Mix Challenge - Rules and Guidelines

[Mister Fox]

These are the official rules for the "Mix Challenge"

All changes to the rules will be handled in here. The thread is linked from each challenge and the corresponding sub menu from the main page.

The rule set is split over the course of the following posts, for easier understanding and simplicity in terms of finding. Please consult the appropriate sub-point if you want to read up on the rules and limitation:

Post 1: Introduction Post
Post 2: General information about the challenge and time frames
Post 3: TL;DR Rules
Post 4: Rules and Guidelines in Video Form (not implemented yet)
Post 5: Song Provider Guidelines
Post 6: Rules for participants of the Mix Challenge
Post 7: Rules for the Evaluation Process
Post 8: Rules and General Information for winning goods
Post 9: FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions


If there are any questions, feel free to ask them in the Q&A and Gossip Area. Take note that the rules can be modified at any time(!) - though we will inform the contestants of the changes.

[Mister Fox]

GENERAL INFORMATION

What is this about (concept and idea):
The Mix(ing) Challenge is aimed to be a friendly competition with the focus on handling a multi-track mixdown. The idea (and twist) is to create a realistic client-to-business (C2B) scenario. Fixed time frames and maybe additional set rules will force you to be creative within boundaries, something that you might not encounter when working freely at your own pace and discretion.

Furthermore, the concept is to post documentation of what you did with the song. Documentation can be as simple as various screenshot of your setup, or an in-depth listing of plugins/modules and settings being used. This is not to steal your knowledge - but to actually expand on it, and to train yourself for the real world, where "session recall" and "re-editing" is a requirement. This is adding to the learning factor of understanding possible mistakes and/or for others to benefit from your findings, ideas, not to mention gather some new inspiration from your type of mixing. Nobody can improve if you can't learn anything.



The competition time frames:

• 21 days for mixing and submitting (1st of the month until 21st of the month)
• after 1st Mix Round:
  • 2-3 days: preparing the Statistic Sheet
  • 14 days (max): evaluation / feedback by the Song Provider (the "client" is advised to make notes during the submission period already)
• Mix Round 2 re-submissions
  • 5 days maximum (rounded up to the time-stamp of the post announcement)
  • 15 selected participants/entries (feedback for either top 15 entries, or all entries - see "Rules for the Evaluation Process")
  • allowed "Wild Card" entries at a maximum of 1/5th of the total participants (at 15 participants, that is 3 wild cards)
• after 2nd Mix Round: evaluation by the client (ideal maximum time frame: 7 days)
• Mix Round 3 re-submissions (if taking place)
  • 3 days maximum (rounded up to the time-stamp of the post announcement)
  • 7 selected participants/entries
  • no "Wild Cards" use allowed, entries must have been fixed at this point
• after 3rd Mix Round: evaluation by the client (ideal maximum time frame: 7 days)
• Final Evaluation: announcement of Top 3 Winners

Unless stated otherwise, the Mix(ing) Challenge is held on a monthly basis, with the exception of January (vacation month)

The challenge always starts on 0:00 (UTC+1/CET) of the 1st of the month and runs until 21st of the month at 23:59 (UTC+1/CET). There might be exceptions due to special events (like Winter Holidays) - which will be made clear with each corresponding challenge. Due to the dynamic nature of the participant amount, there can be no set date range given for Mix Round 2.

Confused with the times, use this tool and select "Berlin (Germany)" as Location 2:
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Alternatively: the global world clock at the top of the forum, the Global Countdown via the Mix Challenge homepage, or the timer on the index page



Thread for questions, giving feedback and OT talk: Q&A and Gossip Area

[Mister Fox]

The rule set it's shortest form:
You don't want to read the whole Rules and Guidelines and/or find it too detailed? Here is a "Too Long, Didn't Read" (TL;DR in short) version.


