Libre Music Challenge #20: Vitalium

[nyxeles]

Welcome to the Libre Music Challenge #20, for the month of July 2023.

This is a friendly contest where we make music with free (libre) software exclusively. Everyone is welcome to join, at any skill level.
This is a place for learning and sharing knowledge, and an opportunity to explore creativity through limitation.
But most importantly, we just hope it inspires you to make some music!

The challenge for this month is to make a track using only one synthesizer: Vitalium.
You can obtain it for free from here: https://github.com/DISTRHO/DISTRHO-Ports

All sounds must be created with this synthesizer. You can use as many instances of the synth as you like, and you're allowed to use all of its features, including the built-in presets and wavetables. Using samples (e.g. for drums) is not allowed, but you're allowed to bounce the synth tracks into audio for convenience, as long as there is no major alteration.

You are allowed to use any DAW and any effect plugin, as long as everything is free software.

Happy music making!

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Rules

Rules are the same as the previous challenges.

You can also find them here for convenience: https://lmc.nyxkn.org/rules.
Or here under version control: https://github.com/nyxkn/libre-music-ch ... a/rules.md

Links

I and many of us hang out on unfa's Rocket.Chat / Discord server. Come join us on #libre-music-challenge at https://chat.unfa.xyz.

For more info on past events: https://lmc.nyxkn.org/events

And if you'd like to stay up to date with future announcements, there's now an experimental RSS feed you can subscribe to: https://lmc.nyxkn.org/rss

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Submissions

Playlist on archive.org

Results

Scoresheet

1. [31] Arkforest
2. [30] A-Lin
3. [30] sg75
4. [29] MyLoFy
5. [27] Spotlight Kyd
6. [26] nyx eles
7. [23] JTB
8. [20] PowerUser64

[SpotlightKid]

For Arch Linux users: https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x8 ... rho-ports/

[Arkforest]

Hello, here is my entry:

Silence at the Gallows

SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/gWQBW

Project Files: https://mega.nz/folder/0XZnWYAB#8eM7eBi7wOhXrYp83hcdXA

Aside from Vitalium, I also used the following plugins as effects:

• LSP Parametric EQ
• LSP Multiband Compressor
• LSP Compressor
• Capacitor2 (airwindows)
• LSP Limiter
• AM pitchshifter (for vocals only, which are muted for LMC. Pretend I didn't use this.)
• LSP Delay Compensator
• TAP Tubewarmth
• LSP Slapback Delay
• Dragonfly Hall Reverb
• LSP Sidechain Compressor

I used Ardour 7.2.123 to produce this project.

There are audio clips of my vocals present in the project files as is the case with the Odin2 challenge project files. However, the submission is an instrumental with the vocals muted.

EDIT: I changed the name of the track because "Entomologist" doesn't have the best ring to it and I wanted to save "Entomology" for something else.

EDIT: I changed the name again from "Silence of a Few" just because it felt too cliche and kitsch to me.

EDIT: Uploaded new set of files as I've made too many modifications to the source project.

EDIT: Uploaded new set of files just to make sure the project matches the track. The unnumbered and number 4 snapshots should most closely resemble the submission, as snapshots numbers 2 and 3 are experiments with EQ to hear how the character of the mix changes.

[nyxeles]

@Arkforest This must be a new record for the fastest submission! Much respect.

[SpotlightKid]

Can we use wavetables created from samples, e.g. using text-to-speech to generate a wav file, import that into WaveEdit and export it as a wavetable for Vitalium?

[SpotlightKid]

In answer to my own question above: the general feeling on unfa's Rocket Chat libre-music-challenge channel was that, yes, this is ok.

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A heads up for potential participants and Linux DAW users:

The LV2 plugin version of Vitalium sometimes (always?) doesn't restore its state correctly when the project is loaded again:

https://github.com/DISTRHO/DISTRHO-Ports/issues/96

If you experience this problem, try the VST3 version, which seems to work fine in this regard.

[Arkforest]

In answer to my own question above: the general feeling on unfa's Rocket Chat libre-music-challenge channel was that, yes, this is ok.

---

A heads up for potential participants and Linux DAW users:

The LV2 plugin version of Vitalium sometimes (always?) doesn't restore its state correctly when the project is loaded again:

https://github.com/DISTRHO/DISTRHO-Ports/issues/96

If you experience this problem, try the VST3 version, which seems to work fine in this regard.

I just came across this glitch today lol

I've found out that by inputting the state of specific matrix routes as a float at least, I can avoid this problem with LV2 Vitalium.

[asublin]

Entry URL: https://soundcloud.com/asublin/kermeas/ ... al_sharing
Ardour session URL: https://github.com/asublin/asublin-comp ... r7/Kermeas
Title: Kermeas
Style: Techno
Comment: Short, simple, and (hopefully) enjoyable.

