The Grand Classist Tournament


Voting for Round 3 has ended!!


Download the entries from Round 3 here

The matchups were as follows...


































And RadamLee wins by default because Jakerson dropped out (feel free to comment on their entry).

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 4 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 3;

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

kleeder vs *kilowatt64*
i was looking forward to this one. what a cool format! it's actually super hard to choose, because both are well-made, high-effort entries and i can tell both parties had a good time weaving everything together and working with the format. i'm picking kilowatt because i enjoyed the sample and effect usage a little more, but frankly if this were an XHB you'd both be getting a 7 from me. kleeder's had major cram factor too, very impressive

*tex* vs viraxor
tex's arrangement and development are spot-on as usual, making for a very satisfying and dynamic listening experience

*dippy* vs birdrun
haha it's especially cool to see both my opponents duking it out with the themes i remember working with. there were a lot of cool C64 sounds going on in birdrun's entry, but i think the solid arranging and style of dippy's wins out for me

*mirageofher* vs dunehawk
mioh's entry makes me feel like i'm playing a mid-2000s pc game or listening to an arrange of a gba game (both affectionate). i liked the snes instrumentation of dunehawk's entry too but the harmony and intent are clearer in mioh's so that's my pick

*radamlee's* entry once again reminds me of how much wonderful stuff one can do with zxbeep. cool song, cool format. characteristic radamlee development into new sections and rhythms! nice!

Hi !!!! :D

kleeder vs. kilowatt64: https://youtu.be/rhERw_oGjag
Tex vs. Viraxor: https://youtu.be/diRPxUPSURY
Dippy vs. birdrun: https://youtu.be/fOwb4igiXkQ
Jakerson vs. RadamLee: https://youtu.be/sdEAMHbxMZQ
mirageofher vs. Dunehawk: https://youtu.be/MaO9QPqfcHA

*Tex* vs. Viraxor
tex entry is without doubt the more polished one and has more variety, but something about viraxors entry just makes me want to listen to it again and again. the choice wasnt as obvious as i thought it wld be.
... i still wld like to see something from tex that isnt a no-restriction-format tho

Dippy vs. *birdrun*
dippy has some very solid grooves in here, and i love it!
birdrun tho... has those solid grooves too. and i love it too!!! wtf?!?!
i like the motif-usage a little more in birdruns entry, so the vote goes to that one... but it was damn close!

*Jakerson* vs. RadamLee
crazy good entry by jakerson this time. sorry radamlee, but you stand no chance against THIS stuff this time, hey at least you tried right?

*mirageofher* vs. dunehawk
i absolutely hate the mastering on this thing and it will stop me from relistening to it more than needed, but i still have to admit that its the better entry of the two.

*kilowtat64*
*tex*
*dippy*
did i vote on everyone? pls let me know

kleeder vs *kilowatt64* (I didn't like both entries a lot, but kleeder was too repetitive. kilowatt: great stuff, the samples are bad but you get the best out of them. which is really greaty. sometimes you don't do portamento 100%. you leave it a bit below the note it's supposed to reach.) edit: kilowatt's entry grew on me a lot. great stuff.

*tex*!!! vs viraxor (can I vote like this? amazing song, you blew me away. this is gonna be total annihilation even though I did ok-ish.)

*dippy* vs birdrun (really like both of them. just preferred dippy because it's more j a z z y. birdrun, great job! your song reminded me of my 2 fav artists, alexg & cybelius.)

mirage vs *dunehawk* (I preferred dunehawk, way more relaxed and loved the weirder harmonies. you should definitely work more on this style because there are some little harmony mistakes in some places. it definitely has a potential. mirage, great composition but the mixing... oof)

sad to see jakerson not submit..

my initial thought was to do techno (a genre which is peak loopiness), and even tho i moved away from that a little while composing, i def tried to loop the hell out of every part xD
so i totally get that criticism about repetition

*dippy* vs birdrun
Good sid sounds all around, please teach me how to do this. Dippy's styling bass was really solid. It took me a couple of listens to pick up some of the character themes.

*radamlee*
what the heck?! zxbeep is so cool when people know how to use it! Loved this. I'm curious what engine this was written in, I couldn't tell from the player and am not familiar enough with these to pick it out by ear.

*tex* vs viraxor
Tex's entry has perhaps the most immediately recognizable character themes, and the transition between ideas flows easily. Wasn't expecting disco-like movement nor some of the other styles but that was great. Meshing of styles is done very well.
I enjoyed how Viraxor's used the themes to make something that felt altogether different(especially the use of the batthew theme in the backing). Nice punchy bass and beat.

Oops, hit save before I was done!

*mirageofher* vs dunehawk
I liked the transition between chippy lead/piano in mioh's and the use of the themes putting some energy behind the hopeful sort of feel from their character theme and putting some drive behind it.

Edit: oops also forgot this but don't want to spend more of my precious boons

also wanted to mention that I loved kleeder's entry. Couple of moments gave me such a good feeling with unexpected developments that I sometimes get from your music, especially the transition in pattern 16 and how you used my theme in 22 once the filtered lead comes in, that was SO cool and I could listen to that on repeat. Was very happy to hear this.

*Kilowatt64* vs Kleeder
I went back and forth between these for a long time, but I'm giving it to Killowatt for having more unique sections and effects overall, and the weird time signature changes were super cool. I was so close to choosing Kleeder's though simply for the section that first shows up at 2:03; I absolutely loved the harmony there. Really tough decision for this one.

*Dippy* vs birdrun
Both these entries were so inspiring, Goattracker 2 is so hard to work with. I thought overall Dippy's had stronger instruments and more groove.

*Radamlee*

*mirageofher* vs Dunehawk
I did not love the instrumentation of either, but I thought mirageofher's had more driving energy which I liked.