TL;DR - PARTICIPATION RULES:

• Each game begins on the 1st of the month! Check the corresponding Mix(ing) Challenge Thread (see here) and read up on the required tasks of the current game.
• Try to create a mix in your own style that complements this production which can stand on it's own, no matter the playback medium. Do not merely try to copy the original mix.
• The focus of this game is "mixing". 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. Leave enough space in front and back.
• 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). Micro-adjustments are allowed within reason.
• Clean / Alternative versions of multi-tracks can be used if you need more flexibility over a certain sound (if present for this production).
• please only provide WAV files. Files need to be accessible/downloadable from your preferred cloud storage space (no SoundCloud, WeTransfer or similar!). Double check for accessibility after the upload.
• Render the edited material in the same sampling rate and bitrate as originally provided (will be specifically pointed out for each game, among others in the Mix Pack bundled "TL;DR Rules.txt")
• The final WAV file shall not exceed -16,0 LUFS ILk and -1,00 dBTP
• Pay attention to detail regarding the file naming. Use the provided template (see corresponding thread and Mix Pack bundled "TL;DR Rules.txt") - simply copy / paste and then adjust the ForumUsername.
• Your submission is final. No edits / re-uploads allowed, unless you have been selected for Mix Round 2. Please check that everything is in proper order prior to uploading and posting on the forum
• Post your entry on the Mix Challenge community forum, and provide documentation of your edit (to add to the learning aspect of our community, at bar minimum one instrument/sound you enjoyed sculpting)

Please consult the detailed Rules and Guidelines below for a full overview of the game mechanics, limitations and regulations about bonus offerings. If in doubt, please post your questions in the corresponding General Gossip thread, or reach out on Discord.

Not adhering to the given Rules and Guidelines will result in instant disqualification. There will be no reminders given.
Good luck to all participants.


Information: TL;DR Rules length is 348 words and 2183 characters, status: 10-MAY-2024

[Mister Fox]

RULES AND GUIDELINES IN VIDEO FORM:
Placeholder for a video tutorial playlist

[Mister Fox]

SONG PROVIDER GUIDELINES:
If you want to provide the "Mix Challenge" a song for overhauling/mixing, please take note of the following notes and helpful guidelines.

If you have questions, or are unsure what to do (this post does look a bit intimidating!) - please feel free to contact the staff and you will be guided through every step of the process. You will not be left hanging.


General Information and Legalities

• a song provider/a client can be anyone
• any music genre is welcome
• the provided track can be an old and/or already known release or even a work-in-progress production
• Songs must not be foreign content. Meaning, as song provider you must have the rights and permission to share this song for this competition (if the track is public domain, please provide further information)
• the clients presence during and after the Mix Challenge is mandatory - ideally through both email and the mix-challenge.com forum (see "Guidelines for Evaluation" below for further detail).
• Song provider must agree (consent), that the provided content is used for this particular competition only(!, temporary "exclusivity of editing of the source material") and that the participants can/will make their mixdowns public
• Edited songs are not allowed to be released through a sale of some sort by the contestants. The rights remain with the creator. The Mix Challenge audio community merely acts as a host for the competition.
• The creator of the song is free to start a collaboration with the possible winner (congratulations to that). This will be beyond our boundaries.
• Edited songs need a special permission to be released as part of a portfolio of the contestants! These songs are only allowed to be released as part of this competition! This will be beyond our boundaries.
• Edited songs are not allowed to be released through SoundCloud (or similar) without the song provider's permission, especially not without appropriate file tagging and given credits. Failing to do so gives the impression that this song belongs to the mix participant and not the song provider. The rights remain with the creator.
• the song provider has no influence how the song will turn out. He/she agrees to full artistic freedom by the participants of the competition - with certain limitations (see participant rules) or otherwise clearly stated add-on rules (like specific desired output format)
• the song provider is not allowed to join the competition for this particular round - he/she provided this material due to the fact that he/she is obviously interested in an alternate mix / edit. A participation like a regular participant would null that. Doing a mix/master/edit "just for fun and games" is allowed of course
• Please also take note that due to the public nature of this challenge, the source material might find it's way to bootleg pages!
• Furthermore, chances are that there will be backups made of both the source material and the contest entries to review that material at a later state (also see voting rules below). This can be revoked any time by the song provider if there is a regular/commercial release imminent and the song creator clearly states "do not share this anymore".

