SMA Feedback Contest Round 9 - A DSound Community Initiative
15 Days To Enter And Earn Points!
The main focus of this Feedback Contest, is for Musicians and Producers that are participating in the SMA Challenges and the Beat Battle League for Season 2. I find that having a fresh set of ears listening to your track always comes in handy! And you never know, that bit of feedback you receive, just might put you in the winners slot.
Consider this an open invitation to all, submit your tracks, and give some positive and constructive feedback to your fellow Producers and Musicians taking part in the challenges. :-)
SMA is partnered with DSound, the decentralized sound platform harnessing the power of the STEEM blockchain.
DSound's support of the Steemit Music League & SMA will allow for greater recognition and rewards the Steemit Musicians who take part in the SMA's contests and challenges. So a big shout out to @prc , and @dsound!
I will be awarding SBD Prizes this round.
And if you want to win the top spot this is how ya do it:
This is what we need, detailed song analysis! So take note of @novili's feedback. Round 8 was really great, and thanks to all who took part! So let's keep that momentum going with Round 9 with some awesome feedback, that is detailed as you can get.
Good Luck!
The Rules of the Road:
Your track can be of any genre.
Producers/Musicians: If you submit a track for feedback, in order to qualify, you need to give feedback to others on at least 1 track.
Feedbackers: Provide constructive and positive feedback. BS comments will get a big red flag.
There will be three tiers of prizes for the best feedback provided, judged by yours truly.
Both the Producer and the person giving the feedback will get a 50/50 split of the prizes. And the Producer/Musician will earn points for the Challenges.
First Prize: 10 SBD For 40 Points/2
Second Prize: 6 SBD For 30 Points/2
Third Prize: 4 SBD For 20 Points/2
So let's get it going on! Submit your tracks, and earn some Challenge Points...
And don't forget... show some love to your fellow Musicians and Producers with an Upvote!
The SMA Feedback Contest: Round 9 is now live, and the current dates for submissions are:
May 22nd until June 6th - 12 midnight est. Winners announced on June 7th 2018.
Currently the following are the ten (10) contests in the Steemit Music League which is part of the Steemit Music Alliance (SMA) [click on contest/challenge name to go to most recent related information]:
| SMA | Contest Initiatives |
|---|---|
 | Steemit Music League Challenge (#smlchallenge) (Hosted by @chiefmappster): An open music contest for rappers, MCs, singers, vocalists, musicians, and producers. |
 | Beat Battle League (#beatbattle) (Hosted by @chiefmappster): A challenge for music producers to produce an entry based off a theme or sampled material for that round. |
 | SMA Feedback Contest (#smafeedback) (Hosted by @inthenow): A feedback-based contest for music. Provide music for feedback and/or provide feedback and get rewarded for doing so. |
 | Chord Challenge (#chordchallenge) (Hosted by @antminer): A weekly challenge for music producers to create music by using the provided chord progression. |
 | Kill The Pad Challenge (#killthepad) (Hosted by @jamesgetsit): A weekly topic text-based rap competition for creative writers to show their prowess as a lyricist. |
 | Educator Showdown (Hosted by @novili): A bi-weekly competition for people who make educational content revolving around music. |
 | Poetry Slam (#poetryslam) (Hosted by @jamesgetsit & @scuzzy): A weekly spoken word contest in the traditional poetry slam competition format. |
| Pitch Perfect (#pitchperfect) (Hosted by @alejandra23): A weekly challenge for original music creators. |
| Bands About Bands (#BandsAboutBands) (Hosted by @ftlob): A weekly music review contest covering bands and musicians on Steemit. |
| Sprout (#sprout) (Hosted by @playitforward): A weekly challenge for music producers to create new music by using the seed provided as inspiration. |
Check out the SMA on Discord!
Lots of contests going on right now, including the Beat Battle,
and the SML Challenge!
Totally thrilled to share my latest with ya all.
https://steemit.com/dsound/@paradigmprospect/20180523t041108088z-floor-dynamics-psychedelic-tribal-gathering--beat-battle-league-s2r10
Awesome! Thanks for the 1st entry... very much appreciated. Have a great day my friend.
The intro starts off perfectly. Has a lovely relaxed feel to it then slowly brings the track into energy with the beat kicking in. You manage to get a really great bass sound that I can never quite achieve myself. Really cool the way the track mellows out around the halfway mark with some nature sounds in there. It creates a great atmosphere. Then it kicks back into the energy again. Some nice synth sounds in there spread throughout, both deep and middle in pitch.
Sounds great on both headphones and my laptop speakers as well. Having listened to some of your tracks over the weeks I have to say, your production skills are excellent. Great job!
Right from the opening this track has a very Kubrick like feel to it - that is the more existentialist side to his work. I like the bird sounds, sets a positive mood right off the bat. The notes that kick in at around :30 are interesting in their off time quality, adds a little tension over the otherwise evenly rolling baseline. Nice build up from :50 to the slight kick at 1:03; the track is really moving now... Good variety of sounds and melodies, with the bass cutting short every four bars. I really enjoy the instrument that first comes in at 1:36, nice high tone with a cross between keyboards and electric guitar... As the track continues everything is nicely balanced and spaced out. Very hypnotic and psychedelic energy going on here.
Some new sounds after 3 min, reintro the birds before the narrative comes in. Nice variety of new sounds and beats filling in before the voice comes back. And a compelling narrative to end things on.
A very enjoyable and well produced track. The only thing that I might have wanted was some sort of a change up - a bolder move like a key or rhythm change. While I liked some of the variety of melodies, I noticed they seemed close to the same length - maybe introduce a longer form melody to the piece. Or perhaps bring the birds to the front for a few seconds...
