And those few that still haven’t voted, I know life gets in the way sometimes but if you do wanna vote you still have a few hours if you’re not too busy cleaning your horse down the local saloon bar with big Sandra
6 Likes
‘big sandra’ made me chuckle heheh
3 Likes
you all kicked ass again. i found it really hard to get going or inspired for this one, so it was interesting to hear what people cooked up. with further listens, maybe my vote would be different, but here’s a first pass. you are all stars in my eyes. keep it up!
elektronauts 15
- haha… a well placed gunshot starts us off. the whistle and guitar work well together as themes. i “dig” the short, gated drums. it’s a catchy little tune!
- ooh, is this a digitakt joint? love the dirt, the organ chops, the little vocal snippets. this one just cruises along.
- that classic flow and filter sweep makes me feel like we’re at the beach. dig the beat change-ups here. devolving into chaos there at the end was also cool.
- old school drum machine toms and guitar? i am into it. good sample choices, you left some air around elements. i appreciate the fuller guitar clip at the end but was looking for a little more variation. it’s tough with these shorter tracks.
- nice build, good vocal chops, the dnb breakdown is a nice touch. this one kept my interest throughout. really nice.
- the drums are lurking around the corner, waiting to pounce. are these the same drums someone else used? solid track.
- a plaintive bassoon? this one’s action packed. the main melodic theme carries things well. the bongos are a nice touch. vocal chops are really nice, too.
- party at Morricone’s place! this one’s fun with the party vibe, background horns, etc. the heavily filtered background lends an underwater feel.
- those horns are ominous. i was kind of waiting for something to happen in the first half. this would work really well with vocals over the top. with a little more variation, it could be a solid instrumental track.
- now here’s a western vibe meets east coast. this one feels like sleepyhead. dig the bells, the vocals, the quavering background melody. really nice, classic feel.
- those damn crows! you got all the western clichés in early. the piano riff sped up and slowed down is a nice touch. nice break down in the middle, solid use of dialog, the mix is pretty good. oh, i didn’t expect that change at the end. good work!
- hey, i like the atmosphere. there’s a little bounce, a touch of western swagger, some modern synth bass. it’s a really interesting mix with those breathy pitches up vocals.
- haha… love the intro. you smashed up classic verses, too… damn. i enjoyed this quick trip.
- granulated to the max! could use more variation.
- solid beat, good chops, filter sweeps… all work well together. another solid track!
- those sped up trumpets are up to no good. this is some dub western. i can hear this actually appearing in a soundtrack.
- deploy the seinfeld bass! dig the retro style. this was a pleasant journey.
- boom bap drums, a solid bass line, solid vocal chops. the stutters fit, but i’m conflicted about them. overall nice track.
- did you play in this bass line or is it from another song? all the pieces work really nicely here.
- oof, i’m a sucker for a fat bass line like in the previous track, but dirty organs also do the trick. this one feels deceptively simple but slaps.
- this feels more like an audio collage interlude. you do have some interesting chops inside, but it doesn’t feel like a full song to me.
votes
good: 10
bad: 12
ugly: 19
8 Likes
I honestly kind of forgot about this with all the election stuff kicking off.
The Good
Track 20 - Really well put together. I like how all the kind of rhythm parts, the drums, the bass, and the organ are kind of locked in but the samples up top sound like they’re threatening to kind of go off track, especially as they break up in parts. It’s a cool effect.
The Bad
Track 10 - Smooth. I like the layering and the vocal samples on the hook are a really nice touch.
The Ugly
Track 13 - I liked the scratching. I liked the way you used all those vocal samples. And I liked the way the beat was always moving around. That little break down towards the end was cool.
7 Likes
Damn I was just writing post for the top three but someone else has just sneaked into third…
So gimme a sec and I’ll do some re working out…
2 Likes
super curious to find out who made what 
2 Likes
Okey-dokey the names are up.
my bad I replaced the number of the beat with the name instead of adding it after the number so I’ve added the original numbers and scores below from my notes.
here are the top three, and it’s a bit of Deja vu
1 -Yabba
2 @1-2
3 @Blaize
Thanks for the feedback and votes, although it feels bit wrong announcing myself as one of the top three.
I must confess was a little bit self indulgent with the concept as I’ve always wanted to hear a beat tape made of Morricone western soundtracks.
