MIX CHALLENGE - MC100 October 2024 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

[MixyMcMixFace]

@MixyMcMixFace -- please clarify what you mean with "copy/paste that was used" and "I dragged the FX channel forward a bar in places." (as these would be possible arrangement changes)

The vocal prints had been copy/pasted in the originals, which led to the tails having been cut off, and I thought they sounded weird on transitional sections after compression. I moved a copy over and determined they were exactly the same, except one of them had the tail intact, so it was replaced.

The guitar FX channel was inched forward 2 beats prior to the double time section, and I think I may have very slightly shifted it around in others. Primarily to make sure it was audible and in use.

If these things constitute arrangement alterations, then that's totally fine, I take your point!

[Mister Fox]

Thank you for the clarification and portfolio corrections so far.

Still waiting on @kieran515s, @Nichiz and @drunk-ffx.

[Mister Fox]

The "Overview of Submissions" PDFs have been uploaded.
You can check them through the upper post (post #188).



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, proper filename). 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, not to mention triple checking files and time stamps, 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 15,45% for MC100 / October 2024 (110 entries, 17 disqualifications, 1 "Out of Competition" submission not counting). This is a drastic improvement over MC099 / August 2024 (at 37,80%). As usual, many of these disqualifications are due to not paying attention to detail (careless mistakes), e.g.: wrong sampling rate or bitrate, loudness specs, lack of documentation, and not properly using the provided filename template (also see the provided "TL;DR Rules.txt" file, etc). On average (34 months of tracking), we currently have a disqualification rate of 25,94% (compared to last game's 26,26% avg), the rate is slightly decreasing again. The disqualification rate over the course of the last 12 games (December 2022 to October 2024) is about 26,96% (previously 28,05%), and decreasing again. I still strongly recommend all participants to pay attention to each Mix Pack bundled "TL;DR Rules.txt".

A commentary on this month's entries:

I would like to extend a welcome to all new participants who have found their way to our little community. It is also great to see previous users revisiting the game. I hope this Mix(ing) Challenge was once again interesting, and you enjoy your stay.


I stated in previous Mix(ing) Challenges, that future detailed "follow-up posts" will be a rare occurrence. These posts take up a lot of time, and I can only get so much done in the day. So this section might eventually vanish with MC101 / December 2024 as the Statistic Sheets are fairly detailed already.

As you have seen with previous posts, I was asking selected users to please clarify specific editing choices or commentary that wasn't clear in the documentation. The general concept of "documenting your edit" has multiple uses. Not only is it for you to be able to revisit a mix at a later state and reconstruct what you did (especially important for hybrid or "all-hardware" users -- please do not disregard that in the fast-living software realm). The whole concept of sharing your editing choices is also adding to the learning aspect of our community, sparks questions and additional interaction. Something that other competitions do not offer. Ignoring this will only put yourself at a disadvantage.

Still... two big topics this month were once more "sample enhancement" of a drum kit (a topic that now has a dedicated Rule Book Addendum), and shifting sections of an arrangement in order to either fix something or "improve" the arrangement. And while the latter is a topic for in-the-studio conversation with a client during the initial production process already, our rules are clear on this topic. To be fair to every participant - I declared the entries by @LCM! and @MixyMcMixFace as "tagged disqualified".

The entries by @komprezzor and @phildoc83 were not accessible without a file access request. Same goes for the submission "after the deadline" by @atticusnow. The entry by @i-dont-like-mixing vanished within the last week of the game and is sadly no longer accessible to this month's client (we checked multiple times). And @CMSound wrongly uploaded the entry to Soundcloud (in fact, the SoundCloud post still lacks proper crediting as per the bundled "Offsite distribution agreement" - the link to the Mix Challenge homepage is missing!). These entries are "tagged OUT" and have no chance to advance into Mix Round 2.


To close this out.

Both @JeroenZuiderwijk and I are more than happy with the participation amount. We exceeded 100 entries, which last happened in March and July 2020 (aka: "COVID Lockdown - Year 1"). I'm curious if the participation stays as high in the next challenges. I am also happy with the low Disqualification Rate and would really like to see that more often in future games (ideally lower statistics even).

Thank you to everyone that invested time with this month's game. And an additional thank you to everyone that keeps spreading the word about the Mix Challenge - especially for our 100th game. I hope you could learn something, and had fun in the process.

See you in the next challenge.
.




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 - (harsh / misplaced) 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 ideally happen sometime within the next 14 days (starting tomorrow).

We (as in: the Song Provider and I) will keep you updated, and of course send out appropriate reminder newsletters!




EDIT: 27-AUG-2024 12:35 UTC+2/CEST - initial post

[atticusnow]

APOLIGIES MISTER FOX! I did not realise that the file I uploaded was inaccessible to the wider public.

I shall make sure this does not happen again come next mix competition.

Should you have a moment, kindly give my mix a listen, even if it's not part of this month's competition.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HwA2Rj ... sp=sharing


MIX NOTES:

No GTR amps were used, even as parallel sends. Only pre-amp plugins. The guitar sounds were kept as original as possible and ALL were used.

