CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION
Time Frame: Thursday, 01st December 2022 to Wednesday, 21st December 2022 (21 days)
Challenge submission will end on 21-DEC-2022, 23:59 UTC+1/CET (Germany) - until further notice.
Want to find out if you're still within the deadline, please either consult the
Global Countdown (dedicated page), or the countdown on the
landing site. There will also be short reminders on Social Media and on
Discord.
Song Provider: Hooker and a Handgun (represented by Ron Stokes)
Song Name and Length: INFERNO, 3:12 min
Song Information: 120 BPM / Signature: 4/4
File Format: WAV, 44kHz, 24bit
GENRE: Progressive Rock
Preview of the Song (Demo Mix):
INFORMATION: This version might sound different from the provided multi-tracks.
A word from the song provider:
Ron Stokes wrote:Dear friends,
I'm happy to share this very special Mix Challenge with you this month, together with the UK/CANADIAN Band "HOOKER AND A HANDGUN".
The band was designed by me, Ron Stokes (guitar player, producer), to try to fit a pocket between "Alexis on Fire" and "Thrice". For two years I searched for a singer to be able to fit the image. I looked locally and all over social media with no luck and then finally found (Jim) on a vocalist website. I passed the idea by him and just by luck Alxis on Fire and Thrice were his two favourite bands. Now that my search was over I started to send Jim the music for the album and right away he started filling in the lyrics. One by one we knocked out every song and were left with our album "INFERNO". I was impressed with how close he came to my vision I was getting really excited.
Jim is from the UK and I am from the Toronto Area in Ontario Canada. Jim and I wrote all of the music and lyrics together in our studios, on the album I basically play every instrument for every song except for Ultraviolet where our drummer and bass player weren't tied to family obligations and covid restrictions and were able to record with us.
All of the album songs were created during the lockdowns between 2019 and 2022. The songs were mixed by me while I was finishing off my mixing course. For the vocals the goal was to sound as if we had 3 singers instead of one. This was my last project before my coach was to send me off to take on professional clients. He was impressed with how everything turned out considering it was my first album release.
The whole album had great reviews and the other single "Ultraviolet" had radio play within the first two weeks of the album release on Boston Rock Radio (a great radio station for prog rock by the way) as well as other magazine articles written on it and promoters talking about it locally. We are currently writing a new album at so Washburn Records so watch out for it in 2023!
Some things to keep in mind are:
1) the guitars are off time on purpose
2) the drums are programmed with GGD OKW METAL but do have some parts with samples from Heavy Hitter by Presonus (stereo fill track) that I had to blend in with the GGD
3) the drum overheads are just one stereo track
I am very open to new tones for guitars, bass. If you would like to do something new with the vocals I am open to hearing what you come up with (tuning, grit, glitching, repeating, overall feel)
Good luck, and have fun!
I am looking forward to hearing what everyone does with it.
Cheers!
Ron
(more technical details in the Mix Pack bundled TXTs)
A few words by the Mix Challenge staff:
Mister Fox wrote:Quite the interesting production, which definitely goes towards the "Metalcore" genre. I highly recommend you not to just try to copy the mix 1-on-1 this month, but actually build upon what has been given to you, see where the road takes you.
The multi-tracks offer a lot of room for sound shaping experimentation. And you can decide which route this goes, depending on your tool usage. Utilizing creative effects is allowed, as long as the overall arrangement stays untouched (see request on instrument timing).
If you want to draw inspiration for a more rougher (also down-tuned) tone, then I can recommend taking a listen to bands like "Refused", "Of Mice & Men", maybe even "Our Mirage" or "Bad Omens".
Take a risk this Mix(ing) Challenge, let your creativity run wild.
Have fun!
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.
Rule Summary / Add-On Rules:
► Show Spoiler
- try to create a mix that complements this production (in your own style)
- the focus of this game is "mixing" - NO MASTERING. Edit/Mix in such a way, that barely any after-touches other than proper fade in/out and finalizing for distribution (incl. loudness adjustments e.g. for release on Streaming, Vinyl, Tape, CD) is needed for a possible follow-up mastering step.
- Clean / Alternative versions can be used if you need more flexibility over a certain sound (if present for this production)
- make the best out of the provided audio material (EQ, compression, transient tools, etc), no "drum sample triggering / replacement", neither any changes to the arrangement (copy/add/move/remove parts)! (unless otherwise stated)
- please only provide WAV files, files need to be accessible/downloadable from your preferred cloud storage space (no SoundCloud, WeTransfer or similar!)
- render the edited material in the same sampling rate and bitrate as originally provided (MC089 / December => 44/24)
- ADD-ON RULES - PRODUCTION RELATED:
- Important: the following files from the "Mix Package" downloaded prior to 02-DEC-2022 have been made obsolete. Please do not use them in your mix! Filenames: "GUITAR 1 DUB - DI.wav" and "GUITAR 1 DUB.wav"
- Filename Template: MC089__Hooker_and_a_Handgun__INFERNO__ForumUsername.wav
- no (more) add-on rules specified
Please consult the official
Rules and Guidelines for a more detailed set of rules, including how to document your edits, maximum loudness values and delivery formats (see
Rule Book - Post #6).
Failing to adhere to the rules will result in disqualification. There will be no additional reminders given.
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SOURCE FILES:
Main Mix Package - full package (389,47 MB, LZMA compressed, zip)
IMPORTANT NOTE: download window might show a smaller file size, file unavailable after 21-DEC-2022
The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression (specs from 2015).
File size extracted: 955,23 MB, packed 389,47 MB (ZIP, LZMA)
In order to extract the files, we can recommend these programs / apps:
Macintosh:
The Unarchiver -
get it here
Keka (open source) -
get it here (please take note of the
file extraction guide)
Windows:
7zip -
Installation /
Portable
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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 to give away a single plugin of winner's choice (exception: Verberate Immersive)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Acon Digital:
https://acondigital.com/
Hornet Plugins is kind enough to give away one license from the depicted tools (see image) to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Hornet Plugins:
https://www.hornetplugins.com/
IK Multimedia is kind enough to give away one license of T-RackS Tape Machine Collection 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:
https://mhsecure.com/metric_halo/
NOS Audio is kind enough to give away one license of NOS Roomer to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on NOS Audio:
https://www.nosaudio.com/
NUGEN Audio is kind enough to give away one license from the depicted tools (see image) to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on NUGEN Audio:
https://nugenaudio.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.
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Good luck to all participants.
And most importantly, have fun!
