[Compo:R]The MODPlug Tracker Compo 2009

[LPChip]

Results!
Thanks, everyone for participating in The MODPlug Tracker Compo 2009. It was a great compo, and I had a great time hosting it. For those who are interested in another round, see the last post.

Now for the results, I present you the results from good to bad. The graphical scale indicates how people have voted. You can see that it twisted alot back and forth, meaning that most of the contestants have a different taste. Based on the comments, you can also see that people voted for different things. Thanks for participating and voting.

Code Select Expand


Graphical scale: [ ·-=+oO#]
1 [      ==  ··==] 39         LPChip - Triangular Noise
2 [    ----··  --] 33       PsiShock - Restricted Harmony
3 [··  --  ··--··] 31              g - ec
4 [  ······----  ] 31 BvanOudtshoorn - The Princess and the Potato
5 [  --  --······] 30          Rabik - Listen Up!
6 [    --  ==··  ] 30   MACHiNESMiTH - Melancholy Memories
7 [  oo      ····] 18            Rel - Debug Crab
8 [##            ]  7        Sam_Zen - Bringtone

Comments:
LPChip - Triangular Noise

• Some really fantastic instrument sounds, unfortunately let down somewhat by the percussion, particularly the snare drum. Musically, this is a well-controlled piece, but its length is, in my opinion at least, a tad on the long side. (Although given the length of my entry, that is perhaps an unjust criticism. ) Overall, really solid work.
  
• LP, you've polished this song for a quite a longer period i can see. I adore your ideas about sounding, you did put a great work on most of the stuff. I just knew, you would naturally distort your sounds to hell when you've mentioned a guitar tune.  But when the first strings hit me, i was blown away. Definitelly has the "wow" factor, thumb up matey, you've deserved it.
  
• This felt like I was hearing a more professionally produced variation of my tune! Definitely has a haunting vibe, scottish mythologies pop into mind (theres a bagpipe-ish instrument playing someplace - had a very Jan Hammer feel to it by pattern 43. This also made me realise something, at some point I kept looking at the order list waiting for the song to finish (not a good sign) - the realisation was that my song is almost as long as this and that people must be begging to shut it off! This also had my system REALLY begging for mercy!
  
• Louder than other contributions, by used compression. Nice lead sound from pat 30 on. Sloppy ending.
  
• The lead instrument was a bit harsh.
  
• pros: A quality track, and the samples was great. Love the song - cons: too long
  
• Very well produced, bass is great. The guitar and flute sounds are impressive, but also horrendous. At pattern 40 it gets interesting, then the beat gets even cooler before the song fades out.
  
• Before I started to make the song, I already had ideas about how to do mixing. The result is a song that is substantially louder than the other entries. I wanted to (ab)use the DX plugins in its fullest extend, to create the "WOW, is this possible too?" factor. I think I succeeded in this. Especially the strings even gave me the WOW factor. I am even proud of getting a 6 minute song out of this. Really shows what you can do with just 2 samples. Also note, that I left my spare patterns in there on purpose, so you can see the ideas I discarded.
  

Psishock - Restricted Harmony

• Ah, that immediately-recognisable Psishock sound. But seriously, 127 channels? Are that many *really* necessary? It sounds as though a lot of the sounds have been stretched out quite a bit to get some quite impressive results nice work. Musically, the track is good, but I have to admit that there was nothing that really 'grabbed' me: what I heard was good, but it didn't make me really sit up and take notice. Really good work, nonetheless.
  
• For some reason Fish come to mind...the Deep sea variety all flowing to and fro dreamily with nary a care and then the sudden crescendo-ing (is that a word) ending conjures up an image of a Yellow daffodil in the middle of the seabed, before fading to black. (Verily, I should be directing demos!). That said - 127 channels?! I counted much less channels being used...the hell is that?! Its like he would've broken the screen and make another channel on his wall since he "only had 128 to play around in". The menacing growling bassline part is cool (starts in pattern 6) the rest is very `Class' Crack Demo - introsepctive. To be honest, If I had the choice I'd tie LPchips entry with this one, the fact that LP's tune was closer (in spirit) to mine is what made me give him the upper hand.
  
