- Joined
- Apr 4, 2014
Good afternoon all, it brings me great pleasure to announce the winners of the DNBForum & Friends competition! Firstly I'd like to apologise to everyone, it has been a rough few days in the house of me, so I couldn't announce it on Friday as was planned.
Next, before I announce who won, let me just say a big big big ups to everyone who participated. We received 3 great entries and upon discussion, @Manu Forti and I both strongly agreed that there were some good quality from all the pairs, so well done guys. I was worried that there would be an unfair advantage when the original 8 pairs were announced cause a few of you guys know me personally or have collabed with me or released on Detached Audio with me and Manu. But lucky out of all three pairs, everyone had an advantage since @Snowyz, @scrTchs and @Dannyboy93 are all good mates of mine and know what is right up my street.
Okay that's enough rambling, the winner is..........
@Rounder RG & @scrTchs !!!!
Big well done for your track Hedera, absolutely loved that one, I will give more feedback below. I think what's even better about this is that I believe you two have never worked before this, so to win it is great, well done, really big ups to you guys!
And popular vote is a tie!
@EvezDroppin, @Snowyz, @Rounder RG and @scrTchs have all won the popular vote, so well done guys, looks like the forum loved your track too, so big ups!
Commiserations to @Polymer and @Dannyboy93, I will give more words about your track below, but let me just say for now that your track was solid. Dan, special big ups to you as this is your first fully finished track, and Polymer, special big ups to you as this is far out of your usual sound yet you still delivered a good track!
Right, I'll be posting mine and Manu's feedback below:
K2T Feedback:
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@Manu Forti Feedback:
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There we go, that's all feedback, I hope everyone learns something from this. I guess I could talk about the track Manu and I did.
Thank you all for participating, big ups to the winners, and big ups everybody who took part.
We'll see if we do another comp based on demand, no plans as of yet.
Next, before I announce who won, let me just say a big big big ups to everyone who participated. We received 3 great entries and upon discussion, @Manu Forti and I both strongly agreed that there were some good quality from all the pairs, so well done guys. I was worried that there would be an unfair advantage when the original 8 pairs were announced cause a few of you guys know me personally or have collabed with me or released on Detached Audio with me and Manu. But lucky out of all three pairs, everyone had an advantage since @Snowyz, @scrTchs and @Dannyboy93 are all good mates of mine and know what is right up my street.
Okay that's enough rambling, the winner is..........
@Rounder RG & @scrTchs !!!!
Big well done for your track Hedera, absolutely loved that one, I will give more feedback below. I think what's even better about this is that I believe you two have never worked before this, so to win it is great, well done, really big ups to you guys!
And popular vote is a tie!
@EvezDroppin, @Snowyz, @Rounder RG and @scrTchs have all won the popular vote, so well done guys, looks like the forum loved your track too, so big ups!
Commiserations to @Polymer and @Dannyboy93, I will give more words about your track below, but let me just say for now that your track was solid. Dan, special big ups to you as this is your first fully finished track, and Polymer, special big ups to you as this is far out of your usual sound yet you still delivered a good track!
Right, I'll be posting mine and Manu's feedback below:
K2T Feedback:
I was very excited when you guys announced you'd be working together. I'm a big fan of both of your sounds, as both of you know very well. I like the switch between that more serene intro with the strings and then that straight skanking vibe, it was something I didn't expect, but it worked well. I think however, the bassline is just a tad too loud in the mix, could be toned down a bit. Would have liked to see the pads be a bit more prominent too during that section around 2:10, have it fill up the audio space so to say. Arrangement is really good, I'm glad you guys switched up the bassline on second drop, it just makes it a lot more interesting to listen to. This is one I'll be playing a lot, if you guys plan on revisiting this, I would love a cleaned up version! I know I'll be hearing a lot more from you two soon!
