MIX CHALLENGE - MC061 December 2019 - Winners announced

[White Punk OD]

congrats to the winners!
their mixes are as different as can be, but still I could not decide which is the better, because to me these are all great.

JonasLasse is more oldschool which fits perfectly, but also dynamics and pianissimo parts are exciting.

Wizzo, yeah, apparently with correcting the reverb and giving the trombone its deserved focus, things fall in place, and my overall impression of it is now very good. I would have liked if snare and hihat sound a little bit softer and less in the foreground (= more live sounding than studio), as my headphones are very bright in the air band.

paperthin, the "size" of the sound got reduced a little bit, and now it seems perfect. I love the "modern" feeling.

Kirurg, actually it seems that you created a low end a bit bigger than other R2 versions. While paperthin IMHO slightly backed down with the low end, you maintained a stronger "jazzrock" feel which I like, but the client decided otherwise. When there is lacking in the air band, perhaps a brighter reverb, or some "Brauerizing" (jazz version of parallel bus techniques) for the brass and woodwind stems might be worth a try. This is also true most time we experience "overprocessing", i.e. too many plugins in a row, or a compressor that would be more suitable for rock music.

* Did anyone use parallel techniques? (became popular with Michael Brauer)

Thanks to Franz, and I learned something, though was not able to participate. Thanks for a beautiful Jazz piece!

[Franz]

Hello everyone,

I am really confused for not having been clear enough, detailed and above all understandable
in my comments for the mixes offered in both R1 and R2.

If I had no comments at all, I would have been criticized, if I made comments, I would be criticized.

That said, my choices were mainly dictated by a personal feeling which is difficult to explain.
The explanations that I provided were for me in the idea of ​​detail but it was difficult for me to
explain the general impression when I listen to a version and I am again sorry.

That said, straight away, many participants were really not in the subject: it was important to read
my presentation post in which everything was said.

I hope, however, that you will have enjoyed participating in this competition and you will have thus broadened your knowledge.

White Punk OD: I appreciate your comments, generally full of common sense and reality

Cheers

Franz

[lavlane]

François
I too am finding your comments confusing!

you told me we were going to have lunch at 5 and then you said you had a pastrami sandwich at 4 and THEN you said you were going to take a nap!
whats the deal!!?? Clearly I should have won this competition

[Mister Fox]

First and foremost, congratulations to the winners!

The Winners Podium is
1) Wizoo
2) JonasLasse
3) paperthin


We perform with the usual - please select one license out of the pool (in order of the winners podium) and mention it in this thread, then (important) get in touch with me via PM with your full name, email address and your plugin selection.

I'll update the "winners podium" thread shortly.

Thanks again for your participation. You can leave the thread alive if you want to exchange tips/tricks, edits, etc.



An important follow-up:

!	Bonus Info
	I was asked by the song provider to make it clear, that no participant is allowed to (further) distribute this production as part of a showcase/portfolio or similar on whatever platform (SoundCloud/Youtube/streaming services/etc) outside of the Mix Challenge. This production was for training purposes only. The rights remain with Jazz MUK / Francis Adam.

Additional to that, as of the time-stamp of this post, and as per the information from the About page, the distribution of the source material has ended, and the multitracks have been removed from the server.

Thank you for your understanding.



I've also managed to update the statistics.

Please don't forget the Songwriting Competition - which needs as much love as the Mix(ing) Challenge. See you on the flipside.

[Mister Fox]

I'm now stepping in as both the host and the admin of this place.

whats the deal!!??

The deal is, that there is no deal. The Song Provider does have the final word, even if it might be confusing to everyone involved (I'm sure, Franz will clear up remaining questions as soon as possible). Please also take note, that the Song Provider is no native English speaker.


Since you're new here, welcome to the community. Sadly, your submission was way past the deadline of the first Mix Round. Please get acquainted with the Rules and Guidelines. And if you have time, join Mix Challenge 062/February in a couple of weeks.

I am now asking you to please tone it down a notch. I otherwise have zero tolerance for aggressive behavior on the forum.



Have a nice start into the week, everyone.

[lavlane]

I'm now stepping in as both the host and the admin of this place.

whats the deal!!??

The deal is, that there is no deal. The Song Provider does have the final word, even if it might be confusing to everyone involved (I'm sure, Franz will clear up remaining questions as soon as possible). Please also take note, that the Song Provider is no native English speaker.


Since you're new here, welcome to the community. Sadly, your submission was way past the deadline of the first Mix Round. Please get acquainted with the Rules and Guidelines. And if you have time, join Mix Challenge 062/February in a couple of weeks.

I am now asking you to please tone it down a notch. I otherwise have zero tolerance for aggressive behavior on the forum.



Have a nice start into the week, everyone.

Hey, I was just trying to make a joke about the previous comments of people finding fault with franz criticisms. I think its a great song and franz did a great job! I just thought it was funny people were trying to question the results. Just playing around... obviously the humor didn't translate as well as my mix did
all joking aside.. great job to franz and the winners. I'll try the next one when it comes out. Thank you for putting this on.

