1. Through
   ashka
2. Will to Survive
   DDRKirby(ISQ)
3. 6 : 28 - 34
   cotmm68030

Ashka captured the peaceful tension best.

1. focus
   starla
2. Seeds of Fury!
   LunacyEcho
3. Will to Survive
   DDRKirby(ISQ)

starla: I would seriously consider working on this and releasing it, it's really good. I think the crunchy lofi sound and glitches are super cool and the scooped sound brings out the vocals a lot. Really great

LunacyEcho: Jazz salsa music here is super detailed, catchy, and interesting. Cool solos, that flute is great, the riff and vibe are catchy.

DDRKirbyISQ: This is pretty familiar stuff but it's delivered with polish and quality as usual. Great job

Other stand-outs:

johnfn for the catchy phrases and arrangement

MisaelK for the really cool tension build and climax

ashka for the really great atmosphere.

ethansight for the really smooth house beats and tech chords

1. it all fades to you
   johnfn
2. The Rebirth
   Arcana
3. 6 : 28 - 34
   cotmm68030

I remembered to vote. Did you?

1. Australian
   dusthillguy
2. Through
   ashka
3. 6 : 28 - 34
   cotmm68030

dusthillguy - upbeat, and the bass SLAPS. Love the fast melody and chords follow it all over the place
ashka - great ambiance and loved the big sweeping sounds
cotmm - felt like I was in a satanic ritual and it was great
lunacy: high energy
johnfn: great vocals and great solo
misaelk: nice piano work
a2z: liked the jumpy almost house

1. Through
   ashka
2. Hope And Miracles
   Misael.K
3. 6 : 28 - 34
   cotmm68030

@Dex - Yes it's birds. They're know for going skimpy with the money. Cheap Cheap! Haha....

@JH Sounds - I'm not sure where your getting Chemical Brothers from haha. It's more Underworld, like what Ashka said...

@DDRKirby(ISQ) - Lol, i can barely even stay up to do OHC, let alone 4am raves...

@JH Sounds - I don't unfortunately, because i compo at 2am (Which equates to about 8-9pm US time, I'm from England). I also participate in 2hts, which compo's at 8pm for me, so not only do i have the full time, i can also do chat on discord, so if you ever want to speak to me for realz, come and drop by, there might be cookies!

@Arcana - As an Alien i am offended you called me a they. You shall be cancelled, and be forced out of social media! Only joking, i'm a man. I have a wiener...

@EthanSight - Your a bass freak huh? Wait until next Thursday lol...

@JH Sounds - Of course it's nine minutes long, you must be new here haha. Remember the time i wasted 18 minutes of your time? I won't be doing that again, at least not until next yea haha.

@Dex - I'll show you how to make a 9 minute composition in only 2 steps.

1. First you take a melody.
2. Then loop it..
3. Then you take the same melody.
4. And you loop it.
5. Then you take the same melody.
6. And you loop it.
7. Then you take the same melody.
8. And you loop it.
9. Then you take the same melody.
10. And you loop it.
11. Then you take the same melody.
12. And you loop it.

Ok i'm really annoying now haha...

@Everyone - This was all created with 1 pair of headphones, 1 DAW, and a lot of clicking. Nothing was performed, because i don't want to wake the neighbours up, with keyboard clinking. Yeah i do respect my neighbours lol.

@Everyone - Oh and thanks for the kind words!

Now let's do things proper, i'm tired even writing this down lol....

TheVideoGamer - Ok so for this 9 minute epic, i wanted to have a bit of a relaxing posativity kind of feel. i couldn't get any melodies out of it, so i made a one chord thing, which you could say is kind of my signature sound. The difference, compared to others is a 4:3 poly-rhythm. 4 evenly spaced beats to 3 evenly spaced beats. Hence, why it feels wonky. I also included a break-down in the middle, where a girl begins to talk about the history of sunflowers. I always find something charming out of these kinds of simplicity, to the point often my best tracks, are the most basic. I hope you enjoyed this one.

Dusthillguy - Wowzers, you are good at making melodies. They're so detailed, and have a lot of variation with them, almost equivalent to a full scale pop song of some kind. Kudos for the MIDI too, peeps, can remix it now. Well done!

Koekepan - Liking the sound design a lot, the bells have some great sustain to them. Sadly it's basic for my ears, and feels a little too loose. Still some great ideas though! Good job!

cotmm68030 - Ok initially, i thought it was a bit too extreme in the low end, there was nothing in the high-end, like a melody of some kind to bring it to the top, however i listened to it again towards the end, and i really started to understand it's purpose, and boy....it's really really good. The sound design just got to me, so In the end, it became one of my top 3. Awesome work!