Of course, given the type of direction I think you are going for, this may be more dissonance than your purpose requires. And the song is short enough to not get too repetitive anyways. I did say it reminded me of Kubrick :) It is, after all, a matter of balance.
All in all I think you've accomplished what you set out to do, a sonic exploration of the potential for human consciousness. And I have to ask again: who is the narrator for this one? Still trying to make time to fully catch up on Rupert Sheldrake...
Good Nice Work
Thanks @maliknajeeb appreciate it.
Thanks for your entry my friend. :-D Appreciate it greatly. Have a great day.
Thanks :) same to you
I like the stripped down, hard hitting feel to this track. Pretty simple and straightforward without any pretension.
The beat really pops out in the mix. And the melody is very catchy, with an Eastern European vibe to it. I could visualize Russian Cossacks doing their traditional dance to this. I could also imagine someone rapping over this in an Eastern language - Russian or maybe something else to mix it up.
Good stuff.
Thanks for the feedback. Really appreciate it :)
love how much room you leave between the beats in the beginning. the dynamic range is upheld throughout the track which makes it a very pleasant listening experience.
the strings underscore that (lol), a really tight track that still manages to paint color through harmony.
I am not too proficient in hiphop, but I can see that the dude rapping over this track can consider himself very lucky. Got any collaborations planned with jamesgetsit, dookie or willie?
They would all work magic vox on your magic track.
Second listen-through seems even more pleasant than the first time. The atmosphere you create with the straight-forward beat and hamony changes in the lead are INVITING to say the least. It sounds like an exciting excursion into 90's suburbas at night with ... class. Like a rap gangster story without the clichees but more jazz.^^
The breaks in the beats at the ends of the phrases help the dynamic feel, so do the reversed cymbals. Everything seems to have its place in the stereo field, the arrangement and the mix - you really know your craft. Very well done.
Third listen, I wonder if the kick could be a little... bassier. It sounds awesome and maybe it is perfect for the genre and to leave some space for the low freqs of the rapper, but maybe just for the hell of it try pumping up the kick a bit. not necessarily louder, just more... satisfying!
Again, I have little idea what I'm talking about in hip hop ;)
I dig the track man, it does not get stale either, because of your excellent arrangement. Bringing the voices in and taking them out again without us quite noticing. It all seems to change all the time and yet it paints a coherent image, which is rather hard to achieve in making music.
fourth after a break brings me RIGHT BACK into that exciting neighborhood. dude this would be a track a hollywood crime-thriller producer would kill for! You should seriously consider sending a demo tape to whoever made those 90s gangster movies.
Seriously.
I'd say get yourself an awesome rapping Steemian you dig and you got yourselves a chartbreaker.
Wow! Thanks so much. Really glad you like it and I appreciate the detail you put into this feedback. I work with Willy G regularly. We actually have an album in the works currently. I'd love to collab with other steemians also but I have nothing happening on that front right now.
Honestly I'd have no idea where to even send my work to for film and things like that, although it would be something I'd like to do. I always doubt my production skills, especially with regards to mixing. After listening again I think possibly a bassier kick might work layered over the punchy kick that's in there now. Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a go next time I have the project open.
Thanks again
I should have known about existing collabs, sorry. I kinda lose track of all the musicians in the league but yeah some voice on the track would make it eternal.
Glad that feedback helped a bit. In the end it's all just perspectives, we gotta do our own thing our own way.
much love!
Willy and me have been friends since our teens and have been working on music for years together. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does with the beats.
Yea your feedback was great thanks. I agree there. Everyone has their own unique sound and tastes I think and that's a really good thing. It's mad how many talented producers and artists there are here on steemit. I wouldn't have heard of a lot of them if not for this platform. Major respect to the steemit developers for that.
Thanks for your entry my friend! :-) Have a great day.
It's such a bird song!!!
Especially in the beginning before the amazingly interesting guitars come in. What a code you lay down here. It's almost as if... you have found a way to paint birds' singing, as a human making music.
It seems chaotic and dissonant at times but it frankly is an awesomely interesting concert. The parts play with each other and the rhythm guitar and bass carry us through the track.
the piano is just too much... ahahahaha. amazing choice, it's inspiring to say the least. here as well, the interaction in harmony and melody is superb.
second listen, i feel at home quicker than the first time so it's already a different listening experience. kinda like hearing birs sing after 20 years of experience on earth, it's still amazingly interesting, not understandable by the rational mind but pleasant to just listen to for a while. your detour at 1:33 is so engaging, and the way the drums .... draw attention to themselves is downright CUTE, which you only top with that lovely piano and its blue notes again.
man!
I really wanna play this track to my birds outside the window in the morning and see what happens.
Causing matrix glitches or something^^
You ended the track just in time when the thickness of the melodies started to weigh a bit heavy on the attention. It's like a complicated chess match one cannot look away from because of the urgent need to pay attention. It ended it at the perfect time.
third listen, i totally know what to expect now and can easily get in the groove of the track. the tambourines are perfect and had been a well placed part of the background - until now. now i notice them more consciously earlier on. awesome how you stack the guiatrs in riffs and mix. they both sound satisfying and real.
this track actually screams for a metal remix. same track, more gain, metal drummer - boom! That said, this version is cute and straight from the heart. It's also not something for musical beginners - without further study it appears to be highly complex melodic work you have done here though the bass' barebones seem simple enough. No idea! ahahaha.
It sounds like the "bird saloon" - with less desert, more trees and happy countless little birdies everywhere singing beautiful incomprehensible symphonies all day long. Mad respect for conjuring up such a vivid image!