The long-awaited results of ASTERIAN's song contest are now available!
After a frenzied lead-up to the NAMM Show, and our team being quite sick afterwards, we were finally able to pull ourselves back together to get the results ready for the ASTERIAN 1st Anniversary Song Contest! Thank you for your patience and bearing with us as our schedule was thrown off by challenges related to the event and unexpected sickness - and thank you to all the amazing songwriters for your entries to this event!
Additional Prizes
As we did last time with SOLARIA's contest - we have added some additional prizes and recognitions for other entry categories!
All runners-up, superlatives, and team picks will receive the full version of ASTERIAN for themselves or to give to a friend, as well as a single use, non-expiring 20% off coupon for our store, which will be in place after our website migration is complete. |
The competition was extremely close, so the runner-up to first place has been added - this entrant will receive $1000 USD, as well as the same secondary prizes as first place. (Physical editions and the option to collaborate on a video version of their entry to be uploaded to the Eclipsed Sounds channel, if desired) |
Any top 5 entrants who are eligible to choose physical or digital editions of Eclipsed Sounds vocals as prizes may also select our next vocal project as their prize, which they will receive on release of that project. We suggest that entrants who may be interested in a new vocal instead to wait for the announcement if they are not in a hurry to receive one of our currently available vocals. Winners who will receive all of our vocals will receive the next vocal automatically on release. |
Runners-Up
With so many incredible entries, there just wasn't enough room for all of the best ones in the top 6! Please check out a few of these really great runners-up chosen jointly by our team.
Runner-Up: "You Belong With Me" by Samuel Lidström
This entrancing theatrical piece places ASTERIAN as an intimidating villain character in what feels like a stage play! We could just picture ASTERIAN playing a character that paces around the lead in a dramatic turn in a musical. The production is very solid & compliments his voice extremely well!
Runner-Up: "Authority" by PKAY
Authority is an extremely cool song that really impressed us with its usage of ASTERIAN's unique falsetto range! We also really enjoyed the vocal layering and harmonies, and commend PKAY on making ASTERIAN work very well in a style we didn't know was possible!
Runner-Up: "Moonlight Serenade" by TheAmazingKaleb
"Moonlight Serenade" is a lovely and passionate ballad that really brings out the sentimental aspects of ASTERIAN's voice in one of his ideal genres in a way that truly charmed our entire team. We love the warm and pure sound of the lyrics, which compliment ASTERIAN's voice extremely well!
Runner-Up: Take It Slow by Tom Price
This relaxing & nostalgic song by Tom Price put a smile on all of our team members' faces from the first moment we heard it. We absolutely loved the chill sound and thought it absolutely suited ASTERIAN's voice and let him shine in such a nice way that we couldn't stop listening.
Team Picks & Superlatives
We also wanted to spotlight a few additional songs that may not have made it into our top 10, but that we felt deserved certain recognition regardless! We're also doing something new for this contest, and spotlighting some specific songs picked by each of our team members.
Elijah's Pick: "心底" by kuuhaku
Elijah: A wonderful electro swing song that just makes you want to dance! I love the piano solo underlined by synths and drums that goes right into ASTERIAN scatting. This is a great example of how users are able to push Synthezier V; each person is only ever bound by their creativity. This is something I'm sure I'll be listening to over and over!
Brielle's Pick: "departed you" by Du Du Danyon & ePiaeon
Brielle: I feel that this song showcases so much of the heart and tenderness that ASTERIAN can bring to any piece. This song touched me in a personal way, and I found myself relating to the lyrics more than I had expected I would. ASTERIAN seems to gently carry the listener through the piece all the way to the end, where he quietly asks one last time “Will I wither away, so blue?” before seeming to drift off to sleep. This piece is a lovely testament to how vocal synth can be the perfect conduit to express what we can’t through words alone.
Niamh's Pick: "Burning Brighter" by Iriku Atsushi
Niamh: Between an emotional chorus, time signature changes and intense guitar riffs, Burning Brighter caught my attention and made me remember why I love metal music. If you're looking for an excellent melding of metal and vocal synth, Iriku Atushi has pulled through with this piece!
Taylor's Pick: "Play A Game" by Kkiquu
Taylor: This piece really utilizes ASTERIAN's range to an awesome extent! It sits at a very comfortable point for him that dips lower at certain points to great effect. I really loved the hypnotizing vibe of this song and I thought it was a perfect example of how a bass singer can be used smartly as part of electronic music, which is usually so heavily reliant on bass-heavy synths for its impact - "Play A Game" balances the synth bass and vocal bass really well in a way that's super compelling to me!
Most Charming: "Grateful" by RemixSyde
An extremely cute and memorable acappella doo-wop song, "Grateful" put a smile on all of our faces. The harmonies were definitely carefully put together to keep the whole song feeling light and wonderful throughout. This song could certainly brighten any day!
