SunVox Compo 2026
- Accipiter Nova
- Posts: 234
- Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2018 8:31 pm
- Contact:
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
Ok wait! It is already there? I need to prepare to upload my project behind my entries.
Just a birb here, nothing special.
Blog: https://logickin.net
3xLog: https://logickin-lambda.github.io/sunvox_3xlog/
Audius: https://audius.co/logickinlambda
Blog: https://logickin.net
3xLog: https://logickin-lambda.github.io/sunvox_3xlog/
Audius: https://audius.co/logickinlambda
-
dogotrigger
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2026 12:44 pm
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
i probably need to about my entries too
"It Works" is my first attempt at doing very complex tracks. also it is a part of my album called "125 BPM" (which is not finished yet) and is the last track before theme of the album suddenly becomes dark. This track was inspired by It Doesn't Work by C418
"A Twist" is kinda a continuation of previous track in which theme actually gets changed. for this entry i decided to make it very long and optimize it so file size would be less than 256 kilobytes.
"It Works" is my first attempt at doing very complex tracks. also it is a part of my album called "125 BPM" (which is not finished yet) and is the last track before theme of the album suddenly becomes dark. This track was inspired by It Doesn't Work by C418
"A Twist" is kinda a continuation of previous track in which theme actually gets changed. for this entry i decided to make it very long and optimize it so file size would be less than 256 kilobytes.
- Pixiplutonian
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2025 4:16 am
- Contact:
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
"Blue" got its name because I imagined the whole track to be the sound of my favourite colour, which is to say blue. The sound which is basically a middle ground between optimism and negativity -- a color of peace and good, but also a color of sorrow and sadness...
The drum samples were copied from an example file showcasing a Sampler module using multiple samples in order to create a simple drumkit. While playing with it in my project, I accidentally discovered that the snare sample can go one note higher, which I have used in my drum pattern.
The synth samples, which in the project are two Sample modules called "xi1.xi" and "xi2.xi", were taken from test2.xm found in NightRadio's PsyTexx II GitHub repository. You may have heard these two in "Six Steps" from NightRadio's "Soul Resonance" musicdisk.
In general, I took a lot of inspiration from Zolotov's work. I listen to it daily...
The drum samples were copied from an example file showcasing a Sampler module using multiple samples in order to create a simple drumkit. While playing with it in my project, I accidentally discovered that the snare sample can go one note higher, which I have used in my drum pattern.
The synth samples, which in the project are two Sample modules called "xi1.xi" and "xi2.xi", were taken from test2.xm found in NightRadio's PsyTexx II GitHub repository. You may have heard these two in "Six Steps" from NightRadio's "Soul Resonance" musicdisk.
In general, I took a lot of inspiration from Zolotov's work. I listen to it daily...
Pixiplutonian 0_0
Website: https://pixiplutonian.nekoweb.org/
Website: https://pixiplutonian.nekoweb.org/
-
Artinum
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2021 9:07 pm
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
Did the submitter of "Author - Song Name" take the instructions a bit too literally?
-
andrew
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2026 11:50 pm
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
Despite I'm new to the Compo, "time" isn't my first track. It's tentn or eleventh (idk), so I think I quite levelled up using SunVox. The track was inspired by AURORA - Queendom (rhythm), some of my previous works (module chains). One of the leading melodies (violet one) just sometime crossed my mind, so "time" resulted in a very fast, dynamic track, representing the lifestyle and timeline of mine.
Talking about other entries, the obvious masterpiece is "11. Logickin - 01 - Evacuate Now!!!". Quickly changing melody, many instruments playing simultaniously.
Another cool track is "03. Beastcharmer - Magic Lantern v1". Also simultanious melodies and other cool stuff. Wow!
"05. ESA[kp] - JustAroundTheCorner". Quickly changing layouts, good sound ("Wow!" too). Just enjoyed it without over-analyzing.
And, generally, almost every track (my votes are like 6 - 7 - 6 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 6 - ...).
You and your community are so awesome! People are born to create, not to destroy. And we create! Thanks a lot for every second of any melody!)
Talking about other entries, the obvious masterpiece is "11. Logickin - 01 - Evacuate Now!!!". Quickly changing melody, many instruments playing simultaniously.
Another cool track is "03. Beastcharmer - Magic Lantern v1". Also simultanious melodies and other cool stuff. Wow!
"05. ESA[kp] - JustAroundTheCorner". Quickly changing layouts, good sound ("Wow!" too). Just enjoyed it without over-analyzing.
And, generally, almost every track (my votes are like 6 - 7 - 6 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 6 - ...).
You and your community are so awesome! People are born to create, not to destroy. And we create! Thanks a lot for every second of any melody!)
- Ouorri
- Posts: 174
- Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2014 2:18 am
- Location: Caflirinoa
- Contact:
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
y' here oliv? ;u; sorry in advance if being put on the spot makes you anxious!
wasn't expecting that I'd cry a little at any point listening to these.
as usual, I listened through the entries this year within SunVox, because again, it matters to me that the winners can end up as demo songs. more than just how they sound, I want to consider how the projects look inside, how well they compress in zip, how demanding they are on my cpu, whether they have something technically valuable to teach...
and every year, I start out in high spirits, looking forward to seeing how the familiar faces have tried to one-up themselves, and what surprises may come from unfamiliar faces. those highs are always there to look forward to, and this message is ultimately celebrating one!
hate to come here early in the voting phase and air negatives about the experience my way of voting brings, but this positive gets its due weight by way of contrast.
