Lamp Sessions (Monthly Challenge #012) – August 2019

Our crew!

Whaddup everyone, now that we have had a little breather from that last beast of a challenge (real fucker, weren’t it?…also some of you still need to VOTE), let’s move into our next month’s challenge, and I hope everyone enjoys this 12th official LAMP CHALLENGE (1nce again, Big up R4NSOM for such an incredible streak!)!!!)!!!!!

This month is all about fucking shit up, on purpose. And I mean real sorts of fuckups: nasty DC offset that turns your waveform into a GD smiley face, ground loop noise, REAL DIGITAL distortion, ugly room tone, hard disk/CPU bleed into your soundcard, over filtering, over processing, extreme to the point of being well beyond disgusting, mobile phone interference noise…

Some of you will be too young to remember, but DJ’s back in the late 90’s/early 00’s used to live in fear of some near-standing twat’s phone ringing during their show, which would create this awful interference sound, not pleasant. But some dj/producer’s leaned into it and there were several tunes that featured that interference sound intentionally, albeit in a more well-mixed and musical way.

There was a house version:

There was a techno version:

And what was real crazy was that it was a different sound depending on the continent that you were on, which I suspect was just a difference between GSM and whatever we yanks were using at the time.

I digress, the point is, this month’s challenge is asking you to source broken, garbage-y shit, and process it & mix it & music it in such a way that it becomes aesthetically appealing. And it doesn’t even necessarily end up sounding like what the initial bad sound was, but as above, it certainly could.

Here is an example of what I am saying that isn’t so on the nose:

This tune is FUCKING DISGUSTING in such a GD good way. Even through the intro he’s doing some extreme resonant filtering that, if not wielded so excellently, could sound like shit. Very creative mixing. Current Value does this a lot in his mixes too, almost breaking time & space with his phasey resonant mixing. And you could create some of those broken sounds with real broken sounds, but even just the idea of it sounding like it’s about to bust wide open is part of the spirit of this challenge.

But no one’s asking you to change your style. Adapt this competition to you. If you’re a liquid guy, make it work for you, or funk or whatever. Oh and I would think that you half-step, Ivy League, drumstep, grime folks would be keen on this too.

The challenge begins TODAY, and here are some guidelines:

If you intend to participate, please give reply with some sort of positive affirmation. Even if you just *think* you might, I think a public promise might encourage more users to stay the course. (of course no harm if you can’t follow through…we all know life happens). AND, if you don’t happen to reply with a claim to start, but show up with a tune, no worries. I don’t givafuck how we get there, I just want as many of you to participate as possible!

Secondly:

I would like to give us all the chance to have a mid-month check-in, if we so desire. That can be everyone’s chance to get feedback, get help with issues, etc. I’m definitely down to help in any way I can.

Once submissions are in, please listen to the submissions & pick one demo as your favorite, other than your own submission; if you cannot participate but listen to the submissions, add your voice to the discussion. Feedback on final submissions is encouraged as well, but not required. Just remember “Want feedback? Give feedback.”

SUBMISSIONS DUE: Saturday August 31, 2019

VOTES DUE: Before the August samples go live, usually the 2nd of the month.
Genies and Moderators are exempt from prizes, so be sure to vote for another member.

SUBMIT: Upload a private track on SoundCloud and share the link in this thread any time after July 21, 2019. Collaborations are okay, but if you post a collab, you cannot also post a solo piece or additional collaborations.

PRIZE(?!?): GENIE HQ has final say, and will announce a winner at the conclusion of each month. Typically the winner will get a free month of Sample Genie next month, and possibly some additional feedback from a Sample Genie artist.

Any questions, just ask. Also, if you have any recommendations or ideas for future challenges, send them our way please!