Libre Music Challenge #21: Radium

[nyxeles]

Welcome to the Libre Music Challenge #21, for the month of August 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 the Radium music editor: https://users.notam02.no/~kjetism/radium/
Paid binaries are available from the website (for €2). Alternatively, the source code is freely available so you can compile it by yourself free of charge. Let us know if you have issues with this and we'll try to help!
You can find the manual for Radium here: https://users.notam02.no/~kjetism/radiu ... index.html

Using Radium is mandatory, but there are no other restrictions for this challenge. Sounds can be created by any means, and you can use any plugin. The only requirement, as usual, is that everything must be free software. If you use samples/soundfonts, they must be public domain.

Happy music making!

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Rules

Rules are the same as the previous challenges.

You can 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

Voting

Once the voting period starts, head on over to https://lmc.nyxkn.org/vote to enter your votes.

If you are a participant, you can simply log in with your linuxmusicians username. Upon your very first login, an account will be automatically created with the password you've chosen.

If you haven't participated, you can still vote! Make your interest known and I'll enable an account for you.

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Submissions

Playlist on archive.org

Results

Scoresheet

1. [19] MyLoFy
2. [17] A-Lin
3. [15] nyx eles
4. [9] Trumpetrespas

[trumpetrespas]

Here is my submission: https://soundcloud.com/trumpetrespas/co ... and_a_half
Here are my project files: https://www.mediafire.com/file/apnrfaqn ... ar.gz/file

Code: Select all

I used ZynAddSubFX along with Radium's built in sample player instrument.

For samples, I utilized the kiarchive.

Also, heads up, this is my first submission, so if I made any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them.

Cheers

[nyxeles]

Hey @trumpetrespas !

Your submission looks good, everything's in order.

It's great to see a new face around here :) Welcome to the Libre Music Challenge!

[asublin]

Here's my entry https://github.com/asublin/asublin-comp ... m/Poptikus containing a rad file and its FLAC rendering.

All instruments have been programmed with FAUST.

Other effects include:

• Zita Reverb
• Calf Chorus
• L/C/R Delay
• x42 Digital Peak Limiter

Enjoy!

[MyLoFy]

Hi there,

here is my submission:

Audio: https://soundcloud.com/mylofymusic/marie
Project files: https://mark.nl.tab.digital/s/Qq77HXaNmzsoEsB (move the 'freesound' folder to /opt/radium/sounds)

The track title derives from the discoverer of Radium, Marie Curie.
Used software:
Radium 7.1.89
-Internal synths and samples
-Acoustic and electric guitars recorded with Radium

External Synths:
-setBFree Organ
-amsynth
-Vitalium
-SurgeXT
-Geonkick

external Plugins:
-guitarix_echo
-GLAME butterworth high pass
-LSP sidechain compressor
-LSP compressor
-TAP rotary speaker
-DragonFly Hall Reverb
-ZaMultiCompX2
-ZaMaximX2
-ZamComp
-GxAmplifier
-LSP Parametric EQ
-PreAmp
-PreAmpImpulses
-PowerAmp
-PowerAmpImpulses
-Calf Vintage Delay

Master Chain:
-LSP Parametric EQ
-LSP Compressor
-PeakEater
-x42-dpl

external Samples (all CC0, downloaded from freesound.org):

Code: Select all

383903__deleted_user_7146007__reverse-crash-cymbal-projection.wav
634827__collinb1000__closed8.wav
459265__soneproject__cymbals2fb-7.flac
561107__sorinious_genious__clap-11.wav
13750__hookhead__snare-2.wav

[nyxeles]

My submission:

https://soundcloud.com/nyxeles/when-youre-not-here

The track was made with Radium 7.1.92

Sounds:

• Surge XT
• MDA e.piano
• AVL drumkits (red zeppelin, black pearl)
• Shiru Chipdrum

Plugins:

• LSP parametric eq, limiter
• Calf vintage delay
• Dragonfly room/hall reverbs

Here is the project file:
https://archive.org/download/libre-musi ... -lmc21.rad

[nyxeles]

All submissions are in! And voting is now open.

Here's the playlist: https://archive.org/details/libre-music-challenge-21

For the voting, 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.

