The Challenge October 2012 Voting

Renesongs

Here Are the Entries for the Funk Challenge. Each Member gets two votes. Voting ends Friday 2nd November

[quote author=deefstes link=action=profile;u=2979 date=1350557925] Here's my entry for this month's challenge, called [b]Funk Me Sideways[/b] https://www.box.com/s/ycseg85ycbo2a5p5yari I have not had this much fun with a challenge entry for some time. I just hope it's any Not sure if we're still doing categories but I'll just remain (I)ntermediate.

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[quote author=Adrian Rogowski link=action=profile;u=2434 date=1351250707] I've decided this time I will enter into 'Advanced' primarily cause I feel my Funk tune has all the elements of a good funk song. But I will leave that to the judges :D http://soundcloud.com/fruitargeek/funk-turn-it-around [/quote]

[quote author=Donovan Banks link=action=profile;u=1474 date=1351256959] Here's my entry. I went off on a tangent, this is a special GFSA edit... Category A please... https://www.box.com/s/cbdhxb6hjlcoce1ppd1u [/quote]

[quote author=V8 link=action=profile;u=1415 date=1351436050] Here's my entry in the intermediate category for the October Funk Challenge : https://www.box.com/s/cgwbw7avod2xk8nwq3h4 Despite my best intentions, it's not quite a fUnK track, but mutation thereof ::). Four tracks (Drums, Bass, Guitar, Vocals). The 'vocals' may cause some reaction - During a fit of "I ain't feeling the Funk", I sampled the intro vocal from Mr Wiggles (Funkadelic) for inspiration : This could be viewed as blasphemy, bending/breaking of challenge rules or a interesting experiment...?

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[quote author=Alan Ratcliffe link=action=profile;u=10 date=1351476478] Funk-E Kind of a Stevie Wonder style triplet thing. Guitar, bass drums and guitar synth (nylon, Clavi and Hammond are all the same guitar part/take - Clavi on all six strings and Hammond on top four). https://www.box.com/s/u42hea0i80o4cpe240w3 OR http://ratcliffe.co.za/music/a_alan_funk-e.mp3 [/quote]

(old forum) Poll Results: Funk

deefstes: 9
Adrian Rogowski: 15
Donovan Banks: 7
V8: 1
Alan Ratcliffe: 5

deefstes

Yay! Let the listening commence ?

AlanRatcliffe

Excellent all! Must listen a few times before voting.

Hammeron

Look, what I know about funk is funking pathetic, however Donovans jumped out at me big time! Vote!
Deefstes, as always killa, great lyric!
Alans was Regae'ish to me, which was real cool.

AlanRatcliffe

Hammeron wrote: Alans was Regae'ish to me, which was real cool.

Thanks! It is reggaeish (I had Wonder's version of Master Blaster in mind). Like flamenco, reggae has become part of my DNA - always seems to sneak in when I'm not paying attention. I played with a slapped bass part for a while, but just couldn't bring myself to go that route, so the Stick bass was my compromise.

Squonk

Good stuff guys - every entry was a top class effort

Only 2 entries were funk IMO - Adrian and Deefstes

V8

Really great entries this month, had to pull out the monitors to appreciate the detail in each one - which was cool as the "funk is in the detail" - but that's not the only criteria for funk. I ended up in ambient-ville, oh well.

Adrian's blew me away. I'd pay $ for it. Again! Reminded me of a CPT band I used to go watch all the time in 94/95 - they had a tune "Funky Chunky Chicken Junky" - anyone remember the name?
Alan's was so detailed that I didn't get it 1st listen, but on the monitors I felt Wonder ?
Donovan's had a grand disco feel, I'd like to here your dance track edit...
Deef..."Scheming that my bluesy shoes were ever so smooth..."....cackle, what great storytelling.

Congratz to y'all, so when do we get to nominate the reciepient of the Parlatone's mug...? ?

FruitarGeek

This was a fun one guys, great topic choice.

Thanks to those of you who said nice things about my track. I forgot to add, but I owe a lot of credit to my good friend Josh Prinsloo for doing the bass and the vocals.
The entries where top notch, but of course I had to spend my vote somewhere, so allow me to show you who got my vote, for public benefit. Heck, we all doing this to better ourselves as songwriters right?

Deefstes - definitely a noble adversary. I agree with Squonk that yours (and mine) where true to the topic. I loved the lyrics, and the guitaring etc, the only downfall, and the reason you did not get my vote was that the song was too long (I thought they had to be 1min, am I missing something??), or most importantly, if its gonna be 2min, it has to grab my attention throughout, and after the first min I felt like it was kinda on loop.

