CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION
Time Frame: Thursday, 01st August 2019 to Wednesday, 21st August 2019 (21 days)
Challenge submission will end on 21-08-2019, 11:59pm CEST/GMT+2 (Germany) - until further notice.
Want to find out if you're still within the deadline, please consult the following options:
The
Global Countdown on it's dedicated page or the countdown on the
home page. You can also consult the World Clock at the top of the forum or alternatively the following tool - in this case please select "Berlin (Germany)" as location 1, and your location as location 2:
Time and Date - World Clock Meeting Planner. We do post reminders via our
Twitter account and
Facebook page.
Song Provider: Dirk Mallwitz (feat. Sara Milena Imhoff)
Song Name and Length: Don't leave me (from the movie "WALTER" by Zejnula Sahiti), 2:31 min
Song Information: 130 BPM / Signature: 3/4, Key of C maj
File Format: WAV, 48kHz, 24bit
GENRE: Smooth Jazz
Preview of the Song:
A word from the song provider:
Dirk Mallwitz wrote:Plot: the main character, Walter, had a really bad day. He has lost his job, his girlfriend has left him, after he found her with another guy. so now he is in a live music bar with only one purpose: getting drunk quickly. Unfortunately he's being confused with a gangster carrying a bag with drugs - so his bad day isn't over yet...
The vocals start right away with no intro because of the script: the singer is already on stage when walter enters the bar. so the voice must be very present from the first second.
The challenge here is to make the song sound as if it was performed in a live jazz bar. So don't (over-) use big reverbs, for example. Avoid any harshness, if possible. Personally, I prefer a warm sound with a solid and round low end.
As always: no re-sampling allowed. please. use ALL tracks and do not re-arrange anything.
(more technical details in the Mix Pack bundled TXTs)
A few words by the Mix Challenge staff:
Staff (Mister Fox) wrote:"Don't leave me" might look easy on paper (especially if you take a look at the host screenshot), but this production can go various routes. Understanding the overall concept while paying attention to detail is the main key of this particular mixing challenge.
If you watch the music video, you'll notice that there is a certain room sound for the drums, while the vocals are sounding modern and very present. The current mix has a very late 80s/early 90s European Jazz/Pop-Rock feel. Depending on a certain focus on filtering, saturation and send effects, you can turn this song into a late 60s production, up until the sound of modern jazz/pop productions from the last 10 years.
I do recommend taking a dive on Youtube with the search term "Jazz Club". There you can find plenty of examples of live gigs at larger environments. But also productions like "The Hot Sardines - Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen", "Bright Lights Late Nights - the Speakeasies' Swing Band!", "Black Swamp Village - the Speakeasies' Swing Band!", "Rose & The Howling North 'Cuckoo'" (although the production is a bit too distorted for my taste), "Becca Krueger Cover of Ray Charles "Hit the Road Jack"", etc. Just to name a few examples. Although they do lack the strings and epiano parts a bit.
And of course there is still the Collective Cadenza (CDZA) and Postmodern Jukebox - two rotating musical collectives that got popular with cover versions of modern productions, but ported to "jazz and swing". I can more than recommend taking a closer look at those two groups to get inspired in terms of audio productions.
Other than that, have fun and good luck.
Please also consult the TXT files that are bundled in the source files package below. There you can find more information about the individual files and changes to the time signature.
Special Add-On Rules:
- try to create a mix that complements this production (in your own style)
- Clean / Alternative versions can be used if you need more flexibility over a certain sound (if present in this production)
- No rearrangement or pitch shifting of the song structure, with the exception of the following add-on rules
- PRODUCTION RELATED: make the best out of the provided audio material (EQ, compression, transient tools, etc), no "drum sample triggering / replacement"! Failing to adhere to this rule will result in instant disqualification
- summing bus processing is allowed, as long as the dynamic range (average signal strength to maximum signal strength) doesn't suffer - use of this method is artistically!
- try to not(!) pre-master the track (please no overuse of mix bus treatment, no loudness adjustments / limiting) - read: NO MASTERING
[moderate=Mister Fox]Additional Information:
There is a music video bundled with the package. You can use this during the mixing process for possible guidance at your own private leisure. But you can not distribute the video with your edit, as the content owner doesn't allow this (WAM - Die Werbe- und Medien-Akademie).[/moderate]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source Files:
Main Mix Package - Mirror on the Mix Challenge Homepage (377,94 MB, LZMA compressed, zip)
The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression.
File size extracted: 903,30 MB, packed 377,94 MB (ZIP, LZMA)
In order to extract the files, we can recommend these programs:
Macintosh:
The Unarchiver -
get it here
Keka (open source) -
get it here
Windows:
7zip -
Installation /
Portable
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please
take note of the official rules - they can be found at the following thread:
Mix Challenge - Official Rules and Guidelines
Please address any OT question in the official Gossip thread:
Mix Challenge - Gossip and Discussion
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPONSORS (Prizes):
Prizes for Mix Challenge participants:
Note: All licenses are NFR (Not-For-Resale), except where noted.
Changes to available prices on short notice may be possible and will be announced separately.
Acon Digital is kind enough give away a single plugin of winner's choice
License will turn into NFR
More info on Acon Digital:
http://acondigital.com
Hornet Plugins is kind enough give away one license from the depicted tools (see image) to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Hornet Plugins:
http://www.hornetplugins.com
IK Multimedia is kind enough give away one license of T-RackS ONE to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on IK Multimedia:
https://www.ikmultimedia.com
Metric Halo is kind enough to give away a single plugin of winner's choice
License will turn into NFR
More info about Metric Halo:
http://mhsecure.com/metric_halo/
MuTools is kind enough give away one license of MUX Modular 7 of winner's choice
License will turn into NFR
More info on MuTools:
http://www.mutools.com/
NOS Audio is kind enough give away one license of NOS Roomer to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on NOS Audio:
http://www.nosaudio.com/
Sonarworks is kind enough give away one license of
Reference 4 Headphone edition to the winner (until further notice)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Sonarworks:
https://www.sonarworks.com
Tone2 is kind enough to donate a license of
Ultraspace to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Tone2:
https://tone2.com
THANKS FOR THE LICENSE DONATIONS!
And also a thank you to all former contributors as well.
If you want to sponsor content (please have a focus on mix plugins, bundles and the likes), please get in touch with the Mix Challenge staff.
Please spread the word of the challenge on social media.
For example with our dedicated
Twitter Account or
Facebook Page
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good luck to all participants.
And most importantly, have fun!