[Basslint]

Hi there,

here is my submission:

Audio: https://soundcloud.com/mylofymusic/marie
Project files: https://mark.nl.tab.digital/s/Qq77HXaNmzsoEsB (move the 'freesound' folder to /opt/radium/sounds)

The track title derives from the discoverer of Radium, Marie Curie.
Used software:
Radium 7.1.89
-Internal synths and samples
-Acoustic and electric guitars recorded with Radium

External Synths:
-setBFree Organ
-amsynth
-Vitalium
-SurgeXT
-Geonkick

external Plugins:
-guitarix_echo
-GLAME butterworth high pass
-LSP sidechain compressor
-LSP compressor
-TAP rotary speaker
-DragonFly Hall Reverb
-ZaMultiCompX2
-ZaMaximX2
-ZamComp
-GxAmplifier
-LSP Parametric EQ
-PreAmp
-PreAmpImpulses
-PowerAmp
-PowerAmpImpulses
-Calf Vintage Delay

Master Chain:
-LSP Parametric EQ
-LSP Compressor
-PeakEater
-x42-dpl

external Samples (all CC0, downloaded from freesound.org):

Code: Select all

383903__deleted_user_7146007__reverse-crash-cymbal-projection.wav
634827__collinb1000__closed8.wav
459265__soneproject__cymbals2fb-7.flac
561107__sorinious_genious__clap-11.wav
13750__hookhead__snare-2.wav

I am really impressed, seriously!

[asublin]

Here's my feedback.

Marie - MyLoFy: excellent compression. Catchy chords and melody. Holy shit a guitar solo! and not a bad one!

Cool song 37 and a half - Trumptrespas: nice sounds and effects. For me the negative is the melody that does not feel like it always suits the chords progression. It's also too repetitive. I like that it's going crazy before the end, but it's also a bit too messy.

When you're not here - nyx eles: nice chord progression and warm electric piano sounds. The melodies are quite nice. I noticed you like these mid-range arpeggios, but somehow you always manage to make them fit. Good work!

[SpotlightKid]

My critique of the submissions (also voted):

A-Lin - Poptikus

• Good use of stereo movement
• Nice contrast between Karplus-Strong plucks and sine arpeggios.
• The intro until the lead comes in at 0:50 could be shorter.
• When the chord pattern changes at 1:28 a stronger change in instrumentation (e.g. added choir or pad, a stronger snare, etc.) would have been nice to strengthen the sense of climax.
• Also, the melody could have climbed to a higher register then.

MyLoFi - Marie

• Very catchy and groovy overall.
• Strong Hook from the get go.
• Trademark MyLoFi vintage synth twiddles
• Cool details and SFX on the transitions and the beat skipping at 1:49 is fun.
• Almost convincing synth acoustic guitar (maybe use x42 midi strum plugin on those?). Unless it was meant to be a clavinet-like sound?
• The clap sounds too “natural” for my taste in the context of this song. I think a more synthy clap would match the synth-heavy disco arrangement better.
• Maybe the first chorus at 0:30 should have been instrumented a bit more sparsely, e.g. without a pad, for more sense of development later.

Trumpetrespas - Cool song 37 and a half

• Overall strong atmosphere on this one.
• Cool industrial vibe.
• Gated reverb on the drums to match that vibe might have sounded good.
• The accented snare sound is too snappy and high, imho. It draws too much attention.
• The breakdown of the clean harmonies in the second part could have been more stronger, i.e. make it even more atonal for stronger contrast.
• The ending was a bit “meh”.

Nyx Eles - When you’re not here

• Overall a nice calming track, but it doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression on me.
• The e-piano chords are (way) too loud, imho.
• The drums should be much more emphasized = busier, louder, stronger hits and a kit with fatter sounds.
• For the sound for the solo starting around 1:00 I would have picked a less percussive, more sustaining sound, e.g. a typical Minimoog saw lead.
• Instead of “just” ending, a fadeout might have worked better.

[MyLoFy]

Hey there,

not at all easy to get something out of Radium, but I'm so glad we did this! Always wanted to try it and what better opportunity is there than a nice challenge
Here just some short remarks for each track:

A-Lin - Poptikus
So many layers communicating with each other, great! There seem to be multiple pairs in dialogue, lovely idea, well supported by sound design.

Trumpetrespas - Cool song 37 and a half
A bit long and repetitive, I like the crazy middle section, which adds some variety. Thanks for providing some Radium tips in the chat! Made me discover audio tracks, which aren't half bad in Radium

Nyx Eles - When you're not here
A rich diversity of jazzy chords with smooth percussion, good composition. I like how the funky middle section lightens up the mood.

[nyxeles]

The event concludes.
And the winner is... @MyLoFy!

1. [19] MyLoFy
2. [17] A-Lin
3. [15] nyx eles
4. [9] Trumpetrespas

See the attached spreadsheet for a breakdown of all the votes. You can also get the spreadsheet from github.

Thanks to everyone for participating! And see you all in the next one :)

Also glad to see that we had a new participant this time, @trumpetrespas. He's been extra helpful as our resident Radium expert giving out tips to everyone in the chat. Thank you!