth in Reason. Pitch gets out of tune, plays one note even though poly count is set to 8. Well at least it hasn't crashed yet as it did a couple of times when I first bought it.

I don't usually get annoyed by minor bugs like with Uhbik A and McDSP EQs, but this is getting to a point where it's really annoying to work with Chip64.

It's a shame because otherwise it's a pretty fun little character synth.
I'm sorry to hear that! Any possibility to contact the Dev. of Chip64 to maybe at least fix some of those bugs? Hope they can do something, so that you can complete your mission in the way you planned it.

@ Libraquaricorn:

Best wishes for your new round on this crazy world! May it be full of joy and happiness, and may it bring you all you need to be creative! BTW - kick some rear parts down at the pressing plant, we want your goodies, Dude! :D ;)
“To be is to do”—Socrates.
“To do is to be”—Jean-Paul Sartre.
“Do be do be do”—Frank Sinatra.

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-del-vecchio

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TritoneAddiction
Competition Winner
Posts: 4219
Joined: 29 Aug 2015
Location: Sweden

08 Jan 2017

Kuranes wrote: I'm sorry to hear that! Any possibility to contact the Dev. of Chip64 to maybe at least fix some of those bugs? Hope they can do something, so that you can complete your mission in the way you planned it.
A couple of bugs won't stop the EP from happening, that's for sure. :)
It's not like the synht isn't usable or anything. It's just a little annoying that it doesn't always work like expected.
I guess I could email him about it, but I'm gonna move on to the Legend EP soon anyway.
Ochen K (the developer) usually visits Reasontalk when he releases a new RE. Maybe I'll contact him next time he's around here. He seems pretty open to fix eventual bugs.

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Catblack
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08 Jan 2017

I am going to make an ep for Revival by June 1st. Perhaps one for the JPS Harmonic Synth after that.
If you ain't hip to the rare Housequake, shut up already.

Damn.

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TritoneAddiction
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08 Jan 2017

Catblack wrote:I am going to make an ep for Revival by June 1st. Perhaps one for the JPS Harmonic Synth after that.
Nice, welcome on board. Revival is one of those REs I haven't noticed in the Shop for some reason. I barely knew it existed.

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TritoneAddiction
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Location: Sweden

09 Jan 2017

Should I add another EP to my list? Hmmm, this might be really dumb. I have two EPs in the making already. I'm thinking FM4 since I bought it during the last sale.

Oh fuck it, I'll do it! Let's start this year off with some serious song writing discipline.
My Chip64 EP is done pretty soon anyway.

FM4, deadline: april 4th.

I might regret this decision. Oh well...

Sorped
Posts: 200
Joined: 29 Nov 2016
Location: Denmark
Contact:

12 Jan 2017

TritoneAddiction wrote:Should I add another EP to my list? Hmmm, this might be really dumb. I have two EPs in the making already. I'm thinking FM4 since I bought it during the last sale.

Oh fuck it, I'll do it! Let's start this year off with some serious song writing discipline.
My Chip64 EP is done pretty soon anyway.

FM4, deadline: april 4th.

I might regret this decision. Oh well...
Good luck and have fun! :D
Alio Modo: SoundCloud
-----------
Born to lose, live to win.
Don't forget to back up your projects! :thumbs_up:

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teddymcw
Posts: 432
Joined: 13 May 2016

14 Jan 2017

Sup Tritone and crew?! Had a great time putting these together. Feedback is more than welcome. Thank you again!


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