Donovan - You got my vote man. For not having vocals, you where certainly able to keep my attention with that guitaring of yours. You track was a bit more disco, but I suppose they all related to funk in someway or another. It was a really really good tune

V8 - I was impressed, you have come such a long way from your previous competitions, I wanted to vote for you based on that requirement alone, but I thought it's best if I judge based on merits of song, your time will come. Your track was certainly the darker side of funk, edging on psychadelic, I did enjoy it thoroughly, but again, it kinda lost my attention halfway in.

Alan - Yours was interesting, definitely more reggae though haha. The only reason you didn't get my vote was that I thought your melody section (that autowah guitar) was lacking a bit. Unless you an interesting instrumental band, I feel a band needs to have a good melody to hold the tune, and make it catchy. And like Donovan, if you don't have vocals, you can do the track with guitar instead. But I felt your guitar was too subtle, the effect may have masked it a tad. It also didn't stand out as much as Donovans did.

deefstes

Aaah, what a joy these challenges are! Well done guys, all of you. Even though some entries didn't quite feel like funk, they were all extremely well done and very well polished. I'm always amazed by the quality of recordings that come out of these challenges and I clearly have a lot to learn in terms of mastering.

Adrian mate, yours blew me away. I reckon you hit the nail right on the head there. I absolutely love the rhythm guitar but the overall feel is just bliss. I'd have to be honest that I was a tad disappointed to learn that the bass and vocals weren't your own. I've got every reason to believe that you could pull that off by yourself, why subcontract it then? ?

Alan, yours was by far the best polished of all the entries. Wow! The quality of the recording there is top level stuff.

Adrian Rogowski wrote:...the only downfall, and the reason you did not get my vote was that the song was too long (I thought they had to be 1min, am I missing something??)

? Noooooo!!!!! I missed out on a crucial vote here ? But I'm pretty sure that the time limit for the challenge entries these days is 2 minutes. It certainly has been for the last 6 or so challenges but this particular one made no mention of it.

V8

Adrian Rogowski wrote: Thanks to those of you who said nice things about my track. I forgot to add, but I owe a lot of credit to my good friend Josh Prinsloo for doing the bass and the vocals.

Ahhhh, I though it was only the vocals - recognized from the previous tracks you've done. Guy's talented no doubt...that bass line was kick'in! (P.s. the track you posted in the classifieds is similarly great). Wouldn't have changed my mind though.

deefstes wrote: ? Noooooo!!!!! I missed out on a crucial vote here ? But I'm pretty sure that the time limit for the challenge entries these days is 2 minutes. It certainly has been for the last 6 or so challenges but this particular one made no mention of it.

I also assumed it defaulted to 2mins (even though the challenge rules still mention 1min) - Agreed, I should have cut at least 30s from the middle of my tune as my 'producer' reccomended - but I was having fun with the 'vocals' so I declined...he was right (ssshhhsss...don't tell him :?) .

deefstes wrote: I'm always amazed by the quality of recordings that come out of these challenges and I clearly have a lot to learn in terms of mastering.

During the mix/mastering I lost the kick drum at expense of trying to preserve some of position 3.5 (mix of pos 3 & 4) strat sound - sigh, limitations of my tool set and lack of recording experience. The 'producer' also reckoned I could layer some more hi-hats, side-chain the bass line to the kick and go a bit dubsteppy...Mmmm :-\, luckily I ran outta time.

AlanRatcliffe

Adrian Rogowski wrote: The only reason you didn't get my vote was that I thought your melody section (that autowah guitar) was lacking a bit.

Nail on the head! I spent all my available time on the other instruments ...and it shows (although sometimes you can get away with these things ?). In particular, the rhythm section took me ages.

It's the kind of thing I do with vocals in mind, and was written with the bass coming from the bottom two strings of the nylon guitar, so I can carry the whole thing aside from drums & vocals with one guitar (guitar, bass, clavi and organ). The funky counterpoint between bass/clavi on my thumb and clavi/organ is the basis for the whole thing. The fact that it's a shuffle/triplet thing made it quite a challenge to keep the rest of the arrangement funky, tendency is to drift to a bluesier feel (or failing that, reggae). Quite the learning experience (which is good), and I'll probably redo this one and take it even further in one of those directions.

Ultimately without a vocalist on hand, I was forced to just lay down some random electric guitar without a chance to develop a strong melody part (vox should carry the melody on this one with EG just supporting and adding some pointillistic interest). So I laid the guitar part, slapped on a filter and mixed/mastered in the last half hour before uploading at 4 am.

FruitarGeek

deefstes wrote: I'm pretty sure that the time limit for the challenge entries these days is 2 minutes. It certainly has been for the last 6 or so challenges but this particular one made no mention of it.

