VSTi Song Contests on DSF?

[sackley]

I love this idea!

I would gladly upload an unprocessed drum break, maybe 2 bars, that could be part of the drum hits/kits/samples/breaks. I'm a decent drummer and can record different ways each time. If it's too much for everyone to learn how to process raw drums I could do some quick eq-ing and compression to speed up the process.

No to native plugins, yes to one developers line (as antress was suggested, could also be TAL or some others rotated through also).

[frank grimes jr.]

All this works for me.

[silkpantsman]

I say no to daw plugins, far to specific and nontransferable.

can we not just limit the plugs used so noobs such as myself dont have to spend days figuring out new tools for mixing when its about sound design and music! basically BAAAAHHH i hear ya and your right but i aint gotta like it!!

[nowaysj]

I'm in same boat with you, I'd have to learn all new stuff to do a track like this. I'm okay with that.

Some people make their tracks entirely out of freeware, so I'd imagine they have a head start.

But that's not really what it's about, is it!

==

Pat = Futures Untold = Freeware Plugin Master

[surefya]

agree with the learning curve when using all new stuffs

I suggest to make a FX plug in pack that is a regular element in the comp. So only the synth(s) change each time.

and good idea to ask Futures Untold he has tested lots for his portable music studio

[Recessive Trait]

i haven't opened a synth that isn't massive or z3ta+ for over a year, so a lot of us will be in the same boat, whether n00bs or the best producer in the world (me, of course).

maybe limit to 2 or 3 (or 4) freeware plugs to modify the 1 synth.

i'm down with the 3 minute limit. i'll write a pop song for you melon farmers.

accapellas were mentioned but never re-addressed. can we use vocal samples, perhaps only if we rip them ourselves?

[alphacat]

I'm jazzed that so many of you are into this - we're gonna have some fun!

Sackley, you're a fuckin' champ for volunteering your original live breaks. If everyone else is cool with this I'm down! We've all heard enough Amens/Apaches/Funky Drummers/etc. etc., this'll be a great antidote to that. What kind of kit do you play?

And as far as having a pre-designated basic processing plug pack and not using any DAWs' native plugs, that works for me too. Antress, Kjaerhus, TAL, Blue Cat, the Beam Module Series - any of these'll work for me. The Kjaerhus plugs are fewer in number but (IMHO) sound amazing when you get to know 'em, so that'd be my nomination: there's a lot of plugs in the Antress Modern series, enough to possibly be contrary to the ethic we're trying to lay down perhaps... although they sound really, really good too. Again, I'm open to whatever.

Finally, for anyone who's a little spooked by the prospect of having to work with only these basic raw materials, I'd like to reiterate something I said earlier that I hope will become a mantra of sorts for us here:

Limitations Can Be Liberating.

So let's come to a consensus on:

- the rules suggested so far;
- using Sackley's breaks (I vote Yes);
- which basic freeware DSP set to use (I vote for Kjaerhus, with Antress being a close 2nd)
- acapellas and their criteria of usage.

On the last one there (acapellas) - I like the idea of only using things we record ourselves with the caveat that it can only be spoken or sung content (i.e. traditional vocal-type content and not someone making synth noises with their mouth ), and it doesn't matter if it's you or your friend - just no rips off of other peoples' tunes or movies or pre-existing media of any sort. Thoughts?

[frank grimes jr.]

- the rules suggested so far;
- using Sackley's breaks (I vote Yes); yea
- which basic freeware DSP set to use (I vote for Kjaerhus, with Antress being a close 2nd) yea for Kjaerhus
- acapellas and their criteria of usage. yea for self recorded

[3za]

- the rules suggested so far;
- using Sackley's breaks (I vote Yes); yea
- which basic freeware DSP set to use (I vote for Kjaerhus, with Antress being a close 2nd) yea for Kjaerhus
- acapellas and their criteria of usage. yea for self recorded

3rd all of that.

plus for the synths i vote crystal, atlantis or oatmeal. maybe chuck tal elek7ro in, for sumthing not as heavy weight as them.

also where is the freeware god futures.

[Basic A]

Id be up for this, would then, the drums hae to be the break drums, or could synthesis using the plugin be the second option?

Also...

Can I suggest either Oatmeal or Atlantis?

[frank grimes jr.]

Using the break plus option of using synthesis for drums gets my vote.

I imagine that each new winner will get to pick the freeware synth for the next competition?

[sackley]

I'm glad to offer! I've wanted to give back to the forum in one way or another for all the info I've learned , and this would be great so that I can hear how people use my breaks.

My main kit is an early 60's Rogers kit, but right now I just rock the 20" kick, some 60's or 70's Zildjian Avedis hats (13" and 14") and a 60's ludwig supraphonic snare. But I rotate all that out every time pretty much. Could be a ludwig kick with a pearl piccolo snare, or a 18" no-name kick with a 10" popcorn snare and some thick ass metal-style hats. who knows, haha.

