MIX CHALLENGE - MC089 December 2022 - Winners announced

[scottfitz]

Asides from the stereo guitars issue, this was also my first proper attempt using amp emulators and they are certainly problematic. I think it was the octave part that I struggled most with on the chorus, the long held notes. If I selected the sound I wanted it would break up in a horrible digital way towards the ends of the notes. In the end I had to bodge together a solution for this. I tried putting noise reduction software on pre the amp emulators which both solved part of the problem but created a new one. From memory I kept the noise reduction on the chorus lead guitars but took it off all the others as the overall sound suffered too much. If there is only one slightly dodgy digital amp emulator on a complex track, then this is one thing, but having 4 or 5 different ones as I did and having them form the main sound of the track is extremely hazardous as where the problems start to overlap it's game over. On the long held notes in the end I copy and pasted little pieces of audio from either side over the bit that broke up the worst and you couldn't hear the fix on the final version.

[diegoneryproducoes]

Before mixing I listened to everything and found repeated tracks. So I put both in mono and reversed the phase to make sure they were identical tracks. I discarded the repeated tracks and worked with only 4 guitars. Two guitars are at 70% L and 70% R. The chorus guitars are around 35% L and 35% R. This guitar issue I know has already been discussed between the music provider and a mixing engineer from this group . I also saved the audios of the guitars and bass DI to add more distortion or if necessary change the timbre of the instruments. However, I didn't use the DI audios in my mix. I found the distortions chosen to be very tasteful.

[Mister Fox]

The "Overview of Submissions" PDFs have been uploaded.
You can check them through the upper post (post #098).



The Statistic Sheet is used to give an overview of all entries, and whether or not they are within given parameters (loudness, sampling rate, bitrate). This is adding to the overall learning process of the "Mix(ing) Challenge". Please take note that creating this sheet is not a fully automated process. I am using Wavelab 10's "Batch Analysis" tool (EBU R-128 specs / equivalent to ITU-R BS.1770-4), but the overall layout and highlighting issues/mishaps, is time consuming. If you do not find yourself on this list, please let me know.

Please keep in mind, your mix being "tagged disqualified", does not mean "you're out of the game" (exceptions do apply). For more information on the Statistic Sheet and the "Wild Card" Mechanic, please consult the following addendum thread:

Mix Challenge - Addendum: Statistic Sheet and Wild Card Mechanic



Statistics Addendum:

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	We have a disqualification rate of 22,78% for December 2022 (66 entries, 15 disqualifications, 1 "Out of Competition" submissions). On average (23 months of tracking), we currently have a disqualification rate of 25,27% (compared to last month's 25,39% avg), the rate is on a slight decline. The disqualification rate over the course of the last 12 games (July 2021 to December 2022) is about 21,80% (previously 22,08%), and is on a decline.

A commentary on this month's entries:

Another warm welcome to all new participants that found their from other audio communities. I hope you enjoy your stay, had fun, and could learn something from this experience. I am also happy to see regulars returning this month.


Although,it has been a while that we've seen some severe careless mistakes in a game. For example, one user (@Davias) submitted an entry as plain MP3, another user (@againstpower) not only submitted a mix after the deadline, it was also in Mono. These two mixes are unfortunately fully "OUT". Merely "tagged disqualified" are the usual monthly outliers with loudness specs, using the wrong sampling rate and/or bitrate, or not providing suitable enough documentation (as in: at least talk about one possible issue you've tackled and how you got there, or explain one sound you enjoyed sculpting).

I have also been fairly lenient this month. For example, one user admitting to do a re-upload (@aggropop), while submissions are final. I PM'd another user and allowed re-providing a new download link, since the file was wrapped in a ZIP, and didn't use any provided filename template. These users would have technically been out. However, since it's the Winter Holidays, being new to the community and all... take this as a "please have an eye on this in the future".

And speaking of the filename template... aside from 6 users that are among the "tagged disqualified" listing, there are 7 additional users that did not adhere to the given filename template. Which in turn resulted in me having extra work with setting up the Statistics Sheet. I decided to let this slide for December 2022 -- but I just can't do this anymore and have to reiterate again how important "paying attention to detail" is.

As of MC090 / February 2023, this will be a definite criteria for being "tagged disqualified".

No more exceptions, as this is eating too much of my time for setting up the Statistics Sheet (the automatic file name parsing does not work otherwise). Please take this warning seriously. I provide a filename template for every game, which is mentioned in every first post. Please use it!


All in all, 66 entries is a great value. And with the final game for the year, this also marks an average attendance rate of 58,33 participants for 2022. Although I would love to see over 80 entries per month again. If we can get more material for the future, that is. The Songwriting Competition could also see some love. 25 entries per month would be amazing and would result in so much interaction.

I hope you all enjoyed this month's game - fingers crossed for many Mix(ing) Challenges to come in 2023.
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I now (re-)open the field for everyone to give each other feedback (highly encouraged). This will be independent to the client feedback however. Though please note - criticism on the rule set and angry posts will be deleted without further notice.


Please watch this spot for the client feedback and Mix Round 2 participant announcement.
This will arrive after the short "Winter Break" (which ends 06th January 2023).

[Davias]

Ha damn ! seems I did hit the wrong button during the final touch... Fully out means no wildcard mechanic ?

Best of luck to all participants and happy holidays

[Mister Fox]

Unfortunately, you can't utilize the Wild Card mechanic, no.
Apologies for the inconvenience.

[mdihero]

Could have sworn the stems were in 48. Extremely disappointing, worked hard on this mix.

[Mister Fox]

Your entry is merely "tagged disqualified", @mdihero.

Even if you worked in 48/24... if your mix is selected for Mix Round 2, and you then opt to use one of your two available Wild Cards to further advance in the game, you can fix this small mishap by submitting your mix in 44/24.

Although, please keep possible sampling rate conversion issues in mind.

[nemnoshko]

Oh, I'm frustrating. I can't remember how I Measured the mix level. Is it possible that I will double-check again and lower the level to acceptable values? I put a lot into this game. And my name is Viktor

[Mister Fox]

Please wait and see if you make it into Mix Round 2.

[LnMStudio]

Round 2 announcements anytime soon?