I'm approaching rating from an angle that not every participant cares to or is forced to play to, caring a lot about Credit that is designated as Extra... and I'm free to have my values lie where they do, but it doesn't feel The Most fair to those who come into this just wanting to Make Music. and it's hard not to fall into a negative mindset when the first details you notice about the things you're reviewing are often perceived as reasons to deduct points, and when by the structure of your rubric, you find disproportionately few reasons to grant bonuses.
most directly, I get an immediate pang of ick from anything that doesn't compress well enough to qualify for distribution, and then It Burns when the reason the file is so large is because there are uncropped samples that never even play out fully, taking up hundreds of kilobytes when, with negligible audible differences, they could be compressed to single-digit numbers of kilobytes as ogg files... and/or they're sounds that could be achieved with simple-enough synthesis, and probably sound better for it. several past and present compo entries I otherwise liked didn't/wouldn't have a life closer to SunVox when/if they won, and several of those would have easily qualified with better optimization.
I feel an ick when I see module trees that are too cramped/messy/uniquely-colorized for me to read them at a glance (let alone an inexperienced user looking through Examples). I feel an ick when a song stutters on my Steam Deck to the point that I have to resort to YouTube playback (let alone a user on a lower-end device, for whom SunVox's ability to still run on said device might be a main factor in their usage). I feel an ick when I have to strap in for a long track I immediately guess will do nothing to move or fascinate me. I feel an ick when I have no reason to feel an ick about a project that I really just don't connect with as it comes down to how it sounds. my ick-first lens sets me up for a lot of ick.
a winning line of my bingo card would also include me spending 20 minutes going back and forth over whether something is a 3 or a 4 as if a one-point difference matters that much on something that feels a little less than mid, adjusting all of my scores up or down at once after I directly compare two entries, and getting nagging feelings that my impression of my own work is overinflated and I'm blind to flaws in it that are analogous to ones that I'm judging others' works too harshly for.
being as picky as I am about the quality of what I'd push toward the few slots available for winners is natural for the task when competition between Envelope Pushers gets stiff, but it also feels like there's a contradiction between my desire to see the community around SunVox as a welcoming and engaging space for Everyone Else, too, and my approach to the biggest Event that occurs within it being so unforgiving toward them.
I had been working my way through entries for over four hours by the time I hit play on oliv's "the shermann drop", spending too much of that time deliberating over a bunch of ultimately low ratings that hadn't felt good to give. my enjoyment of music was waning, with the want to get initial impressions of the last ~fifth Over With in the same sitting starting to eclipse it.
my immediate reflex upon hitting play was to recoil from the timbre of transients that registered as a little too characteristic of the original FM module, which I countered by reminding myself that I used to like such timbres and had a lot of fun using them more often in my earlier years of using SunVox.
then it pulled me closer and spoke to me in my own language. the pure tones of F♯ and adjacent G sitting softly side-by-side, extending from the arp. the crispy, kiki little perc drills against the bouba backdrop. the theremin-like lowpassed pulse coming in and gesturing off to the side with a flourish, quietly drawing focus away from the loop. the pretty little melody of the harmonics-type synth that shares the same reverb helping it fill space, with individual notes sculpted with curving pitch and velocity and vibrato. and so forth... a well-balanced and mixed palette of functional elements, appropriately weighted, building a sonic space bearing similarities to many that I've felt a need to try to bring into existence (the majority never seen through...).
and it gave me a reprieve from my icks, the uncompressed project being lightweight enough to already be within the limit for inclusion, the web of modules being simple and spaced out with familiar colors, the length feeling right for what it was...
I've recently begun switching over to the primary username Ouorri because I've felt more and more distinct as a person from the various gradations of one that the name Saltbearer represented. my self image is being subsumed by a growing sense of being a silly, affectionate, semi-feral, not-fully-domestic Online Critter. −w− I'd spent the whole morning being Busy from the moment I woke up, and the whole afternoon being Critical, engaged in Thinky Human Stuff. "the shermann drop" wasn't the first thing to please me all day, but it was the first to reach down to and elicit a response from my inner critter, stirring an impulse to slow down, flop, curl, and purr beside a source of comfort. ´uwu`
I let it loop, feeling more in touch with my only-recently-nourished parts, while my better-aged musical parts listened intently. it was around the third of the six consecutive times I let it play before moving on that some tears started to leak, with the sense that a fairly like-minded composer's brain was not just Using SunVox in some foggy sense, but having deeper inner thoughts of something beautiful and communicating them through the filter of what SunVox makes most accessible.
those of us who've used SunVox for many years and regularly Compete in these compos have generally come to understand how we want to use the program to the point that it is mostly just our chosen outlet for Whatever it is we want to create, whatever bit of ingenuity and/or module count it takes. we push past any semblance of a common imposed constraint, perhaps eager to have our works Escape From any distinctive coloration with artifacts of our toolbox. in my case, I have definitely deliberately done my best to try to show that you can basically use SunVox to make Anything from doom drone to Celtic folk to whatever you'd call the things I submitted this time, and have it come out some manner of "clean" — that this $6 app that runs on your phone, or alien-looking free download you've never heard of that can't load VSTs, can be The Furthest thing from a mere passing curiosity if you commit to learning its ins and outs.
I've encountered a few people looking in from outside, though, who have said they "like the way SunVox sounds", specifically referring to things like the original FM module, DrumSynth, and SpectraVoice without them being twisted up too much. to some fans, those are to SunVox what a drum set, bass and lead guitars, and vocals are to rock music... or, they're like a soundfont for one's favorite game OST.
