HVB

from a strategic perspective, i'd say just try to go with what you're used to? as in like, pick an element of your composing process to be what you go all in on, and for anything else just stick to what you're comfortable with. for example, for my last entry i did some piano chords with a darker tone + a chip lead with some heavy reverb just cuz i've done that exact sound a bajillion times before--i don't really have to think much about the effects chain for the instruments to get them sounding good, which meant that i could put my focus towards programming midi.

however, that's only if you're trying to win, and most of my advice is not so strategic. namely: just do it! compose a song in an hour and then just upload it! simple! easy! done deal!
....... okay, obviously that's not quite so straightforward of an ask, especially if you're new, and you're of course welcome to approach these with whatever mindset you feel would suit you best. but for me, the biggest reason that i've found OHBs to be valuable, by far, is the fact that they produce measurable improvements to my workflow and the quality of the music i make outside of the battles. the time limit forcing you to be efficient makes it necessary for you to actually understand the processes you're working with, and so while you may struggle for your first few battles, i guarantee that you'll start to feel significant upticks in the kind of DAW/tracker witchery you're able to produce, just by simply participating.

also, remember that everyone is making this shit in an hour--this is not a format that is intended to produce work that feels polished, or even remotely finished. if the submission pools get big enough, there are probably gonna be a couple super polished entries, but 9 times out of 10 they're coming from the veterans who have dozens of OHBs under their belts, and 100% should not be the baseline from which you're judging your own work. polish and length do not need to be a priority, by any means, especially if you're just starting out, and 20 seconds of something very unpolished yet super ambitious will be seen just as highly as 3 incredibly polished minutes of something pretty simple.

i'd also like to emphasize that it is more than fine if what you end up making sucks ass, because, for one, it doesn't--at least not entirely. the regulars over on BotB are nice people--they'll hear all the effort that you put in given such a constrained time limit, they'll understand the vision through the most compelling components of your piece, and they'll see the potential for what the piece could become if you were to give your piece some extra love post-battle. don't be afraid to submit something just because you feel like what you wrote is weak--instead, try and see that submission as an opportunity for kind eyes to provide a new, constructive perspective on your work.

lastly: i'm still pretty new to these things! i had a spell in the fall of 2021 where i did some compos on another website, racking up a whopping four entries, with last week's fallgear bringing my total to five. i'd like to place a lot of emphasis here on the fact that every time i listen to these old compos, i notice clear and demonstrable weaknesses in each of them--but i still adore them with all of my heart, as they've become a time capsule for my composing abilities and musical interests at the time. i can clearly see the work i was putting in to figure out synth design and automation, the beginning moments of figuring out how to diversify my chord progressions, and all the fun i was having by founding my songs on weird ass arpeggios. i was experimenting, fucking up, and figuring out why, and i have the privilege of being able to reminisce on those moments through these songs. so, if nothing else, submitting your work to these battles serves as a fabulous way to document your improvement and, in essence, archive who you are and how you have grown as a musician.

anyways, that's about everything! if you're reading this post right after I posted it and think you wanna give an OHB a shot, fallgear revival #6 is happening in about an hour as of posting this! that's 4pm cst, every sunday (don't quote me on that though lmao). it's an allgear, which means you can use whatever you want, so long as it can put music on an mp3 file. Just refresh the page when the timer hits 0, download the bitpack (see image below) for the theme, and make some music to match it! There are some further rules, but so long if you make it largely from scratch and you're trying your best to make something that sounds good you won't break them. good luck!!!