MIX CHALLENGE - MC055 June 2019 - Winners announced

[Waleed Morris]

@wizzo,
I can't find anyone doing this style today.
none of the links below provide what you are looking for, but I want to give a survey. this is stuff that goes viral, supported by the industry.

practically every genre similar to our mix-song, all this was swallowed by Rap or Schlager, while use of the German language has grown in the charts/billboard. there may be many small niches, but there is no resilience, not like the USA has with her rock music styles.
other stuff is like Reggaeton, lots of Trance and Electronica, and then also there is a lot of new stuff in the sense of Charlie Puth, which is based on old, funky Disco Rhythm, programmed drums, and a lot of very modern synth sounds and reverbs.

Christina sure made no less money in Germany as she did in Austria. did many live concerts with band, in Germany and other countries.
https://www.rtl.de/themen/personen/chri ... 10529.html

also, many sing in English, and few declare themselves German at all.
at least you can check out what they do in their studios:
https://youtu.be/IPxNjDUaVUk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anZ52U0_s60 probably from Berlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZv2-Fge5gc

Arabs and Turks are doing hip-hop in German language (but very "Ebonics"-like, so old people dont understand a word). This business is MASSIVE! some of the lyrics are violent.

random stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9EYjn5f_nE this is already the sign of the times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JW6xfbyg2A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gDbpWC_9pE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpFQAFVwY6w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74JDvFsmSSY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq0rrYrufYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oDO2sTlcRo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHbYAUs9JCo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc4oUzjtj7I

the former posting was about mainstream ~10 years ago, this one is about current mainstream since a couple of years.

Thank you, you answered the most questions in my mind about German songs. much appreciated.

[EatMe]

..reviews continued, after
The first 29 participants are reviewed in this post.
The next 9 in this post.
The next 13 in this post.
The next 9 reviews in this post.
Below are 12 more reviews and 1 bonus review.

7 to go, will post these soon!


mix by Raffael Brina
** pros: The drums sound nicely handled, a very good punchy drum section.
** cons: Overall sounds a little muffled and is missing some of the higher frequencies in the mix.
A pretty good mix, although the overall sound misses a little high and some filtering out the lower rumble perhaps. Still a pretty enjoyable listen.

mix by Rogro
** pros: Drums are done excellently in this mix. A very well balanced mix.
** cons: There is a little dropout in the vocals levels per 0:23.. Also, the vocals have a cut in their flow due to some editing?
Good sound in this mix, but the editing? And there is a little vocal miss in lyrics, plus a volume dropout in the start of the track.. Alright to listen.

mix by RyanHeath
** pros: After I turned up the volume, the overall mix still sounded good and well done. Good punchy drums!
** cons: Not much cons, although mixing at a little louder level may be in place next time.
Nice take on the mix. A good sounding mix, but a little soft in levels. Good to listen!

mix by Satoshi Yoneda
** pros: A very unique sound coloring to blend the mix more together has been used in this mix. Sounds nice!
** cons: Not much cons, except that the chorus on the vocal still sounds a little unnatural.
A great mix. Very much effort put in making that 'this is a mix' feel. A very enjoyable listen.

mix by SirCool
** pros: The guitars sound treated pretty okay. The drums are alright in the mix.
** cons: There is not much dynamic space for each sound competing with each other through a lot of compression.. The vocal is clipping at parts.
Not really going for the beauty contest with this mix, there are a lot of issues in this mix that were not appereant in the delivered material.. One oink for the listen.

mix and master by SirCool
** pros: Going for loudness war spot #1..
** cons: Too much compression going on, maybe it's a too short release that makes it really wobbling..
You may want to read up on your compression techniques. It's not really working for you here, more against.. Thanks for the effort, though.

mix by SkachkovSound
** pros: A very well together glued sounding mix.
** cons: There is a little too much accentuation in the mid going on at the drum break and after, losing the balance in the mix.
Pretty good mix, there is a lot of good things done here. The mid-boosting breaks the overal sound coloring a little too much. Still a very good to listen mix.