"the shermann drop" sounds Like SunVox, and also sounds Lovely and thoughtfully Musical. it's a niche, exclusive kind of beauty that some of us have been going out of our way to move on from capturing, that we probably used to, intentionally or not, when we approached this program with fresher ears, and were having Dialogues With The Program in the form of experimentation and making the most of how we knew we could work it, exploring and incorporating the idiosyncrasies that it offered right to us.
it might arguably be the only track in this year's compo that quite Sounds That Way?
so, while I half-sadly wouldn't expect it to make it into the top 3 given what other brilliant and flashy entries are here, it is for sure among those I'll be awarding 7s once I'm entirely sure of how my other votes are settling. I think it is among the best entries as a SunVox Demo, especially, as something that wouldn't overwhelm a new user to pick through in-app, nor seem like a daunting goal to match in terms of structural complexity, that could delight and inspire a broad range of listeners. I'm glad you participated in the compo, oliv. uwu
wanted to work in comments about how well the detune on the pad shines in its solo before the outro, and how fast-to-slow perc rolls are always satisfying~
... and do I want to ask what the "shermann drop" *is*, or is it better left a mystery? .w . a DARK SECRET
wasn't expecting that I'd cry a little at any point listening to these.
as usual, I listened through the entries this year within SunVox, because again, it matters to me that the winners can end up as demo songs. more than just how they sound, I want to consider how the projects look inside, how well they compress in zip, how demanding they are on my cpu, whether they have something technically valuable to teach...
and every year, I start out in high spirits, looking forward to seeing how the familiar faces have tried to one-up themselves, and what surprises may come from unfamiliar faces. those highs are always there to look forward to, and this message is ultimately celebrating one!
hate to come here early in the voting phase and air negatives about the experience my way of voting brings, but this positive gets its due weight by way of contrast.
I'm approaching rating from an angle that not every participant cares to or is forced to play to, caring a lot about Credit that is designated as Extra... and I'm free to have my values lie where they do, but it doesn't feel The Most fair to those who come into this just wanting to Make Music. and it's hard not to fall into a negative mindset when the first details you notice about the things you're reviewing are often perceived as reasons to deduct points, and when by the structure of your rubric, you find disproportionately few reasons to grant bonuses.
most directly, I get an immediate pang of ick from anything that doesn't compress well enough to qualify for distribution, and then It Burns when the reason the file is so large is because there are uncropped samples that never even play out fully, taking up hundreds of kilobytes when, with negligible audible differences, they could be compressed to single-digit numbers of kilobytes as ogg files... and/or they're sounds that could be achieved with simple-enough synthesis, and probably sound better for it. several past and present compo entries I otherwise liked didn't/wouldn't have a life closer to SunVox when/if they won, and several of those would have easily qualified with better optimization.
I feel an ick when I see module trees that are too cramped/messy/uniquely-colorized for me to read them at a glance (let alone an inexperienced user looking through Examples). I feel an ick when a song stutters on my Steam Deck to the point that I have to resort to YouTube playback (let alone a user on a lower-end device, for whom SunVox's ability to still run on said device might be a main factor in their usage). I feel an ick when I have to strap in for a long track I immediately guess will do nothing to move or fascinate me. I feel an ick when I have no reason to feel an ick about a project that I really just don't connect with as it comes down to how it sounds. my ick-first lens sets me up for a lot of ick.
a winning line of my bingo card would also include me spending 20 minutes going back and forth over whether something is a 3 or a 4 as if a one-point difference matters that much on something that feels a little less than mid, adjusting all of my scores up or down at once after I directly compare two entries, and getting nagging feelings that my impression of my own work is overinflated and I'm blind to flaws in it that are analogous to ones that I'm judging others' works too harshly for.
being as picky as I am about the quality of what I'd push toward the few slots available for winners is natural for the task when competition between Envelope Pushers gets stiff, but it also feels like there's a contradiction between my desire to see the community around SunVox as a welcoming and engaging space for Everyone Else, too, and my approach to the biggest Event that occurs within it being so unforgiving toward them.
I had been working my way through entries for over four hours by the time I hit play on oliv's "the shermann drop", spending too much of that time deliberating over a bunch of ultimately low ratings that hadn't felt good to give. my enjoyment of music was waning, with the want to get initial impressions of the last ~fifth Over With in the same sitting starting to eclipse it.
my immediate reflex upon hitting play was to recoil from the timbre of transients that registered as a little too characteristic of the original FM module, which I countered by reminding myself that I used to like such timbres and had a lot of fun using them more often in my earlier years of using SunVox.
then it pulled me closer and spoke to me in my own language. the pure tones of F♯ and adjacent G sitting softly side-by-side, extending from the arp. the crispy, kiki little perc drills against the bouba backdrop. the theremin-like lowpassed pulse coming in and gesturing off to the side with a flourish, quietly drawing focus away from the loop. the pretty little melody of the harmonics-type synth that shares the same reverb helping it fill space, with individual notes sculpted with curving pitch and velocity and vibrato. and so forth... a well-balanced and mixed palette of functional elements, appropriately weighted, building a sonic space bearing similarities to many that I've felt a need to try to bring into existence (the majority never seen through...).
and it gave me a reprieve from my icks, the uncompressed project being lightweight enough to already be within the limit for inclusion, the web of modules being simple and spaced out with familiar colors, the length feeling right for what it was...