[bluesation]

Prolog: If not beeing a native speaker in English excuses every thing, please note that I am not an native speaker.

What concerns to my point of view, seems there is a misunderstanding. Sure at the end of the day, which is the best mix is a matter of taste. This is clear to all involved here. But, things the song provider doesnt not like have to be mentioned in the review for round 1. So the mixer can fix that. But it is not ok, if things coming up in review for round 2, that were not mentioned in review 1. On the other hand, things not working for the provider in round 1, that are not changed in the mix for round 2, must still be crtisized in review 2. So decisions would be transperent. In my case for this challenge it would be ok at all, if the provider finds that there is to much reverb now e.g. What is not ok, in my case, if the winds are scattered in review 2, which was not stated in review 1. If it would have been, i had fixed it.

recap: The provider decides who is the winner, no doubt. But rewiews have to be clear and distinct and comprehensive. So every participant can fix his mix in the way the provider advices. In review 2 schould only count, if the points of review 1 were taken.

[paperthin]

Prolog: If not beeing a native speaker in English excuses every thing, please note that I am not an native speaker.

What concerns to my point of view, seems there is a misunderstanding. Sure at the end of the day, which is the best mix is a matter of taste. This is clear to all involved here. But, things the song provider doesnt not like have to be mentioned in the review for round 1. So the mixer can fix that. But it is not ok, if things coming up in review for round 2, that were not mentioned in review 1. On the other hand, things not working for the provider in round 1, that are not changed in the mix for round 2, must still be crtisized in review 2. So decisions would be transperent. In my case for this challenge it would be ok at all, if the provider finds that there is to much reverb now e.g. What is not ok, in my case, if the winds are scattered in review 2, which was not stated in review 1. If it would have been, i had fixed it.

recap: The provider decides who is the winner, no doubt. But rewiews have to be clear and distinct and comprehensive. So every participant can fix his mix in the way the provider advices. In review 2 schould only count, if the points of review 1 were taken.

This is a tricky topic but might I offer a possible explanation? When judging R1 the goal is to select 10 mixes that are closest to the "theoretical ideal" according to the song-provider. And then he/she gives you tips on how to get closer to that ideal.

But in R2 the goal is a bit different – the mixes are final and the song-provider must choose 3 that are better than the other 7. If you think about it, you see that the comparison process is different between two rounds – different criteria might pop up and perspectives might shift. And it's not a hard science, so you can't really expect machine-level precision. What I'm saying is let's cut Franz (and each other) some slack, shall we?
A lot of us here are not native speakers, anyway. Hope this challenge has been helpful for you in one way or another.

paperthin, the "size" of the sound got reduced a little bit, and now it seems perfect. I love the "modern" feeling.

Thanks for the feedback! Although I'm not sure I was reducing the size of anything. I did play with the reverb but I had no intention to make it smaller. So whatever it is that you liked - it was an accident and I refuse to take credit for it

As for the "modern feel" – that's just how I like to hear music. I'm way too inexperienced to make a proper old-school mix in this genre
I'm glad you like my work though!

@lavlane – You were being ironic from the start, I knew it! Too bad, many artistic types don't take irony so well

Peace!

[bluesation]

This is a tricky topic but might I offer a possible explanation? When judging R1 the goal is to select 10 mixes that are closest to the "theoretical ideal" according to the song-provider. And then he/she gives you tips on how to get closer to that ideal.

But in R2 the goal is a bit different – the mixes are final and the song-provider must choose 3 that are better than the other 7. If you think about it, you see that the comparison process is different between two rounds – different criteria might pop up and perspectives might shift. And it's not a hard science, so you can't really expect machine-level precision. What I'm saying is let's cut Franz (and each other) some slack, shall we?
A lot of us here are not native speakers, anyway. Hope this challenge has been helpful for you in one way or another.

You have not taken my point.

[Mister Fox]

Prolog: If not beeing a native speaker in English excuses every thing, please note that I am not an native speaker.

I won't be disrespectful and go super in-depth. But considering the workload I have behind the scenes in places, it is sometimes not easy to set up a game and keep it running. Let's just say this - there are sometimes a lot(!) of emails involved.

You have not taken my point.

I fully understand your point.

In summary, you brought up valid criticism that something was addressed as "not being handled in Mix Round 2", which wasn't brought up during the first round of feedback (first evaluation period). This in turn put you in an arguably perceived unfair disadvantage compared to other entries. I also agree that this could have been handled better.

I will definitely take this as feedback for myself as well and add to the already long list of things to cover during the Integrity Check for the Mix Challenge games (as in: make things even more crystal clear upfront). Especially for non-native English speakers, or those where English is really hard as second language. As song providers know, I'm there through every step of the game and answer questions / address doubts as much as I can. But I also have certain limits.


All I can say is, I am sorry that things turned a bit for the negative for you. I hope the experience will be better with the next Mix(ing) Challenge in February.