From the website; "This was a tough GC with an orchestral sample pack. I chose to ignore the complaints from a few about lack of dance/techno samples in the pack. This competition was designed at bringing out the creativity in the tracker, instead of just a bunch of boring techno/pop entries as per usual. Congratulations to Protocol for comming first place and a close second by firelight.

This Comp was slightly different in the voting in that there were only 11 entries so there was obviously no place for a lamer award, so there is only 10th/last place in this comp. Also this comp contained mostly 16 bit samples , which people didn't seem to care about. Generally all the contestants were happy with the 200k Zipped entry limit instead of 150k in GC4, so we'll continue this as it keeps the vote pack smaller whilst still allowing enough room for the entrant to vent their creativity.

Genosha (9th place), Knos (7th place) were both disqualified from this groovy comp because they did not hand in their votes on time/or at all

GC5 Comments

Comments On First Place:

cs-brace had excellent mixing. mixing is what, i think, separates good tunes from bad tunes, sure, there might be some technically ok tunes, but most of the time they lack mixing.the tune was funky, clean, and refreshin, and.. well,it was better than the rest, which, you may not think to besaying much, but, it is a good tune.. :)

I voted STARTSTO.XM first for a couple of reasons ..compared to all the other songs in this votepack, and use of the samples was exceptionally good. (Although pro-ijam.it & kn-nalf.it were..interesting) The song has good progression and structure to and a good "flow" if you can understand that. Overall it was a lot more original then the other songs, it captured a nice style I haven't heard before.

I ranked dingo.it first mostly because I love sad melodies,(like in typical diskmag bgm). I found that this song build what I would name as a `feeling progression' : it start with sadness and then softly evolve... the only thing I don'tlike is the way Beek tracked the drums... they sound too artificial to me.

I thought that nalf.it had a good beat, and it was fun to listen to. It was not the most technically developed song in the pack but often I think that the best song is the one I like to listen to over and over. I don't listen to a song for it's technicalvalueafter all. I listen for its enjoyability, and this song had the mostenjoyability for me.

Of this small lot, cs-brace.xm pulled together a better combination of effects, balancing of instruments, and solos than the rest. A catchybass/flute mixture peppered with xylophone work showed skill in arranging the limited sampleset. startsto.xm had equal potential exceptin that it felt too rushed. cut.it, on the other hand, earned (at least) 3rd place for techno-style creativity in the face of a pack loaded 90% with orchestral samples---it was well done but hung onto one melody for what seemed like forever.

Island Jam was worthy of 1st place because it was exceptionally good technically, and was catchy - it fitted the style it was attempting perfectly. The great percussion backing and good use of the samples helped it. The leads were not particularly outstanding but fitted wellwith the style, and the same applied to the chord progression - extremelysimple, but it fitted well with the style. Its best element was the movement created by the various climaxes in the song which set it apart from the other entries.

Firelight's entry was another technically excellent song, which was more interesting musically than Protocol's, but wasn't as catchy and wasn't quite as memorable, but deserved 2nd. Toejam's song was good except for the bad use of NNAs.. you really don't need that many channels for this. He could have easily managed in 20 rather than going over 50, so control them next time eh. :P Wayfinder deserves a mention for making a techno tune where the samples didn't fit the style.. but then perhaps this makes up for the lack of techno samples in GC4.

It (pro-ijam.it) was original, smooth and cosy. Not all too well tracked, but catches up in usage of instruments and genre-suiting form. Good choice in adding that guitar-thingy.

Wow.. this song 'island jam' absolutely kicked everyone elses asses.. it just brought something out of the samples that i wasnt really expecting and it was well worth the listen.. really nicely mixed and the trills and stuff were great.. It reminded me of the movie coctail eheh. HEY.. did i hear the macarena in order 46 or so? man you almost lost because of that :)

Wow... I guess over here in Europe, in the winter, I need a song like Island Jam ! This one gave me the real summer feeling... Groovy, versatile, overall nice. Especially good choice of add-on sample. And it manages to sound faster than it actually is, a goal I strive to achieve too btw ;)

Comments On Last Place:

All i can say, is that jaws needs more tracking experience, and needs to develop some more trackingskills, style, technique, etc.

Jawsjc5.it is last.. it just can't compare to the experience of the other songs. However, this song was very good for abeginner. The beginning and ending were nice, but the middle was slightly repetative and dull. Don't loose hope though, you have potential.

Jawsgc5.it: I can't really say. It could use a good beat. Some drumsor something in the background to make it snazzier. I dunno, cause I suck at tracking so I can't give too many ideas. If I had them, I'd put em in my music first of all :)

kn-nalf.it (as well as ge-otr.it) suffered from major tuning problems. While dissonance can be molded into an art form, other times it can be overly harsh. Otherwise, it could have turned into something pretty good---it had possibilities.

Jawsjc5.it was last because it had very little technique and not much tune to it. Orchestral is a very very difficult style to do, and it is very obvious when an unskilled tracker makes one because it is inevitably bad. There were practically no volume commands or effects in the whole song - it was technically very bad, which means that however good the tune is, it will always end up sounding poor. Work on your technical side a great deal, it will make your tunes far better.

I ranked quetzcoa.it the last (though it was no sovereign baddie). You need to vary your percussion more... add drumbreaks, lower the volume on that hihat/shaker thingy and try to LISTEN more to your tune in means of mixing it better.. adjusting each instrument to one another and such. Your idea with the song itself wasn't bad, and this IS the best tune I've heard from you.. stay in there!

Well normally i bag the shit out of a bad tune, but it was obviously the guys first attempt at modwriting, so I guess instead of being a prick ill say, well keep tracking for about another year i think or until some other people start to think you have some talent, or just keep entering groovycompo untilyour ranking gets to a decent level muahahah..

Ok.. I think it is always a bit embarrassing to tell someone why they sucked, for me as well as for them. I know how Ondine thinks about GC, and that makes it easier ;) You have to improve on your drums department. You lay too much emphasis on the 1 beat (in a 1+2+3+4+ system), you could have made the hihat strike on 3 for example, it would have given the song a new feeling, but I think it would have been better...Also, though that is by no means necessary, I would have appreciated a snare drum. And..well, some of the sounds sound like being placed randomly, which you should avoid ;) Over all, it´s a bit too monotonous for me, and I have made some pretty monotonous songs myself, but hey ! Your own songs are always the best ;)

Misc Comments:

Cs-brace.it is just a very nice and sweet song, with a good structure and very soft transitions.

Prizak's priz-ule.xm lacks variation to be a winner tune.I mean its a good mod, but it lacks energy for being a compo winner tune.

Again Protocol made a piece of his art... very good tracking technique, very good song's structure (the ending is cool) but I just don't like the style of this entry ... sorry :)

ge-otr.it: I like the indian feeling you added in that mod ;) but I think it was perhaps not the proper sample/intrument for that kind of indian melody...this song is quite enjoyable, but Genosha, you should add more variation in your volumes, if you Want the melody and drums to sound more dynamic.

Gc5-form.it... hmm. I like the beginning of this song but I cant stand the use of xylophone for chords :(, and the unfinished ending.

Quetzacoa.it: Ondine's improving... fear Ondine... I just wanted to say that even if the technique wasn't here I enjoy that one... It sounded near AphexTwinish ( :) -> with the drums) and the melody was ok... But it sounds too mechanical...