I've recently begun switching over to the primary username Ouorri because I've felt more and more distinct as a person from the various gradations of one that the name Saltbearer represented. my self image is being subsumed by a growing sense of being a silly, affectionate, semi-feral, not-fully-domestic Online Critter. −w− I'd spent the whole morning being Busy from the moment I woke up, and the whole afternoon being Critical, engaged in Thinky Human Stuff. "the shermann drop" wasn't the first thing to please me all day, but it was the first to reach down to and elicit a response from my inner critter, stirring an impulse to slow down, flop, curl, and purr beside a source of comfort. ´uwu`
I let it loop, feeling more in touch with my only-recently-nourished parts, while my better-aged musical parts listened intently. it was around the third of the six consecutive times I let it play before moving on that some tears started to leak, with the sense that a fairly like-minded composer's brain was not just Using SunVox in some foggy sense, but having deeper inner thoughts of something beautiful and communicating them through the filter of what SunVox makes most accessible.
those of us who've used SunVox for many years and regularly Compete in these compos have generally come to understand how we want to use the program to the point that it is mostly just our chosen outlet for Whatever it is we want to create, whatever bit of ingenuity and/or module count it takes. we push past any semblance of a common imposed constraint, perhaps eager to have our works Escape From any distinctive coloration with artifacts of our toolbox. in my case, I have definitely deliberately done my best to try to show that you can basically use SunVox to make Anything from doom drone to Celtic folk to whatever you'd call the things I submitted this time, and have it come out some manner of "clean" — that this $6 app that runs on your phone, or alien-looking free download you've never heard of that can't load VSTs, can be The Furthest thing from a mere passing curiosity if you commit to learning its ins and outs.
I've encountered a few people looking in from outside, though, who have said they "like the way SunVox sounds", specifically referring to things like the original FM module, DrumSynth, and SpectraVoice without them being twisted up too much. to some fans, those are to SunVox what a drum set, bass and lead guitars, and vocals are to rock music... or, they're like a soundfont for one's favorite game OST.
"the shermann drop" sounds Like SunVox, and also sounds Lovely and thoughtfully Musical. it's a niche, exclusive kind of beauty that some of us have been going out of our way to move on from capturing, that we probably used to, intentionally or not, when we approached this program with fresher ears, and were having Dialogues With The Program in the form of experimentation and making the most of how we knew we could work it, exploring and incorporating the idiosyncrasies that it offered right to us.
it might arguably be the only track in this year's compo that quite Sounds That Way?
so, while I half-sadly wouldn't expect it to make it into the top 3 given what other brilliant and flashy entries are here, it is for sure among those I'll be awarding 7s once I'm entirely sure of how my other votes are settling. I think it is among the best entries as a SunVox Demo, especially, as something that wouldn't overwhelm a new user to pick through in-app, nor seem like a daunting goal to match in terms of structural complexity, that could delight and inspire a broad range of listeners. I'm glad you participated in the compo, oliv. uwu
wanted to work in comments about how well the detune on the pad shines in its solo before the outro, and how fast-to-slow perc rolls are always satisfying~
... and do I want to ask what the "shermann drop" *is*, or is it better left a mystery? .w . a DARK SECRET
aka So?ing Machine, fka Saltbearer
https://saltlinks.carrd.co/
https://saltlinks.carrd.co/
-
Artinum
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2021 9:07 pm
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
I don't know what a Shermann drop is either, but I'm seeing falling tanks whenever I read those words.
I suppose that would make for an interesting percussive noise.
I suppose that would make for an interesting percussive noise.
-
vekoN
- Posts: 660
- Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:16 am
- Location: durant, ok, usa
- Contact:
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
it's funny you mention how we once captured the "sound" of SunVox but later moved on from it...Ouorri wrote: Fri Apr 03, 2026 1:34 pm it's a niche, exclusive kind of beauty that some of us have been going out of our way to move on from capturing, that we probably used to, intentionally or not, when we approached this program with fresher ears, and were having Dialogues With The Program in the form of experimentation and making the most of how we knew we could work it, exploring and incorporating the idiosyncrasies that it offered right to us.
i can't speak for others, but from my experience, i once wholly tried to push SunVox into the sound of other synths and DAWs, even recreating some well-known synths and effects in SunVox itself. honestly i think it was due to a desire to sound similar to my favorite music and my peers, at least in the sense that i was using a "real" music making program to make "professional" productions... and not making tracker tunes with a free/$6 tracker with an idiosyncratic workflow. now that i've grown and gotten even more comfortable with it i've kind of rejected this mentality and been deliberately re-introducing some "SunVox-core" aspects. i do want to feel pride and a sense of identity with SunVox, so why not reflect it in my music?
i think back to my earliest Axeph-Null releases, in some sense those sound the most like SunVox by far out of the rest of my discography. i remember coming to dislike them, thinking they sounded too chiptuney or weak, but now i've sort of reevaluated them as reflections of me getting familiar with the program, like you said. sometimes i think of going back to that sound in some sense, although maybe it's just nostalgia...
pronouns: he/they
links:
https://vekon.bandcamp.com
https://youtube.com/@vekonvekonvekon
https://soundcloud.com/vekonvekon
my modules: https://vekonvekon.itch.io
my archive: https://acheney.xyz/
links:
https://vekon.bandcamp.com
https://youtube.com/@vekonvekonvekon
https://soundcloud.com/vekonvekon
my modules: https://vekonvekon.itch.io
my archive: https://acheney.xyz/
- Ouorri
- Posts: 174
- Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2014 2:18 am
- Location: Caflirinoa
- Contact:
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
a SunVox-core™ project (EP, album, alias, something) has been A Thought in the back of my mind for years, with the comments from people about liking the sound having stewed... there's clear value in it
I'm thinkin' we oughtta get s'more unofficial compos and not-compos (compilations and showcases) goin' in the off-season, with alternative stipulations (e.g. you might squeeze SunVox-core™ out of people with like "no MetaModules, max n degrees of separation between synth and output") and win conditions (not having to consider the growth rate of the examples folder, crossing a certain score threshold relative to the number of voters could be considered a win vs. a potential cluster of 3 entrants that just barely squeak higher than n below them) and incentives (compo winner's entry is remixed by compo runner?) etc. ... and I guess there's nothing stopping Me from just posting something like Hey Do [Thing] By [Date] Because Reasons, but I have kind of a bad track record with managing those ouo; but avoiding doing it entirely ensures the average success rate stays low forever, sooo...