Technical Aspects - How to provide a song, Integrity Check, etc

• If you contact the staff with one or several song proposals, please provide a finished demo mix to stream (important for the challenge) and link to download (important for the Mix Package)
• once a production has been chosen for a possible future challenge, the next step is the so called "Integrity Check", which is a routine check up process to confirm if all files are coherent, free of errors or they might need minor adjustments prior to the actual challenge. You (the client) are not left alone with this. There will always be somebody to walk you through - up until the start of the competition
• due to technical reasons (staff size), communication can run a bit thin - apologies in advance
• for the so called "Integrity Check", you will receive a TXT template to fill out, containing the following information
  • the full name and run time of the song
  • the speed of the track (bpm) and/or a tempo map - should there be bpm changes
  • the time signature (e.g. 4/4, 6/8 or 3/4) and/or a documentation if there are signature changes
  • the song key (if possible)
  • a couple of sentences (we call this "Words by the Song Provider") what this track is about, what you'd like to see during mixing, what are absolute no-no's, possible special rules, etc.
  • some technical details of your recording process (in form of used equipment and/or special sound sets)
  • lyrics and a translation (especially if the track is in a foreign language and not in English)
  • an info on the desired output sampling rate and bitrate. Else the mixes will be provided in the same resolution as the source material (bar minimum 44kHz/24bit, if the source was 44kHz/16bit)
• the production needs to be provided as individual WAV or AIFF tracks (aka: multitracks)
• please render all mono tracks in mono, and all stereo tracks in stereo (panned in center)
• all individual tracks must start on the same bar, and should ideally end on the same bar. If the track goes from bar 2 to bar 204, all tracks should have the same length (read: consolidated files, strip silence prior to consolidating is not necessary, the mix participants handle that)
• we do recommend to render one extra bar of silence both in front and at the end of the production, to prevent sudden cutoffs of signals (e.g. delay/reverb trails), or smeared transients at the beginning of the song
• the source material can be at anything between 44/24 (bar minimum!) to 96/32. Though please be reasonable with the Sampling Rate, and please do not Dither or Bit Truncate anything!
• the individual tracks should not drop lower than -24dBFS digital peak (average) and not be higher than -1dBFS digital peak (maximum) in terms of signal strength - this is to prevent high noise floors and/or clipping
• If possible, Guitars and Bass should be provided in DI form - but please document how you recorded/treated the guitars for sound recreation
• You can provide tracks as clean as possible (to offer maximum creativity possibilities for participants) or as processed as desired (if you created a specific sound, that others can not recreate easily). We recommend to keep the files clean, but you can provide "printed" versions as well
• send FX, group channels and the likes should ideally be turned off. They can be added as "bonus guide tracks" in a subfolder however for the mix participants to draw inspiration from
• Compress all files as ZIP or RAR the files, then forward it to the staff through means like DropBox, GoogleDrive or WeTransfer

If you got further questions, feel free to reach out via the Contact Form or in the General Gossip Thread

[Mister Fox]

RULES FOR PARTICIPANTS OF THE MIX CHALLENGE:
These rules and guidelines are for the challenge participants and the actual competition itself. This is the most important rule set for those that want to participate with an own mix. Violation of the rules will result in an instant disqualification.


General Information and Legalities

• The Mix(ing) Challenge is open to all amateur and professional mix(ing) engineers, and anyone regardless of nationality or origin.
• The community is international and challenges / competitions can be accessed worldwide. However, it is important to note that some countries and regions don’t permit these types of games (with a bonus offering to acquire software licenses). It is therefore important to check at your own leisure to see if your region or country allows you to join any such competition prior to entering.
• There are no entry fees (status: August 2022)
• By entering the competition, you warrant that you are aged 18 or over, or have permission from a parent or guardian if you are a minor in your jurisdiction of residence (no younger than 16). Proof of permission should be provided upon request from the Mix Challenge staff.
• By submitting an entry to the Mix Challenge audio community, you agree to adhere to the given Rules and Guidelines for each corresponding game. In this case, the Mix(ing) Challenge.

