The Grand Classist Tournament


Voting for Round 2 is over!!


Download the entries from Round 2 here

Voters should consider enjoyability and how well the entry incorporates both themes. Download the themes here if you haven't

or listen to them through YouTube from the hyperlinks in the matchups listed below.


The matchups were as follows...


sgen:


Chipist Bracket

kleeder (Baskerville)

vs. birdrun (The Tough Guy)

Jakerson (Cool Kid)

vs. kilowatt64 (Night Owl)

Tinchip Bracket

Dippy (Razer Porcupine)

vs. damifortune (Viola)

* Since Blue Christmas (Stabby Draggy)

did not submit an entry, RadamLee (Arial)

wins and advances to Round 3 of the Tinchip Bracket by default (feel free to comment on their entry).



s3xmodit:


Mixist Bracket

Viraxor (Batthew)

vs. mirageofher (Aismo)

Tingear Bracket

Minerscale (Oldie the Umarell)

vs. 02FD (Brewitch)

* Reminder that Tex (Succulenton)

and Dunehawk (Waterbuck Villager)

skipped this round because there weren't enough mixists to be matched up against us.




How voting works


- Anyone can vote! Non-duelists are more than welcome to vote, too;

- Cast your votes for each duel by typing the name of the duelist you're voting for between asterisks (e.g. *funute*);

- The asterisks are necessary to avoid misunderstandings, so please, add them in your vote;

- There is a total of 5 duels. You must vote for all of them for your votes to count. BUT if you're a duelist, you must skip voting for your own duel and only vote for the other 4;

- Comments are optional, but artists like receiving kind words on their work, so they are welcome and appreciated.

*kleeder* vs birdrun (birdrun was interesting, but the overall quality of kleeder's track decided)
*jakerson* vs kilowatt64 (kilowatt also made a banger track)
dippy vs *damifortune* (dippy was good, but it was a bit boring)
minerscale vs *02FD* (really liked the atmosphere of 02FD's track! minerscale, what happened?)

i think *kleddar* wins. u might be thinking im biased but im not
*kilowatt* entry was cute af, we need more of this
*dippy* good song. damis was rly damicore (good) but idk if it fits tbh
i enjoyed *minerscale* entry, lots of intresting stuff going on here

i hope thats everythign lol, if not lmk

*kleeder* vs birdrun

kleeder-Crossroads meeting: Really enjoyed the bass, beat, and buildup into the verse. Some really cool moments that caught my ear in this one and helped this one stand out to me. Noise usage in transitions was cool too and felt overall pretty polished.

birdrun-facing you: Love the peppy intro with the vocals, that was a nice add. Really liked some of the chords and instruments used. Record scratch fx too!


*Dippy* vs damifortune

Dippy-Beautiful Dangerous
Nice song name and representation of the characters. :) I loved the original character theme for Viola (my fave, I think) and to hear it used in this context was really great. Chord backing and arps were nice. Felt like a solid game theme and a style that worked for me. Some kind of combination of these elements won the vote for me here although both entries were keepers

damifortune-mindblade
your ability to write something creative and unique that feels fresh for the soundchip is always awesome. Character themes are somewhat subdued and cool when you spot them. This was a really lovely listen. Siney chords with tremolo and pitchbends were especially nice, and echoey square notes where Viola's theme shows was a good moment. This one had more emotional buildup especially towards the end, strengthened by the percussion, and this is also a damifortune talent that I love to hear.


Bummer we didn't get a Blue_Christmas entry.

RadamLee-dad was such a drag:
Tension buildup with the pitch slides was a good element. Square arps were really nice. The really cool staccatto arps from Stabby Draggy's theme came through here for me throughout the track although used differently here mostly. I liked the combination of instruments in the second half although the sum total of the moving parts got hard for me to follow in a few points. Rad ending although that bit is short!

Viraxor vs. *mirageofher*

Really love this particular character theme match up :)

Viraxor-Antarctica from Space: Intro chords were so cool to me and had a sort of remixed David Wise kind of feel at first. First section captures the optimistic adventure from Aismo's theme really nicely. Some cool lead parts here too and the song felt like it had good balance.

mirageofher-snowfall caverns
Love the vibe overall. Playing around with timing and progressions towards the end was cool, and I really like the softer instrumentation here. Lead and backing is simply lovely in the first section and this was a big part of what swayed my vote. I also really liked how the bass + string chords came across. The song does a good job capturing the mix between the two character themes which have altogether different feelings to me.

*Minerscale* vs. 02FD

this one was close for me.

Minerscale - industrie: the delayed countermelody timing and hanging notes threw me some and almost tipped my vote, but I really like the sort of dulcimer(?) sounding plucked bass along with the happy-go-lucky melody. Something about the feel of the music and instrument usage reminded me of some Harvest Moon music that I enjoy. Would've liked to hear more of where this one was going.

02FD-The Old Master of Oldness: the big room atmosphere from the sample usage was nice. Bass was really cool! I Some parts felt a bit muddled but I enjoyed the track overall.


edit: meant to add comments on Jakerson's too

Jakerson-a cool night with an owl: nice action scene feel and I REALLY love the use of the Night Owl ascending five note arp thingy + four on the floor kick here to transition between sections. That really stood out to me. Note fades and dips were so cool in the second section too. Nice work!

Hello!

kleeder vs. birdrun: https://youtu.be/iS9OlnZ3vQY
Jakerson vs. kilowatt64: https://youtu.be/6yW9HYespDI
Dippy vs. damifortune: https://youtu.be/Av-0Vqm7nnc
Blue Christmas vs. RadamLee: https://youtu.be/X9ZM7hBU_HQ
Viraxor vs. mirageofher: https://youtu.be/01iGgNxDf8I
Minerscale vs. 02FD: https://youtu.be/1ypbGAULJPU

And for my votes...

jakerson vs *kilowatt64*
kilowatts entry just feels a lot smoother and complete to me. I think i also prefer the used patches here.