edit: the words "SunVox Taskmaster" just popped into my head and wherever those words would lead would undoubtedly be a good idea
I'm thinkin' we oughtta get s'more unofficial compos and not-compos (compilations and showcases) goin' in the off-season, with alternative stipulations (e.g. you might squeeze SunVox-core™ out of people with like "no MetaModules, max n degrees of separation between synth and output") and win conditions (not having to consider the growth rate of the examples folder, crossing a certain score threshold relative to the number of voters could be considered a win vs. a potential cluster of 3 entrants that just barely squeak higher than n below them) and incentives (compo winner's entry is remixed by compo runner?) etc. ... and I guess there's nothing stopping Me from just posting something like Hey Do [Thing] By [Date] Because Reasons, but I have kind of a bad track record with managing those ouo; but avoiding doing it entirely ensures the average success rate stays low forever, sooo...
edit: the words "SunVox Taskmaster" just popped into my head and wherever those words would lead would undoubtedly be a good idea
aka So?ing Machine, fka Saltbearer
https://saltlinks.carrd.co/
https://saltlinks.carrd.co/
- Accipiter Nova
- Posts: 234
- Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2018 8:31 pm
- Contact:
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
I am in a similar story. What makes me got inspired to make music was those FL studio videos on YouTube, and I got fascinated by how others remix or create house and trance mix using fancy stuff (at the time) like Massive or Sylenth1, but I couldn't afford anything back then, so I decided to find a free music making tool to write my track which I eventually find SunVox.vekoN wrote: Fri Apr 03, 2026 2:18 pmi can't speak for others, but from my experience, i once wholly tried to push SunVox into the sound of other synths and DAWs, even recreating some well-known synths and effects in SunVox itself. honestly i think it was due to a desire to sound similar to my favorite music and my peers, at least in the sense that i was using a "real" music making program to make "professional" productions... and not making tracker tunes with a free/$6 tracker with an idiosyncratic workflow. now that i've grown and gotten even more comfortable with it i've kind of rejected this mentality and been deliberately re-introducing some "SunVox-core" aspects. i do want to feel pride and a sense of identity with SunVox, so why not reflect it in my music?Ouorri wrote: Fri Apr 03, 2026 1:34 pm it's a niche, exclusive kind of beauty that some of us have been going out of our way to move on from capturing, that we probably used to, intentionally or not, when we approached this program with fresher ears, and were having Dialogues With The Program in the form of experimentation and making the most of how we knew we could work it, exploring and incorporating the idiosyncrasies that it offered right to us.
Sylenth1 has oscillators, filter, and chorus (with vibratos), so does SunVox, so what is really the difference? I really couldn't see much difference between the free modular synth tracker and the vsts back in the days, so I just tried to replicated the sounds based on the settings of those plugins. It took me a long time just to understand what really is a supersaw, module by module, but it really paid off since I can now build synths patches with low level understanding, and I have no problem build it on any environment as long as the it has the set of building blocks I needed.
For me, the reason why I make all those tracks in SunVox is really just for fun and for expression, seeing how deep and complex it can goes even with such a simple environment that is also why I have made those computer stuff, and I wish people to understand that there is no such thing as "Real/Professional" software since it is purely driven by the passions and skills of the artists behind their tools.
Though, I really should find some time to re-explore the vanilla sound of SunVox. After we have all those modeling synths, FMX, and many other complex modules, I seem to leave the old drumsynth, FM and Spectravoice in the dust; perhaps, I should make some music in the future with only these modules.I've encountered a few people looking in from outside, though, who have said they "like the way SunVox sounds", specifically referring to things like the original FM module, DrumSynth, and SpectraVoice without them being twisted up too much. to some fans, those are to SunVox what a drum set, bass and lead guitars, and vocals are to rock music... or, they're like a soundfont for one's favorite game OST.
btw, I am still 75% through the voting, so this is the reason why I haven't talk much about the entries in this thread since the YouTube video is uploaded, but there are already some tracks I like. There are two 7s so far (not my tracks), but one is really unexpected yet I love its simplicity and it fits well to the title.
Just a birb here, nothing special.
Blog: https://logickin.net
3xLog: https://logickin-lambda.github.io/sunvox_3xlog/
Audius: https://audius.co/logickinlambda
Blog: https://logickin.net
3xLog: https://logickin-lambda.github.io/sunvox_3xlog/
Audius: https://audius.co/logickinlambda
- tanshoku
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2024 7:35 am
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
I just finished listening to every track, and everyone's work is really impressive! I really like the variety of genres this year, and we also have things ranging from very "polished"-sounding, to that classic tracker sound of sunvox that is also lovely. I'll write a bit about some of my favourite entries:
ESA[kp] - JustAroundTheCorner -- The synths on this are pretty impressive, it has such an authentic 80s synthpop style.
Logickin - 01 - Evacuate Now -- this one got stuck in my head, Logickin is really good! The orchestra elements in "Belong; Be Wanted" was also pretty impressive, and they make a nice contrast against the other synths.
Ouorri - A Mating Call for Silenced Beasts -- This track immediately stood out for me because of how different it is from anything I ever heard on SunVox, and I stopped listening to the compo entries just to have a look inside. Really good synths, excellent mixing, and i like how there are comments here and there on the timeline!
PLASTIC - Metal -- This track is so simple but it sounds so nice, the noise generator with a filter sounds like something out of Kraftwerk's "The Man Machine".
