INTRODUCING
O.C.R.I.N
Original Creations Rich In Narrative
INTRODUCTION
Music with a Story. Storytelling is one of the greatest ways to inspire or pass knowledge from one person to another. Music is another great way to express yourself through sound. By combining Music & Storytelling, we create a precious artwork that is appealing to the heart and soul while also taking the listener through a journey of feeling and emotion.
OCRIN (Original Creations Rich In Narrative) is a project by Zyneth Music to inspire music artists like yourself to give meaning & identity to your music. Music shouldn’t just be a combination of sounds that just sound good, but it should also bring value to its listener. Music should be impactful and memorable, while also being rich in narrative (storytelling) and culture (elements that are associated with a group of people belonging to a certain culture, time in history, place, country, tradition, etc.)
CHALLENGE
Zyneth Music challenges you to make an Original Musical Work (song) that is rich in Meaning, Narrative and Culture. I challenge you to follow a process of Researching, Forming an Intention, Creating an original composition, arranging, mixing, and mastering your song for submission.
This is for you to challenge your music creation skills, from the bare composition (notes, chords, rhythm, tempo, and time signature) to the final mixing stage. I’m pushing you to get out of your comfort zone and to think about how the listener will feel and experience your song. You are an artist, you’re in control, think about your Intention and what you actually want people to feel and experience. Tell a story without using words. Think about the beginning to the end of the story. Go Crazy!! I’m encouraging it
I’m gonna provide you with resources to help guide you and to aid you in your creative process.
OCRIN PRODUCTION PROCESS
This Project follows a contextual (related to a time, place, culture, popular trends) production process, inspired by the Architectural design process that architects use to design buildings that carry meaning. Follow this process when doing this project.
The Story
Artists are challenged to create a story based on something they are passionate about or something they think the world should hear. Think about how you’re gonna tell the story and which sounds are gonna represent a place, a weather, an emotion, movement, standing still, space, etc.
What stands out to you the most in the story, and how would you like to represent it through sound
Context
Context is elements that are related to a time in history, a culture, a tradition, a place, a people or music. Research and see how you are gonna use these elements to reinforce your intention. We all have a favourite genre, culture, style & instrument, see how you can mix these with contextual elements to make a unique piece of music.
For example, In the Movie: “Black Panther”, the context was Africa, so they made sure to combine African inspired traditions, culture and music with western elements to reinforce the feeling and experience of being an African in a modern era. African Artists, Instruments, and Musical themes were also used to compose the score (music for film) for the movie
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcO5klPyfX4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySEpQqKLZPI
Precedents.
Precedents are past projects that can act as an example to guide your creative process. Research your story and intention. Learn how a similar story or intention was done in the past, and see how you can apply it to your music now. Every new idea is a product of past experience or knowledge.
Composition
The composition consists of the building blocks of your entire song, It’s what drives the story and intention. It consists of the Elements of Composition, which include the:
Key & Modes
Melody
Chord Progression
Tempo
Time signature
Rhythm
Think about which element above will drive your intention and which instrument you will use to write your composition.
Instrumentation
This is where you decide which instruments represent what, which is the main instrument, which are the support instruments, and when & why they are used.
An example is a flute representing flight or a bird, or a drum representing running, movement or danger, etc. Each instrument should have a purpose in the song.
Arrangement
Most of this stage is covered during the Composition and Instrumentation stage. It is the stage where you start putting all the different knowledge and elements together to form one coherent (unified whole) story.
This stage is where you spend the most of your time, so no need to rush it, know what you want and don’t be afraid to go back to previous stages if you feel something is missing or something needs to be changed or if you need to start over.
Mixing & Mastering
Mixing is when you start modifying the sound quality of each sound and how they sound when played together. At this stage you are happy with the arrangement, and are now enhancing the sound quality.
Mastering is when you’re happy with the overall mix and you want to adjust the overall level (volume) of the entire mix.
Remember!!
You Are the Artists, You Are In Charge of your Story
Do your research, you will learn more than you thought you would. Learn from the Past
Music Production is not always step 1-7, sometimes we alternate between different steps during the process.
RULES & REQUIREMENTS
Film the Production Process
Film the process as much as you can, from the 1st step to the last step. I will provide you with a Google Drive Folder where you can upload your videos, so you can save on storage.
This is so we can put together & create a production series with all our Artists, to share with the audience. In this age of quick music and AI, people want to relate to the music artist and to see you do what you love. This will show your audience your thinking process & how each sound came to be. This is also to prevent usage of AI or copyrighted material in the process.
Remember, I’m not looking for perfection, I want the mistakes, the starting over, the self doubting moments, because that’s part of the process, were looking for what is REAL.
Examples:
Jon Bellion - The Making Of Guillotine (Behind The Scenes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGO-CAImUeY
Fred Again: https://www.youtube.com/@Fredagainagain/shorts
Martin Garrix Show - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOPmDfV0hAMbZM1dnmlOAc2WqnDOv-NeE
Filming Landscape Recommended
1920 x 1080 Quality (1080p on some cameras, FHD on Samsung) is recommended (4k/UHD is simply too large and will use up too much space)
I will provide you with a Google Drive Folder to upload your videos
Good Lighting is key so people can see you clearly
Make sure you clearly hear the music in the video
It’s up to you whether you want to talk through the process or not, but it’s always better to guide people through what you’re doing, in any language of your choice.
