The 2020 Lockdown Song Contest is over, and we have chosen four winners out of a total of 50 tracks. This was not an easy task, I assure you, as there were so many good songs! So, without further ado, here are the winners:

Winner #1 is Saulo Valerio

Hi, my name is Saulo and I love having a bit of fun with music – especially when guitars and synths are involved! Getting to experiment with the grooves produced by Per & Magnus is probably the next best thing to having a real badass drummer always available to you. Not only that but it also quite often inspires me to go in directions that perhaps I might not have gone otherwise.

Saulo Valerio https://soundcloud.com/saulovalerio

Winner #2: John Zealey

Gotta say, I am very stunned and very happy. I was finding all this lockdown stuff really hard and this midi pack was an excellent distraction and a good challenge. I wanted to use the files pretty much as they were. (I quantized first beats here and there on the beginnings of verse & choruses)  but I wanted the source files to dictate what I did. I did ‘up’ the tempo on the ballad pack but pretty much let the drums dictate the shape. I loved the human feel – so much more inspiring than other packs I used in the past.

I’ve been making music at home with varying degrees of success for many years now. I still don’t know what I’m doing but I love doing it. You can get my tunes on Spotify and download stuff for free from www.zealey.co.uk. Thanks again you Oddgroove guys for this. I’m looking forward to being inspired by a new arsenal of midi grooves. P.S. I used the free version of Steven Slate drums for the track!

 ‘Aint no stopping us now….’ etc, etc.

John Zealey www.zealey.co.uk

Winner #3: Per Boysen

Swedish multi-instrumentalist Per Boysen creates space-age soundscapes by blending Scandinavian ethnic music from past centuries with modern Electronic and New Age elements. He has performed Octophonic surround concerts in South-East Asia, Europe, and the USA, including venues like Présences Electronique in Paris and the North Sea Jazz in Rotterdam. With a background as a major label signed artist, DIY experimentalist, and studio guitar player, Per has scored a gold-selling album in Sweden and received recognition from Guitar Player Magazine in the USA.

Per Boysen http://www.perboysen.com/

Winner #4: Canyon Depths

Canyon Depths is led by guitarist, songwriter and home studio nerd Dennis Urquhart of Calgary, Canada. You can hear Canyon Depth’s guitar-based Rock, Pop, Prog, Blues, Jazz, Chill, Funk and Americana on all the major streaming platforms. Dennis frequently uses Oddgrooves drum midi for his songs. In fact, Magnus Brandell Signature 4/4 and Westcoast Drumming are two of his all-time favourite midi packs. Thanks for listening!

Dennis Urquhart https://open.spotify.com/artist/0OWBpN4KKAxFRA89VC9hlu

All of the submissions