[MyLoFy]

My submission: https://soundcloud.com/mylofymusic/tubby

Used plugins:

Code: Select all

CNT | TYPE | NAME
  1 * LV2    x42-dpl - Digital Peak Limiter Stereo (by Robin Gareus)
  1 * LV2    EBU R128 Meter (by Robin Gareus)
  1 * LV2    MIDI Strum (by Robin Gareus)
 36 * VST3   Vitalium (by DISTRHO)
  2 * Lua    ACE High/Low Pass Filter (by Ardour Community)
  5 * LV2    x42-eq - Parametric Equalizer Stereo (by Robin Gareus)
  1 * LV2    LSP Compressor Stereo (by LSP LV2)
  1 * VST2   ToTape5 (by airwindows)
  1 * LV2    LSP Multiband Compressor Stereo x8 (by LSP LV2)
  1 * LV2    PeakEater (by T-Audio)
  1 * LV2    ACE Compressor (stereo) (by Ardour Community)
  6 * LV2    LSP Parametric Equalizer x16 Stereo (by LSP LV2)
  1 * LV2    ZaMultiCompX2 (by Damien Zammit)
  2 * LV2    Dragonfly Hall Reverb (by Michael Willis and Rob vd Berg)

Ardour session: https://mark.nl.tab.digital/s/bWpm3P6dHTZWGQ7

[bsg75]

Here is my submission:https://on.soundcloud.com/NduV2
Ardour session archive: https://sonnengesicht.de/sg75_-_Resilen ... on-archive
Idea: Multiband compressor madness

Cheers,
sg75

Code: Select all

CNT | TYPE | NAME
  1 * VST2   Wider (by airwindows)
  4 * LV2    LSP Compressor Stereo (by LSP LV2)
  1 * LV2    LSP Multiband Compressor Stereo x8 (by LSP LV2)
  1 * Lua    ACE Amplifier (by Ardour Community)
  1 * LADSPA GLAME Butterworth Highpass (by Alexander Ehlert)
  2 * LV2    B.Shapr (by Sven Jaehnichen)
 17 * VST3   Vitalium (by DISTRHO)
 16 * LV2    LSP Parametric Equalizer x16 Stereo (by LSP LV2)
  1 * VST2   Crystal (by airwindows)
  1 * LV2    SoftClipper (by Uhhyou)
  2 * LV2    LSP Sidechain Compressor Stereo (by LSP LV2)
  1 * LV2    Calf Analyzer (by Calf Studio Gear)
  1 * LV2    DR-14 - Crest Factor Loudness Range Meter (Stereo) (by Robin Gareus)
  1 * LV2    LUFS Meter (by Klangfreund)
  1 * LV2    LSP Multiband Limiter Stereo (by LSP LV2)
  1 * LV2    LSP Parametric Equalizer x16 MidSide (by LSP LV2)
  2 * LV2    Calf Deesser (by Calf Studio Gear)
  1 * LV2    x42-dpl - Digital Peak Limiter Stereo (by Robin Gareus)

[nyxeles]

My submission:

https://soundcloud.com/nyxeles/nan-two

Had lots of issues with Vitalium. It would often crash Ardour either when opening or closing the UI. There were a few more details I wanted to work on but I gave up in order to preserve my sanity.

Plugins list:

Code: Select all

CNT | TYPE | NAME
 19 * VST3   Vitalium (by DISTRHO)
  2 * LV2    x42-dpl - Digital Peak Limiter Stereo (by Robin Gareus)
  2 * LV2    Tal-Filter-2 (by TAL-Togu Audio Line)
  1 * Lua    ACE Amplifier (by Ardour Community)
 

[PowerUser64]

Hello! Here is my track: Jungle Slide

I used bespoke synth for this!

Code: Select all

CNT | TYPE     | NAME
  8 * VST3       Vitalium (by DISTRHO)
 ?? * internal   various bespoke modules

This is my second forum post (and first lmc submission), so feel free to tell me if I need to do something differently!

[SpotlightKid]

Here's my last minute submission.

https://0x20.eu/nc/s/a9MengRZ6sCzP63

Very short, but putting even this together was ardourous enough (get it?).