PhilipBergwerf - Weird Steps -- Really like how the crescendo builds up, it sounds really epic/cinematic or whatever you wanna call it, I can say it is impressive.
Pixiplutonian - Blue -- This one has a 90s/2000s industrial sort of sound that I really like, it is intense and to the point. The pads gives so much atmosphere, the bass is so subtle yet it is there doing so much work, and the drums go on relentlessly.
ainegil - Retroactive Dreaming -- The FMX piano on this sounds so interesting, along with the dark melody, it's a really good piece
fuzion_mixer - Nth Term -- I think this is probably my favourite track from the compo. Really like the industrial style, if I can call it that. The instruments and mix are impeccable, the percussion especially, and it really shows how SunVox is as powerful as a regular DAW.
quartzphantom - lunarscape -- this sounds really smooth, the synths, mix, composition, and it reminds me of Kraftwerk's "The Mix" and "Tour de France".
These are my favourites, but every track is so good, my ratings ended up being mostly 6s and 7s
As for my own entry - "tanshoku - your light" - it started as an attempt at making a proper trance track. I had been practicing arps, plucks and other things about trance, trying to get that nice syncopated rhythm, mainly because I want to use trance elements on industrial music I've been composing. So I wrote a pluck pattern, then an arp...then I felt like I could glue things together with a simple piano melody and some synth chords, and somehow it worked. Only when it was finished I realised the compo happens around this time of the year, so I looked it up and it had just opened. I decided to finally submit an entry, mostly for the sake of saying "hey, I exist, and I really like SunVox!". So, naturally, I spent almost a month tweaking the mix on this before submitting my entry (lol), because I never did a song with so many layers and I didn't yet know that it is more important to lower the volume of things instead of using compressors of any kind. If i were making a song with the compo in mind from the start now, I'd mostly use my own modules. But as practice, it fulfilled its purpose, I learned how to make better trance patterns, how to better mix layered synths, and I am writing here now =) The uplifting trance style also ended up making me think about someone I love, hence the title.
ESA[kp] - JustAroundTheCorner -- The synths on this are pretty impressive, it has such an authentic 80s synthpop style.
Logickin - 01 - Evacuate Now -- this one got stuck in my head, Logickin is really good! The orchestra elements in "Belong; Be Wanted" was also pretty impressive, and they make a nice contrast against the other synths.
Ouorri - A Mating Call for Silenced Beasts -- This track immediately stood out for me because of how different it is from anything I ever heard on SunVox, and I stopped listening to the compo entries just to have a look inside. Really good synths, excellent mixing, and i like how there are comments here and there on the timeline!
PLASTIC - Metal -- This track is so simple but it sounds so nice, the noise generator with a filter sounds like something out of Kraftwerk's "The Man Machine".
PhilipBergwerf - Weird Steps -- Really like how the crescendo builds up, it sounds really epic/cinematic or whatever you wanna call it, I can say it is impressive.
Pixiplutonian - Blue -- This one has a 90s/2000s industrial sort of sound that I really like, it is intense and to the point. The pads gives so much atmosphere, the bass is so subtle yet it is there doing so much work, and the drums go on relentlessly.
ainegil - Retroactive Dreaming -- The FMX piano on this sounds so interesting, along with the dark melody, it's a really good piece
fuzion_mixer - Nth Term -- I think this is probably my favourite track from the compo. Really like the industrial style, if I can call it that. The instruments and mix are impeccable, the percussion especially, and it really shows how SunVox is as powerful as a regular DAW.
quartzphantom - lunarscape -- this sounds really smooth, the synths, mix, composition, and it reminds me of Kraftwerk's "The Mix" and "Tour de France".
These are my favourites, but every track is so good, my ratings ended up being mostly 6s and 7s
As for my own entry - "tanshoku - your light" - it started as an attempt at making a proper trance track. I had been practicing arps, plucks and other things about trance, trying to get that nice syncopated rhythm, mainly because I want to use trance elements on industrial music I've been composing. So I wrote a pluck pattern, then an arp...then I felt like I could glue things together with a simple piano melody and some synth chords, and somehow it worked. Only when it was finished I realised the compo happens around this time of the year, so I looked it up and it had just opened. I decided to finally submit an entry, mostly for the sake of saying "hey, I exist, and I really like SunVox!". So, naturally, I spent almost a month tweaking the mix on this before submitting my entry (lol), because I never did a song with so many layers and I didn't yet know that it is more important to lower the volume of things instead of using compressors of any kind. If i were making a song with the compo in mind from the start now, I'd mostly use my own modules. But as practice, it fulfilled its purpose, I learned how to make better trance patterns, how to better mix layered synths, and I am writing here now =) The uplifting trance style also ended up making me think about someone I love, hence the title.
