today we're celebrating the 9th Anniversary of the Mix Challenge audio community.
Image Source: iStock.com, photo by RuthBlack - Mix Challenge logo by staff, Mix Challenge 2023
Time sure flies... at an average speed of 29.78 km/s (ca 107,208 km/h; 66,616 mph) on this vessel that we call "Earth", completing the suns orbit for the 9th time. Yes, the Mix Challenge has been around for 9 years (started in 2014 on KVR Audio). As of this moment, we're at 92 Mix(ing) Challenges, and 70 Songwriting Competitions.
Year 9 was still quite rocky. Especially on the topic of acquiring new multi-tracks for our community's namesake. I'm afraid we'll continue with the "6 mixing games per year" recurrence for quite a while. On the other hand, participation in/with the Songwriting Competition has increased. Slight adjustments to each month's game thread, and a revision of the feedback and voting mechanics, may have contributed to this.
There have also been many quality of life improvements. Both noticeable (e.g. less text for each game setup, TL;DR rules for mix packs, etc) and things behind the scenes (more or better automation for the forum, social media and Discord, the occasional server updates, etc). There is more planned for this year. However, there is only so much time in the day for one person.
I can only reiterate my gratitude to all who have been (and still are) part of this community. From our song providers (some of you have offered material multiple times), to license sponsors, the monthly participants, all the very generous patrons, to all those that go the extra mile and spread the word about this community (please continue to do so), the cross-community support and collaboration, etc.
Without you, your help and words of encouragement, I don't know where the community would be today. So please... keep up the good work, reach out, share knowledge, interact. Thank you ever so much!
There will be another separate blog post about future plans for our community. Please give me a few days to handle that.
But for now...
Let us please raise our mugs / glasses (with your favorite beverage in them) and wish our small community joy and all the best.
Here is to "year 10"