No additional samples/ drum augmentations were added to the record. All provided multitracks used in the mix without exception.

The guitars were mixed using principles I learned reading SLIPPERMAN's (RIP) writings. Legend.

The mix setup was entirely in-the-box. I adapted Michael Brauer's Multi-buss compression style for my mixes (4 main compressor busses that all the instruments are routed to depending on where they fall on the frequency spectrum energy wise, an all buttons in 1176 send buss and a stereo sum buss that all these other busses are routed to for summing.) All done in REAPER DAW.

P.S. There was something I noticed when it came to how the tracks sounded, almost out of sync which can be heard at the first verse on the song (The drum beat has a "shuffling" feel to it)

Amazing song and awesome band, I wish them all the best!

Kind regards,
AtticusNOW!

It is the 22nd October 2024, 00:25 UTC+2/CEST - the first Mix Round has officially ended

[LCM!]

To be fair to every participant - I declared the entries by @LCM! and @MixyMcMixFace as "tagged disqualified".


EDIT: 27-AUG-2024 12:35 UTC+2/CEST - initial post

So, to put it in clear, the "autosampling" techniche is not allowed for future Challenges although my mix is still in the game.
Am I right?

[Mister Fox]

You have understood this correctly, yes.

Even if you have used the original snare as a "sample" to enhance the snare track, it is still "enhancement by using Drum Samples".


I understand what you tried to do. However, there are multiple means to get your snare towards a more consistent sound. This is why the new Mix Challenge Addendum also exists -- not only to make this particular topic even more clear, but also hint at possible alternative solutions (from which there are plenty - on top of time tested gate/EQ/transient designers/saturation means).

From my understanding, it feels like you wanted a similar effect to something like Sonnox "Oxford Drum Gate", or it's more affordable clone by Melda Production, known as "MDrumLeveler". Maybe this is worth a look for the future.


Keep in mind:

Your entry is merely "tagged disqualified", not "tagged OUT". Should our kind Song Provider decide to select you for Mix Round 2, you can still advance with the help of a Wild Card. However, you need to remove the sampled snare and find a different route for sound treatment.

[John Rowley]

Ah I see that my filename invalid due to there being 2 underscores in the naming. Not very obvious in the rules. So I assume I am disqualified from the contest now and cannot amend it now for inclusion? Its weird that it shows 23 bit rate yet Cakewalk was set to 24 as per rule set and I turned down the Lufs as it seemed to loud. Even though I enjoyed doing this track, I was not keen on the loudness settings being too low and its easy to not read the correct file format as usually its one underscore not two. Being the first challenge I have ever entered, i feel now not so confident in submitting anything else.

[scottfitz]

Ah I see that my filename invalid due to there being 2 underscores in the naming. Not very obvious in the rules. So I assume I am disqualified from the contest now and cannot amend it now for inclusion? Its weird that it shows 23 bit rate yet Cakewalk was set to 24 as per rule set and I turned down the Lufs as it seemed to loud. Even though I enjoyed doing this track, I was not keen on the loudness settings being too low and its easy to not read the correct file format as usually its one underscore not two. Being the first challenge I have ever entered, i feel now not so confident in submitting anything else.

Don't be disheartened John, I know it's initially a bit much to take in with the rulebook, but this place is genuinely very special and I urge you to continue to participate. I have here for over two years now and there has been some incredible music and great opportunities to learn.

[Mellow Browne]

Ah I see that my filename invalid due to there being 2 underscores in the naming. Not very obvious in the rules. So I assume I am disqualified from the contest now and cannot amend it now for inclusion? Its weird that it shows 23 bit rate yet Cakewalk was set to 24 as per rule set and I turned down the Lufs as it seemed to loud. Even though I enjoyed doing this track, I was not keen on the loudness settings being too low and its easy to not read the correct file format as usually its one underscore not two. Being the first challenge I have ever entered, i feel now not so confident in submitting anything else.

Your file is only 23-bit because the maximum peak is below -6dbfs. If you would raise the track by 5 db it would "perfect" within the specs (peak @ -1,23 dbfs and -16,7 LUFS) . Always try to get as close as possible to the -1dbfs ceiling to avoid this and also use something like Youlean Loudness Meter to check your levels. Your DAW should have something similar. Hope this helps for the next challenge!

[elements]

Ah I see that my filename invalid due to there being 2 underscores in the naming. Not very obvious in the rules. So I assume I am disqualified from the contest now and cannot amend it now for inclusion? Its weird that it shows 23 bit rate yet Cakewalk was set to 24 as per rule set and I turned down the Lufs as it seemed to loud. Even though I enjoyed doing this track, I was not keen on the loudness settings being too low and its easy to not read the correct file format as usually its one underscore not two. Being the first challenge I have ever entered, i feel now not so confident in submitting anything else.

As someone who has experienced the filename error…I now just copy the given filename template and replace the user name…simple, easy and means you don’t need to be spending your time counting dashes. It’s absolutely the easiest way to take the stress out of getting it right.