July Tune Contest: Cool Still Waters (July 5-July 26)

[Erenan]

Hi. This is a tune contest. In order to participate, you must create a tune. The theme this time around is COOL STILL WATERS. I want you to create a music track that evokes a sense of coolness coupled with a sense of stillness itself coupled with a sense of waterness.

I do want you to feel free to interpret this as loosely as you want, provided you are reasonably meeting the stated theme. So you can write a track that would fit as the background music in an AGS game set in a cool pond in a cave...

...or a more academic piece inspired by a lake surrounded by forests...

...or you could even write some kind of ode to a mystical pool of absu...

...though bear in mind that if you write some kind of extreme black/thrash metal track you are not especially likely to win unless you somehow manage to get your blastbeats to evoke the aforementioned senses of coolness, stillness, and waterness.

I do not want a song about Roger Waters still being cool, however true that may be. You are, of course, free to write such a song if you wish, but you will surely lose the contest unless the song is specifically about Mr. Waters chilling by a sweet little pool somewhere.

You can use any instruments, any file format (that is reasonably accessible for listening purposes), any length, any tempo, any volume, etc. No restrictions, except those already given above and the deadline given below.

You have until July 26 to complete your track and post it for review.

[kaput]

Hilarious intro

Count me in. Probably with a less hilarious tune. I'll try churn something out tomorrow or the next day.

[MUFFINinc]

Wow, glad I caught this.  You can count me in!  I was thinking about writing some game music tonight anyway, so I believe I will get started.

[kaput]

Here's my entry.

Cool Still Waters. But nothing stays cool and still for long... An ode to the short, calm and still times in life that are ultimately interrupted by a constant and busy world, filled with noise:

https://soundcloud.com/mikegillon/cool-still-waters

It's what came out when I got inspired, so I went with it. It features my local beach sounds and seagulls that surround my house.

Hope you like. Peace. Out. Bye.

[Erenan]

Cool, man. Glad to see your entry is done. I listened on my phone, and it sounded good, but I'd like to give it another proper listen on my speakers. Thanks for entering!

[kaput]

Thanks for entering!

It's my pleasure, man. I love to make music any chance I can get and stuff like this gives me a nice 'push' to do so. My recording equipment sometimes gets a bit neglected .

Anyway, I'm hoping more folk get involved this time round, it's been a little quiet around here in the monthly song thread!

[Myshkin]

Pretty sure I'll be able to get something done this time...

and I feel like at some point someone needs to write that song about Roger Waters chilling by the pool!

[Erenan]

I am looking forward to your entry!

Anyone else want to do something for this?

[JasonB]

Here's my pass at it.  I didn't get to test it on a whole lot of speakers so I apologize if the high end is too painful on certain ones.

The tune is named after a river I grew up by called the Stillwater River.  It was actually nice and pretty most of the time but could be awful spooky and downright chilling if you caught it at just the right time.

https://soundcloud.com/jason-b/stillwater-river

[nihilyst]

Here's my entry. I had to remember my last trip to France. On my last day, I visited a flowstone cave. It was a soothing experience and the one that comes back to my mind most often. I tried to convey the feeling of drifting on a small boat through the cave -- drops of water giving the rhythm -- and then, when the melody kicks in, the flowstones reflecting the flood light in vibrant colours.

https://soundcloud.com/maximilian-weigl-2/flowstone-cave

[Myshkin]

Hey, I managed it this time:

https://soundcloud.com/edwinmontgomery/lake-at-midnight

This started out ambient and peaceful, sort of reflective, but then seemed to go a little dark like when you stare at the sky at night for too long and start to feel a little overwhelmed...

[Erenan]

Cool, lots of entries! Will listen soon. Thanks everyone!

[kaput]

Those are some pretty cool tunes

[Erenan]

One more day for this, in case anyone else wanted to enter!

[Viking]

Well, I haven't entered one of these in a long time, I had a bit of spare time this month, and it was an interesting challenge, so I decided to enter.

Still Waters

It's supposed to evoke the feeling of watching, and then traveling slowly across a lake in the morning.  Don't give up listening to it if it sounds all the same at first -- it gets more interesting around 0:42.  I enjoyed the challenge of making a piece that was quiet and placid throughout, but still hopefully not boring.  It's scored for small chamber orchestra (2 flutes, oboe, cor, 3 horns, percussion, piano, harp, 4 violins and 4 cellos) plus small female choir (3 parts).  The words that the choir repeats are "still waters" -- not very original, I know.

I hope you enjoy it!

[Erenan]

Nice! I didn't think any more entries were going to be coming in! Thanks!

I'll close this off to more entries on the morning of the 27th my time (California) and then I guess I have a hard decision to make!

EDIT: Okay, it's closed. No more entries. Gonna listen to all five entries again and try to make a decision now.

[Erenan]

I had a really hard time choosing between these five great pieces of music, but in the end I felt that nihilyst's "Flowstone Cave" best gave me the senses of coolness, stillness, and waterness, so I'm going to declare nihilyst the winner.

The other four pieces were also very, very good, and again, I had a really hard time choosing, so everyone is kind of a winner. You all did a great job!

[nihilyst]

Thank you. I never would have thought on winning against the other pieces.

The next one will be coming soon

[JasonB]

Congrats nihilyst!

[Myshkin]

Nice one nihilyst!