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[medieval]

I'll try to enter this one, seems fun! i don't have any particular ideas yet, I'll see what happens

[GhostBomb]

Okay, I did try something again but it's not finished yet... I don't know much about chord progressions, song structure and so on, and investend more time into sound manipulation/design. But I want to learn more about the former, so... great to have these regular compos here!

Have you played Super Paper Mario?  The sound track in that game is very similar to this.  I think this is my favorite piece so for for this comp.

[sylvanite]

Hey pals,

I'm new to the forum -

gryphonsnyder actually turned me on to the board, so I might exempt myself from this challenge, but I thought it would be fun to post some things anyway.

I'm not sure if this is my official entry or not, but I thought it would be fun to put up something in case I didn't get around to making something "better"... I just watched the YouTube documentary on Lil' Wayne and we all know how much the kids like hip hop. There's absolutely no melody. So you know. Whatever.

http://soundcloud.com/wheelersounds/postlilwayne

[E-Rock]

Hey everyone.  I've been meaning to enter more of these challenges... I've just failed to make anything for the past couple of ones for some reason.  I got close to finishing up a song on the challenge before the last one, but failed to do so. And I just couldn't come up with something that I felt was totally original for the previous on.  So I made extra sure to get something together for this one. 

http://soundcloud.com/arobott/playful

The title basically tells you what I was going for (ie. something playful).  It does loop, also. I can definitely tweak it quite a bit, but I wanted to go ahead and turn in something while I have something worthy of showing.  I will try to tweak it before the deadline, but if not, this will be my final entry (if I do tweak it, this link will still work, 'cause I'll just replace the song all together). 

Let me know what you guys think.  I'm open to criticism, and not easily offended.. so don't worry about sounding too harsh towards me or something.  lol

Also, I've had fun listening to all the entries thus far. It's always great to hear all the interesting ideas that different minds come up with, given the same premise. 

[Daruman]

I've been lurking this challenge for a week now and finally decided to jump on to this forum so i can take part in this little music side of the street you guys have going on. All the tracks so far are quite interesting, different and absolutely loveable. It's sort of hard to think about kids music in a game situation, in the first post 'Botanicular' was mentioned and i do so love DVA's work on this game.

Here is an unofficial entry which is a menu style them i wrote on my guitar (for a loop) which is quite abstract yet calming (sorry about the recording, i didn't have a working lead for my m-box, used a condenser instead).

http://soundcloud.com/jacob-morrison-gardiner/mellow-menu

Criticism welcome, on a second listen i feel the glitch percussion can come down a fair bit and i could add some other sound on the top without making the track feel to full.

[toilet master]

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2957395/destroy%20fucker.ogg

[Calum Bowen]

@kilig your track reminded me of this:

only really the intro i suppose. But yeah, I liked your track. The guitar sounds a little too mellow to me - could do with bringing out the high end a little bit - i think the cello also contributes to that mellowness - by which i mean too much low/mids reducing overall clarity. It's a nice selection of chords - i could imagine something like this in a kids' game! Perhaps I feel if the glitchy percussion stuff constituted more of a repetitive beat, still sparse and unexpected but not as seemingly random as it was here, the two parts would gel a bit better as well. Still it's a really cool choice of instruments and stuff 

@toilet master, yeaah! nice chip work. The first melody was really strong but then i felt the other melodies felt like two kinda improv solos which felt a little weird to me structurally. It was neat and kiddy and yaaay though. I Could imagine nots of kids jumping up and down and clapping their hands!

Fuck, there's one day left! I need to enter this comp - tomorrow i'll go crazy and do it!

[Daruman]

@kilig your track reminded me of this:

only really the intro i suppose. But yeah, I liked your track. The guitar sounds a little too mellow to me - could do with bringing out the high end a little bit - i think the cello also contributes to that mellownesss

I love that Katamari track, one of my favourites, actually i've been listening to Jim Guthrie for inspiration. I really want to hear a Katamari track like this, maybe my mission for tomorrow before i holiday.