I feel like I went somewhat in an opposite, but similar direction. I used to play the guitar (both electric and acoustic, mostly rock and some folk), but at some point I got really interested in analog modular synthesizers. I tried a few DAWs, both FOSS and demos for professional software, but nothing clicked until I found Sunvox, and that was pretty much what I was looking for. My interests have changed and shifted along the years, until it did a full 360° and went right back to the beginning, where I just want something similar to an analog modular synth where I can create my own sounds. I can try to emulate famous presets and things from artists I look up to, and if I fail, the worst that can happen is that it sounds like 90s tracker music, which for me is a not really a failure =)Accipiter Nova wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2026 9:13 amI am in a similar story. What makes me got inspired to make music was those FL studio videos on YouTube, and I got fascinated by how others remix or create house and trance mix using fancy stuff (at the time) like Massive or Sylenth1, but I couldn't afford anything back then, so I decided to find a free music making tool to write my track which I eventually find SunVox.vekoN wrote: Fri Apr 03, 2026 2:18 pmi can't speak for others, but from my experience, i once wholly tried to push SunVox into the sound of other synths and DAWs, even recreating some well-known synths and effects in SunVox itself. honestly i think it was due to a desire to sound similar to my favorite music and my peers, at least in the sense that i was using a "real" music making program to make "professional" productions... and not making tracker tunes with a free/$6 tracker with an idiosyncratic workflow. now that i've grown and gotten even more comfortable with it i've kind of rejected this mentality and been deliberately re-introducing some "SunVox-core" aspects. i do want to feel pride and a sense of identity with SunVox, so why not reflect it in my music?Ouorri wrote: Fri Apr 03, 2026 1:34 pm it's a niche, exclusive kind of beauty that some of us have been going out of our way to move on from capturing, that we probably used to, intentionally or not, when we approached this program with fresher ears, and were having Dialogues With The Program in the form of experimentation and making the most of how we knew we could work it, exploring and incorporating the idiosyncrasies that it offered right to us.
Sylenth1 has oscillators, filter, and chorus (with vibratos), so does SunVox, so what is really the difference? I really couldn't see much difference between the free modular synth tracker and the vsts back in the days, so I just tried to replicated the sounds based on the settings of those plugins. It took me a long time just to understand what really is a supersaw, module by module, but it really paid off since I can now build synths patches with low level understanding, and I have no problem build it on any environment as long as the it has the set of building blocks I needed.
For me, the reason why I make all those tracks in SunVox is really just for fun and for expression, seeing how deep and complex it can goes even with such a simple environment that is also why I have made those computer stuff, and I wish people to understand that there is no such thing as "Real/Professional" software since it is purely driven by the passions and skills of the artists behind their tools.
Also, thank you so much!Accipiter Nova wrote: Thu Feb 26, 2026 12:47 pmWelcome to the forum and can't wait for your submission!tanshoku wrote: Wed Feb 25, 2026 8:06 am I've been using sunvox since 2010 and have been following the compo since 2023, this year things finally aligned and i also finally got the courage to participate (also to post on the forum for the first time)! The songs have been amazing every single compo, I'm really looking forward to listen to everyone else's submissions! =)
Yeah, the first step is always the most difficult for us since we don't know what the reaction from others will be, and there is a small chance of meeting someone with harsh judgments. Not on the compo, but I had the same feeling when I was uploading my first song track onto SoundCloud.
-
andrew
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2026 11:50 pm
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
I was afraid my comment isn't appropriate (thought if it isn't customary to discuss the works of others before the results or something) but tanshoku, thank you))
(Just to say, I rank the works by my own tastes in music, not by Ouorri's system nor by special rules. The highlighted are not "better" than others, they just are cool for me...)
In addition to my previous message here are some "sudden pearls" from new authors.
1. "01 Andrew Williams - Layers" sounds very good at the end, but develops slowly. So many authors, so many layouts of developing...
2. "09 Krystal_Sama - Beryllium" is dynamic, fast, emotional, "wow"! The sound was worth every percent of CPU)
3. "19 Shavkat Valiev - Shabd". Why no one mentions it? So rhythmic, but so calm at once. Not fast, but slightly changes with time. Very good!
4. "26. dogotrigger - It Works". Again, no one mentions, but it's so rhythmic, dynamic and awesome! dogotrigger, thanks!
5. "33. oliv - the shermann drop". The classical SunVox sounds with some effects combined with dynamic developing resulted in the very, very impressive track. Ouorri already mentioned, I know, and anyway.
6. "37 tanshoku - your light" (hello tanshoku!). Develops a bit slowly, but bass, "cute piano" and last 2-minute part are just mind-blowing. Adorable, tanshoku!
7. "38 tl - снежинки" (привет кириллице!). Rhythmic, dynamic, sounds good. Just enjoyable and cool, without any pathos and any unnecessary details.
8. "41 wirefield - LSD on a Sunflower Meadow". Again, without any unnecessary details. The complete composition with development, main part and thought-out ending.
Again, thanks to the every participant, because - repeating myself - people are born to create, not to destroy. And we create, using our own methods, from slow Layers to dynamic It Works. With Ouorri's attention to the small details, with PhilipBergwerf's quiet eternal melodies or with Fusion Mixer's clear structuring of modules. Well, I'm excited to see the results!
(Just to say, I rank the works by my own tastes in music, not by Ouorri's system nor by special rules. The highlighted are not "better" than others, they just are cool for me...)
In addition to my previous message here are some "sudden pearls" from new authors.
1. "01 Andrew Williams - Layers" sounds very good at the end, but develops slowly. So many authors, so many layouts of developing...
2. "09 Krystal_Sama - Beryllium" is dynamic, fast, emotional, "wow"! The sound was worth every percent of CPU)
3. "19 Shavkat Valiev - Shabd". Why no one mentions it? So rhythmic, but so calm at once. Not fast, but slightly changes with time. Very good!
4. "26. dogotrigger - It Works". Again, no one mentions, but it's so rhythmic, dynamic and awesome! dogotrigger, thanks!
One thing, is "C418 - It Doesn't Work" the real track? I can't find it...
5. "33. oliv - the shermann drop". The classical SunVox sounds with some effects combined with dynamic developing resulted in the very, very impressive track. Ouorri already mentioned, I know, and anyway.
6. "37 tanshoku - your light" (hello tanshoku!). Develops a bit slowly, but bass, "cute piano" and last 2-minute part are just mind-blowing. Adorable, tanshoku!