Mixing and Editing Guidelines

• This is a mix challenge, NOT a mixing and (pre)mastering challenge. The main focus of the game is is to create a balanced mix that barely needs any after-touches other than loudness adjustments and final limiting during a possible follow-up mastering step.
• The contestants have artistic freedom in terms of mixing (no limits on used modules/effects, neither hardware nor software) - within given boundaries (see add-on rules of the corresponding challenge thread)
• Drum Sample Triggering (aka: "Sample Replace Drum Shells") is not allowed
• Drum Recording "Enhancement" on the other hand - like "sub bass enhancement tricks" (MaxxBass technology, sub-harmonic synthesizer, gated sine/white noise) and transient designers - are however allowed
• It is allowed to use plugins on the summing bus, as long as they are for broad/general sound shaping (e.g. console emulation, "print to tape" sound, "mix through a compressor" trick, "summing glue", etc) and/or metering tools, but not for mastering purposes (see thread Rules and Guidelines Addendum: Summing Bus Treatment)
• It is highly recommended to work with reference levels (workflow related). We suggest to work at/around -18 dBFS = 0 VU (EBU R68 alignment level). Please consult the Wikipedia entry on Peak Programme Meters, and/or the forum entry on "Gain Staging with a VU Meter". Rules for maximum loudness (-16,0 LUFS ILk max) and maximum signal strength (-1,00 dBTP max) for the final export still apply.
• The participants are limited to the provided source material
• The provided arrangement must remain the same. Do not change the song key, do not add an additional beat or instruments (e.g. replay a guitar), move parts around and therefore change the arrangement. Unless otherwise stated (i.e. radio mix, loops being allowed for reordering, creative audio effects like glitching, etc). The audio demo can be a guide, but be advised that it might be a different revision from the material that has been given to you.
• It is allowed to edit and to a certain extend even mangle the source material to improve the production (e.g. pitch correction within given boundaries, timing/phase correction within given boundaries, re-amping of bass/guitars if DI track were present, vocal comping, noise gating/strip silence, etc), as long as this does not result in drastic sound design and a complete new sound (e.g. morphing one sound into another one - example: flute into trumpet) - unless otherwise stated. Please also consult the FAQ section (most notably Q9 to Q11)
• It is mandatory to document your mix/edit by the end of the deadline (21st of the month, 23:59 UTC+1/CET or 23:59 UTC+2/CEST). At bar minimum, focus on one particular "sound" you have enjoyed creating, and how you got there including mentioning your used tools / setup. You can go as detailed as you like, you can additionally provide screenshots if you want. Do not merely post one sentence and/or just screenshots of just your mix console (insert view). This is not to steal your knowledge, but to to learn good "session recall" tactics, engage in further conversation, plus offer participants to learn from each other and help gain experience in the process.
• SPECIAL RULES MAY APPLY PER CHALLENGE, these will be highlighted and mentioned separately directly under the "Words by the Song Provider" paragraph of the current mix challenge thread