Oh and thats actually just a guitar with reverb and me fiddling with its volume knob not a cello, i forget what you call it but 'Dire Straits' use it a lot. Thanks for the feedback, i will fix it up.

[Soundhound]

@toiletmaster favourite track in this competition so far 

[gryphonsnyder]

Cool guys!  Sorry i haven't been staying super updated.  It seems like it has been a good round with 8 submissions!  Im going to call it at midnight tonight EST so get those entries in if you got them!  Fantastic job so far to everyone who has contributed a piece!

[gryphonsnyder]

So the competition is now closed.  I will have the results up soon!

 

[Calum Bowen]

oh shit! I was looking at the wrong time zone!

Can my initial track be my entry? : )

[gryphonsnyder]

I dont object to a late submission seeing as you are a committed TIGsource Competitor.  I will have the results by tomorrow eve so get it too me by then.

[Calum Bowen]

OK! Thank you!
Thankfully i'm 4 hours ahead so I will be able to work on this from 6pm my time and 2pm your time - should give me enough time to put something together : )))

[Calum Bowen]

OK. While this is not really kids game music... at all. It's kind of what struck me inspirationally today.
The thing that makes me feel most like a kid is when i'm learnin' japanese cos i'm at the level of like a 10 year old ; )
So it's kinda like an educational kids song teaching you how to count to 10... in 日本語 and english.
I kind of hate the american voice counting but it was the only one i could find : ))))

http://soundcloud.com/calumbowen/numbers-tigsource-musical

[Soundhound]

Yeah you're right about the track not really being kid's music so in that sense I wouldn't say it really fits into the idea of this competition. However, I did like the track and instrumentally it really reminded of the kind of stuff Moby was doing in the late 90's / early 00's aka albums 'Play' and '18'

[gryphonsnyder]

Alright guys im almost done judging the competition.  I just want to say that all the entries were really good.  So good that im going to sleep on it cause im tired, and I will probably have the happiest dreams of my life.

Seriously though, Everyone killed it. 

@Calum, what do you want as your entry?  Im a little confused with which one you want for the competition.

[Calum Bowen]

oh god! Well, hmmm.... I'll have the second one as my entry as I wrote that with this challenge in mind.

[gryphonsnyder]

Alright guys! Thanks for your patience.  I have been putting a lot of time into reviewing the songs and it was not easy to pick a winner.  Here are all the entries with my thoughts:

E- rock- "Playful"
http://soundcloud.com/arobott/playful
Playful indeed.  The spirit of this one really captures a "kid game spirit"!  Simple, but engaging. I like all the layers.  The tones are totally kid game.  Good use of space too with all the panning.  There is lots of sonic movement and I think it creates a fun world within the song.  Very good job!

JudahRoydes-  "I Broke My Toys"
http://soundcloud.com/judahroydes/i-broke-my-toys
Super creative!  It seems like the opening trailer for a game where it shows all the hilarious misadventures of the main character.  You know, i think this works great as a kids song.  I think kids can deal with schizoid pretty well, seeing as most of them are pretty good at spazzing out.  Have you guys ever watched, as adults, a cartoon or movie from your childhood that you loved, and realized it was really out there and kind of fucked up?



PythonBlue- "Cartoon Comp"
http://soundcloud.com/sgtyayap404/cartoon-compo
You have a nice originality, especially with the theme in mind.  Its a nice space, woodlandy, and curious.  The chords are well developed and support a nice emotional mood.  and at 1:21, that resolution is really beautiful.  The rhythm is very uplifting too. This actually makes me think of a Studio Gibli film. 


Lkcomposer- "Composition 9/19/12"
http://picosong.com/wxNx/
"Well thats it folks, we just won the game, got the bad dude, now lets go have a pizza party!"  And all the characters are there waving goodbye to you, the player, cause no one could have done it without you.  And its their polite way of saying "come back in two years and buy the next game".

