MIX CHALLENGE - MC102 February 2025 - Winners announced

[MartialFromentin]

Hello everyone!

Here is the link to my mix: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W_HcAU ... sp=sharing

It's the last day to post the mixes and I don't have a lot of time, I will bring more details in a next post later, probably on monday (sorry for that).

Mixed with Cakewalk, Native Instrument Komplete audio interface, Presonus Eris E4.5 + sub8, small room, no treatment.

The song is quite dense, I tried to get a proper balance and panning between the keys and the guitars, and to get some width/punch differences between the different sections of the song (verse, chorus, bridge).

Kick, snare, toms: Eq and comp.
Drumshells bus: transient shaper/soft clipper
OH/cymbals: Eq and a little bit of comp.
Drums bus : saturation

Bass: Dynamic Eq, comp., Basslane, sidechain comp. (kick)

Acoustic guitar: tube preamp, Eq, opto comp.
Electric guitars: Helios channel strip
Guitars bus: vari mu comp.

Keys tracks: Eq
Keys bus: saturation

Instruments bus: sidechain dynamic Eq (lead vox)

Lead vox: gain rider, de-esser, Eq, comp., saturation, limiter, stereo delay (and some delay and reverb automations, especially at the end of the bridge)
BG vox: gain rider, de-esser, Eq, comp., limiter

3 reverbs : plate, room and hall

Mix bus: a little bit of Eq, SSL bus comp., tape saturation

[Paramnesia]

Hey Paramnesia

I had a good listen to your mix this morning, I think you've done a pretty darn good job with it. You've certainly captured the emotion and the sorrow of the song and I love the creative effects you've used throughout. Here are some of the main points I noted:

• I really like the effects you've used on the noise track at the start but the guitars that come in over it are a bit dry in contrast
• The snare drum sounds a bit too smashed and slightly too dominating and the overheads are too quiet so I'm struggling to hear the cymbals
• Kick is nicely placed though and toms are lovely and punchy
• Love the vocal effect in the verses and how it adds to the energy increase in the chorus when they come back in at full tone, wide and beautiful
• The effect does make some of the verse lyrics a little harder to discern though
• Chorus guitars are great with lovely top end clarity, which many other mixes have missed
• Cool delay on the solo guitar, this works really well
• The acoustic guitar in the break is too loud and kinda ruins the intimate mood
• Bass guitar is really well placed throughout and fills the low end space nicely

To say you primarily mixed on headphones, it doesn't sound like it so I think you've done a stellar job with your mix in this regard!

Best regards,

Benji

Thanks a lot for listening Benji!

I really agree with you on the snare and the guitars sounding dry I felt like I struggled a bit there and I wasn't 100% happy with the tones but I also didn't want to try and completely change them. I mix using my usual template always even if its a disadvantage and the reason I choose to do this is it helps me to understand exactly what everything does in my template and to show me where I may want to explore alternatives.

Really great point on the acoustic guitar at the bridge I'll have to explore that with a remix.

I loved your mix for how well balanced it was. The chorus vocals feel so wide and huge its such a powerful moment was really great to listen to how you placed everything.

Hearing how great you got your vocals almost makes me regret thinning out the verse vocals as much as I did it really is a great performance and you did a great job showcasing that.

Personally I felt like the drums were a little bit too dry for my taste I would have enjoyed a bit more room and maybe some verb on them just to help with a bit more vibe.

Really great job with delay and effects on the vocals its all in the right places.

Thats about all I can say your mix is awesome its a great picture of the song thank you for sharing your thoughts! Looking forward to hearing your work in the contests to come!

[Edling]

Can the person responsible for uploading this to YouTube remove it ASAP! This is not by any means allowed by the forum or me who provided the audio tracks!

https://youtu.be/_7XG8kgJ_mk?si=x8bwDp_qdJcpY-hu

Ping @Mister Fox

[Acoustic_Spaces]

Submitions sheet links dont work

Statistic Sheets are not available yet. Creating these is not an automated process.

These sheets will hopefully be available by the end of 26th February (this Wednesday).

Hey no prob! It takes as long as it takes!
I think that everybody is thankfull for your dedication.

[PauPeu]

Can the person responsible for uploading this to YouTube remove it ASAP! This is not by any means allowed by the forum or me who provided the audio tracks!

https://youtu.be/_7XG8kgJ_mk?si=x8bwDp_qdJcpY-hu

Ping @Mister Fox

OMG

[Mister Fox]

Can the person responsible for uploading this to YouTube remove it ASAP!

...

Ping @Mister Fox

I can't find this participant on the community (neither the forum, nor Discord)

Topic has been addressed behind the scenes.

[Gertius]

Man that sucks.

You could probably submit a copyright removal request to YouTube/Google

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2807622?hl=en

[Mister Fox]

The "Overview of Submissions" PDFs have been uploaded.
You can check them through post #162.



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" (a bold "X" on the Statistic Sheet), 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 19,30% for MC102 / February 2025 (114 entries, 22 disqualifications, 04 "Out of Competition" submissions not counting). Compared to last month, MC101 / December 2024 was at 27,40%. As usual, many of these disqualifications are due to not paying attention to detail (careless mistakes), e.g.: wrong sampling rate, loudness specs, lack of documentation, not properly using the provided filename template, or file access issues. There is even one entry with an unfortunate render error. On average (36 months of tracking), we currently have a disqualification rate of 25,80% (compared to last game's 25,98% avg), the rate is on a slight decline. The disqualification rate over the course of the last 12 games (April 2023 to February 2025) is about 25,89% (previously 27,35%) and is also decreasing again.

A commentary on this month's entries:

As stated in previous Mix(ing) Challenges, 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.

Please consult the Mix Challenge - Addendum: Statistic Sheet and Wild Card Mechanic page on how to interpret the provided PDFs.


Once more 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. 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: 26-FEB-2025 23:30 UTC+1/CET - initial post

[phildoc83]

Could you please explain the reason for the disqualification?"
filename template unused
my entry : mc102_thelasthours_thepersonThatYouSee_phildoc83

[BenjiRage]

Could you please explain the reason for the disqualification?"
filename template unused
my entry : mc102_thelasthours_thepersonThatYouSee_phildoc83

I believe it's because you've only used single underscores between the elements in the filename, but they should be double underscores - eg: MC102__TheLastHours__ThePersonThatYouSee__phildoc83.wav

Easiest next time if you just copy and paste the template from the mix pack TXT files or the challenge rules post

However, you're not totally out - if your mix is chosen for round 2 you have the option to continue by using a "wild card"(happened to me on my first challenge, my mix was too loud!)