A2Z - Lovely melodic ideas here, really nice synths. Personally, the drums are a bit masked, could sound more fuller, but i liked what's here so good job!

Silverpool64 - The ideas at the end are great, however i have to wait, to get to them. I feel like you are building it up, but because it's only a minute, the buildup feels flat. I think this needs expanding, but other than that, i liked it a lot. Good job!

Ashka - The dudes, so good, i can't even have the energy to write anything, this dude be king of the compo scene, like seriously, this is just...incredible...

DarkShadow - Your certainly a sawtooth kind of guy huh? Good job.

Arcana - This sounds nice, but the drums are really powerful. The melodies get masked by the presence of really strong beats. Still like this though, good job!

Misael.K - Finally it's your turn in the spotlight. At first, i thought the piano was a bit dry, but i kept finding something special about it, after repeat listens. Also, i love how you take the same melody, but make almost variations out of it, in 3 different sections. That was a really good idea, and it shines. The melodies and the chords, brought this into one awesome experience. Long story short, i love it, awesome work!

starla - Loving the dynamic beats. They go super well, with the rather powerful vocals. This was just simply groovy. Nice ending too, with the reverb added. Well done!

Ethansight - Very powerful sub here, nearly goes against the kind of trap like beats, regardless of it's upbeat tempo. I actually really enjoyed this, especially the synths. Well done!

DDRKirby(ISQ) - Really loving the pads and the square-ish melody, always liking them kind of sounds. Have to be careful of the threshold, almost got a bit too loud, but i loved how it flows, as well as the developments. Simply, i really enjoyed it. Well done!

JH Sounds - I overheard you don't like varnish. Well not to worries, i don't either lol. However if your wondering why i'm...shall we say...stern when listening to yours, is because i feel for these kinds of tracks, loud punchy drums can work (Even with the simple addition of compression, or distortion). BUT i still enjoyed it, especially since you have a rather nice singing voice. Good job! (I think i might have upset him lol)

Dex - This goes really hard. I love the heavy rock feel, especially with the nice violins. Personally the violins are really loud, and eats into them mix, but the idea was seriously good, so good job!

LunacyEcho - Daam this is jazzy. Right now i feel it needs more room, it's a little dry, but to say i did not move my head and Jazz out is an understatement. Well done!

Johnfn - Still loving them huge drums. I think they work in different applications, since the beats are still heavy and loud. (Despite them sounding awesome). Also i feel your voice is a little lost, but i still love the rest, so good job!

Top 3 - Ashka, Misael.K, cotmm68030

Awesome - Dusthillguy, cotmm68030, Ashka, Misael.K, Starla, Ethansight, DDRKirby(ISQ), LunacyEcho

Needs Work - Koekepan, A2Z, Silverpool64, DarkShadow, Arcana, JH Sounds, Dex, Johnfn

1. Through
   ashka
2. Hope And Miracles
   Misael.K
3. Will to Survive
   DDRKirby(ISQ)

Austrailian
I really have a soft spot for 90s GM Synths. Love the bouncy feel of the composition. Mix-wise its a little cluttered feeling to me, with everything at about the same level. Feels like it could be off a CD-based console platformer from 1996.

It does not matter
The high pitch warbles against the airy keys and wind build a nice atmosphere. I'd like to hear this played back at maybe 50% of its playback rate. Nice ambience, but over way too quick!

6 : 28 - 34
I had intended to go into this week with a cover of some existing song since I feel like my musical strengths lay more with sound design, production, etc rather than with straight composition. Upon seeing the theme my very first thought was to do a cover of Burden in my Hands by Soundgarden, but other than the line "Follow me into the desert", I didn't think it had much else to do with the theme. Also: I am not Chris Cornell. My next thought went to Missing by Everything But The Girl, but my frantic searching for a midi to work from didn't lead me to something I felt I could work with quickly enough. Then with around 30 minutes left I decided to fall back on my typical sound of something washy, vaugly atonal. I'm pleased enough with how it sounds, though afterwards I decided it probably could have used some other element to come in just shy of halfway through to bolster the 5-10kHz region and give it a little more motion. Probably would have tried to find a way to bump up the occasional scratchiness in that same region, but since that was rooted in some glitching/artifacting of one of the DSP chains, I'd have to find it, render it out separately, then filter out everything else, then mix it back in.

Sun Sunday
Very upbeat! This would work well as background music for some kind of montage in a YouTube video. I think the lack of a strong melody actually works in this tracks favor, because it doesn't feel like something was left undeveloped by the time its over.

