1. a quiet rest
   cotmm68030
2. Yoshi Shots
   Silverpool64
3. The Little Ant Explorer
   Arcana

CotMM68030 was far in the lead in thematic accuracy, and that will always trump other considerations.

1. a quiet rest
   cotmm68030
2. and all the things you do
   johnfn
3. not sure what this is or what is has to do with water
   obScene

so many good tracks

1. gotta move
   LunacyEcho
2. don't let me down
   starla
3. Moist Thicket
   Suzumebachi

A lot of potential top 3s this week, including also:

DDRKirby
nukage
A2Z
Suzumebachi

Other really good:

ashka
ethansight
obScene

A lot of fun:

TheVideoGamer
MisaelK
johnfn
Silverpool64

1. Pour
   ashka
2. and all the things you do
   johnfn
3. Spirit of Nature
   DDRKirby(ISQ)

@Misael.K - Yep as Johnfn puts it, "This is a big boi". Want me to make another 18 minuter? Hahaha....

@Ashka - I didn't know it was ambient week? I could have removed the dope beats, and made it well...beatless.

@Everyone - You can have an intro without a farty kick amirite? Toot, toot!

@Misael.K - I don't think i can. The snare fill might get done for speeding haha...

@Arcana - The cops will come, but stay for the dancing. Who doesn't love banging beats...

@Misael.K - Duck? Quack, quack! Ok i'll stop....

@LunacyEcho - Nukage hired a female voice actor, i hired a robot haha....

@Elias561 - I like the bass that goes boom!

@Arcana - Thanks! Bizarreness is my speciality.

@Suzums - Yeah it's kind of masked in the mix, but i was making quick decisions for an hour, not to mention the long render.

It's actually a short paragraph on waterfalls, pasted into a text to speech thing. I can't record vocals at 2am, so this is the next best thing.

Here's the link:

https://www.britannica.com/science/waterfall-geology

I mean this is for everyone who wants to know what he's saying.

@LunacyEcho - UUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNTTTTTTTZZZZZZZZZZZZ

@Misael.K - The adventure does come to an end, it passes by almost like background music, thus you forget about reality.

@Ashka - I get the underworld reference, except i don't have lyrics, and my beats are extremely heavy for underworld (Unless you count Born Slippy or something like that). I'm just glad you can compared me to someone.

@Everyone - Thanks for the kind words! You guys are awesome!

Wow i ended up replying to more than i expected. Onwards and upwards.

TheVideoGamer - I'm not gonna go into full detail, because it would be long, but it essentially boils down to 3 main ideas. The first is the long sustained atmospheric pad sounds, the second is the heavy processed beats, akin to Techno, and the last would be the flourishes of Piano motifs and bells. I really like these, for it's simplicity, but i don't think it's everyone's cup of tea, because it can get a little repetitive.

Koekepan - The sound design is soooo coool. Really liking the bell/pad sounds, this is quite a relaxing number. Well done!

cotmm68030 - Kind of a similar vibe to Koekepan's, except yours doesn't feature the crazy pitch warbles, of the other track. This one is just as awesome, well done!

DarkShadow - There must be like a method into the chord choices or something.....Good job!

nukage - Sick EDM from the master. The wubs this week, were especially banging, well done!

Dex - Really liking these heavy beats, especially in conjunction with the melodies. Personally, it's very dry, needs reverb, but i did like the melodies a lot. Good job!

Elias561 - Welcome new guy! For your first submission it rocks! Definitely some real good authentic NES chiptune. Not sure what direction you were going though, i think some of the chords clashed, however as a whole i love how it flows. Well done!

ashka - I can't even.....are you like god or something? Them strings......

A2Z - Ooh the rhythms in this one really stood out for me. Very off-kilter but on beat. As a whole, this was a really great idea, but i feel the melodies could be refined, and turned into something awesome. Still dig this though, good job!

Suzumebachi - Shall we say, kind of the grooves? The drumbeats were just....sooo good, funky and vibey. Nice chords too, really enhance that particular kind of atmosphere. Well done!

Misael.K - Looks like i have competition when it comes to the department of Untz. Really digging the rave vibes here, the drums were big and huge. I feel the bass needs to come up, it's very much lacking a bright bassline, that could make it sound awesome. Still though, good job!

Silverpool64 - You know, i think you should try, and make pure ambient music, so in this case, loose the beats. The pad chords were something else, but i feel the beats, were a bit too present. Also, you seem to have a rather...er...deep interest in Mario. Letsa Goo!!! Good job!

NickC - NickC channelling his Inner Nukage, in the area of Dubs and Wubs. Really loving the unique ideas here, well done!

Arcana - Really nice vibes here, great melodies. Personally the mix is a little uneven, but the rest is nice. Good job!

DDRKirby(ISQ) - How do you make it sound so clean, for an hour's worth of work!? Like seriously, this was extremely big and punchy, for the mix. Oh and the pad chords....just beautiful man! Awesome work!!

ethansight - As an idea....beautiful, i love the airy feel, it was amazing. However i do feel, this could be polished, to be made more vibey. The drums are a little flat, and the bass is a little overpowering. The rest is awesome though, good job!

obScene - This is extremely unique, not heard many entrants like this. Do you know U-Ziq by any chance? His early works, combines very overdriven industrial techno beats, with more ambient/jazzy melodic ideas. That what it reminds me off, for me. Well done anyways!

Starla - I'm always a sucker for thick beats! Also love the more laidback approach in the production, it was great! Of course the vocals are top notch too, well done!

johnfn - Please sing me to sleep, master. I want more dreamy Johnfn, your voice is like an angel lol. Seriously i love this, the chords were playful, the vibes were awesommeee!! Amazing dude!

LunacyEcho - I don't think this is your first attempt (I don't feel like it is), i'm sure you've made attempts before, however i do see why, your critical of it, per your description. As a whole, i dig this a lot, great bassline, and definitely mad props to the sax player. I think as you say, it needs more mixing nuances, especially since the saxophone can get quite loud. Also this might be more my thing, but refinement in the progression could work too, because i feel the transitions to different chords, felt...erm...abrupt. Again, don't take it the wrong way, i really liked this! Good job!

Top 3 - Ashka, Johnfn, DDRKirby(ISQ).

Awesome - Koekepan, cotmm68030, Nukage, Elias561, Ashka, Suzumebachi, NickC, DDRKirby(ISQ), obScene, Starla, Johnfn.

Needs Work - DarkShadow, Dex, A2Z, Misael.K, Silverpool64, Arcana, Ethansight, LunacyEcho.

1. Brookside Meditation
   Koekepan
2. Peace Before the Acid Rain
   nukage
3. Pour
   ashka

Here are some random thoughts I had:

Koekepan: This is so cool! Sounds of a forest! I love it!
cotmm68030: Ambient Pretty, but unnerving
DarkShadow: Cool sounds! Epic!
nukage: This is so happy! I love it! This reminds me of Hyper Potions.
Dex: Jazzy Nice I can't express my feelings with words, but I like this.
Elias561: Welcome! Chiptune! I love the sounds!
ashka: Mellow Pretty Reminds me of Fez
A2Z: Pretty Nice Sounds Reminds me of Zelda
Suzumebachi: Groovy Cool Sounds!
TheVideoGamer: Very relaxing Ambient Water Funny Nice Arps
Misael.K: Nice I liked the main synth!
Silverpool64: Me :)
NickC: Nice Sounds! I like the glitchy sounds! Epic!
Arcana: Pretty bloops! I love the sounds!
DDRKirby(ISQ): Really cool! Nice Sounds! Epic!
ethansight: Atmospheric Mellow Fun Nice Pretty
obScene: Funky I like the Synths! I'm not sure what this has to do with water either.
starla: Vocals Epic Pretty Cool Sounds!
johnfn: Vocals Nice I like the sounds! I really like the vocals!
LunacyEcho: Vocals Groovy Rap-ish Cool!

1. gotta move
   LunacyEcho
2. Transport
   ethansight
3. Green
   A2Z

Nice

1. Brookside Meditation
   Koekepan
2. Moist Thicket
   Suzumebachi
3. Flowing melody
   Dex

Brookside Meditation:
The organic sound of this one was particularly great. The fact that it was 'one-take' recorded adds to its charm tremendously. I feel like upload order in OHC means something, so I'm torn between a desire to want to nitpick post-production value since it was the first value, and a desire to leave it 'as-is' like it were something found in nature. From the nitpick perspective; I think I would have liked to have a little more leveling in the entire track. While a wide dynamic range across the course of a piece is good, it is ultimately something that is made to be listened to, and therefore I think certain amounts of discretion is warranted in how wide that range is. However from the found as-is and a live played piece, the nuances in the track that result from the way it was played and the experience of creating it become a frozen moment in time that carries weight as well. Sometimes the canvas a painting is created on is interesting in its own right.

a quiet rest:
The first track I've played around with the Cthulhu arpeggiator on! I wanted a bubbly sounding synth with a watery quality, so i let cthulhu record its arps at 1/64th notes, to retrigger the start of a sample based patch otherwise intended for pad sounds. This sounded like the babbling of a brook to me. After adding in some harmony lines in various other drones, I filled in the silence behind it all with some samples I've been creating taken from an old cassette mix tape of 1940s era jazz and big band music that sounds like it was recorded from vinyl. I presume to have been my Grandmothers. To try and utilize the 'warmth' of this tape/vinyl degradation, I took sections of songs and processed them with RX7 to remove any tonal quality, and accentuate transient pops and other otherwise non-musical noises. Specifically the song removed from the noise was "In The Mood".

forest stream:
Must be a rather violent stream. I like the detune phasing on the lead, and the 'plucked' string sound at the end makes me nostalgic for late 90s Jeskola Buzz.

