Welcome to the first-ever music-making contest on 99Sounds!
Since our launch in June 2014, we’ve released twelve amazing sample libraries crafted by a group of generous and extremely talented sound designers worldwide.
UPDATE #3: THE RESULTS ARE HERE!
These are the eight highest-ranked entries:
#1 Poztman – Crystalline Chant
#2 Spray – Substance
#3 Naiyaah – Repetition
#4 Lawrence Wade – Love Letters
#5 Babakov – Above Those Rains
#6 Gloss – Gloss Over Art
#7 Steal This- The Duck Call
#8 Plur’l – Rye
Congratulations to Poztman, who is the grand prize winner! :)
Read our interview with Poztman and download the Ableton Live 9 project file of the winning track Crystalline Chant which was kindly provided as a free download by Poztman!
I would also like to congratulate the two runner-ups, Spray and Naiyaah, and everyone else who made it to the Top 8!
And, of course, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined in!
Your entries have been great, and narrowing this entire list to just a few favorites has been incredibly hard (at least for me). So much talent and creativity in one place!
I really wish that everyone who joined in could get some prize for their effort. Perhaps the next time we organize something like this!
This has been a lovely experience for me. A dream come true.
I hope that this was just the first music contest of many more to come on 99Sounds. Stay tuned for more free sounds, more challenges like this one, and thank you for being a part of our community!
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UPDATE #2: The results will be announced in approximately one hour. We’re sorry about the delay!
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UPDATE #1: The contest is now officially CLOSED for new entries. You guys have submitted 124 tracks in total, adding up to over 8 hours of music. THANK YOU! It feels great to know that so many tracks have been made with our samples. Voting for our favorite entries will be tons of fun!
During the next 15 days, our team of judges (there are ten of us in total) will be listening to your entries and submitting the votes. During this period, we might contact you on SoundCloud if we have some questions about the samples which were used in your track. PLEASE keep your entries online during the voting period.
We have created a new SoundCloud playlist with all the entries which have been submitted for the contest.
The winners will be announced on this page on December 1st, 2014. Stay tuned!
Your response has been fantastic so far, and we’d like to thank you for that! Join our music contest to put your creativity to the test and for a chance to win some AMAZING prizes in the process!
Official Rules
- Use ONLY the loops and samples available for download on 99Sounds to create a track.
- You ARE allowed to edit and process 99Sounds samples and loops with any sampler instrument (either a hardware device or a virtual instrument) such as Kontakt, HALion, Shortcircuit, etc.
- You ARE allowed to use any DAW and any amount of internal or external effects in your project.
- Feel free to manipulate and process the sounds inside your DAW or an audio editor.
- All music genres are accepted.
Submission method: Upload your finished entry to this SoundCloud group. Only one entry per contestant is allowed. Please format the track title as Artist Name – Track Name (99Sounds Contest).
Submission deadline: The deadline is November 15th. The winners will be officially announced on December 1st on this page.
Judges: The entries will be judged by the sound designers who have previously released sample libraries on 99Sounds. Each of the ten judges will be able to vote for five of their favorite entries. After the voting phase has ended, we will announce the grand prize winner and the two runner-ups on this page.
Hints: You are working with a limited set of sounds here, so you’ll need to change your workflow and think outside of the box.
Feel free to experiment and use these samples in unusual ways. All elements of the track will be considered, including the arrangement, originality, the manner in which the samples were used, as well as the overall quality of the mix.
We are open to all music styles. It doesn’t matter if your track is a dance floor banger, a cinematic masterpiece, or a chilled-out atmospheric tune.
We are simply looking for the best and most exciting track made with 99Sounds sample libraries. Make us proud!
Good luck, and have fun making music!
Prizes: The grand prize winner gets Propellerhead Reason 8, AAS Ultra Analog VA-2, Cableguys Bundle, Sugar Bytes Effectrix, FXpansion Bloom, AudioThing Valve Filter VF-1, Plug & Mix VIP Bundle, a 1-year subscription to AskVideo and an exclusive cinematic sample pack by Joshua Crispin aka Generdyn.
Each of the two runner-ups will receive a copy of the Plug & Mix VIP Bundle and a 6-month subscription to AskVideo.
The eight highest-ranked tracks will be released on an EP and distributed as a free download via 99Sounds.
A huge THANK YOU goes out to the sponsors for providing such amazing prizes! More info about the prizes is available below.
Reason 8 ($399) is your complete music studio in the box, designed to complement your music production workflow perfectly. A legendary music-making workstation that has evolved over the years and changed the world of music production software forever. It is an ever-expandable and freely routable rack of virtual instruments and effects that puts limitless music-making possibilities right at your fingertips.
Plug & Mix VIP Bundle ($249) is the ultimate collection of mixing tools. Featuring over 50 individual audio effects, this huge plugin bundle is a complete toolbox for your daily mixing and sound design needs.
AskVideo.com 1-year Subscription ($199) grants access to over 1782 hours of high-quality video courses about popular creative applications such as Propellerhead Reason 8, Adobe CS, Logic Pro, Final Cut Studio, InDesign, and many more. Stream the available video tutorials online, or download them to your computer or portable device and watch offline.
Ultra Analog VA-2 ($199) is one of the most sought-after virtual analog synthesizers on the market. It is a versatile virtual analog synthesizer with a streamlined interface and a rich factory library with over 600 production-ready sounds. The powerful subtractive synthesis engine is enhanced with a state-of-the-art FX section and unique live performance controls.
Cableguys Bundle ($199) includes the Curve 2 hybrid synthesizer, FilterShaper 3, and VolumeShaper 3 modulation devices, as well as the MidiShaper device for advanced MIDI control. It is a unique bundle of creative tools built around the powerful custom waveform editor, which is the signature feature of all Cableguys plugins.