*Tex* vs Viraxor
I liked the spooky intro, and the section with all the drum solos was so fun. Viraxor's entry was also very vibey.

Super cool entry's from all of you guys! I wish I could have been in this tournament.

i love how everyone says how my mixing sucks. it fills me with a villanous satisfied smug energy. i cld evil laugh my head off rn

kleeder vs *kilowatt64*

*Tex* vs Viraxor

*mirageofher* vs dunehawk

kleeder/*kilowatt64*
Both cool entries, I like kleeder's one as it gives a lot of space and as it sounds epic. I preferred kilowatt's entry for the glitchy sounds and the catchy theme. I'm also a big fan of the notes playing in the background that sound like samples playing on old machines like the SNES (especially this one at 00:46 that sounds like a howling wolf!)

Tex/*Viraxor*
This time again, both entries have very different styles. Tex's entry is very appealing and has a lot of diversity, my favorite parts are the one featuring chiptune lead (that sounds like a 50% square wave) and the violin solo at the end!
I liked better the electronic and nostalgic vibe of Viraxor's entry. This one make a great use of squares waves too, plus I really like the rhythmic accompaniment and the use of vinyl scratch sounds.

Dippy/*Birdrun*
Both entries have solid percussion! On Dippy's entry I love this bass that leads the whole song. I heard that the snares where modified for the end of the song (starting at 02:25), I really like the idea, I think it's a nice development!
To me, Birdrun's entry is a banger, both this one and RadamLee's entry are my favorite entries for this round. It's very dynamic, it has a catchy theme, plus I love these phrases made with a triangle wave (I think) and that respond to the theme, like at 00:53.

*mirageofher*/Dunehawk
mirageofher's entry is epic and has great piano sounds, I am also found of the other samples (starting at 00:43) that remind me of 80's music, actually I think this entry would make a nice opening for a TV series.
Dunehawk's entry is dynamic and has a good flow, it's very pleasant to listen! I like the drums and how it's combined with the long floating notes of the leading part.

*RadamLee*
As I wrote above, to me it's a banger! I love the percussion, it has strong leading parts too! I am also very fond of the transitions using only long notes. I like how it's structured, with a lot of diversity but at the same time a stong leitmotiv.

kleeder vs *kilowatt64*
kleeder's entry was okay, but really repetitive. like if it had more variation it would have been nicer.
kilowatt64's song on the other hand, wow. it's so amazing and so varied and it really makes the use of the limited samples given along with making a really catchy and just great melody.

tex vs *viraxor*
i'm dancing to tex entry rn. this fella knows how to make really amazing tunes :3. really sick tune
however.. i feel like viraxor's entry has stole my heart. it's just so beautifully written, really heartfelt. maybe i'm biased because s3xmodit chiptune is one of my favorite sound palettes ever and this track has all of that on them but i just love this track so much

*dippy* vs birdrun
dippy's entry is fantastic overall. it's so funky and jazzy and everything like waow. it's just a really funky tune i love so much
birdun's entry is really great too. it's a nice bop, it's something i would jam to while walking towards the streets.
i prefer dippy's entry, although birdun's entry was really strong too.

*mirageofher* vs dunehawk
mirageofher's entry fucking sounds like something out of a mid 2000s newgrounds audio portal entry lmao. the mixing, the instruments used, the overall feel, etc. that doesn't mean that it's suddenly inferior, in fact it's a really fantastic piece i adore so much, so really beautifully written and with some amazing melodies. i just wish that it had better mixing
about dunehawk's entries, i always notice that they seem to share really similar chord progression and melodies. like every time i hear a dunehawk entry i can detect those same stuff. it doesn't mean that it's bad in fact it's a nice progression, i just wish that they'd tried more melodies instead of being stuck into one of them.
mirageofher wins this one.

Sorry, I'm late! But I also allowed voters to be late before ;_;

*kleeder* vs. kilowatt64

Personally, I didn't think the repetition in kleeder's was a core issue, because it didn't feel repetitive enough for it to be. Sure, there are only around 4 different drum patterns through the song. But everything else is varied enough for what it's intended to be and never outstays its welcome. Most of the musical structures here develop progressively. And I was able to identify both themes immediately on my first listen.

kilowatt's entry was a bit more surprising, since it developed into completely new musical territory for them with a sneaky satanic metal. It also shows advanced technical prowess, given the format restrictions. Strong melodic layering, interesting fade ins/outs for the build ups, catchy Terminator-like pattern, phat drums and a convincing wolf howling recreation. And yet, my vote still goes to kleeder because I can't identify kleeder's theme in kilowatt's.

*Dippy* vs. birdrun

Dippy's is an immediate banger with that gnarly bassline. But there are many kinds of them. And enough changes all the way to keep things very enjoyable. It's very intricate and well done at that.

birdrun sincerely put a good fight to me considering the short time they spent on their entry. Makes me wonder what they could come up with with more time. Dig the varied melodic pitch ranges.

mirageofher vs. *Dunehawk*

Voting for Dunehawk for the same reason I voted for kleeder: for incorporating both themes in an identifiable way while they opponent didn't (at least from my perception). mioh's still very melodic, though (definitely one of the duelist's strengths), and I do agree that it has those GBA vibes, especially with the square bass.

RadamLee's was also a nice listen. A lot of enjoyable ideas happen in over a minute of super restricted music.

Viraxor's was ace. Infectious groove. The major interval treatment to Batthew's theme was refreshing. And those harmonies that kick in at 1:36 are delightful and nicely syncopated. I'm also fond of little details such as the melodic transition at 1:34. Viraxor has always been good with jumping from one part to another flawlessly. I am honored to have had them as my duel opponent.

Ok, NOW voting is over. Thank you everyone for your votes!