Voting for Riff of the Month (RotM) #39

stratman3142

Welcome to the voting thread for Riff of the Month (RotM) #39

Voting closes on the 31st January 2018 at 11.30 pm.

Feel free to vote and comment in this thread.

Vote for your top 3 entries! If you're an entrant you can't vote for yourself.

1st choice gets 5 points

2nd choice gets 3 points

3rd choice gets 1 point

You can find all the entries the playlist below:

https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/sets/riff-of-the-month-39

AndyJP

Some very good entries here!

Think I need to mix my track a little hotter next time.  The level on my track is pretty low compared to the others. Please turn up when listening to mine!

Fretwired

My votes go to:

@IMC1980 - 5 points

@stratman3142 - 3 points

@AndyJP - 1 point

Cool riffs guys .. :-)

stratman3142

AndyJP said:

Some very good entries here!

Think I need to mix my track a little hotter next time.  The level on my track is pretty low compared to the others. Please turn up when listening to mine!

I always keep the tracks at the level I receive them, because it might be a conscious and artistic decision by some entrants to not enter the loudness wars and compress the dynamics too much.

I've been criticised in the past by a certain Mr @steamabacus for making my mix too hot . Which is a fair point.

IMC1980

They all sound really good! My votes go to:

@stratman3142 - 5 points
@steamabacus - 3 points
@dulcetjones - 1 point

AndyJP

Think I'm getting better at mixing but the track could definitely be a little louder.  Will work that limiter next time

stratman3142

AndyJP said:

Think I'm getting better at mixing but the track could definitely be a little louder.  Will work that limiter next time

If everyone's OK with it, I'm happy to substitute a louder track from you if it's really bothering you. Assuming no one else minds.

AndyJP

Nah buddy, not bothering me. Trying to improve my mixing skills

sticker

@IMC1980 - 5 points
 @AndyJP - 3 points 
 @stratman3142 - 1 point

DulcetJones

@IMC1980 - 5 points

 @stratman3142 -3 points

  @AndyJP - 1 point

TTony

My votes are based on entries that got my foot tapping, rather than any reflection of musical refinement or mixing prowess ...

@IMC1980 - 5 points
@DulcetJones - 3 points
@AndyJP - 1 point

stratman3142

@steamabacus - 5 points. An original sound as usual and identifiable as your distinctive style. Exactly 50 seconds long as well

@AndyJP - 3 points. Nice funky rhythm guitar. I decided not to deduct points for going over 50 seconds. Does anyone read the rules around here? Actually I think my track is too loud compared to the others, as opposed to yours being too quite (but I love the power of master limiting )

Tricky between the next two. I finally decided to go with:

@IMC1980 - 1 point. High energy punky rock riffing

AndyJP

Thanks all for the votes guys. Very kind.

@stratman3142 when you mastered did you use the limiter to take the level all the way up to 0db?  When I tried that and uploaded to SoundCloud it was clipping so had to drop it down.   Maybe I needed to compress more to take out the peaks so I could use the limiter more effectively.

stratman3142

AndyJP said:

Thanks all for the votes guys. Very kind.

@stratman3142 when you mastered did you limit all the way up to 0db?  When I tried that and uploaded to SoundCloud it was clipping so had to drop it down.   Maybe I needed to compress more to take out the peaks so I could use the limiter more effectively.

I use Voxengo Elephant (link below) for master limiting and run it at about -0.5 dB output. That's because rendering to mp3 can result in peaks slightly above the threshold I set.
http://www.voxengo.com/product/elephant/

I don't really attempt to maximise the volume, but I push things to a level that seems to suit the track. Sometimes that might just be to take out some transient peaks. Other times I push it harder (which isn't to everyone's taste). On this one I was trying to emulate the sounds of a track I heard on Peaky Blinders, in terms of atmosphere and the sounds of the instruments and the sound of the overall track.

steamabacus

I finally got a chance to listen - some good entries this month.

5 points - @AndyJP

3 points - @stratman3142

1 point - @IMC1980 ;

AndyJP

Thanks for the points guys... My votes go to

@stratman3142  5 points - love the vibe. It’s like a film score.
@steamabacus  3 points 
@imc1980          1 point \m/

Veganic

5 @stratman3142 ;
3 @DulcetJones ;
1 @IMC1980 ;

Bellycaster

All stonking tunes here. Top 3 goes to the ones that put my idle body in some sort of motion

Vote goes to:

5 Points @IMC1980 ;

3 Points @AndyJP ;

1 Point @DulcetJones ;

stratman3142

Voting ends tonight at 11.30pm, so still some time to pick your favourites.

Winners will be announced tomorrow.

gusman2x

5 points to @IMC1980

3 points to @Steamabacus

1 point to @Dulcetjones

stratman3142

Voting finished