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[Barendhoff]

Today marks the deadline of TIGSource Musical Challenge XLI - Veracruz moist forests! We have had no less than four entries, which are as diverse as they are unified by the theme. Well done Aamp, Algernon, Hawkei and Overeasy! The crowd can vote for the next seven days, until August 24th. Let the forest tunes sink in and cast your vote everybody!

I'll be glad to present some thoughts on the entries.

Aamp - Veracruz Moist Forests (link)
This track comes with a mood that I would welcome in many game forest environments. The pounding drums provide the music with a jungle vibe, while the synth chords and arpeggios invite the listener to take a deep breath and take in the forest calmth. As the bass sets in, more industrial sounds are introduced, taking over the track until but a barren land remains. Good job Aamp; I really enjoy how you've incorporated the theme into your piece.

AlgernonV - Veracruz Moist Forests (link)
A darker take on the Veracruz forest, Algernon presents a piece that portrays the woods as gloomy as it is moist (and it is very moist!). As the wind howls through Algernons piece, a soprano voice, or perhaps a theremin, exerts her vibrato to reinforce the spooky atmosphere. The music is foreboding and comes with a sense of apprehension; something's wrong with the... moist in these forests! Well done Algernon; I'm always up for gloom, and this is executed quite nicely indeed.

Hawkei - Veracruz Moist Forests (link)
Hawkei captures a brooding, blossoming, blooming forest in his musical representation of the Veracruz moist forests. I'm very fond of Hawkei's combination of ambient sounds and musical instruments, treating them as equals in this piece. The production quality feels great, although a little more volume wouldn't misstand here. In any case, this track manages to give a sense of majesty as well as humbleness, perfect for a forest environment. Great job!

Overeasy - KAAREM1 (link)
Trang Kieu's warped voice was haunting to hear for the first time. Quickly enveloped in the warm, swelling synths, her voice swiftly turns out to be an important rhythmic element of an experimental piece that is slightly reminiscent of CocoRosie. Combined with supporting percussion, KAAREM1 makes for an interesting take on the Veracruz moist forests that becomes increasingly enjoyable to listen to with each take. Well done!


Definitely not an easy choice, TIGSource audio fellows! Carefully consider these submissions and make sure to vote on your favourite track. The winner gets the honour of hosting the next challenge!

UPDATE: Voting's ended, and Hawkei turns out to be the winner of our TIGSource Musical Challenge XLI - Veracruz moist forests. Congratulations Hawkei, and thank you Aamp, AlgernonV and Overeasy for participating!

As is customary, it's now Hawkei's turn to host the next challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing the theme revealed in the near future and listening to people's submission!

[Breakdown Epiphanies]

Great work everybody, I had a blast listening to the submissions! My favorite is Kaarem 1, beautiful track @overeasy and Barendhoff's CocoRosie association is spot on. The singer's voice and especially her breathing sound with those slight overtones are truly hypnotic. (Oh, and of course I had to listen to "Texture 14" immeadiately after because Wong Kar Wai is one of my all time favorite directors)

[Aamp]

Wow, it's the deadline and voting already!  Thank you so much @Barendhoff for the kind words on each of the tracks.  I've really enjoyed listening to and reading the thoughts on each of the entries here.  Best of luck to all!

[overeasy]

@Breakdown Epiphanies
Thanks for the compliments. I actually listen to CocoRosie every once in awhile so maybe they were somewhere in my headspace while I was making this. The past year I've made a lot of sample based music so a lot of time I'm just walking around with a recorder or a camera w/ shotgun mic... just capturing a bunch of random stuff. It's super fun.
Btw, I'm liking what you're doing on Battle Brothers. Sweet stuff!

Good luck, everyone.
Full disclosure: I liked everyone's stuff, but I still voted for myself   

[Breakdown Epiphanies]

Thx overeasy and just to clarify, it reminded me of CocoRosie but it definitely has it's own personal vibe. Ithink my CR association is mostly due the colour of her voice on the breath-samples The eastern influences and the way you used the recorded noises is very, very pretty. And I like how dense the whole soundscape feels, almost claustrophobic, like I would imagine the middle of a tropic forest.

[hawkei]

hey great job everyone and a big thank you to our dear host for the cool idea and administrating this contest.

[Barendhoff]

Voting's ended, and Hawkei turns out to be the winner of our TIGSource Musical Challenge XLI - Veracruz moist forests. Congratulations Hawkei, and thank you Aamp, AlgernonV and Overeasy for participating!

As is customary, it's now Hawkei's turn to host the next challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing the theme revealed in the near future and listening to people's submission!

[Breakdown Epiphanies]

Congrats Hawkei and thank you for the music everybody!

[hawkei]

Thanks everybody, what a motivation boost.
I hope I don't do anything wrong when hosting the challenge. Are there any rules pinned down anywhere?

[Kyle Preston]

I would just browse through the old challenge posts; most of em are pretty straight forward. Nothing wrong with thinking outside the box either : ) 

Congrats btw!

[Jasmine]

Great work everyone! Really enjoyed the pieces made!

Hawkei, the sky is the limit. I hosted a rather.. convoluted one, and despite, I still received entries! Composers here don't mind a push, so have fun with it!

[hawkei]

awesome, thanks!

[Barendhoff]

Aye, there are no written rules to the challenges, Hawkei! Usually, hosts come up with their own set of conditions that entries have to meet in order to make things interesting. This could be related to length, instruments used, the intended mood of submitted tracks etc. Recently, we were challenged to write music in an odd time signature or in an unusual scale.

You're free to come with any rules you like--although of course, you'll want to strike a balance between making a wildly extravagant challenge and asking too much of us. Obviously we're not going to write 30 minute opera suites for a TIGSource challenge.

[AlgernonV]

Thanks Barendhoff for the challenge. I really enjoyed listening to the other submissions. Can't wait for the next one!