mix by SteveNarowitz
** pros: Very good handling of all individual parts in the music.
** cons: The kick drum pushes too much away into a clipping or limited level in the mix alltogether, not really fitting with the tracks genre.
The soundbreaking kick drum is overdone, which fits more with other genres perhaps. All in all okay to listen to..

mix by stu b
** pros: The guitars sound good and are handled with care. The kick drum is missing.
** cons: The vocals are distorted and their clarity and expressiveness is mostly lost?
Not bad at all, but some parts could have sounded more clear than distorted.. And where is the yet still provided kick drum track.. Quite okay to listen.

mix by Studio7
** pros: The vocals are clearly standing out in this mix, in a well done way.
** cons: I am really missing the punchy momentums in this mix.
Good mix, a little alternating from what all complete others have done. I still would want more punch in the elements of the mix. Still an enjoyable listen.

mix by Tanglewildstudios
** pros: This mix isn't that outstanding, I find it hard to find something that still stands out..
** cons: The drums, guitar, hihat??, vocal, all sound muffled away.. There is a hop-over at some part?
Not winning the beauty contest here, muffled away as if the microphones were all under thick blankets.. Pretty alright, but not my cup of tea.

mix by Tapwater
** pros: Well used distortion on the guitar tracks.
** cons: The vocal is distorted at some parts.. Missing a little clarity in the overall sound color.
The distortion should have not been done on the vocal in my opinion. Not bad to listen at all, though, still much enjoyed.

mix by ThaSome
** pros: Not much excellence to notice..
** cons: The level of the final mix is really low, below anything that would keep dynamics possibly going on.
A little flat and not really well sounding mix.. Still not that bad, quite alright to listen.

[Mister Fox]

Yes ! I had read it all , but actually all songs included (White Punk OD) references it's too old releases (about 8-10 years) so any a bit new albums ?thank you .

That's the thing - this genre hasn't much evolved (in fact, not really since the late 90s with Marius Müller Westernhagen, Peter Maffay and co). There was a certain trend how specific German bands/groups/singer-songwriter sounded, but something strange happened end of the 90s - and then time kind of stood still. One of those prime examples is actually "Nena" - who was very, very punk rock. But by her revival in the late 1990s/early 2000s (and therefore a new producer), she went full on contemporary pop rock. To this day, you still hear the same cookie-cut overprocessed channels, the super clean-cut vocals, similar song structures, ballads that sound as if the same person wrote it, etc.

What sets things apart, are how the people sing, and how much reverb was used to maybe nudge a production towards a certain direction, evoke a certain feel or maybe even set a certain "time frame" for productions (to oversimplify, think 80s with gated reverb, and 2000s with long/warm reverb tails).

practically every genre similar to this was swallowed by Rap or Schlager, while use of the German language has grown in the charts/billboard.
other stuff is like Reggaeton, lots of Trance and Electronica, and then also there is a lot of new stuff in the sense of Charlie Puth, which is based on old, funky Disco Rhythm, programmed drums, and a lot of very modern synth sounds and reverbs.

Can't really confirm that Rap and Schlager took over. This really depends on the radio/streaming station and who you ask (especially the youth, who are more into "gangster rap" than contemporary pop/rock).

But I can confirm that "German music" has been pushed on heavy rotation in Germany because of the "radio quota" pact that roughly 30% of the music on air (German radio stations) should be from German bands/acts, ideally also singing German. Especially on so called "Chart Music Stations". This was originally brought up in the 1990s by Heinz Rudolf Kunze and Herbert Grönemeyer, who wanted to push a focus on German producers that were otherwise drowned out from international releases. Germany finally adapted the "pact" in early 2000s. France adapted the quote (state regulated) in 1994. Kanada did this over 20 years prior in 1971

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioquote
(German only, there seems to be no other translation, but it should be easy to find some info about this through Google)

also, many sing in english, and few declare themselves German at all.

There is one major reason for that: better access to the international market - should you make it big. That has been a huge thing until only about a decade ago where the international market finally accepted "foreign music" as well (thanks to bands like Rammstein, actually). But the general gist is, especially from big labels, "want to be successful - sing English".