7. "38 tl - снежинки" (привет кириллице!). Rhythmic, dynamic, sounds good. Just enjoyable and cool, without any pathos and any unnecessary details.
8. "41 wirefield - LSD on a Sunflower Meadow". Again, without any unnecessary details. The complete composition with development, main part and thought-out ending.
Again, thanks to the every participant, because - repeating myself - people are born to create, not to destroy. And we create, using our own methods, from slow Layers to dynamic It Works. With Ouorri's attention to the small details, with PhilipBergwerf's quiet eternal melodies or with Fusion Mixer's clear structuring of modules. Well, I'm excited to see the results!
-
dogotrigger
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2026 12:44 pm
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
i misspelled song name, it's actually "C418 - This Doesn't Work" from their album "One". sorry.......andrew wrote: Sat Apr 11, 2026 8:19 pm 4. "26. dogotrigger - It Works". Again, no one mentions, but it's so rhythmic, dynamic and awesome! dogotrigger, thanks!One thing, is "C418 - It Doesn't Work" the real track? I can't find it...
- NightRadio
- Site Admin
- Posts: 4131
- Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2004 12:28 am
- Location: Ekaterinburg. Russia
- Contact:
Re: SunVox Compo 2026
SunVox Compo 2026 is over!
Congratulations to all participants!
The final rating:
1. Logickin - 02 - Belong, Be Wanted : 177
2. Ouorri - A Mating Call for Silenced Beasts : 174
3. Beastcharmer - Magic Lantern : 161
4. Logickin - 01 - Evacuate Now : 160
5. quartzphantom - lunarscape : 159
6. ESAkp - JustAroundTheCorner : 157
7. fuzion_mixer - Nth Term : 155
8. Taneb - Lime Green Cheddar : 152
9. Pixiplutonian - Blue : 151
10. oliv - the shermann drop : 150
11. deGROOTmusic&PhilipBergwerf - Friendship Harmony : 149
12. Marco - Glowing : 147
13. quartzphantom - devious (demo) : 147
14. PhilipBergwerf - Weird Steps : 146
15. echo2 - Clearest Spring : 146
16. fuzion_mixer - Introspect : 146
17. Ouorri - NERVE IS LAW : 144
18. vekoN - Spectralise : 142
19. vekoN - Jackrifle : 139
20. Author - Song Name : 136
21. Calc++ - Cold : 134
22. tanshoku - your light : 133
23. El Capitan - Synchrotron : 129
24. wirefield - LSD on a Sunflower Meadow : 125
25. tl - снежинки : 124
26. Shavkat Valiev - Shabd : 121
27. gorespectator - a thirst for amnesia : 121
28. Krystal_Sama - Boron : 120
29. hot french grills - your legs are broken : 120
30. Krystal_Sama - Beryllium : 119
31. ainegil - Retroactive Dreaming : 113
32. brutaloop - N-bit Song : 106
33. dogotrigger - It Works : 102
34. o9 - Coldbath : 102
35. Andrew Williams - Layers : 100
36. EdIceCreamArt - Cookies in distant and sad quarters (compo version) : 100
37. output0 - new music : 98
38. andrew - time : 97
39. dogotrigger - A Twist : 97
40. EdIceCreamArt - His salvia is formalin (compo version) : 96
41. PLASTIC - Metal : 95
Tracks 1,2,4 will be included in the SunVox distribution!
For those participants who need promocodes (for any of my apps) - just email me nightradio@gmail.com
Thanks for the great music and for supporting SunVox!
Congratulations to all participants!
The final rating:
1. Logickin - 02 - Belong, Be Wanted : 177
2. Ouorri - A Mating Call for Silenced Beasts : 174
3. Beastcharmer - Magic Lantern : 161
4. Logickin - 01 - Evacuate Now : 160
5. quartzphantom - lunarscape : 159
6. ESAkp - JustAroundTheCorner : 157
7. fuzion_mixer - Nth Term : 155
8. Taneb - Lime Green Cheddar : 152
9. Pixiplutonian - Blue : 151
10. oliv - the shermann drop : 150
11. deGROOTmusic&PhilipBergwerf - Friendship Harmony : 149
12. Marco - Glowing : 147
13. quartzphantom - devious (demo) : 147
14. PhilipBergwerf - Weird Steps : 146
15. echo2 - Clearest Spring : 146
16. fuzion_mixer - Introspect : 146
17. Ouorri - NERVE IS LAW : 144
18. vekoN - Spectralise : 142
19. vekoN - Jackrifle : 139
20. Author - Song Name : 136
21. Calc++ - Cold : 134
22. tanshoku - your light : 133
23. El Capitan - Synchrotron : 129
24. wirefield - LSD on a Sunflower Meadow : 125
25. tl - снежинки : 124
26. Shavkat Valiev - Shabd : 121
27. gorespectator - a thirst for amnesia : 121
28. Krystal_Sama - Boron : 120
29. hot french grills - your legs are broken : 120
30. Krystal_Sama - Beryllium : 119
31. ainegil - Retroactive Dreaming : 113
32. brutaloop - N-bit Song : 106
33. dogotrigger - It Works : 102
34. o9 - Coldbath : 102
35. Andrew Williams - Layers : 100
36. EdIceCreamArt - Cookies in distant and sad quarters (compo version) : 100
37. output0 - new music : 98
38. andrew - time : 97
39. dogotrigger - A Twist : 97
40. EdIceCreamArt - His salvia is formalin (compo version) : 96
41. PLASTIC - Metal : 95
Tracks 1,2,4 will be included in the SunVox distribution!
For those participants who need promocodes (for any of my apps) - just email me nightradio@gmail.com
Thanks for the great music and for supporting SunVox!