Empowered Sunflower
Fun Fact: The opening synth immediately made me think of the 'buzzer' from the number station UVB-76 (though it's not called that anymore). This is a solid foundation to go somewhere.

Through
I love Steve Roach, though now having thought about it for a week, I probably like Robert Rich more, but they basically write the same music, so it's ok. The swelling drone is a great base for the other lines to sit over. Particularly like the distant piano stabs. By the halfway point as the PWM sounding square lines are coming in, I am solidly getting the Steve-y vibe from it. Rather reminds me of Structures From Silence.

exist
There are some fun interval hopping in a few sections here. The overall tone is a little too caustic for my ears with headphones, but I do appreciate the way it's put together.

Sunrise
So I get rather torn about tracks like this, because I feel like minus the drums, this is essentially an ambient track. There's so much opportunity for subtle interplay between slowly varying textures and making chord changes sound like the monumental environmental impact of the first rain after years of drought. But all that gets crushed below an unrelenting torrent of untz so instead of watching clouds pass for 9 minutes, i'm listening to the steady beat of a clock.

The Rebirth
So in opposition to the last track, I wasn't sure where this one was going until the drums kicked in. Getting some RPG feels. Making me think of the Breath of Fire series for some reason, but I'm not exactly sure why!

Hope and Miracles
I like the compositional technique of arpeggiation with a scale walk. I keep going on about ambient music, but that focus on that changes in color that arise from contrasting a static thing and a changing thing has always been something I enjoy. In the first half of this, it very much feels to be building toward something, so then when the piano kicks into the faster arpeggiated line it's a great release, while still continuing to build. The stabbed chords in the latter third are reminding me of the Beatles... So many things this week are making me think of other things. I really like this one.

Focus
The clipping/drive on some of the percussive elements at the start caught my ear. Also really liking the glitchiness in the chorus sections. The harmony in the vocals in that section is one of the strongest parts of the track. Once the reprise at the end adds the reverb to vocals I realize how much I would have liked a little bit more high EQ'd reverb in the dry sections earlier. The accompaniment to the vocals and drums must have sat in the mix pretty good because once it was over I suddenly can't remember much of them because I was so focused on said vocals and drums. I think that's a good thing because they supported the whole track and didn't stand out.

Efficiency
The descending lines resonant more with 'ice' than 'sand' with me, but that's ok because the arctic is a desert too! I like the soft pulsing on the string lines. Adds some nice movement to them.

Will To Survive
Reminds me a little of St�phane Picq's soundtrack to the 1993 Dune game. The tempo change / triplets or whatever was really unexpected, and great. Much like the 90s GM stuff from the first track, a lot of the instrumentation in this is hitting nostalgia buttons. The longer it plays on the more Dune vibes i'm getting, which is good because that game had a stellar soundtrack. Not really sure how this happened in an hour, must have been tripping on the spice.

Never Stopping
Always appreciate songs with lyrics. Coming up with something unified and on-theme can really be tricky. The vocalized sections at the end were a nice addition.

New Hope
This is a fun mixture of instruments. Really unexpected with the distorted guitars come in the first time, and a welcome return when they come back in the second. Neat.

Seeds of Fury
Pulling off brass is tricky! Mid-game boss fight from the most unexpected crossover in history, Plants vs Zombies vs Cuphead?

it all fades to you
Live guitar is nice. Can't decide if I like the autotuning of the vocals or not. The way the samples are used makes me think of tracker music. Great punch on the drums.

1. Through
   ashka
2. focus
   starla
3. it all fades to you
   johnfn

ashka: sublime. Perfect sounds.

starla: so catchy! great vocals and melodies.

johnfn: kudos for taking risks with singing, you're definitely on the right track.


JH Sounds: the chorus is super good, I'm enjoying it a lot.
�

awesum: A2Z, ashka, DDRKirby(ISQ), Dex, dusthillguy, ethansight, JH Sounds, johnfn, LunacyEcho, starla.
good: Arcana, cotmm68030, DarkShadow, Koekepan, Silverpool64.�

1. Hope And Miracles
   Misael.K
2. focus
   starla
3. Sunrise
   TheVideoGamer

1. Seeds of Fury!
   LunacyEcho
2. Australian
   dusthillguy
3. focus
   starla

LunacyEcho killed it. DHG's track was awesome too, especially for an OHC. Starla's entry was catchy and the glitches were really cool and well done.

1. it all fades to you
   johnfn
2. New Hope
   Dex
3. Hope And Miracles
   Misael.K

there is tons of good music every week but this week had even more good music than usual omg