I love how simple this is.  Drums, bass, guitar, lead.  Great job with such minimal instrumentation.  Everything was really holding its place and balancing the other instruments well.

Eveellis- "Time For An Adventure.. That's 10-years Late!"
http://soundcloud.com/eveellis/time-for-an-adventure-thats-10
First off I like the title.  Its funny.  It is a great minimal piece, definitely tapping back into the nostalgic aspects of what we were hearing when we were kids.  The simplicity of the song is relaxing and tasteful.  Definitely a cute adventure song.  I like "the hissing, and humming" as well.  Cool idea.  And I really appreciate your thoughts within the forum on the topic idea.  You brought up some interesting points to reflect on within the competition.

Orel- "vooliy_00d_@121bpm_render_00a"
http://soundcloud.com/0rel/vooliy_00d-121bpm_render_00a
I like the textures you are using.  I find them refreshing.  I think the development is great while you intermix a fun subtle melody.  It is lush, colorful and playful.  I am interested to see where you take this when it is finished.  This feels like the most contemporary piece in the mix.  It works great for both kids and adults, but for different reasons.

Kilig- "Mellow Menu"
http://soundcloud.com/jacob-morrison-gardiner/mellow-menu
Beautiful!  It is like the menu you leave up so that you can just listen to the loop over and over again.  I've fallen asleep to dvd menus and game menu screens.  I don't know if thats what you intended with the name "Mellow Menu".  But you got it.  It definitely is a good "doorway" to the game.  But whats behind the doorway?  And when you write that please let me know cause i want to live there.

Toilet master- "Destroy Fucker"
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2957395/destroy%20fucker.ogg
I mean kids have access too so much these days, i bet 4 year olds every morning say, "Mom, pass me the fucking Captain Crunch cereal… cunt!".

But whatever, this is a great song.  I love the use of sounds, its an expertly done chip tune. This would have been a serious hit on any of the old nes games. Definitely rocking my nostalgia.

Calum Bowen- "Numbers"
http://soundcloud.com/calumbowen/numbers-tigsource-musical
Man, its a really cool song.  Honestly, i think the American movie preview sounding voice is what made it not kid-ish to me.  I love the breakdown after the counting.  This is just a good song.


Soundhound- "Childhood"
http://picosong.com/wxQs
Really interesting.  I can feel your creative process in this song.  Like you said, you were starting with one thing in mind, then it evolves to something else.  At 0:31 it gets an attitude that i like.  Sort of makes me, the listener, feel like a badass.  Then the Mario thing, silly, but sounds like you had fun making it. 

-----------------------------------------------------

Calum Bowen- "Moshi" (non official entry)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yetm40n72cizyds/moshi.mp3
Oh, I am so into this.  Its got spirit, it makes me believe, it is well produced even up to the last glitched out "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH".  Its a song of hope, a song where all the little ones of the world stand on top of Mt. Fuji holding hands singing while confetti starts to fall like rain and giant balloon animals hover overhead.  "Oh my god!  We did it!!!" is the general sentiment in the air.  What did we even do?  Does it even matter?  Hell no!  "Moshi Moushiwake ha jai, dakar a moshi moshi to iu…"


And the winner is....PythonBlue- "Cartoon Comp"

On first pass I wasn't really into the midi instruments.  But then I listened to it again.  Then again.  Then again.  And it has grown on me so much because I feel the sincerity of what you wrote.  It embodies a sense of adventure and emotional depth that would accompany a kids game beautifully.

So cool guys!  Thanks for letting me host this one.  I found the discussions very interesting on what makes a kids game a kids game.  I guess it is pretty hard to pin it down.  I look forward to getting to compete again.  So PythonBlue, here is the torch! 

[Calum Bowen]

Awesome feedback man!

haha your description of moshi made me laugh a lot!

Well done to everyone who entered - i forgot about some of these tracks until the feedback sesh - awesome stuff here and a great turn out too!

BRING ON THE NEXT CHALLENGE!