Effectrix ($129) is a monster multi-effect sequencer with 14 effects that can be triggered by the built-in 32-step sequencer and its 12 sub-patterns. From traditional modulation effects like chorus and phaser to sound mangling tools like time-stretching and stutter, this classic device by Sugar Bytes delivers tons of sound manipulation power in an easy-to-use package.
Bloom ($99) takes the concept of a creative delay effect to a whole new level. Capable of generating anything from lush spacey echoes to psychedelic modulation effects, this is an extremely powerful mixing device and a versatile sound design tool. Use the built-in step sequencer and LFOs to modulate various plugin parameters and add even more movement to your sounds.
Valve Filter VF-1 (€25) is a classic Moog-style ladder filter paired up with a valve circuit that is modeled after the vintage Telefunken ECC83 tubes. Each section can be switched off, so the plugin can operate as a standalone filter effect or a pure tube amp emulation for adding that essential bit of color and warmth to your audio material.
Are you IN? Let us know in the comments section below!
58 Comments
The sounds are of very high quality, interesting and useful.
Thank you!
Dan
Thanks for the kind words Dan! You’re welcome and have fun using them!
I’m a bit confused by the rules. What exactly is a sampler? So many virtual instruments rely on samples that users can load in to produce sounds but are basically instruments, not samplers. For example, can I load the sounds from 99sounds into a sample map in Native Instrument’s Reaktor’s Polyplex (a VST instrument that some might not consider to be a sampler) or any of the other Reaktor instruments that allow me to load in my own samples? The VST instrument SkannerXT also comes to mind as it allows me to load in my own samples, but its own documentation calls it an instrument. What about Battery4? Perhaps a clear definition of what is considered a sampler would help?
Well, speaking strictly in context of this competition (not trying define what a sampler actually is), it’s OK to use a basic sampler with envelopes and LFOs to control the volume and filters and nothing more than that. So, feel free to use any sampler you want, but stay away from any advanced features which make it more of a sample-based synthesizer than a sampler. I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!
Wow this is amazing work :D great samples
thx guys
Thank you! :)
Okay so, we can or cannot load a single instance into a piano roll and use the sample to make “piano typed” song? Just by changing the note? Or would that be apart of the “advanced features”?? I’m slightly confused and want to makes sure I do not put effort into some work and cross a boundary that’s not permitted. Thank you for you time! Hope you will enjoy my submission when it’s completed!
Oh, you can definitely do that (sorry I forgot to mention that)! Loading a sample in a sampler and using the piano roll to trigger at different pitches is perfectly fine. Also, changing the pitch and the envelope of a sample in a sampler is also fine. Some examples of samplers that you can’t go wrong with in this case are Zampler and Shortcircuit 1 (both are freeware), TX16Wx (also freeware), Poise (a commercial MPC style drum sampler), Kontakt, Battery, NN-XT, EXS24, Ableton’s Sampler, Sample One and Impact from Studio One, any MPC style sampler, etc. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask! :)
I’m assuming vocals aren’t allowed for voting purposes but I want to ask and clarify anyway. Are vocals allowed? I feel like it’ll be pretty obvious that vocals aren’t part of a sample pack and it won’t be deceptive.
Anyway, I’m really excited to hear a ton of songs with my clap samples in them. I can’t imagine how much cooler this is going to be for you since you generated many more of the sounds!
You’re right, vocals are not allowed! Any additional sound sources apart from the samples and loops in 99Sounds libraries may not be used.
We are aware of the fact that this is a serious limitation for some producers, but the goal of this contest is to be creative and find a way around these limitations. It’s always fun to try something new!
Our next music making contest will be less restrictive, but we decided to set some tougher rules for the first contest.
Glad to see 99SOUNDS growing and developing. :)
Thanks to the companies and of course to Tomislav and his fantastic efforts.
I’m sure we’ll see (hear!) great submissions for the contest.
Thanks for the support! :)
Really looking forward to hearing all the submissions. Some great tracks have been added already.
Cheers, and welcome for the contest/samples. A question, is it permitted to edit the samples in REAPER or Audacity, for instance, like stretching, splitting, reversing, doing micro-sampling, etc.. in such a way that the sample would be not recognizable anymore?? Thank you..
Yes, absolutely! Feel free to use any of those techniques to process/transform the available sounds. Have fun!
Is it ok to use the granular synthesis in the Alchemy sampler? I realize the additive or spectral options wouldn’t be allowed.
Thanks so much for doing this!i! I love the limitations! I think it helps finish songs and not get overwhelmed with all the endless options. There will be endless options for manipulating the samples as it is! I believe some limitations actually help creativity, not hinder it!
Hi Josh! Unfortunately, using granular synthesis in Alchemy (or any other instrument) is not allowed. The main reason for such a limitation is the fact that not everyone has access to tools like Alchemy. You are free to use any granular effect though (there are many freeware choices in this category, like Argotlunar and ndc plugs Fragmental for example).
And you’re completely right about the limitations, as they definitely help your creativity and it’s fun to try and find workarounds! So yeah, there’s another one for ya. :)
Ok that’s cool. Thank you for the clarification and suggestions! I will just use Alchemy’s basic sampler mode and functions and effects then. Thanks!
Cheers! :)
on rules:
how about single-cycle (or very short) loop settings in samplers, allowed?
Yes, that is absolutely allowed!
What about the use of resonator effects , like abletons resonator?
In theory it’s just a fancy delay effect, but I wouldn’t like to be disqualified because of that.
Thx for all the wonderful sample packs, already used them a lot !
Feel free to use the Resonator in Ableton! You can use ANY host and ANY effect (internal or external).