Created in Ardour 7 on Manjaro Linux:

Plugins used

Code: Select all

CNT | TYPE | NAME
  5 * VST3   Vitalium (by DISTRHO)
  8 * LV2    Vitalium (by DISTRHO)
  2 * LV2    ACE Compressor (by Ardour Community)
  4 * LV2    ACE Compressor (stereo) (by Ardour Community)
  2 * LV2    EQ4Q Mono (by Pere Ràfols Soler)
 10 * LV2    EQ4Q Stereo (by Pere Ràfols Soler)
  1 * LV2    ACE EQ (by Ardour Community)
  1 * LV2    LSP Impulse Reverb Stereo (by LSP LV2)
  1 * LV2    ZaMultiCompX2 (by Damien Zammit)

Link to the Ardour project archive: https://0x20.eu/nc/s/zn6LHCPb8Aigicj

Update: Here are some additional remarks about how I created the track:

• I composed the melody and the keyboard part on my electro-acoustic piano.
• The tracks starts out in 4/4 and then alternates between 3/4 and 5/4.
• I created all Vitalium patches from scratch.
• I used wavetables from http://waveeditonline.com/ and created some of my own.
• I followed these tutorial series for some sounds (but adapted the sounds to my needs):
  • https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... Ama934drB2
  • https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 4RHTHkeQNl
• I saved all Vitalium sounds as presets, since the plugin would often not load the patch correctly on project load, so I had to reload the presets manually.
• I played all parts except the drums by hand (on a normal MIDI keyboard) and tweaked the MIDI afterwards in the DAW.
• I rendered all MIDI tracks to audio separately; my computer wouldn't be able to handle that many Vitalium instances. Even when I tried to record two tracks at once I sometimes got very audible glitches (interestingly not always accompanied by xruns).
• I used extra EQ and compressor plugins on almost all tracks but most Vitalium sounds also used some of the built-in effects.
• For reverb I used just one instance of LSP Impulse Reverb Stereo with an IR of the Boston Symphony Hall on an Aux Channel.
• For mastering I just used one instance of ZaMultiCompX2 on the master bus.
• I would have liked to do automate the mix levels of the tracks but I didn't have any time left to do so.
• Number of plugin/ardour crashes or buggy behaviour encountered: <Inf>

[nyxeles]

All submissions are in! And voting is now open.

Here's the playlist: https://archive.org/details/libre-music-challenge-20

For the voting, as before, head on over to https://lmc.nyxkn.org/vote. Use your linuxmusicians username. You'll find more instructions on the page.
If you've lost your password drop me a message and I'll reset it.

[asublin]

Here's my feedback:

A-Lin - Kermeas: Nice main theme. Could use more toms and other drums during transitions.

Arkforest - Silence at the Gallows: Excellent as usual. Interesting artistic effect of progressing towards more noise/mess from 1:30 and on. Nice chord change around 2:37. The clarity gets restored at 2:50, evolving to a cleaner but also tenser atmosphere to conclude with a majestic boom. Find the atomsphere that emanates from the last part, after 2:50, quite powerful. It is as if it tells the story of a protagonist that has been through a lot and now gets a final chance to recenter and gather its strength before the final strike. Playing with this noise/mess was a delicate and risky business and in my opion was executed flawlessly.

JTB - Nosedive: Nice intro. Then there is too much compression IMO, it kinda gets in the way of the musicality of the piece. The snare of the last jungle-like session is a bit too harmonic, and not necessarily in tune with the rest.

MyLoFy - Tubby: Very nice production as usual. Sound effects are really good, drums as well. I like the rapid short-notes-arpeggio crescendo coming at 00:40 and 2:30. The chords and the melodies are nice without being outstanding. It's never boring nonetheless. Nice ending. Solid entry.

PowerUser64 - Jungle Slide: Very nice intro. However I was a bit disappointed with what came after. The pitch bending accompaniment coming at 00:23 takes too much space, IMO. Then the lead melody is kinda odd and often feels that it was meant for another chord progression. At 00:31, the very first note is a bit too dissonant for my ears. From 00:44 to 00:45, it especially feels it belongs to another chord progression. Same thing from 01:00 to 1:03, and to make things worse it is a somewhat common melodic line. There are also good stuff, the atmosphere is clean and appreciable. Apart from the moments I mentioned (and when they repeat) the melodic lines are pleasant and fit well with the rest. There is a nice break in the middle, clear with nice effects, it contributes to the nice atmosphere of the piece. After the break, I like the little notes and the repeating effect of the sample-like instrument as wellas other portamento effects. There's something hypnotic and pleasant about that entry.

Spotlight Kyd - The Hunt for Vitalium: Short but incredible. The sounds, the chords, the rythm, the interpretation. Very good and memorable. Well done!

nyx eles - Nan Two: Nice chords and melodies. Nice chiptune break in the middle. Nice melodic contrapoint from 01:08 to 01:21. Nice boss-like encounter at 02:28. Would definitely suit a platformer, say with title "Candy-man in the Jungle".

sg75 - Resilient Vortex Circuitry: Really nice aggressive, emotional even, track. I really like this "tearing-inside" effect from 00:18 to 00:36 (and when it repeats at 01:28). Combined with the progressively increasing dissonances. I tend to hate dissonances unless they make sense, in which case, like here, I love them. Clever use of HP filter on the bass melodic line from 02:09 to 02:30.