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Minimalist SunVox Competition

Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 11:43 pm
by The Handle
I know a lot of the pros using older trackers used very few channels and instruments to make some crazy stuff...figured with sunvox we could make something even crazier >:)

THIS COMPETITION WILL BEGIN AFTER SUNVOX COMP #1 ENDS.
Edit: *The competition has begun and will end on January 14th*

The entire idea behind Minimalism is to get the most out of the least.

Goal: Create a track 2 minutes in length or longer

Rules:
-Must be made with SunVox (any version)
-Only allowed three channels, no exceding that amount
-Can use as many tracker effects as you'd like (pitch sliding, retrigger, changing controller values, etc.)
-Can use any number of modules
-Only allowed one sampler (Edit: This rule is now up again. You can use one sampler, but no more than that)
-No sampling your own music then putting it in the sampler
-Can be any speed or style
-Must be an original new track made by you (no remixes or edits of old tracks you've already made)
-No multisynths allowed

Entry must include download link for SunVox file and audio (soundcloud users include sunvox file in description of the track)
After entry is uploaded, make a post here with a link to your submission.
One point will be given for each module and channel used.
Those with the fewest number of points and the most complex and creative tracks will be declared the winners.

Judges are yet to be determined (Edit: I will be the judge, and I promise to be a fair one)

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:53 am
by SawZer
I got nothing else to do so I'm in. http://soundcloud.com/chippymunk/3-track-song In fact, I whipped this up in only 5 minutes. What could I do with a week? :D

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 9:27 pm
by NightRadio
I think it is a cool idea. But how about to start it right after the SunVox Compo #1? :)

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:46 am
by The Handle
Will do, glad you approve :)
Will be interesting to see how everyone deals with the challenge.

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 6:22 am
by beefinator
I can do it in one generator. 8)

http://soundcloud.com/beefinator/absolu ... mum-sunvox


It's funny, I'm using >50 modules on my compo #1 entry, and only one (excluding the output one) on what will be my entry for this compo.

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 7:44 am
by NightRadio
Nice song! :)
I think it is a cool idea to prohibit to use the Sampler and the Vorbis Player at all in this Minimalist Compo. Only pure synths and nothing more. What do you think?

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 8:18 am
by SawZer
beefinator wrote:I can do it in one generator. 8)

http://soundcloud.com/beefinator/absolu ... mum-sunvox


It's funny, I'm using >50 modules on my compo #1 entry, and only one (excluding the output one) on what will be my entry for this compo.
Try this. http://soundcloud.com/chippymunk/one-sq ... percussion

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 8:47 am
by NightRadio
Also it reminded me of this old song from Purple Motion. With only two channels!


Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:03 am
by The Handle
Holy crap nightradio that is one wicked track for two channels O_O. And the reason I allowed one sampler is because I wanted to see more people play with them more. I was able to sneak in a snare on the beat with a sampler and an echo when the other two channels were taken up by generators and FMs, though I wouldn't be opposed to ammending it to no samplers allowed :)

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:06 am
by The Handle
beefinator wrote:I can do it in one generator. 8)
See but now you don't have any percussion ;). This is why I love minimalist competitions, you have to balance everything perfectly and think critically about what you need and what you don't, and you can get extra sounds in there if you're clever enough. It's creativity meets intelligent use of resources ;)

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 8:36 pm
by SolarLune
@Night - That is an extremely sick song for just two channels.
@Handle - One sampler's better than none, but most old trackers required the use of samples (i.e. they didn't have built-in generators like SunVox has). Anyway, this is looking like quite an interesting concept. I'm in.

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:20 pm
by organic io
NightRadio wrote:Also it reminded me of this old song from Purple Motion. With only two channels!
Never heard of that one. But his tune "Minimum Velocity" has always been a favorite of mine (also 2 channels)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdz2sp ... ocit_music

Obviously there are some chord samples in there, so it's not strictly "never more than 2 notes at a time".. but still the song structure is really impressive, and it's a catchy tune. I like how he just uses a snare drum (no room for the kick) but it still accomplishes that pop beat feel :)

This compo sounds like fun. I'll probably be in too! :D

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 12:01 am
by beefinator
Okay, so I decided to upgrade to a whopping 2 generators.

Both still square waves, so now it's 2 bit audio.

And I meddled with the patterns and got good sounding percussion to come from square wave generators!

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:25 pm
by The Handle
beefinator wrote:And I meddled with the patterns and got good sounding percussion to come from square wave generators!
Congrats! You're learning to think like a minimalist ;)

That's actually an old idea, if you listen to a lot of the older chiptune you'll notice that they even use the square for making snares, but back then it wasn't called a square, it was called a pulse wave (because the pulse could create several different versions of the square wave: 25%, 50%, and 75%, hence the term "pulse width modulation")
The pulse wave at 50% is a perfect square (the square in sunvox starts off at a default 50% in the duty cycle controller of the generator....hint ;))
What they would do to make a kick is trigger the square wave and slide the pitch down rapidly (I'm still trying to get the exact same sound, will post my findings once I'm satisfied with the quality). So far I find I get a good sound out of playing a square at octave 3 or 4 and then sliding it down for 4 lines at a speed of 0110 (at ticks=3 in song properties. Shortening the ticks from 6 to 3 will decrease the amount of time each line takes by half. So all you have to do is place your kicks every 8 lines to stay onbeat. This also gives you more control over the controller values and tracker effects, allowing you to make much more complex sounds and patterns.).

Example:
F3 0002 0110
// 0002
// 0002
--- 0002

For those of you who are still struggling to get ideas, here are some of my favorites from my personal collection:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYS66ZWrxWg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCyeZHMCFbk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzezJ__Mqoc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNNZNOmF_Bk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU-8DKUB ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx-AHgvwrHo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOwtBwrh4Rs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkuRJ8knAQU

Re: Minimalist SunVox Competition?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 5:41 am
by beefinator
Well, yeah, kick drums with square/pulse waves are simple. And yes, I know about pulse width modulation... :roll:

But I figured out you could get pretty good 1bit noise, for snares and whatnot, by playing random notes on a square wave oscillator really fast. For example, random notes with the arpeggiator effect in sunvox at 800 BPM. (oh no I've revealed my secret) I used that random notes method to make 1bit drum sounds on the sequencer I made last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE-Xv_6xOZY


Edit: I just looked at the links you posted, I had found that zizibum song (and his other stuff) a couple months ago, it's literally one of my favorite chiptune songs. Atari POKEY FTW!