Upload and Submission Guidelines

• You enter the Mix Challenge by posting in the corresponding game thread, and linking to your edits - submitting though other means (email, private message, messages though Facebook/Twitter) is not allowed and will be ignored without further commentary
• It is recommended to mainly only upload to a Cloud Storage drive or your own server (DropBox, Google Drive, your own server, etc)
• Uploading to SoundCloud is not allowed (only relevant for the Mix Challenge)
• You are only allowed to submit one entry per competition. Please do not upload "several revisions" or "premasters" (see "Mixing and Editing Guidelines" above). Your entry is final - no re-submissions with changes allowed unless you're selected for Mix Round 2 (see FAQ)
• Due to the strict nature of the game, we do recommend to not send in your mix within the first 24 hours of the Challenge. Take a day off, give your ears time to relax, take another listen the next day. Additional to that, it is not recommended to submit an edit within the last 90 minutes of the challenge due to possible unforeseen server slowdowns
• Entries must be available for at least the length of the Challenge, including Mix Round 2 and an eventual Mix Round 3 (please do not use services like WeTransfer or Hightail, which only allow accessibility up to 7 days)
• Edits must be easily available to download by the end of each deadline (e.g. 21st of the month, 23:59 UTC+1/CET or 23:59 UTC+2/CEST) without the need of any special login, a decryption key, download tools (EXE installers) or various captcha requests. Please double check prior to posting on the forum that your material can be accessed with the correct rights (e.g. test with a different web browser, a private tab, and/or log out of your cloud service). There will be no reminders given.
• It is mandatory to provide an uncompressed WAV file
• Do not provide a MP3, AAC or FLAC file (only relevant for the Mix Challenge)
• All entries must be properly named and tagged prior to uploading. Please use the following naming convention: MC000__ArtistName__TrackName__ContestantName.wav and MC000__ArtistName__TrackName__ContestantName_R2.wav for Mix Round 2 (and/or R3 for Mix Round 3). The three-digit number after the abbreviation "MC" is the current game number, while the Contestant Name equals the Forum Username.
• Each thread lists the filename template for the current running challenge in the first and (ideally also) the second post. Simply copy, paste, then adjust as needed. Please pay attention to detail, as not adhering to using the template puts your entry at risk to be disqualified.
• The final mixdown / export must not undershoot -24,0 LUFS ILk (Integrated), neither exceed -16,0 LUFS ILk max (Integrated), while the maximum digital signal strength must not exceed -1,00 dBTP max (True Peak). Recommended measurement specifications are ITU-R BS.1770-4+ or EBU R-128. Tolerances are taken into consideration (see Addendum: Statistics Sheet and Wild Card Mechanic)
• Unless otherwise stated, export in the sampling rate and bitrate the material was provided in. However, bar minimum in 24bit. Examples:
  • If a multitrack package was provided in 44/16 - export in 44/24
  • If a multitrack package was provided in 44/24 - export in 44/24
  • if a multitrack package was provided in 44/24 and the end result needs to be delivered in 48/24 - export in 48/24
• Please try to prevent unnecessary sample rate conversion and bit truncation on both your end (participant) and the client (song provider), unless otherwise stated. Sound degradation due to resampling and possible introduced noise due to bitrate changes could be a knock-out criterion during the evaluation process. You never know how the client's equipment is set up.
• If you are locked on the hardware side to a certain sampling rate without any chance to change that (e.g. the Allen & Heath QU-series digital mixer), please reach out to the Mix Challenge staff for possible solutions and further instructions (keep a turnaround of 72hour on workdays in mind!)

Giving feedback to each other:

• If you didn't make it to "Mix Round 2", you can nicely ask for feedback from the song provider - but the "client" is not under any obligation to do so for participants outside the follow-up round (considering the amount of monthly participants)
• Due to this, giving feedback to each other (participant to participant) is highly encouraged. This adds to the learning process
• Please hold back the feedback until at least Mix Round 1 has ended. This is to not influence others during the current running challenge
• The thread remains open for discussion post Mix Round 2

[Mister Fox]

SONG PROVIDER EVALUATION GUIDELINES:
The winners podium is declared by the song provider (in other words, the client) after giving feedback to the tracks after the first and second submission period. We call this "Song Evaluation Period".


General Evaluation Guidelines

• Evaluation happens after the first mix round (21 days) has ended, after the second mix round (5 days runtime), and/or an eventual third mix round (3 days runtime). Please take note of the challenge time frames.
• It is recommended that the song provider already collects entries by the time they are submitted, and is writing down initial notes. It is also suggested to bundle the feedback for the participants in one collective post during the (ideally) 14 days post first submission round-
• The song provider can decide to either provide feedback to ones personal top 15 entries, or all submitted tracks. This can even be announced at the beginning of each corresponding game. Please nothing in-between (for transparency reasons and to uphold the established rules).
• The song provider must select 15 entries after this evaluation period (up to 3 of them can be Wild Cards, should the overall concept be okay, but there was a slight mishap found after submitting an entry), and ask these participants for a re-submission with desired changes that will improve the edit. This marks the start of Mix Round 2.
• After the feedback period of the first mix round, the selected participants have 5 days max to overhaul and resubmit their track. Every other participant is out of the game. But we do recommend to leave the links to the submissions intact for others to learn from and collect feedback.
• Once MIx Round 2 has ended, the song provider/client must give feedback to all edits again. Ideally within 7-10 days after this round has ended. The client can then decide to either start another mixing round (aka: Mix Round 3, including providing feedback for 7 more entries, no more Wild Cards), or post some final words of encouragement and announce the "Winners Podium" (top 3 entries).
• The clients presence during and after the Mix Challenge is mandatory. Both via mail, and directly on this forum. It is recommended to stay in touch with the staff in case of questions and/or checking in, if the participant selection is within established rules.
• If the song provider is not approachable within a time frame of 45 days post submission period for either mixing round, then the Mix Challenge staff will take helm and cast a decision. In case of radio silence post Mix Round 1, there will be no second Mix Round.