I love that stuff, but never had the discipline to do it myself or even make a start of it, so you’ve all excelled in making the beat tape I wanted to hear so thanks!
I hope you all like it too and had fun in the process.
Anyway, I shouldn’t host again and decide on a concept twice in a row so it’s on @1-2 and @Blaize to conceptualise the final battle of the year and I hope to see you all, and the new guys paying an interest on it.
Salute 🫡
14 Likes
Congrats guys, both on the win and on doing a fantastic job hosting the challenge!
7 Likes
Dude you made a really special track, crossover material outside of the western challenge if you ask me!
5 Likes
I’m so happy to have been in this challenge.
I found it interesting that the ones I HAD to choose were also people whom I’ve had great interactions with elsewhere in the forums.
Thank you again for this.
9 Likes
seriously, this batch had lots of catchy tracks. it was really hard to pick. i kinda phoned in mine and almost didn’t submit anything. but, as they say, “perfect is the enemy of good,” and all that. practice helps. i hope everyone learns something new with each of these — i definitely do.
6 Likes
Congrats everyone!
@Yabba, I must be one of your biggest fans, I think I picked you as a winner or runner up in all the votes so far 
@Doug I suspected that was you 
@sezare56 I guess this was done on the OT then? Amazing track anyhow.
6 Likes
Congrats to the winner and to all the participants.
I appreciate the feedback that some of you gave to all the tracks. Thank you!
7 Likes
Congrats to the winners! Amazing contributions again 
6 Likes
@Doug can you break down the morricone samples in your track, and what the hells going on? This track kept side swiping me. lovely filter work on those chords. if i was voting tonight it’d be my GOOD.
in fact everyone should be sharing what they sampled right about now!
i’m embarrassed to say i’ve no idea what i used (except the obvious bits) as i just stuck on a morricone western youtube long player and grabbed some tiny snippets into the MDs sample memory and got on the bourbon and yeehawed.
@yabba set a good precedent here with the submission date as it allows time to sit with a beat and add some layers.edits in daw, something i don’t usually do.
6 Likes
Congrats @Yabba, @1-2, and @Blaize! Well deserved.
What a great battle, and good listening in every track. For any talk of phoning-in, I didn’t feel it as a listener. Thank you @Yabba and @1-2 for hosting, and everyone for giving feedback! This was hard to get going, but a fun challenge.
My beat (#17) was put together in my M8, with final mixing/mastering in Audacity. This is the first battle where I didn’t do any time-stretching, and I was a bit nervous about that, but I think it worked out okay.
–Horns, whistle, and guitar are all chopped from “The Dead Sons (I figli morti)” from “Duck, You Sucker” (Giù la testa). I wish I’d been more adventurous with flipping, but I am happy with the horns
–Hoofbeat is synthesized from the M8 Macrosyn Snare engine, directly quoting “Roadkill” by entertainment for the braindead
–Kick is processed from an old jazz-funk kit
–Snare is an 808 sample (sounds too harsh to me now in context. So it goes)
–Bass is a multi-sampled 360 Systems slap bass, with a part I wrote mostly circling around Cm7. It sounds kinda 90s midi to me, but everytime I tried to replace it with something mellower, the track fell apart. In it stayed.
9 Likes
Haha thanks man I’m humbled.
Honestly if you heard my first two attempts out of the same samples they were terrible
3 Likes
congrats to the winners & thanks for the all tracks review, very informative 
5 Likes
Nice was funny battle. It was my second track I made since 1 year of no music at all. I enjoyed a lot making beat again. I worked since few weeks on my free time to remake my setup, I made a custom desk to hold my dusty gears, bought some new cables, connect everything and here we go, I’m back.
Drums from DT
Slices, melody and mix from OT
And the bass you liked come from the PERfourMER with a bit of OT mangling and FX 
11 Likes
I’ll have to get on my laptop again to remember the name of the tracks I used I was literally going through YouTube randomly, but I used snippets from three different western Morricone tracks, I know one was from a western comedy he did the soundtrack for.
I also used bass number 3 supplied by @Sleepyhead in the last battles samplepack.
The sung vocal parts were an afterthought when I recorded my beat (which was made and mastered in Digitakt) to my laptop, I looked into my vocal sample folder and found some chops from Message From The Soul Sisters by Vicki Anderson, and Think by Lyn Collins, I put them in key and over the beat in Ableton.
6 Likes