• I expected more different kinds of sounds... more advanced. Nevertheless, I get a nice chiptune feel from this. Later in the song the sounds do emerge, but I still expected more X)
  
• Hmm.. untitled. Very nice good programmed structures, but after 3/4, attention is fading.
  
• In spite of some excessive roughness in the sound such as crackles(in rendered wav), outstanding piece.
  
• pros: Nice, reminds me of ambient and early synths use. Fairly advanced, nice samples - cons: Too long
  
• A very melodic and interesting piece. Sound quality of the percussive instruments could be improved (as LPChip's song is evidence of), but as a whole this composition stands out. Very nice bass sound, wish I would have thought of it.
  
• hello me! I know i should stop talking to you, the very nice voices are saying that too, but we can discuss so much nice stuff about composing technology, girls and life stuff, you know. ttyl soon.
  

g - ec

• I kinda liked how the very pretty, almost 'too sweet' melodies were counter-pointed with harsh dissonances. The production quality is really high, too; I particularly liked the percussion.
  
• Nice minimal/chiptune like composition G, a bit short, but i've had a nice time listening to it.
  
• And the lift doors open. Thats my first thought after hearing the intro Nice and happy tune. I like it. Also good sounds and different parts. I really love the drums in the song that come at patt 13 and later. Very well constructed!
  
• Vitamin C! -(the music group, not the health supplement) I actually imagined a princess and an anthropomorphic potato (you can thank BArry for those 2 characters) walking down a bright NES colored path befriending all manners of walking talking fruits and vegetables. VEry Happy Happy. Another reason I'm happy happy with this is because it seemed like the only other tune that was made by punhing notes into a normal typing/QWERTY keyboard rather than the midi one. Very Chip!
  
• Nice panning positions of single notes. The slow playback speed is on the edge, but is has something.
  
• pros:Short, good melody, good samples - cons: None
  
• this is my own song, which is far too simple compared to some of the other entries.
  

Barry van Oudtshoorn - The Princess and the Potato

• hehe, i like the crazy slides Barry, you did put a nice funky, grooving beat together, could b a bit longer tho'.
  
• For some reason this sounds like a hybrid between a demo tune ...and an Americans take on dance music. (Dj Keoki comes to mind but his album stuff doesnt sound anything like this). The opening instrument is very professional (stacatto I think its called). A few seconds after the opening I started humming the `Gods' theme line to this!
  
• Quite a fast song. Beginning is very nicelly done, but the song tends to bore me because it has a bit of a muddy feel. The B part as you wrote in your comments are a good addition cus the feeling fades away. I now have the feeling something happens.
  
• Nice extended info about the piece. Which comes alive after 1:55. But elements stay a bit monolithic all the time.
  
• Middle part of the tune was nice, especially the bass line.
  
• pros: Short, a nice and fun upbeat song. - cons: None
  
• Perhaps a bit repetitive, but the bassline that starts on pattern 16 is a gem.
  
• My entry. Apparently, I'm the only one to have used the 'Comments' facility.
  

Rakib - Listen Up!

• Musically, this is one of my favourites. It's got really solid form, and the melody works really well. However, it does feel at times as though there's some body missing: I assume that this is because it's a remix of an existing track. Technically, whilst some impressive sounds are pulled from the samples, I somehow feel it could've gone further. But I really do like this track.
  
• haha, nice conversion of one of your older song, into 2sample version, trancey as is should b, great work with the sounding. Almost good as your "real" songs, oh and interesting idea for the basskick.
  
• Ugh! a dance/trance tune. Sorry, but I really don't like a song with a fixed 4/4 beat. It does has a nice catchy melody, but you could mix the song a bit better. Later in the song, you fix this And then you screw up by a 4/4 beat Sorry, I just don't like a 4/4 beat.
  