Best Duet: "The Miracle of Circle" by m.Freaks
"The Miracle of Circle" is an extremely charming duet song that feels like it would be perfectly at home in a feel-good romantic musical as the centerpiece with the two leads! We thought SOLARIA & ASTERIAN sounded absolutely lovely here.
Most Unique: "The Downs Overture" by R10 & Sober Biscuit
A song that feels very much like a combination of multiple wildly different pieces - R10 uses ASTERIAN & SOLARIA to great effect in this eclectic and funny song. At different parts dramatic, silly, and downright wild, "The Downs Overture" was definitely the most unique song in the entire event!
Winning Songs
Fifth Place: "Wish You All The Best" by Marvin Valentin & Aku P
An extremely strong piece - the arrangement of "Wish You All The Best" switches off the bass range duties with ASTERIAN throughout its progression to great effect! The vocal layering adds a lot of presence to the song and the beat combines with his voice to work perfectly for the "bitter but better off without you" tone of the lyrics.
Fourth Place: "HEARTLESS" by Haa-Kun
This electronic song features ASTERIAN in a uniquely high area of his register, taking advantage of his natural strain and falsetto transition to blend perfectly with an energetic instrumental. We were impressed by how the song felt like it was built around ASTERIAN's higher tone, and how the vocal parts complimented that immensely.
Third Place: "Ship of Theseus" by MonochroMenace & MonochromeMedia
"Ship of Theseus" is an excellent song that perfectly uses ASTERIAN's low range and places him very well in the arrangement of the song. Our favorite part was the verses, which we were absolutely entranced by! We also thought the theme was particularly well executed overall, especially with usage of strong visual themes in the lyrics and their placement in the song!
Second Place: "Otworze ci Niebosklon" ("I'll Open The Sky For You") by PixPrucer
An entry that became a quick favorite of ours during the judging process - "Otworze ci Niebosklon" has an excellent progression that creates a warm and inviting sound while expertly leveraging ASTERIAN's vocal mode options in both subtle and surprising ways throughout the song to pull the user into the piece completely. PixPrucer also goes the extra mile and puts the work in to get ASTERIAN to perform this piece in Polish - which we were also very impressed by!
First Runner-Up: "Learnin Love" by henryhenry
"Learnin Love" is a wonderful and nostalgic piece with an extremely charming, celebratory tone. We fell in love with it almost instantly and it quickly climbed the ranks of the contest into the top 10. The warm and upbeat sound suits ASTERIAN's voice in this comfortable part of his upper range extremely well, and we couldn't help but keep listening.
First Place - "La Mia Anima" by Alessandro Zocco & Rossano Eleuteri
This soulful guitar ballad really pulls ASTERIAN into the emotional center - with exquisite vocal layering and a build to the last chorus that lead us through the whole song. "La Mia Anima" brings out all of the warmth and natural expression in ASTERIAN's voice with a seeming ease that wowed all of our team members! As if that wasn't enough, Alessandro & Rossano also go the extra mile and have ASTERIAN perform the song entirely in Italian. With that, alongside the excellent production and expert usage of ASTERIAN, we're happy to have "La Mia Anima" as our winning song for ASTERIAN's 1st Anniversary Song Contest!
Entry Playlists
With so many entries, there is definitely a song for everyone's taste! Be sure to check out the entries and leave some comments and support for your favorites. If your entry was mistakenly not included in these playlists, or if you have since uploaded a new version to another platform - please feel free to contact us via email to make sure we add it in!
YouTube Entries Playlist
Soundcloud Entries
Thank you to all of our participants for making this a wonderful event, sharing your incredible songs, and for helping us celebrate ASTERIAN's first anniversary!
Eclipsed Sounds Update
Thank you for your support and patience while we get back to things after NAMM and a period of illness for our team! While we've been quiet for longer than anticipated, we have a lot planned for this year! Here's just a taste of what we've got on our plate.
Coming up very soon:
Website migration & re-design process (beginning later today)
SOLARIA "SUNDIAL" album production
More information on our upcoming projects
Also this year:
Song contest & Lite version release for SAROS
The completion of our Starry Court series of vocals
A transition to our "Phase 2" plans
We also are finally in a place where we can go through and begin working even more user requests into our plans! Do you have an idea for an event we could host? What kind of vocals do you want us to pursue next? Is there a convention or conference you want to see Eclipsed Sounds at in the future? Please feel free to let us know any time using our contact form! While we have always prioritized user requests, we have not always had the opportunity to fulfill as many as we would have liked, but as we work through current projects, we are opening up more time to address the requests of our users.
Later this evening, we will be beginning our website migration at long last. Our website format will change somewhat after the migration, and for a certain period of time certain pages may be unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience!
Lastly, we urge customers, users, and supporters to seek support primarily through our contact email address or website contact form when asking questions, instead of through social media. We often receive questions on social channels that can often be hard for us to see or respond to when we receive so many notifications, or when many social media sites have lackluster notifications or visibility for their messaging systems. Please attempt to reach us through email to ensure your inquiry is answered or addressed, thank you!