*dippy* vs dami
this was EXTREMLY close in my book, but after listening a few more times, i noticed that i was a little more excited to listen to dippys entry again (and again and again) and hearing the themes in dippys entry feels a little more "rewarding", idk how to explain why thats the case.

blue_christmas vs *radamlee*
even tho i enjoyed the nihilistic approach of bluechristmas entry, i fail to hear the themes in their submission, so i have to go with radamlee here.

*viraxor* vs mirageofher
i struggled so much to make a decision here, even harder than the dippy/dami one.
in the end, i think the sound design is what made me vote for viraxor

minerscale vs *02fd*
i didnt rly like these entries so in the end i went with the one which had the better technical execution

so ur telling me that sexmodit format is supposed to have no interpolation...
(i just went with whatever was default for mpt..)

yes and no. there is no standard for all modules, and I wholeheartedly believe the best compromise between interpolation and no interpolation is linear interpolation. This is especially true considering some small samples sound COMPLETELY different with 8tap+LP, yet I've found this isn't the case with Linear.

Forcing a module to be interpolated isn't a good idea but neither is assuming all modules are intended to be played without interpolation, imo. Ideally, OpenMPT would set the default based on the comments/artist name/song title, and then look at the file format and determine what the default setting would be for each software that made the module. But that's probably not feasible to implement

the mptm format has interp. settings

*kleeder* vs birdrun
i liked the fm usage and the sounds more in birdrun's entry but the overall construction of kleeder's was solid

jakerson vs *kilowatt64*
both very very well done entries - this one has to come down to personal preferences with fm: the really bright sounding patches give me ear fatigue, so i would rather be listening to kilowatt's chill, warm vibes

*viraxor* vs mirageofher
the driving beat and front-and-center string chord rhythm of viraxor's entry is hard to deny. both well made here too, though

*minerscale* vs 02fd
loved how off-kilter everything felt in minerscale's entry. quirky and fun. i kinda wish both of these were longer though

i can't vote in my own battle but dippy's is far superior imo very cool fm automation on the bass

radamlee's entry also makes me happy to listen to

*kleeder* vs birdrun
jakerson vs *kilowatt64*
*dippy* vs dami
blue_christmas vs *radamlee*
Viraxor vs. *mirageofher*

*jakerson* vs kilowatt64
Transition was somewhat rough but overall an excellent composition.

dippy vs *damifortune*
Both incredible uses of YM2612. Dami edges this one out by a hair.

blue_christmas vs *radamlee*
That's some solid fonky grooves. This set of themes would have been challenging to work with, and you've really delivered with this entry.


*Virax* vs mirageofher
Close. On second listen I think Viraxor takes this by a hair.

*Minerscale* vs 02FD
02FD had some excellent moments of sound design, but Minerscale's felt more confident overall and worked in the themes quite nicely.

*kleeder* vs. birdrun
there were some great moments to birdrun's (love the vocals!) but kleeder's has a bit more variety & production value

*jakerson* vs. kilowatt64
I can't get enough of the B section of jakerson's tune, love that 5 figure from night owl's theme over the lush keychangey part of cool kid's theme! kilowatt's is super cute though, lots of good sounds for my ears. was hard to choose

*dippy* vs damifortune
this was soo hard to choose, but dippy's gonna get my vote. i think it fits the themes a bit more??

viraxor vs *mirageofher*
i keep switching between who i want to vote for here. the energy of viraxor's entry is infectious!! but i like the vibes of mirageofher's a bit more.

minerscale vs. *02FD*
I prefer the feel of 02FD's really. I like the floaty reverby instruments over that dry bass & beat, but there's a point it gets to sound too muddy

don't feel like doing commentary this time, sorry :(

*kleeder* vs birdun
jakerson vs *kilowatt64*
*viraxor* vs mirageofher
minerscale vs *O2FD*

Well, I'm 90% positive I lose... again. I'm honestly kind of glad. I didn't really have the time to do this when I asked to do it, and I don't think, given my lackluster efforts to stay on schedule, that I would feel comfortable moving on with the work I didn't spend enough time on.

Maybe I'm just in my own head...

C1
so close, tbh, both of these are stellar for different reasons
but overall, kleeder did a better job with sound design and I feel that's a very important advantage here.



...but not as important as the length and story told in birdrun's. Good job. the vocal samples tell me more about this character and its interaction with the other than kleeder's did
kleeder vs *birdrun*

C2
i found myself asking whether or not these to characters would be fighting or friending with this one. jakerson definitely has battle music here.

but I think they would be cool with each other. and kilowatt's more slow-paced song signifies a more accurate interaction imo

jakerson vs *kilowatt64*

M1

mioh i'm sorry but viraxor's sound design is better here imo and it's the deciding factor for me in this one

*viraxor* vs mioh

TC1

...holy shit dippy

*dippy* vs dami

and of course, we have "NO CONTEST" for radamlee...

thank you for waiting on me X) sorry

*kleeder* vs. birdrun

birdrun has turntable drums and a mean Road Rash 1-like fm lead. But kleeder's appeals to me more from an instrumental perspective.

*Jakerson* vs. kilowatt64

I must commend Jakerson for merging the two themes. Nicely done. kilowatt's was smooth, too.

*Dippy* vs. damifortune

Voting for Dippy all the way here for going the fm hard trance route.

*Viraxor* vs. mirageofher

Very nice transitions in Viraxor's overall. I can easily identify both themes. mirageofher's was a decent listen as well.

*Minerscale* vs. 02FD

Minerscale's has a joyful tone and I can recognize at least their theme here.