For the client - objective evaluation with Loudness Normalization techniques

If a more objective evaluation of all entries is desired, then "Loudness Normalization" might be of interest. Please follow this thread for more information about this topic and on how to do that.

[Mister Fox]

GENERAL RULES AND INFORMATION FOR WINNING GOODS:
Since we have license sponsors for this competition (mentioned separately in each corresponding competition thread), people that participate with a production have the chance to win tools or audio content. But in order to do so, we need to unfortunately set up an additional set of rules.


General rules

• people allowed to win are participants of the Mix Challenge that sent in a track
• the winners of the challenge(s) are solely declared by the song provider (see evaluation process above)
• the three winners of the competition can choose from the available content by the license sponsors.
• Since we have several license sponsors for this challenge, the first winner has the first pick, the second winner can choose from what is left available in the pool, etc.
• Only one company per winner - if the company has already been picked, it drops out of the pool for the next winner.
• Price distribution will be cleared/handled in public in the thread of the corresponding challenge
• If you happen to be among the top spots but don't want to pick a license, the next winner in line can pick up what's left in the pool. You are not forced to pick up anything
• If you happen to among the top spots, please don't let others wait unnecessarily until you made your selection -- if you do not respond within 5 days after the game has ended, it will be assumed that you do not want to pick up anything and the next person in line can select something from the available licenses

Additional information for the license winners

• you have to pick the license in public. Picking a license is on order of the winners podium
• the license winner then has to get in touch with the admin of the forum (that is Mister Fox)
• please provide your contact information (full name and email address) plus what license you picked. Then either the company in question will get in touch with you directly, or the license handler (in this case, the forum admin)
• Should you not(!) get an answer within reasonable time (10 work days bar minimum, please keep a delay in responses due to the ongoing pandemic in mind), contact the license handler again (or the admin rather, Mister Fox), and ask for a status. DO NOT CONTACT THE COMPANY OFFERING THE LICENSE DIRECTLY!
• should you ignore this repeatedly, you'll be closed out of winning licenses in the future.
• should you not respond via PMs within 14 days (calendar days) after the corresponding game has ended (requesting a license), your license offer/request will turn invalid

[Mister Fox]

The FAQ?!
This section is for frequently asked questions of things that are not really clear


Q1) ARG! I don't have the time to join! I won't make it! Can you extend the time limits? Or do this every other month instead?
A1) No, but you can put away some time and join the next round of course.



Q2) I've just found the place. Can I still download old mix packages?
A2) The TL;DR: due to legal reasons and special agreements with the song provider, that is not possible. The mix package will be inaccessible after the the 21nd of the month.

The long answer: With permission by the "virtual client", the Mix Packs for the current running challenges are only available for the month in question. The material is being removed from the server once the challenge has ended. There is no further distribution of the source material. The only remaining links are to finished mixes by the mix participants.



Q3) The rules are too much - it kills the fun of the competition
A3) Your opinion is very valued. However unfortunately, we have to set up fairly strict rules for everyone to be on common ground. Pretty much every challenge or competition in the music realm has this. Even if they seem like a lot (they have to be as detailed to not have any misunderstandings), at their core they are still fairly simple to understand.