Hedera, nice name, that's a type of ivy plant if I remember right? Drums are really good on this, proper rolling vibes. The whole vibe of this track is right up my street, love that gentle piano vibe that comes at the end of some 16s, just a nice vibe in all. Bassline is really good, rolls really nicely, gives a nice contrast of light and dark within the whole track. Only criticism at some times would be that the arrangement could be a bit more interesting, there were often bits I could have felt that it could benefit from another melody, or maybe even some drum switches here and there. Second drop while I do sense a subtle change, I would have liked to see a bit more of a change in that bassline. Overall though, really good track, mix and master is on point, and it's definitely one I'd play out, in fact I have been playing it in mixes in the run up to this. Deserved winner in my opinion, guys I will probably inbox you at some point. Option, if I forget to inbox, message me on Facebook to not be such a douchebag 
When people were announcing who they'd team up with, this was the one that intrigued me the most since it's a partnership that I would have never expected. I know both of your styles pretty well (Dan more less so since I've only heard some WIPs by you) so this was a very pleasant surprise. In fact when it comes to intros, this one actually had my favourite intro, I like how you used the chords and the Satellites oneshot to do a nice contrast of light and dark. However, I think the mixdown could have been a bit better. When the track drops, I think it gets quite muddy, and as well as that, the bassline doesn't particularly fit harmonically. Arrangement wise I think it's fine, I would have liked to see more variation on second drop (I know I say this a lot, but I just think it's so important). You definitely have a good idea going on in this track, it's just mainly the mixdown that you guys should work on.
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@Manu Forti Feedback:
Now this is soemthing i was excited about. I wondered how you guys would pair up and if we would see some toys getting thrown from the pram but no you sent over a really good effort.
While the melody i found a bit drab and dreary instead of deep and moody i get what you were trying to go for here. Its got all the sound choices of an early dnb track imo and im all over that atm.
The mix n master is off and the bass sounds muffled but that gets ebtter as you produce more. I think the amen was programmed pretty well though but sounded loose, if you have a look into transient shaping that can help you get those amens really tight.
Its a decent track with some quality ideas let down by some slight inexperience, i do like that youve started producing though danny and its good to hear soemthing a bit darker from poly so big ups!
While the melody i found a bit drab and dreary instead of deep and moody i get what you were trying to go for here. Its got all the sound choices of an early dnb track imo and im all over that atm.
The mix n master is off and the bass sounds muffled but that gets ebtter as you produce more. I think the amen was programmed pretty well though but sounded loose, if you have a look into transient shaping that can help you get those amens really tight.
Its a decent track with some quality ideas let down by some slight inexperience, i do like that youve started producing though danny and its good to hear soemthing a bit darker from poly so big ups!
This track had the potential to take the win but since i kept hearing some harsh high end frequencies on the percussion and something odd about the bass mid range it never shone as much as it could have for me.
Bassline structure and hook always felt interesting though and those pads were exucuted brilliantly i only wish they were louder in the mix.
A quality track with great ideas possibly just let down by mixdown.
Bassline structure and hook always felt interesting though and those pads were exucuted brilliantly i only wish they were louder in the mix.
A quality track with great ideas possibly just let down by mixdown.
Drums sound pretty tight to me and the pad grabs attention. Nice hook on the bassline, really nice sound too. Low end rumbles along nicely and sounds warm but a little more volume on the mid range might have been better.
Im being nit picky here since i cant hear many flaws but maybe a new sound would have set this track off big time. Also the master could have sounded a touch less thin but its almost there imo well done lads, hope you guys work together again and make more!
Im being nit picky here since i cant hear many flaws but maybe a new sound would have set this track off big time. Also the master could have sounded a touch less thin but its almost there imo well done lads, hope you guys work together again and make more!
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There we go, that's all feedback, I hope everyone learns something from this. I guess I could talk about the track Manu and I did.
Originally we had an old-school jungle sketch that we were gonna work on but around the same time, there was a lofi house sketch that I received from Manu, which was the more fun one to work on. When it comes to collabs, we know very well what each others strengths are, so we always have the same workflow. I think we've made about 7 collabs now so far (including this one and stuff released on Detached Audio) and I have to say it's real easy working with him. His strengths include the sound design aspect of things, most particularly bass design, while I tend to focus more on the vibes and arrangement to make it a more interesting track to listen to. Think this one took about 2 sessions each to finish, and we both enjoyed our end result, and hope you did too!
Thank you all for participating, big ups to the winners, and big ups everybody who took part.
We'll see if we do another comp based on demand, no plans as of yet.
