Moderators: MattKingUSA, khz
All submissions are in, and voting is now open!
Here's the playlist: https://archive.org/details/libre-music-challenge-24-v2
For the voting, head on over to https://lmc.nyxkn.org/vote. Use your linuxmusicians username to log in. You'll find more instructions on the page.
As usual, on top of voting, posting feedback here on the forums is much appreciated.
@folderol That server error was a bug that should now be fixed. Thanks for the notice!
One of the voting rules seems a bit ambiguous. At first it says we must vote on all participants, then is says what happens of you don't vote on any of the other ones.
On another forum there are two competitions, with one you have to include yourself in the votes, on the other you must not and they make that quite clear.
@folderol Thanks for the feedback! I'll see if I can make it clearer in the rules.
What's intended is that you're required to vote on all of the submitted tracks except your own. The voting page allows you to vote on your own track as well, but the vote doesn't count and it doesn't matter if you vote or not.
This is my first time leaving feedback; I don't exactly know what to write; so I'm giving it my best shot.
A-Lin - Brain Damage:
I really like this one. I am really a big fan of jazz and improvisation, so this was right up my alley. I also want to say that I really enjoy the intentional use of colliding notes. It just makes it feel that much more jazzy.
I also really like the section at around 5:00, and everything after it. That is when I felt the song really starting to come together.
Avelho - Siena:
I like the different sections, and how the song seems to release at certain points. However, I think it would be even better the releases where longer (like at minute 1:00, in my opinion it would have been better if you let that chord stretch out a little bit more before you continued the song).
Folderol - Retro Rock:
I do appreciate a good blues. This one sounds like something I'd hear at a baseball game. I appreciate how the instruments weave together.
NickTheSic - Nominal Apparatus:
I love the title of this one. The song itself, while not of a genre I listen to often, is very polished. Everything sounds very intentional.
autostatic - Black Snow City - Million Pieces:
I like this one, but in my opinion it could use some more bass to back up the vocals. I think it might sound a little more full then. The guitar sounds very professional.
sg75 - Noradrenalin:
Very accurate title... Also, not a genre I normally listen to. Sounds pretty good to me.
trumpetrespas wrote: ↑Thu Dec 07, 2023 9:14 pmNickTheSic - Nominal Apparatus:
I love the title of this one. The song itself, while not of a genre I listen to often, is very polished. Everything sounds very intentional.
Thanks for the feedback! The name was picked from finding words related to 'Real Instrument'. Thanks for the positive words about how it was put together, I know I have some mixing issues but I am happy with the composition.
Listening To:
| Curbside | Safe to Say | Billy Talent | Seaway | I built the sky |
Libre Music Challenge Submissions: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
Here's my feedback:
Siena - Avelho: I can't tell what is sampled and what is real
instrument interpretation. Instruments are sometimes out of tune
like the distorted guitare introduced at 1:30, it turns sometimes
into a lively mess, but somehow I love it! I have a love/hate
relationship with dissonance and disorder, and this song is bending
on the love side. I suppose what makes it so pleasing is a sense of
truth, a sense of humantity, hidden under that mess. Well done!
Folderol - Retro Rock: I did not enjoy this one too much, it's too
deja vu and the humanization gives a feeling of mediocrity rather
than a feeling of humanity. Contrast that with Siena's entry, which
is also a humanized mess but create an awesome humane conherent
whole. I wish I could give you more specific feedback but its a bit
beyond the rational I suppose. I'll end with a positive note still:
it's so bad that it's good. 
NickTheSic - Nominal Apparatus: Not bad, but somewhat underdeveloped
with an abrupt ending.
Trumpetrespas - Real instruments, real problems: It sounds too
robotic and the melodies lack coherence and create displeasing
interferences with other musical elements, such as at 1:01. The
chord progression is interesting however, manages to be acceptable
while going out of a predefined scale.
autostatic - Black Snow City - Million Pieces: Not especially
original but very well realized. I think the singing is pretty
good. I can hear some out of tune singing notes here and there such
as at 00:46, but it's not displeasing, in fact the contrary. During
the chorus, I find the guitar on the right to be too present on the
high end. The clear guitar on the left sounds quite nice. Well
done!
sg75 - NoradrenALin: Compact, noisy but tidy. No mud in the low
end, which for the genre can be tricky. My only negative comment is
that the break at 1:10 reveals the mediocre snare sound, which sits
however perfectly well within the full mix. My favorite aspect of
that song, beside its excellent production, is the chord
progression, which is original yet coherent. The out of scale
infections such at 0:55 are the cherries on the cake. Very well
done!
Black Snow City - Million Pieces (autostatic)
Just awesome! Great composition, great performance on the instruments and on the mic! Really well done! The mix is professional as well.
Some guitars are too bright for my taste. And the hard left panned guitar is bit disturbing when listing with headphones (in the last third of the song).
a-lin - Brain Damage
Interesting approach. Please go dissonant more often. I like it
Perhaps a little long 
and a little too much reverb.
trumpetrespas - Real Instruments, Real Problems
I resonate with the title. Very much I do
Driving bass line. I like the dissonaces. They work with the bassline quite nicely.
NickThesic - Nominal Apparatus (Demo) [MetalPnkx]
Needs three listen to become catchy. But then you got me
It is too short though. Perhaps some overdubs of the guitar would have made it a little more round.
Artur Velho - Siena (avelhomusic)
I like the stereo width. It "sparkles" on headphones. So many little details come to the front.
The guitar around 1:36 sounds out of tune.
folderol - Retro Rock
Not so much many genre, but I like the Retroness vibes.
They appear instantly with the organs.
Kudos for using Rosegarden as sequencer
Thanks for the reviews folks. Over on KVR I used to try to do reviews at one time, but could never express what I wanted to. Most of my decision making is based on how I feel about a track rather than anything concrete, so I no longer do it.
P.S.
The lead organ part was not humanised at all. It was live playing right through. I used to do this a lot, but my fingers are much stiffer than they used to be, and much of the time it involves holding down octaves with thumb and little finger while using the other fingers to either play single notes or chord shapes. I used to do this on keyboards in the 1960s-1970s, and also play the bass runs at the same time with my left hand - didn't attempt that this time! I have been trying to get my chops back... with variable success 
I'm probably too harsh sometimes. That's because I want to have unfiltered people's opinion, and thus I do to others what I would like them to do to me. I seem to like it this way, but it's probably also a bit silly because, first, these opinions are mostly subjective, and second, we're mostly here to have fun.
The event concludes.
And the winner is... @bsg75 !
1. [27] sg75
2. [24] autostatic
3. [20] A-Lin
4. [20] Avelho
5. [18] NickTheSic
6. [17] Trumpetrespas
7. [17] Folderol
The same results are also available on this webpage: https://lmc.nyxkn.org/results/24
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 :)
autostatic wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:53 pmSo here's my submission, a complete song, written, composed and arranged from scratch.
Black Snow City - Million Pieces
Just listened to your submission. I like it very much.
I think a subtle string arrangement in the background could make it even better.
@SpotlightKid thanks! Agreed, it could use some strings here and there maybe, I'll give it a try when attempting a better mix or maybe even a better recording.
Congrats to bsg75, and pretty good performance by everyone else.
@bsg75 congrats! And I'm honoured to come in second, thanks everyone, also for the constructive feedback, much appreciated!