However, we should not confuse this with a certain band image as well. For example: the bands "The Bosshoss" and "The Beatsteaks" are actually from Berlin, Germany. But both bands said "we make a specific genre, which evolved in a specific area of the world. (for the Bosshoss and Country Music) it would be strange to sing German rather than English".

Arabs and Turks are doing hip-hop in German language (but very "Ebonics"-like, so old people dont understand a word).
This business is MASSIVE! some of the lyrics are violent.

I'd say a lot(!) of these lyrics are oriented to be "raw and violent", or sing about money, having big cars, scantly dressed ladies, doing gang type of stuff (drugs, brutality, etc). Yes, this is an insanely huge market because these musicians and labels play (and actually prey) on the same that the US Hip Hop/Rap market did in the 90s. "Kids live in troubled times, this appeals to them - we are their voice, raw and uncensored". But I can honestly not agree to that (and German Hip Hop groups like "Fettes Brot", "Die Fanastischen Vier" and "Deichkind" proved otherwise) - but hey, whatever generates income.

One of Germany's biggest "Gangster Rapper" (Sido) actually started out to be harsh and brutal... in reality he came from a fairly normal neighborhood, although he grew up in a once troubled/split Germany. He's now being more melodic and laid back, even collaborated a lot with Pop/Rock musicians. Other "rappers" however embraced the "urban style" and still play the role of a gangster. Because "drama sells".

random stuff:

Funny that you bring up Sarah Connor - she actually started in English and switched to German. Which resulted in a lot of positive feedback from fans. I'm surprised that you didn't bring up Yvonne Catterfeld and especially Jeanette Biedermann - two actresses who turned to be very successful musicians. Jeanette still switches between English and German. And... the production type/quality is about the same.

The bottom line is this.. check which labels these musicians are signed to. Then check who their "go-to" producers are (among the most known ones like Frank Farian, Dieter Bohlen, Ralph Siegel, etc)... And then you start to realize who shaped a certain genre and/or is keeping a hold of it.




We could maybe start a general public discussion about this at some point.

[White Punk OD]

Mister Fox,
I didn't mention Rammstein because they are well-known but on a different page than these "Berlin-style" ladies.
I thought Biedermann and Catterfeld went Schlager as well (because of Bohlen)..? I happen to know a couple of very nice old songs by them also.
There seems a deal among global big cats, that I don't like that much, if it is so. Keeping genres under control of territorial oligarchs, not doing too much in other genres. Though many musicians would like to.
I rather listen to Japanese girl bands, like Girlfriend, LGM, Band-Maid ("Play-Live"; MEDLEY.. oops haha), Polkadot Stingray, Gacharic Spin...
Korean punk - Sizose; Goonam https://youtu.be/8d5eA8PLWt0 true hippies hahaha
but also Ayaka Hirahara 平原綾香

but this one of the most beautiful Berlin adoptions by Asians:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWyszIpBg24
somehow not compatible with the industry..

[Waleed Morris]

Mister Fox, there is a lot of going on, Thanks for the explanation.

[Snarowitz]

mix by SteveNarowitz
** pros: Very good handling of all individual parts in the music.
** cons: The kick drum pushes too much away into a clipping or limited level in the mix alltogether, not really fitting with the tracks genre.
The soundbreaking kick drum is overdone, which fits more with other genres perhaps. All in all okay to listen to..

Like everyone, I appreciate the time you put into reviewing ALL of these mixes EatMe!! I especially love the fact that you reviewed your own mix.

Good honest feedback is often hard to find so I will return the favor:

After listening to your mix I can understand why you didn't like my kick sound... I thought yours sounded hollow and lacked life. Just a matter of preference I guess. On a side note, I'm not sure how/why your system clipped, left plenty of headroom on my end. But for the record, your suggestion was accepted, and after re-listening to my mix I agree that it may have been a little overdone.