Before you upload, ensure your video file name includes the the Date & Time Taken
Here’s a video to help you learn to film with your phone’s camera. Most phones today have a pro mode included in the native camera app.
Master Mobile Filmmaking in 20 Minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LDbloNewgk
What not to use
No Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) may be used at all. This is to challenge Human creativity to see how far you can push the boundaries. You’d be surprised how much better you are than AI.
No Copyrighted material may be used. This includes samples, loops or any sounds taken from another artist’s work.
No loops may be used. No melody, chord or drum loops may be used. Most sample packs today come with loops, and unfortunately these loops get used by thousands of artists, resulting in hundreds of songs sharing a sample.
Sample pack uses are only limited to one-shots and effects. I encourage you to also create some of your own samples. Record something, your voice, a pan, a table and turn it into an instrument.
Collaboration
You may collaborate with anyone you wish. They should also be included in the videos and credited when submitting the final version
Timeline
Although you don’t have to follow this timeline, it’s to guide you through your production process all the way to the submission date. The times below are a bit exaggerated, to give you more than enough time to get through each stage
#
Stage
Category
Estimated Time
1
Story + Intention
Intention + Analysis
FEB 1 - 28
2
Context + Research
3
Precedents
4
Composition
Creative Process
MAR 1 - APR 30
5
Instrumentation
6
Arrangement
7
Mixing
Quality Control
MAY 1 - 31
8
Mastering
SUBMISSION
The project is DUE ON: Sunday, 31 MAY 2026
Please Submit the following:
Final Music File in .WAV Format
Project File with all used samples included in a compressed (.ZIP) folder
A list of plugins you used in the process
Sound or Sample pack licenses
Music Metadata
Submit Here
All Videos are to be Submitted to a Google Drive Folder that will be provided privately to your whatsapp number. Ensure all videos are submitted before the due date.
What you should Know
As you may know, the music industry has been changing a lot in the last 5 years, especially with the arrival of AI & new music creation tools. Now anyone with a cellphone can create a song & release it in less than five minutes. For us this is not a threat to music, but a threat to creativity and critical thinking itself.
OCRIN is our first attempt to try something new. A new release model that is gonna differentiate our Music from others. We’re adopting the Direct to Consumer Model, where we market & sell music as a product directly to fans, instead of releasing it on streaming platforms. For the first 6 months of the year, we’re gonna be marketing this project to fans, the press, and our partners, using the videos you upload to Google Drive.
Read more about this topic here: Read More
As this is a Commissioned Work, where the Record is a Sound Recording commissioned by the Company, and the Company has paid for the creation thereof (by making the arrangements for the first fixing of the sounds), the Company shall be the first owner of the copyright in that sound recording in terms of the Copyright Act.
The rest is written in your Artist Agreement with Zyneth Music
RESOURCES
In this Sound Library folder are samples which we sourced that could help you in your production process. Access Here
Cymatics: https://cymatics.fm/ give you a license to use their samples in your creations here: https://cymatics.fm/pages/free-sample-packs-license-agreement Make sure to get one every time you download sample packs and send it with your project file at the end.
Below are videos & youtube channels to add to your knowledge of music creation:
Composition
The building blocks of a song
Music Theory Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbhhI_j7e0uZi4FVb7f1PitmaaBWPJXSS
Modes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FRmmnKSBdg
Circle of fifths - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O43EBVnwNvo
Chords - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gHvQTGi5bk&list=PLbc5xxbd7HSuhIhK2qxj0D4nTwGR892P1&index=37
Leitmotifs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91IQJEzLHY4
Syncopation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i771BfzRxjc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uqu-aD9HpU
Sound Design Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbhhI_j7e0uZpxHIJ9RqL5qowUUQM7kvD
Mixing
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx5i827-FDqOYGlVKM58mXnMV-rET--LL
https://www.youtube.com/@AudioUniversity/
EQ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF2iKVS88kU
Stereo Imaging
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwaZ85VeUoU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWW-ppRjmCQ
Phasing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrXHVWPGdeQ
Volumes (Gain staging) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCBHysRV4vs
Music As 3D Space - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk9bKVmAXSk&t=201s
Reverb - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA4rZgq0RaI
Compression (Side-chaining) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8BWhS8gwio
Channels to Follow
Music Theory - https://www.youtube.com/@Woochia
Sound Design - https://www.youtube.com/@Woochia
Music Theory (Staff Music) - https://www.youtube.com/@michaelparchaiski
Music Theory - https://www.youtube.com/@LeviMcClain
Chords - https://www.youtube.com/@jaronlopez
Composing
https://www.youtube.com/@CinematicComposing
https://www.youtube.com/@NahreSol
Music Production
https://www.youtube.com/@AudioUniversity
https://www.youtube.com/@inthemix
More
https://www.youtube.com/@DanielsWall
https://www.youtube.com/@mixwiththemasters
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLx_Nt-I7Viqw0ucHEhbIAG5JP7zr5M7i
Conclusion
I’m excited to see what you do in this challenge, I hope you’ll take this opportunity to push the boundaries and try something new and unique. Let your music take people for a journey, let your music tell a story, one to remember for years to come.
Don’t limit your song to just 3 or 6 mins, make it longer, try 10 or 15mins, make your story worth listening to.
If you need help or More info, feel free to contact Me here
Whatsapp: 071 760 4023
Email: