Composition Challenge #39

stratman3142

INTRO

Time for round #39 of the Fretboard Composition Challenge.

Every few months there'll be a composition challenge. It revolves around individuals or groups of forum members composing and recording music.

No prizes for this challenge. It's just for fun, a spur to creating, sharing, discussing music/recording and learning. Plus a way of testing the water with your creations and getting some feedback.

GUIDELINES - THEME

In an attempt to encourage more entries, there's no theme for this one - so it's freestyle

You can specify your own theme or the genre you're aimimg for.

Compose a tune, or recycle something you've composed previously. So you can treat it as a creative exercise or just vehicle to get you music heard and commented on.

Picture: In addition to the music, try to create your own picture that relates to your selected theme/title. This isn't mandatory.

DATES AND VOTING

The submission deadline is midnight 31st December 2023

Voting will start soon after the submission deadline and run for about two weeks, with each voter selecting their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice.

First choice gets 5 points - Second choice gets 3 points - Third choice gets 1 point

The entry with the most points wins.

The order and scores of the three people with the most votes will be announced soon after the voting ends.

SUBMISSION DETAILS

All recordings and pictures need to be sent via email to Compositions@theFB.co.uk

Songs to be submitted in mp3 format.

Pictures to be in jpg or png format.

ENTRY PLAYLIST

Entries will be posted in a playlist below as they arrive.

https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/sets/composition-challenge-39?si=fe650850c4d5420e8e7e70981905f2a4&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

stratman3142

Entry from @midiman1962 which is in the playlist.

Are there any other composers out there?

thecolourbox

I've been trying but struggling to get my idea to fruition. It's a bit of a different style to write in (I tend to play others songs in this style rather than my own) and I'm finding it hard to a) write a tune over my riff at the same time and b) introduce a second chord. I've several phrases which kind of lead on from one another but they're all in E minor. Doesn't work as instrumental only either. 

I had what i thought was a perfectly serviceable melody until I realised it was the tune to Black Sabbath (the self titled song) mixed with a bit of Billie Eilish's Bury a Friend.

I'll hopefully get something in if not that one, either another one from the project my last challenge entries, or something new in my normal style of things. I'm just waiting for tonsillitis to clear (or is it essential to call it tinsellitis this time of year)

TTony

stratman3142 said:

Entry from @midiman1962 which is in the playlist.

Are there any other composers out there?

I might have something ...

TTony

@stratman3142 - you should have PM and email.

Background to my entry ...

A long time ago (and in a galaxy far away), I knew a girl called Sally.  We never knew each other *that* well, but I do remember her well.  She wrote and gave me some lyrics which I put in a safe place and kept for 40-odd years.

Through school and Uni bands, I put one set of her lyrics to music and played that song a fair few times, but forgot about the others until clearing out some long-untouched files and folders a couple of years ago, when I found the other lyrics.

My entry is one of those re-found Sally songs; her lyrics, my music.  Listen to the words, and consider that they were written by a teenage girl, 40 years ago.

The arrangement is pretty simple - me singing and playing a couple of acoustic guitar tracks, a bass line, simple keep-time drum and a bit of synth-strings.  But those words ...

If you knew a Sally, who lived in Sandbach (Cheshire) in the seventies, who was good with words, tell her "hi".

midiman1962

Background to my entry .
I’ve been writing music on and off since I was a teenager 40 plus years ago.
always dabbled in guitar and keyboards and programming back to the alesis mmt8 (who remembers those) and Cubase v1 on tha Atari st.
Thought I was involved in a good band in the late eighties which had 3 good song contributors but looking back the vocal was not good enough.
Covid years finally gave me more time to get back into being more creative and Vst technology and Cubase 9 puts a lot of power back into your world for not a lot of outlay.

One project I was offered was to write some tracks for my wife’s Pilates teacher!
I created 8 instrumentals of which this was number 4.
Hope folks like it.

stratman3142

TTony said:

@stratman3142 - you should have PM and email...

Your track is in the playlist in the original post.

TTony

Thanks @stratman3142

stratman3142

Now I need to do one, to meet the deadline. I'd better knock one out quickly (if you'll excuse the expression) 

TTony

midiman1962 said:

One project I was offered was to write some tracks for my wife’s Pilates teacher!

Reading the background gives good/interesting context to the song.  I thought it was sort of relaxing/chill music the first time I played it, now that makes sense.

Similar to you, I've been strumming guitars for many years and writing the odd tune, and also building/using PCs intensively for a lot of that time, but never really put the two together to record stuff.  It was Covid, and a particular open mic going on-line, that finally pushed me into recording.

It's been a learning curve and a half, and the further I get up it, the further I can see the curve stretches ...

midiman1962

One thing extra to mention is I retired myself to specifically do these types of projects or to have the time so to do which is working out well

TTony said:

midiman1962 said:

One project I was offered was to write some tracks for my wife’s Pilates teacher!

Reading the background gives good/interesting context to the song.  I thought it was sort of relaxing/chill music the first time I played it, now that makes sense.

Similar to you, I've been strumming guitars for many years and writing the odd tune, and also building/using PCs intensively for a lot of that time, but never really put the two together to record stuff.  It was Covid, and a particular open mic going on-line, that finally pushed me into recording.

It's been a learning curve and a half, and the further I get up it, the further I can see the curve stretches ...

TTony

@stratman3142 ;

Do the Soundcloud analytics tell you anything useful about who's listening to the tracks we upload?  I assume that they're all freely available to the public rather than being restricted in anyway.

Just surprised at the number of plays my track appears to have attracted in very short period of time.

stratman3142

TTony said:

@stratman3142 ;;

Do the Soundcloud analytics tell you anything useful about who's listening to the tracks we upload?  I assume that they're all freely available to the public rather than being restricted in anyway.

Just surprised at the number of plays my track appears to have attracted in very short period of time.

I don't know anything about that aspect. We sometimes get a very high number of plays and I think someone said that they're 'bots' (whatever they are )

TTony

I'd expect bots (or any other automated activity) to hit all of the tracks reasonably equally though.

thecolourbox

I've noticed a similar thing on soundcloud with some of mine in the cover challenge and on this one having hundreds more listens than others. My own personal soundcloud mostly has single figure listening numbers. So minimal are my listens and insights, that I was able to identify the day and the hour that my newly discovered 2nd cousin in New Zealand listened to my music (he's also a musician and was on their X Factor so was interested in family musical connections etc).

Looking forward to listening to these new ones. I've had an idea to repurpose the chorus from my unfinishable heavy rock song in a different song entirely so I should be able to bang that out easier

stratman3142

Well I've bashed one out fairly quickly, as I'm running out of time in the lead up to Xmas. I'll upload it shortly to make up the numbers, and promise to do better next time.

Are there any others incoming, before the deadline of midnight the 31st December?

thecolourbox

I'm hoping to have one in

stratman3142

Mine's in the playlist. It's called 'Elevator Music'.

I was going for a Steely Dan and Larry Carlton type vibe. But I fear it might have turned out like the sort of music that's played in lifts in department stores . Hence the title.

TTony

Steely Dan never played in an elevator!


Nice @stratman3142 ;

stratman3142

thecolourbox said:

I'm hoping to have one in

How are you doing?

If you need a bit more time I could extend the deadline a bit, provided that's also OK with the other entrants, @midiman1962 and @TTony ;

TTony

I don't even know what the date is today