And just so everyone is aware - I'm very new to actually recording and producing/mixing my drum tracks, so don't expect them to sound studio quality. I'm a decent drummer, as I said, and I'm definitely confident in my playing, just not in the recording aspect. I always go for that lo-fi quality, so I usually record to tape and then convert to digital with a walkman. But, I can record each mic into it's own track and could upload those individually.

I'll just switch it up and we'll see what happens.

Edit: I would hope we could use the synths for percussion/drum hits also, just so everyone knows the drummer is on board for that. haha.

[Recessive Trait]

live drum break - amen!

accapellas - i don't have a microphone, can we not use outside samples? as long as they are manipulated with the decided plugs?

i'm happy with whatever synth you guys want.

[nowaysj]

Convert to digital with a walkman concerns me.

[frank grimes jr.]

haha I think it sounds perfect.

[sackley]

Convert to digital with a walkman concerns me.

me too, hahaha.

No, i probably would be a little bit better than that, since this is for everyone and not just me. I usually do that just because my comp is at my gfs and my kit is at my parents so I don't have any way to easily record straight to it usually.

But, for this I'll have my comp set up with a tascam us-1641, a sm-57 knockoff for the kick, a cheap m-audio condenser mic on the snare/hat and 2 cigar-sized condenser mics that have built-in HP filters as room mics plus probably another cheap m-audio condenser up in a stairwell to add width/depth. Run all these into seperate tracks in reaper and then eq/compress each as needed.

I can either upload each separate mic track or just bounce it all to one track... or somewhere in-between (1 track for room/stairwell mics, 1 for snare/hats, 1 for kick).

I should probably do a sample one before this gets started.

Honestly though, the walkman is badass. haha

[Recessive Trait]

yeah, the walkman is a concern - didn't see that. i'd say another concern about the live drums is - and no offence to sackley because you may be the kind of guy to deliver - that the recording may never happen, then we're all waiting for a contest that won't start.

maybe just a drum break.

[alphacat]

Id be up for this, would then, the drums hae to be the break drums, or could synthesis using the plugin be the second option?

The drums can be A) the designated drum machine (selected by each contest's organizer from this list,) B) the provided break, and C) synthesized from the featured VSTi. That's three different resources, and should give us more than enough percussion options for a song I think.

I imagine that each new winner will get to pick the freeware synth for the next competition?

Yep, just like the samplepack contests.

Sackley - sounds like you've got some decent kit there, good. As for recording quality: I'd say try and get as flat and non-colored a recording as possible - i.e. as accurate a recording as you can pull off, trying to avoid burying the needle in the red or artifacts from the recorder itself. Maybe try and record them in a very dry, "dead" room. Separate mic tracks are my vote, too. Without busting your ass, do the best you can. And yeah, maybe if you can record an example by Monday that'd be great.

As for all your nominations for the first VSTi we're gonna slaughter, all of 'em are solid plugs that I've used/abused quite a bit already. I was hoping to select the first one myself, though, if that's OK with you guys... but if not a vote is fine too I guess. (Oh no! Democrazy on DSF?! Hide! )

And as for acapellas, I'm strongly leaning toward self-recorded now, for sure. Computer mics are cheap - you can get one for less than 2 £. Don't you guys have Radio Shack in the UK?

Sounds like there's general consensus that the rest of the rules are fine, so unless someone wants to object (and make a salient point to back it up) let's assume those'll be the ground rules. I'd like to get this up and running on Monday or Tuesday if possible.

I'm excited about this!

[nowaysj]

So again, every device we use in this is freeware? Including eq, comp, limit, reverb, delay, chorus, and all the rest? No ozone mastering and what not?

What about samplers though? How are people going to sequence their drums?

[alphacat]

So again, every device we use in this is freeware? Including eq, comp, limit, reverb, delay, chorus, and all the rest? No ozone mastering and what not?

Affirmative. Another way of stating this for the purpose of being clear - no plugs other than the featured contest instrument AND the agreed-upon basic DSP pack (Kjaerhus at this point.)

What about samplers though? How are people going to sequence their drums?

Well, obviously sampling and sequencing are two different beasts; this consideration gets semantically tricky in that most DAWs are also effectively samplers as well (I can record, repitch, do all kinds of things in Reaper without needing separate sampling soft/hardware, as with almost any other DAW) - but seeing as many samplers have a lot of processing options (which we want to avoid) and people with hardware-only setups have no other options, this is what I'm gonna propose - you guys tell me what you think:

~ You can use your sampler to capture, stretch, re-pitch, reverse, or chop the samples, but using its native processing to do anything like bandpassing, phasing, flanging, chorusing, gating, compressing, reverb, delay, etc. is not allowed, and;

~ You may be asked to demonstrate how you achieved a certain sound using only the provided plugs if someone thinks you might've gone outside the designated plugin toolkit.

How's that sound?

I know some might think this is a bit on the reactionary side and that we should allow samplers without restrictions, but this is to level the playing field - and remember that it's more of a showcase for what you can do with the featured plugin, not how jim-dandy you are with your MPC or whatever.