• The second entry I heard - its about this time that I'd realised that I may have shot myself in the foot...and I put a msg on the forum board to relect that. Wow I'm floored... all this with just the 2 samples? I know this style is highly derivative but its what I connected with so far, 2 mins down the tune and I want to shout `Ecuador!' for some reason. Even without all the effects the euro dance like vibe is unmistakable. (I originally used XMPLAY because OpenMPT brought my system to its knees. Obviously XMPLAY does NOT play the song as it was meant to be) - I really did try but OPenMPT just slowed the tune down ito a macabre death march of some sort - nothing dancey about it
  
• Happy bouncing piece.. Nice work with floating noise.
  
• Simple, sweet and cheeful. The beat is a bit weak tho.
  

MACHiNESMiTH - Melancholy Memories

• Well, points immediately for writing in 68 instead of 44. The instruments didn't seem to go quite as far with the samples as some of the entrants got them to. On the other hand, musically, this is a strong piece, and its minimalism really works for me it feels almost like a lullaby.
  
• a very strange way of developing, but i like unusual ways ^^, as if some notes sometimes are out of the tone, but nice idea and production, impressed me. Oh and welcome to the forums!
  
• Great sounds, and very simplistic. Too bad, this song seems to be some kind of remix from an old C64 song I used to listen alot to. I miss the lead present in that song. Still great song, I just get thrown off balance because I know a song that sounds very very similar.
  
• Nice organic start. I like the silence break at 3:33, suggesting a finish. From 4:50 it starts swingin'.
  
• Enjoyable melody. Nice to have a plain module in the compo.
  
• pros:Nice melody, Sounded that you maybe was trying to tell a story, nice builds. - cons:Too long, some heavy stereo issues(intensionally or not, I did not like it), clap was too loud.
  
• Overall nice tune a bit let down by sound quality.
  
• this is my own song. what? Say something nice!
  

Rel - Debug Crab

• Well, this is certainly an interesting track, and towards the end, there are some quite nice melodic elements that are introduced. The instruments, I feel, don't really use the full potential of the samples. Still, not bad work.
  
• hey hey, you are developing yourself greatly, this is the first actual song that i've heard from you. Nice debut matey!
  
• I am not so fund of the siren, but the rest is very good! I do miss a powerfull basedrum every now and then. Simple, but it has vibe!
  
• The only thing missing was a fellow proclaiming in a queens english accent of the `Benefits that stereo can provide' or `This is bass test for mid frequencies' - not a song in my mind but bloody hell how did you stretch those sounds?!
  
• Mixed feelings. It has maybe no story to tell, but it's a bright example of tracking : good sounds made out of almost nothing.
  
• pros: Simple and nice tune. - Cons: The samples wasn't really good. Unexpected ending.
  
• The fun starts at pattern 8. Then it ends when I want more. I don't like the percussion.
  

Sam_Zen - Bringtone

• Very different, certainly. As S_Z said, this is a 'dummy' track to allow him to vote. To be honest, though, I would've been interested to see this track with a bit more length.
  
• dummy.it - do not delete me.
  
• not really my kind of music X) I bet Henk helped creating this tune?
  
• Insipiring and crap at the sametime, the only thing that gave me hope that I still might
  have a chance (yay!), then again he did say he submitted this only to see the results (boo!)
  
• pros: Short - Cons: Nothing much to say. As you said, the entry was just to be allowed to vote. Not a real entry
  
• I like the beginning of pattern 2. The rest, not so much
  
• Dumbo
  

Welcome to the MODPlug Tracker Compo 2009

Like 2 years ago, I've decided to host a competition to see if you're good in using OpenMPT. Last time, I provided a large collection of fixed samples that stimulated your creativity by combining various sounds and using techniques like sample offset to get a nice song together.

I must say that I am very surprised with what people were able to do, so I expect alot from this compo.

I wanted to do it differently this time. I want this compo to be more limited yet give more freedom. In order to do that, the very large samplepack you have to work with this time, contains a woppin 2 samples! Namelly, a trianglular waveform and a noise sample.

Rules
You can only use MODPlug Tracker

You'll get an .it file which you'll have to work with.

Sample pack will be provided through the .it file

You are not allowed to alter the samples in any way. If you however see something in the samples that can be improved (like looppoints) feel free to post the looppoint settings and I'll tell you if its agreed to use that.