Peace before the acid rain:
a very different take on the idea of 'babbling'. As always everything sounds quite balanced and clear. I particularly like the complexity of sounds in the breakdown.

flowing melody:
a well accompanied meandering line. For some reason it reminds me of the title screen music from the Amiga sidescrolling shooter "Agony".

mysteriously lost:
simply being a famitracker production immediately scores points as I have a softspot for genuine tracker based music. I appreciate that there are distinct segments in the track each with their own feel. very nice.

pour:
its hard to nail down exactly what strikes you in a piece as being 'on theme' sometimes. The gentle atmosphere created here is very inviting.

green:
swirly. I think it's the echoed arp lines that reads 'forest'. Very smooth. I liked the stepdown pitch fade at the end.

moist thicket:
this is the most danceable wet wood i've ever encountered, and living in a city surrounded by swamps, i've seen a lot of wet wood.

meditation on the waterfalls:
i have a love/hate relationship with trance like this. While I appreciate something you can loose track of time while listening to, it also sometimes pulls me out of the moment if it gets too repetitive. Sometimes I like to think of trance as the ambient music of the techno world.

where the stream meets the river:
what an odd little little line. i like it. the accelerando at the start does impart the feeling of starting from something small and rushing into something bigger. The 'pulsing effect' in the second quarter sounds a little off to me, but that might be my tiny laptop speakers. Having different sections that we transition through is great. Continues with the feel of a journey.

yoshi shots:
cute. weird, but cute.

daydream:
I like the dirty distortion on these drum hits at the start. Pitchbends in the middle are really nice too.

the little ant explorer:
a big journey for a small ant. really like the chords here. Seems like quite a few tracks this week went for leads with a glissando effect on them.

spirit of nature:
the quality of your tracks is so consistently high, i really find it difficult to say much sometimes. I love the juxtaposition of high quality simple synths and the lo-fi hits.

transport (of the mind):
So i think again my laptop speakers are getting in the way of hearing this entire track, since these big sounds at start are entirely lost on me. Nice light beats in the middle and end. Maybe I need to change the way I listen to these tracks. Very peaceful.

not sure what this is or what is has to do with water:
me either. sounds nice though. I like the dynamics of the stab lines as they fade in and out. That something is always keeping the beat pretty steadily does at least give a 'traveling' feel to it, which is close enough to water flowing.

don't let me down:
The river and the forest sound like they're having some issues with each other. :( I think the vocals are sitting a little too forward in the track, I'd like to hear more of the accompaniment since the harmonies sit so well with each other. I listen to so little pop music it's not in my wheelhouse to be super constructive. Everything feels like it fits well with each other.

and all the things you do:
very gentle sounding. sounds like something I leave playing on low in the background for a while.

gotta move:
such sax. very electroswing. wow. the scale climb feels a little odd to me, but that might just be me not familiar with jazz scales. This was a fun departure from normal OHC faire.

1. a quiet rest
   cotmm68030
2. Moist Thicket
   Suzumebachi
3. Green
   A2Z

1. Brookside Meditation
   Koekepan
2. a quiet rest
   cotmm68030
3. Pour
   ashka

Lots of great entries tonight, kudos to everyone!

Koekepan: perfect representation of the theme.

cotmm68030: another excellent representation of the theme.

ashka: very gentle and delicate, just like a stream.

�

awesum: Arcana, ashka, cotmm68030, DarkShadow, DDRKirby(ISQ), johnfn, Koekepan, NickC, nukage, obScene, starla, Suzumebachi.
good: A2Z, Dex, Elias561, ethansight, Silverpool64, TheVideoGamer.�

1. don't let me down
   starla
2. Spirit of Nature
   DDRKirby(ISQ)
3. Peace Before the Acid Rain
   nukage

Nukage amazing drop
suzumebachi Jivey beat
TheVideoGamer Loved the trip
Misael.K Nice progression and lines
NickC Some great hard sounds - crazy wobbles at the end
Arcana some sparkling synths
DDR Great slow beat, everything fits well and drums hit hard
Starla Wonderful vocal runs and groove
Lunacy Its a hopper