You're right, I could of sworn I read on one of these threads that 2min was getting too long, especially if you have 10 tracks, becomes 20min of solid listening. I applaud those of you who go for 2min, I find it easier to cram all the creative juices into 1min, and make it sound solid. My issue with 2min (and where many did not get my vote) was that you lose interest after the first minute, so its a very risky move.

deefstes wrote: I was a tad disappointed to learn that the bass and vocals weren't your own. I've got every reason to believe that you could pull that off by yourself, why subcontract it then? ;

I've lent my bass guitar to a friend for the last 3 months, so I'm bassless, and you can't do funk without a bass haha, fortunately my friend Josh is a bassist, so instead of asking him to give me his bass, I felt he should do what he can as well. I will have you know that I did produce this all, so although he may have sung and played bass, the idea's where (mostly) mine, and the execution and choice of takes where my discretion. Deef, I'm not blessed with a voice like yours, so I have to get others to do what I can't haha

rikus

Very nice entries you guys!!!

Alan, your entry sounds like something straight off the Monkey Islandtm soundtrack (which is a good thing)! Brilliant... I was grinning ear to ear!

deefstes

Rikus wrote: Alan, your entry sounds like something straight off the Monkey Islandtm soundtrack (which is a good thing)! Brilliant... I was grinning ear to ear!

HAHA! Right so you are! I can just see Guybrush Threepwood walking around some vibey pirate town, looking for hints on where to find a key that would open the voodoo chest on the shipwreck he discovered two islands down. ? Monkey Island FTW :dance:

This is not even the first time we've heard an entry that could have come off the Monkey Island soundtrack. I remember in a previous challenge your man Adrian here, or the artist formerly known as Fruitargeek, put out a song in the challenge "Jazz it down" that was a perfect fit for a Monkey Island song. Check it out:
http://www.box.net/shared/kzc8oxrd3h5339ip9htt

DonovanB

Adriaaaaaaaaan!!!! What the funk? that was awesome!!!

Deefstes I fancy that song as well. I do agree that it was long. Mainly because I subscribe to modern popular music principles that I like to keep my attention. The more I listen though the more i grows on me. Especially the deep voice. ha Awesome!

Bob-Dubery

Funk isn't about melody. Funk is about grooves. Brother Alan, thou hast not sinned.

I'm not sure about the entries without outside help - other players and samples - though I applaud the honesty in declaring it. Adrian, I thought yours was sort of post funk actually. Reminded me a bit of Jah Wobble (that's a good thing BTW). Love the falsettos, dudes, that's the spirit! Tighten them up all the way ?

Psean

X-rated Bob wrote: Funk isn't about melody. Funk is about grooves. Brother Alan, thou hast not sinned.

YES! Got my vote. V8 too.
I liked that these two sounded a bit different to what I (stereo)typically think of when I hear the word "Funk".

V8

Psean wrote: YES! Got my vote. V8 too.
I liked that these too sounded a bit different to what I (stereo)typically think of when I hear the word "Funk".

Aha! you are the one I have to thank..thanks Psean! :? - Zero votes would have been slightly demoralising (although a fair reflection), but there were four great entries from four excellent players.

Glad to see the interest in the challenges is alive 'n kicking.

Hammeron

V8 wrote:
Psean wrote: YES! Got my vote. V8 too.
I liked that these too sounded a bit different to what I (stereo)typically think of when I hear the word "Funk".
Aha! you are the one I have to thank..thanks Psean! :? - Zero votes would have been slightly demoralising (although a fair reflection), but there were four great entries from four excellent players.

Glad to see the interest in the challenges is alive 'n kicking.

You lads have brought it back from the dead for sure! ?

FruitarGeek

X-rated Bob wrote: Adrian, I thought yours was sort of post funk actually. Reminded me a bit of Jah Wobble (that's a good thing BTW). Love the falsettos, dudes, that's the spirit! Tighten them up all the way ?

Thanks I guess, although to be honest, I have no idea who Jah Wobble are. I am all the more informed now. I was actually going for a Jamiroquai vibe. I just knew the beat had to be fast (not saying funk has to be in general) but for me, I wanted it fast so was leaning more towards Jamiroquai, but as I started adding the guitars, bass etc, it was leaning slightly less modern.

V8 wrote: Zero votes would have been slightly demoralising (although a fair reflection), but there were four great entries from four excellent players.

Dude, take it in your stride. I really dug your entry, and you good Sir are a fabulous musician, so lets change that to "five great entries from five excellent players" 8) If anything, this proves to be my most successful track. I have entered a lot of times, and many of them I have fell short, but its been wonderful to be compared to everyone else. In the end, it only bettered me i n the end, so who really is the winner? haha, pep-talk.

I do however want to ask something, is it forbidden, or shunned upon to use external help? I only do it not to up my odds, but because I know I can't do certain things well (like sing), and why not give someone else the opportunity to develop their skill in new genre's too. My friend had never played funk bass or sung funk vocals, so it was just as new and fun to him. I by no means will be brining Inge Beckman or something like that haha. Also, I use these challenged to better my Mixing and Production skills. I'd like to get more into that in the future.