A few weeks ago we challenged our readers to roll up their sleeves and tear up their studios with a combination remix/live performance contest using a sound pack from Mad Zach. The deadline has come and gone, so it’s time for us to announce the winners of this contest and give out some great prizes to the top entries – check out some great videos and remixes by our own DJTT community inside!
A quick note before we begin – there were tons of awesome entries in this contest! We let the entire DJTT staff judge this one, with myself (Mad Zach) and Dan picking out the top six of both of the contests and letting everyone vote on their favorites. Dan and I listened to and watched every single entry – with well over 75 entires in total.
SIDE A: PERFORMANCE CONTEST WINNERS
We chose the winners of this video-based contest based on “liveness”, originality, and arrangement – and it wasn’t easy, considering the amount of solid entries that we received. There were 27 entries, and you can watch them all here on YouTube – but here are the ones that we chose as the winners:
First Place: Y.O.U.
Why we chose them: These guys killed it. I thought they did a really nice job of balancing live finger drumming with DJ-style functionality. This type of balance often works really well with a crowd because it gives people something to latch onto while maintaining enough excitement to keep the crowd dancing even though they might have no idea what’s going on. It’s a form factor that is a perfect answer to the question, “is it worth it to assume the risk of playing live when there’s a lot at stake?” The world of night clubs can be a bit dodgy when it comes to live electronics and controllerism. If some promoter is paying you money to keep people having a good time, dancing, drinking, etc. its sometimes hard to justify a live performance that will indubitably be lost on 89% of the crowd.
With Y.O.U.’s style of performance, they can keep the dancers going while also satisfying the hipster wallflowers who stare intently and sneak peeks at they computer screen to make sure that you’re “doing something legit.” Its also worth noting that these guys clearly put a lot of effort into creating an awesome performance video and are having a great time too!
Runner Up: AndyCAPPS
Why we chose him: Andy impressed us with his technical talent and creation of a very enjoyable routine. I liked that he broke the mold and dared to do something a bit more mellow. There were definitely a lot of heavy sounds in that pack, but he clearly was not persuaded to go to “the dark side”, opting instead to stick to lightning-fast high hats and a unique melody. This performance seemed to be all about the music, something I feel is lost in a world of brutal bass. He also displayed some serious high hat speed, showing off his full dexterity. Thanks for doing something nice and original!
As always, there are some videos that were impressive but didn’t win the votes of all of the staff here at DJTT, but who absolutely deserve a special shout out. Check out the other two videos that were in our top picks below:
Honorable Mention #1: Jordan Reifkind
We’re always inspired by some of the younger folks who enter our contests – and Jordan is no exception to the rule. At 11 years old, he’s holding down a solid finger drumming routine and really making the most of the Novation Launchpad. Keep up the good work, Jordan and don’t stop practicing and making beats – we hope to see you in future contests!
Honorable Mention #2: Minh Nguyen
Minh Nguyen has a great quality video and performance here – and if we could have chosen more winners, Minh would be on the list for sure. The routine is tight and the video is clean – give it a watch and let him know what you think!
Watch all of the Side A video entries on this page on YouTube and leave some great feedback for your fellow community members.
SIDE B: REMIX PRODUCTION WINNERS
Judging remixes is naturally a completely different world than live performances. As we noted in the original contest post, we judged these based on originality, composition, and mix. Here’s the winning productions:
First Place: Beau Damion
Why we chose them: I must admit after listening to 56 remixes and watching nearly 20 videos, my ears were physically exhausted to hear the same chord progression over and over. This song was a breath of fresh air – the mix is well done, not too quiet, and well balanced. The composition moves along nicely and feels like one cohesive movement – I can even picture this tune going well on a dancefloor. Congrats Beau Damion, I hope your new monitors inspire more great music!
Runner Up: GXVM
Why we chose this one: I loved this remix and would definitely play it in one of my own sets. I think the reason it didn’t take first place was that people around the office were looking for something a bit more original in terms of switching up the style from the original track. That being said, this remix was definitely super groovy and sported an impeccable mix.
Honorable Mention: TSTRN
Why the honorable mention: It’s no secret that people here at the office are pretty pumped on bass music and this trap style that’s been going around for the past few months. We had to shout out to TRSTRN for delivering some future trill – way to stay on the crest of the wave. Keep it up and maybe you’ll get featured in A State of Trap.
Listen to all of the entries for the Side B remix contest in this Soundcloud group!
WANT THE PACKS / MISSED THE ORIGINAL?
If you’re still interested in grabbing the original parts and mashing it out yourself, it’s not too late! You can download the full soundpack here. Also, check out the original track that the remixes and soundpack were based off of:
If you missed the contest but still want new soundpacks delivered to your inbox each week to play with, just sign up for our weekly newsletter. I make a new one each week and take suggestions (tweet @madzach1). Sign up to get involved, post a video, make a tune, and most of all – have fun!
It was awesome listening to and watching all the entries, and really was tough to pick winners. We’re always pumped to see the controllerist and producer community come alive in these contests – you guys are going to change the world! Keep it up.
Thoughts about what type of contest you’d like to see next time? Let us know in the comments or let us know on Twitter.
Mad Zach is a maverick controllerist and producer, focused on bridging the gap between production and performance.
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