Q4) I won the competition! How can I pick up my license?
A4) Please get in touch with user "Mister Fox" (currently) - he'll guide you through. But please don't wait too long for your "first pick", the other winners want to choose as well.



Q5a) "Why should we not send in our mix within the first 24 hours?" and
Q5b) "I did a small mistake, why can I not re-submit my entry?"
A5) The challenge not only tries to simulate a real world scenario, but is also a competitive environment. Since you only have one chance at this, and resubmissions are not possible (unless you go into Mix Round 2), I (point of view: Mister Fox) always recommend to take a day off and listen to the content again with fresh ears - see if a severe mistake did sneak into your mix (missed an effect, wrong automation, forgot to render out one instrument). Especially if you pulled an all-nighter.

You have a time limit, but you don't need to be first in line either. Imagine what a client in a real life scenario might think if you submit a faulty mix and be like "whoops, I did mistake, need to change that" and/or a couple of hours or days later "whoops - need to change that again". That disqualifies you from possible future deals. Try to prevent that.



Q6) I don't get the reference level thing - why?! Can't we just mix how we feel like?
A6) You can, but the focus of the challenge is to mix, not mixing and mastering. I do recommend to take a look at the following threads here in this forum regarding reference levels and summing bus treatment
Gain Staging with VU meter
Q&A - Mix Challenge - rule set and reference/target levels (split from MC35)
Mix Challenge - Rules and Guidelines Addendum: Summing Bus Treatment

Interesting reads can also be found at the following places (off-site):
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=391672
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 4#p5775714 (middle section)
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 8#p5845478 (and the next 3 following posts)
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 5#p5867105 (an information about Loudness and Dynamic Range Analysis // ITU-R BS.1770-x LRA vs DR Meter values)
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much- ... tored.html



Q7) Artistic freedom but we're not allowed to rearrange, do heavy sound design or sound replacement?! But this track has issues!
A7) If you get tracks "as is", you shall threat them "as is". You have to expand upon them, within given boundaries (see add-on rules for the challenge in question, these days, there is no limitation on FX use unless otherwise stated). You are a mix engineer in this case, not the composer / songwriter / producer or actual remixer. At least not in this particular challenge. Use your communication skills, reach out to the client and communicate about what you consider being problematic, what you'd like to do and whether or not it's acceptable. Just like in the real world: communication is key to provide a mix that you enjoyed working on, and the client enjoys listening to.



Q08) I'd like to use drum sample replacement - this kit has been really bad recorded...
A08) Short answer: not allowed. Usage of drum sample triggering will result in instant disqualification. Drum Recording "Enhancement" on the other hand - like "sub bass enhancement tricks" (MaxxBass technology, subharmonic synthesizer, gated sine/white noise) and transient designers are allowed. Please consult the rules above



Q9) Can we pitch shift the kick drum within a certain semi tone range?
A9) While this is a famous technique used in electronic music, this particular element would count to changing the "song key". Therefore - not allowed. Please consult the rules above. Adding as different pitched sound as a "subtle effect" to the original source (certain special cases like drums and sub-bass come to mind) is a completely different topic. If in doubt, ask in the thread of the corresponding challenge.



Q10) Can we micro pitch shift vocals, instruments or percussion parts? (cent range)
A10) Technically, there is no mention of "not allowed". The main question you should ask yourself "when does the editing in favor for ultimate perfection end"?!". So unless the main vocals or instrument parts are totally off, don't do it. If it's "minor corrections" ever so often, for example in a slightly out-of-tune background vocal, then pitch correction might maybe not hurt. Make it clear in your documentation however that you applied pitch correction, and why you think that was necessary. You never know if the sound you consider "out of pitch" was intentional. If in doubt, ask in the thread of the corresponding challenge.



Q11) Can we time-correct offset vocals/instruments?
A11) If it's an adjustment to fix phasing issues (for example: drum kit microphones, or different amplifier microphones, suffering from phase cancellations), then micro-adjustments are allowed. However, everything that has influence on the groove and feel of the production, should be taken into consideration. Is quantization of certain parts really necessary (human factor)? Please see Q10 - "when does the editing in favor for ultimate perfection end?"




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