I am curious how you removed all the thump from your kick, did you do that with EQ? I ask because your mix seemed to have a weird phasey thing happening, and aside from the obvious (kick/drum alignment), that is usually caused by improper/overuse of EQ. I do like how you managed to retain the "pop" of the kick, and I like your snare sound with the reverb. The vocals sound good, but the guitars are a little far back and lacked the midrange bite I look for in European rock. It kind of sounded more like Japanese pop to me. Anyway, without the kick thump and guitar bite, the great snare sound was left on an island with only the vocal to work with. This might work in hip hop, but not great for a more melodic vocal like this.

[gloukin]

mix by gloukin
** pros: A very well treated guitar section. A good sound color in the overall mix.
** cons: The drums sound like they are seperated from the rest of the track. The mix is a little broad in solidness.
Pretty good sounding take on the mix. Although everything still sounds a little seperated from each other. This may be solved with groups of tracks / sum track equalizing and other effects. A good listen.

Thank you EatMe for all the hard work and your reviews!

In terms of your feedback I agree, drums could have been processed a bit better to sit within the mix.
Hoping to get to round 2 and possibility to correct this.

Plenty of excellent mixes here, pleasure to listen to!

[TanglewildStudio]

Heyyy thanks Eatme, glad you liked it

[Studio7]

mix by Studio7
** pros: The vocals are clearly standing out in this mix, in a well done way.
** cons: I am really missing the punchy momentums in this mix.
Good mix, a little alternating from what all complete others have done. I still would want more punch in the elements of the mix. Still an enjoyable listen.


Thanks a lot Eatme for listening to our mix and giving us your feedback. Really appreciate the work that you have put in to review all the mixes so far.

We shall review your mix soon and provide you with our feedback.

May the best mix win !!!!!

[EatMe]

Okay, here are my reviews of the first round in the mixing competition!

It was a tough job to listen to 79 mixes + 1 bonus mix and master and give some individual response to each mix.
I worked with a (pros/cons/final say) way to build some feedback, that helped me. Thanks everybody for the appreciation and reviews back.

The first 29 participants are reviewed in this post.
The next 9 in this post.
The next 13 in this post.
The next 9 reviews in this post.
Then 12 more and 1 bonus review in this post.
The last 7 reviews are in this post.

mix by the mazeman
** pros: A very solid, well done mix. Lots of detailed attention to the drums, vocal, guitars.
** cons: This mix doesn't really have any cons..
An excellent mix. Very good work. Serious attention has been given to a lot in this mix. Enjoyed the listen a lot.

mix by Nicolas Mirek (TiPa)
** pros: Another very well made mix. Good punch in the drums. I love the faded in vocal 'eeeeh' at the end of the drum break.
** cons: The vocals have a little low saturation on them, although they are still very perceptible.
A very good mix. Good work on all the parts of the song. A very enjoyable listen.

mix by tiptoe3
** pros: The competition is very tough in this mixing competition. This mix is another example of excellent work done.
** cons: There are no real cons to this mix..
This mix is excellent. Each sound in the mix with the right color, the right balance in levels. Enjoyed a lot while listening.

mix by TomImmon
** pros: This mix exceeds any expectations. A lot of clarity, well balanced and together sounding mix.. The drum break is remarkably handled.
** cons: None. What a competition to run next to!
If I had to choose a winner for the competition, this mix would have been one of the serious competitors. A lot of enjoyment in listening.

mix by VasDim
** pros: This mix is also tipping up to excellency. Each part sits on the right level, the right sound color, a very solid and balanced mix.
** cons: No real cons in this mix.
This mix is seriously good. Absolutely good work has been delivered here. Good work on all parts of the mix. A very enjoyable listen.

mix by WhitePunkOD
** pros: Another good mix. Good attention to the drums and the guitar section.
** cons: The vocals sound a little distorted and maked them sound as if they were badly recorded.
This mix is good, but the vocals have a little distortion on them. Still pretty enjoyable to listen.

mix by Wizzo
** pros: I like the sound effect at the end of the drum break, reminds me of a computer game.
** cons: The drums sound a little unclear in the mix compared to the vocals and the guitar.
This mix is pretty okay. Not as solidly together as some other mixes posted. Still prettty alright to listen.

Thanks everybody for participating!

Good luck for the 2nd round too.. A lot of serious competition!