You are not allowed to add samples either.

Please don't post a song that contains these samples (wether it follows the rules or not and you are/aren't participating in this compo until the deadline has past).

There are no restrictions in the instruments at all.

No use of VST effects and neither VST Instruments, Except for the following DirectX Media effects(these are allowed):

• Chorus
  
• Compressor
  
• Distortion
  
• Echo
  
• Flanger
  
• Gargle
  
• ParamEq
  
• WavesReverb
  

Your submission cannot be a rendered mp3, but has to be your module.

Although I don't see a point in it, you are allowed to submit any kind of
module that MODPlug Tracker can open, but it won't get you extra points for  skills if you choose a hard format.

Voting
OpenMPT has to be used when voting.

If you participate, you also have to vote. Not voting means disqualification.

Voting will be limited to the participients only, so if you aren't participating, you cannot vote either.

You cannot vote for yourself.

You vote by putting all the songs in order from best to worse followed by your song. In addition, you have to give a small comment on each song (this will be the feedback to your song once the compo is over)

Start/Deadline
Compo starts eh... NOW! (25-04-2009)
Compo ends: sunday (31-05-2009).

Basically, if you haven't submitted your song on the 1st of june, when I'm going to check it out (that is past midnight for sure) you're too late. If you submit your song on june the 1st and I haven't yet checked the songs, you're a very lucky bastard!

This is over a month of time, which should be by far enough.

Submitting:
You can submit your song by using this upload script: http://upload.lpchip.com/mpcompo2009/index.php

Please note, you cannot download/remove your song once uploaded. If it has to be removed, please contact me.

Now, here's the downloadlink for the huge samplepack:
http://files.lpchip.com/temp/mpcompo_09_sounds.7z

Enjoy!

---------------------------
Voting is now open! If you participated, you have to vote, otherwise you should've participated XD

Don't forget, you need the latest version of OpenMPT to listen to the tracks. My song for instance doesn't sound well if you use a version prior to .48, as I use RC3 mixmode, and a few features that were introduced in .48.

Get the votepack here!

[KrazyKatz]

Gentleman.. Start your engines.

[residentgrey]

Wait you cant even modify in the program itself?

[psishock]

Well, that is not restricted anywhere, so you are basically allowed to modify it as you please. *giggles* Hey, lets take this chance and enhance the arse of the OMPT out! LP woulnd't be able to recognize it after the heavy improvements.

[Saga Musix]

oh, still 18000 years to go for that compo...

[psishock]

are you in a hurry somewhere?

[KrazyKatz]

Haha, I also noticed that Jojo...

[LPChip]

Hahaha, I done it again, didn't I?

Previous time I wrote 2006 instead of 2007, now 20009 XD Oh well... One day I'll learn... I hope...

[aGIANTpupafish]

I'm in!

[residentgrey]

Started playing with it already!

[Rakib]

What sound quality is to be used?
From no interpolation till XMMS-Modplug there is a big difference in sound quality when you are working with so low quality sounds.

And how many submission is allowed?


edit:
And can you duplify the samples?
Thinking about the filthering options

[Saga Musix]

In case you didn't know, you can set per-instrument resampling which overrides the default resampling. Apart from that, I suggest Polyphase sampling as the default resampling method.
Also, you don't need to duplicate samples because you can duplicate instruments instead. Several instruments can share the sample sample (not it XM format, but in IT format). Press the shift button while clicking on the "new instrument" button to duplicate the current instrument.

[Sam_Zen]

I'm in too.. Although I'm finally forced to get familiar with the IT format..

[Rxn]

There is one thing that I find perplexing -- why on Earth is the trianle
in 8 bits and the noise in 16 rather than the other way around?

[LPChip]

I got the Triangle from an old S3M I Once made, and the noise from another source. I believe I actually recorded that noise once.

Anyway, the quality of the triangle in 8 bit is sufficient enough.

As for the number of submissions, you can submit only one song.

However, when the compo is over, and we've voted, we could do another round. Same samples, same restrictions, but with more knowledge. Especially since you then have the time to examin the previous sounds and think of new ways and stuff.